My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 332 Lai Huer's Defeat

Pyongyang.

Gao Yuan, clad in armor and riding a warhorse, stood in the central position of the army.

The Goryeo army had formed ranks and ambushed Lai Huer on the way, clearly not wanting Lai Huer to actually reach Pyongyang.

The Goryeo army was stretched for dozens of miles to the left and right, and included many elite troops, all fully armed.

The generals were eager to try.

Gao Yuan took a deep breath, forcing back the fear in his heart.

He stared at the Sui soldiers in the distance, his face bitter.

The enemy's numbers were truly terrifying; a million-strong army was attacking all at once. When Gao Yuan heard this news, his legs went weak. The current battle situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for them. The Sui army was advancing from several directions and winning every battle. Apart from Liaodong City, which could still hold out, the other small cities and small units could not stop the enemy. The Sui army's offensive was extremely fierce.

Most fatally, the elite troops now led by Lai Huer have arrived outside their capital city.

Gao Yuan had no choice but to personally lead the troops into battle.

This did have some effect. Although Gao Yuan didn't understand military affairs, his presence here greatly excited the entire army, and their morale was high.

At this moment, a person stepped forward and bowed to Gao Yuan.

"Your Majesty!"

"The Sui army has come from afar and is at its most exhausted. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to select several hundred elite troops, fully armed and ready, to attack the enemy's central army! If we can defeat Lai Huer's central army in one fell swoop, the enemy will retreat without a fight!"

Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment and looked at the man beside him.

"Molizhi, what do you think?"

Molizhi was an official position within Goryeo, equivalent to a prime minister in the Central Plains. At this moment, the Goryeo prime minister narrowed his eyes, staring at Lai Huer in the distance, and gently stroked his beard.

This man, named Yuan Taizuo, was the head of Gao Yuan's ministers and was quite capable.

Yuan Taizu hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "The enemy's forces are formidable. Although we have many men, most of them are temporarily conscripted soldiers. I'm afraid they will have difficulty fighting against the enemy's garrison troops. Perhaps you could let my brother give it a try."

Gao Yuan then looked at the general who had volunteered for battle.

This man is Gao Yuan's younger brother.

"Jian, you lead the elite troops there. If you can kill Lai Huer, I will let you command the domestic army from now on!"

Gao Jian was overjoyed and bowed deeply to Gao Yuan. Then he began to gather his elite troops to prepare for an attack on Lai Huer.

As the distance between the two sides gradually closed, Gao Jian led his elite troops out and charged straight towards Lai Huer's central command position.

When these hundreds of elite soldiers, clad in heavy armor, charged forward at high speed, chaos indeed broke out in the central army. Several officers around Lai Huer were somewhat astonished, as they had not expected that the Goryeo people could actually imitate the Sui army's tactics!

Lai Huer looked at the enemy, then threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"I thought they would fortify their defenses and retreat to the city, but I never expected them to dare to come and die! I can wipe them all out in a single day!"

"Come on! Fei Qingnu! Go and cut off that barbarian's head!!"

"Here!!"

Lai Huer's son, Lai Zheng, and his general Fei Qingnu immediately led their elite troops to confront Gao Jian's forces.

Those Goguryeo people were not to be trifled with; they were indeed quite capable in battle. However, they were still somewhat inferior to the Sui army. Fei Qingnu pierced Gao Jian's body with his spear, and the elite Goguryeo troops were officially defeated. Then, under Lai Huer's orders, they directly counterattacked the Goguryeo central army.

The Koreans hastily dispatched troops to provide cover.

The two sides began to fight on the plain. Gao Yuan stayed in the camp the whole time, ordering people to beat the war drums continuously to cheer on the army.

However, as the battle continued, the Sui army kept breaking through the defenses, and more and more Goguryeo people began to collapse. It was clear that the Goguryeo army was about to give up.

Seeing that the battle was about to collapse, Yuan Taizu hurriedly led Gao Yuan to escape. After they left, the army was officially defeated, and Lai Huer won a great victory. He pursued the enemy all the way until they disappeared. Only then did Lai Huer smile and begin to clean up the battlefield.

Gao Yuan escaped back to the capital under the escort of many generals.

Gao Yuan, riding his horse, looked disheveled, his eyes filled with despair. "The enemy is so powerful, how can we possibly defeat them?"

Yuan Taizuo said, "Your Majesty, we can only defend through the capital city from now on."

"There are still over 100,000 troops in the country, all willing to fight to the death for Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will not lose heart!"

Gao Yuan nodded. "Okay."

Just as the Koreans were taking the opportunity to reinforce the city's defenses, Lai Huer had already cleared the battlefield and beheaded the bandits.

After a day of rest, Lai Huer selected elite troops from the army and prepared to march directly to Pyongyang, taking advantage of the enemy's lack of reaction time to capture its capital.

Zhou Fashang couldn't hold back any longer.

"My lord, as long as we can hold our ground and put pressure on the enemy, the battle will break through. The best time for us to strike will be when the main force arrives. Right now, the main force has not yet arrived, and the enemy's city is tall and fortified."

Lai Huer shook her head, "No need to say more."

We must take action.

"General Zhou will remain here and await my triumphant return."

Lai Huer selected over 40,000 elite troops and began a rapid advance towards the enemy's capital.

When the Koreans learned that Lai Huer was heading towards Pyongyang, everyone was shocked.

Gao Yuan summoned his generals again to discuss countermeasures.

"I don't understand military affairs. How should we defend against the Huer Army if they attack now?"

Yuan Taizuo said, “Your Majesty, the enemy has come from afar and is now in a hurry to attack. It is clear that Lai Huer is so eager for victory that he has lost his mind. We might as well send men to intercept him outside the city. We don’t need to win; we just need to feign defeat and lure him into the city. I am willing to lead a large army to ambush him inside the city. Once Lai Huer enters the city, we will attack together and surely defeat him!”

Gao Yuan agreed without hesitation.

So Yeon Taejo led his men to set up an ambush in the city, and also obtained some jewelry, money, and cloth, which he had people scatter on the ground.

When Lai Huer arrived outside Pyongyang, the Goryeo people came out of the city to fight.

This made Lai Huer even happier. He was worried about how to conquer this fortified city, but he didn't expect the enemy to take the initiative to attack again!

The emperor has ordered me to capture Pyongyang as soon as possible, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fulfill his orders! It's like heaven is helping me!

Lai Huer then personally led his army out to attack, easily defeating the enemy's main force outside the city. The enemy scattered in all directions, the city gates opened, and Lai Huer took the opportunity to lead his army into the city. Pyongyang was in chaos at this moment, with people fleeing everywhere. Many gold and silver treasures, jewels and cloths were scattered on the ground.

Lai Huer was terrified.

The soldiers were still basking in the joy of breaching the city. Upon seeing these treasures, they immediately began looting. His army was thrown into chaos, unable to maintain its formation. Lai Huer shouted orders, but they were difficult to manage.

Just then, Yuan Taizu led his ambush troops out from all directions. They occupied the high ground and rained down arrows. Lai Huer's army was attacked from all sides, panicked, and ran around in all directions.

Lai Huer was caught up in the chaos, and no matter how he shouted, he couldn't quell the army's commotion.

Lai Zheng and Fei Qingnu escorted him out. With their all-out fighting, Lai Huer finally broke through the encirclement and returned to the outside of the city. However, when he arrived outside the city, the army around him was less than 10,000.

Lai Huer dared not linger and led his men to flee back. The Goryeo people pursued them relentlessly, fighting their way back to the place where the two sides had previously clashed. Zhou Fashang had his troops lined up in preparation. When the Goryeo people saw their military strength, they stopped their pursuit and began to turn and retreat.

When Zhou Fashang led everyone to welcome Lai Huer, Lai Huer was covered in injuries, his face full of self-blame, and tears welled up in his eyes.

He led 40,000 elite troops to breach the city, but only a few thousand have returned with him.

The rest of his elite troops were all lost in Pyongyang.

Zhou Fashang looked at Lai Huer with extremely unfriendly eyes, but he did not reprimand him again. He simply said, "General, now we can only inform His Majesty of the news as soon as possible, and then retreat to the shore to wait for the main force to arrive."

Lai Huer raised her head, her lips trembling.

"His Majesty trusted me and entrusted me with commanding the army on this expedition, but now we have suffered such a crushing defeat. How can I possibly report this to His Majesty?"

Zhou Fashang did not answer him, but looked up at the distant city of bandits.

Thinking of the tens of thousands of elite troops from Huainan who had followed him into battle, Zhou Fashang felt immense heartache. In his pursuit of military merit, they had become so muddle-headed.
(End of this chapter)