Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 36

  At dawn, Li Kuangfeng stood by the side of Changqing Lake, gazing into the distance.

  It's early spring now, the lake is rippling with blue waves, and the view stretches far and wide. The wind on the lake surface blows with a whooshing sound, sending cold air to people. The big trees around the lakeshore sway back and forth in the wind, and the newly green branches and leaves make a pleasant rustling sound as they brush against each other.

  Scarface rode his horse at full gallop.

  "Sir, Murong Chui's army was ambushed by the Han cavalry under the city of Yucheng and suffered heavy losses. The troops have now retreated to Changqingwei." Dao Ba said excitedly.

  Feng Kuang was shocked and asked incredulously: "Where is Xiong Ba?"

  His troops attacked the east gate, and after receiving the news, they had already withdrawn to Changqingwei. Xiong Ba sent a fast horse to urge us to quickly gather at Changqingwei. They retreated from Yuyang City in a hurry, abandoning a large amount of supplies, which urgently needed to be replenished.

  "Lord Xiong Ba, how much longer can their food, fodder and weapons last?" Lie Kuangfeng asked urgently.

  "Food is already running out, and the horse feed can only last for a few more days. More than 10,000 war horses are concentrated in Changqingwei, if there is no fodder, they will soon lose their combat effectiveness, at that time even if they want to retreat back to Guangping, it would be impossible."

  "How many troops does Murong Ji have left?" Lie Kuangfeng asked suddenly after a moment of contemplation.

  "Wu Meng and Wei Ran fled quickly, escaping with over 2,000 people. The Jinying, Heiying, and other tribes suffered heavy losses, almost completely annihilated, leaving only a little over 1,000 people remaining. Yuwen Tong, Murong Feng, and Murong Lin all died in battle under the city of Yuyang."

  The fierce wind laughed uncontrollably with a crazy and unbridled passion.

  "Jin Diao and Hei Diao tribes are finished. With this, Da Shuai's plan to unify the Murong family will likely be achieved soon."

  "Last year at Xingmengyuan, Mijia of the Baizhan tribe united with two Murong tribes and defeated Lu Zhi of the Hongri tribe, but Mijia's troops suffered heavy losses, and the Baizhan tribe was severely weakened. By the end of last year, in Lulong Sai, the Dongfang Xianbei Flying Horse tribe led by Quanji, and the Mushen tribe led by Suligong were completely defeated. Three of the four major tribes of the Eastern Xianbei have now suffered significant losses and can no longer compete with the Great General, they can only surrender and obey. Now that Murong Ji and Murong Yin have been defeated, what else can they do besides pledge allegiance to the Great General? The several major tribes in the eastern and central parts of the Xianbei state have all been successfully eliminated or weakened by the Great General through various opportunities. The Great General now firmly controls half of the Xianbei state's tribes and troops, everything is under his command. I'd like to see how long Heli can remain as king."

  Diao Cicada nodded, "The Han people are very powerful. Without their indirect help, Murong Ji, Murong Xin, Queji and Suoli these large tribal forces really had no way to deal with them in a short period of time."

  "The great general is very clear about the strength of the Han people. Although he repeatedly told the chiefs of various tribes that the Han people are not worth fighting, in fact, he just wanted to lure them into sending troops. The foundation of the Great Han Dynasty for hundreds of years cannot be defeated overnight. Many people underestimated the Han people too much and ended up suffering the consequences. The defeat at Lu Long Pass and now the defeat at Yu Yang City again prove that the great general's words are correct. The strength of the Han people is indeed not to be underestimated." Lie Kuang Feng said with a serious expression.

  "Lulong's Tian Jing, Youyang's Tian Kai, the Governor of Youzhou Liu Yu, and in Liaodong there is also Baima Gongsun Zan, none of them are easy to deal with."

  "There's still Black Panther Li Hong." Scar said with a smile.

  "Yes, and also leopards." Lie Que's expression turned bitter as he smiled wryly, then asked strangely: "Do the Han people call it a black leopard?"

  "He didn't make a flag? It's the same flag we saw at Rainbow Ridge. The leopard on the flag is black, isn't it?" Scar explained.

  "News came from Xiong Ba that he led Han cavalry in a surprise attack at night."

  "Has Leopard appeared in Fishing City again?" asked Lie Kuangfeng in surprise.

  Dào Bà nodded, "This is his second nocturnal raid. Xióng Bà seems to be very angry."

  "So that means the Han people have already seen through the ruse of the Bailiying Pastures, and Huai's troops are fake." Li Kuangfeng said worriedly.

  "The leopard can come from Lulong Pass to support, which means that the fake deployment of Lulong Pass has been seen through by the Han people. In other words, the Han people's other reinforcements will continue to arrive at Yuyang City from other places."

  "What did Xiong Ba say?"

  "He gave no instructions, but urged us to hurry at once to Changqingwei and transport the grain as soon as possible."

  "But now that General's troops have achieved their purpose, shouldn't they be withdrawing?" Lie Kuangfeng said with a frown.

  Before departing, the general repeatedly instructed that this battle is not about capturing cities or plundering land, but only about achieving our own purposes. Our goals are only three: first, to use the attack on Fisherman's City to weaken Murong Ji and Murong Yin's military strength, in preparation for annexing the Golden Eagle and Black Eagle tribes. Second, to lure the Tuoba tribe and his trusted Ulan people to attack Upper Valley, taking the opportunity to consume their strength. Third, to heavily strike the Han army, devastatingly plundering Han wealth, in preparation for future occupation of Youzhou. Now that these three goals have been achieved, Xiong Ba not only is not anxious to withdraw troops, but instead requests us to quickly gather and hurry over, even urging us to send grain - has he lost his mind due to defeat?

  "Changqing Wei now has nearly seven thousand troops, and even if Xiong Ba wants to retreat, he needs to feed the soldiers first. Let's hurry over as soon as possible. We can arrive at Changqing Wei tomorrow."

  The bright red sun hangs on the gorgeous dawn, dazzling. The Gu River lies quietly in the central plain, with a layer of light mist floating on the clear river water. Both banks are dense shrubs, half green and half black, silently lying beside the Gu River.

  Li Hongqi sat on the black leopard's back, motionless and gazing at the Gu River.

  The river surface of the Kouhe River is not very wide, about thirty or forty steps away. More than a dozen wooden boats are busy back and forth on the river, transporting soldiers and war horses to the other side.

  Li Hong's Iron Cavalry suffered over 300 casualties in the surprise attack, with more than a hundred wounded soldiers still recovering in Yuyang City. He led his remaining 1,600 cavalrymen out of Yuyang City yesterday afternoon, crossing the Gu River via the wooden bridge outside the city's north gate, and hastened to this location after marching over a hundred miles. Li Hong ordered his troops to rest by the river while simultaneously preparing to cross the Gu River again under cover of night. This location is sixty miles from Changqingwei and eighty miles from Changqing Lake.

  Li Hong's thoughts flew back into the room where they had discussed things yesterday.

  His proposal was almost unanimously opposed by everyone except Liu Yu, who was extremely eager for victory.

  Liu Yu's pressure is extremely high. Spring plowing season is about to begin, but the Xianbei invasion seems to have just started, making him anxious and worried. If he can't drive away the enemy before spring plowing, this year's fields in Youzhou will be deserted and barren, with no harvest. No common people will stay on their land to farm when the enemy may rush into their homes at any time. Without a harvest in the second half of the year, how will the people of Youzhou live? What about winter? Without a harvest, the national treasury will be even more depleted, and the economic development and military expansion of Youzhou will become empty talk. Liu Yu longs for a miracle, longing to defeat the enemy.

  Li Hong's suggestion was extremely adventurous but very tempting.

  The governor of Yuyang, He Yi, sneered at him and didn't take it seriously. Tian Kai's words were fierce, hoping that Liu Yu would give up this adventure and defend the city as a better strategy. Xianyu Fu did not express his opinion, he didn't know whether Li Hong's plan would succeed or not, but he had a feeling that Li Hong was overconfident, seemingly underestimating the enemy's wisdom. Yan Rou stood on Tian Kai's side, thinking that in a situation where victory was unlikely, it was better to concentrate their forces and defend the city, then recruit reinforcements.

  Liu Yu finally decided to take a risk, just like when he trusted Li Hong at the beginning in Lulong Pass, he believed that Li Hong would definitely succeed.

  He said only one sentence to Li Hong: "Take your people and leave."

  Li Hong gazed at the frail old man in front of him, gazing at the deep wrinkles on his face, and the wisdom and trust in his resolute eyes. He suddenly felt that he could die for him. Excitedly, he knelt down and kowtowed three times to Liu Yu with utmost respect, then turned around and left.

  "My people..."

  Li Hong heard Tian Chong shouting at him. He respected Tian Chong, so he didn't allow Tian Chong to call him "sir" in private, let alone that Tian Chong was his lifesaver. A man who had fought for a lifetime was himself a legend, a hero, and deserved everyone's respect. Li Hong regarded Tian Chong as one of his own family members, just like an elder.

  "There are still two or three hundred people on the other side of the river, and crossing the river will be over soon. Why don't you go to the front forest to rest for a while?" Tian Zhong said with concern.

  Li Hong smiled and said, "Old man, you've been up all night, why don't you go rest instead?"

  "As one gets older, sleep becomes less, it doesn't matter. You are the commander of an army, you can't be exhausted." Tian Zhong said with a smile.

  "This time, infiltrating deep into enemy territory requires flexibility and speed, so maintaining abundant physical strength is extremely important."

  "Following you into battle is thrilling and exhilarating, it's great fun!" Tian Zhong chuckled softly.

  "Did any of the old soldiers from Lulongze make sacrifices this time?" Li Hong asked.

  "Only two. But the situation of the vanguard team that kept its promise is not bad, all the old soldiers survived. It's just this old bone of mine, always refusing to die." Tian Zhong shook his head and said disappointedly.

  Li Hong was speechless and silently stared at him.

  "This time we've gone around to the rear of the Xianbei people, are we going to attack their main camp again?"

  Li Hong shook his head and said in a low voice: "It's going to burn their grain and fodder."

  Lie Feng glared with wide eyes and asked loudly: "How far are the enemy from us?"

  "Twenty li, at the mountain pass ferry on the opposite bank of the Baoqiu River."

  "Whose flag is it?"

  "It is the battle flag of the leopard's son. There are about three or four thousand infantry."

  Ling Feng and Knife Scar exchanged a look of astonishment, both staring at each other in utter bewilderment.

  "Isn't he in Yu Yang City?" Lie Kuangfeng said, "How did he arrive at Shan Kou Du today? It's over a hundred miles away from Yu Yang. Did he rush here overnight?"

  "The man sent by the Bear Overlord told me that there is indeed a Han army on the other side of the Baochuan River, flying the leopard flag. Rong Zhi also led his troops to the ferry crossing to set up an ambush and block them. The Leopard should not be with this group. But what are they doing here?"

  Lie Kuangfeng thought for a moment, then slowly said: "The Han people probably think that our army has just been defeated and the morale is unstable. They want to quietly infiltrate into our rear and launch a pincer attack with Baozi's cavalry, ambushing the troops surrounding Changqing."

  "It's highly likely. Sir, should we inform Xiong Ba?" Scar said from the side.

  "Immediately notify Kuibao by express messenger." said Liekuang Feng loudly.

  "Order the small commander of the Tuo tribe, the small commander of the Shuili tribe, and the small commander of the Juzhu tribe to lead 500 men and horses from each tribe to escort the supply convoy. Don't rest along the way, rush through the night to Changqingwei."

  "Order the troops to assemble immediately, and we quickly rushed to set up an ambush near Baochou River. Once the Han army crossed the river, we launched an attack on them."

  The messenger soldiers behind the crack of the wind immediately dispersed. The urgent and clear sound of the ox horn echoed everywhere.

  "It's already afternoon, will the enemy cross the river?" Scar raised his head to gaze at the azure sky, hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice.

  "The Han people are cunning, they may cross the river secretly at night. We can launch a surprise attack on them with three thousand five hundred men when they are off guard and annihilate the Han army." Lietien Feng said excitedly.

  Li Song stood by the Baqiu River, anxiously gazing at the downstream water surface, his eyebrows furrowed.

  "General Junhou, don't worry, at this speed, the boat should have arrived too." Dou Qiang comforted in a low voice.

  "Commander Li, shouldn't we let the troops set up camp and rest? Since last night, the troops have been marching urgently for over a hundred miles, and the soldiers are all extremely exhausted." Zhang Xun asked from the side.

  "Alright, let's set up camp three miles away from the riverbank and rest. Still, we'll pitch more tents according to the scale of 4,000 people to confuse the enemy's scouts."

  A messenger ran off in a hurry.

  "Master Li, when will we cross the river?"

  Li Song gazed out at the endless flowing river and smiled, saying: "After the boats arrive, order the vanguard troops to immediately cross the river and establish a defensive formation three miles from the opposite bank. The main force will begin action at midnight. What do you think?"

  Zhang Xun and Dou Bi nodded in agreement one after another.

  Zhang Xun asked softly: "Where are we going? Now this is the activity area of the Xianbei people, it's very difficult to hide our tracks."

  Li Song smiled and said: "The order I received was to rush to the mountain pass, then pretend to cross the river at midnight to distract the enemy. Didn't you know?"

  Dong Liang said awkwardly: "This operation is commanded by Lord Li, we thought you would have other instructions? We really don't know what to do, so we asked."

  "According to our scouts' reports, the army of Li Kuang-wen will likely pass through here. The enemy we need to hold back is probably his troops. As for what to do next, we can only wait for Lord Li's orders here." Ri Song hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly.

  Just then, a rider came galloping from the opposite riverbank at an incredible speed.

  Zhang's eyes were sharp and he suddenly shouted: "It's our scout. There is news."