Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 39

  "Murong Ji led his troops to Changqing Lake overnight." Wumeng shouted angrily when he saw Xiong Ba.

  Xiong Ba was silent for half a day. The armies of Murong Ji and Murong Lin's tribes were almost wiped out under the city of Yu, causing their tribe's strength to plummet. Murong Feng had long wanted to annex the two tribes and reunify the Murong family, so he wouldn't let this rare opportunity slip away. Murong Ji and Murong Lin knew they had fallen into Murong Feng's trap. But if it weren't for their own greed and eagerness to lead their troops into battle, they wouldn't have met with such disaster. In the end, it wasn't Murong Feng's fault, but rather their own avarice. Although the fate of the two tribes was already sealed, everyone wanted to struggle before death to see if there was still a chance for survival. So, their eagerness to hurry back to Xianbei was completely understandable.

  "Let them go." Xiong Ba said calmly.

  "But we just received news from the messenger...," said Wei Ran, tense, "They were ambushed by the Han army at Changfeng Village near Shan Kou Du."

  Xiong Ba's face changed greatly, and he immediately interrupted Ruo Ran, asking urgently: "Where is Lie Kuang Feng?"

  "He led his troops across Changqing Lake and is retreating towards Guangping."

  Xiong Ba took a deep breath and said with a lingering fear in his heart: "This kid can run fast, not bad, not bad. Oh, you continue to speak." He looked at Wei Ran, indicating that he should continue speaking.

  "The scouts from the Liangcui faction told us that the Han army had set up an ambush at the mountain pass, and they almost got surrounded by the enemy. According to their estimates, the number of Han soldiers should be around 5,000 or 6,000; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to lure them into Changfeng Village and try to surround them. The main force of Han cavalry that suddenly appeared behind Changfeng Village at midnight was indeed the troops led by Baozi."

  Xiong Ba and Weisu followed closely behind, their faces solemn, vaguely sensing the danger closing in on them from all sides.

  "If that's the case, then General Murong Ji will lead over a thousand men to leave the main force and rush to Changqing Lake overnight. The journey will be extremely perilous. Since the Han army has not surrounded Lixiao Feng, it is highly likely that they will directly head towards Changqing Lake, cutting off our retreat route. If General Murong Ji's troops encounter the Han army's main force at Changqing Lake, I fear the outcome will be disastrous."

  "The soldiers of the Mohe tribe said that the Han army cavalry who attacked them last night also had leopard flags. The distance between Beishishan and Changfengtun is about 50 or 60 miles, and it was dark at the time. How could he possibly appear in two places almost simultaneously?" Yuwen Shang exclaimed loudly.

  "The Han reinforcements aren't increasing, are they just a trick of the leopard?" Ji Zhong said in a low voice, hesitating. He now felt that the disheveled Han youngster was becoming more and more unpredictable. Last year when they fought side by side, he was still an ignorant soldier. But as time passed, this youngster had become a thorn in the flesh of the Xianbei people, invisible and unable to be pulled out.

  "If the troops attacking Pishi Mountain also have two or three thousand men, then there are at least seven or eight thousand Han army troops blocking our way now. How can so many troops suddenly appear in Yuancheng within two or three miles?" Wu Bao frowned and said with great suspicion.

  Wu Meng nodded in agreement, "What Wu Bao said makes sense. Maybe it's just the Han people pretending to be mysterious and intentionally exaggerating."

  "Now our scouts' activity range is limited to within fifty miles, and it's likely that we won't have any accurate news for a short while. These two groups of cavalry have already shown up, even if there aren't as many people as you said, after discounting the numbers, there should still be around three or four thousand people."

  "I said at Beishi Mountain today that if Liu Yu and Tian Kai were to put all their efforts into a decisive battle with us, it's still possible for them to send 4-5 thousand troops to advance near Longqing Lake. Now that Guangping City is still in our hands, the Han people must thoroughly defeat us if they want to take it back. So I think that whether it's Baozi's troops or the troops preparing to ambush Lian Kuangfeng, they may appear before us at any time. It's possible that they'll launch a night attack, or set up an ambush near Longqing Lake. Everyone should be cautious and prepared for battle at all times." Xiong Ba waved his hand, signaling everyone to return to their respective units and rest in camp.

  "Sir, shouldn't we immediately send someone to inform General Murong Ji and have him bring his troops back?" Wei Ran asked hesitantly in a low voice.

  Xiong Ba shook his head, sighed and said, "Forget it, he is the commander of the army, but he doesn't care about everyone's safety, and he escapes with his trusted troops first. It's too unreasonable. Let him fend for himself."

  Zheng Xin ran back panting, he and his horse were drenched in sweat as if they had just been pulled out of the water. He gave Li Hong a huge surprise.

  Murong Ji and Murong Lin led over a thousand men to break away from the main force of Huan Wen's army, rushing overnight towards Changqing Lake.

  "What about Xiong Ba?" Li Hong asked.

  "Murong Ji left the fort of Haozi half an hour ago, and Xiong Ba arrived with his troops at the fort of Haozi, where they have already set up their main camp. Murong Ji is advancing alone, weak in strength, we can rush through the night for fifty miles to attack them at Changqing Lake. Zimin, this is a good opportunity, don't let it slip away!" Zheng Xin said excitedly.

  Li Hong smiled and nodded repeatedly.

  "Order the vanguard to closely monitor the movements of the enemy's main force around Cao Cao."

  "Tell Zhang Xun and Dou Bi to lead their troops back to the mountain pass immediately and be ready to assist us in crossing the river at any time."

  "Notify all departments, assemble immediately and prepare to depart."

  A loud and shrill bugle call immediately tore through the stillness of the night, ringing out continuously along the banks of the Baochuan River.

  Li Hong, after ambushing the Xianbei people's grain transport team at Pei Shi Mountain, captured more than 600 war horses. After obtaining the consent of Zhang Xun and Dou Qiang, he temporarily transferred nearly 500 soldiers from the infantry in Lu City and Yongnu to join the cavalry unit, expanding the cavalry unit to 2,000 men again. The people of the northern border counties of Youzhou were basically all skilled horsemen. Although these people lacked cavalry training and did not understand the combat methods of cavalry, they were still sufficient for charging and killing in a large army. The soldiers were also very happy, as the military pay for cavalry was much higher than that of infantry, and being able to join the regular cavalry unit was also the dream of many infantry soldiers. Li Song immediately returned to his unit.

  The sky still has that one curved crescent moon, but tonight it's exceptionally bright and beautiful, the gentle and soft moonlight lightly sprinkling over the vast plain. The countless stars in the sky are twinkling with excitement, curiously peeking at the grayish earth below.

  Li Hong and his cavalrymen galloped swiftly under the hazy moonlight.

  Murong Ji's heart was heavy with worry, his mood low. He sat listlessly on his warhorse, following the army as it moved steadily towards Lake Changqing. Once they passed through the narrow strip of land between Lake Changqing and Baoqiu River, it would be a flat plain all the way to Guangping City, from where they could head straight to Baitan City and return to the Xianbei state.

  Murong Ji's heart was burning with anxiety, he wanted to return to his own Golden Eagle tribe as soon as possible. He and the Han people had been fighting back and forth for decades, with victories and defeats on both sides, but never such a disastrous defeat. This time not only did they lose, but it was also very likely that the entire tribe would be lost, the cost was too great, already exceeding his own life.

  Last year, in the Star Dream Plain, the Red Sun tribe was defeated by the troops of Murong Yu and myself, suffering heavy casualties. This time, we had planned to flee to the Great Han State and plunder it extensively to make up for last year's huge losses. But who knew that human calculations are not as good as heaven's calculations? Just when victory was within our grasp, everything turned to dust with the emergence of the Great Han Iron Cavalry from the darkness.

  It was originally a failure, and even such a disastrous defeat could still be tolerated for both himself and Murong Yu. The two tribes would unite and struggle for a few years, and their vitality would recover by more than half. But now it's different from the past. Ambitious Murong Feng has been eyeing them covetously, plotting for a long time.

  Murong Feng, like them, had a dream to reunify the Murong family in his lifetime and rebuild the former mighty power of the Murong tribe. The three men each had their own thoughts, none of whom yielded to anyone else, and each wanted to be the leader. Now Murong Feng was already the great chieftain of the central Xianbei, whose strength expanded rapidly, and the Huiao tribe quickly became the largest tribe in the central Xianbei.

  The two tribes of Golden Eagle and Black Eagle were already on the decline, with many of their leaders secretly or openly forming relationships with Murong Feng. Now that they have suffered a crushing defeat, once news spreads back to the tribe, internal strife will inevitably erupt. Those small tribal leaders who had defected to Murong Feng's side will seize the opportunity to abandon them and join the Fire Eagle Tribe instead. The chain reaction triggered by this will cause the Golden Eagle and Black Eagle tribes to immediately disintegrate. In such a situation, as long as Murong Feng takes the lead and shouts out an order, everyone will rush towards the rich spoils of war and the promise of safety, flocking to join the Fire Eagle Tribe. The Murong family's grand unification under the Fire Eagle Tribe will be accomplished in no time.

  They would never allow such a situation to occur, so they had to rush back to the tribe before the news of their defeat reached the Xianbei, and suppress those who dared to betray them with limited troops. As long as the tribe was not in chaos, Murong Feng would find it difficult to find an excuse to take action. As long as Murong Feng did not openly instigate his subordinates to rebel, the two tribes could continue to exist independently.

  Murong invaded and drove his horse forward, shouting: "Order the troops to speed up their advance and cross the Longqing Lake as soon as possible."

  "The soldiers have been retreating since noon and haven't rested for four or five watches, they're extremely exhausted. Now suddenly ordering them to rush forward at full speed, I'm afraid everyone's physical strength won't be able to keep up?" Murong Ji said worriedly.

  Murong said anxiously: "Since the troops of Lie Kuangfeng arrived at Changfeng Village last night, there has been no news. There are only two possible reasons why Lie Kuangfeng's scouts cannot send us messages. One is that his troops have been surrounded by the Han army and cannot send out messages. The other is that his troops have been defeated by the Han army and have fled, with no one sending us messages. In either case, it means that the main force of the Han army has already crossed the Baoqiu River. If Lie Kuangfeng has been defeated, then the Han army may be able to free up its hands and quickly rush to Changqingwei to cut off our retreat."

  Murong Ji hesitated for a moment: "Li Kuangfeng is quite formidable, and it will likely take the Han people a lot of effort to defeat him. Perhaps they are still locked in battle near Shan Kou Du."

  Murong snorted in disdain, saying: "I reckon there's no possibility of that working out. It's just a possibility, it doesn't mean anything. The most realistic thing is that the enemy has already appeared before us. If they want to intercept us, the Changqing Lake area would be the best battlefield. And if we want to get out of this predicament, the only way is to leave here as fast as possible."

  "What if the enemy has already arrived at Changqing Lake?" Murong Ji asked after a moment of silence.

  Murong's face changed, and he said resolutely: "I would rather die in battle than kneel before Murong Feng to show my allegiance. Are you willing?"

  Murong Ji's expression darkened, and he shook his head. In a low, solemn tone, he said: "An unbearable humiliation. You're right, let's stake our lives on it."

  "Pass down the order: if you want to return alive, speed up your advance!" Murong Ji shouted loudly at the messenger soldier.

  Li Hong looked up at the crescent moon hanging high in the sky, feeling extremely anxious. He had no way of knowing where Murong Ji's troops were now, and his eyes felt dry and gritty.

  He turned around and shouted at Zheng Xin who was following closely behind: "The front is Longqing Lake. Why haven't your subordinates sent any news yet?"

  Zheng Xin's heart was racing with anxiety, worried that something unexpected had happened to his subordinates. He didn't respond to Li Hong, and instead looked around nervously.

  "He's here." Zheng Xin suddenly exclaimed with excitement.

  Three riders shot out from a distant forest at high speed and galloped diagonally towards the Han army's cavalry.

  "Sir, Murong Ji's troops are approaching Changqing Lake and are about ten miles away from us."

  Li Hong let out a long sigh and his tense mood vanished instantly.

  "Can their scouts be discovered?"

  "Two batches came and we killed them all."

  Zhao Wen, Yu Shi and Hu Zi came riding horses in a hurry.

  "Sir, where is the battlefield?" Hu Zi shouted from afar.

  "You're familiar with this place, tell me about it?" Li Hong said with a smile.

  "This place has a complex terrain, with many small mountains and forests, making it suitable for ambushes. However, from here onwards for over ten miles, there are no open spaces, making it difficult for cavalry to deploy." Hu Zi said loudly, "When we were bandits, we had ambushed merchants passing through this area several times, it's a great place for an ambush."

  Tian Zhong immediately shouted from behind him: "So all the cases of Changqing Lake were done by you? You have a big nerve, dare to say it out loud?"

  "I just did it a few times." Hu Zi immediately became anxious, his eyes wide with fear, and shouted: "And I haven't even killed anyone yet!"

  "Who can prove it?"

  "Alright, alright. The beard has turned over a new leaf, so we should let bygones be bygones." Li Hong hastily mediated. The people around them all burst out laughing.

  "What do you think?" Li Hong looked at Zhao Wen, Yu Shi and Zheng Xin, and asked.

  "If the terrain is narrow, the cavalry loses its effect, and the ambush may turn into an encounter battle, our losses will be greater." Zhao Wen said.

  "Over a decade ago, the Han army once fought a battle against the Wuhuan people here," Tian Rong suddenly said. "At that time, due to the Wuhuan cavalry being unable to exert their strength, they suffered heavy losses. We can follow the example of the Han army back then and abandon our horses, using infantry to welcome the enemy."

  "If we engage in a land battle, our losses will be even greater," said Yushi.

  Li Hong turned his head and looked at Hu Zi, smiling and asked: "Is there a place where our cavalry can deploy a charge and also restrict the enemy's cavalry from playing a role?"

  The whiskers nodded.