Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 16

  Liu Yu saw Li Hong and said: "Three hundred fifty-seven people, will it work?"

  Li Hong was overjoyed. He was so excited that tears burst forth uncontrollably. He nodded frantically, unable to utter a single word.

  Li Hong wiped away his tears and knelt down to kowtow three times to Liu Yu. This ordinary-looking old man, with his selfless heart and absolute trust, won Li Hong's determination to fight to the death. From now on, even if he shed blood on the battlefield, it would be worth it.

  Li Hong walked out of the Lu Long Building and saw Xian Yu Fu and more than 300 soldiers standing beside their war horses, neatly arranged in six rows. When he saw Li Hong coming out, Xian Yu Fu shouted loudly: "Pay respects to General Jun!"

  Xian Yu Fu and 356 soldiers simultaneously knelt on one leg, shouting in unison: "Swear to follow to the death..." The roar suddenly rose up in the empty square, piercing the sky.

  Li Hong's eyes suddenly became moist. His heart was racing violently, his blood boiling, and he trembled with his lips, not knowing how to express his gratitude.

  At this time, from the opposite side of the square, Tian Chong led twenty-eight soldiers who survived the Battle of Lu Long to rush over. Seeing them all in armor, Li Hong stared blankly and was at a loss for what to do.

  Tian Zhong and twenty-eight soldiers all knelt down in front of Li Hong.

  "A general leads his troops into the tiger's lair, how can he abandon us and go alone?"

  "Sir, of the Lu Long border army, only 29 of us are left who can still fight. If we die, we will die with you, sir."

  Tian Chong suddenly raised the bloody great Han war flag in his hand, and led the soldiers to shout loudly: "Swear to follow to death..."

  Li Hong's tears finally couldn't be held back and flowed down.

  Liu Yu and Liu Zheng stood on the city wall, gazing far away, feeling deeply moved in their hearts.

  "Someone... " Liu Zheng suddenly turned his head and shouted: "Give them war horses."

  Li Hong helped Tian Chong up, looking at his gray hair, and for a moment, he was overwhelmed with emotions. A strong killing intent suddenly surged into his heart. These detestable barbarians, if they hadn't invaded, what war would there be? Where would the need be for someone of such an advanced age to go onto the battlefield?

  He took over the war flag from Tian Zhong's hand, walked quickly to his own war horse and mounted it swiftly.

  Li Hong faced a group of soldiers with faces full of fighting spirit, willing to die for the cause, and fully armed, ready to follow him into battle. Suddenly, he felt that even if he died, it would be worth it.

  "On the whole, it's better..."

  "Let's go..."

  Li Hongyu held the flag in his right hand, riding a horse at the forefront, leading the soldiers through the gate of Lulong Tower City and onto the Lulong Pass Square, heading towards the main gate of Wangri Tower.

  After Liu Yu decided to send troops, Liu Zheng immediately ordered all soldiers to start moving the earth bags that blocked the city gate. After the efforts of nearly two thousand soldiers for more than an hour, the city gate was finally opened. The soldiers stood silently on both sides of the square, bidding farewell to this class of brave and fearless warriors.

  The soldiers sat upright on their horses, looking around at the Lulong Pass, perhaps this was the last glance. The sound of horseshoes echoed through the Lulong Pass.

  Suddenly, a dozen or so war horses burst out from under the walls of Lulong Castle, with knights on their backs whipping them to pursue.

  "Sir, I am Yan Wuyi. In the past, I was a horse thief, now I'm a squad leader. I admire your bravery, sir, and I'd like to follow you into battle."

  Yan Wuyi was a tall and robust man with a long face and short beard, looking like a fierce warrior. As he gazed at Yan Wuyi's resolute expression, Li Hong rode his horse forward while saying gratefully: "What you're doing is against military regulations..."

  "Not afraid of death, what's there to fear about military rules?" Yan Wuyi immediately cut off Li Hong's words and said loudly.

  Li Hong thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the back then. Thank you."

  Yan Wuwei happily agreed and led his men to turn their horses around, running to the back of the troops to reorganize and catch up.

  The war drum on the Lu Long Building suddenly sounded.

  The drumbeat was fierce, like a burst of thunder that shook the brave warriors who were about to set out. For a moment, they all had boiling blood, their morale soared, and the anger and fear that had been pent up in them suddenly poured out.

  Li Hong raised the war flag and turned around, shouting loudly: "For Great Han, kill..."

  Li Hong rode his horse out of the tall Ludong Pass city gate first.

  The soldiers behind him responded in unison: "Kill..." and shot out immediately like a mad wind.

  The warriors on the square were inspired by their grand passion, each with an excited expression, raising their arms and shouting: "Kill..." The shout instantly echoed throughout the entire Lulong Pass.

  At dusk, the troops rushed for a hundred miles and arrived at an unknown small hill. This place is sixty miles away from Honghuagou and forty miles away from Bailin Pasture. Li Hong ordered everyone to enter the mountain and hide to rest. Then he instructed Xian Yu Fu in a few words, and one person rode out of the mountain to investigate Bailin Pasture.

  Xian Yu stood on top of a small hill, gazing at Li Hong's back as it gradually disappeared from view.

  When the governor called him into the Deer Dragon Building and told him about this plan, he was first surprised. This idea was too crazy, attacking the Wuhuan people's Baili Ranch. Just last night, more than 2,000 Wuhuan and Xianbei soldiers had withdrawn, and tonight they would attack again. It was a madman-like plan, unthinkable. Then came shock. Because Liu Yu told him that there were only their 300+ soldiers, no one else. With over 300 people attacking a ranch with more than 2,000 soldiers stationed, it was an impossible task, going would be going to die. He didn't understand how the normally calm and wise governor could agree to this plan. When he finished listening to Li Hong's detailed explanation, he could only say that he was convinced. This young man, who was a few years younger than himself, was indeed a genius. His careful analysis, accurate judgment, and innovative ideas were all beyond his own reach. He left with a sincere heart, full of confidence, to gather soldiers and resolutely follow Li Hong to complete this crazy plan.

  "Sir, come down and have something to eat?" Tun Chang Fu Qiang walked up to him and said softly.

  Xian Yu nodded slightly and followed him into the woods.

  "Are the war horses' hooves all wrapped in cowhide? Are their muzzles all covered with cages?"

  "It's all done, sir," Fú Qiáng said in a low voice. "Sir, this Li Junhou has great courage and high martial arts skills. Just by looking at the way he walks, you can tell that he is a brave and fearless hero, an extraordinary person. Why haven't I heard anyone mention him before?"

  "How come there isn't? I often hear you say that." Xian Yu Fu said with a smile.

  "Come on, stop kidding. I don't know him." Fu Qiang was a sturdy young man who usually liked to joke around and was also very familiar with Xian Yu Fu. He thought Xian Yu Fu was joking and laughed it off.

  "He is a leopard. The people of Lu Long call him Heizi, but he is the leopard who was hunted down by the Xianbei."

  Fú Qiáng's eyes widened in surprise, "Really?"

  Xian Yu Fu ignored him and continued on his way. Fu Qiang burst out laughing, "Impressive! The people of Lu Long Sai are indeed impressive. Even a random scout can turn the Xianbei upside down, no wonder tens of thousands of barbarians can't take down the fortress, impressive." He assumed that Li Hong was a spy, a mole sent by Lu Long Sai.

  Fu Qiang's news caused a small stir. Except for Tian Zhong, the soldiers were all excited and gathered in groups of three or five, discussing it in hushed tones, as if they had discovered a new continent.

  Yan Wuwei sat beside Tian Zhong, his eyebrows flying and his face flushed with excitement, speaking so rapidly that his words shot out in all directions. Tian Zhong really couldn't take it anymore and said a sentence: "You're very excited to see the leopard before you die, aren't you?"

  "Yes. When it comes down to it, such heroes can only be seen in a few places like our Yan and Zhao regions, are there any elsewhere?"

  "Alright, alright, go to sleep, save your energy for killing people at night, okay?"

  "Not good. When I was a bandit, the leopard was fleeing from the Xianbei and heard many things. Let me tell you again."

  "You've just joined the army?" Tian asked in surprise.

  "Yes. More than ten days ago." Yan Wuwei said with a big smile.

  "Do you know? You secretly took your subordinates away from the unit and followed General Jun, this kind of behavior that disobeys military discipline is punishable by beheading."

  Swallowing hard, Yan Wu Wei's eyes widened and he suddenly cursed loudly, saying sullenly: "In that case, I'd better go back to being a bandit."

  Yan Wuwei's courage suddenly dissipated, Tian Zhong secretly smiled and fell asleep.

  Xian Yu Fu sat quietly on the mountain top, waiting for Li Hong's appearance.

  A string of muffled hoofbeats broke the stillness of the black night.

  Xian Yu helped him up, turned around and ran into the woods, shouting to wake up several officers, "Get up, General Jun is back. Call all the soldiers to get ready for action."

  The forest immediately became busy, and everyone in the dark got their luggage ready and led their horses down the mountain one after another.

  Li Hongfei dismounted his horse and approached Xian Yu Fu and several other officers, saying in a low voice: "Is everyone ready?"

  Xian Yu Fu and several others nodded in agreement. Fowang and the others looked at Li Hong with even more reverent eyes. Li Hong gathered them to crouch on the ground, and under the faint moonlight, he drew a rough map of a pasture on the ground.

  "Because the enemy retreated overnight, the soldiers marched over a hundred miles back to the ranch, exhausted. Now they are all sleeping soundly in their tents, even thunder wouldn't wake them up. So tonight's sneak attack will definitely succeed. Everyone can let loose and do as they please."

  "We'll divide into two teams, General Xian will lead 200 men to attack from the north, and I'll lead my men to attack from the south. We'll keep charging back and forth without stopping, creating the illusion that we're a large army attacking them, making them collapse completely. Remember, speed is key, we must be fast! We want to make the enemy panic, then fearful, and eventually they will give up, flee, and surrender. Do you understand?"

  "Understood." Several people chimed in unison.

  "Go and summon Yan Wuwei and Tian Changjing." Li Hong said to a messenger standing beside them. The messenger hesitated without leaving.

  Li Hong suddenly thought of something and burst out laughing: "It's that old man with the white hair." Soon, Tian Chong and Yan Wuyi rushed over.

  "This is the horse farm, the war horses are all enclosed here. Next to it is the fodder field. Zhang Jing Lao Bo leads ten people over, and after taking care of the soldiers guarding the fodder field, they set fire to two horse stables, making the flames a bit bigger. Remember, only burn two stables. Once all the fodder is burned, the war horses will have no food, and these war horses will soon become horse meat." The people around him chuckled softly. Tian Rong happily responded repeatedly.

  He followed many generals, always a humble and unknown groom, never taken seriously by anyone. But the young man in front of him was entrusted with a very important task in such an important battle, giving him a sense of being valued and recognized. The old man was extremely excited.

  "The fire should be made bigger, so the enemy will be even more fearful and think that we have already controlled the horse farm side, so they won't escape in the direction of the horse farm. Once they escape into the horse farm, it's easy to ride away with a few horses, but I'm afraid of startling the horse herd, which would make things troublesome. This matter is extremely important, Elder Long Jing must not make any mistakes."

  Tian Zhong nodded heavily.

  "Fearless, follow me in and lead your brothers to rush into the central military tent at the fastest speed without contacting any enemy. Capture the thief first, capture the king, catch Wu Yan first, and the situation will be half controlled. Do you understand?"

  "I understand, sir." Yan Wuwei nodded excitedly. For the first time in battle, he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, and it would be strange if he wasn't excited.

  "Does everyone have any questions? If not, I can explain again. When you're clear about what to do and how to do it on the battlefield, your heart will be at ease, your confidence will increase, and victory will naturally follow." Li Hong said with a smile.

  Everyone was infected by his ease and calmness, the tense mood before the war gradually dissipated with the harmony of the conversation atmosphere. Fu Qiang and several others immediately asked in unison.

  Xian Yu silently gazed at Li Hong's smiling face, listening to his low and patient explanation. He felt that this person was not only a warrior on the battlefield but also the soul of the battlefield. He was born to be a fighter. Being with him always filled people with confidence, hope, ease, and joy, making them feel the deep bond between comrades.

  "Let's set off, General Xianyu." Li Hong stood up and said to Xianyu Fu. Xianyu Fu nodded and beckoned to the soldiers behind him, and everyone quickly mounted their horses.

  Tian Zhong took Tian Jing's steel gun and ran over.

  "This is the spear of General Xiaowei." Li Hong took it over with surprise and said in a low voice. The spear was simple in style, heavy, black and dark, under the dim moonlight, emitting a sinister killing intent.

  "This rifle has been passed down through seven masters, all of whom died heroically in battle for their country. Eight years ago on the battlefield of the Battle of Sunset, Lord Tada took this rifle from Lord Natsuki and used it until yesterday. Before he died, Lord Tada told me to give it to you as a memento."

  "Thank you. I won't let Mr. Tian down." Thinking of Tian Jing, Li Hong's heart felt sour and very uncomfortable.

  Tian patted his shoulder lightly and said, "This gun will definitely bring you good luck."

  Li Hong looked at Tian Zhong with gratitude and nodded vigorously.

  He mounted his horse and led everyone into the dark night.