Chapter 25: First Battle (Part 2)

  "General, please speak."

  "Please show mercy, General!"

  As long as they don't take charge, everything is easy to discuss. However, the various generals, upon hearing that Yun Zheng had ideas, one by one showed sufficient respect for his "ideas" - or rather, sufficient respect for Yun Zheng's lineage.

  "Report!" A voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

  Although Yun Cong was not very experienced, he still understood the word "report" and knew that any military information that could be directly transmitted to the Cloud Eagle Hall must be urgent. He swallowed back the words that had just reached his lips and said loudly: "Come in, speak!"

  A sweat-drenched scout rushed in and knelt down before Yun Zhong: "Reporting to the Young General, yesterday at noon, the Second Young Master discovered a vanguard scouting party of the Liao army at Xiao Xigou on the north bank of the Luhe River. According to the Second Young Master's estimation, the Liao army's vanguard has probably arrived at Longfeng Mountain or Chenjia Wopu area. The Second Young Master also said that he will take advantage of the opportunity to attack the Liao army's vanguard and dampen their morale... Please instruct, Young General!"

  Yun Cong's face turned gloomy, and he said, "The map." Everyone quickly hung up the military map that was placed on the side against the wall. Yun Cong took a look and was shocked in his heart because this map was completely different from the ancient Chinese maps he had seen in the materials before. Although the proportions of this map of northern Hebei and central and southern Liaoning might not be very accurate, the method of drawing it was absolutely modern. What surprised Yun Cong the most was that the symbols on the map representing infantry and cavalry were actually the military symbols commonly used in European strategy games: infantry was a rectangle with a fork in the middle, and cavalry was a rectangle with a diagonal line in the middle. The most exaggerated thing was that there was a rectangle in the Yanjing area of the map with two letters "HQ" written inside! (Headquarters)

  Yun Cong felt a slight dryness in his throat, and without a doubt, he could confirm that the reason this world had changed from his own was definitely because there had been other cross-dimensional travelers like himself before - He, even if the infantry and cavalry icons were abnormal products of this world's development, but that "HQ" was obviously two English letters, how could it possibly be a variant of the square and regular Chinese character system?

  Everyone saw Yun Cong staring intently at the map, afraid to disturb him "plotting in secret", not even daring to breathe loudly. The rules of the Yun family army were quite strict, usually joking around was fine, but at times like these, they absolutely couldn't slack off.

  After a long while, Yun Zheng let out a long sigh: "Did the Second Master say whether he was going to fight north of the Luan River or south of the Luan River?"

  "Hmm... didn't say that." The scout hesitated for a moment, thought again, and still couldn't help but say: "However, looking at the second young master's appearance, I'm afraid he doesn't have the intention of retreating back to the south bank to fight again... I'm just making a wild guess, General."

  Yun Cong's brow furrowed deeply as he looked at the various generals and asked: "Who is the commander-in-chief of the Liao army?"

  "Xiao Tian Suo." Yun Jun replied.

  "What is his temperament and character like? What has he experienced in his life? Which battles has he fought? How were the results?" Yun Ting continued to ask.

  "Uh...this..." Yun Jun was tongue-tied by Yun Zheng's question, thinking to himself that he didn't know much about the Liao State, so he just muttered a sentence: "I only know they're from the Hou Dang."

  Bullshit, damn it. Yun Zheng secretly laughed at his brother's words, which were stupid enough. It is worth noting that the Khitan people of Liao State only have two surnames: one is Yelü, a surname created by the imperial family; and the other is Xiao, a surname taken by Han scholars in Liao State. The rest of the Khitan people in Liao State do not have surnames, only names. Since this general is called Xiao Tianzuo, if he is not from the latter party, could he be from the "former party"?

  "...Uh, so no one knows what happened to him?" Yun Ting asked with a frown.

  Everyone looked at each other, and it seemed that there was no one named Xiao Tianzuo among the people who fought with us in Liao State a few years ago. Even if he did, as long as he wasn't the commander, who would bother to remember the names of these barbarians? General, your question is really uninteresting - just like when we eat an egg, why do we need to figure out which chicken laid it? Isn't this just making a fuss over nothing?

  Yun Cong's face turned increasingly worse, almost to the point of "yintang turning black". But then he heard a clear and cold female voice say: "I know."

  Generally, women are not allowed in the Cloud Eagle Hall, but there is one exception - Beishan Wuxue.

  Yun Cong and a group of people turned their heads to face Beishan, who had no snow. Yun Cong didn't bother to ask how she knew, but instead smiled and said: "That's really great, please let Miss Beishan tell you."

  Facing Yun Cong's smile and the gaze of the five rough generals, Bei Shan Wuxue remained calm and said: "Xiao Tian Suo, 35 years old this year. He is from a humble background and is the younger brother of the current Liao Dynasty Empress Dowager Xiao Shuo. There is another younger brother named Xiao Tian You, who is also talented. However, Xiao Tian You excels in military strategy, while Xiao Tian Suo himself is more skilled in plotting. The Khitan imperial family does not allow reading books, considering it a waste of time. But among the humble families, there are many people who enjoy reading Chinese books, and Xiao Tian Suo can be considered one of them. This person was not famous in his early years, but after Empress Dowager Xiao Shuo took power, he was reused by his sister and pacified several rebellions, even fought a battle against Western Xia and won. He has never clashed with the Yun family army before, so this is his first time. As for his personality, he is introverted and cautious, but can make decisions at critical moments. During the war with Western Xia, he lost four battles in a row, but remained calm and finally defeated the main force of Western Xia in the fifth battle. Additionally, it is said that he has a broad mind and is highly regarded within Liao... This is all the information available about Xiao Tian Suo for now."

  "It sounds like a personal item." Yun Zhuang nodded and said: "Thank you for the information, Miss Beishan."

  "General, no need to be polite." Beishan Wuxue said calmly.

  Yun Cong turned his head, looking at the generals with a look of surprise and uncertainty, furrowing his brow: "Since Xiao Tian Suo is a cautious and reserved person, I'm afraid the possibility of Second Brother's success this time is very small. Everyone sees that although it has snowed now, but where Second Brother and the Liao army encountered are not places conducive to concealment. If Second Brother wants to launch an ambush, if the opponent is reckless, there might be a slight chance. However, just now Miss Bei Shan introduced Xiao Tian Suo as someone who can endure and is very cautious. Since he knows that his vanguard's scouts have already made contact with our army's scouts, he naturally also knows that our army has arrived in front of his main force beforehand. At this time, wanting to launch an ambush against him, I think there is no possibility of success. On the contrary, if Xiao Tian Suo can judge that our army has the possibility of launching an ambush against him, it's very likely that he will deliberately lay a trap, letting his vanguard lose first, and then lure our army into his encirclement... That would be a very unfavorable situation."

  Yun Cong finished speaking, swept a glance at the crowd, and took in everyone's expressions: Yun Jun looked somewhat astonished, but furrowed his brow, seemingly worried and regretful; most of the other generals nodded repeatedly, seeming to agree with him; there were also some who disagreed.

  "Are the Liao people really that clever?" A bearded general looked skeptical: "Isn't that even smarter than my old friend? Young General, don't deceive this honest old man."

  Yun Congbai rolled his eyes: "The Liao people's brains are probably all like yours, I'm afraid we can now drink in the Liao imperial palace in the capital city."

  "Stop showing off, Tietuo." Yun Jun rebuked lightly and turned to Yun Ting: "Third brother is right, Cheng Lui's temper is impulsive. If Xiao Tian Su really acts as you judged, Cheng Lui will likely fall into his trap... Third brother, since you can think of the methods Xiao Tian Su might take, you must also have a way to break them. What do you think we should do now?"