Chapter 26: First Battle (Part 2)

  Yun Cong looked at Yun Jun with a furrowed brow, hesitated for a moment, and said slowly: "To be honest, even if we send an order now to recall the second brother, it's not necessarily too late. However, there are two concerns. Firstly, the second brother has a stubborn temper, and if we force him to withdraw his troops before he has even clashed with the Liao people, I'm afraid he will be dissatisfied in his heart. Secondly, our three cavalry regiments have retreated after encountering the vanguard of the Liao army, which may not be beneficial for the morale of our soldiers. Therefore, I think the best approach is to let the second brother's vanguard not only not retreat but also win a battle first. If it's true that Xiang Tian Su intentionally loses a round, then we can turn the tables and win a round without pursuing them. This way, the second brother will not only be safe but also gain merit, making Xiang Tian Su lose his chance to steal the chicken... What do you think, big brother?"

  "Hmm..." Yun Jun hesitated for a moment, looked up at Yun Ting and said: "Third brother's words are indeed reasonable, but... will Xiao Tian Su really do as we expect?"

  "Haha, as for predicting the enemy's situation, apart from gods, no one can say 'for sure'. I'm just analyzing and deducing based on various intelligence we currently know. As for whether Xiao Tian Su will follow my judgment in the end, that's up to heaven. But... hasn't heaven always been on our side?" Yun Zhuang smiled and said.

  Yun Jun smiled wryly and said, "Third brother's words are indeed a great truth. Anyway, I don't have any good ideas either, so if third brother says it's okay, then it's okay. I'll fully support you."

  Yun Cong nodded in gratitude, then turned to the crowd and said: "However, after all, the enemy's forces are too great. Two hundred thousand troops marched south, and the vanguard must be elite, with at least 50,000 men. Although Second Brother led three guards of cavalry, which were also elite troops, they were still outnumbered, especially since the enemy may have already been alerted, making it even more inadvisable." He swept his gaze across the crowd, speaking slowly: "Therefore, I have decided that tonight, after sending out orders to the front line through messengers, tomorrow morning, I will lead the Yan Yun Guard's two guards of cavalry to the front line to support Second Brother... Orders! Where are Yun Xi and Yun Ji?" Yun Cong held up his "Hawk Clawing Cloud" seal, proudly issuing the command.

  "The end is near!"

  "Please give orders, General!"

  "You two men prepare the seventh and eighth battalions of the Yan Yunwei tonight, feed the war horses, and prepare dry rations. Tomorrow morning, follow Generalissimo to welcome back the two young masters!" Yun Zheng gave the order directly without being polite. His self-reference as "Generalissimo" was naturally like taking out the jade command, indicating that this was not a request for opinions but a final military order, which did not allow any other opinions or delays.

  "Roger!"

  "Got it!"

  Yun Xi and Yun Ji were two brothers, also close relatives of Yun Ting. Although they were of the same generation as Yun Ting, they were more than ten years older, both in their late 20s. The Yun family was particularly keen on injecting new blood into the military, and it was a common practice for members of the family to take up positions in the army. In general, those over 50 would not directly lead troops but would be transferred to other positions, such as being recommended as governors of Shanxi or Hebei provinces if they were close relatives with good connections. Others would be transferred to the logistics system of the Yun family army, while some ordinary ones would be sent to Luoyang for a comfortable retirement - after all, they were all high-ranking generals. The "Imperial Government" at that time was not like modern state-owned enterprises where one could buy out their years of service with money, especially for leaders of the four major border armies, whom the court had to support until death.

  Yun Xi and Yun Ji, these two brothers have been in good terms with Yun Zheng since they were young, because the two of them are skilled in spear techniques. In theory, collateral relatives cannot learn all 36 forms of the Yun family's Huaying Spear Technique, and generally, collateral relatives can only learn up to 24 forms. The reason why Yun Xi and Yun Ji have a particularly close relationship with Yun Zheng is that Yun Zheng revealed three moves to them.

  Three moves of halberd tactics, bought two Yan Yun's direct line cavalry guard commanders, can't help but say it's a good deal.

  "Third brother, you've only brought two guards... isn't this military strength a bit too weak?" Yun Jun was somewhat worried.

  "It can't be helped, the General's original intention was to concentrate the Yan Yun Guard on the central front line, but the situation has changed a bit now, and our deployment needs to be adjusted slightly. However, even so, we cannot disrupt the General's overall deployment... Besides, I'm going mainly because I'm worried that Second Brother will be held back by the Liao army, just to go and support him a bit. There shouldn't be any major battles, two cavalry guards with over 11,000 men, plus Second Brother's 16,000, this force should be enough."

  "You'd better have a good rest tonight, and be careful tomorrow on the battlefield, can't afford to make any mistakes... Alas, it's better for you to stay in Yanjing, I'll go rescue Chengtian instead. Your identity is special, if something unexpected happens, I won't be able to explain it to Father Commander."

  "Big brother, you're not right in saying that." Yun Zheng laughed and said: "Our Yun family doesn't have a general or commander who sits in the city for his whole life. Little brother will eventually go to the battlefield too. Besides, this horseback riding skill, little brother still has some confidence in it. Big brother can rest assured. That battle two years ago was led by big brother, this time it's also time for little brother to show his face, haha!"

  Yun Jun smiled bitterly and said, "Last year was just over 10,000 Liao soldiers coming to attack Cao Valley. I led six Yan Yun guards there, if we can't win this battle, I'm afraid it's not good for us to be surnamed Yun."

  "Haha, alright alright, don't worry about it... Generals, is there anything else that needs to be reported? If not, then disperse on the spot, each return to their own camp, those who need to set up defense do so, and those who need to rest do so." Yun Zheng said as he swept his gaze over the generals.

  The generals saw that the young marshal and the eldest son had already discussed and decided on a plan, which seemed to be not bad, so naturally no one would have anything more to say, and they all bid farewell and dispersed.

  Yun Jun also said to Yun Zheng: "Third brother, you go rest early, I still need to go patrol the city defense, so I'll take my leave first——the inner hall should have prepared dinner for you and Miss Beishan by now, just go eat on your own."

  Yun Cong smiled and said: "Big brother has a good heart, little brother will understand, big brother please go ahead."

  Yun Jun then apologized to Beishan Wuxue and turned around to leave.

  Yun Cong turned his head and smiled: "Miss Beishan, we've had enough wind and snow on the way here, now it's also time to eat, please..."

  Beishan had no snow, slightly shaking her head, said: "Thank you, General, for your kindness, but the Monitoring Chamber elder sent me here, hoping that I can provide some necessary intelligence for this battle. For now, I still need to contact our Beishan Jian Ge people to understand the Liao army's movements. I won't bother you anymore, General. Please take care of yourself." She finished speaking, slightly nodded her head in courtesy to Yun Zheng, then turned and left.

  Isn't this a bit too much? Alright, I'll eat it myself then... and indeed I'm hungry!