Chapter Thirty-Three: Donglu Gaojie Er

  Victory often depends on location, also strange inside the military tent

  Since leading the 20,000 strong army out that day, An Yiqi had been keeping his troops hidden in the mountains, drinking dew in the morning and eating wild fruits at night. When food was scarce, they would gather wild grasses to eat, only sending out a small number of scouts to reconnoiter the military situation in Yan Mountain Prefecture.

  "Report, General, frontline military situation."

  Lecture

  "Today early in the morning, Jin Jun has launched a fierce attack on Yanshan Prefecture seven times in a row. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties, but Yanshan Prefecture has not been breached yet." A scout came to report.

  "Go ahead." An Yiqi waved his hand.

  An Yiqi smiled and said to a young general beside him: "Qin Hui, what do you think about retreating our troops to rescue them at this time?"

  Qin Hui said: "At this moment, our army can lift the siege of Yanshan Prefecture by launching a counterattack, which is also what Your Highness wishes. However, I think this is not the general's idea."

  "I really don't want to retreat, if our army captures the key city of Ji Zhou at this moment and cuts off the Golden Army's rear route, the Golden Army will surely panic, and when the time comes, we'll follow up with a decisive blow and must achieve great results. The opportunity is fleeting, I won't miss it." An Yiqi said calmly.

  "But will His Highness think that the general wants to take control of the army and wait for an opportunity, which would bring about a fatal disaster?" Qin Hui was somewhat worried.

  An Yiqi silently looked at the sand table, faintly saying: "I only do things that will be useful to Your Highness in the future. If Your Highness wants to kill me, I have nothing to say, execute it. Pass on the order, our army immediately sets up cooking pots and has a meal, half an hour later we set out, the whole army abandons heavy objects, and makes a forced march to attack Ji Zhou at dawn the next day."

  "Yes, General, I'll go prepare right away." Qin Hui led the order out of the military tent.

  An looked thoughtful, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking about.

  The night was deep, and Jin Jun had been attacking Yanshan Prefecture for a whole day. He was already exhausted, and many people fell asleep without even taking off their armor.

  Suddenly, the drums shook the sky and the horns sounded in unison. Wanyan Zongwang had others put on their armor while he anxiously looked outside the military tent. The Jin army soldiers were all shocked awake, hastily putting on their clothes, and scrambling to pick up their weapons. The previously quiet Jin army camp suddenly became chaotic. When Wanyan Zongwang led his troops in a charge out of the camp, the gates of Yanshan Prefecture remained closed without any movement.

  Mr. Fang arrived at this time and said to Wanyan Zongwang: "This is the Song army wanting to exhaust our army, striking our morale, it's better to take advantage of the situation and directly attack the city, test whether the Song army's defense is empty or not, please make a decision as soon as possible."

  "But our army has been attacking the city continuously today, and the soldiers are very tired. Moreover, the visibility is poor at night, which is unfavorable to our army. I'm afraid we won't be able to attack the city." Wanyan Zongwang hesitated a little.

  Fang Yue's heart was anxious, but she calmly said: "The opportunity is at hand, I hope the general will seize it."

  Wanyan Zongwang disliked Mr. Fang, but his intelligence and strategy were undeniable.

  Wanyan Zongwang ordered his generals: "Let 5,000 soldiers make a probing attack."

  After the drumbeat of the Yan Mountain Mansion stopped, 5,000 Jin troops took advantage of the night to slowly push towards the Yan Mountain Mansion with cloud ladders.

  Zhao Kui used a thermal imaging instrument to observe the deployment and strength of the Jin army, when he suddenly stood up, a larger heat source was slowly moving towards Yanshan Prefecture. Zhao Kui was shocked, as the Jin army was not good at night battles, and both armies were generally peaceful at night, but unexpectedly, the Jin army broke the rules and launched a night attack. Fortunately, Zhao Kui discovered it early, otherwise, 5,000 Jin soldiers would have quietly attacked the city without warning, and if there were more troops following up, Yanshan Prefecture would be in danger.

  Zhao Kui hastily ordered the Imperial Guards to take up battle positions. When the Jin army came within range, Zhao Kui ordered his archers to fire at a designated dark area. The sound of wailing erupted instantly. Fighting at night was already unbearable for the Jin army, and this sudden rain of arrows threw them into chaos. In fact, the Jin army's casualties were not heavy, but their commander had a burning desire in his belly. Wasn't this nighttime attack just asking to die? (At that time, most people suffered from nyctalopia.) Seeing the sudden rain of arrows, he no longer urged his soldiers to advance and retreated instead.

  Mr. Fang sighed in his heart, and this time the war machine was lost again. He said to Wanyan Zongwang: "General Wanyan, it's better for our army to retreat."

  "Impossible. Our army's increased distance from the city tomorrow will exhaust our soldiers, which would be disadvantageous for the siege." A Jin general stepped forward to rebuke Mr.'s suggestion disdainfully.

  Fang Yue discontentedly snorted and stormed off. The Jin general said harshly, "This Song dog is too arrogant, with just one order from the commander, I'll go chop him up."

  "Fang Yue is still somewhat useful, once we've eliminated the Song Dynasty, he'll go where he should go." Wanyan Zongwang's cruel smile.

  Wanyan Zongwang led the army back to the camp, and the Jin soldiers had just fallen asleep when the Yan Mountain Prefecture suddenly drummed again, the horns sounded together, Wanyan Zongwang hastily led the army out again, but saw that the city gate of Yan Mountain Prefecture was not open, which meant no intention of going out to battle.

  Wanyan Zongwang was extremely angry, but also had no way out, and could only retreat back to the camp. Wanyan Zongwang did not dare to sleep soundly, and could only rest lightly. After a while, there was still no movement, and Wanyan Zongwang finally put his mind at ease. At this time, on the city wall, the Song army's drummers and horn players were drinking water and eating dry rations. An hour later, Zhao Yun thought that the Jin soldiers should be asleep, and immediately ordered the drums to continue beating and the horns to blow.

  When Wanyan Zongwang led his troops out again with a face as pale as iron, he stared at the head of Yanshan Prefecture with eyes spewing fire.

  Wanyan Zongwang returned to the military camp and immediately ordered all soldiers to stuff their ears with cotton, sending people to closely monitor the movements of the Song army's city gate. Returning to his tent, Wanyan Zongwang stuffed cotton into his own ears and fell asleep.

  Zhao Kui saw that the time was almost ripe, so he dispatched several hundred light cavalrymen from the west gate to sneak out. Before leaving the city, Zhao Kui had each cavalryman learn a sentence in the Jin language. The light cavalry carried torches and flammable materials on their backs, and set them ablaze as they departed. At this time, the Jin army was mainly monitoring the east gate, so the Song army's light cavalry suddenly charged into the Jin army's camp from the west gate, throwing incendiary materials and shouting in the Jin language: "The Song army has arrived, run quickly!"

  For a time, the Jin army's camp was ablaze with flames shooting up to the sky, the cries of agony and groans were incessant. The Jin army suffered heavy casualties, and Zhao Yun considered leading his troops in a surprise attack, but at this moment, the Jin army was still quite powerful, and if they were counterattacked, there would be a risk of defeat. Zhao Yun did not dare to take this risk. In fact, Zhao Yun did not know that Fang Yue was leading an army of 5,000 men in ambush near the east gate of Yanshan Prefecture, and if Zhao Yun had led his troops in a surprise attack, he would have immediately taken down Yanshan Prefecture.

  Hundreds of light cavalrymen threw incendiary materials and quickly retreated from the west gate, except for a few who were surrounded by the Jin army and died, the rest were safe and sound, with brilliant results.

  Wanyan Zongwang was so depressed that he plugged his ears and slept, not hearing the shouts of killing outside. He almost got burned to death in the military tent and was rescued by his personal soldiers with a disheveled appearance. As soon as he left the camp, he ordered the entire army to retreat 20 miles back.

  On the second day, the Jin army broke through the desolate wilderness without leading troops to attack, and it wasn't until the afternoon that they formed a military array and attacked again. The battle continued until dusk, with fire burning clouds illuminating the horizon. Liang Fangxu once again repelled the Jin army's offensive, and he sat down with a furrowed brow, humming in a low voice.

  His chest was cut open with an axe, revealing a long gash, red flesh and blood spilled out, bones were faintly visible, fresh blood flowed out, dyeing Liang Fangxu's front body crimson. Two soldiers prepared to carry Liang Fangxu away, Liang Fangxu endured the intense pain and weakly said to Zhao Yan: "Your Highness, why hasn't that little brat surnamed An returned with reinforcements? If this continues, we won't be able to hold on."

  "Perhaps he was surrounded by the enemy and blocked on the road," Zhao Jian said with certainty.

  In fact, Zhao Jie was not very sure either. He did trust An Yiqi, but during the war, people's hearts were unpredictable, and who knew if An Yiqi would change his mind and surrender to the Jin army? Even if he just stood by and watched without helping either side, it would still be a worrying situation for Yan Mountain Prefecture.

  "General Liang, take good care of your injuries and let me handle the defense of the city." Zhao Jiong nodded at Liang Fangxu with a smile.

  "Take care, Your Highness." Liang Fangxu bowed with his fist and performed a courtesy, and the two soldiers helped him down.

  Zhao Bian gazed at the distant horizon where the sun was setting like blood, and beside him, soldiers were busily arranging defenses in the bloody water, for a moment he was lost in thought.

  The location of Jin's military camp

  Mr. Fang sat on the top, expressionless and sipping tea lightly. Wanyan Zongwang paced back and forth, saying in a low voice: "In recent days, grain and grass are urgent, and our army's attack is unfavorable, with heavy casualties, and there are many complaints among various tribes." Seeing that Fang Yue did not speak, he just thoughtfully sipped his tea.

  "Mr. Fang, can't you say something? We're in a desperate situation and you still have the mood to drink that lousy tea?" Wanyan Zongwang complained.

  "General, what does this fire and drinking tea have to do with each other? Even if I don't drink tea, it won't solve the unfavorable situation our army is facing now." Fang Yue said calmly.

  "Does Mr. Na mean that our army will withdraw from here? I'm afraid it's hard to explain when we get back." said Wanyan Zongwang in a low voice.

  Just then a gold armor soldier rushed into the military account with a flustered face and exclaimed: "General, something big has gone wrong, Ji Zhou has been broken!"

  "What?" Wanyan Zongwang exclaimed in surprise at the situation.

  "General, our army must now use all its strength to attack the city. Only by breaking through Yanshan Prefecture and waiting for the reinforcements of General Wanyan Zonghan from the Western Route can we turn the tide of battle." Fang Yue suggested in a low voice.

  "Listen, you Han people, our army will be defeated. If the Song army occupies the Gongshan Pass, we'll be trapped and die here. Retreat, retreat! We'll settle accounts with you later." He glared fiercely at Fang Yue, turned around and began to withdraw.

  Fang Yue sighed with sorrow, but could only lead his troops in retreat.

  "Your Highness, the enemy has retreated. Shall we pursue?" Hou Yi excitedly asked Zhao Yan. Zhao Yan hesitated for a moment before ordering Hou Yi: "Let the cavalry follow the Jin army at a distance and remember not to engage in a prolonged battle."

  An Yi Qi stood on the city wall of Ji Zhou, leaning against the wall with a cold and stern face, his deep eyes staring into the distance in a daze, the gentle breeze blowing his hair lightly, his bangs slightly moving.

  Qin Hui stood quietly behind Anyi Qi, waiting for orders. Anyi Qi said calmly: "Have all the cavalry ambush in the woods, if the Jin army comes, follow and kill them, do not get entangled."

  "Is that so, General? But did our army really abandon Gongshan Pass?"

  An Yiqi said calmly: "A cornered beast should not be slaughtered, chase it and slowly drain its energy, only then will there be a chance to completely eliminate it."

  "I have learned from you." Qin Hui thanked him and said.

  "When there was only An Yiqi on the city wall, he muttered to himself: 'Now completely eliminating the Jin people is not beneficial to the palace, you Jin dogs! Let you live for a while longer.'"