Chapter 49: Sword Pointing at Xiongnu's Separate Fall

  Li Zhen's actions made Xun Yu feel unexpectedly dissatisfied and uncomprehending at the same time.

  According to the court's plan, Li Zhong was a thorn in the back of the rebel army, and his main role was to distract the rebel army as much as possible.

  However, Li Zhong's indifference to the rebels made Xun You frown. If Li Zhong always showed an attitude of not interfering with each other, how could he involve the rebels' energy?

  This is completely inconsistent with the overall plan of the imperial court.

  Moreover, Li Jing surprisingly left only a thousand infantry to defend against the rebels, which made Xun Yu very puzzled. What if the rebels were just making a feint?

  This thousand-step army can't hold back, and next is the threat to Lingzhou, Li Zhong's main base!

  However, Xun Yu did not know that on the night of Li Zuo's entry into Fuping, he received Zhou Lin's bluebird message and learned about the reason for this rebellion.

  It turned out that in You Fufeng, the rebel army had already clashed with the imperial army!

  Li Zhong had previously analyzed from Fu Xi's letter that the imperial court would use troops against Liangzhou, and it would be next year at the earliest. However, unexpectedly, in late August, the imperial court took the initiative to send troops.

  This time, the general who led the army to conquer the rebellious Han was Zhang Wen, the Taishi of the current dynasty and the Marquis of Huguo.

  Under his command were several senior generals, with nearly 100,000 troops, and their momentum was overwhelming, forcing Han to respond with all his might.

  Upon learning this news, Li Zhēng relaxed a great deal in an instant.

  Attention immediately shifted from Han's rebel army to the north.

  Li Jing had decided earlier that this winter he would take action against the Xiongnu tribes to the north, and incorporate all of their pasture lands into his control.

  The rebel army's actions in front of him almost made Li Zhēng's decision go with the flow.

  It's a good thing, though, that Zhang Taiwei intervened; otherwise, Li Jing would have foolishly clashed with Han Xi. Not only would he not gain any advantage, but he would also suffer losses - this was something Li Jing did not want to see happen.

  With Zhang Wen's imperial army tied up with Han Jue, Li Ding can safely take out the Xianbei tribe and try to capture this piece of fat meat before the end of the year.

  With his mind made up, Li Zong had someone summon Xun Yu.

  The two sat facing each other, and Li Zhong said: "The current situation is unclear, and there are many important matters in Lingzhou that I need to handle personally, which cannot be delayed. So I plan to return to Lingzhou first, and as for Fuping, I would like to entrust it to Mr. Gongda."

  Xun Yu's eyebrows furrowed, his bright eyes flashing as he said, "Since General Li knows the situation is unclear, he should be even more cautious. If he returns to Lingzhou and the rebels attack, I fear we won't be able to react in time."

  "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Li Zhong chuckled and said: "Lingzhou is less than 100 miles away from Fuping, and we can arrive in half a day. The soldiers under my command are well-equipped and well-trained, and with the support of the city walls of Fuping, we can hold on for three to five days without any problem."

  Xun Yu was not slow to respond, and after a moment's thought, just as he was about to retort, Li Zhen spoke again: "Besides, isn't Lord Gongda here with us? With his strategic mind, even if Han Sui were to attack with all his might, I'm sure he wouldn't be able to do anything to you, sir."

  Xun Yu burst out laughing and pointed at Li Jing: "Commander Li, I think you have an ulterior motive!"

  Having said that, he stood up, brushed off his sleeves and left.

  Li Zhong looked at Xun Yu's back and couldn't help but say: "Mr. Xun, please forgive me, Li has his own unavoidable difficulties!"

  Helpless, indeed it is helpless.

  Li Zhong wants to take military action against the Xiongnu people, which is unreasonable and unjustifiable.

  But for the future, Li Zhong had no choice but to do so.

  He must also deceive Xun Yu because Xun Yu is not his man.

  However, this also made Xun Yu angry, which made Li Jing very disappointed. I suppose he had already missed the opportunity to meet with this great talent?

  Li Zhen remained silent for a while before regaining his composure and summoning Nuo Luo, instructing him to follow Xun Yu's orders. Of course, he also had to be clever and not let Xun Yu use him as a gun, turning him into cannon fodder.

  Having received his orders, Li Jing immediately led the three divisions of cavalry and 500 infantrymen out of Fuping, heading quickly towards Lingzhou.

  October has passed in the blink of an eye.

  Since then, Han Sui's rebel army has been fighting fiercely with the imperial court in the border area between Sanfu and Liangzhou. The rebels stationed on the borders of Anding and Beidi counties have remained quiet all along.

  The troops stationed in Fuping under Niu Jin's command were also motionless, and Xun Yu only ordered Niu to be on guard without taking any action.

  As winter approaches, the temperature in Hokkaido has dropped sharply.

  Every family wore enough thick clothes to defend against the cold.

  But to the soldiers under Li Zhong's command, the bitter cold was nothing. The constant temperature effect of their armor protected them well, keeping them energetic at all times.

  After about a month of accumulation, hundreds of qualified new recruits were produced among the new soldiers and were awarded armor by Li Jing. At present, except for the 1,000 infantry stationed in Fuping, Li Jing's cavalry has increased to 400 people, and his elite infantry has also increased to 800 people!

  That is to say, Li Zhen's expedition against the Xiongnu in Bielou can mobilize more than 1,300 troops.

  Four hundred light cavalry, eight hundred elite infantry, and also one hundred mountain wolf cavalry and thirty green armor heavy cavalry!

  In the first few days of December, Zhang Shan, Bai Lang and others seemed to have discussed it beforehand, coming and going, rushing to Li Zhong's home like a fair.

  But all of them were eager for battle, rubbing their fists and wiping their palms.

  They had long known that Li Zhong was preparing to take action against the Huns in the north during the winter month, so they were all abnormally excited. Especially Zhang Shan, who did not have a share in the previous expedition, and made him lose for a long time.

  Li Zheng however made them temporarily hold back.

  Li Zhong felt that the timing was not yet ripe and the preparations were not sufficient.

  Firstly, although the temperature has dropped a lot, it is still within the tolerance range of the Huns who have been living on the grasslands all year round.

  Secondly, the exclusive armor required for the Mountain Wolf Rider has not been fully crafted yet.

  Yes, the exclusive armor of the Mountain Wolf Riders.

  On the first day of Winter Moon, Li Zhēn strolled into a mysterious shop and bought this formula. It was only then that Li Zhēn realized that although they were all First-Class Armor, different War Riders had their own unique armor as well.

  The previous formula was not universal, but a special armor for the Green Armor Warrior. The war horse can be equipped because its body shape is not much different from that of the Green Armor Warrior.

  But if this armor is applied to the mountain wolf cavalry, it looks very out of place. Li Zhēng had also noticed it earlier, but didn't pay attention to it.

  Now that the reason is known, it will naturally be done with utmost care. The exclusive armor equipment of Qingjia War Rider was given to Shan Yue Lang Qi, although it had defense, but it hindered the agility of Shan Yue Lang Qi.

  Mountain Wolf Rider must also have its own exclusive armor set.

  Now that I have bought the drawings, next is to make it with all my might.

  On December 2nd of the winter month, Li Zhong saw the first batch of finished Wolf Rider armor.

  Unlike Qing Jia War Rider, Shan Yue Lang Qi belongs to light cavalry in the system default. So there is only one type of wolf rider armor.

  Overall, the Wolf Rider's armor belongs to light leather armor. However, this leather armor is different from that of the Qingjia Warrior, with a different color and shape.

  The most prominent of which are two aspects, one is the helmet. Leather

  The helmet is wolf-shaped and has a movable upper jaw that can be pulled down to block sand or branches, protecting the face.

  Another one is that on this armor, some metal rings are inlaid.

  During the galloping of the wolf riders, these metal rings collide with each other, producing a crisp sound. At the same time, due to the rapid movement, when the air flows through these metal rings, it emits a series of humming sounds.

  The two voices combined are simply eerie and terrifying, striking fear into one's heart.

  Fortunately, the helmet of the war horse had a noise-reducing effect; otherwise, the wolf cavalry's charge would have left their own side dizzy and deaf before even harming the enemy.

  The above is the equipment of the Wolf Rider, and the armor of the War Rider itself is very different from that of the Green Armor War Rider. The wolf rider's armor is divided into three parts: head, body, and limbs, which must be put on the wolf rider in order. After putting them on, each part has a metal ring buckle, which looks very compact, just like wearing a tight-fitting garment, unlike the Green Armor War Rider's armor, which is a single piece.

  Such armor guaranteed the mobility of wolf riders to the greatest extent.

  As for the weapons used by the mountain wolf cavalry, they were a four-foot-long, ten-odd-jin-heavy giant curved knife, also equipped with bows and arrows.

  With the first set of wolf-riding armor produced in just five days, under sufficient supply of raw materials, one hundred sets of wolf-riding armor were completely forged.

  Next is the replacement of equipment, where the wolf riders who were originally equipped with Qing Jia War Rider's armor will be replaced with exclusive armor.

  After the fifteenth of winter month, another batch of new recruits who passed the test were awarded equipment and armor, with nearly two hundred people.

  However, what makes Li Zhong a little regretful is that the formula for cultivating war riders has not been completed yet. Otherwise, after one cultivation, the combat power of the war riders will be even stronger!

  But Li Zhong couldn't wait any longer, it was about time.

  In a valley in the northern part of the Zhōngyuán grasslands, at the edge of a hilly area.

  Li Dian stood with his sword drawn.

  Riding on the green cloud, Li Zhong looked back at the several phalanxes behind him. Looking at the majestic soldiers, looking at their fine equipment, feeling their high morale, Li Zhong was spirited and heroic.

  "Where is the White Wolf?"

  "I will be back!"

  "The general orders you to command a hundred wolf cavalry as vanguard, break through the enemy's formation and clear the way for me!"

  "Ah!"

  "Where is Zhang Shan?"

  "I will be back!"

  "Order you to command four hundred war horses and light cavalry, coordinate with wolf riders, advance swiftly!"

  "Ah!"

  "I'll lead the vanguard of cavalry and infantry to follow closely behind you, keep in touch at all times, if there's any information, send it to me immediately via Blue Bird Courier!"

  "Roger!"

  "Then, all you generals, set off!"