Jiuxi

Chapter 752: 750 [One Sword Lights Up a Million Masters]

The east gate of Taikang City.

Nearly 20,000 main forces of the Jingzhou Army marched out in formation.

The Jing army discovered this change in time, but their offensive focus today was on the battlefield in the southeast, and they did not launch an offensive against Taikang City. It was obviously a pipe dream to want to stop the Qi army from leaving the city.

The army was not marching very fast, as if it was intentionally giving Jing's army enough time to react accurately.

In the central army, Liu Shouguang and Fan Wendi, wearing armor, rode their horses side by side.

"Perhaps Wu Yanshu is still planning how to fight back at this time."

Fan Wending spoke in a steady tone, raised his head to look at the sunlight above his head, and said: "This person has a tough and tenacious character, and will never give in easily."

Liu Shouguang was touched and nodded, saying, "This is why I admire the Duke of Shanyang. He has never fought with Wu Yanshu before, and the other party is not as famous as Qing Yugong. He has been training and leading troops in the northern part of Jing State. However, the Duke of Shanyang seems to be his close friend and knows his thoughts very well."

His voice was not loud, and the guards beside him tactfully kept a slight distance from him, so his words were very straightforward.

Fan Wendi showed a little admiration, thinking of the story Li Tianrun had told him, and said slowly: "It is said that Lord Lu would have people collect information about the enemy's generals before every battle, from battlefield experience to trivial matters, almost every detail, to find out as much information as possible about the enemy. Some people in the capital envy Lord Lu's achievements, but they never thought that no one in this world can succeed easily, and it must have taken unimaginable hard work behind the scenes."

Liu Shouguang was in a relatively calm mood at the moment, no longer as anxious as he had been some time ago, because Lu Chen fulfilled his promise and personally led the army to the battlefield at the critical moment.

Hearing Fan Wending's undisguised praise, Liu Shouguang said sincerely: "His merits are more than these. Specifically speaking, when it comes to the turning point of this battle, the Duke of Shanyang's ability to adjust is also the best in the world."

Fan Wending said with great interest, "I'd like to hear more about it."

Liu Shouguang's mind flashed upon the changes that had taken place over the past six months, the successive victories in the early days of the Northern Expedition, the bolt from the blue of the defeat at Kaocheng, the numerous sufferings that followed, and the sense of relief now. In such a short period of time, he felt almost all the mixed feelings of a person's life.

Looking back, he said with a sigh: "After the defeat at Kaocheng, the Jing army invaded the border of Jingzhou on a large scale. At that time, the Duke of Shanyang asked me to defend Taikang to the death, while he led the troops to attack Yaoshan Pass and then continued to advance to Heluo. He didn't want to be led by Wu Yanshu, and he was also worried that Wu Yanshu was using the safety of Jingzhou to lure the Dingzhou army into an ambush. Afterwards, our cavalry confirmed this in the northeast of Jingzhou. Of the 100,000 reinforcements sent by the Emperor of Jing, 60,000 were brought to the west by Wu Yanshu, and the remaining 40,000 were stationed in the rear, waiting for the Dingzhou army to break in and then close the gates to kill them."

"If I were in the position of the Duke of Shanyang, I might continue to lead the troops to attack Heluo. Perhaps Wu Yanshu thought so too. Especially after the Dingzhou army captured Yaoshan Pass, Wu Yanshu confirmed this wrong judgment and transferred all the troops in his hands to the outskirts of Taikang and Yongqiu, leaving only a small number of troops to garrison in the east. In the past few months, the Jing army has taken advantage of the western front and swept more than a dozen cities, leaving Taikang and Yongqiu isolated and helpless."

"This is the change that the Duke of Shanyang was waiting for. He decisively changed his strategy, gave up on his plan to seize Heluo City, and led his troops south for thousands of miles in time. That's why he had the opportunity to encircle and kill tens of thousands of Jing troops in the southeast battlefield today."

Liu Shouguang couldn't help but look at him with admiration.

Fan Wendi said with emotion: "It sounds easy, but only when you are in the situation do you know how difficult it is to make such a decision."

Liu Shouguang smiled slightly, raised his eyes to the northeast and looked at the vaguely visible Jingjun camp, and said leisurely: "So now I am very curious about what decision Wu Yanshu will make."

While the two were talking, the main force of the Jingzhou Army had already formed a battle formation under Taikang City.

"Push forward."

Liu Shouguang gave the order with high spirits, which was a complete change from the depression and melancholy of the past few months.

The army then moved forward slowly, still as calmly as before, making it clear that they wanted to put Jing's army in a dilemma.

Inside the commander's tent at the Jing army camp, Wu Yanshu's face turned pale. The other generals looked at the centurion who had reported the matter in a panic, and were speechless for a moment.

Liu Shouguang's forbearance over the past two months finally paid off.

He watched helplessly as the Jing army advanced across the country, successively capturing towns outside Yongqiu. Even until the Jing army attacked Bai County, he still had no plans to rescue them.

Later, Jing's army captured two military camps around Taikang and even almost took the auxiliary city in the southeast, but Liu Shouguang remained indifferent.

This is certainly not because he is afraid of death, but because he wants to preserve the strength of the main force of the Jingzhou Army and do his best at the critical moment.

This is the moment.

If Wu Yanshu still refused to give up his unrealistic fantasy and wanted to start a decisive battle with the Qi army reinforcements in the east of Taikang, then the main force of the Jingzhou army led by Liu Shouguang would be able to deal a fatal blow to the Jing army from the flank.

"Lu Chen gave me two cups of poison."

Wu Yanshu spoke expressionlessly, his chest rising and falling more and more obviously.

The generals had now understood the current situation, and almost everyone had an ugly look on their faces.

The Jing army now has only two choices. One is to trust in their elite combat power and use a small number of troops to block the main force of the Jingzhou army from leaving the city, and then gather heavy troops to fight against the troops brought by Lu Chen and strive to win on the front battlefield.

The second is to strengthen the flank defense to prevent the main force of the Jingzhou army from finding a breakthrough, but this means that Wuyan Shu cannot give Guyu enough support, and the situation of the 50,000 troops on the southeast battlefield will be very dangerous.

It is precisely because of the situation that Wu Yanshu said that these were two cups of poison, and it all depended on whether he dared to gamble.

Should he resign himself to his fate and choose the cup with less poison, or gamble everything and fight for his life with Lu Chen?

Wu Yanshu was struggling with his inner struggle and all the other generals were silent.

If it were any other enemy, Wu Yanshu and his generals would naturally not be afraid. After all, the Jing army had stockpiled more than 100,000 soldiers and horses on this battlefield and had not suffered much loss so far. They still had enough confidence to fight a decisive battle with the enemy.

The 50,000 troops led by Guiyou would not collapse suddenly. Even if Wuyan Shu needed to divide his troops to deal with the main force of the Jingzhou Army under Liu Shouguang, he could at least send out 40,000 to 50,000 troops to join Guiyou's troops, including powerful weapons such as the Tiger and Leopard Camp.

The problem was that Lu Chen traveled thousands of miles to the western front, which made everyone in the tent nervous.

As the saying goes, a man's reputation is like a tree's shadow. There is no need to elaborate on Lu Chen's sharp tactics on the battlefield. What is more crucial is that Wu Yanshu currently lacks sufficient and clear intelligence.

In addition to the Dingbei Army, how many troops does Lu Chen have under his command?

If the other side makes a desperate move and brings all the main forces of the Dingzhou Army, plus the reinforcements from Jingzhou that arrived earlier, the other side will most likely have an advantage in terms of military strength.

The generals felt that the days passed by were like years. Fortunately, Wu Yanshu did not let them wait too long, and now Wu Yanshu could not keep thinking. He showed a slightly dejected look on his face, and then said to Ni Panggu and Agu: "Each of you will lead 10,000 people to support Guiyou. Remember not to fight too long, and do not be fooled by the illusion set up by Lu Chen. Just return to the camp safely."

The two men said in unison: "We obey your orders!"

Then he immediately strode out of the general's tent.

The others secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was not until this moment that they suddenly realized that Wu Yanshu chose not to fight with Lu Chen. Their first reaction was not disappointment, but a kind of unspeakable relief.

Nipangu led 10,000 infantrymen and Agu led 10,000 light cavalry. They left the Jing army camp at the same time and rushed rapidly to the southeast.

At the same time, Wu Yanshu continued to deploy troops to block the main force of the Jingzhou Army coming out of Taikang City.

On the southeast battlefield, the 50,000 Jing troops gradually fell into a bitter battle.

Li Chengen led the Dingbei cavalry to intercept their retreat, Qiu Jixun and others led the three armies of Jingzhou to bite their tails desperately, and the Dingzhou troops brought by Lu Chen joined the battlefield one after another, besieging the Jing army in the middle.

To the west was the Zhenbei Army, to the east was the Panlong Army, and part of the Seven Stars Army joined forces with the three armies of Jingzhou to launch a fierce attack on the more than 10,000 elite troops sent by Guyu to cover their retreat.

Under the central army's flag, Lu Chen stood on the lookout vehicle observing the battlefield situation, while Huo Zhen, Liu Yuan and others stood behind him.

"My Lord, Commander Liu has led his troops out of the city!"

A scout leader came on horseback to report.

Lu Chen nodded.

Not long after, another scout came galloping over on horseback, and shouted from afar: "My lord, the enemy camp is divided into two groups. One group is forming a battle array outside Taikang City, and the other group is heading here!"

Lu Chen was silent for a moment, then said with a smile: "Wu Yanshu still doesn't dare to take a gamble."

Huo Zhen said with admiration: "When the Duke showed up at the western battlefield with his troops, Wu Yanshu was already in a state of panic. He obviously couldn't have guessed that the Duke had only brought 50,000 troops. Even if all the Jingzhou troops here were added, they probably wouldn't be as many as the Jing army."

Lu Chen said with a hint of regret: "The journey is too long, and our army does not have enough time to prepare. In addition, the strength of each army is uneven, so there must be a priority order."

Of course he wanted to bring all the Dingzhou troops and directly strangle the Jing army led by Wu Yanshu in one battle, but the long journey was not easy, and the armies set out from different places and the distances varied. Only these few troops could maintain their combat effectiveness while advancing quickly, and the rest, such as the Feiyun Army and the Guangling Army, were on the way.

However, thanks to his early preparations, Liu Shouguang gave Wu Yanshu enough shock, and the outcome of this battle was already determined.

After observing for a while, Lu Chen raised his head slightly and said, "The Jing army is in chaos. Tell Li Chengen to tell the Dingbei army to retreat eastwards and leave a way out. The Jing army will surely flee north in panic. Then tell the whole army to chase them northwards, but not more than ten miles. Once you hear the horn, you must stop immediately!"

"Follow the order!"

The heralds rushed off.

As the sound of the horn resounded between heaven and earth, the Qi army's offensive suddenly became fierce.

When Agu led the Jing army's 10,000 light cavalry to rush over almost frantically, Li Chengen took the opportunity to lead the Dingbei army to make way for the retreat. Seeing this, Guyu finally found a glimmer of hope and immediately retreated northward with his subordinates.

The Qi army's nearly 80,000 elite soldiers and generals took advantage of the situation and attacked!

The sound of killing was like the tide, and blood was flowing like a flood.

Although this battle lasted less than two hours, the corpses left behind by Jing's army seemed endless.

"Wan Sheng!"

"Wan Sheng!"

"Wan Sheng!"

The cheers of the men of Da Qi reached the sky.

In the commander's tent of the Jing army camp, when Wu Yanshu heard that Ni Panggu and Agu had successfully brought back the troops led by Guyuk, before he could relax, he heard the report from the scouts that the Qi army did not pursue them relentlessly, but retreated after chasing them for a few miles.

Upon hearing the news, Wu Yanshu was stunned.

The generals looked at him in confusion.

Wu Yanshu stared blankly ahead, and a young man's smiling face seemed to appear in his sight.

Although he had never seen it before, he knew it was Lu Chen's face.

"Report! Report to the garrison, the Southern Qi Jingzhou Army has begun to retreat to Taikang City!"

While others might not have reacted yet, Wu Yanshu understood everything in an instant.

"Report! Reporting to the rear guard, General Guiyou has led his troops back to the camp. Our army... our army has suffered heavy losses, and we are still counting the casualties."

"puff!"

Wu Yanshu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The panicked shouts of his generals seemed to ring in his ears.

He fell backwards on his back and uttered two words through gritted teeth.

"Lu Chen!"

(End of this chapter)