Thief Emperor

Chapter 377 The war is coming!

If Li Yun's inference is correct, then whether he goes to attack Chuzhou or not, a subsequent major battle in Huainan Road is probably inevitable.

In that case, let's take advantage of their strategy.

The main purpose of leading troops to Chuzhou was to test the situation and see if there was any chance to gain some benefits.

By the way, get familiar with the terrain of Chuzhou.

After all, if Li Yun wants to develop in the future and control the entire area south of the Huai River, it is a process he must go through.

As for the training method Zhao Cheng mentioned...

In fact, this is a process that every warlord or entrepreneur must go through. Although it is a bit cruel, no matter what era, military groups must go through this process to grow.

First, recruit soldiers on a large scale, and then use war to train an elite force.

Of course, the premise of this method is that we cannot suffer defeat again and again. If we fail again and again, after a few defeats, the army will be dispersed, and it will be impossible to train elite troops.

At least there should be wins and losses.

The best case scenario, of course, is to win all the way and eventually train a truly strong army.

Although Li Yun's subordinates are now divided into four battalions, no matter which battalion it is, the backbones are mostly former members of the anti-theft team, including the four captains, and some are Li Yun's confidants. He still has the final say in the four battalions under his command.

Therefore, after Li Yun gave the order, Zhao Cheng quickly went to gather two thousand soldiers.

The next morning, the two thousand soldiers gathered outside Yangzhou City. Li Yun personally led the troops and set out from outside Yangzhou City, heading north.

After three days of running, they arrived and camped near Fanliang Lake in Gaoyou County.

When the army set up camp, the first tent to be set up was naturally Li Yun's tent. At this time, a map had been hung in Li Yun's tent, and he sat face to face with Zhao Cheng.

"After passing Fanliang Lake, we will reach the Chuzhou area."

Li Yun pointed at the rough map and said, "We have probably been targeted by the Pinglu Army since we left Yangzhou City. Once we advance a little further north, the Pinglu Army will most likely rush over and try to wipe out our army."

Zhao Cheng also looked at the map, and after thinking for a while, he whispered: "What the envoy means is..."

"Fuck him."

Li stared at the map in front of him and said in a hoarse voice: "We will be able to enter Chuzhou tomorrow. We can reach Anyi County in one day. Anyi County is still some distance away from Chuzhou."

"But it was enough for them to round us up."

Li Yun pointed at Anyi on the map and whispered, "Tomorrow, we will go all the way north. As soon as we see Anyi, we will turn around immediately."

"If they have already begun to surround us at that time, the encirclement will not be able to shrink in time, and we can then eat up the Pinglu Army that runs into us head-on!"

Zhao Cheng touched his chin and whispered, "Your Excellency's method sounds reasonable, but now, there is no way to be sure that they will surround us."

"If there is no ambush..."

"If there are no ambushes, just treat it as coming to Chuzhou and familiarize yourself with the terrain beforehand."

Li Yun said slowly: "I'm not a god. I can only try this kind of thing. It's impossible to be 100% sure."

Zhao Cheng nodded, and suddenly whispered: "It is also possible that the Pinglu Army may not think highly of our two thousand men."

"No more."

Li Yun stood up and said in a deep voice: "This trip is inherently risky, so we must prepare for the worst. Even if these two thousand people are all killed outside, the impact on Yangzhou will not be too great."

"If there are more people, it won't be enough to defend Yangzhou."

"Early tomorrow morning, scouts must be deployed twenty miles away."

“Then we improvise.”

Li Yun patted Zhao Cheng's shoulder gently and said with a smile: "After this battle, these two thousand people will be led by General Zhao and will not have to return to Yangzhou for the time being."

Zhao Cheng immediately understood and asked, "Your Excellency, do you want us to stay outside the city as an ambush?"

"It doesn't seem like it should be called an ambush."

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "It's more appropriate to call them guerrillas. Yangzhou is so big. As long as you keep moving, it's unlikely that the Pinglu Army will surround you. If Huainan Road is involved in a major war later, General Zhao's troops cruising outside Yangzhou City may be of great use."

"We need to learn how to fight a mobile war, so let's start with these two thousand people."

Ordinary warfare is relatively rigid. It is nothing more than two armies facing off. No matter whether they fight fairly or use some conspiracy or trickery, the winner advances and the loser retreats.

However, if you can master the essence of mobile warfare, your tactics will immediately become flexible and changeable.

However, Li Yun himself...actually, he did not have much experience in fighting such large-scale wars, and his command experience was insufficient. He had no confidence in replicating this kind of mobile warfare.

You can only fight and explore at the same time.

Zhao Cheng seemed to understand something. He lowered his head slightly and said, "Subordinate..."

"Understood!"

Li Yun looked at him and suddenly smiled: "If General Zhao can fully understand these three words, sooner or later he will be invincible in the world."

…………

The next day, Li Yun led his troops and continued to advance northward.

This time, he was extra careful, and sent scouts twenty or even thirty miles away. Once they found any disturbance, they would immediately prepare to turn around and break out. The army continued to advance until noon. When Li Yun was sitting under a big tree, eating the dry food prepared by the army, a captain from the scout camp rushed over, half-knelt in front of him, and bowed his head and said, "Envoy!"

"We found a lot of suspicious people, and they were not wearing armor, but they are probably soldiers of the Pinglu Army in disguise!"

Li Yun put down the rough cake in his hand, looked at him, and asked: "In which direction, how many people?"

"Both the left and right wings!"

The captain of the scout camp lowered his head and said, "The brothers in the scout camp alone have discovered about 100 to 200 people."

Li Yun stood up, patted the biscuit crumbs on his hands, and said in a deep voice: "Go and inform Captain Li first."

"Then, let the entire army stop and rest immediately!"

In just a moment, Zhao Cheng ran over to Li Yun and exclaimed, "Your Excellency is truly a master at foreseeing things!"

"It's not that I'm so predictable."

Li Yun paused and continued, "I have enough information."

His judgment on this matter was first based on his understanding of the Pinglu Army, especially General Zhou.

The rest is information from all over the place.

For example, the news of the Fanyang army's westward advance.

Li looked down at his hands and asked, "They want to surround our two thousand people, so they must have mobilized at least five thousand soldiers. Judging from the current situation, they should be encircling us from the left and right wings."

"We now have two choices. The first choice is to turn around and break out from behind. After all, at this time, the soldiers on their left and right wings have not yet joined together, and the rear is the weakest."

"The second option is to break out from the left and right wings and engage them head-on."

Zhao Cheng said in a deep voice: "Sir, we are now almost thirty miles into Chuzhou. My suggestion is that we retreat twenty miles."

"Then... head east again!"

"That's it."

Li Yun made the decision quickly.

Because they had made some preparations early on, the two thousand people quickly turned around and began to retreat. After they retreated about ten miles, scouts reported that clear enemy forces were spotted on the left and right wings.

At this time, there were not many enemies in the direction Li Yun was retreating, that is, the south.

Mr. Li waved his hand and led the two thousand people to charge towards the east!

At this time, in Anyi County, which was only thirty or forty miles away from Li Yun's troops, General Zhou Xu, wearing iron armor, stood on the city wall of the county, looking to the south.

Soon, Zhou Gui came running over, half-knelt in front of him, and said with his head down: "General, I don't know why Li Yun's troops turned around and left after entering Chuzhou for 20 or 30 miles!"

"Our pockets are not yet packed."

Zhou Gui paused and whispered, "I'm afraid we can't stop them from breaking out."

General Zhou touched his chin and said calmly, "I said that the methods those sour scholars came up with are useless and cannot be hidden from that kid surnamed Li."

"That boy is really smart."

He snorted and sneered, "Fortunately, I didn't pretend to be so cool in Qingzhou for this kid named Li!"

The Pinglu Army had been busy in Qingzhou for quite some time, pretending to be heading west, but this was certainly not intended for Li Yun to see.

Li Yun is not qualified yet.

General Zhou had been busy for a long time, and from the very beginning he had done this for the Fanyang Army to see, so General Zhou had put a lot of thought into it.

As for deceiving Li Yun, it was just a side job.

Now, most of the main forces of the Fanyang Army have moved westward, and General Zhou Xu actually has nothing to worry about anymore!

Standing on the city wall of Anyi County, the general put his hands behind his back and said slowly: "Pass my order to Gongsun Hao, Luo Zhen, and..."

"And Shen Ye."

"Immediately lead the troops south and march into Yangzhou!"

Zhou Gui was stunned.

These three men are deputy generals of the Pinglu Army, each leading a large number of troops. Together with the army led by the general himself, the number of people is probably close to 20,000!

It seems that the general is determined to take Yangzhou...

wrong.

Zhou Gui looked up at General Zhou and suddenly realized something.

Our own general may have a bigger goal.

Thinking of this, he quickly lowered his head and clasped his fists.

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)