Thief Emperor

Chapter 450: The Battle of Jiangbei!

Outside Yangzhou City, in the general's tent, Zhou Chang ran in. He bowed his head and clasped his fists to his father, who was dressed in a robe, and said, "Dad, something happened!"

General Zhou looked up at him and sighed silently: "Liuhe Ferry has been occupied?"

Liuhe Ferry is not too far from Yangzhou, so General Zhou knew about the previous war, and it was he who gave the order to mobilize nearby troops to provide emergency support to Liuhe Ferry.

Now, his reinforcements are still on the way to support Liuhe Ferry.

Zhou Chang looked at his father and whispered, "Dad, Liuhe Ferry was a feint. Those Jiangnan soldiers first feinted to attack Liuhe Ferry, attracted nearby troops, and then used their main force to attack Liuhe County!"

"Thousands of soldiers and horses attacked Liuhe County for several hours, and they attacked at the cost of their lives. Now Liuhe County has fallen into the hands of the enemy."

When he said this, he suddenly saw his father's expression, which seemed to be a little strange. The young general was a little scared and quickly changed the subject, saying, "That Li Yun is really cunning."

"Our spies have been keeping an eye on Jinling, Dantu and Qiantang. There has been no major movement in Li Yun's three garrisons, and there have been no ships crossing the river. But suddenly, an army of several thousand people appeared in the north of the river."

General Zhou closed his eyes and exhaled: "From Luzhou."

Zhou Chang was startled, then clenched his fist and said, "This Li guy is really bold. There are many of our troops stationed in the prefectures near Luzhou. His Luzhou is empty. Isn't he afraid that our army will occupy Luzhou and hold his main force in the south of the Yangtze River, and trap his reckless army to death in the north of the Yangtze River?"

"What's the point of saying this now?"

Zhou Xu glanced at his son, slammed the table hard, and shouted angrily: "Get out, let Gongsun Hao come to see me."

Zhou Chang was a little unconvinced and looked at his father: "Dad, it was you who gave the order to dispatch troops from Liuhe County to rescue Liuhe Ferry. This matter cannot be blamed on your son, right?"

General Zhou stood up suddenly, slammed the table fiercely, and cursed: "The Liuhe Ferry leads directly to Jinling. If they occupy the Liuhe Ferry, the ships in Jinling will be able to travel freely. Tell me, should we save the Liuhe Ferry?"

"Still talking to me about feint attack!"

General Zhou was furious and cursed, "Both places are real attacks. If we save Liuhe Ferry, Liuhe County will be lost. If we defend Liuhe County, they will definitely take over Liuhe Ferry and bring in reinforcements from Jiangnan across the river!"

"You fool."

General Zhou scolded his son bitterly, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Get out! Get out right now!"

Zhou Chang knew that he was in the wrong, but he was young and hot-tempered after all, so he said nothing, gritted his teeth, turned around and left.

Soon, Gongsun Hao, the deputy general of the Pinglu Army, arrived at General Zhou's tent. After the two had a secret conversation for a long time, Gongsun Hao left the tent and led 5,000 elite soldiers to Liuhe County.

On the other side, Li Yun led everyone to enter Liuhe County.

Chen Da met him at the county gate. After seeing Li Yun, Chen Da stepped forward, half-knelt on the ground, bowed his head and said: "I am incompetent and have put you in danger. Please punish me!"

Li Yun helped him up, looked up at the county town in front of him, and said with a smile: "If you can capture Liuhe County, everything will be fine. If you can't take it down, I will really punish you."

Chen Da followed behind Li Yun, feeling a little embarrassed, and lowered his head and said, "There were more than 2,000 Pinglu troops stationed in Liuhe County. It was you who attracted most of the troops. Otherwise, I would never have been able to capture this county. Rather than saying that I captured Liuhe County, I should say that you, the envoy, captured Liuhe County."

Li Yun was looking at the city wall of the county at the moment. Hearing this, he turned around and looked at Chen Da, and said with a smile: "Who did you learn the skill of flattering from, kid?"

Chen Da said seriously: "I am just telling the truth."

Li Yun walked into the county town with his hands behind his back and said slowly: "Although the city wall is not low, it is not high either. Fortunately, the city wall is still intact. However, if the Pinglu Army turns around and attacks, I am afraid it will be another tough battle."

"Yes."

Chen Da nodded and said, "I have also seen this. However, General Su's reinforcements should be on their way. It is not easy for me to defend Liuhe County, but it will not be difficult to hold on for a while."

Li Yun hummed, stretched his waist, patted Chen Da on the shoulder and said, "It will probably take at least four or five days for General Su's subordinates and the main force to come over. During these four or five days, you have to defend Liuhe County."

"I'm still very sleepy now. I'll leave the city and the outside world to you."

Chen Da was a little surprised. He looked up at Li Yun and saw that the latter looked calm. Chen Da immediately understood what Li Yun meant.

The envoy is training himself.

Chen Da bowed his head slightly and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I will definitely protect Liuhe County and do what I should do."

Li Yun smiled and said, "If the battle in Jiangbei goes well, I will definitely use you."

Chen Da was excited and bowed his head slightly: "I will do my best!"

……

Li Yun really needed to rest. He had been fighting outside the city for a day and a night, but he only slept for two or three hours before being woken up by Zhou Bi. He had not rested yet.

However, even so, he still dealt with the placement and treatment of the wounded first. After all the wounded were arranged, he looked through some important documents before falling asleep. As for the military affairs and other affairs of Liuhe County, he really handed them all over to Chen Da and did not ask about them at all.

At this stage in his life, one thing he must learn is to delegate power.

We should try to delegate power and give it to the people below us. Otherwise, if we do everything ourselves, we will be exhausted to death before we achieve anything.

Nowadays, Li Yun is trying to cultivate some subordinates who are worthy of his delegation of power, while maintaining a delicate balance.

The delicate balance lies in delegating power to others while keeping it firmly in one's own hands.

Every entrepreneurial leader must go through this process, and a qualified entrepreneurial leader must be able to wield power flexibly.

Li Yun slept for a whole half day. He woke up when it was dark. When he woke up, he heard some noise in the room and a knock on the door: "Envoy!"

This is not Zhou Bi's voice, but Meng Hai's voice.

Li Yun sat up from the bed. He felt sleepy after waking up, so he nodded and said, "Come in."

Meng Hai first opened the door, then turned around and brought a basin of hot water. He walked in, put the hot water on the table in the room, and said, "Envoy, you just woke up, wash your face."

Li Yun glanced at the basin of hot water and said with a smile, "How clever."

Meng Hai quickly said, "This is my respect and admiration for you, my Lord. I have no ulterior motives at all."

Li Yun stood up, washed his face, then looked at him and asked, "When did you arrive?"

"afternoon."

Meng Hai stood beside Li Yun, lowered his head slightly and said, "I saw that the envoy was resting, so I didn't disturb him."

He paused and continued, "The Pinglu Army has sent a large force, which is on its way to Liuhe County. It is estimated that they will arrive tomorrow, with a total of about 5,000 people."

Li Yun nodded, not surprised. He put down the towel to wipe his face and asked, "How many people are there in the Pinglu Army near Yangzhou City?"

"Previously, there were about 30,000 people, but after sending out this group of people, there are only about 20,000 left."

Li Yun walked to the door of the room and called Zhou Bi. Zhou Bi quickly trotted over. Li Yun looked at him, touched his belly and said, "I'm starving. Bring me some food."

Zhou Bi nodded quickly and went downstairs to prepare wine and food for Li Yun.

At this time, Li Yun turned around, looked at Meng Hai, and asked, "What's the situation in Yangzhou City?"

"It's generally fine, but... there are occasional disturbances, probably caused by some of the Pinglu Army's personnel stationed in the city."

"However, General Zhao handled the situation promptly and everything was settled down quickly. Nothing went wrong and there is still enough food in the city."

"correct."

Meng Hai thought of something and said with his head down, "General Zhao asked Jiusi to bring a message to you, the envoy. General Zhao said that there is no need to rush the battle in Jiangbei this time. We can slowly grind with the Pinglu Army. Yangzhou can still hold out for a long time."

Li Yun put his hands behind his back, thought for a while, and shook his head slightly, saying, "At this time, Jiangbei is not only home to us and the Pinglu Army, but also many people who are watching this battlefield. If it keeps dragging on, no one knows whether those watching will end up like this."

Li Shijun narrowed his eyes and said softly, "At this point, there is no need to beat around the bush. I want to fight this battle in Jiangbei cleanly and beautifully."

"The Pinglu Army has occupied too much territory, and it has also diverted a lot of their troops, just in the Yangzhou area."

Li Yun knocked on the table lightly.

"My people are not much less than theirs."

"Meng Hai."

Meng Hai lowered his head quickly: "I'm here."

"Inform General Su and have him come to Liuhe County as quickly as possible to provide support."

"Tell him that a big battle is waiting for him."

Meng Hai lowered his head slightly.

"Yes, I will do it now!"

(End of this chapter)