Thief Emperor

Chapter 453: One battle determines Jiangbei!

In the battle of Liuhe Ferry, although neither side has put all their troops into it, the forces currently put in are almost equal.

In other words, this was a large-scale war involving tens of thousands of people!
The entire battle line was stretched out horizontally for more than ten miles, but even so, the Pinglu Army was obviously at a disadvantage. Many small battlefields had been defeated by Su Sheng's troops, and the army as a whole was retreating step by step.

This is why Gongsun Hao said that Li Yun has already gained power.

These Jiangnan soldiers, whether in terms of military quality, training level, morale on the battlefield, etc., their performance in all aspects is actually no worse than that of the Pinglu Army, and in some aspects, they are even better.

Zhou Xu looked back at Gongsun Hao behind him, then turned his gaze back to the battlefield and sighed silently: "You are right, it really made this young man."

Last year, Zhou Xu didn't take Li Yun seriously. At that time, his main opponent was the Fanyang Army in the north, and even other military governors in the world. He only didn't take Li Yun in the south of the Yangtze River seriously. In Zhou Xu's eyes, Li Yun at that time was just a nouveau riche and an arrogant junior.

But now, the cruel facts were before him.

It took Li Yun more than a year to add tens of thousands of troops, but the overall combat effectiveness of these new troops did not weaken, and they were still able to confront the Pinglu Army head-on without losing the upper hand.

Gongsun Hao looked at the battlefield, then lowered his head slightly and said, "General, do you want more troops?"

Zhou Xu shook his head slightly and said, "It's hard to get off the tiger. It's hard to get off the tiger."

Previously, Zhou Xu's target was Huainan Road and the entire Jiangnan Road, but now he wants to take Yangzhou, and his target is no longer Jiangnan Road. He just wants to occupy the entire Huainan Road and "divide the river and rule" with Li Yun.

Obviously, the young man from the south did not agree.

Gongsun Hao thought for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "General, there are only two options now. The first option is to give up Yangzhou, and we will still defend the other prefectures and counties in Huainan Road."

Zhou Xu groaned: "If this happens, where will my face be?"

He was the Jiedushi of Pinglu, Zibo and Qingzhou, and had just launched an operation in Jiangbei. As soon as Li Yun's troops arrived, he immediately began to retreat. He really lost all his face.

"Then choose the second path."

Gongsun Hao whispered, "Li Yun has made rapid progress in the past two years, but not as fast as the general did last year. If the general can make up his mind, he can attack him with all his strength and win in one battle!"

In the past year, not only has Li Yun's strength expanded, but General Zhou's strength has also expanded.

The original strength of the Pinglu Army was 50,000 as stipulated by the court, but in the past year, General Zhou had occupied at least 20 states and counties and began to recruit soldiers on a large scale.

His way of conscription is very different from Li Yun's. He forced conscriptions into the army in the capacity of an official. Now the actual strength of the Pinglu Army has more than doubled.

In other words, the number of Pinglu troops is definitely over 100,000, or even more.

Gongsun Hao’s idea was very simple. He would simply transfer all the troops to Jiangbei, decide the outcome in one battle, and win the war completely!

Zhou Xu put his hands behind his back and said silently: "Most of our newly recruited soldiers have been stationed in various states and counties. Moreover, most of them are new soldiers. Even if they are all transferred here, their use... may not be as great as you think."

Having said that, his gaze once again turned towards the Liuhe Ferry battlefield.

At this time, the two sides had been fighting for more than an hour. Su Sheng's troops had already gained a foothold on the Liuhe Ferry battlefield and began to build their own positions.

Zhou Xu stared at the battlefield for a long time, then narrowed his eyes and said, "These Jiangnan soldiers should have come from Luzhou. Their battle line is too long. If we can cut off their food supply, we may be able to force these Jiangnan soldiers back to Jiangnan."

Gongsun Hao thought about it and still shook his head and said, "General, with so many of them, if they fight hard, it won't be difficult to seize a section of the riverbank. They can directly ship in food from Jinling in the south of the Yangtze River. There is no need to go by land."

General Zhou rubbed his temples in annoyance, and finally made up his mind. He said in a deep voice: "Then we will fight them to the end!"

"The weak ones are not on our side after all, Gongsun."

Gongsun Hao bowed his head and said, "I am here!"

"You lead the troops and confront them head-on. I will mobilize all the available troops in Huainan Road and send them all to the battlefield of Liuhe!"

"Half a month, half a month."

General Zhou took a deep breath and said slowly, "Let's fight this guy to the bitter end!"

Zhou Xu's character is actually very calm, that is to say, when he leads the troops, he basically will not do anything like a gambler. But this time, he had to gamble.

In General Zhou's opinion, Li Yuntai didn't know how to advance or retreat.

Li Yun has already taken advantage in Luzhou, so in Yangzhou, Li Yun should take a step back and give up Yangzhou, so that everyone can live in peace and make money.

But Li Yun refused to retreat. Just after Yangzhou was besieged for a month, Li Yun led his troops directly to Jiangdong. He was not afraid at all. In the past few days, he forced General Zhou into a difficult situation. If not for anything else, even if it was just for the Pinglu Army and for the face of his Zhou family, he would fight with Li Yun!
In half a month, the Pinglu Army could gather at least 40,000 to 50,000 troops in Liuhe County. Even if they could not completely annihilate Li Yun's troops, they could at least cripple them and drive them back to Jiangnan. But the risk was that if they did not defeat Li Yun's troops quickly, the defenders in Yangzhou City and other troops in Jiangnan would probably come to support them soon.

By then, it will be a real head-on fight, with no room for maneuver at all.

General Zhou didn't like this feeling of having no room for maneuver, but there was nothing he could do about it, having come to this point and being in his position.

There is no way to lose face and step back.

This is often the case with big shots. Often, taking a step back will open up a new world. However, for the sake of one's own face, one must harden their hearts and fight!
Gongsun Hao bowed his head deeply and said, "I obey your command!"

…………

At ten o'clock in the evening, the battle at Liuhe Ferry came to an end.

However, neither side occupied Liuhe Ferry, but each retreated ten miles and confronted each other twenty miles apart.

Li Yun and Yang Xi and his group arrived at the military camp. Accompanied by Su Sheng, they visited the wounded soldiers. Then, Li Yun and Su Sheng sat down in the general's tent.

Yang Xi quickly served the two of them wine and food.

The two men sat down in the general's tent. Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "Erlang, did we fight well today?"

"Half of my 5,000 men are new recruits. We fought all day and there wasn't a single coward among them."

Li Yun poured him a glass of wine and said, "I saw it all. However, few people from the Pinglu Army retreated, and the battle was a close one."

After the two clinked glasses, Li Yun asked, "How many casualties were there today?"

"Six or seven hundred people."

Su Sheng said slowly: "These are normal casualties."

When two armies of about 5,000 people collide with each other, they definitely don't just rush forward all at once. In fact, the specific use of troops on the battlefield can be precise to the brigade, battalion, and squad.

Therefore, even if the two sides were in full contact for a whole day, the casualties would not be particularly serious.

After all, in a military confrontation of this scale in this world, it is quite normal for the two sides to hold out for several months or even a year or two.

Li Yun nodded and looked at Su Sheng: "How are you going to fight tomorrow?"

Su Sheng raised his head and took a sip of wine, then said, "The casualties of the Pinglu Army today are at least over a thousand. Our army actually took advantage of them. Since we took advantage, we should continue to fight them here in Liuhe."

He looked at Li Yun with a burning gaze and said, "I still want to capture Liuhe Ferry and win that treasure!"

Li Yun laughed dumbly, took out the crystal telescope from his arms, handed it to Su Sheng, and said, "This one is for Brother Su."

Su Sheng waved his hand and said with a smile: "We agreed to take Liuhe Ferry first, and I'll keep my word!"

The two of them clinked glasses, but since there was a battle the next day, neither of them drank much.

The next day, Li Yun got up from bed before dawn, put on his clothes and armor, and went to the battlefield to watch the battle.

The battle went quite smoothly that day, and the Pinglu Army was defeated one after another. By the afternoon, Liuhe Ferry was basically under the control of Su Sheng.

It was also at this time that Meng Hai walked into the army and found Li Yun. He said something in Li Yun's ear. Li Yun's face changed slightly, so he came to the front battlefield and found Su Sheng who was commanding the battle.

"Brother Su, I have to go back to Liuhe County for something urgent. I'll leave the Liuhe Ferry to you."

Li Yun whispered to him: "If the time is right, you can use those new gadgets I gave you!"

"Also, although Liuhe Ferry is important, it is not as important as human lives. When we fight, what matters is the power to kill the enemy. If the war requires, we can temporarily abandon Liuhe Ferry."

Su Sheng nodded one by one, then looked at Li Yun and asked, "Envoy, has something happened?"

Li Yun nodded slowly, expressionless.

"The entire Pinglu Army of Huainan Road."

“Almost all of them are moving.”

(End of this chapter)