Thief Emperor

Chapter 617: Encirclement of Chuzhou
After daybreak, Li Yun stood by the Huai River, watching the Pinglu Army ships retreating on the river, with no expression on his face.

He knew that he had only repelled the Pinglu Army in this small area. The long Huai River defense line in Chuzhou could not be defended by his few thousand men. More and more Pinglu Army would definitely cross the Huai River.

And when the Pinglu Army reached a certain size, the defenders could no longer linger on the banks of the Huai River, otherwise they would be grabbed by the Pinglu Army and suffer heavy casualties.

However, with the advantage of the Huai River, before withdrawing to Chuzhou, we must rely on the Huai River to consume the manpower of the Pinglu Army as much as possible.

This will not only be beneficial to the subsequent battle situation, but also make it more realistic so that Zhou Xu will not have any suspicion.

"Yang Xi."

Li Yun called out, and Yang Xi quickly ran over, bowed his head and saluted Li Yun, saying, "Take the seat!"

"How many casualties did the guard camp suffer?"

"More than fifty brothers were killed in the battle, and one or two hundred were injured."

Li Yun nodded silently and didn't ask any more questions.

Having been in many battles, he was accustomed to the separation of life and death, and in this small-scale encounter, they gained a lot, killing at least more than 400 enemies.

The reason for such casualties was partly because Li Yun's guard battalion were all elite troops selected from the Jiangdong Army, but the more important reason was that Li Yun's level of combat effectiveness was too effective in such a small encounter.

Not only can it boost the morale of one's own side, but it can also deal a huge blow to the morale of the enemy.

"Be my personal guard."

Mr. Li sighed: "You are also unlucky."

Generally speaking, when it comes to Li Yun's level, his personal guards will usually not directly participate in the war, unless their side suffers a great defeat and the central army tent is broken into by the enemy, then the guard camp will have a chance to fight the enemy head-on.

At other times, he performs a bodyguard-like job, serving as the coach's last layer of armor.

But the commander Li Yun was too eccentric. Even at his current level, he would occasionally charge into the battle line himself, so his guard battalion had to follow him. This meant that serving as Li Yun's personal guard was still subject to a huge risk of casualties.

As a result, this guard camp, which was originally supposed to be a place for some "young people" in Jiangdong to gain experience, has now become almost the most elite captain camp in the Jiangdong army.

Yang Xi clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty has experienced far more dangers than us personal guards. Anyone in the guard camp who has a little conscience will never blame you."

Li Yun did not respond, but just looked up at the sky and said slowly: "According to the time, a considerable number of Pinglu troops should have crossed the river. You take 200 people on horseback and look along the Huai River. If you see more than 500 Pinglu troops gathering, fire the signal arrows immediately."

"Let the rest of the brothers retreat back to Chuzhou City."

Yang Xi did not dare to delay. After clasping his fists towards Li Yun, he turned around and took a group of his men, mounted their horses, and began to patrol along the Huai River.

After he left, Li Yun took a look at the battlefield, then looked at the remaining soldiers in the guard camp and shouted, "Pick up the bodies of the fallen brothers and put them on the horses! For the wounded, those who are not seriously injured can mount the horses by themselves, and those who can't move can use horses to pull the carts!"

"Let's go back to Chuzhou City!"

At this moment, the fallen guards had been wrapped in cloth, and as for the injured, most of them were able to move. After Li Yun gave the order, these people quickly took action.

Because of the configuration of the guard camp, almost everyone was equipped with a horse, so it was relatively easy to move the wounded. After only about half an hour, all the wounded soldiers and corpses were collected, and the group began to return to Chuzhou City.

Just a moment after Li Yun and others left the south bank of the Huai River, the sound of an arrow was heard in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, every captain and lieutenant camp of the Jiangdong Army along the Huai River shot flaring arrows into the sky, and the sounds of flaring arrows rose one after another.

This means that the Pinglu Army has basically gained a foothold on the south bank of the Huai River, and it also means that the Jiangdong Army is about to retreat.

By evening, all the garrisons along the Huai River withdrew to Chuzhou City. Li Yun arranged personnel to accommodate the wounded and bury the bodies.

When it was completely dark, Captain Feng Qi came to Li Yun, bowed his head and saluted, "Sir, I left two scouts from the Lieutenant's Battalion outside the city. They just reported that by now, it is estimated that six or seven thousand Pinglu troops have crossed the Huai River."

"The Pinglu Army is still crossing the river in an endless stream."

When the number of troops reaches a certain size, crossing the river becomes quite slow, especially when there is no bridge and the crossing depends entirely on boats. If the Pinglu Army wants to move its main force to the south bank, it will take at least several days.

After all, not only soldiers need to be transported, but also corresponding food and supplies.

Li Yun nodded, indicating that he understood. He asked, "How many casualties did we suffer in blocking the Huai River?"

"More than 400 people." Feng Qi lowered his head and said, "The enemy landed on a large scale. We heard the signal arrows and immediately retreated. The Pinglu troops were only focused on consolidating their positions on the south bank and did not chase us."

At this point, Feng Qi smiled and said, "Sir, although I don't know how many Pinglu soldiers we killed, it must be quite a lot. We got a big advantage this time."

With the geographical advantage of the Huai River, if the Pinglu Army wants to advance to the south bank of the Huai River, they can only pay with lives. The current situation is foreseeable by both sides.

Li Yun hummed, and said calmly: "The Pinglu Army will not move for at least two or three days. Let the brothers take a good rest these days."

Feng Qi bowed his head and clasped his fists: "Yes!"

After clasping his fists, he turned and left to arrange military affairs. Li Yun was still standing on the city wall, looking towards the Huai River in the north, then turned his head and looked at the General Li's flag flying on the top of Chuzhou City.

He didn't say anything, but took off his helmet silently, and his eyes became a little cold.

…………

Midnight, south bank of the Huai River.

Deputy General Xie Zhao, along with a group of generals, waited respectfully on the shore. After a long time, a large ship slowly approached the shore. General Zhou Xu walked off the ship with his hands behind his back. Xie Zhao hurriedly greeted him, bowed his head and saluted: "General!"

Zhou Xu said "hmm" and asked, "How is the situation?"

"General, more than 5,000 of our soldiers have crossed the river. In two days, they will all be able to cross the river to the south bank."

Zhou Xu frowned and said in a muffled voice: "I'm watching from Huaibei. Don't I know how many people have crossed the river?"

"I'm asking you about casualties, casualties!"

Xie Zhao lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "General, the enemy has set up defenses on the Huai River. We have no room to fight back. We can only shoot arrows on the boat, or stand firm with our lives after landing, so...so..."

Zhou Xu completely lost his patience and looked at Xie Zhao coldly.

Vice Admiral Xie was startled by this look. He lowered his head and said quickly, "General, General, we have suffered two to three thousand casualties..."

Zhou Xu frowned even more when he heard this. He was about to speak when Xie Zhao said, "General, although we suffered heavy casualties, our subordinates reported that Li Yun was in Chuzhou during the day. He also brought his own guard camp and attacked a lieutenant camp that we had already crossed the river to!"

Zhou Xu strode ahead and said expressionlessly, "Did you see him? What does he look like?"

"I didn't see it, but someone reported it to me."

Xie Zhao said quickly: "The person who reported it said that Li Yun was eight feet tall, very tall, wielding a long spear, and personally charged into the battle formation, looking very vicious."

"Li Yun also told his subordinates to report to the emperor, asking the general to behave himself and return to Huaibei. He and the general are still brothers."

"brother…"

Zhou Xu sneered: "I'm afraid these two words can't stop his ambition. If I don't go south, he will go north sooner or later. We should fight each other so that we can continue to be brothers in the future!"

Xie Zhao lowered his head and said, "General, we have already crossed the river with 5,000 men. If Li Yun is really in Chuzhou, I will lead the men who have crossed the river to surround Chuzhou now to prevent Li Yun from escaping!"

Zhou Xu glanced at him and snorted, "From what you described, the man should be Li Yun, but given Li Yun's temper, if you only bring more than 5,000 people to Chuzhou, he will definitely come out of the city to fight. How confident are you that you can defeat him under the city walls of Chuzhou?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhao lowered his head and dared not speak.

General Zhou put his hands behind his back, thought for a while, and then said softly: "This kid showed up in Chuzhou and refused to leave, and made such a big fuss... It's really weird."

Hearing this, Xie Zhao smiled and said, "General, no matter how powerful Li Yun is, he is still a mortal. As long as he dares not leave, we can surround Chuzhou in three days at most and kill him in Chuzhou City."

"Once Li Yun dies, the entire Jiangdong will probably be torn into pieces."

Zhou Xu ignored Xie Zhao. He thought about it seriously, then narrowed his eyes and said slowly: "You are right about one thing. No matter how powerful Li Yun is, he is still a mortal."

"Since he is taking such a risk, Zhou will help him."

General Zhou took a deep breath and said, "I won't wait three days. Tomorrow, I will personally lead the troops into Chuzhou City!"

(End of this chapter)