Thief Emperor

Chapter 634: The people’s will!
In Fengyang, the connection between the Pinglu Army in Chuzhou and the Pinglu Army in Gushi and Huoqiu is now being cut off. Not to mention whether their food supply routes have been cut off, Zhou Xu cannot stay in Huoqiu and Gushi for long.

Because Li Yun can even continue to transfer troops from Jingxiang to Jiangbei. Even if the progress in Jingxiang is slower, when the Pinglu Army has no external aid, it will be worth it for Li Yun as long as he can consume this part of the Pinglu Army.

Moreover, this time Zhou Xu suddenly launched an attack and led his troops south. Although Li Yun could understand Zhou Xu's behavior rationally, he was also quite annoyed.

Jiangbei is his territory, not a place where others can come and go as they please. Even if he cannot swallow up all the 50,000 Pinglu troops who crossed the Huai River, he must at least take over 20% to 30% of them. Only in this way can he tell the world and the people of the world that no one can dare to get involved in his, Li Yun's, territory!
After a brief meeting with Meng Qing, Chen Da left directly and advanced his troops northward.

Gushi was not far from the Huai River. In just one day, Chen Da's vanguard troops had already seen the Huai River. The scouts walking in the front hurried back to report.

"Report!"

The scout bowed his head and clasped his fists, saying in a deep voice: "Enemy troops have been spotted by the Huai River!"

"The scale is about three to four thousand people!"

Chen Da's mind turned when he heard this.

It seems that not only the superiors saw this, but General Zhou was also preparing a retreat for himself. Although the battle on the front line was still going on, he had already occupied the Huai River in advance and prepared a retreat route.

Chen Da thought for a moment and then called the messenger Jiusi who was accompanying him, and asked Jiusi to report the situation on the south bank of the Huai River to Li Yun and Meng Qing.

After letting Jiusi pass on the message, Chen Da personally selected the troops and called all his subordinates, and ordered: "We will stop advancing for now, and send troops again at night to occupy the Huai River!"

This is a plain area between the Yangtze River and the Huai River, with basically no hillsides to block the view. When fighting in such a place, apart from paying attention to the river system, there are actually no fancy tactics to speak of.

At a distance of 10 to 20 miles, it is possible to see the other party with the naked eye during the day.

Everything depends on the deployment of personnel and the location of the troops.

That night, Chen's troops were divided into two groups. One group attacked the Pinglu Army head-on, while the other group tried to attack from the flank.

If facing local forces, or less professional troops like the rebels, this detour is very likely to be possible, and it is even possible to get to within a few miles of the enemy, leaving the enemy no time to escape and having to fight back hastily.

But the Pinglu Army was a relatively professional army after all. Chen Da's troops were discovered by the Pinglu Army when they were still ten miles away from them.

In the Pinglu Army, someone shouted loudly: "Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

But fortunately, the Huai River was a few miles behind the Pinglu Army. If they wanted to escape, they could only run to the east. There was not much room for retreat. Chen Da gave an order, and several captains and battalions under his command dispersed in batches according to the predetermined directions, like a big net, pressing forward!

However, Chen Da himself did not attack immediately. He determined his position while determining the direction. Then he called the messenger who was with the army and said in a deep voice: "Go and inform General Xiao Meng and tell him that I have already engaged the Pinglu Army here. Tell him to hold back the main force of the Pinglu Army in Gushi and Huoqiu so that I don't have to worry about anything!"

At this point, Chen Da thought about it seriously and said, "Three days! Within three days, I will definitely end the battle here!"

An encounter battle will not last as long as a siege, and the outcome will usually be decided within a few days.

Of course, the casualties in an encounter would not be as great as those in a siege. After all, in an outdoor encounter, even if you cannot defeat the enemy, it is still quite easy to run away. After all, you have not been surrounded, and everyone has two legs, so you can still outrun them.

Chen Da had never thought of annihilating all the 3,000 Pinglu troops. Without cavalry to block the rear, it would be too difficult to turn a field encounter into an annihilation battle.

However, in this battle, he had to at least occupy the defense line along the Huai River, so that in the future he could block the retreat of the Pinglu Army here.

The messenger did not dare to neglect it and quickly bowed his head and said, "Yes!"

After the messenger left, Chen Da also put on his helmet. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, remembered how Li Yun looked on the battlefield, and then slowly opened his eyes.

"March forward, march forward!"

Chen shouted angrily: "Drive these Pinglu troops out of Jiangbei!"

He raised his knife and rushed towards the Pinglu Army's position.

Because there was still a long distance to go, it was almost midnight before the main forces of both sides officially collided.

Chen Da chopped a Pinglu soldier on the back with his sword, then shouted angrily: "There are military merits ahead, charge with me!"

The biggest advantage of the Jiangdong Army is that those who have made contributions will be rewarded. Up to now, the Jiangdong Army has been established for several years. As long as the merits and heads of people are recorded, Li Yun has never shortchanged anyone even half a penny!
This is also the reason why the Jiangdong Army was able to rival the old military towns in terms of combat effectiveness within just a few years of its establishment!
At this time, Chen Da's troops already had the advantage in numbers, and with his loud shout, all the Jiangdong Army soldiers shouted angrily and rushed towards the Pinglu Army.

The situation on the battlefield began to collapse!
…………On the other hand, Li Yun, who was still in the rear of the Pinglu Army, received pieces of intelligence from Gushi through the Nine Departments.

That day, Meng Hai rushed to Li Yun with several pieces of intelligence and whispered, "Sir, Captain Chen has followed your orders to block the Huai River defense line in the north of Shouzhou. However, he encountered the Pinglu Army stationed along the Huai River and is now in a fierce battle."

"We have the advantage in military strength. We should have the advantage now. Captain Chen will soon be able to block along the Huai River and prevent the Pinglu Army from retreating along the Huai River."

Li Yun took the intelligence and read it carefully. Then he looked up at Meng Hai with a smile on his face. "Once the north is blocked, the Pinglu Army will have no choice but to fight to the death or break through and head to the Central Plains to try to escape from the Central Plains."

"General Zhou should have noticed Chen Da's move. Send more people to keep an eye on it, especially Huoqiu County. Keep an eye on it for me in the next few days."

"The battle on his front line is intense, and the number of troops in Huoqiu will definitely decrease."

When Mr. Li said this, he stood up, stretched his body, and looked towards the direction of Huoqiu.

"If General Zhou is in Huoqiu, maybe we can run into him..."

Meng Hai was startled by Li Yun's words. He looked around and whispered, "Master, we all have horses, so we can move freely in the rear without being blocked. If we ignore the advantage of horses and attack Huoqiu County instead, isn't that right..."

"Something a little inappropriate?"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"I know."

Li Yun had a blank expression on his face and said, "We don't have to attack Huoqiu. It will be enough if we can just go there to collect some spoils. Our eight hundred men can be of great use if we can attract three thousand Pinglu troops and station them near Huoqiu."

When Li Yun was about to speak again, Su Zhan's voice came from outside: "Master, there is an old man who wants to see you!"

Li Yun stood up, patted Meng Hai on the shoulder, and said, "Go and do your own thing. Send me any news immediately. At the front line, tell Meng Qing and Chen Da to fight steadily and don't rush."

"If we drag it out, we will definitely win."

Meng Hai responded and said, "Yes, I will go right away."

Li Yun said "hmm" and nodded, "I understand!"

Li Yun walked out, looked at Su Zhan at the door, and asked, "What old man?"

Su Zhan whispered, "Sir, we were stationed nearby and were discovered by some locals. According to your instructions, we just told them not to tell anyone and then changed our position a little."

"A few days ago, a patrolling scout ran into the enemy and was injured. He was rescued by nearby villagers. After the villagers knew that we were from the Jiangdong Army, their village chief insisted on coming to the army to see the superior."

Li Yun thought about it, touched his chin, and nodded: "I'll go see him."

Su Zhan bowed his head and said, "I will lead the way for you."

Soon, Li Yun met the old man Su Zhan mentioned in the army. He was a thin old man who looked to be about 60 years old. After seeing Li Yun, he hesitated for a moment and asked in Shouzhou dialect: "Are you...are you the general of Jiangdong?"

Li Yun smiled and nodded, "I am."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "General, someone in our village has seen where the Qingzhou soldiers store their food. We can take you there."

Li Yun looked at him, sized him up, and asked, "Old man, ordinary people avoid military affairs, why do you want to get involved?"

"In order to drive out the Qingzhou soldiers."

The old man looked at Li Yun and grinned: "General, you soldiers may not know that our Jiangbei has been governed by Mr. Li from Jiangdong, and our life is much better than before."

"Mr. Li only collected less than half of the previous tax!"

Li Yun's expression changed slightly and he exhaled slowly.

The taxes he collected were exactly the same as the taxes officially set by the Great Zhou court!

　This chapter is considered morning!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)