Thief Emperor

Chapter 692 Breaking the city!

"Ascend!"

At the Jixiashan camp, Su Zhan trotted all the way to Li Yun's tent. He lowered his head and said, "My lord, the Zhongwu Army from Ruyang has moved, heading north. They must be going to support Yancheng!"

Li Yun still looked down at the document in his hand. Hearing this, he just looked up at Su Zhan and nodded lightly: "Got it."

Su Zhan looked at Li Yun, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Should we..."

Li Yun shook his head slightly: "Don't worry."

He looked down at the document in his hand and laughed, "Your eldest brother really values ​​his troops. I asked him to speed up the progress in Dengzhou so as to get closer to Luyang Pass and put some pressure on the Zhongwu Army. He has not taken Dengzhou City yet, but has only surrounded it, and then sent a force to approach Luyang Pass."

Su Zhan was startled, then bowed slightly and said, "Sir, my father and brother are both like this, they love their soldiers like their own sons, and they are reluctant to waste their troops."

He looked at Li Yun and whispered, "If the superior is not satisfied with Dengzhou, I will rush over and explain the situation to you, brother."

Li Yun waved his hand and said, "I founded the Jiangdong Army. The generals and officers in the army are all Jiangdong men. If we can avoid casualties, we will do so. As long as they can complete the tasks I have assigned, the commanders on the front lines will decide how to fight. I will not interfere."

At this point, he paused and continued, "In the future, if there is a time when fighting is unavoidable, Brother Su should be able to prioritize."

Su Zhan immediately lowered his head: "Brother will definitely be able to tell the difference!"

"Ah."

Li Yun nodded slightly and said, "Let the scout battalion continue to keep an eye on the Zhongwu Army in Runan, and let the captains and above come to my tent to discuss matters."

"Yes."

Su Zhan bowed his head respectfully and retreated respectfully.

.........

Two days later, Zhao Cheng's troops in Yancheng encountered reinforcements from the Zhongwu Army. At this time, Li Yun finally ascertained the situation in Ruyang. He personally led 2,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry from the camp in Jixia Mountain and headed straight for Ruyang City.

The two places were only a few dozen miles apart. The cavalry could reach the destination in half a day. Li Yun's troops set out early in the morning and arrived near Ruyang City at noon. They were still about ten miles away from Ruyang City. Li Yun looked back at the two cavalry captains following him and said in a hoarse voice: "At this distance, their scouts should have discovered us. After arriving in Ruyang, don't get too close and cruise around the city."

Cavalry Captain Zhang Mo looked at Li Yun and said, "Master, with two thousand of us, we can blockade Ruyang City until the follow-up infantry brothers come!"

Li Yun glared at him and cursed, "What nonsense! I spent so much money and effort on the cavalry camp, how can you use it like this now!"

Zhang Mo scratched his head and didn't dare to speak.

"listen."

Li Yun looked at the two cavalry captains behind him, narrowed his eyes, and said softly: "Even if they find us, they will not leave the city. If a small group of troops leave the city, they will definitely be chased to death by our cavalry battalion. If a large group of troops leave the city, it will be equivalent to abandoning the city and fleeing."

"We can take this opportunity to seize Ruyang."

"The only pity is..."

Li Yun looked up at the Yuzhou city and narrowed his eyes.

His Nine Departments were already quite capable. At this time, they had already found out that a group of "outsiders" had entered Ruyang City. Although they didn't know who these people were, it could almost be inferred that they were from the Shuofang Army.

If Li Yun was willing to use these two thousand cavalry to blockade Ruyang City, then he could also block these Shuofang troops in the city, and then maybe he could capture them all at once.

But it is difficult to make such a judgment if we are not sure who is inside.

Moreover, even if Li Yun knew that the person coming was Wei Quanzhong's son Wei Yao, he would most likely not exchange Wei Quanzhong's son for the price of a large number of cavalry casualties.

He has now figured out the thoughts of these politicians. It is unlikely that they would trade one of their sons for strategic benefits.

Following Li Yun's order, two thousand cavalrymen quickly rushed towards Ruyang City and cruised around the city.

At this time, there were only about 5,000 defenders left in Ruyang City.

The defenders soon discovered the Jiangdong cavalry outside the city. They immediately sent someone to report to Zheng Can. At this time, Zheng Jieshuai looked much worse than before. After hearing the report from his subordinates, he just waved his hand and said, "Got it."

"Order each camp to guard each city gate and not let any one of them miss out."

"Yes!"

As the messenger went down, General Zheng Jie stood up, holding his waist, and looked at Wei Yao beside him, saying, "Young Prince, a large force of the Jiangdong Army is on the way. We can't stay in Ruyang for long. Zheng will defend Ruyang. Young Prince, please leave as soon as possible."

Wei Yao stood up without further ado. He looked at Zheng Can and said sternly, "Lord Zheng, Ruyang is the state capital, and there are only 5,000 defenders left. As long as Lord Zheng holds on to the city, Li Yun will have to suffer at least 10,000 casualties if he wants to take over Ruyang."

"Moreover, it will be impossible to break into the city within half a month!"

"In half a month, reinforcements from our Shuofang Army will arrive. By then, we can defeat Li the bandit in one fell swoop. By then, Duke Zheng will be a great contributor to the Great Zhou." "By then, my father and I will replenish the losses suffered by the Zhongwu Army."

Zheng Can hesitated for a while, and whispered: "Young Prince, it doesn't matter whether Zheng is a meritorious official of the Great Zhou or not. What matters is that he is a meritorious official of the general."

Wei Yao was startled when he heard this, then he stepped forward, gently patted Zheng Can on the shoulder, and laughed: "Don't worry, don't worry, if we defeat Li Yun this time, the princes of the world will no longer dare to resist my father and son. By then, Duke Zheng will be a great hero."

…………

outside the city.

A rider rushed towards Li Yun and shouted, "Your Majesty, a group of more than a hundred riders have left the city!"

Li Yun waved his hand and said, "Send 200 cavalry to pursue them."

He paused, and continued, "Three hundred riders, just chase for a hundred miles. If we can catch up, that's great. If we can't, forget it."

Li Yun knew very well who these cavalrymen who broke out were. The Shuofang Army was located in the northwest and had been operating for many years. The number and quality of their cavalrymen were beyond the reach of the current Jiangdong cavalry. It was impossible for two thousand cavalrymen to surround them, so at most they could intercept a part of them, and the rest would be a pursuit.

As for whether he could catch up or not, Li Yun didn't have any hope.

Following Li Yun's order, three hundred cavalrymen separated from the formation and began to chase and intercept the hundred cavalrymen who had broken out. The remaining one thousand or so cavalrymen continued to circle around Ruyang.

At night, the follow-up 10,000 troops arrived outside Ruyang City. Without saying a word, Li Yun directly ordered everyone to set up camp and start using local materials to build siege equipment.

At this time, Li Yun's tactical goals had basically been achieved.

Originally, the main force of the Zhongwu Army was in Ruyang. According to intelligence, there were nearly 10,000 people.

If you want to defeat a force of this size, you will have to pay a huge price.

Now, almost half of the Ruyang defenders have been sent out, so Ruyang City will be relatively easier to conquer.

If he is lucky enough and can capture the Zhongwu Jiedushi Zheng Can, the Zhongwu Army's defense lines in several nearby states and counties will collapse, and Li Yun can move forward smoothly and gain a firm foothold in the Central Plains.

The camp was quickly set up, and Li Yun sat in the commander's tent. Not long after, the cavalry captain Zhang Mo walked into the commander's tent with his head lowered. He lowered his head and said, "Sir, we failed to catch up with the 100 cavalrymen who broke through the encirclement, but we chased them all the way, killed and injured more than 20 of them, and captured a few alive."

"After questioning, we found out that they were indeed cavalrymen from the Shuofang Army. They..."

Zhang Mo lowered his head and said, "They are all the personal guards of Wei Yao, the son of Wei Quanzhong. The one who escaped from Ruyang City during the day was Wei Yao, the major general of the Shuofang Army."

Li Yun was startled when he heard this, then he looked up at Zhang Mo who looked annoyed, and said with a smile: "Their horses are good, so it's not surprising that they can't catch up. Besides, there is only one Wei Yao, and he won't have much impact on the battle situation."

"Don't worry about it."

Zhang Mo lowered his head and said, "It's my subordinates who are incompetent."

Li Yun looked at him, thought for a moment, and continued, "Those few people we caught alive should be taken care of. Don't kill them. When they are well, send them to the cavalry camp and let them serve as instructors for our cavalry."

In a cavalry pursuit, anyone who was captured must have fallen off his horse, and the injury would be serious.

Zhang Mo bowed his head deeply: "I obey your command."

"Oh."

Li Yun remembered something and continued, "Let's ask the Nine Departments to go there and see if we can get more information, such as the specific movements of the Shuofang Army."

"Yes."

Zhang Mo bowed his head and retreated cautiously.

After he left, Li Yun unfolded the document handed to him by Su Sheng and read it again.

Dengzhou City has been successfully breached, and the entire territory of Dengzhou has the same surname as him, Li.

His rear-area plan for Shannan East Road can be said to have been largely successful.

Li thought for a while, picked up the brush, and wrote a note to Su Sheng. The content of the note was very simple.

"Ten days to recuperate and maintain order in Dengzhou."

"Ten days later, Dengzhou will leave three military camps to guard the city, and let Chen Da lead 5,000 troops to feint an attack on Luyang Pass, and the rest of the troops will be stationed there."

"All of you go join our group."

(End of this chapter)