Thief Emperor

Chapter 744: The Last Battle in Central Plains

Time came to the early summer of the sixth year of Zhaoding.

At this time, almost another month had passed since the Battle of Xin'an.

On the surface, the battle in the Central Plains remained in a stalemate. The Jiangdong Army still occupied the vicinity of Luoyang and was entangled with the Shuofang Army and the Hedong Army. Everything seemed to be no different from a month ago, but in fact, anyone involved knew that the situation was already quite tense, to the point where it could collapse at any time.

The Shuofang Army suffered heavy losses, and General Wei's mood has become quite unstable. Recently, he even went into the prisoner camp and killed prisoners himself to vent his anger.

At this time, Li Yun had already sent new soldiers to the front line for the third time. This situation had never happened before in the Jiangdong Army.

The previous Jiangdong Army could not be said to be invincible, but at least it could be said to be smooth sailing. The army had always grown in number as the battles went on, and had never reached the point where Li Yun needed to go to the front line several times to replenish the army.

At this point in the fight, both Li Yun and Wei Quanzhong were getting a little anxious.

At this time, in the Huaizhou Hedong Army camp, Cui Shao's face flushed, and he argued: "General Li, if your army doesn't try their best, there will be no way to fight this battle in the Central Plains!"

"To date, the casualties of my Shuofang Army have exceeded 30,000, or even more. I don't know how many are seriously injured. But your army has been so evasive. Not only can we not defeat Huaizhou, we can't even contain a main force under Li Yun. If this continues, how can we fight?"

Cui Shao said in a deep voice: "If General Li continues to fight like this, then my Shuofang Army will have to break out from Luoyang. We might as well give the core area of ​​the Central Plains to the Jiangdong Army and to that thief Li Yun!"

"We'll just sit back and watch him grow bigger. After two or three years, we'll all be wiped out by the Jiangdong Army!"

Li Hao looked at Cui Shao with a cold face and sneered, "Who are you threatening, Master Cui?"

"Does Li fear your threats? If that's the case, your Shuofang Army doesn't need to give up the Central Plains. Our Hedong Army will also withdraw to the north immediately and simply give up the Central Plains!"

"The war has been going on for several months. Don't tell me there are no casualties among the Hedong Army?"

Li Hao's words were actually a bit against his will.

Because the casualties of the Hedong Army were indeed not great.

During this period, although it was two against one on the surface, in reality, the Hedong Army's forces stopped at Huaizhou. Not only did they fail to capture Huaizhou, they did not even tie up too many Jiangdong troops, so that up to now, the fighting in Huaizhou has lasted for two or three months. The Hedong Army and Zhao Cheng have been fighting back and forth, and it has been very lively, but in reality.

That means about 10,000 people were injured.

For the entire Hedong Army, it was not a serious blow.

As for the Shuofang Army, it could even be said that its legs were broken at this point.

Even Li Yun was not feeling well. Although the Jiangdong army at this time was not missing any limbs, it was not because Li Yun's injuries were not serious, but because his "recovery ability" was relatively strong.

Cui Shao took several deep breaths before clasping his fists towards Li Hao and saying, "Well, since General Li has said so, there is nothing to discuss."

"My general said that he would not let the situation develop like this, and he would not watch both sides of the Central Plains suffer losses and allow the complete Hedong Army to enter the battlefield and gain a huge advantage."

At this point, Cui Shao sneered and said, "Twenty days ago, the Hedong Army in Taiyuan was making frequent moves, but until now, not a single soldier has been deployed to the Huaizhou battlefield. So where are your troops?"

"Are we just waiting for both sides to be defeated, and then the Hedong Army will enter the Central Plains to clean up the mess?"

After saying this, Cui Shao did not delay any longer. He clasped his fists towards Li Hao and said, "Major General, I'm leaving now."

Li Hao looked at him without saying anything. When Cui Shao turned and left, Li Hao smiled and said, "Mr. Cui, don't worry. We can still talk about it."

Cui Shao stopped and looked back at Li Hao, who stood up, walked up to him, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile: "Master Cui, if the Shuofang Army gives up now, wouldn't all the previous people have died in vain? The Shuofang Army has Guanzhong behind it, 800 miles of Qinchuan, and countless strong men to support the battlefield. Are they still afraid of Li Yun who popped up from the fireworks land of Jiangnan?"

"Master Cui, please tell General Wei to hold on."

Li Hao whispered: "The Jiangdong Army will soon be unable to hold on."

Cui Shao shook his head and said, "General Li, Li Yun has occupied the Shannan East Road and the Huainan Road. He also has a large rear base to replenish his troops, and..."

Cui Shao said slowly: "This Li Yun is very good at winning people's hearts. Wherever he occupies a place, everyone will support him."

"He can also continuously replenish troops in the Central Plains and look at Guanzhong."

Cui Shao shook his head and said, "The people of Guanzhong are ignorant and stupid. They have been against the Shuofang Army..."

Hearing this, Li Hao was amused. He smiled, then looked at Cui Shao and said, "Mr. Cui, there is no point in saying these things. The key is to see whether General Wei is willing to give in." "After you go back, persuade General Wei to hold on for at least two more months. In my opinion, within two months, Li Yun will definitely not be able to hold on and will be forced to leave the Central Plains. Otherwise, his army will suffer too much loss and will mutiniate."

At this point, Li Hao took out a list from his pocket, handed it to Cui Shao, and said with a smile: "This is a small gift from Li, for Master Cui. If Master Cui and his family have nowhere to go in the future, we in Taiyuan will welcome you at any time."

Cui Shao glanced at the gift list, looked up at Li Hao, said nothing, and did not take it.

Li Hao chuckled and said, "Besides, your army doesn't have to be so honest. The Jiangdong Army also suffered heavy casualties. You can send some people to spread some rumors among the Jiangdong Army to shake their morale. Maybe one of the battalions will mutiniate."

"As long as one of the battalions blew up or deserted, Li Yun would not dare to stay in the Central Plains for long. By then, the Central Plains would be in the hands of the Shuofang Army."

Cui Shao looked at Li Hao, stretched out his hand and took the gift list calmly, then smiled bitterly and said: "If the general can think of it, how can Li Yun not think of it? Two days before Cui came here to see the general, the Shuofang Army..."

"Two battalions have already deserted and fled in all directions."

Li Yu's expression changed slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Cui Shao bowed his head and clasped his fists towards Li Hao and said, "General, if the situation changes in the future, please give me a place to stay. I will not say any more."

"Farewell."

Li Hao looked at his back and said, "Master Cui, go back and tell General Wei that the Jiangdong Army will send another 20,000 troops to Huaizhou within ten days and will do its best to save the situation in the Central Plains."

Cui Shao stopped, looked back at him, and said sternly: "General, if you want to save the situation in the Central Plains, you should not send troops to Huaizhou at this time, but directly to Luoyang."

"Our Major General will soon lead his troops out of the city and join the main force in attacking the Jiangdong Army. This is the last blow for the Shuofang Army. If it fails, the Central Plains will not be able to fight for it."

"This time, being able to take over 800 li of Qinchuan is actually a great benefit to me, the general. If I continue to be greedy, I am afraid that even Guanzhong will be difficult to preserve."

After saying that, Cui Shao turned around and left, leaving Li Hao with only his back.

Li Hao looked at his back, thinking about something. After a while, he turned back and went into his own tent. At this moment, a middle-aged man was already sitting in the main seat in the tent. Li Hao stepped forward and saluted, "Big Brother."

The new Hedong Jiedushi Li Zhen just nodded silently, and then said: "Brother, now..."

Li Hao was silent for a while, then whispered, "Don't get too involved, brother. The Jiangdong Army is completely different from the Wang Junping we dealt with earlier."

"If we get too entangled with them, we will also suffer heavy casualties. Brother, don't forget that the Pinglu Army and the Fanyang Army are still watching and waiting, and have no idea what will happen."

"It just doesn't work."

Li Hao whispered, "We can send someone to see Li Yun and ask him to give Zhongyuan as a favor. This way, we can get some benefits without making him hate the war between us during this period of time."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhen looked up at Li Hao with a flickering gaze: "Has the situation come to this point?"

Li Yu said silently: "In my opinion, unless the Shuofang Army and the Jiangdong Army get angry and both sides are crippled, it is not appropriate for us to get too involved in the Central Plains."

Li Zhen took a deep breath and said slowly: "I... understand."

…………

Outside Luoyang City, Li Yun stood on a high place and observed Luoyang City through a telescope.

Meng Qing was standing behind him.

At this moment, Meng Qing no longer looked like the handsome young man he used to be. He didn't even look like a young man anymore. His body was covered in blood, his hair was disheveled, and his beard was overgrown. At first glance, he looked like a homeless person.

He has also been under tremendous pressure in the past two months.

Li Yun used the telescope to look at Luoyang for a while, then suddenly put it down, turned back to look at Meng Qing, and said slowly: "Here they come, the Shuofang Army has left the city!"

He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes.

"Xiao Meng, this could be Luoyang, or even the Central Plains..."

"It's the last big battle!"

(End of this chapter)