Thief Emperor

Chapter 772 Inertia and the Big Battle
After Zhou lost its power, the whole world actually entered a "battle royale" stage.

This stage did not begin after Wang Junping entered the capital, but had already begun several years or even many years before that.

A typical example is the second-generation military governors Xiao Xian and Zhou Xu. The fact that their two families were able to pass down the title of military governor from generation to generation shows that the imperial court had actually lost control over the local military governors at that time.

However, at that time, the imperial court was still in place, and everyone was concerned about basic decency, so no one would be the first to stand out.

After the Central Plains Rebellion, the last fig leaf on the face of the imperial court was ruthlessly torn apart by Wang Junping, a private salt dealer who came from a peasant family. This "battle royale" finally entered its most intense stage.

It was also during this period that Li Yun quickly rose to prominence and established his own place in the world.

And this battle has reached this stage and finally reached the final stage.

Today, in this chaotic game with the world as its chessboard, there are only a few real players left.

Among the remaining forces, the Hedong Army, which was formerly considered strong, experienced a long period of power transition due to the death of the old governor Li Tong not long ago, and thus lost many opportunities to take the initiative.

At this point, we have to admit that the strength of the Hedong Army is no longer enough to face the Jiangdong Army or the Shuofang Army alone.

The Fanyang Army and the Pinglu Army were in the same situation as the Hedong Army.

Therefore, the Pinglu Army chose to rely on the Jiangdong Army, while Xiao Heng of the Fanyang Army wanted to form an alliance with the Hedong Army.

Just as the Fanyang Army and the Hedong Army were quietly making handshakes, Li Yun, who was in Songzhou, also separated from Zhou Xu. The two said goodbye at the gate of Songcheng. Zhou Xu got on his horse first, clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "Brother, if you have anything else to say, just send someone to Qingzhou to find me."

Li Yun also clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "My people are keeping a close eye on Youyan now, but you have more spies than I do on Youyan's affairs. If there is anything important, please let me know immediately."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Zhou Xu looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "My dear brother, you don't have to worry too much about Hebei Province. As long as you occupy the Central Plains, it won't take long before heroes from all over the world will rush to join you. By then, the situation will take a big step forward, and..."

Zhou Xu looked at Li Yun and said softly, "The Khitans just destroyed the Bohai Kingdom last year, so they may not have completely digested it. This year, they spent such a huge price to swallow Youyan. They may not continue to move south. You know, a complete Fanyang army can stop them outside the pass."

"Once they enter Hebei Province, they may have to face the Fanyang Army, the Hedong Army, and your army and mine at the same time. No matter how strong the Khitans are, they are few in number after all. They will not be our opponents."

Li Yun looked at Zhou Xu, hesitated for a moment, and sighed, "Brother, I'll tell you the truth. I never thought that the Khitans would go south, let alone that they would invade the Central Plains."

"All this is just the obsession of Xiao's father and son."

Li Yun's face was calm as he slowly said, "The Khitans will at most cause chaos in Hebei Province and Hedong Province, causing the deaths of some local people."

"Otherwise, there won't be any major chaos for the time being. In my opinion, it will take at least ten years for the Khitans to have the energy to move south, and by that time, we will probably have already unified ourselves."

"What really annoys me is that if we lose Youyan, we will lose the initiative, the future horse farm, and the future northern border. If we can't take it back, people will come and go as they please in the future, even for hundreds of years."

Since the first time he faced the Khitan two years ago, Li Yun had tried every possible way to understand this ethnic group through various channels.

The Khitan at this time was far inferior to the Khitan in its heyday in another world. To be more precise, it was more like the Khitan in the initial stage of its rise, but its rise was a little too fast.

Even so, the current Khitan tribes combined only have about 100,000 households, and the population size is just that large. No matter how powerful the Khitan Khan Yelu Yi is, it is impossible for him to create 100,000 Khitan households out of thin air.

They entered the pass and plundered people to take them outside the pass, mostly women and children. They abducted women for the purpose of increasing the next generation of population, and this kind of growth would not be effective until at least fifteen or sixteen years later.

It would take at least ten years to abduct children and raise them into "Khitans".

It is impossible for them to bring adult Han men into the tribe, brainwash them, and then make these adult Han men follow them to fight.

Even if the captives were willing, the Khitans would not believe it.

This small ethnic group will face such problems. Even if the momentum is good, it will take one or two generations, at least 20 to 30 years, to truly grow up.

Therefore, Li Yun never thought that the Khitans would come south to compete with him for the world.

He was just worried that the situation in Hebei Province would not be able to be managed in the future. After losing Youyan and then Yunzhou, even if he founded a country and became emperor in the future, it would most likely be another Zhao Song.

In fact, the current situation is developing in this direction.

This world is obviously completely different from the other world, yet they are similar in every way.

The historical inertia of another world seemed to be affecting this world, and what Li Yun was trying to do now was to cut off this historical inertia. Smash the situation of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and then break the situation of losing the northern border!
Zhou Xu sat on his horse, stunned for a moment, then looked at Li Yun and said, "Brother, what you mean is that the Khitans will not go south?"

Li Yun was silent for a while, and then continued: "If I were the Khitan Khan, I would stick to Youyan, which I have already taken, and guard this pass, and then send people south from time to time to harass Hebei Road and Hedong Road."

"From time to time, they would loot some property and take some women and children back."

Li Yun took a deep breath. "After all, the area occupied by the Khitans now is enough for their population to increase several times or even ten times. With Youyan as a gateway, they can come and go as they please. If they really go south..."

"The Khitans can at most mobilize 100,000 troops. They only have that many people and no logistical support. Once the battle line is long, they will not be able to keep up with the supply. They can only fight to support the battle. If there is any mistake along the way, the 100,000 troops will be directly submerged in the long battle line."

"There won't be even a sound."

At this point, Li Yun looked at Zhou Xu and continued, "If this Khitan wants to take advantage of the victory and march south, I am not that worried. What I am really worried about is that he will occupy Youyan and start to switch from offense to defense."

"That's the real trouble."

Zhou Xu was silent for a long time, then looked towards the north and said slowly: "If this is true, Xiao Lao Si has committed a great sin..."

He clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "Brother, I'm going back to Qingzhou first. If you have any questions, just contact me directly."

Li Yun nodded slowly and said, "I will send a member of the Nine Departments to accompany you to Qingzhou so that we can keep in touch. What do you think?"

"No problem, no problem."

Zhou Xu readily agreed, then saluted Li Yun with his fists, and then left Songzhou with his guards.

After watching him leave, Li Yun also got on his horse, looked at Yang Xi who was following him, then looked at Xue Gui and Zhou Luo, and said slowly: "Let's go back to Luoyang."

Everyone responded in unison, mounted their horses, and followed Li Yun all the way to Luoyang.

Songzhou was not far from Luoyang, and they rushed all the way and arrived in Luoyang early the next morning. After Li Yun returned to the camp, he just washed his face and had no time to rest before he called Su Zhan.

This time, Su Zhan did not go to Songzhou with him, but stayed in Luoyang. On the one hand, it was to give the two little guys a chance to exercise, and on the other hand, it was to help Li Yun keep an eye on the situation in Luoyang.

When Su Zhan saw Li Yun, he bowed his head and saluted: "Take the seat."

Li Yun said "hmm" and looked at him: "Is everything okay in Luoyang during this period?"

"There weren't any major problems. It's just that every day people came to ask to see the boss, but I turned them away one by one."

Mr. Li nodded and asked, "Has General Zhao returned to Luoyang?"

"is back."

Su Zhan bowed his head and said, "I just came back from my post. Take a rest first. I will call General Zhao over this afternoon."

"No, tell him to come see me immediately."

Su Zhan immediately nodded and said, "I will go and invite General Zhao right away."

Half an hour later, Zhao Cheng, dressed in cloth, appeared in front of Li Yun. When he saw Li Yun, he half-knelt on the ground, bowed his head deeply and said, "Greetings, my Lord!"

“Rise up and speak, rise up and speak.”

Li Yun stretched his body and forced a smile on his tired face: "During this period, nothing happened to the army, right?"

"There's nothing major, except for the military merit title. Many people are asking about it..."

Li Yun rubbed his head, feeling somewhat helpless, and said with a wry smile: "I have been too busy recently, and I forgot about this matter. But it is too late to deal with it now, General Zhao."

He looked at Zhao Cheng and said slowly, "Maybe, a big battle is about to begin."

Zhao Cheng was cheered up and immediately stood up and saluted.

"Please give your orders, superior!"

(End of this chapter)