Thief Emperor

Chapter 784 Well-deserved reputation
In the early morning of the next day, before daybreak, Li Yun, who had had a good sleep, put on his armor and walked out of his tent. As soon as he walked out, he saw Meng Hai coming towards him.

Meng Hai approached and bowed his head to Li Yun, saying, "Sir, in half an hour, it will be the agreed time, and the two southwest gates of Hongnong will open at the same time."

Li Yun hummed, and said slowly: "Tell the captains below to enter the city immediately after the city gate is opened, but be careful and watch out for ambushes."

At this time, it was unlikely that the families in Hongnong City would dare to deceive Li Yun, and the possibility of setting an ambush was even lower. After all, the more than 2,000 Shuofang troops fled into Hongnong in a panic. If they were given ten days or half a month to rest and control the entire Hongnong, there would still be a possibility of setting an ambush in Hongnong City. But now, with less than a day, it was simply too late for them.

Moreover, the two sides had a huge disparity in military strength. As long as the city gates were opened and the Jiangdong army entered the city, the war would basically be over, and there would be no room or wiggle room.

However, when marching and fighting, caution is the most important thing. Sometimes a little carelessness or negligence may result in the loss of the lives of hundreds or even more brothers.

After Li Yun's military order was issued, each captain's battalion quickly moved into the designated positions.

At this time, the number of troops that Li Yun could mobilize was about seven or eight duwei battalions. Li Yun's plan was to have four duwei battalions enter Hongnong from the two southeast gates, and the remaining troops would block the two northwest gates to prevent the enemy from escaping.

As for Li Yun himself, there was no need for him to go into battle on such an occasion. He just put on armor, found a high place, and silently watched the not-so-big city of Hongnong.

Soon, half an hour passed. With the sound of gongs from the southeast, bursts of shouting and killing came from the city. Then the city gate was slowly pushed open with a "creaky" sound.

Inside the city gate, fighting had already begun and there was blood everywhere.

The Jiangdong army outside the city reacted immediately, and each battalion rushed into the city without hesitation and fought with the Shuofang army.

At this time, Meng Hai had returned to Li Yun to report. The two of them looked at the Hongnong battlefield together. Meng Hai stood behind Li Yun and watched for a while. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "Didn't the Highness get angry with the Hongnong nobles yesterday? If they could have delayed entering the city a little longer today, the Hongnong nobles would have been killed by the Shuofang Army."

Li Yun glanced back at Meng Hai, raised his leg and kicked him, muffled voice said: "Let's not talk about whether it is appropriate to do this. If we really do this, if it takes too long and the city gate is not taken down, whose responsibility will it be?"

"You kid, you've been in Jiusi for a long time, and your mind has become dirty."

Meng Hai was kicked, and he patted the dirt off his body with a smile, looked up at Hongnong, then bowed his head slightly and said: "My lord, the Nine Departments just sent a message that Commander Yu is already ten miles away from Tongguan."

"Our reinforcements have arrived at Captain Yu's camp. If all goes well, we should be able to seal off Tongguan today."

Hearing this, Li Yun nodded silently and said, "The big fish that escaped from our formation should have entered Tongguan, right?"

"almost."

Meng Hai shook his head slightly and sighed, "Master, they have nearly a thousand elite cavalrymen, and they are escorting us without regard for their lives. It is too difficult to stop them. Brother Yang..."

Yang Xi was hit by an arrow and was seriously injured. Li Yun has already gone to see him.

It has to be admitted that although Li Yun’s guard camp can now be called cavalry, and even elite cavalry, it is still inferior to the cavalry of the Shuofang Army in some capabilities.

Li looked up at Hongnong and said slowly: "If we can take down the Shuofang Army, we will have a powerful cavalry."

"A cavalry that can go anywhere in the world."

At this point, Li Yun put his hands behind his back, his eyes still looking at Hongnong City, but his mind was already thinking about Tongguan in the west. He thought for a long time and said slowly: "Let Jiusi convey my message and send another 20,000 people to Tongguan to block Tongguan tightly and prevent the Shuofang army that has already left Tongguan from returning to Tongguan!"

Meng Hai nodded his head at first, then suddenly said: "My Lord, if we use a large number of troops in Tongguan, the Shuofang Army that has already left the pass may not return honestly. They may go to Hedong, or they may cause trouble in the various states and counties in the Central Plains..."

"It's not a big problem."

Li Yun looked calm and said, "It is impossible that all of them are cavalry. As long as they are infantry, there is no question of fighting to support the war. If their mobility cannot keep up, once the logistics and food supplies are cut off, their Shuofang army will either fight us to the death or hide in Hedong Road."

"People from the Ninth Division, keep an eye on the overall battle situation. Report to me immediately if anything happens."

Li Yun had just finished saying this when he suddenly looked up and saw a huge flag had been placed on the wall of Hongnong City. On the flag, a huge Chinese character "Li" was fluttering in the wind.

Hongnong...the city was broken.

Li Yun used a telescope to look at the flag in the distance, then turned back to look at Su Zhan who was standing not far away, with a strange look on his face: "Su Zhan, did you bring my royal flag into the city?"

Su Zhan thought about it and shook his head slightly: "Probably not yet..."

He lowered his head and said, "I'll go and confirm it."

After saying that, he lowered his head slightly and stepped back.

Li Yun looked up at the flag flying over Hongnong City and couldn't help but smile: "It doesn't look like my royal flag. These people are really amazing. They can embroider a big flag overnight."

Meng Hai followed Li Yun's gaze and looked at Hongnong, and smiled: "The title of a high position may not be embroidered, it may also be a large character written temporarily."

"If they really embroidered a royal flag of superior status, I'm afraid there would be more than one flag with the word Li on it. There would probably also be a flag with the word Wei on it."

Hearing this, Li Yun burst out laughing: "That's right, and I'm not the only prince in the world with the surname Li. The brothers in Taiyuan also have the surname Li."

He looked at Meng Hai, put his hands behind his back and smiled, "The more you talk, the more it makes sense. If not for my sake, but for the sake of the Hedong Li family, they probably already prepared this flag a long time ago."

Just as Li Yun and Meng Hai were watching the battle together, a messenger rushed to Li Yun, half-knelt on the ground, and was very respectful.

"Your Majesty, Hongnong City has been destroyed!"

"I saw it." Li Yun pulled him up and said with a smile: "Pass the order down, resolve the subsequent battle in Hongnong before dark."

"Yes!"

…………

At sunset, a ray of setting sun shines on the west gate of Hongnong.

At this time, the city gate was wide open.

At the city gate, the generals of the Shuofang Army were tied up in a row and knelt in an orderly manner at the gate.

Beside these Shuofang Army generals, some well-dressed gentry and nobles also lined up neatly in two rows, their eyes all looking at a majestic man in armor not far away.

When the man approached, the local tyrants in Hongnong City all knelt on the ground and kowtowed as if they had discussed it beforehand.

"Meet the King of Wu."

"Meet the King of Wu."

One sound after another echoed at the city gate.

Mr. Li, dressed in armor, with his hands behind his back and eyes slightly squinted, was enjoying this pleasant moment.

This is the moment to reap the fruits of victory. The feeling is beyond words.
The vast majority of people will indulge in it and enjoy it.

Li Yun is no exception.

However, Mr. Li was relatively sober. He just enjoyed a few breaths before opening his eyes, glancing at everyone, and said with a smile, "Who is the Yang family's Gaoxian?"

Upon hearing this, a middle-aged man with an extraordinary appearance and a few mustaches stepped out of the crowd, walked up to Li Yun, bowed and saluted, and said, "Yang Xian of the Hongnong Yang family pays homage to the King of Wu."

He was very polite, even a little respectful, and bowed respectfully, almost to the ground.

Li Yun helped him up with both hands and said with a smile: "If it weren't for the efforts of the Hongnong Yang family and the contact of the righteous men, it would probably take me a lot of trouble to break through Hongnong."

Li Yun's voice was quite loud, and almost everyone nearby could hear it.

Yang Xian took a deep breath and quickly glanced around.

This time, in the Hongnong internal and external collusion incident, the Hongnong Yang family certainly contributed, but it cannot be said that the Hongnong Yang family was the leader.

Li Yun's words were not only heard by the people nearby, but also by the kneeling Shuofang soldiers. If these words were heard by General Wei, the vengeful General Wei...

Maybe he will bear a grudge against the Yang family.

This is obviously not the situation that Yang wants to see.

But this was not the time to worry about these things. Yang Xian took a half step back, bowed to Li Yun and said, "I think what the king said is wrong."

Li Yun smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty's reputation for benevolence has long been known throughout the world. During the time you were in charge of the Central Plains, you saved the people from danger."

"Your Majesty, you came to Hongnong to save the people of Hongnong from the harm of the Shuofang Army. How can you use the word 'broken'?"

Yang Xian looked serious.

Mr. Li smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, which word do you think should be used?"

"I think the word 'save' should be used!"

Yang Xian said in a deep voice: "After these Shuofang troops arrived in Guozhou, they committed all kinds of crimes, including burning, killing, looting and many other evil deeds."

"We have already deeply hated them."

He said in a deep voice,

"Your Majesty has come all the way here to save Hongnong. We, the people of Hongnong, will naturally help Your Majesty."

"As the king said, if we don't help you today, you can still save Hongnong, but it will take some trouble."

Li Yun laughed out loud after hearing this. He put one hand behind his back and patted Yang Xian's shoulder with the other hand, causing the patriarch of the Yang family to stagger.

"As expected of the Hongnong Yang family, a thousand-year-old family."

“It lives up to its reputation and lives up to its reputation.”

(End of this chapter)