Thief Emperor

Chapter 791 Running away overnight
In night battles, cavalry is not particularly useful, but even so, as a simple maneuver, there is no problem at all.

Moreover, the Hedong army ambushing in the woods consisted of only a small scout battalion, which had virtually no lethality to Li Yun's troops.

More importantly, although there is almost no way to ride and shoot at night, Li has never considered himself a cavalryman. He is at his strongest only when his feet are on the ground and holding a spear.

However, in this situation, it was not yet time for Li Yun to go into battle personally. He led a few hundred cavalrymen and easily entangled this part of the Hedong army. In the second half of the night, the infantry behind Li Yun caught up, and he simply got off his horse and watched the battlefield leisurely.

In this situation, there is no need to charge. Firstly, our own troops are outnumbered, and secondly, there are some risks at night.

At this time, even Li Yun himself was very clear about his own importance. Unless it was necessary, he would not rush into the battlefield just because he was itching to do so.

He sat firmly in the center of the army and didn't even need to give any commands. He just needed to quietly watch the situation on the battlefield.

From the anti-theft team of that year, to the later Yuezhou soldiers, Wuzhou soldiers, and the current Jiangdong Army, the war has almost never stopped since the army was formed.

The Jiangdong Army is no longer short of soldiers and generals. On the contrary, the Jiangdong Army now has a large number of capable generals, both at the middle and high levels and at the middle and low levels. Any captain picked out from each captain's camp may be better than Li Yun himself five or six years ago.

It can even be said that the Jiangdong Army is now full of arrogant and powerful generals.

In a war, there is no need for Li Yun to charge into the battle line anymore.

The battle lasted until the late night, close to dawn. Li Yun was in the central army and had set up a smaller tent. He was resting in the tent when he suddenly heard a commotion outside. He frowned, opened his eyes, and ducked out of the tent. He saw Xue Gui and Zhou Luo supporting a young man covered in blood.

Li Yun frowned, strode forward, and asked in a deep voice: "What's going on?"

The young man looked up at Li Yun, then lowered his head again. It was Su Zhan.

Li Yun's shouting made Zhou Luo panic. He hesitated and dared not speak. Xue Gui was bolder. He said quickly, "Master, Brother Su is not in the guard camp. He followed Captain Zhao to the front line. He was injured and was sent back by Captain Zhao."

"Captain Zhao? Zhao Quan?"

Su Zhan then looked up at Li Yun and took a deep breath, "Sir, I told Captain Zhao that you sent me to the army, and he didn't know about it."

At this point, Su Zhan forced a smile on his face: "Subordinate, I killed two enemy soldiers and did not embarrass you."

Li Yun stepped forward and checked his injuries. He saw that there was a long and narrow cut on Su Zhan's back. The wound was long but not deep. However, he bled a lot and his back was already red.

He frowned and asked, "Are you wearing armor?"

Su Zhan nodded: "I'm wearing armor."

Li Yun was silent for a while, then said, "If you weren't wearing armor, you would probably be cut in half by a knife like this."

"Do you know what it means to cut it off completely?"

Li Yun groaned, "I'll cut you in two with one knife!"

Su Zhan shrank his head and lowered it, not daring to speak.

Li Yun shook his head and said, "Considering that this is your first offense and you are injured, I will not bother with you now. If you do not obey military orders again, I will punish you by military law. You will never be able to join the army again!"

Su Zhan lowered his head and breathed a sigh of relief.

Along the way, he didn't feel any pain in his back at all, because he was afraid of being punished by Li Yun. Although Li Yun scolded him a few times, he didn't say anything harsh after all, so the matter was over.

Only then did he feel relieved.

A huge stone fell from his heart, and he felt pain in his back immediately. He couldn't help but groan, and sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

"Help him down and let the military doctor treat his injuries."

Su Zhan bowed his head and thanked him, then he heard Li Yun say angrily: "I will settle with you after this battle is over."

Su Zhan's face turned pale, but he didn't dare to say anything, so he could only be helped down.

Li Yun stood with his hands behind his back, watching the three people leave with a complicated look on his face.

When the Jiangdong Army was first established, Li Yun always wanted to establish a martial spirit in the army.

After so many years, the martial spirit of the Jiangdong Army has basically taken shape. Under the influence of this atmosphere, few people in the Jiangdong Army are afraid of death as long as they go to the battlefield.

Even someone like Su Zhan was more or less affected, which shows how strong this martial spirit is.

Now, Li Yun can finally say that he did it all.

Created a powerful army.

…………

The next afternoon, in the Hedong Army camp in Huaizhou.

Someone knelt hurriedly in the big tent and kowtowed to the general on the main seat, saying: "General, the vanguard troops we sent to explore the way to Zezhou encountered the enemy last night. The soldiers fought hard, but the enemy was outnumbered..."

"Now, the army has been killed and scattered." At this time, the general of the Hedong Army sitting in the main seat was none other than Li Hao, the sixth son of the Hedong Li family. Upon hearing this, Li Hao slammed the table hard and gnashed his teeth: "What a waste, what a waste!"

He cursed several times before he stood up and looked towards Tongguan, cursing viciously: "What a shitty Shuofang Army, shitty Wei Quanzhong, they are all fucking trash!"

"The two sides were confronting each other, and right under our noses, such a large army of Jiangdong troops left the battlefield without our noticing, without our noticing!"

At this point, the other generals in the big tent realized that he was scolding the Shuofang army, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Someone looked up at him, then bowed his head and clasped his fists and said, "General, I think it's not necessarily that the Shuofang Army is incompetent. Instead, it's possible that they did it on purpose in order to allow the Jiangdong Army to come to Zezhou and make things difficult for our Hedong Army."

"He is still in Guanzhong, sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight!"

After hearing this, Li Hao's face became even gloomier. He was silent for a while, and his voice was hoarse: "How far are Zhao Cheng, Meng Qing and the others from us?"

"Thirty or forty miles."

The general bowed his head and said, "General, the Jiangdong Army in Huaizhou has been keeping this distance from us. As soon as we move, they will chase us and fight us like crazy. If we don't move, they will not move either."

"It's obvious that they want to keep our troops in Huaizhou forever!"

The general took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice: "These people from Jiangnan are very vicious when they fight."

Li Hao stood up with a blank expression and said, "Our reinforcements should have arrived in Zezhou by now. There is no need to panic. The entire army should rest here. Tomorrow morning, we will head north to meet up with the reinforcements."

"Maybe, we can give the Jiangdong Army a tough blow."

After saying this, he headed straight out of the big tent and said, “I’m going to go out for a while, and you all do your own things. No one should panic, in case someone spreads rumors in the army.”

"Behead immediately without mercy!"

When he finished saying this, Li Hao was already on his horse. He took dozens of his guards with him and rushed out of the camp. Then he headed west for thirty miles and arrived at another camp.

This is where the Shuofang Army is stationed.

To be precise, it should be the base of Wei Yao, Major General of the Shuofang Army.

He soon met Wei Yao in the military camp. As soon as they met, Li Yao scolded him harshly: "General Wei is in Tongguan with nearly 100,000 troops. He can't watch over the 50,000 or 60,000 Jiangdong troops!"

Wei Yao looked calm and shook his head slightly: "A considerable part of the Shuofang Army's forces are in the capital, and the forces in Tongguan..."

"not many."

He looked up at Li Hao and said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Li, I already know about your army's ambush in Zezhou. This matter has nothing to do with our Shuofang Army. My father would like the Jiangdong Army to be wiped out. No matter what, he can't have any other thoughts."

"It's just that the Li guy is so cunning."

Li Hao subconsciously glanced at Wei Yao, who immediately reacted and said with a wry smile, "I was talking about Li Yun, not Brother Li, not Brother Li."

He stood up, pulled Li Hao to sit down, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Li, it's useless to argue now. The key is to come up with a solution."

"There is no good solution. If the Shuofang Army does not contribute, our Hedong Army alone cannot fight the Jiangdong Army to the end. Now the only way is to retreat."

Wei Yao nodded and asked, "How do you want to retreat, Brother Li?"

"While the Jiangdong Army is still not firmly established, it is better to withdraw as soon as possible. Major General, this time your Shuofang Army did not contribute at all, and your Shuofang Army made a big mistake."

"It is reasonable that you, the Shuofang Army, should be compensated."

"Our Hedong Army's reinforcements have arrived in Zezhou."

"Tomorrow, the Shuofang Army will be the vanguard and charge in front. We will break out together and join the reinforcements."

Wei Yao lowered his head to drink tea without replying. After a long while, he said softly, "Tomorrow morning, we will go north together and break out separately."

Li Hao's eyes widened and he shouted angrily: "You!"

Wei Yao remained calm and refused to give in.

The two "major generals" argued for a long time, and finally Li Yu walked away in anger, and the two sides parted unhappily.

As soon as Li Hao left, Wei Yao summoned his subordinates and spoke in a firm voice.

"Pass the order."

"Gather the soldiers immediately, and we will break out immediately."

"Break out overnight!"

(End of this chapter)