Thief Emperor

Chapter 831: Decisive Battle in the North
Soon, the jade plaque engraved with the name of Xiao Heng's eldest daughter, along with her clothes, were taken away by Jiusi's people and sent to Xiao Heng's military camp according to Li Yun's instructions.

As for how to deliver it, Jiusi will naturally have a way. Li Yun himself no longer needs to worry about such a small matter.

Xiao Heng's eldest daughter, who was already seventeen or eighteen years old, had to take off her coat, so the ropes on her hands and feet had been temporarily removed. She looked up at Li Yun and gritted her teeth and said, "You are Li from Jiangdong..."

Before she could even utter the word "Yun", she saw Li Yun's expression and suddenly stopped talking. She swallowed the word and changed her words: "Are you the King of Wu in Jiangdong..."

Li Yun was about to leave at this moment. There was really no need for him to deal with the Xiao family himself. After she called him, Li Yun looked up at her.

Although she is young, she is not beautiful, just above average in appearance.

Mr. Li looked at her and smiled: "I am Li Yun."

"I'm Xiao Shu."

Hearing this, Li Yun was a little curious and asked, "Which Shu?"

Xiao Shu gritted her teeth and said, "Lady's Shu..."

Mr. Li narrowed his eyes slightly and chuckled, "That's not bad. You almost have the same name as my eldest daughter. If you really have the same name, I might be more lenient with you."

Xiao Shu's eyes turned red, and she gritted her teeth and said, "King Wu, we are all Han people. Even if we fight, we should fight behind closed doors. You attacked Zhending by surprise, so Zhending City is naturally yours, and no one can say anything. But if you hold my family hostage to threaten my father."

"When this is recorded in history books, future generations will despise your actions for thousands of years to come!"

"Don't you care about the bad reputation you'll receive after you leave?"

The smile on Li Yun's face faded. He looked at the woman, then turned to look at Xue Gui and asked with a smile, "She has some knowledge. Do you like her?"

Xue Gui looked at Xiao Shu and shook his head.

The smile on Li Yun's face completely disappeared. He looked at Xiao Shu with a blank expression: "First of all, whether I use you guys to threaten Xiao Heng is my own business. My reputation before and after my death cannot restrict me."

"also."

"We need to talk about our reputation after death."

Li Yun stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Xiao Shu, sneering, "You, the Xiao family, deliberately let the Khitans go south, causing chaos in Hebei Province. For more than half a year, millions of people in Hebei Province have been displaced, and at least hundreds of thousands of people have died in this turmoil. You want to talk about your reputation after death."

"You should worry more about your father."

Of course Li Yun would not use these people to threaten Xiao Heng. At this level, doing this is too low-level and he is unwilling to do it.

However, this did not prevent him from using these members of the Xiao family to lure Xiao Heng to return for help quickly. As long as Xiao Heng returned regardless of everything, Li Yun's tactics in Hebei Road would be a complete victory.

Although the news in Zhending City at this time and what Li Yun said were unlikely to reach Xiao Heng's ears at the fastest speed, for the sake of the soldiers on the front line, Li Yun needed to be 100% safe. Even when facing Xiao Shu, he did not reveal his true intentions.

In other words, this habit of speaking only half of what he said has become Li Yun's subconscious action. No matter who it is, it is difficult to get anything out of him.

Xiao Shu stared at Li Yun with eyes wide open, furious: "You are talking nonsense! Our Fanyang army has been fighting against the Khitans for many years! My grandfather fought against the Khitans and died in Youzhou!"

Li Yun was too lazy to talk nonsense with her, and just sneered: "Youzhou has not been conquered yet, and more than 70% of your Fanyang troops have been taken away from Youzhou by your father. Even after you left, Youzhou still held out for more than half a month!"

"Even if Xiao Xian holds out for more than half a month, Youzhou will definitely be able to wait for our troops and the reinforcements from Qingzhou and Pinglu Army. By then, neither Youzhou nor Jizhou will be lost."

"But your grandfather, with his elite troops, left Youzhou for several days and rushed into the Khitan army's formation."

Li Yun strode away with his hands behind his back, sneering: "Whether he died in battle or committed suicide, the history books will have their own opinion in the future."

"As for your father, there is no need for history books to comment on him."

Mr. Li stopped and said coldly: "He is the biggest sinner in Hebei Province!"

After saying this, Li Yun did not look at these people again. Instead, he strode away with his hands behind his back. He looked at Su Zhan and said, "Come with me."

Su Zhan looked back at these members of the Xiao family, quickly nodded his head and followed Li Yun all the way to another courtyard.

Li Yun had already sat down in the pavilion. He pointed to the side opposite him and said, "Sit down and talk."

Su Zhan responded and sat opposite Li Yun. Then he looked at Li Yun and said, "What do you want me to do, Master?"

"brother."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said softly: "Taking Zhending is only the first step of the plan. There are still some more difficult things to do later. One of them, I plan to entrust you."

Su Zhan immediately said, "Just follow the orders from the superior."

"You fought quite well in the attack on Zhending this time. Originally, because you were too young, it was difficult to entrust this mission to you, but with your military exploits in Zhending this time, this task can be entrusted to you."

Li lowered his head and thought for a while, then said: "At this time, we have about 10,000 troops near Zhending, but I need to take a large part of them and rush to the Dingzhou battlefield. Here in Zhending, I will leave you 3,000 infantrymen." "You take these people and defend Zhending for me."

Su Zhan was a little confused and asked, "Sir, the Fanyang army is in the east and is being fought by your troops. It is unlikely that they can break through the encirclement and return to Zhending, right?"

"Don't worry about this. The Fanyang Army can't possibly come to Zhending. What I asked you to guard against is not the Fanyang Army, but the enemy in the west."

Su Zhan finally came to his senses and asked, "Is it... the Hedong Army?"

"Ah."

Li Yun nodded slightly and said, "Hengzhou borders Taiyuan Prefecture and is close to the Hedong Army's base. They know that Zhending has fallen, and there is at least a 60% chance that they will lead troops to attack Zhending."

"Now, although part of the Hedong Army's forces are entangled by Zhao Cheng, most of the forces are still in Hedong Road and have not moved. They can come anytime they want."

At this point, Li Yun looked at Su Zhan and said in a deep voice: "Today, I can only rest in Zhending for one day. Tomorrow morning, I will lead all the cavalry to the Dingzhou battlefield."

"Zhending is not important for Hebei Province now, but it is very important for the future war in Hedong Province. Do you understand?"

Su Zhan stood up, his face serious, and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, my lord. I swear to defend Zhending to the death. The city survives as long as the people are there, and the city dies as long as the people die!"

"That's not the case."

Li Yun patted his shoulder, motioned him to sit down, and chuckled, "After I leave tomorrow, count the days ahead and hold on for at least ten days. After ten days, if you can no longer sustain it, you will withdraw from Zhending and retreat to Dingzhou."

"If Zhending remains safe and sound, you can just station troops here. Even if the Hedong Army never comes, I will still give you some credit."

Su Zhan nodded immediately: "I obey your command!"

Li Yun gave him a few more instructions, then stood up and said with a smile, "Come on, I'll take you for a walk."

Su Zhan followed behind Li Yun, a little curious: "Sir, where are you taking me?"

"Of course, we should go to the city walls and gates of Zhending to have a look."

Mr. Li turned around and looked at Su Zhan, saying seriously: "As a defender, you must have a good understanding of the city before you can deploy troops."

"Yes."

Su Zhan took a deep breath and bowed his head: "I understand!"

"Good job."

Li Yun smiled and said, "After the war, I will find you a beautiful wife."

Su Zhan heard this and smiled as well.

"Then when the war is over, I will definitely go to the superior and ask for this woman."

…………

The next morning, Li Yun led the cavalry out of Zhending and rushed all the way to the Dingzhou battlefield.

He was still quite nervous along the way.

According to the time, Xiao Heng should have already received the news about Zhending at this time. If all went well, he should even be on his way back to Zhending.

Moreover, Jiusi’s clothes and jade pendant should have been delivered.

If he had moved quickly, he might have reached Dingzhou by now.

The biggest decisive battle that determined the war in Hebei Province was in Dingzhou.

Even Li Yun was a little nervous about this level of decisive battle. He was worried that Xiao Heng would abandon his family and be determined to stay on the battlefield in the eastern part of Hebei Province to assist the Khitans.

In this case, not only would the encirclement and annihilation of the Khitans fail, but it would also become extremely difficult to trap the main force of the Fanyang Army.

Zhending was not far from Zhou Chang’s base in Dingzhou, only about a hundred miles away. After running for half a day, Zhou Chang’s camp was vaguely in sight.

At this time, Meng Hai from the Ninth Division also rode his horse all the way to Li Yun's central army. He rode on his horse, looked at Li Yun, saluted with his fists, and his voice was hoarse.

"Up, Fanyang Army..."

"Back to the division!"

(End of this chapter)