Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 650 You Han people are bad.

This time, the grasslands have placed a heavy bet on Yang Ying, because no matter what, they must acquire Jizhou and Yunzhou, only in this way can their living space further expand towards the Central Plains.

This is a must-win territory for them, so they are willing to risk everything to take it.

The plan was to provide support with 100,000 troops to help Yang Ying win the battle. Although they knew they were going to have to fight against Xia Lin, their brotherhood could not stop them from expanding their territory.

Therefore, this great war was inevitable. While the warlords in various regions were holding back the new army, they could march south with impunity.

The alluvial plain east of Handan City is flat, and once the cavalry assembles, their charge is like a whirlwind. No one in the world can withstand the frenzied charge of nearly 70,000 cavalry.

Everyone knows that the Tang Dynasty is currently embroiled in internal strife and almost completely isolated from the world. If they can conquer the Tian Wei army, especially since their emperor is among them, and then capture the Tian Wei emperor, it will be hard to say who will be the dominant power in the Central Plains.

Yang Ying? It's not that Liu Bilie or Liu Dahan looked down on this man; he was only fit to be his son. The only person in the world who could cause him any worry was his beloved friend and relative, Xia Daosheng.

"Great Khan, our army has been delayed for three days. Why is it still not advancing?"

Liu Bilie, also known as Liu Dahan, took off his helmet and looked south. A smile appeared on his lips. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "He is waiting for me."

The adjutant was taken aback, but dared not ask who was waiting for the Khan.

On the grasslands, their Great Khan was like a god. Born a slave, he not only overthrew the old royal court with a single sentence, but also gradually strengthened the weak Turkic Khaganate over more than ten years, to the point where it could now rival the Central Plains dynasties.

The "four-pronged approach" of prioritizing agriculture, production, commerce, and people's livelihood, while opposing oppression, corruption, and privilege, brought a complete dawn to the lives of the grassland people.

This great battle is to determine whether they are qualified to contend for the Central Plains. If they win, the vast Central Plains will be theirs, and Yang Ying will at most be a puppet emperor, whom they can control at any time.

If they lose, they can only retreat back to the grasslands and quietly lie low, waiting for the next opportunity.

Instead of advancing, they rested for three days under the pretext of bad weather. During these three days, Yang Ying sent people to urge them almost every day, but Liu Bilie refused to send troops no matter what.

"He's waiting for me."

Han Liu picked up the strong liquor beside him and took a sip. The harsh alcohol stung his throat, but he didn't even flinch. After a while, he raised his glass and smiled at the person next to him, saying, "If it weren't for him back then, we don't know how much money we would have spent just for this one sip of liquor. He taught me iron smelting, salt washing, and farming. It's just a pity that you and I are ultimately not on the same side of the world, alas..."

Liu Dahan's words revealed endless regret.

Of course, there's also a bit of the allure of what you can't have. If Xia Lin had just followed him, he probably wouldn't have held her in such deep affection.

Just then, snow began to fall from the sky. Liu Dahan reached out and caught a few cold snowflakes, then turned and went into his tent, leaving behind the words: "It's snowing today. Go back to Yang Ying and wait three more days."

When the news reached Yang Ying, he was almost driven mad. After the two encircling armies were defeated, the remaining two armies dared not advance rashly. The city gates of Handan were now practically useless. Yet they were still there, waiting for the grassland cavalry.

It's clear they're stubborn, arrogant, and eager to clash head-on with the iron cavalry in this place. However, the grassland cavalry is slow to appear. Yang Ying originally intended to let the two strong forces fight so he could gain more leverage, but now it seems the grasslands are deliberately trying to exhaust him, ideally wiping him out completely. Even if he loses, he'll still have to rely on the grasslands for survival.

Yang Ying wanted to use someone else's strength against them, but the grasslands wanted a loyal dog.

Even more anxious than Yang Ying was Emperor Jingtai. Just as Shan Xiongxin had said, the predictions were completely unreliable. Three days ago, they had said they would arrive the next day, but now three days had passed, and the enemy's southward advance had stopped. They had stopped eighty miles south of Handan.

"Damn it."

Emperor Jingtai paced back and forth in the central command tent, filled with righteous indignation: "What kind of trick are they playing? They were charging forward perfectly fine, and then suddenly they stopped? In Daosheng's words, isn't this just playing... playing... oh right, stopping abruptly?"

Shan Xiongxin lowered his eyelids and smiled. When he saw Emperor Jingtai, his emotions seemed to remind him of when he first joined the army, so naive and anxious, which he truly missed.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Yang Ying and the grasslands cannot be a united front; they will inevitably clash. Now that the grasslands' southward advance has stalled, the one who should be most anxious is not us, but Yang Ying. A few days ago, we defeated their two encircling armies, and now the south gate of Handan is open to our army, even allowing civilians to come to our camp to do business. Is Yang Ying not anxious? If Handan is lost, Yang Ying will have nowhere to stand here, and the only thing he can rely on is the Northern Han."

"Oh, so there's such a scheme involved." Emperor Jingtai clapped his hands. "It seems we still know too little about these intrigues and power struggles."

Shan Xiongxin turned his head and smiled but didn't speak. Emperor Jingtai, however, turned back and glanced at him: "General Shan, am I not very stupid?" These words made the hairs on General Shan's head stand on end. He quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please do not belittle yourself. There are few people in the world who can match Your Majesty's understanding. We are just ordinary people and do not know how to flatter, but in my opinion, since Your Majesty took command of the army, there has been a great difference compared to before."

"Hmm..." Emperor Jingtai was very satisfied with Shan Xiongxin's words. Who wouldn't like to be praised? He chuckled a few times and said, "I still need General Shan's guidance."

"Your Majesty, this humble general dares not, but will do his best."

It snowed today. When Emperor Jingtai saw that some snowflakes had accumulated on the cannons, he would immediately step forward and wipe them off with a mop. He would wipe them off three to five times a day without any slacking off, and he was even more meticulous than when he treated his favorite concubines in the palace.

Meanwhile, among the remaining two encircling armies, several leaders surrounded Liu Heita, awaiting his next instructions. Those who had disobeyed him earlier were still missing, and they dared not gamble again. In fact, Liu Heita's prestige among these people had surpassed that of Yang Ying.

"Yang Ying is using us as his vanguard, calling it a meritorious achievement of being the first to scale the walls, but in reality, we're nothing more than stepping stones for him and the barbarians of the grasslands. They want to use our lives to hold back the Wei army. What? Aren't our lives lives too?"

Liu Heita's words made everyone present lower their heads. They really didn't know how to deal with Tian Wei's army. Their tactics were things that had never been seen or even heard of in military strategy. They used various surprise attacks, ambushes, and alternating attacks. These people couldn't even defend themselves. They didn't even know where Tian Wei's army would suddenly appear from. It seemed that the other side knew their deployment and action plan clearly.

They had no confidence in winning against an army like that.

"Brother Shenyong, what should we do now?"

Liu Heita narrowed his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table: "To the northeast, there is Huangya Pass, which is not a good place to go. Although I don't know how strong Ye Liangchen is, I went to scout it a few days ago. The mountains are high and the walls are thick, so it will probably be difficult to break through the pass. To the east is Xuzhou. I followed Wang Shichong, the old monster, for two years. Although he can't be said to be a genius in military strategy, he is cautious and acts alone. Moreover, Xuzhou is the supply place for the new army, so it will probably be difficult to deal with as well."

"We can't just cross the river, can we?"

"Of course, we cannot cross the river."

While they were discussing the matter, news arrived from the front that the steppe cavalry would not arrive for another three days. Upon hearing this news, everyone present was immediately filled with excitement.

Liu Heita slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "We can't wait any longer. The only place we can go now is Shandong. We can bypass Xuzhou and reach Laizhou. With the advantage of the terrain, we can hold out against Wang Shichong and give up the Central Plains to them. I want to see what other tricks Yang Ying has up his sleeve."

The others remained silent, but after a while, everyone stood up and responded.

Then the war took an unexpected turn...

On this day, as snow fell heavily, the two legions that had besieged the Wei army outside Handan launched an attack at dusk. Everyone thought it was a feint attack like before, but this time they withdrew and never returned.

They just ran away...

"Ran!?"

Emperor Jingtai and Shan Xiongxin stood up at the same time, their eyes widening in disbelief.

Someone ran away?
"Probe again and report again!"

Soon, Yang Ying, Liu Dahan, and Li Mi all received the news.

"Ran?"

This move completely disrupted the rhythm of the entire battlefield, leaving everyone bewildered. Those who learned of this news were all at a loss.

The sudden loss of 100,000 men on the original battlefield was tantamount to handing over the city of Handan.

Handan has fallen, so what about the cavalry marching north? Will they attack the city with their cavalry?
Yang Ying was dumbfounded. These bastards had been eating and drinking his food, and now they were going to sell him out like this?
According to intelligence, they are marching eastward at full speed, heading towards Laizhou. But the problem is that no one can catch up with them now. It's like playing Go; if the white stone is moved, the empty space naturally becomes the black stone's liberty.

"Whose plan is this?" Yang Ying said, rubbing her forehead, both amused and exasperated. "I want to kill him... Go and tell Khan Liu that if we can't reach the city by tomorrow, they will attack."

(End of this chapter)