Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 95: Defeating Them One by One
"Drive! Drive!"

On the grassland after the rain, more than 900 elite cavalrymen marched towards Fanhe City.

However, when everyone thought they were heading to Fanhe City, Liu Jilian suddenly stopped his horse.

"Hey!!"

"Guo Yi, why did you stop?"

"Yes, Guo Yi, didn't you say before that speed is of the essence in war? If we go and fight Fanhe now, we will definitely win!"

Shang Duoluo and Chen Jingchong asked in confusion, but Liu Jilong shook his head and said:
"Do you really think that by severely damaging the main force of Fanhe, you can take down Fanhe City in one battle?"

He asked the two of them in return, and before they could reply, he gave the answer: "It can't be taken."

"There are at least several hundred or even a thousand bandits in Fanhe City. It would be very easy for them to hold out for a few months."

"Even if we take it, the foreign troops from Jialin and Guzang will continue to pour in."

After he finished speaking, Chen Jingchong asked in confusion: "Then why are we going south?"

Shang Duoluo also looked over, very puzzled.

Seeing the two of them like this, Liu Jilong continued: "The purpose of going south is to make them think that we are going to attack Fanhe, but this is not what we want to do."

"Let me ask you..." He turned his horse's head and looked at the two of them:
"Jiujuyan has captured the people and herds of seven tribes. If you were the generals of Guzang and Jialin, would you go to Fanhe City first, or rescue the seven tribes?"

"Of course it's seven tribes!" The two answered without hesitation, and Chen Jingchong added:
"Since there are still soldiers in Fanhe City, it won't be a problem to rescue them for a few hours that night."

"But if we ignore Laojiu and the others, they will retreat with the population and herds of the seven tribes."

"In this vast grassland, if we fail to catch up in time and it rains heavily, we won't even be able to find their tracks and the herd will be lost."

After Chen Jingchong finished speaking, Shang Duoluo nodded and said, "We plundered six of their tribes a few days ago, and now we have plundered another seven."

"If they leave it alone, the loss will be much greater than last time."

"Yes!" Liu Jilong nodded and said, "That's why we should go back to Jiujuyan now."

"Before the battle, I had already told Jiu Juyan to lead the herd and walk slowly, so the bandits would definitely be able to catch up with them."

"Once they are in a stalemate with Jiujuyan, we will launch a surprise attack from the rear and severely damage the troops of the three cities in one fell swoop!"

He expressed his thoughts and intentions. Shang Duoluo and Chen Jingchong bowed in admiration: "You are indeed resolute. I thought you only wanted to inflict heavy damage on the Fanhe Army and then withdraw..."

Liu Jilong chuckled when he heard this: "We are few in number but well-trained. If we attack the city, even if we can take it, there will definitely be heavy casualties."

"With the superiority of our army, we cannot fight an enemy that is entrenched. We should give full play to our strengths and destroy the enemy in mobile warfare."

After saying this, he glanced at the more than 900 elite cavalrymen and said, "Follow the banner, we are off!"

"Yes!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Shandan elite cavalry, led by Liu Jilong, turned back and headed east.

At the same time, Zhe Bu Luo and General Mang Luo also parted ways.

Since the vanguard army was previously commanded by General Mang Luo, the light cavalry killed by Zheng Chu and Jiu Juyan were basically his.

After the troops were divided into two parts, General Mang Luo still had 500 elite cavalry and 700 light cavalry, a total of 1,200 people.

He launched a pursuit to the east, and after galloping for more than 20 miles without stopping, the Tang cavalry in front also reported back the news.

"Report to Dongben, seven miles ahead, our Tang cavalry has already engaged the Han slaves. There are hundreds of Han slaves, and some pastoral slaves are helping."

"All troops attack!"

After receiving the military intelligence, Mang Luo launched a pursuit without stopping.

It was only twenty-eight or twenty-nine miles from Moli's camp to the front. Now, as long as we dealt with these hundreds of armored soldiers, the remaining group of herdsmen would surrender obediently.

The herds of these seven tribes were enough to make up for the losses he suffered in this expedition.

Thinking of this, General Mang Luo led his troops and galloped away.

A quarter of an hour later, when a huge team appeared in front of him, General Mang Luo raised his hand to rein in his horse, preparing to take a look at the battlefield first.

The light cavalry and elite cavalry behind him dismounted to drink water, waiting for their horsepower to recover and then attacking in accordance with military orders.

"kill!!"

"Full string!"

"put!!"

A few hundred steps ahead, hundreds of elite cavalry were fighting with more than two hundred light cavalry, and there were nearly a thousand shepherds on horseback shooting bows to help.

In the distance, hundreds of herdsmen were driving the herds northward on horseback, and there were some captured herdsmen among the herds.

Seeing General Mang Luo leading his troops towards them, they seemed to be asking for help, but because the distance was too far, General Mang Luo could not see the specific situation clearly.

"Kill the dog Hannu!"

Seeing that the information was correct, General Mang Luo immediately launched a charge.

He took the lead and led 500 elite cavalry to charge into the battle formation, while more than 500 light cavalry drew their bows and arrows, ready to shoot and interfere with the Shandan army.

In the chaos of the battle, Jiu Juyan saw more than a thousand foreign soldiers galloping from the west, among which the armored soldiers were obviously more than his own.

"Fight and retreat to the north!"

Jiu Juyan swung his sword and knocked down a Jialin light cavalryman. He didn't even bother to wipe the blood off his face and shouted to retreat.

"Beep--"

A shrill whistle was blown, and less than three hundred Shandan elite cavalry began to fight and retreat to the north. The herdsmen also harassed General Mang Luo with soft bows and arrows on the way.

Mang Luo drove them for nearly thirty miles and his horse's power was almost exhausted.

Seeing that Jiu Juyan was about to lead his troops to evacuate, General Mang Luo turned his attention to the slowly retreating herd three or four miles away.

"Ignore them and get the herd back!"

General Mang Luo didn't know what "attack the enemy who must rescue" meant, but it turned out that he chose the right target.

Seeing the Jialin Army charging at the herd, Jiu Juyan could only grit his teeth and order: "Go, flank them!"

"Uuuuuu——"

When the charge horn sounded, Jiu Juyan took the lead and led more than 200 elite cavalry to attack the left wing of Jialin Army.

Seeing that the Shandan army did not run away, General Mang Luo immediately gave up his original goal and continued to fight with the Shandan army.

The thick, inky clouds made the battlefield look even more desolate. The howling wind blew up clouds of dust. The dewdrops on the grass tips reflected the flashes of swords and were ruthlessly chopped into pieces in an instant.

The sounds of shouting and weapons clashing filled everyone's minds.

Horses collided, spears pierced, and every metal clash was accompanied by a dull sound.

In this war, the elite cavalry wearing armor could still survive longer, while the light soldiers and herdsmen wearing leather armor and fur coats nourished this grassland with their lives.

Jiu Juyan was waving his spear, his robe and armor were stained with the blood of the foreign soldiers, but he still led his troops to charge forward fearlessly.

On the battlefield, the fallen figures were like stubble in a wheat field, being trampled by ruthless war horses, making dull cracking sounds.

The living are struggling to survive in this land of death, and the tragic situation of the dead has become the most horrifying scenery under the dark clouds.

The smell of blood and earth mixed together, overwhelming the sky and making everyone who was still fighting feel suffocated.

In the distance, the dark sky seemed like it would collapse at any time, lightning rolled in the clouds, and thunder rumbled, as if it was a warning from the angry sky.

As they were fighting fiercely, a torrent of cavalry came from south to north, making a sound of horse hooves that was far louder than thunder.

"Buzz, rumble—"

The dull sound of horse hooves and fighting came from the south. In the chaos of the battle, General Jiu Juyan and General Mang Luo looked to the south, expecting reinforcements from their side.

"kill!!"

When the shouts and cries of killing rang out again, on the Liangzhou grassland under the dark clouds, what was fluttering was the Sanchen flag of the Shandan Army.

"Kill the thief!!"

Liu Jilian led more than 900 elite cavalrymen to charge, and the scene made the Jialin foreign soldiers feel despair.

"Why are they here!"

"Aren't they going to fight?"

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!!"

For a time, the Jialin foreign soldiers were in disarray, and General Mang Luo tried to retreat, but the north was the territory of the Umu people, and Zhebuluo in the west had already moved south to Fanhe, and more than ten miles to the east was the Macheng River.

The Macheng River blocked their escape route to the east, and to the south in the direction of Jialin were hundreds of elite Shandan cavalry.

"God, have you given up on me?!"

Mang Luo showed a look of despair. He never thought that he would end up like Mo Li.

"Bam—"

"kill!!"

Under the watchful eyes of General Mang Luo, more than 900 elite Shandan cavalrymen rushed into the battlefield from their flank and rear, causing countless casualties among the Jialin foreign soldiers.

"Dong Ben, retreat!"

"Yes Dong Ben, we'll take you!"

With the help of several men, Mang Luo will start trying to break out.

They tried to break out from the southwest, and as they were moving forward, they saw a tall general leading elite cavalry on horseback approaching them.

He held an iron spear in his hand, carried two hammers on his back, and led a dozen riders on horseback.

A lieutenant rushed forward to try to stop him, and went straight for the general. After a brief exchange of blows, the general stabbed the lieutenant down with a spear, which made Mang Luo's scalp numb.

The general rode his horse and raised his spear, charging into the Jialin flag formation again, stabbing left and right, and in an instant countless people fell off their horses.

General Mang Luo could only run wildly. When he looked back at his elite cavalry, he found that only dozens of them were following him, and the rest of the soldiers were left on the battlefield.

Not only that, the brave general also led more than a hundred elite cavalry to pursue him, and he was determined not to stop until he killed him.

"withdraw!!"

General Mang Luo shouted at the top of his lungs and waved his whip continuously, trying to make the horse under him take him away.

But he forgot that it was his own fault for being too arrogant and leading the troops to gallop thirty miles, and the horses' horsepower was no longer enough.

“Hiss—”

As the army horses neighed, General Mang Luo felt his mind go blank.

By the time he reacted, he had already fallen to the ground, with dozens of his elite cavalry behind him.

"Stop! Stop!"

"Bam—"

It happened so suddenly that the elite cavalry at the rear didn't even have time to react and trampled past on horseback.

When they reacted, the leading captains looked at each other and fled south.

“No need to chase!!”

Liu Jilong reined in his horse and gave the order, glancing at the mangled General Mang Luo lying on the ground.

"Persuade him to surrender, and have someone come and identify who this guy is!"

He put his spear aside and gave the order without looking back.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingchong quickly turned his horse around and returned to his army. At this time, many foreign troops on the battlefield had already begun to surrender.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

During the fight, Jiu Juyan, Shang Duoluo and others kept persuading the enemy to surrender, but as time went on, the foreign soldiers who had lost their backbone laid down their weapons one after another.

Within two quarters of an hour of fighting, thirty percent of them were killed, twenty percent escaped, and only less than six hundred people were left, most of whom were light cavalry.

Not long after, Chen Jingchong brought a surrendered centurion to the body of General Mang Luo.

Seeing General Mang Luo's body, the captain trembled all over and said, "This is our Dongben Mang Luo."

"Dongben?" Liu Jilong nodded. "Which city of Fanhe or Jialin is he from?"

"He is General Dongben Mangluo of Jialin City. Protector Dongbenhe Zhebu of Fanhe City has gone south to Fanhe."

As the captain said this, Liu Jilong narrowed his eyes, then pulled out the sword from his waist and threw it on the ground: "Go and cut off his head."

"I?!"

The captain's eyes widened, and Liu Jilong nodded and said, "Why, you don't want to?"

"Yes! I'll cut it right away..." The captain stepped forward, picked up the sword, walked to the body of General Mang Luo, and cut off his neck with great effort.

By the time he had done this, blood was splattered all over his face.

He fearfully handed the sword back to Liu Jillong, who took the sword, wiped the blade with his cloak, and then sheathed it.

"What's your name?"

"Nong Guli." The captain responded cautiously, and Liu Jilong nodded.

"Go, take his body with you, and select a few people to return to Jialin City. Tell them that you are the one who got his body back."

"I...can I leave?" Nong Guli widened his eyes, unable to believe that he was released like this.

"Let's go." Liu Jilong narrowed his eyes.
"After you go back, if you want to be rich and prosperous, then find a way to send the city maps, troop numbers, and other information about Fanhe City and Jialin City to Shandan."

"If you can deliver the message, I will reward you with a thousand herds of cattle and a thousand acres of pasture when I conquer Jialin City!"

"Of course, you don't have to do it..."

Turning his horse around, Liu Jilong returned to the battlefield.
Chen Jingchong wrapped the head of General Mang Luo in coarse cloth and took it away, leaving only Nong Guli and General Mang Luo's headless body there.

"Capture them and make them take off their armor!"

After returning to the battlefield, Liu Jilian gave a decisive order, and then he saw the soldiers of the Shandan Army stripping off the armor of the captives, picking up their weapons, and distributing them to the more than 800 surviving pastoral slaves.

"Take them and let's go home!"

Liu Jilong had a smile on his face, and the Shandan soldiers who received the order also smiled.

In this battle, many of their brothers were killed or wounded, but compared to their casualties, the casualties of the Liangzhou foreign soldiers were undoubtedly greater.

On the way of retreat, Jiu Juyan rode his horse to Liu Jillong's side, while Liu Jillong stared straight ahead.

After a long silence, Jiu Juyan finally said, "Seventy-two brothers died..."

Liu Jilong did not respond until they met Zheng Chu's more than 100 elite cavalrymen 20 miles to the west. He then slowly spoke: "I will take care of their wives, children and the elderly!"

Shaking the reins, he walked quickly towards Director Zheng.

Jiu Juyan stared at his back in silence. Chen Jingchong rode up to catch up with him, his face heavy, "Two more brothers were seriously injured and died..."

"Yeah." Jiu Juyan responded in a deep voice, staring at Liu Jilong's back, and asked Chen Jingchong: "Old Chen, how long do you think this will last?"

"Recapture Liangzhou and open up Helong." Chen Jingchong responded in a deep voice, but Jiu Juyan shook his head.

"I feel... Guo Yi and the others are not only thinking about recovering Liangzhou, but more..."

He did not continue speaking, perhaps worried that his words would be heard by others and influence Liu Jilong.

Or maybe he was worried that Chen Jingchong could no longer be trusted and would tell Liu Jilong what he said.

"Don't think too much." Chen Jingchong thought he was just daydreaming because he didn't have too many brothers in the formation, so he reached out and patted him.

"Instead of thinking about these things, it is better to think about how to explain to the families of these 74 brothers."

“We brought them out, but we didn’t bring them back.”

Chen Jingchong felt a tightness in his chest, and Jiu Juyan also tightened his grip on the reins, thinking of the scene when he went to war.

While they were thinking this, Shang Duoluo came riding from behind and chased after Liu Jilong.

"Guo Yi!"

"Are there any casualties?"

Liu Jilong had already met Zheng Chu, who happily reined in his horse and bowed, while Liu Jilong first asked about the casualties.

Fortunately, Director Zheng shook his head and said, "Twelve brothers were injured by arrows, but the injuries are not serious."

"That's good. Have you disinfected it with alcohol?"

Liu Jilong breathed a sigh of relief and at the same time told about the alcohol.

This is also the product he made in the past six months. After all, with the handicraft technology of the Tang Dynasty, it is not difficult to make distilled liquor. The only problem is that it consumes a lot of food.

"It has been disinfected, don't worry!"

As Zheng Chu was speaking, his eyes also caught sight of Shang Duoluo who was galloping towards him.

Liu Jilong looked back in the direction he was looking, and saw Shang Duoluo riding his horse towards him. Soon he stopped his horse and bowed in front of him: "Guo Yi, we lost 81 men on our side, and 124 were injured."

"Don't worry, the brothers who died in the battle can enjoy the same treatment as the brothers in Shandan."

Seeing Shang Duoluo's report, Liu Jilong appeased him and said to Zheng Chu:

"Now that we have money, food, and livestock, the pension must be changed."

"If the martyrs' relatives are willing to move to Shandan, they will be given 100 mu of government land, 10 dan of grain, and two oxen."

"Those who do not want to come to Shandan will be given 50 strings of cash, and the prefecture land will be given according to the rule of 50 mu in each prefecture and county."

"Thank you Guoyi!" Before Zheng Chu could respond, Shang Duoluo bowed excitedly.

Seeing him like this, Director Zheng tentatively said, "Guo Yi, I remember there is not much money left in the government treasury. This batch of money we..."

"We don't have it, but Zhangye does." Liu Jilong turned around and gestured:
"We captured several hundred sets of armor this time. We don't need many of them, but Zhangye needs them urgently. Fifty strings of cash for one set is not a big loss."

Hearing this, Director Zheng grinned, and Chen Jingchong and others behind him also followed.

Seeing them coming up, Liu Jilong also told them about the pension.

When they heard that Liu Jilong was willing to pay so much money and food to the soldiers on the battlefield, the two were speechless.

Today, the five states in Hexi have become relatively stable, and prices are not as high as they were last year.

Last year, a dan of millet cost two strings of coins, but now the price has dropped to seven hundred coins.

Therefore, fifty strings of cash were enough to buy seventy dan of corn, enough to feed a family of five for three years.

With these fifty strings of cash, plus the food provided as compensation by the local prefectures and counties and fifty mu of government land, the families of these soldiers who died in the battle will no longer have to worry about the rest of their lives.

Of course, the best way is to move to Shandan, but Liu Jilong tried to appease the families of martyrs several times, but few people moved to Shandan. It is estimated that the families of these soldiers and martyrs would not come to Shandan to settle down.

While Chen Jingchong and the others were thinking this, Liu Jilong raised his head and looked into the distance.

The gloomy clouds dispersed a lot, and rays of sunshine illuminated the grassland.

"Let's go, it's time to go home..."

(End of this chapter)