A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 439 Ahead lies Chanyuan.

In Weizhou City,

The slaughtering of pigs and sheep was a lively affair.

"The Tang traitors are incredibly arrogant. Right under our noses, they haven't set up camp, but instead have pitched tents along the embankment. How can we miss such a good opportunity? Tonight, let's drive them all into the canal to feed the fish!"

Liu Shishan shouted loudly.

Cui Xingli followed behind him, saying, "General Liu, the King of Xia has decreed that we should focus on defending the city and not go out to fight recklessly."

"Am I just wasting my time?" Liu Shishan retorted.

Cui Xingli smiled wryly, "Be careful, it might be a trap. Li Yi is a famous general in the Tang army, how could he make such a simple mistake?"

"What do you know? Li Yi is still young. After winning some easy battles, he's become arrogant. Look at Li Shiji and Li Shentong, they were also called famous generals and kings, but they were still utterly defeated by us."
Don't always boost others' morale while diminishing your own.

After all, Li Yi is just a nineteen-year-old young man, not even an adult yet. He probably doesn't even know that the King of Xia has been here, or that we've reinforced Weizhou. He probably still thinks there are only a few thousand local militiamen in the city.”

Cui Xingchen persuaded him hard.

People only know that he once set up the Yin Gate Formation in Jizhou, which resulted in the city falling and him being captured. But how many people know that it was just a play he and his father-in-law put on?

“If you don’t take what is given by Heaven, you will suffer the consequences. Chief Steward Cui, don’t say any more. You’re not good at fighting.”

The soldiers in Weizhou City had a hearty meal.
In the middle of the night, Liu Shishan and Zhang Junli quietly led 10,000 men out of the city, their mouths gagged and their horses' hooves wrapped in cloth.

The distance of two miles can be covered in the blink of an eye.

Below the riverbank, a continuous stretch of tents extends for miles.

They crept right up to the camp without the Tang army noticing.

Liu Shishan was the first to charge into the Tang camp on horseback, hacking at anyone he saw.

Xia Jun launched a surprise attack.

The Tang army was caught off guard and fled in panic.

"Hurry them into the river to feed the turtles!"

Xia Jun set fire to the place.

A small part of the tent was set ablaze.
Many Tang soldiers were forced to jump into the canal before they could even put on their armor.

"Hahaha, Li Yi is nothing special,"

"Keep killing with me!"

The Tang army was collapsing and fleeing.

Some fled in panic to the levee, then rushed to the boats on the riverbank. One by one, the boats sped away without waiting for the soldiers.
Some fled directly south.

Tang soldiers were fleeing everywhere. In the darkness, Liu Shishan led his cavalry in a rampage, and no one could stop them.

"General, the Tang army has been defeated and is retreating south."

The Tang army was defeated by land and water. The fleet sailed south along the river, and the rest also fled south.

"Chase them!" Liu Shishan brandished his spear. "Don't let them get away!"

"General, why don't we stop while we're ahead? We've already done a great service by defeating the Tang army."

"Bullshit! The enemy has already been defeated. If we chase after them now, we'll just be picking up the credit. We finally managed to defeat the enemy, but we didn't even kill many heads or take many prisoners. If we retreat now, wouldn't we be wasting our night?"
"Isn't that like finally managing to strip a beautiful woman of her clothes, and then you're telling me to stop?"

"Chase after him! Don't give Li Yi a chance to breathe!"

Liu Shishan came from a background of growing vegetables, but he fought alongside his elder brother for many years, and many of his victories were achieved through pursuit and expansion.

Li Yi stood on the deck of a grain ship in the canal.
Looking at the chaotic east bank.

"Aren't you worried that this act will go too far and turn into a real defeat?" Huo Yu asked from the side. The female steward had put on her silver scale armor again, looking heroic and dashing.

"Don't worry, I've already arranged for Liu Lancheng, Niu Jinda, and Wu Heita to lead three thousand cavalrymen in a surprise ambush to the south. If they really collapse, we can still recover."

Most of the provisions and weapons were left on the ships. The fleet was prepared, and as soon as the battle began, the large ships immediately retreated to the center of the river, while some small ships remained on the east bank to pick up a group of soldiers before retreating.

The seemingly defeated camp,
It was all a carefully orchestrated performance.
When the Xia army arrived in Weizhou, they voluntarily abandoned their camp and fled.

Some casualties were inevitable, but it was not a direct rout caused by the Xia army's surprise attack; rather, it was a deliberate retreat.

In the darkness,
Xia Jun didn't notice it at first.
They only saw the Tang army collapse, abandoning their armor and weapons, and fleeing their camp.

A thirty-mile chase in one night,

Liu Shishan was extremely excited.
His subordinates reported victories one after another, capturing at least three thousand Tang soldiers.

"If it weren't for Li Yi's cavalry covering the rear, we could have annihilated all 20,000 men and captured Li Yi alive."

Liu Shishan sat under a tree, eating dry rations, still wearing his armor.

The guards were feeding the warhorses black beans and oats.

The horse and rider were exhausted.
But Liu Shishan decided to continue the pursuit.

"Go to Wei County immediately and send an order to Su Dingfang, instructing him to lead his 3,000 troops out of the city to intercept Li Yi's defeated army."

This time, I will annihilate the Tang army completely, leaving no one alive.

Capturing three thousand prisoners, beheading hundreds, and seizing many tents and weapons were not enough for him. He was now obsessed with the idea that Li Yi was nothing special and he was determined to annihilate them all and capture Li Yi alive.

After eating their rations and resting for half an hour, they continued their pursuit.

When he reached the city of Weixian, he discovered that Su Dingfang had not followed his orders to pursue him.

"Su Dingfang, how dare you disobey my military orders?"

The young Su Dingfang, with his silver spear and white horse, paid homage to Liu Shishan outside the city. "It is not that I disobeyed your orders, but that the Tang army did not march south through Wei County, but rather from further east."

"Then you can also go out of the city to intercept them!"

"The King of Xia has decreed that no one is allowed to leave the city to engage in reckless battles!"

"The Tang bandits are routed, and you go out of the city to intercept them? What kind of reckless battle is that?"

Liu Shishan ordered: "Now I command you to lead three thousand men and continue the pursuit with me."

Su Dingfang tried to persuade him.

"If you dare disobey military orders again, believe me, I'll kill you right now!"

Left with no other option, Su Dingfang had to gather three thousand men and pursue them.

What infuriated Liu Shishan was that Su Dingfang failed to intercept them, allowing the Tang army to escape at breakneck speed, leaving him no choice but to continue the pursuit.

The fleet on the canal couldn't be pursued; the only option was to pursue the one that had retreated by land.

After chasing for two days, we arrived in Changle.

The Tang army had abandoned the city they had previously captured and fled south.

"Keep chasing!"

Su Dingfang tried to persuade him, but Liu Shishan refused to let this opportunity slip by.

After resting for one night in Changle, more than 10,000 people continued the pursuit.

Then, they pursued the matter relentlessly for three more days.

Liu Shishan led his army to continue the pursuit, successively recapturing several cities including Guancheng, Dunqiu, Fanyang, and Neihuang.

They pursued relentlessly and finally caught up with the Tang army.

What lies ahead?

"Reporting to the general, we are at Chanyuan ahead!" Chanyuan was a lake in ancient times, also called Fanyuan. It was the land of the State of Wei during the Spring and Autumn Period. The feudal lords of Jin and Qi once held an alliance meeting at Chanyuan.

The Yellow River flows past Chanyuan, and to the south lies Puyang, Henan, while to the west lies Liyang, Lizhou.

This place is east of the Grand Canal and north of the Yellow River, but it has already left Weizhou and entered the territory of Xiangzhou.

This place is where five states meet: Wei, Xiang, Li, Hua, and Pu.

"General, we have completely recovered the lost territory of Weizhou," Su Dingfang reminded him.

The distance from Weizhou City to Chanyuan was 150 li, and they pursued them for three days and four nights.

But Liu Shishan didn't care. All he cared about was annihilating Li Yi's army and capturing Li Yi alive.

"The entire army should continue the pursuit and not let them escape across the Yellow River."

On the Yellow River embankment south of Chanyuan.

Li Yi listened to the intelligence relayed by Niu Jinda's light cavalry.
"This Liu Shishan is really stubborn. He's determined to capture me, Li Yi, alive and well."
They've been chasing me for days, and they still won't stop.

Li Yi said this with a smile on his face. This time he really caught a big fish, the kind that wouldn't let go. He easily slithered it around without it slipping away.

"After chasing for so many days, Liu Shishan's group of about 10,000 people must be exhausted by now."

It’s time to close the net.

In order to annihilate Liu Shishan's more than 10,000 troops, Li Yi went to great lengths. He not only staged a midnight rout under the walls of Weizhou, but also abandoned 3,000 auxiliary soldiers.

Of course, he was confident of winning this battle, and the three thousand auxiliary soldiers were first taken prisoner by the Xia army.

"Chanyuan!"

"Is it really true that I couldn't run anymore and they caught up with me? Hahaha, this Chanyuan is a very special place. Soon, he will know."

Liu Shishan's more than 10,000 troops launched a full-scale charge toward the distant flags, determined to capture them all and not let a single one escape.

They rushed closer and closer.

As they drew closer to the Tang Banner,

Someone screamed in panic.

"The floodwaters have risen!"

"The flood is coming."

Hearing the shouts, Liu Shishan asked in surprise, "It hasn't rained heavily these past few days, so where did this flood come from?"

Su Dingfang, standing nearby, frowned and looked at the red flag in the distance.
Fluttering high, that's the banks of the Majia River.

"The Tang people have breached the river embankment! They've breached the Majia River embankment!" Su Dingfang's expression changed drastically, and he shouted loudly.

The Majia River is a famous ancient river. However, during the construction of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty, the Majia River was dredged to divert floodwaters from the Yellow River, utilizing the old course of the ancient Duma River.

The source of this river is Chanzhoupo near Chanyuan. It is a long river that flows directly southeast, through Wudi, and empties into the Bohai Sea. It is more than 800 li long.

Although the Majia River is not very large at its source, the breaching of its banks and release of water has made the Chanyuan area much lower in elevation, as it used to be a large lake.

The Majia River breached its banks, and the water rushed downstream.

The seven armies were flooded.

Liu Shishan chased after him for several days, but he never expected to end up in a deadly situation.

When his expression changed drastically and he ordered a retreat, it was already too late.

This spot was carefully chosen by Li Yi; water poured down from the west and quickly rose.

The cavalry led by Liu Lancheng, Niu Jinda, and Wu Heita had been relentlessly pursued for the past few days, but Li Yi refused to allow them to turn back and fight.
Li Yi went to great lengths to annihilate this Xia army, and he was unwilling to accept half-baked results.

right now,

Finally, they received Li Yijun's order to block the Xia army's retreat.

And when the waters flooded the land,

Suddenly, many small boats emerged from the reeds, carrying Tang soldiers with bows drawn and spears held aloft.

Chanyuan,

The ancient lake has long since silted up and become farmland, but it is still a low-lying area.

At this moment, the dike breached, and the river water overflowed, quickly turning the area into a lake again. Although the water was not deep, it was fatal for the more than 10,000 Xia soldiers.

They were trapped.

The water rose very quickly.
Fire and water are merciless.

The floodwaters were stronger than tens of thousands of soldiers; they ran frantically towards the distant embankment, which seemed so close yet so far away.

Three thousand Tang cavalrymen intercepted the river along the embankment.
Countless small boats rowed and fired arrows to surround and attack.

Liu Shishan removed his armor, grabbed his horse, and tried to escape by floating on the water. His personal guards followed suit, but they were quickly intercepted and surrounded by more than a dozen small boats. Cheers erupted as Liu Shishan and his men were shot dead.

The head coach was killed.

The water had already reached his chest.
Many of the Xia soldiers couldn't swim and were crying out in despair.

Countless soldiers cried out in surrender.

Li Yi, standing on the embankment, heard the cries from the floodwaters. "Order to fill the breach and send boats to rescue the surrendered Xia soldiers. We've won!"

On the 21st day of the fifth month of the fourth year of the Wude era,
Li Yi breached the dike of the Majia River in Chanyuan, Linhe County, southeast of Xiangzhou, causing the flooding of 15,000 people, including Liu Shishan.

They shot and killed Liu Shishan, captured Su Dingfang and Zhang Junli alive, took 10,000 Xia soldiers prisoner, more than 3,000 were drowned or swept away by the flood, and nearly 2,000 were shot and killed.

Over the next ten days, Li Yi led his army northward once again.

Linhe, Neihuang, Guancheng, Dunqiu, Fanyang, Changle, Pingyi—wherever they went, the cities surrendered one after another. These cities had no soldiers.
Seeing Liu Shishan's head and Su Dingfang and Zhang Junli being brought to the city walls to persuade them to surrender, they had no choice but to surrender.

On May 28, Li Yi captured Wei County. On June 1, Cui Lixing of Weizhou surrendered, and Weizhou was taken over.

Li Yi sent men with the heads of Liu Shishan and other Xia generals to deliver a proclamation to the counties of Wei and Shen.

In ten days, they took over the entire Wei, Xin, and Bo prefectures.

More than 3,000 were beheaded and more than 20,000 were captured or surrendered.

Ye City,

When Dou Jiande received the news of Liu Shishan's complete annihilation at Chanyuan, he was already planning to withdraw his troops. He controlled his anger and did not agree to Liu Heita's request to lead troops to defend Weibo.

Once Weibo had completely fallen, Dou Jiande finally summoned his generals and announced the order to withdraw his troops.

"Retreat to Mingzhou for defense."

With Weibo lost, if they were to confront Li Shimin again in Ye City, Li Yi might attack Mingzhou, or even besiege them.

Li Shimin also received good news.

They captured three prefectures and annihilated more than 20,000 enemy troops.

"Haha, the opportunity has arrived!"

After more than two months of standoff, the wait was finally worthwhile.

"Li Yi never disappoints. I knew that as long as he crossed the river to the north, we would win."

The same thing happened in Henan last year, and the same thing happened in Hebei this year.

Li Yi is much more reliable than Li Yi. More than two months have passed, and Li Yi's Youzhou army has yet to appear, while Li Yi has already taken down a tough nut to crack.

(End of this chapter)