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

Chapter 567: Being clever but being misled by cleverness

The night wind howled.

Standing atop the Cloud City, it felt as if countless souls were weeping in the pitch-black night from all directions.

The night was dark and the wind was high.

Yuan Junzhang stroked the battlement, his face grave.

Where is Li Yi?

Although at dusk, he saw Li Yi's banner moving south from the city wall, and the Youzhou cavalry also retreating south with it.

However, neither Yuan Junzhang nor Bu Lishe dared to leave the city to pursue them.

The shadow of the tree, the name of the person.

Li Yi's sudden appearance on the battlefield today, especially at such a crucial moment, has only increased the two men's wariness of him.

"The scouts reported that Li Yi's army had already crossed the Sanggan River by midnight and seemed to have set up camp on the south bank to rest."

"The scouts also discovered that Li Yi's troops number only about 10,000, and even with the addition of Li Daoxuan's cavalry from Youzhou, the total number is less than 20,000."

But regarding this intelligence,

Yuan Junzhang simply did not believe it.
Bu Lishe didn't believe it either.

They still remembered the scene when Li Yi appeared on the battlefield at dusk today; there were not just 10,000 people, but at least 50,000 people with those banners.

He didn't believe Li Yi was bluffing, because Li Yi's Dingzhou army did indeed have tens of thousands of troops in Daibei, and Liu Shirang of Yanmen still had more than 10,000 soldiers.

There's also Li Gaoqian from Xinzhou, Li Shenfu from Bingzhou, and Zhang Lun from Wuzhou.

"Grand Master, perhaps Li Yi was just putting on a show of force today. Now that they've relieved Li Daoxuan's siege, they've immediately fled."

Yuan Junzhang sneered, "You've underestimated Li Yi. Who do you think Li Yi is? Most of those who looked down on Li Yi in recent years are already dead."

How could you possibly see through Li Yi's moves so easily?

The darkness of night is the best cover.

It must also conceal Li Yi's most lethal move.

There are only a little over ten thousand men on the south bank of the Sanggan River. This is definitely bait. I dare say there's another force hiding nearby, waiting for us.

Bulisshe climbed onto the city wall from the horse path.

After hearing Yuan Junzhang's words, he continued, "That's not all. I understand now. Today was a trap set by Li Yi."

Li Daoxuan was the bait.
Wang Junkuo did not desert in the face of battle; he must have been a carefully planned killing move by Li Yi.

He certainly hadn't gone far; he was probably hiding somewhere along the Baideng River. If we hadn't retreated quickly today...

Then Wang Junkuo will lead his more than 10,000 Youzhou troops to flank us from behind and cut off our retreat.

Right now,

Wang Junkuo has definitely gotten close to our Cloud City again and is waiting for his chance to strike.

Bliss stroked his beard and pointed to the dark outside of the city.

"We can't leave the city. There are traps outside. Li Yi is waiting for us."

Yuan Junzhang expressed his strong agreement.
"Yes, Li Yi is luring us out of the city. Who is he? He's leading an army, and he dares to fight his way all the way to right under the nose of Khan Jieli."
"He wasn't afraid of the Great Khan's 200,000-strong army, so why would he be afraid of us?"

“We can’t fall for it. Let Li Yi be outside feeding the mosquitoes tonight, let them ambush us, and we won’t leave the city. That way we won’t be fooled.”

The scouts reported seeing fewer than 20,000 troops who retreated to the south bank of the Sanggan River, about 60 or 70 miles away. The retreat was very hasty, and they did not rest after the battle.

Neither Ke Yuanjunzhang nor Bu Lishe believed the scouts' words.

Li Yi was deliberately acting, trying to lure them out of the city, even running sixty miles away in one go, all to make it seem real.
It was clearly a deliberate attempt to lure them into a chase, leaving Yunzhong City vulnerable and allowing the Dingzhou army to ambush them on the way, while Wang Junkuo's Youzhou army would take advantage of the situation to attack the city.

Li Yi launched another surprise attack.

These 50,000 men will perish here; they won't even be able to defend Cloud City.

Don't believe Li Yi.
We will stay in Yunzhong City. Although this city is only eight li long, it was once the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Although the Xianbei people later moved their capital to Luoyang, this place has always been an important military town.

As long as we stay inside the city and don't come out, no matter how capable Li Yi is, without siege equipment, he can't do anything to us.

Yuan Junzhang nodded repeatedly, "Yes, we must quickly inform Khan Jieli that Li Yi has broken the peace agreement. First, he occupied Yingzhou north of Xing and refused to withdraw, and now he is attacking with the Youzhou army."

Today we have suffered over three thousand casualties and lost several thousand warhorses. Li Yi must take responsibility, and the Tang Kingdom must give us an explanation.

Bulishe stroked his long beard and said, "We'll hold Li Yi back here and ask Khan Jieli to send troops to surround and annihilate the You and Ding armies in Daibei."

"After killing Li Yi, we'll take the opportunity to head south to Yanmen. This time, without Li Yi, who can save Yanmen?"

"Seize Yanmen Pass, attack Taiyuan, and drink from the Yellow River!"

The two of them sang in unison, expressing their beautiful fantasies about the future.

"Issue the order to close the city gates tightly. Without the written order from the Grand Marshal of the Imperial Palace, no one is allowed to leave the city to engage in battle."

That pitch-black night,

This made the two of them very uneasy.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that today's battle was entirely Li Yi's scheme.

After all, post-battle statistics showed that they only killed over 800 Youzhou cavalrymen, while suffering over 3,000 casualties themselves.

That's only because they retreated quickly.

If they hadn't immediately retreated back into the city and had instead delayed even slightly, they would likely have been heavily surrounded by Li Yi, and the casualties would have been far more than just three thousand.

How terrifying is Li Yi, how terrifying is his scheming! Fortunately, they were cautious enough.

The two brilliant minds stood atop the city wall and exchanged compliments.

Sixty miles to the south,

South bank of the Sanggan River,
The more than 16,000 men are currently resting and recuperating. Their retainers, Song Yi and Chen Lingjiao, are directing their servants to dig a makeshift stove and set up small pots to boil water.
Fried rice, smoked chicken, cured meat, and a handful of wild vegetables.
A pot of fragrant porridge will be ready in no time.

Brew another pot of tea.

In the flickering light of the torches,

We must expedite the replenishment and recovery efforts.

The light cavalry left behind would report the enemy's movements every now and then.

Fortunately, it's been so long.

The enemy did not leave Cloud City.

"Sikong's reputation is so great that 50,000 enemy troops dared not even leave the city." Although Li Daoxuan was in pain all over his body, he endured it and was still able to eat porridge while talking.

"Being cautious is always a good thing. Look at the battlefield today, as soon as we appeared, this brigade, leading 20,000 Turkic soldiers who were resting, didn't immediately come to meet us or intercept us. Instead, they turned tail and retreated into the city."

Completely disregarding that Yuan Junzhang was engaged in fierce battle,
This fully demonstrates that although Yuan Junzhang was a dog kept by the Turks, they did not care whether he lived or died.

These 50,000 troops were actually a result of mutual distrust between the two sides, and with the current situation unclear, they were even less willing to take risks.

Li Daoxuan sensed a hint of his own meaning in Li Yi's words: he hadn't truly understood Wang Junkuo, otherwise he wouldn't have been surrounded.

If they had been more careful, how could five thousand light cavalry have been so easily surrounded? If anyone should have been surrounded, it would have been the infantry and auxiliary troops led by Wang Junkuo.

I ate three bowls of porridge in one go.
I finally feel like I've regained a lot of my strength.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's rest for a while and then continue on our way. If the enemy comes to their senses or gets bold enough to chase us, we'll still be in some danger."

50,000 enemy troops

Li Yi only had 16,000 men, so fighting in the field would indeed be difficult.

Especially since this place is already deep inside enemy territory,
If Jieli were to send even more troops to surround the city, it would be extremely troublesome.

It would be best to return to Yingzhou as soon as possible.

Next,
Walk day and night,

Fortunately, the enemy forces in Cloud City never pursued them.

The northern armies from Shuozhou, Mayi, and other areas did not come to intercept them.

They retreated all the way back to Yingzhou in the Hunhe River Valley.

Back in Yingzhou City, the entire army breathed a sigh of relief.

As soon as Li Daoxuan entered the city, he didn't bother to bathe or change his clothes. Instead, he immediately began writing a memorial to the emperor. He had already written a simple report on the way.

Now he wants to write a detailed report, which will not only explain the whole story, but also impeach Wang Junkuo.

Li Yi wasn't in a hurry.
After entering the city, I immediately took a bath, washing off all the dirt and sweat from head to toe.

Change into a cool short-sleeved shirt.

Li Yi brewed another pot of fine tea before beginning to grind ink and pick up his brush.

Chaigoubao, Beiyan Prefecture.

That day, Wang Junkuo decisively abandoned his five thousand cavalry comrades from Youzhou and led his troops in a hasty retreat to the northeast without looking back.

They traveled tirelessly, day and night, following the Baideng River and the Yanmen River, finally making their way back to Beiyan Prefecture with great anxiety.

The army was stationed at Chaigoubao.

Only then was Wang Junkuo finally able to calm down and consider how to deal with the situation.

These days,
Wang Junkuo kept the news of the battle at Yunzhong City strictly confidential, especially the news that Li Yi led his army to attack and repel the enemy after their retreat.

He imposed a strict lockdown.
The more than 10,000 soldiers genuinely believed that Grand Commander Li Daoxuan's entire army had been wiped out beneath the walls of Yunzhong City, and that the enemy was in pursuit.
They didn't dare to stop for a moment along the way, running hundreds of miles back to Chaigoubao.

At this point, they were still unaware that the Prince of Huaiyang had not perished, nor that the five thousand cavalrymen from Youzhou had died in battle.

But the truth will eventually come out.

This news will come sooner or later.

Wang Junkuo faced a very difficult dilemma. In any case, he did not act as agreed that day, watched Li Daoxuan besieged without providing any assistance, and even led his troops to withdraw from the battlefield.

If Li Daoxuan were dead, things would be better; the dead can't defend themselves, and the perpetrator could easily shift all the blame onto him.
He was able to turn the tide and save the merit of more than 10,000 soldiers.

But now,
Li Daoxuan is not dead.
Even the five thousand Youzhou cavalrymen didn't seem to suffer many casualties.

Li Yi, who was in Yanmen, led more than 10,000 soldiers to the battlefield and charged straight in, rescuing the Youzhou cavalry from the enemy's encirclement and the Prince of Huaiyang, a member of the imperial clan.

But he fled with 15,000 men in the face of battle.

How can this be explained?

How to explain this to the emperor?
How will they face Li Daoxuan's wrath?

He couldn't help but curse Li Yi under his breath. If it weren't for this damned guy interfering, his plan would have been perfect.

With Li Daoxuan's death, five thousand Youzhou cavalrymen were wiped out. He led the remaining fifteen thousand men back to Youzhou.

Wouldn't the imperial court have allowed him to take charge of the overall situation in Youzhou at that time? If he were to become the Grand Governor of Youzhou, he might very well be granted the title of King like Luo Yi, Li Yi, and Li Da'en in the future.

Now everything has been ruined by Li Yi.
Not only did it shatter his dream of becoming the Grand Steward,

He might even face annihilation.

If the imperial court were to hold him strictly accountable, he could lose his head.

That damned Li Yi ruined everything he had.

Now, Li Daoxuan and Li Yi's impeachment memorials are probably already on their way to Chang'an by fast horse.

There isn't much time left for him.

(End of this chapter)