The prince is more stable

Chapter 424: Grandson Hunting
Yelu Chun's cautious defensive posture caught the Song army by surprise.

Even Zhao Xiaoqian probably didn't expect that this guy's defense was so tight, just like he had retreated into a turtle shell, and not even a dog could bite him.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng were hiding in the mountains and forests. Looking at the impenetrable Liao army camp, they felt deeply powerless.

It is almost impossible to lure the enemy.

Even if the Xiang army made a huge noise, Yelu Chun would not let the Liao army leave the camp to attack the enemy. Instead, it would make the Liao army more vigilant, and Yelu Chun's defense arrangements would be tighter.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng stared at the Liao army camp quietly. Although they knew that the action of luring the enemy might have failed, they still refused to give up and tried to find even the slightest loophole in the Liao army camp.

After a long moment, Feng Sheng sighed, "Let's retreat. We won't be able to hide our five thousand men after daybreak. Go back and tell Lord Zhao that Yelu Chun was too cautious and his attempt to lure the enemy has failed."

Shao Jing's eyes were cold and he said nothing.

Feng Sheng understood his feelings at the moment and could not help but advise him, "Success or failure is determined by fate. If you can't do something, then you can't do it. Even if the Duke of Zhao comes in person, he can only choose to give up."

Shao Jing said coldly, "Old Feng, haven't our Xiang army been looked down upon enough over the years?"

Feng Sheng was stunned, pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Back then, Zhang Lan was the commander of the Imperial Guards, commanding only 10,000 soldiers. Yet, he often flaunted his might in front of us, boasting that our army couldn't even match a finger of theirs."

"The imperial army would rather let the food, military pay, weapons, and armor allocated by the court rot in the warehouse than give them to our garrison troops."

"We go begging, putting on a smile and saying all the nice things before they're willing to give us even a tiny bit. They treat us like beggars, Lao Feng, haven't you had enough of this humiliation?"

"We are all soldiers, all fighting for the imperial court, defending the border and killing the enemy. Why are the Imperial Guards superior to us? Why can the Xiang Army only act like beggars, picking up what the Imperial Guards have left behind?"

Seeing Shao Jing's tone getting more and more intense, Feng Sheng was startled: "Old Shao, calm down. Now that the Duke of Zhao is here, he has been very kind to our army. He has provided us with enough food, fodder and weapons, and he has also given us the opportunity to make meritorious service..."

Shao Jing said coldly, "Yes, Duke Zhao is not bad, much better than Liu Qianliang, Zhang Lan and the others. He is also willing to give us a chance to perform meritorious deeds, but now this opportunity is gone."

Pointing at the Liao army camp in the distance, Shao Jing's eyes were filled with resentment and unwillingness.

"If luring the enemy fails, the Duke of Zhao will have no choice but to engage in a head-on battle. No matter how many enemies the Dragon Guards kill, how much spoils they seize, how much money, food, armor, and weapons they take, or how many military exploits they achieve, they will still have no chance against our Xiang army. Do you understand me?"

"We are still the same as before, coming to the Duke of Zhao like beggars to ask for money, food, weapons and armor."

"Perhaps the soldiers of the Dragon Guard Battalion will even laugh at us behind our backs, saying that they gave you the opportunity to make merit but you didn't use it. The Xiang soldiers are born to like being beggars. They are leisurely and free, without taking risks. After all, you can get anything by sacrificing your dignity..."

Shao Jing clenched his fists tightly, the veins on his neck throbbing, and growled, "Fuck it! I don't want to live like this anymore!"

Feng Sheng's face also turned ugly. Shao Jing's words were unpleasant, but he knew very well that Shao Jing was telling the truth.

He opened his mouth to say something when a low growl suddenly came from behind him.

"General, we don't want to live like this!"

The two men turned their heads and were shocked to find that the soldiers of the Xiang army lurking behind them were full of anger and clenched their fists. In the dark night, the soldiers' eyes were shining, like stars that refused to succumb to the darkness, trying to emit their own faint light.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng were stunned, and then tears quickly welled up in their eyes.

A Xiang army soldier stepped forward and whispered, "General, give the order and let us charge! We finally have a new commander, and he's treating our Xiang army well. We can't let him look down on us anymore!"

All the soldiers echoed, and their passionate fighting spirit was instantly ignited.

Feng Sheng sighed, "It's impossible. Let's just go back like this. The Duke of Zhao won't blame us, but I'm afraid he won't give us another chance to make meritorious deeds. If the wing troops are useless, will they really be useless forever?"

"The 40,000-strong garrison troops of Zhending Prefecture have finally found a commander who treats us as equals, but we ourselves have failed to live up to our expectations. If he looks down on us in the future, we won't be able to blame him..."

Shao Jing's expression turned sinister, and he said coldly, "Yeah, we were given the chance, but we were useless. Who can we blame?"

The soldiers behind him said anxiously, "General, the Duke of Zhao has given us an opportunity, we can't miss it! My brothers also want to eat steamed buns and meat, wear armor, and ride war horses like the imperial guards!"

There was a low-pitched cry of requesting to fight all around, and the morale of the army inexplicably reached its peak at this moment.

At this moment, the morale of the Xiang army is high and they are invincible.

Shao Jing smiled with relief and turned to look at Feng Sheng: "Old Feng, are we still retreating?"

Feng Sheng gritted his teeth and said, "I won't retreat! I'll fight for my dignity even if I die!"

Shao Jing turned around and stretched out his arms to suppress the passionate fighting spirit of the soldiers of the Xiang army.

"Since everyone wants to fight, let's continue to lurk here," Shao Jing smiled and said, "Brothers, you're all great for not fearing a fight! But not fearing a fight doesn't mean we have to die. We want results and merit!" "Wait until tomorrow afternoon. If we still haven't found an opportunity to fight, we'll withdraw and go around to the north and rear of the Liao army camp, looking for an opportunity to cut off the Liao army's food and supplies. If luring the enemy fails, we'll engage head-on! We can't go back to see Lord Zhao empty-handed."

Shao Jing looked around at the soldiers and said in a deep voice, "Brothers, don't bring shame to the Xiang Army. This is our only chance to turn things around! If you want to receive full pay like the Imperial Guards, eat steamed buns and meat, wear armor, and ride war horses, then act like men and fight well!"

The soldiers became excited, clenched their fists and shouted in unison: "Let's do it!"

…………

Liao army camp.

Yelu Yanxi walked out of the general's tent with a gloomy face and kicked down a passing Liao army soldier.

Not satisfied with just kicking the soldier to the ground, he whipped out his horsewhip and lashed the soldier with it countless times. The unfortunate soldier screamed in pain, but could only curl up with his hands covering his head and endure it.

After a long time, Yelu Yanxi's anger was still not fully vented. He threw away his whip and left angrily without caring about the life or death of the soldier.

Just now in the general's tent, he had another unpleasant argument with Yelu Chun.

The Song army was approaching, and the two armies were only fifty miles apart. Yelu Chun did not dare to retreat any further, but was also unwilling to leave the camp to fight. Instead, he focused on arranging defenses.

The Liao army, which was invincible in the world, showed its cowardice in this battle, and Yelu Yanxi was almost angry to death.

The coach and the crown prince have completely different positions.

Coach Yelu Chun only seeks to win steadily and does not care about temporary gains and losses.

But Yelu Yanxi couldn't be so indifferent. He would inherit the throne of the Liao Dynasty. Such a cowardly battle now would become a black history that would be ridiculed and criticized. Before he even ascended the throne, he had already become the laughing stock of the entire Liao Dynasty. When he became emperor, where would his dignity be? Who would obey him?
Now Yelu Yanxi is very regretful that he should not have volunteered to get involved in this war.

The fight was so pathetic, it would be better to do nothing. Although I am not popular, I am not black either.

Just now in the general's tent, Yelu Yanxi asked Yelu Chun to send troops south to set up a battle formation with the Song army. Of course, Yelu Chun flatly refused again.

Yelu Chun was waiting, not only for reinforcements, but also for a powerful weapon in the Liao army that could restrain the Song army's firearms.

With the arrival of this powerful weapon, Yelu Chun has a 70% chance of winning against the Song army, so he is now taking a tight defensive stance for the sake of overall victory.

Only a young idiot like Yelu Yanxi would be so eager to demand a head-on battle in order to save face.

If this guy was not the crown prince, if he was not his nephew, Yelu Chun would have pushed him out of the gate and beheaded him long ago. A hopelessly stupid person does not deserve to live.

Yelu Yanxi stormed out of the general's tent and whipped the Liao soldiers, but he was still not satisfied. He led hundreds of personal guards on horseback, equipped with weapons, bows and arrows, and hunting dogs, and rushed straight to the gate.

The Liao army on duty outside the gate was shocked when they saw the Crown Prince and his group riding towards them in a menacing manner, but they still stopped Yelu Yanxi and carefully and tactfully conveyed the military order of the commander-in-chief Yelu Chun.

The two armies were facing each other and the situation was tense. No one was allowed to leave the camp without the order of the commander-in-chief.

Yelu Yanxi's expression became even more sinister, and he didn't want to say a word. Instead, he responded to the gatekeepers with a fierce beating with a whip.

"I am the Crown Prince, I am the heir apparent, and he is a subject. How can a subject command the heir apparent? I will disobey his orders. What can anyone do to me?"

"I'm going out of camp to hunt now. Anyone who dares to stop me will die!"

As he spoke, Yelu Yanxi kicked his horse hard, and the guards behind him followed closely. The group walked out of the gate and left.

The soldiers guarding the gate had whip marks all over their faces, but they dared not say a word. As they watched the Crown Prince's back as he walked away, they still did not dare to hide anything. They hurried to the commander's tent and reported to Yelu Chun.

Yelu Yanxi led his personal guards out of the camp, took a deep breath while riding on his horse, closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm sun, feeling comfortable and relaxed from the bottom of his heart.

Compared with the depressing and cramped atmosphere in the camp, the outside of the camp seemed like a completely different world, where the sunshine and air were free and unrestrained.

After quarreling with Yelu Chun, Yelu Yanxi was full of anger and urgently needed to vent. For nomadic people, going out of the camp to hunt is the best way to entertain themselves.

As for the Song army, they were not afraid at all.

The two armies are fifty miles apart and are now in a state of strategic confrontation. Neither army has made any moves for several consecutive days. Even if they encounter a small group of Song army scouts, the hundreds of personal guards brought by Yelu Yanhui are not there to sit around and do nothing. What is there to be afraid of?

After the group left the camp, the rumbling of horses' hooves headed straight for the west side of the camp.

The place where the Liao army camped was surrounded by plains, except for a few low hills and dense forests ten miles to the west. It was late winter and early spring, the time when all things came back to life. If they wanted to hunt, the hills and dense forests were the ideal place.

(End of this chapter)