The prince is more stable

Chapter 651 The troops are approaching the city
A capable person can control whether a country is governed or brought to ruin.

When he was loyal to the country, the emperor compared him to the prime minister Di Renjie; when he brought disaster to the country, a single idea could cause the empire to collapse.

Xiao Wuna's face was calm, revealing no emotion. His eyes were like a stagnant pool, his former loyalty to the Liao Kingdom completely drowned in this stagnant pool.

Humans are naturally inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm. When he discovered that the Liao Dynasty's large ship was gradually sinking and it was only a matter of time before it was completely submerged, he had to save himself and his family.

The way to save yourself is simple: get off this sinking ship as soon as possible.

In order to board the new ship, he was willing to show his new loyalty and make the sinking ship sink even faster.

Today, the Liao Dynasty is visibly sinking faster than ever before, and Xiao Wuna must also accelerate the process. For the sake of his own and his family's future, he must perform meritorious service for the Song Dynasty and Zhao Xiaoqian.

“After Your Highness takes over Hejian Prefecture, the court will inevitably be in chaos, and His Majesty’s bottom line will be lowered again and again. This is our opportunity,” Xiao Wuna said in a deep voice.

"what chance?"

"An opportunity to serve His Highness the Prince," Xiao Wuna glanced at him indifferently and said, "The Vice Envoy may recommend himself as an envoy to the Song Dynasty. You and I can persuade His Majesty to completely cede the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to the Liao Dynasty, and use this as a bargaining chip to get the Song and Liao to sign the alliance again."

Xiao Fengxian couldn't help but ask, "Does His Highness really only want the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun?"

Xiao Wuna glanced at him again and sighed inwardly. Chatting with an idiot is really tiring.

Tired.

"Once you sign the alliance, the rest is beyond your control. If His Highness the Prince is not satisfied with the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, and if he starts another war, it will not be your responsibility. His Majesty will not blame you, understand?"

Xiao Fengxian smiled: "I understand. As long as the alliance is signed, it will be a great achievement for me, a great achievement for both the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty."

Xiao Wuna solemnly reminded him, "It is a great achievement of 'you and me'!"

Xiao Fengxian seemed to wake from a dream and hurriedly nodded: "That's right, it's our great achievement."

Xiao Wuna frowned secretly. This scoundrel was probably unreliable and might steal his credit in front of Zhao Xiaoqian.

No, I must write a letter to Zhao Xiaoqian immediately, and tell him in detail about my efforts and contributions.

I've already betrayed my country, so I can't let someone else steal the credit for my treason.

Then wouldn't I have betrayed my country for nothing?

The two traitors from Liaodong looked at each other and smiled, and together they decided to hand over Yanyun.

…………

An army of 100,000 marched toward Hejian Prefecture.

From the Juma River camp to Hejian Prefecture, the distance was only about 300 li. Zhao Xiaoqian's 100,000 troops were all cavalry. After marching for two days, they arrived at the outskirts of Hejian Prefecture. When they were only 20 li away from the city, Zhao Xiaoqian ordered the entire army to set up camp.

The Song army's firearms were crafted day and night by artisans, but the warhorses were painstakingly collected by Zhao Xiaoqian over the past few years.

The methods of accumulating warhorses were varied, including extortion, highway robbery, and spoils of war.

When the Crown Prince Yelü Yanxi was captured, Yelü Chun paid the price of 10,000 warhorses and secretly made a deal with Zhao Xiaoqian.

In order to survive between the two countries, Li Qianshun of Western Xia also sent Zhao Xiaoqian 5,000 warhorses. Of course, Zhao Xiaoqian also accepted the dowry of the Liao princess he had intercepted for marriage, which included 10,000 warhorses.

More often than not, they fought several battles with the Liao army, capturing tens of thousands of warhorses in the process.

These are all Zhao Xiaoqian's assets. To paraphrase Boss Guo, every horse embodies Zhao Xiaoqian's blood and sweat.

Now that it has been allocated to an army of 100,000, the mobility of the entire army has indeed improved considerably.

With an army of 100,000 men at the gates of the city, the villages, tribes, and towns outside Hejian Prefecture were thrown into chaos.

As the army advanced, everywhere one could see refugees fleeing with their families, as well as wealthy families with carriages laden with gold and silver. Wherever the army went, chaos and fear gripped the people.

Even on their march, the army encountered sneak attacks from small groups of local militia.

The method of the sneak attack was very stealthy, similar to Zhang Liang's assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang at Bolangsha. They spotted the location of Zhao Xiaoqian's command flag and, just as Zhao Xiaoqian was about to pass by, cut the ropes on the hill and pushed down a huge rock, attempting to crush Zhao Xiaoqian to death.

Fortunately, the local militia lacked experience and their timing and distance were not precise enough. By the time the boulder was pushed down, the Song army had already spotted it and moved aside in time. The sneak attack did not cause any casualties and was just a false alarm.

After the attack, before Zhao Xiaoqian could say anything, Chen Shouyi was furious and led hundreds of imperial guards to rush over and capture all the militia members who had planned and carried out the sneak attack.

When the villagers were brought before Zhao Xiaoqian, he glanced at their expressions and hateful eyes and knew there was no need for further interrogation. He then ordered Chen Shou to take them out and behead them.

After this incident, Zhao Xiaoqian realized something.

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun had been separated from the Central Plains for too long. They had become accustomed to the rule of the Liao Dynasty and harbored hostility towards the Song Dynasty. In their eyes, the Song Dynasty was now an invader, a thief who violated their homes, plundered their property, and abused their wives and daughters.

It cannot be denied that Yanyun was part of the Liao Kingdom's territory, and the people within Yanyun were a multi-ethnic community, including Liao people, Mohe people, Qiang people, and Han people.

To completely recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, it is not enough to simply recover the cities and lands; the Song Dynasty must also win over the hearts and minds of the people, which will be a very long process.

That night, twenty miles south of the city of Hejian, Zhao Xiaoqian ordered his troops to set up camp and then beat drums to gather his generals.

The generals rushed to the command tent, and Zhao Xiaoqian, without wasting any words, immediately issued military orders.

"Zhang Rong sent scouts to report that more than 3,000 of the garrison troops in Hejian Prefecture were annihilated by Zhang Rong's troops a few days ago. Now there are about 20,000 garrison troops in the city, as well as more than 10,000 local militia and about 100,000 civilians in the city. Many of them had already fled before the army arrived."

"At dawn tomorrow, the army will besiege the city. Zhong Jianzhong, you are ordered to lead 70,000 troops to surround Hejian Prefecture. Remember to leave one side open and the west side undefended, allowing the enemy to escape." Zhong Jianzhong stood up, clasped his hands, and accepted the order.

Zhao Xiaoqian then said, "Zong Ze."

"The end will be here."

"I hereby order you to lead 10,000 troops and set out tonight. You shall ambush them ten miles west of Hejian Prefecture. If any enemy attempts to escape from the city, you shall lead your troops to annihilate them."

"The general will obey the order!"

“Di Zi”.

"The end will be here."

"I hereby order you to lead 10,000 troops north at dawn tomorrow to cut off the connection between Hejian Prefecture and Xijin Prefecture to the north. If you encounter any deserters from Hejian Prefecture, lead your troops to annihilate them. If you encounter any reinforcements from Xijin Prefecture, annihilate them as well."

"The general will obey the order!"

Zhao Xiaoqian slowly said, "I will personally lead the remaining 10,000 troops as the right wing. Wherever there is an emergency, I will lead my troops to provide assistance."

As he spoke, Zhao Xiaoqian looked at Zhong Jianzhong and said, "Tomorrow, when we attack the city, we can use a swarm of bees to assist in the battle. We can use shields and swarms of bees to suppress the enemy troops on the city walls, and our soldiers can take advantage of the situation to attack the city."

"This method may not work, but it should reduce our casualties. Let's give it a try. If it is effective, we will use this method for all future sieges."

Zhong Jianzhong accepted the order with a stern expression.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked around at the generals in the tent and finally smiled: "Gentlemen, His Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of 'Prince of Hejian,' but Hejian Prefecture has never been recovered by the Song Dynasty, which makes me feel a little guilty every time I stand in the court..."

"Whether I can truly deserve the title of Prince depends on you all tomorrow. Don't let me down."

The generals burst into laughter.

"The Emperor has promised that those who are the first to scale the walls in Hejian, Datong, and Xijin will be granted titles. In addition, whoever is the first to scale the walls in Hejian Prefecture will be personally rewarded with one thousand taels of gold. Is that enough?"

The generals burst into laughter again.

Zhong Jianzhong patted his chest forcefully and said loudly, "Your Highness, rest assured, if we fail to capture Hejian Prefecture tomorrow, I will offer my head as punishment. After tomorrow, I will ensure that Your Highness's title of Prince of Hejian is rightfully yours!"

"Talk is cheap; I'll see how you all perform tomorrow."

…………

That night, on the plains fifty miles north of Hejian Prefecture, a fierce sniping battle was raging.

Neither the Song nor the Liao armies were actually used to night battles. After all, in ancient times, there were no flares or thermal imaging devices. Both sides were in complete darkness, making it impossible to identify targets and making night battles very difficult to carry out.

But tonight, at this time, Zhang Rong and the Liao army have unexpectedly encountered each other in the wilderness.

Zhang Rong's 5,000 troops were like a group of lost souls infiltrating Yan and Yun. Zhao Xiaoqian did not give them any substantial tasks, only saying "harass them."

This gave Zhang Rong a great deal of freedom of choice. So in the past few days, Zhang Rong led his troops around Hejian Prefecture like a large band of bandits, sweeping away everything in their path. The militia and villagers in the villages and fortresses outside the city were also slaughtered by Zhang Rong.

However, tonight, the scouts Zhang Rong sent out unexpectedly brought back some news.

A Liao army force of about 20,000 men was approaching from the direction of Xijin Prefecture, heading directly towards Hejian Prefecture.

Clearly, this is a reinforcement force sent to aid Hejian Prefecture.

The news that Zhao Xiaoqian was leading an army of 100,000 to attack Hejian Prefecture had probably already reached Xijin Prefecture. Yelü Chun, the Liao Kingdom's Nanjing garrison commander, urgently dispatched 20,000 troops to provide reinforcements.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Rong's troops, who were wandering around like lost souls, discovered their movements.

What else is there to say? Just do it!

Five thousand against twenty thousand, the advantage is in my hands!

After several major battles, Zhang Rong became bolder, mainly because he had ample confidence. This confidence came from the flintlock muskets that every soldier under his command was equipped with, as well as the newly equipped thousand-plus swarms of bees.

The flintlock ammunition is a bit short, but that's alright. After this sniping battle, Zhang Rong will immediately withdraw his troops and rejoin the main force.

A sudden sniper battle broke out unexpectedly on this dark and windy night.

Zhang Rong led his troops to deploy their forces along the Liao army's only route. Under the cover of darkness, five thousand Song soldiers moved like ghosts, silently and stealthily blocking the Liao army's path.

An hour later, 20,000 Liao soldiers arrived in haste.

As the thunderous sound of horses' hooves drew ever closer to the Song army's lines, Zhang Rong fired the first shot.

In the pitch-black night, the flash of gun muzzle disappeared in an instant, and then thousands of flintlock muskets fired in unison. The Liao army that entered the firing range was caught off guard, and thousands of them fell from their horses and became mysterious ghosts.

The Liao army was horrified by the familiar way they were being beaten.

On the front lines of the Song army, Zhang Rong fired the most enthusiastically, his face contorted with a perverse ferocity as he fired wildly and laughed maniacally.

"Military achievements, all military achievements! I've won the battle to recapture Yan and Yun! Hahaha!"

(End of this chapter)