Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 162 Sudden Change
God was helpful. Most of the houses in the village collapsed, but the soldiers repaired them and they were enough to shelter from the rain.

We also found a lot of hay.

Rotten door frames and door panels can be dismantled and used as firewood.

The soldiers dried their clothes, cooked some meat soup, ate some hot food, and had a good sleep.

At this point, what matters is not who has more soldiers or who has braver soldiers, but endurance and resilience.

Liu Daogui checked the visible and hidden sentries before he could sleep peacefully.

Xu Changming, Gou Zhong, and Meng Ganzhi took turns with their troops for the whole night.

As the sky brightened, the soldiers looked radiant and in much better spirits. Even Lin Zhouzi looked much better than yesterday.

Today's travel speed is obviously faster than yesterday, and I am eager to go home.
After two hours of marching, Liu Guangzhi came back with a weary face and reported: "The young troops of the Suolu Ping army have taken Pingyang first and are blocking our way."

"Murong Long and Murong Zhou are really lingering around." Liu Daogui admired these two people in his heart. They had already crossed the Si River, but they were still chasing...

Pingyang City is located northwest of Zoucheng, stuck on the return route.

Liu Daogui pondered for a moment and then said, "Send the order, turn southwest and bypass Pingyang."

There is a fortified city ahead and pursuers behind. Attacking Pingyang in this weather is tantamount to seeking death.

Liu Guangzhi said: "If we take a detour, we will have to walk more than 70 or 80 miles..."

"I just want to give them a chance to catch up, inflict heavy damage on the Yan army, and prevent the Suolu from advancing south!"

Murong Long would certainly not watch him return to Zou County. Instead of waiting for the enemy to launch a surprise attack, it would be better to deliberately give them an opportunity to counterattack and severely injure Murong Long, so that the Yan army would not dare to look south from then on.

If all goes well, maybe we can take advantage of the situation to capture Lu County or Gaoping County.

Although Liu Daogui took the initiative to attack this time and defeated Murong Zhou's 10,000 troops, he did not capture a single city or piece of land, and he was really unwilling to accept this.

"I understand." Liu Guangzhi turned and left. Regardless of his fatigue, he continued to spy on the enemy with his scouts.

Liu Daogui led his soldiers to turn south.

The rain started falling again. This kind of plum rain weather will not stop for at least six or seven days.

The opportunity to defeat the enemy lies in this plum rain.

Heading south, the sounds of wind, rain and footsteps merge into one.

An hour later, the sound of enemy horse hooves gradually became closer and farther behind him.

Liu Daogui ignored it and continued marching southeast.

The Yan army still used the same old tricks. After several attempts, they could not find any flaws, so they could only retreat. The speed of their war horses was obviously much slower.

By the afternoon, the enemy was even more exhausted.

Even the neighing of the war horses was listless. Just as Liu Daogui was about to attack, Liu Guangzhi arrived from the northeast: "Pingyang City's Pingyou troops are leading two thousand infantry and cavalry in pursuit, and are less than thirty miles away from our army."

"What a fucking kill of the fun!" Liu Zun cursed.

Ping You's troops were all fresh troops who had been recuperating for a long time, and Liu Daogui was caught in the dilemma of being attacked from two sides.

"Unable to defeat them, continue south."

Fortunately, the soldiers had already adapted to marching in the rain, and they supported each other as they continued to march south.

Without this plum rain, Liu Daogui would have been caught up by the Yan cavalry and buried in the wilderness.

"Report, Murong Long has over 5,000 infantry and cavalry, less than ten miles from our army! Ping You's 2,000 troops are seventeen miles from our army."

The scout came panting and reported.

"So fast?" Liu Zun was surprised.

Two hours ago, it was less than thirty miles, but it has been shortened to seventeen miles so quickly.

Keep in mind that this was a rainy day march, so achieving such a speed was truly astonishing. After the Battle of Feishui, Murong Chui returned to Hebei. Ping You, along with his brothers Ping Rui, Ping Gui, and Ping Han, led tens of thousands of troops to join Murong Chui in Yecheng. Over the next few years, they accompanied Murong Chui on his campaigns to the east and west, ultimately pacifying Hebei.

With Ping You as a new force, Murong Long's momentum increased greatly. As long as he could catch up and get into a stalemate, Ping You would be able to catch up and the two armies would attack him from both sides.

Plans can never keep up with changes. It is easy to start a war, but it is not so easy to end it.

The battlefield situation changes rapidly. Liu Daogui has a chance of winning against any Yan army, but now he is facing the troops of Murong Long, Murong Zhou and Ping You, one of whom is a fresh force.

At the current speed, there is no way to escape. Ping You and his men are coming too fast.

If you force yourself to flee, you will lose your ability to fight.

This kind of pursuit warfare was what the Yan army excelled at. Because Huan Wen's rear supplies were insufficient, he withdrew from Fangtou. Murong Chui and Murong De pursued him all the way to Xiangyi...

Gao Xun said, "The only solution now is to send a small group of troops to stop Ping Gui. Otherwise, if he attacks us, our entire army will be destroyed."

"Give me a hundred men to stop the Pinggui tribe!" Liu Heibin, who had been silent all the time, stood up.

One hundred tired soldiers blocking two thousand fresh troops is clearly a life-or-death situation with no way back.

"Join the army!" Liu Heibin and a dozen of his men knelt on one knee with a look of determination on their faces.

There was no time to hesitate.

Liu Daogui took a deep breath and said, "Yes!"

Liu Heibi stood up, raised his arms and shouted: "If you are a hero, come with me!"

"Oh my god!" Gou Zhong and Hu Jianfu stood up.

"I'll go too!" Meng Ganzhi's face was full of generosity.

"And I!"

More and more soldiers stood up, nearly one hundred and thirty people.

"That's enough. During the Northern Expedition, hundreds of thousands of barbarians couldn't do anything to us, let alone a mere two thousand barbarians? Let's go!" Liu Heibin waved his hand, turned around, looked up to the sky and laughed as he left.

"Take care, soldier." Meng Ganzhi stepped forward and kowtowed three times to Liu Daogui. His forehead was splashed with mud and water, but was soon washed clean by the heavy rain.

Liu Daogui wanted to keep him, but didn't know how to start.

War is no joke, and the Yan army is no rabble. If it weren't for Ping You's sudden attack, even if Liu Daogui couldn't defeat Murong Long behind him, he could still leave calmly...

But the battlefield is like life, full of uncertainties, and victory or defeat can happen in the blink of an eye.

"I'll go too!" Liu Zun stood up with a heavy axe.

But Meng Ganzhi stopped him, "Brother, please don't argue with me. You must leave some men with you when you join the army. Murong Long has four to five thousand men."

"I, I... Brothers, you..." Liu Zun screamed. He was usually sharp-tongued, but at this moment he was at a loss and couldn't even fart.

Meng Ganzhi resolutely turned around and shouted, "Drive out the barbarians and recover our land!"

"Drive out the barbarians and recover our land!"

Everyone started shouting, each one louder and louder, drowning out the sound of the rain.

At this moment, Liu Daogui felt a warm current surge in his heart and his eyes were hot. These eight words were no longer a slogan, but had become the belief of many people.

Only when their figures gradually disappeared in the rain did Liu Daogui turn around and look at the soldiers.

The soldiers also looked at him.

"Since Murong Long wants to die, then we will help him!"

"Kill, kill, kill!"

The roar tore through the rain curtain and soared into the sky.

(End of this chapter)