A lowly soldier becomes king, I slaughter my way through the late Tang Dynasty!

After conquering Manchuria, Li Rui accomplished many things.

In short, it boils down to three words: maintaining a private army!

Furthermore, he also criticized Shi Jingtang, the founding emperor of this dynasty.

These are all capital offenses!

Li Rui didn't believe that Wang Digou, who had always held a grudge against him, would remain inactive.

Sure enough, this fellow had already written a letter of complaint and was secretly sending it out.

"Where's the letter?"

Li Rui reached out, and Zhang Yaozu immediately pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to him.

There were some words scrawled on the paper, most of which were wrong!

Given Wang Digou's limited education, he could only manage to write down the general outline of the events.

Li Rui glanced at it briefly; it listed several of his capital offenses.

Zhang Yaozu said from the side.

"Wang Digou spent a string of cash to have the military commander's messenger deliver this letter to the military commander. I also spent a string of cash to get this letter."

"Li Fengshi, otherwise I'll just... "

As he spoke, Zhang Yaozu made a throat-slitting gesture.

Li Rui scoffed.

"Why bother with a clown like him?"

Given his current prestige within the Trapped Camp, he could easily find any excuse to kill Wang Digou.

But as I said before, he's just a clown; there's no need for him to settle personal scores and damage his image.

Besides, Li Rui had already figured out how to deal with Wang Digou.

This fellow might be of great use.

at the same time.

Inside the inn, Liu Duobao looked completely puzzled.

"Buddha, you're not a frivolous person. How come you acted like you'd already pledged your life to Li Rui the moment you met him?"

Liu Fuji rested her beautiful face on one hand and chuckled softly.

"Third Uncle, what kind of soldiers and generals from the Central Plains have we encountered along the way?"

"Needless to say? Burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities—where is the grandeur of a great nation? Along the way, even the Khitans on the grasslands haven't exploited as much as they have!"

"Then do you believe that there are still good people in this world who care about the common people?"

"I don't believe it."

Liu Fuji smiled slightly and recounted how Li Rui had killed those who bullied the common people on the street.

Liu Duobao listened, but still shook his head.

"He's just trying to win people over and build a positive image; he's not necessarily a good person."

Liu Fuji said calmly.

"But we are caught in the midst of war, and we must find a powerful patron in order to survive and finish our work and bring the salt back to Khotan."

Uncle San thought, compared to Li Rui, who among the other ruthless Central Plains people was a good person?

Liu Duobao was taken aback, and before he could answer, she gave him a reply.

Liu Fuji looked out the window and continued.

"Maybe Li Rui is faking it, but at least he's willing to pretend for a moment."

Liu Duobao gave a wry smile and sighed.

"But, if Li Rui forces you...won't you feel wronged?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Fuji suddenly smiled.

That stunningly beautiful face, capable of causing utter disaster, smiled with an extremely alluring charm.

"How does Third Uncle know that he forced me, and not the other way around?"

……

March 14th.

Five days have passed since Li Rui captured Mancheng.

Two days ago, the main force of the Jin army had already arrived at the city of Taizhou, besieging it without attacking.

The garrison in Taizhou was small, and after two days of wavering, Governor Jin Tingqian decided to surrender the city.

Five days later, on March 19th.

The Jin army continued north and besieged Suicheng.

In one day, they captured Suicheng.

At this moment, the Jin army was overjoyed!

The army set out and in less than half a month, it captured Taizhou and Suicheng in succession.

When the news of the victory reached the imperial court, Emperor Shi Chonggui of Jin highly praised Du Chongwei and rewarded the entire army.

When the imperial court's commendation reached the front lines, some observant individuals noticed something amiss.

The emperor seemed completely unaware of the great victory in Mancheng.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Du Chongwei had not reported the situation in Mancheng.

Li Yin snorted coldly and grumbled in private.

"How can this be? The great victory at Mancheng was an achievement of our Righteous Army. Even if we disobeyed military orders, we should have reported the truth to His Majesty and let him make a decision. What does he mean by concealing this?"

Fu Yanqing said helplessly.

"Alright, the commander-in-chief even wanted to execute your entire elite battalion last time. I had to persuade him for a long time before he gave up the idea."

After saying that, Fu Yanqing patted the map and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Although the process was somewhat tortuous, we managed to capture Taizhou, Mancheng, and Suicheng. These three cities form a defensive perimeter, which will allow us to defend against the Khitan cavalry even if they march south."

Just then, Huangfu Yu rushed over!

Although it was freezing cold in the north in March, Huangfu Yu was covered in sweat!

"Something terrible has happened!"

"What is it? Don't rush, tell me slowly."

Huangfu Yu took a sip of hot water and hurriedly said.

"A surrendered soldier from the north reports that the Khitan ruler Yelü Deguang is personally leading 80,000 cavalry south from Hubei Pass and will arrive tomorrow!"

Li Yin was so frightened that his beard trembled, and he said in astonishment.

"Eighty thousand cavalry? The emperor personally leading the expedition? Have the Khitans gone mad?"

Fu Yanqing offered a slight reassurance, then frowned and said...

"Eighty thousand cavalry is indeed frightening, but we can still fight if we defend the city, and the three cities are mutually supportive."

Then, as soon as he finished speaking, Huangfu Yu hurriedly said.

"This is the important matter I wanted to discuss: the commander-in-chief's order is to abandon Suicheng and retreat the entire army to Taizhou!"

"What!?"

Fu Yanqing suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with rage!

Abandon Suicheng?

Isn't this sending a large army into a fire pit?

Suicheng is located in the far north and is an important strategic buffer zone.

If the Khitan launch a strong attack on Suicheng, the main Jin army, located in Taizhou, will have enough time to mobilize troops and send them out to provide support.

If the Khitan bypass Suicheng and launch a strong attack on Taizhou, then the Suicheng garrison can launch a surprise attack on the Khitan's rear, striking right in the back.

In any case, abandoning Suicheng is tantamount to abandoning the initiative.

How could Du Chongwei issue such an order?!

Fu Yanqing was both anxious and angry, so he went directly to Du Chongwei and persuaded him to retrieve the military order.

However, Du Chongwei insisted on retreating to Taizhou.

"The Khitan are powerful, and the city is small; it will inevitably be difficult to defend. Rather than wasting our troops, we should focus all our efforts on defending Taizhou!"

Fu Yanqing nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood!

How could he not see it?

Du Chongwei was clearly afraid of the Khitan's military might and only wanted to retreat!

"General! You mustn't!"

"The military order has been issued; it cannot be changed overnight!"

With Du Chongwei making a disastrous move, the city's garrison retreated without a fight.

This resulted in the Khitan's 80,000 iron cavalry appearing unharmed beneath the walls of Taizhou!

After returning, Fu Yanqing grabbed Li Yin's hand and said seriously.

"General Li, please send a message to Li Rui immediately, instructing him to hold Mancheng at all costs and not to abandon it, otherwise the army will be in grave danger!"

If Suicheng is the barrier of Taizhou, then Mancheng is the protection of Taizhou.

As long as Mancheng remains, the Khitan cannot launch a full-scale attack on Taizhou City.

Li Yin opened his mouth, looking constipated.

Upon seeing this, Fu Yanqing's heart skipped a beat.

"Could it be that Li Rui has already abandoned the position!?"

Li Yin hurriedly replied.

"No, no, it's just that Li Rui wrote a letter a few days ago, guessing that the commander-in-chief was going to abandon Suicheng, so he wanted to send 2,000 more troops to defend Mancheng."

Fu Yanqing was taken aback and asked in surprise.

"Li Rui already guessed that the commander-in-chief abandoned Suicheng? How...how did he guess that?"

Li Yin shrugged, saying he didn't know either.

"That's the problem. Who could have predicted that the Commander-in-Chief would actually do that? So when I received the letter, I just thought Li Rui was talking nonsense and ignored it..."

Fu Yanqing suddenly felt a darkness before his eyes!

Li Rui had the foresight to anticipate the abandonment of Suicheng, hence his decision to reinforce the troops.

As a result, Li Yin did not believe it and missed the great opportunity to reinforce his troops.

Fu Yanqing was about to curse, but then she thought that if she were Li Yin, she probably wouldn't believe Li Rui's astonishing words either.

How could this kid predict things so accurately?!

"Is it too late to send reinforcements?"

Li Yin knew he had made a mistake and quickly pressed for an explanation.

Fu Yanqing shook his head with a wry smile.

"It's too late. The Khitan vanguard cavalry has probably already arrived. Sending reinforcements now would be like sending lambs to the slaughter."

at the same time.

Standing atop the city wall, Li Rui gazed eastward.

He waited until sunset, then shook his head and said.

"It seems the commander didn't take my words seriously. There are no reinforcements. Let's seize the last moments and strengthen the city's defenses."

Niu Ben pursed his lips and spoke after a long while.

"Why are you so sure that Du Chongwei will abandon Suicheng?"

Li Rui sighed and patted Niu Ben on the shoulder.

"Brother Niu, Du Chongwei will not only abandon Suicheng, but he will also abandon Taizhou!"