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

Yelü Deguang died suddenly.

He didn't even leave a will before his death.

The ministers and generals accompanying the emperor, in a state of panic, quickly suppressed the news!

To prevent the army from panicking upon hearing of the emperor's death.

however.

Everyone knows that.

The old emperor died and the new emperor ascended the throne. What a wealth of opportunities this presents!

Who could refuse the favor of following the emperor?

If one were to immediately convey the news of the emperor's death to the new emperor who is qualified to succeed him.

Then when the new emperor ascends the throne, I will definitely be a meritorious official who helped him rise to power!

Soaring to great heights and becoming a high-ranking official is just around the corner!

Almost on the very night Yelü Deguang died suddenly, several fast horses secretly left the camp and galloped off in all directions.

Only three people are currently qualified to inherit the throne.

Prince Yongkang, Yelü Ruan; Crown Prince, Yelü Lihu; and eldest son, Yelü Jing.

Among them, Yelü Lihu has the highest probability of succeeding to the throne.

Because within the Liao Kingdom, apart from the emperor, no one could match Empress Dowager Shulu's prestige!

The Empress Dowager's favorite candidate was Yelü Lihu.

however.

The one closest to us right now is Prince Yongkang, Yelü Ruan.

Several fast horses carried the news of Yelü Deguang's death, and some of them headed northeast towards the grasslands.

Some headed straight for Dingzhou!

Yelü Ruan's advantages in succeeding to the throne suddenly became much greater!

However, just as the ministers and generals accompanying the emperor were having different thoughts in the woods of Luancheng.

But no one discovered that an army was lying in ambush in the woods!

"Yelü Deguang's royal carriage indeed stopped in this grove! Just as the general had said! It's truly miraculous!"

Chen Xiaoniu plucked the leaf from his mouth and slapped his thigh excitedly!

Zhao Kuangyin, equally excited, plucked the leaf he had been using to keep quiet and quickly spoke.

"The general also said that he observed the celestial phenomena last night and saw that the stars in the north were dim tonight, indicating that a nobleman would surely die suddenly!"

Who else could it be but a nobleman from the north? Yelü Deguang is going to die tonight!

Chen Xiaoniu kept a close eye on the Liao Kingdom's camp.

"The general ordered us to ambush them here and take advantage of the chaos to abduct the Han Chinese civilians who had been captured."

However, it seems that nothing has changed for now, and there has been no unrest in the Khitan camp. We need to wait and see.

Upon hearing this...

Zhao Kuangyin frowned.

"Wait for what? The general is talking about tonight. It's not convenient to take action at dawn. If we wait until tomorrow night, it will take too long, and there may be unforeseen circumstances!"

"Why not just charge into the camp? With the Divine Sword Army here, they're sure to cut off Yelü Deguang's head and win in one battle!"

With that, Zhao Kuangyin prepared to set off.

Chen Xiaoniu immediately shouted in a low voice.

"Don't move! The general's orders are to rescue the kidnapped civilians, not to chop off anyone's head!"

Zhao Kuangyin's eyes widened.

"Hey? You little bully, you think you can order me around?"

Chen Xiaoniu chuckled and patted the bronze plaque at his waist.

"Now I am the deputy commander of the Divine Sword Army. You are just a lowly soldier in name only, so of course you have to listen to me."

Zhao Kuangyin gritted his teeth and sat down angrily.

There's nothing I can do!

Who told him to break the abstinence order in Hanoi and be demoted four ranks by Li Rui?

Chen Xiaoniu smiled smugly and said.

"I know what you're trying to do."

Zhao Kuangyin did not answer.

Chen Xiaoniu's expression turned serious, and he said in a low voice.

"You want to cut off Yelü Deguang's head, or at least seize his banner, achieve military merit, and make a name for yourself throughout the world, right?"

Zhao Kuangyin's face twitched, clearly realizing that his true thoughts had been exposed.

After all, who wouldn't be tempted by such a great opportunity?

When Li Rui beheaded one of the thirteen banners of the Khitan, he became a force to be reckoned with in Hebei.

If he could cut off Yelü Deguang's head, or cut off the banner that represented the emperor himself.

Wouldn't it make him famous throughout the world?

It wasn't that Zhao Kuangyin was disloyal to Li Rui.

Faced with such temptation, few warriors in the world would remain unmoved!

Fortunately, Chen Xiaoniu was one of them.

He solemnly repeated Li Rui's order.

"The general ordered us to rescue the abducted Han Chinese civilians, not to gain merit or fame!"

Zhao Kuangyin gritted his teeth, his eyes still filled with resentment.

"knew!"

Chen Xiaoniu shook his head and said again.

"Yuan Lang, you'd better think carefully: do you want to gain temporary fame, or obey the general's orders and fight for your future?"

After saying that, Chen Xiaoniu stopped trying to persuade him and turned to keep a close eye on the movements of the Liao army camp.

Zhao Kuangyin sat alone on the grass, his mind in turmoil.

On one hand, they were young and impetuous, eager to achieve great feats and earn a renowned reputation.

On one hand, he is mature and steady, choosing to obey orders, gaining the general's trust, and earning a future.

In fact, Zhao Kuangyin at this stage did not have a strong sense of ambition.

Option one appealed to him more.

……

Not long after.

Chen Xiaoniu saw several fast horses leave the Liao army camp at high speed, and they were heading in completely different directions.

One of the teams of knights charged straight towards Dingzhou!

He made the decision almost instantly.

This is the unexpected turn of events the general was referring to!

"Quickly! Get the brothers armored and prepare to attack!"

Zhao Kuangyin seemed to wake from a dream and quickly got into the zone.

Once the order was given, the Divine Sword Army soldiers, hidden in various places, dragged out their armor from the bushes and put it on each other.

In order to hide in the woods, they did not bring warhorses.

The heavy cavalry were transformed into heavily armored infantry.

However, this does not have any impact.

In the woods, the Khitan cavalry couldn't run fast either; both sides were infantry.

Chen Xiaoniu glanced at Zhao Kuangyin but said nothing more.

"Form ranks!"

……

The battle lasted only half the night.

Although Chen Xiaoniu had no idea whether Yelü Deguang was dead or not before the battle began.

If they hadn't died, then their thousand men would have been throwing eggs against rocks.

Despite being clad in heavy armor, the disparity in numbers is evident.

If the enemy is organized and disciplined, this battle is bound to be lost.

But Chen Xiaoniu always believed Li Rui's every word, so he was fearless and directly commanded the night raid!

It turns out.

as predicted!

The soldiers who initially guarded the outer perimeter of the Liao army camp were panicked when faced with the night attack, but they were still able to put up a desperate fight.

However, not long after, news of the night raid reached several high-ranking generals.

The Liao soldiers' ability to resist actually decreased instead of increased!

Ordinary soldiers didn't know the emperor was dead, but the high-ranking officers did!

They didn't know how many troops were in the night raid, and they were filled with fear, so they only had one thing on their minds.

The emperor's body must not fall into enemy hands!

Therefore, these high-ranking generals made their decisions almost instantly.

The entire army abandoned their camp and, at top speed, escorted the emperor's coffin out of the woods.

Then he mounted his horse and fled northeast!

The emperor's body must not be desecrated!

With the higher-ups determined to flee, the retreat quickly turned into a rout, dragging down the lower-ranking soldiers as well!

The Divine Sword Army captured the camp with almost no effort.

Zhao Kuangyin watched the fleeing carriage from afar and forcibly suppressed the urge to give chase.

If we catch up now, given his personal bravery, he might truly achieve unparalleled feats and become famous throughout the world.

But at crucial moments.

Zhao Kuangyin thought of his parents, his younger brother, and his future wife.

Compared to personal reputation, the future of a family is obviously more valuable.

He turned around abruptly and gave the order to his subordinates.

"Quickly release the people and let them flee to Luancheng!"

Chen Xiaoniu heard Zhao Kuangyin's voice amidst the chaos and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this dark-skinned fellow wasn't blinded by ambition.

Just then.

A fat figure screamed in terror.

"Don't kill me! I am Feng Yu, the Grand Councilor of the Great Jin Dynasty! Whose troops are you?"

Chen Xiaoniu scoffed and cursed.

"What Privy Councilor? The Great Jin Dynasty is already dead!"

"Your saviors now are the Divine Sword Army of Li Rui, the Grand Commandant and Military Governor of Hebei!"