My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 557 Great Victory over Yong Kai
"They've moved! The enemy's central forces have moved!"

The lookout soldier suddenly shouted loudly at Wei Yan, pointing with his right hand toward the direction of Yong Kai's central army.

At this point, the battle had entered a fierce stage. Commander Yonglu's right wing launched a series of strong attacks, and most recently he had successfully breached the camp. Fortunately, the left wing commanders launched a successful counterattack, which temporarily prevented the enemy from further expanding their gains.

Even so, the crisis on the left wing remains unresolved, and the camp could be completely breached at any moment.

As for the central army, Wei Yan's generous reward, coupled with the extraordinary combat power of the Han army's elite troops, successfully stabilized the situation.

Even with two thousand troops in front and middle of the enemy launching another fierce attack, and with shields and rattan shields protecting them from arrows, the central army still fought to the death.

Thanks to the emergency replenishment of sugar water and salt water, the Han army's physical strength and energy were undoubtedly much better than the enemy's.

However, the Han army was still outnumbered, and the situation remained dire.

Yong Kai's patience had also reached its limit, and the last thousand of his personal guards finally moved and pressed forward.

"it is good!"

Wei Yan's face remained calm, but a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes: "Tell the left wing to hold out for the last half hour. Order the central army not to retreat a single step."

Then, Wei Yan stood up from his chair and drank the sugar water beside him in one gulp.

"To don armor for someone."

As the commander-in-chief, Wei Yan was also a fierce general, so he was dressed in three layers of heavy armor.

The innermost layer is a multi-layered silk lining. Don't underestimate silk; it was the most effective garment for protecting against arrows in ancient times. The cushioning effect of the fiber structure can effectively block arrows, and it also has high toughness and elasticity.

When an arrow hits multiple layers of silk, the silk fibers quickly disperse the impact force into the surrounding fabric, preventing single-point penetration.

This level of protection is naturally not comparable to metal armor, but when combined with metal armor, it can greatly enhance the metal armor's ability to protect against penetrating heavy arrows.

Over the silk lining, Wei Yan donned a finely crafted and lightweight leather armor. This armor fit snugly and possessed a degree of flexibility, ensuring it did not impede the movement of his limbs.

Finally, there's the precision-engineered cold-forged steel armor from Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

Once Wei Yan was fully dressed, his already tall stature made him resemble a moving statue; just standing still was enough to terrify many people.

After Wei Yan was fully dressed, he watched as Yong Kai's army approached step by step. When the enemy was about a hundred paces from the battle line, Wei Yan turned and walked down the city wall. At the same time, he ordered the officers left behind: "After my armored elite soldiers attack, raise the red flag and beat the central army drum. Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy!"

"Here!"

Wei Yan walked down the city wall. The fifty armored warriors who had been resting earlier had also finished resting and put their armor back on.

Wei Yan stepped forward and asked, "Gentlemen, do you still dare to fight?"

The group of valiant Han warriors replied generously, "We are willing to follow the general into battle!"

"Gentlemen, the credit will be earned on the battlefield."

Wei Yan pointed to Yong Kai's central army, which was getting closer and closer: "If we win this battle, the greatest credit will be mine, and I wish to share it with you all! Just watch..."

The crowd looked over in confusion, and what they saw was naturally thousands of Yong Kai's soldiers approaching.

Just as everyone was puzzled, Wei Yan continued, "Gentlemen, look! These barbarians are clearly walking seals of nobility! They are just waiting for us to seize them! I wonder if any of you are willing to join in?"

"We are all willing to follow the general to achieve great deeds, even if it means dying on the battlefield!"

At this moment, in addition to the fifty armored warriors, the hundred crossbowmen who had come downstairs with Wei Yan also shouted loudly. By this time, these crossbowmen had run out of bolts and were switching to melee weapons, intending to fight to the death with Wei Yan.

"good!"

Wei Yan nodded in satisfaction: "A true man should establish fame and fortune today! Gentlemen, please follow me!"

Inspired by Wei Yan, the morale of the Han soldiers soared to its peak, and they all followed closely behind him.

After Yong Kai's central army pressed forward, the Han army faced unprecedented pressure.

The Han army was still able to hold on, but the Han auxiliary troops, although they fought hard, were far inferior to the Han army in terms of weaponry, training and quality. They were also extremely tired from continuous fighting. Seeing that the enemy had brought in new reinforcements, their morale began to waver instinctively.

Fortunately, at that moment, Wei Yan arrived with the last two hundred fresh troops to provide reinforcements.

Wei Yan, wielding a long-handled broadsword, personally led the charge into the enemy ranks, followed by two hundred Han soldiers, centered around fifty armored warriors. In an instant, they penetrated the enemy ranks as easily as a hot knife through butter, and none of those who stood in their way could withstand three blows from Wei Yan. The Baiyue warriors on both sides were also repelled.

At this point, not only were the Han army and Han auxiliary troops fighting bloody battles, but even Yong Kai's own troops and the Baiyue barbarian soldiers were all bloodthirsty.

Both sides have left behind thousands of corpses and many times more wounded; the battle has entered a fierce stage.

Wei Yan's attack was aimed directly at Yong Kai.

In just over fifty breaths, they penetrated more than thirty paces into Yong Kai's army, disrupting the formation of Yong Kai's central army and nearly throwing off their formation.

Yong Kai was, after all, a famous general in the south. He promptly reassured his soldiers and threw his personal guards into battle, finally managing to stop Wei Yan's counterattack.

Before Yong Kai could even catch his breath, a thunderous drumbeat suddenly resounded from the city wall, and a huge red flag with Chinese characters was raised onto the city wall.

Yong Kai's heart sank, and he subconsciously realized something was wrong. He quickly assessed the situation on the battlefield.

At this moment, Yonglu's right-wing army had once again stormed into the camp. The two sides repeatedly charged around the breach, one side trying to widen the gap, while the other fought back desperately. In just over fifty breaths, dozens of corpses had been thrown into the breach, forcing Yonglu's army to remove the bodies before they could continue their attack.

On the central front, although Wei Yan's desperate charge was blocked by Yong Kai's personal guards, upon closer inspection, it was clear that the enemy had not been completely contained. Wei Yan was still advancing, but at a much slower pace than before.

Yong Kai stared intently at Wei Yan, wondering if the other party had another trick up his sleeve.
But this speed doesn't seem like a backup plan.

After hesitating for a while, Yong Kai suddenly remembered that he had his left wing, so he turned around and wanted to go see the left wing.

Before he could turn his head, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from the left flank.

Yong Kai hurriedly turned his head to look, only to find that the originally intact left flank was slowly crumbling before his eyes.

Yong Kai was immediately alarmed and listened carefully to the shouts coming from the left flank. Upon closer inspection, he heard the Han army on the left flank continuously shouting "Victory!" Suddenly, a tsunami-like roar erupted in the distance again, and the Han-character banners had already reached the rear of the left flank. The leading general shouted loudly, "Lü Zheng has been slain by me! I am Huang Ming, the military commander of General Wei of the Great Han Dynasty. Lü Zheng has already been beheaded; why don't you surrender now?!"

Yong Kai looked over in disbelief, only to find the Han general holding a severed head high above his head, shouting loudly, while the Han soldiers around him joined in the shouting. Meanwhile, the soldiers on his left flank had begun to completely collapse, some kneeling and begging for mercy, others fleeing to the edges of the battlefield, with only a very few, under the command of their officers, attempting to rejoin their central army.

These people became the Han army's priority targets for pursuit and attack, leaving behind corpses along the way.

Wei Yan, who was opposite Yong Kai, also heard the shouts from the left wing, and a smile finally appeared on his rigid and stern face.

He had kept his main force hidden on the right flank, intending to completely destroy the enemy's right flank. Wei Yan chose to strike at the moment when Yong Kai could no longer resist committing his main force into the battle.

The red flags bearing Chinese characters rising from the city walls and the sound of war drums high above the city walls were signals for the general offensive. Huang Ming did not disappoint him; in just over a hundred breaths, he successfully killed a general and seized the flag, completely tearing apart the left flank of Yong Kai's army.

After Huang Ming broke through Lü Zheng's left flank, he ordered the Han auxiliary troops to scatter and attack the enemy, while his elite Han soldiers turned around and attacked Yong Kai's central army from the right front.

Finished!

Only those two words remained in Yong Kai's mind.

The left wing completely collapsed, and Wei Yan even created a large salient in the central army. The soldiers had lost their will to fight and were looking to the left.

Given this situation, even if Han Xin were reborn or Wu Qi were reincarnated, they would probably have to consider withdrawing their troops.

Of course, there is another way: take advantage of Wei Yan's sudden appearance and kill him first!

If they can succeed, they can not only turn the tide of the battle, but also turn defeat into victory.

However, whether Yong Kai can accomplish this depends on whether he possesses the bravery of Xiang Yu and the courage of Xiang Yu.

Yong Kai was known for his bravery and had been a dominant force in the south. Seeing that defeat was inevitable, he was unwilling to accept it and actually led the remaining guards to charge towards Wei Yan.

When Wei Yan saw this, he was overjoyed and immediately went to greet him.

As soon as the two sides clashed, Yong Kai immediately realized that something was wrong.

The armor Wei Yan wore provided far greater protection than Yong Kai's, and Wei Yan's strength far surpassed Yong Kai's.

With superior armor, sharp weapons, and superior strength, Wei Yan abandoned defense and launched a full-scale attack. After only five or six exchanges, he slashed Yong Kai's left arm with a single blow.

Yong Kai's personal guards rushed forward desperately, almost sacrificing their lives to hold off Wei Yan, giving Yong Kai a glimmer of hope.

With Yong Kai's escape, the central army immediately collapsed.

Seeing the dire situation, Yong Lü on the right wing hastily retreated. Fortunately, Wei Yan was pursuing the central army at this time. Wei Yan's left wing had suffered heavy casualties and barely managed to hold the camp. At this point, he had no strength left to pursue Yong Lü.

This made Yonglu the only main force to withdraw from the battlefield in an organized manner, and he fled back to Dianchi County.

Yong Kai's central and left armies were pursued by Wei Yan for thirty miles, until they reached the city of Dianchi before the retreat was sounded.

In this battle, Wei Yan defeated a large and weak force, inflicting a major defeat on the combined forces of Yong Kai's troops and the Southern Barbarians. He killed over 2,100 enemy soldiers and captured over 1,000, completely crushing Yong Kai's forces in a single battle.

After Yong Kai fled back to Dianchi Lake, he regrouped his remaining troops. Apart from the Right Army, which was relatively strong and had more than 1,100 men, the Central Army and the Right Army together had only a little over 1,000 men. The rest either scattered or simply fled into the mountains.

Almost none of the Nanman soldiers were captured or killed by the Han army. The rest fled back to the mountains. Apart from a few who were coerced, almost none of the Nanman soldiers entered Dianchi City on their own initiative.

Looking at the wounded and dead soldiers, Yong Kai was filled with despair. He left the army to his younger brother Yong Lü to comfort him, and hid in the prefectural government office, getting completely drunk.

**
On the other side, the Han army, after its great victory, pursued the Yong army all the way to the outskirts of Dianchi City. On their way back, they captured many more hidden prisoners.

By the time Wei Yan and the other Han soldiers returned to Yu Yuan, it was already midnight.

Fortunately, several huge bonfires were lit outside Yuyuan City, guiding the Han army back home. Meanwhile, the women, children, and elderly in the city had already prepared food and water, and even provided hot water for the Han army to wash themselves.

Wei Yan did not let his guard down despite the great victory. In addition to letting the main force enter the city to rest, he also repaired the gaps in the camp outside the city gate, rearranged his troops to move in, and sent out scouts to monitor the direction of Dianchi Lake in case Yong Kai was still unwilling to give up and wanted to launch a night attack.

After finishing all this, Wei Yan was about to rest for a while when he suddenly received a report that a fleet of about fifty or sixty ships had arrived on Fuxian Lake south of Yuyuan City.

Wei Yan was taken aback, and then immediately issued an alarm.

Fortunately, subsequent news revealed that it was a false alarm. The force that came from Fuxian Lake was three hundred elite troops personally led by Sun Ce. After receiving Wei Yan's message, Lu Xun was worried that Yong Kai would retaliate against Yu Yuan, so he dispatched sixty small boats to Sun Ce, allowing him to head north from Fuxian Lake to provide support.

After dark, with the city gates closing in, Wei Yan stood on the gate and called out to Sun Ce, asking him to rest in the nearby camp.

Although Sun Ce was somewhat displeased, he had served under Liu Feng for several years and was already familiar with the situation. Therefore, Sun Ce settled his three hundred men in the camp, while he himself requested to be carried into the city in a basket.

Wei Yan could not refuse Sun Ce's reasonable request.

Soon, Sun Ce was pulled up to the top of the city wall and then jumped out of the basket.

"Wen Chang, why did you engage in battle without waiting for the general's orders today?"

As soon as Sun Ce stepped onto the city wall, he made a commanding first impression. Although he had just arrived, the traces of war were everywhere in and around Yuyuan City, which was easy for Sun Ce, a veteran of many battles, to see.

Sun Ce came here on Lu Xun's orders to rush to Wei Yan's aid. However, he and his men rushed over overnight, only to miss a grand feast. How could Sun Ce be happy?

Wei Yan looked somewhat dazed. He had been fighting all day and was just about to rest when Sun Ce came to his aid. He was already quite exhausted.

Upon hearing Sun Ce's question, he managed to answer, "The arrow is on the string and must be released."

Sun Ce sneered, "It's not enough to just be greedy for credit, otherwise General Lu will surely report to General Zuo, and then it won't look good for anyone."

Wei Yan remained silent for a moment, then spoke again: "Today, Yong Kai's troops were severely defeated and retreated back to the city. If General Bofu does not mind, I am willing to join you in taking Dianchi Lake."

Sun Ce chuckled and readily accepted.

This is a matter of great importance. Regardless of whether Wei Yan shares the credit with him, Lu Xun will undoubtedly report Wei Yan's situation. As for the outcome, that will naturally be decided by the Left General himself; Sun Ce has no way to influence it.

Sun Ce's real purpose in bringing this up was to force Wei Yan to make concessions and share the credit with him.

(End of this chapter)