Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 473 Return of the King

After hearing what Yang Yuan said, Mr. Li's heart was beating fast.

He is a wise general. Since he was young, he has been known for his strategy in his family.

But this does not mean that he is not familiar with military strategies. He has led troops and fought in wars.

What Yang Yuan said is indeed feasible.

In this case, even though the ratio is one to three, there is still a chance of winning.

The most important thing is that they have just returned. This battle is an attitude. Even if they lose, it is more meaningful than not fighting.

Wanyan Luti’s inherent sphere of influence is not just Huanxi Town, which is just the location of his palace.

There are more than 60,000 households in the Hubudagan area, including more than ten tribes, large and small, all of which belong to the Wanyan Luti tribe.

In the two years since Wanyan Luti was forced to move to Shandong, he has in fact lost control of the area.

If we fight a war in the name of protecting our people at this time, the news will spread quickly to the entire Hubudagan area, with Huanxi Town as the center.

If they can defeat the larger force with the smaller one, and win a decisive victory, it will establish the best image for Wanyan Luti's return.

Thinking of this, Li Taigong said in a deep voice: "Li You, you lead the troops and strive to win!"

Li You pounded his chest excitedly and said in a deep voice: "Yes, sir!"

Yang Yuan's eyes flashed, and he said, "Emperor Li and Wu Mouke will gather the young men in the town to support us. I will follow Brother Li to see it for myself."

Li Taigong was startled and said hurriedly: "No, on the battlefield, swords and guns are blind. Master Yang is our honored guest. If something goes wrong..."

Now Yang Yuan is his God of Wealth, and Mr. Li definitely doesn’t want anything to happen to him.

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Li, you don't know that although I am a scholar, I am also good at riding and shooting.

Besides, I'm just going to see the world, I won't join the war."

Mr. Li didn't know that Yang Yuan had once beaten Kong Yanzhou.

Yang Yuan went north at the same time as Kong Yanzhou. The next day after arriving in Jinan City, he instigated the two kings to raise the flag of rebellion.

Then they seized the ship and set out to sea...

As long as Kong Yanzhou didn't tell anyone about this embarrassing incident, Li Taigong would have no chance of knowing it.

But Yang Yuan insisted on going to observe, so Li Taigong had no choice but to order Yang Xuance and Yu Fengxian to protect Yang Yuan well, and if they found anything wrong, they should immediately escort him away.

Li You assembled a thousand elite soldiers and chased in the direction where Wanyan Yuanyun's troops retreated.

……

Wanyan Yuanyun led about three thousand soldiers and horses, slowly walking on the road back.

On one side of the road is a surging river, and on the other side are large fields of crops.

It was a large rice field, and the rice stalks were bent by the weight of the rice.

The rice here is very famous. The rice is as heavy as sand, as bright as jade, as soupy as milk, and overflowing with rich fragrance. It is known as the best rice.

During the Tang Dynasty, the ancient Bohai Kingdom used this kind of rice as tribute to the Tang royal family.

Wanyan Yuanyun's troops marched along the road in a long snake shape.

The knights placed their spoils of war, women and children, on their horses.

Some were laid roughly horizontally, while others were placed in front of the knights.

Some knights were eager to take advantage of the women he had captured.

It looked like if they didn't have to return to their base, they wouldn't even care about the onlookers and would have executed the kidnapped woman on the spot.

Women and children were taken away as slaves.

They can keep them for their own use or sell them to others and turn them into wealth.

Wanyan Yuanyun walked in the middle of the team, looking very excited.

He is twenty-six years old this year. In order to look older, he has grown a beard and looks to be in his early thirties.

He is not tall but very sturdy and strong, with prominent cheekbones and light gray eyes, so when he looks around, he looks particularly majestic.

Looking at the team's fruitful harvest, Wanyan Yuanyun was very proud.

Ever since my uncle was moved to Shandong Road, the imperial court wanted to register the tribal people in the Budagang area and gradually bring them under the direct jurisdiction of the Shangjing garrison.

However, the influence of inherent ideas, coupled with the Jin Dynasty's weak grassroots organization in the Jurchens' former territory, made this process progress very slowly.

Wanyan Yuanyun gradually grew stronger in this process. Through a series of means combining kindness and force, he began to annex and conquer the various tribes under the rule of Wanyan Luti, and continuously expanded his influence.

He wanted to replace Wanyan Lvti.

However, he has been advancing this process in a relatively covert manner.

It was not until the news of Wanyan Luti's rebellion in Shandong Road was brought back by the dignitaries who went to Beijing for peace talks.

Wanyan Yuanyun immediately quickened his pace.

In his estimation, his uncle was most likely suppressed in Shandong Road.

Even if my uncle successfully crossed the sea and reached Liaodong, being annihilated in Liaodong would most likely be his fate.

Taking advantage of the fact that the imperial court has lost control of the north, he will quickly take over Hubudagan. By then, he will have the capital to move forward and backward freely.

If the imperial court was able to suppress the rebellion and the army marched north, he would surrender to the imperial court as the leader of Hubudagan.

At that time, he will definitely inherit Wanyan Luti's throne.

If the imperial court fails to suppress the rebellion, it may even be overthrown. Then, as the nephew of Wanyan Luti and the successor of this Jurchen hero who first raised the banner of rebellion, he will also gain great benefits.

These were all planned for him by his good friend Shangguan Luo.

Huanxi Town was the former base of Wanyan Luti. Therefore, his original plan was to conquer other tribes of Hubudagan step by step and then tackle this tough problem at last.

But after hearing the news of his uncle's rebellion, he had to change his strategy.

He wanted to conquer Huanxi Town first. If Huanxi Town surrendered to him, the other tribes of Hubudagan would easily surrender to him.

In half a month, the "Dubojilie" (leaders of alliance) meeting will be held by the dignitaries in the capital.

The various Jurchen tribes wanted to elect an alliance leader so that they could join forces to fight against the imperial court.

He had to complete the unification of Hubudagan before that, so that he would be qualified to participate in the "Dubojilie" conference.

Even if he cannot become a "Dubojilie", he can fight for a "Bojilie" position and he will be considered a top figure in the alliance in the future.

Now, his first step to reach "Bojilie" has been successfully completed.

Thinking of his pride, Wanyan Yuanjiao untied the wine bag from his waist, pulled out the cork, took a big gulp of wine, and exhaled comfortably.

The team had just walked out of the area with fields on the left and a river on the right, and there was another empty field in front of them.

A strong wind blew in my face, mixed with... the sound of rapid horse hooves?

……

Wanyan Yuanyun did not send out scouts.

Huanxi Town originally had a large population, but two years ago when my uncle left Hubudagang he took away about a thousand households.

This largest town in the Hubudagan area immediately fell into depression.

Because so many people were taken away at once, some fertile fields around Huanxi Town were abandoned because no one cultivated them.

As a result, Huanxi Town suffered a great loss of strength and currently cannot muster many troops.

Wanyan Yuanyun gathered his 3,000 elite troops to attack Huanxi Town. Who can catch up? Who dares to catch up?
Huanxi Town poses no threat to him, and the other tribes in the Hubudagan area are also in disarray, so he doesn't need to worry about anything.

But... at this moment he heard a burst of rapid horse hooves sounds.

Based on Wanyan Yuanyun's experience, there are at least three hundred... No! Five or six hundred... No! More?
what happened?

Wanyan Yuanyun pressed the saddle, jumped onto the horse's back nimbly, and looked around.

“Woo~~Woo~~”

The desolate horns sounded, and about three hundred riders drew an arc from the left side of his team, which was marching in a long line, and slashed at the waist of his team like scimitars.

This cavalry unit made a detour from the end of the rice field and only accelerated when it entered the assault range.

There was also a cavalry on the other side, also with about three hundred men, attacking from the same angle, but attacking the head of his team.

"Be alert! There is an enemy attack!" Wanyan Yuanyun shouted.

In fact, he didn't need to shout, his subordinates had already heard the rapid sound of horse hooves and the desolate sound of trumpets.

Women and children were pushed off the horses like garbage. The knights on the horses hurriedly drew their weapons and urged their horses to trot.

Even though they cannot accurately determine the enemy's attack formation, number of attackers and attack angle, they have to urge their horses to run first.

Otherwise, in front of the enemy's cavalry that was sweeping in like a gust of wind, they would be like wooden stakes standing there waiting to be chopped down.

The raiding team was finally exposed in front of them, and Wanyan Yuanyun's soldiers immediately stepped on their stirrups and took the initiative to meet them.

When two men meet on a narrow road, the only option is to fight!
However, the opponent's knight was wielding a sling instead of a steel knife.

As soon as the two sides entered the battle range, stones the size of goose eggs were hurled towards them.

"Bang bang bang bang..." Before the two sides could even fight, they fell down first.

Some were hit on the head by stones. Even wearing helmets was useless. Their brains burst immediately and they fell off their horses.

Then, it was hand-to-hand combat.

The swords are waving, the horses are neighing, and the blood is boiling!
Some people fell off their horses, some screamed, and some roared wildly.

In the melee, a heart-pounding cry of “Yao~Hao~Hao~” came from behind Wanyan Yuanyun’s team.

The women and children who were thrown to the ground took advantage of the chaos to run back to Huanxi Town.

Hearing the strange and heart-wrenching cry, they immediately took the children's hands and quickly fled to the river bank.

That skilled reaction is really heartbreaking.

Another cavalryman, wielding sharp steel swords, came from behind to attack.

Because the enemy and I were already in a melee ahead, they did not use slingshots but charged directly into the battle.

Wanyan Yuanyun didn't know how many enemies had arrived, but the enemy's tactic of adding more troops was a huge blow to the morale of the army when they were caught off guard and unable to accurately judge the enemy's strength.

Wanyan Yuanyun's troops were obviously beginning to panic.

"Retreat!" Wanyan Yuanyun roared angrily upon seeing this.

He also knew that there would be more casualties when being chased, but the morale of the army was already in chaos, and if they fought for a while longer, they would still be defeated.

If he retreated actively at this time, at least he could take the initiative locally.

Wanyan Yuanyun's personal soldiers protected him and began to break out.

The movement of Wanyan Yuanyun's flag immediately made his subordinates in the melee realize that they had been defeated!

Thus, the defeat began.

The flag represents the location of the coach, and Wanyan Yuanyun has no way to put away the flag.

If the general's flag disappeared, his subordinates would think that the enemy had broken through the center of the army and killed the commander. At that time, it might not just be a rout, but a mass surrender.

Li You saw the enemy's flag moving away and the enemy's morale declining visibly, and he couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

His adventurous battle was successful.

This was a battle he had carefully planned. Facing three thousand cavalrymen, he boldly divided his troops into three teams, which attacked from different directions and at different times.

In this situation, he even kept a hundred cavalrymen as reserves.

Of course, there are great risks in doing this, but if successful, the rewards are also great.

In the rear, Yang Xuance led a hundred reserve soldiers to protect Yang Yuan.

Seeing the enemy army begin to retreat, Yang Xuance couldn't help but reveal a bloodthirsty light in his eyes.

He also wanted to join the battle, but Li You had already told him in advance that if the front army was defeated, he would be responsible for giving his people a chance to retreat.

I'm afraid Li You didn't expect the surprise attack to be so successful. Now without Li You's military order, he didn't dare to act on his own.

Yang Yuan rode his horse and stood in the army, watching the beautiful surprise attack in front of him and secretly admiring it.

Li You's command is remarkable. This hunting-like method seems to have become their fighting instinct.

Yang Yuan looked at Yang Xuance, pointed his whip forward, and asked with a smile: "Brother Xuance, do you want to beat the drowning dog?"

Yang Xuance clenched the hilt of the knife and said bitterly, "That bastard Li You was so eager to kill that he forgot about me!"

Yang Yuan laughed and said, "Okay, it's hard to write two surnames with one stroke. We might have been one family five hundred years ago. Let me help you."

Yang Xuance was stunned and asked curiously, "What can you help me with?"

Yang Yuan kicked his legs into the stirrups and galloped towards the chaotic battlefield.

Yang Yuan's voice came from afar: "Oh my, the horse is startled, Brother Xuan Ce, come and save me!"

Yang Xuance was immediately overjoyed. He drew out his saber with a "clang" sound, raised it high into the air, and shouted, "Protect Scholar Yang, kill him!"

"Protect Master Yang!"

The hundred cavalrymen, whose blood was boiling, drew their swords in unison, and rushed forward, shouting, "Protect Scholar Yang!"

……

The fierce battle soon turned into a one-sided pursuit.

Wanyan Yuanyun fled in panic, and Li You led his troops to chase and kill him.

Yang Yuan also grabbed a knife, jumped on his horse, brandished the knife, and charged into the battle.

Although he claimed to be skilled in archery and horse riding at first, he was still a little unfamiliar with fighting on horseback.

But after killing seven or eight people, he became really skilled in archery and horse riding.

Li You's troops saw Yang Yuan's participation in the war, and they suddenly felt that young scholar Yang was much closer to them.

Those who can fight alongside them are their good brothers.

Yang Yuan's agile skills also won the respect of these warriors.

Li You's strategy of outflanking and segmented attack completely destroyed the morale of the enemy troops who were unprepared for battle.

About 500 of Wanyan Yuanyun's men were killed or wounded, and after the rout began, 700 to 800 of them laid down their weapons and surrendered.

Li You's pursuit did not last too long. After all, his troops were insufficient and he was afraid that Wanyan Yuanyun would see through his strength.

Therefore, Li You sounded the call to withdraw his troops in time, began to disarm, accept the surrendered soldiers, and clean up the battlefield.

The women and children who were captured in Huanxi Town also ran over and spontaneously helped them pick up weapons and search for money from the dead.

The soldiers that Li You brought were the ones who were taken away from this town in the first place.

The women and children only needed to recognize one of them to know that this was their team.

While the battlefield was being cleaned up, Li Taigong and Wu Laoer, the Mouke of Huanxi Town, rushed over with more than 600 people who had been hastily assembled.

This support force includes young and strong men, elderly men over 50 with gray hair, and even young soldiers of 15 or 16 years old.

Seeing that they had won a great victory, Li Taigong, Wu Laoer and others were overjoyed.

Wu Laoer found his abducted wife and daughter in the crowd. The three of them cried with joy and hugged each other.

Yang Yuan was standing next to Li You, interrogating one of Wanyan Yuanyun's men with him.

This Mouke explained dejectedly the purpose of Wanyan Yuanyun's actions: he just wanted to be a hero in troubled times and to gain a place in the reshuffle of the northern powerful people in the Jin Dynasty.

After listening to Li You's report, Li Taigong was so angry that his beard stood up.

"This ungrateful bastard, his family is facing a disaster, but instead of joining forces to resist the enemy, he is actually trying to poach his uncle.

You bastard, wait until our people arrive from Dun'en City, and then I'll show you how I'll deal with him!"

The main force they brought back to Liaodong from Shandong Road was naturally left to Wanyan Luti.

However, we must also leave behind an elite force to protect the families of the two princes.

Therefore, Wanyan Luti and Wanyan Dari each sent out a thousand elite veterans to escort them back to Shangjing by sea.

With these two thousand elite cavalrymen, and by continuing to recruit soldiers from the tribes in the Hubudagan area, Li Taigong is fully confident that he can crush Wanyan Yuanyun, the traitor.

Yang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Wait? Why should we wait? Master Li, with the power of today's victory, why don't we continue to make efforts and take down another city?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Taigong, Li You and others were a little surprised.

What Yang Yuan said was a little beyond their thinking.

They had heard that the troops that had looted the people of Huanxi Town had not gone far, so they wanted to attack Wanyan Yuanyun by surprise. Although it was risky, it was still within their understanding.

Now that Wanyan Yuanyun already knows of their existence, should they continue to chase Wanyan Yuanyun and break into his lair?
It has neither the advantage of geographical location nor the harmony of people.

Yang Yuan said: "We have just found out Wanyan Yuanyun's details, he only has 4,000 soldiers.

The cavalry among them are the three thousand people brought out today.

Just now, in the battle between Li You and his brothers, he lost more than a thousand people, including those killed and captured.

Wanyan Yuanyun led his defeated troops and fled back to his old nest in Beiyin River.

According to Li Taigong, what will happen after he returns to Beiyin River? "

Li Taigong said: "Of course he will send someone to find out our details first and then think of a countermeasure. If he has allies, he will call for help."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "That's right, but what I want to ask is something more specific and detailed."

Yang Yuan turned to Li You and asked, "Brother Li, if you were Wanyan Yuanyun, and you had just led more than a thousand cavalrymen to escape back to Beiyin River, what would you do from the moment you dismounted your horse?"

Li Youyin seemed to understand something, his eyes gradually brightened: "Get off the horse, take off the armor, go back to the mansion, take a short rest, and then send someone to find out our details."

"What else to do?"

“Visiting the wounded and providing relief to the dead are things that need to be done immediately.

After the scouts come back, we will know the enemy's details and strength, and then we can make a plan whether to fight, avoid or get reinforcements."

Yang Yuan turned to Yang Xuance and said, "Brother Yang, you are one of the more than a thousand cavalrymen who survived. What will you do after you return?"

Yang Xuance said: "Of course we should take off our armor and saddles, and let the men and horses rest. No, the horses can rest, but the men cannot.

Neighbors, relatives and friends will inevitably visit. If there are relatives or friends who died in the war, they will also visit them in time..."

Yang Xuance suddenly stopped talking when he got to this point, and turned to Li Taigong, saying excitedly: "Taigong, Master Yang's plan is really feasible!"

Yang Yuan had just seen what Huanxi Town looked like, and it was really just a town.

There are no city walls and no defensive functions.

If a town like this were to go to war with another place, people would either be pulled out to fight in the open or in the streets.

Huanxi Town is where the Wanyan Luti family has lived for generations... Although I say generations, the history is actually not that long.

It has only been forty years since the founding of the Jin Dynasty.

He founded a country, then fought against the Liao army of 700,000 with 20,000 soldiers, then gradually devoured the Liao Kingdom, and finally allied with the Song Dynasty to destroy the Liao.

After destroying Liao, they found that Song seemed to be unable to resist, so they started to fight against Song again, until they seized half of Song and occupied the Central Plains...

Therefore, from Wanyan Luti's father to Wanyan Luti, the lineage was only passed down for two generations.

It is not a long time since they developed from a tribal chief to a prince of the Jin Dynasty, and their base area has not been well managed.

The town of Huanxi is the center of the Hubudagan area.

There is no city here, which means there is no city in the entire Hubudagan area, only villages, towns or tribes.

Therefore, Beiyin River where Wanyan Yuanyun was located should also be a village or town without defensive capabilities.

This can also be confirmed from the composition of Wanyan Yuanyun's troops.

Four thousand soldiers and three thousand cavalry.

Therefore, their fighting style and the way they dealt with defeat were different from those of the Song people.

Yu Fengxian was moved and said, "Grandpa, this plan is really feasible!
If we had rooted out the traitor Wanyan Yuanyun right after we came back, who would dare to underestimate us?"

Yang Xuance said: "Even if Wanyan Yuanyun could predict our pursuit, he couldn't set an ambush in the village.

If we can fight, we will fight. If we can't fight, we will retreat. What is there to be afraid of?"

Mr. Li pondered for a moment, then slowly paced back and forth.

Li You was anxious and wanted to step forward to persuade him a few more times, but Yang Yuan held his arm.

Yang Yuan shook his head at him and walked forward alone.

Yang Yuan said to Li Taigong who was still in deep thought: "Li Taigong, once the relatives of the Donkey Hoof King arrive, it will be safer for you to deal with Wanyan Yuanyun, this ambitious guy.

However, it is difficult to get rid of this restless guy, so Hu Bu Dagang is as solid as a rock and can be controlled by his own arm."

Mr. Li suddenly stopped and looked at Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan said: "Isn't it obvious? Who is the king's uncle? It is Wanyan Yuanyun's great uncle.

Who are the king’s sisters? They are Wanyan Yuanyun’s elder and younger aunts.

What did Wanyan Yuanyun do? It was just that his uncle could not come back, and he wanted to be the head of the family. So he bullied the servants at home to establish his authority.

Will his closest relatives and elders punish him for killing the people of Huanxi Town?

At that time, he just had to hug his uncle and aunt's thighs, cry for a few words, and then kowtow to admit his mistake.

"Mr. Li, although you are the father-in-law of the Donkey Hoof King, you are a foreigner after all. Do you think those people from the Wanyan family will rely on him or you?"

Li Taigong's eyes suddenly narrowed.

He turned around suddenly and shouted in a deep voice: "Li You!"

Li You hurried to him, and Li Taigong said in a deep voice: "Take your people with you, and you can choose the people that Wu Laoer brought with you, and chase him to Beiyin River immediately, destroy Wanyan Yuanyun's lair, and drive him out of Hubudagang completely!"

Li Taigong stared into Li You's eyes and said grimly: "If you have the chance, kill him!"

(End of this chapter)