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Chapter 14: Appointment of the Commander-in-Chief
To be the first to ascend the battlefield is a sign of bravery; to break through the enemy lines is a sign of valor. To kill the general and seize his flag is a sign of victoriousness!
Zhang Yuanhui, the main vanguard general of the Northern Han, was killed in battle, the momentum of the cavalry charge collapsed immediately, and the Northern Han infantry following behind were quickly defeated.

Many times, the victory or defeat of a war is extremely dramatic.

The Northern Han army went from an advantage to a disadvantage in just a moment. With the large-scale counterattack of the Zhou army's infantry and cavalry, the Northern Han troops turned around and fled.

As the saying goes, defeat is like a mountain falling!
Liu Chong, the ruler of Northern Han, couldn't understand why his side had a huge advantage, but in the blink of an eye, they were being chased and attacked by the Zhou army.

It was not until the news of Zhang Yuanhui being killed in battle came back that he finally knew what had happened.

Liu Chong no longer had time to feel sorry for the loss of such a brave general.

He personally waved the battle flag in front of the formation, trying to stop the retreat of the Northern Han army, but it was obvious that the defeat was already decided and any effort was in vain.

Yelu Dilu was watching the situation on the battlefield from his horse. He saw Liu Chong waving his flags vigorously, but it was completely useless. He could not help but snort coldly: "Liu Chong has been defeated. Let's retreat too."

The 8,000 Khitan cavalry did not move from beginning to end, and watched the battle between the Northern Han and Later Zhou armies.

At the moment, the Northern Han has no chance of turning the tables, while the Zhou army is becoming more and more courageous. Yelu Dilu is a little worried that his troops will be affected.

If we don't withdraw from the battlefield sooner, we may not be able to escape later.

Of course, he was not afraid of the Zhou army, but he felt that there was no need to sacrifice the Khitan warriors under his command for the arrogant Liu Chong.

Didn't you, Liu Chong, want to defeat the enemy yourself? If you don't win, you can't blame others!

"General, if we retreat like this, I'm afraid that the Han ruler Liu Chong will be dissatisfied." A Khitan general beside Yelu Dilu spoke up to remind him.

"Without the full support of the Liao Dynasty, Liu Chong would have been destroyed by Guo Wei long ago. How dare he still express dissatisfaction?"

Yelu Dilu didn't care. "Besides, it's still unknown whether Liu Chong can return alive after this battle..."

In his opinion, Liu Chong's death might not be a bad thing. This guy had too many ulterior motives. On the surface, he bowed to the Liao Kingdom and called it his nephew, but behind the scenes... hehe.

If Liu Chong died like this, it would be a good opportunity to support his useless sons to take power, and then the Liao Kingdom could more easily control the Northern Han.

Yelu Dilu ran away decisively and led the Khitan cavalry to evacuate the battlefield.

When Liu Chong learned about this, he was so angry that his teeth were itching, but he had no way to deal with the Khitans, so he could only try his best to gather the remaining troops and retreat.

The Later Zhou army naturally would not let him escape, and they pursued him relentlessly, forcing Liu Chong to retreat again and again.

……

Li Yi stood there holding Zhang Yuanhui's head. His shout did not cause much splash in the noisy battlefield because it was too loud and many people could not hear him.

But it doesn't matter.

Anyway, it was enough that the emperor saw his brave and fearless performance... Besides, Zhang Yuanhui's head was still in his hand.

At this moment, Li Yi had a very subtle feeling in his heart——

The scene that I had dreamed of for all these years suddenly came true, and from today on, I will become a famous figure in history books.

Everything seems like a dream and not so real.

But Li Yi knew that this was all true... Before this, he was eager to achieve great things, but he couldn't help feeling nervous and uneasy, fearing that God would play a joke on him again, just like what happened with the Zhao family.

Perhaps this time the price of this joke will be life.

Fortunately, God finally showed mercy and did not play tricks on him again.

Thinking of this, Li Yi looked around. Galloping war horses, brave warriors, and earth-shaking shouts were heard. The troops of the Later Zhou army passed by him one after another.

Looking further away, Li Yi's gaze suddenly fixed on a big man with a black face.

The man brandished a stick as a weapon and led a group of cavalrymen to charge forward. He swept away the remaining Northern Han soldiers who passed by like cutting melons and vegetables.

That’s... Zhao Kuangyin!

At this moment, the emperor's guards arrived at Li Yi's location.

When Chai Rong saw Li Yi with an arrow stuck in his shoulder and covered in blood, he immediately said to his attendants, "Quickly send the military doctor to treat Li Yaya's injuries." He did not expect that Chai Rong could call out Li Yi's surname and military rank in one breath.

After all, he had just ascended the throne and might not know a small yamen guard in the imperial guards.

I think it was because Chai Rong saw Li Yi's brave performance in taking the lead, so he asked the people around him temporarily.

Li Yi saluted and said, "I'm fine!"

Although there are a lot of blood stains on his armor, these were splashed when Zhang Yuanhui's head was cut off.

The only injury Li Yi suffered was an arrow shot in the shoulder.

However, the arrow did not penetrate deeply, and a small part of the arrowhead was exposed outside. Considering the thickness of the armor and clothes, it only injured the skin and flesh at most.

But he had fallen quite hard just now and looked quite disheveled. Combined with the arrow stuck in his shoulder and the bloodstains on his armor, he really gave people the feeling of having escaped death.

Chai Rong nodded in praise and said, "With a fearless general like you in my army, pacifying the world will not be far away!"

Hearing the emperor praising him so much, Li Yi naturally couldn't lose face and immediately expressed his loyalty: "The rise and fall of the Great Zhou is the responsibility of every man. It is our honor to die for Your Majesty!"

"Haha, what a great example of every man having his share of responsibilities!"

Chai Rong was very happy to hear this and immediately promised, "It's really a waste of your talent to be a yamen guard. Hmm... you should be appointed as the commander-in-chief!"

Now that the emperor had spoken, Li Yi was sure to be promoted and make a fortune.

You know, the commander-in-chief is at least at the army level. Zhao Da's father, Zhao Hongyin, holds a military position of this level.

This is simply a step-by-step process of reaching the sky!
Suppressing his inner excitement, Li Yi held up the head with both hands and offered it: "This is the head of Zhang Yuanhui, the commander of the cavalry and infantry of the Northern Han Dynasty. I have brought it for your majesty!"

"here you go!"

After praising him, Chai Rong snorted coldly, "This thief is just a reckless man, yet he dared to invade our Great Zhou. He deserves this fate!"

Immediately, Chai Rong ordered his men to hang Zhang Yuanhui's head in front of the battle line for public display.

It was a pity that the most powerful general of the Northern Han Dynasty was defeated by an unknown lieutenant. Not only did he die miserably, but even his body could not rest in peace.

But his death was not in vain. At least his death made Li Yi successful. To some extent, Li Yi should thank him... I can only wish him a good journey!
Watching the emperor's procession moving forward, Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

The victory of the Later Zhou army was a foregone conclusion, which was no different from the original history. All that was left was to hunt down and annihilate the remaining troops of the Northern Han.

Basically, you won’t encounter any more setbacks.

As for Li Yi, the contributions he had made were enough, and he had consumed a lot of physical energy, so there was no need for him to take the risk of following the troops to pursue the remnants.

After all, if you are unlucky enough to encounter an extreme situation of "don't pursue a desperate enemy", you may be dragged down as a scapegoat by the enemy's dying counterattack.

Wouldn't that be a waste of time?

What's more, he hasn't even seen the actual reward yet, and hasn't even received it yet... When he thought about his previous reckless charge and how he almost got surrounded by the Northern Han cavalry, he couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Anything unexpected can happen on the battlefield. Zhang Yuanhui, who was just killed in battle, is a good example.

He gained great merit one moment, but was killed in the next second. Wouldn’t it all be in vain?

Fortunately, Li Yi was injured at the moment, which was witnessed by the emperor himself, so he could retreat to the second line with justification.

Anyway, his merit in pursuing the enemy was far less than his merit in killing the enemy's vanguard general and protecting the emperor just now.

Soon.

The military doctor came over after receiving the emperor's order, and Li Yi obediently followed the doctor to treat the arrow wound.

As for the upcoming battle, it has little to do with him...

(End of this chapter)