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Chapter 26: Prince Wei is Old
The news of Shi Yanchao's ambush was reported back to Xinzhou City.

Prince Fu Yanqing of Wei was furious. "Shi Yanchao, you're such a fool! He's fought for so many years, but he still acts like a fool. He can only charge forward. Does he really think everyone else is as stupid as him?"

Fu Yanqing, who is usually calm and composed, lost his composure for once and even insulted a local governor in public.

However, in the current Later Zhou Dynasty, apart from Emperor Chai Rong, only Prince Wei Fu Yanqing dared to do so.

All the generals fell silent upon hearing this.

King Wei could directly scold Shi Yanchao, but they did not have the qualifications to do so and could only pretend not to hear.

However, regarding Shi Yanchao's ambush, all the generals felt in their hearts that King Wei himself was also responsible to a certain extent.

It's just that no one dared to say it out loud.

After calming down his anger, Fu Yanqing immediately ordered, "Send a message to Xiang Xun's infantry on horseback, telling them not to rush ahead rashly, but to form a marching formation and advance steadily."

"Shi Yanchao has been ambushed. If we don't advance in a tight formation, the Liao cavalry will likely seize the opportunity to harass us."

"If the infantry is also annihilated, this battle will be a complete defeat, and I will have a hard time explaining it to His Majesty!"

"No!" the generals responded.

Fu Yanqing hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Envoy Guo, Envoy Bai, the two of you will lead another 6,000 infantrymen to support Xiang Xun and Shi Yanchao's troops."

"We must not allow the Liao army to kill our generals in battle. Otherwise, if word gets out in Jinyang, it will severely damage our morale."

Fu Yanqing raised his tone a bit. The battle to attack Jinyang City was at a stalemate, and the morale of the Later Zhou army had already been frustrated.

If Xinzhou suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of the Liao army, given the nature of the warriors during the Five Dynasties period, the situation would likely get out of control.

At this time, a general suggested, "Envoy Li Du of the Inner Palace Guard has nearly a thousand cavalrymen under his command. They are all elite troops serving Your Majesty, and I see nearly a hundred armored cavalrymen among them..."

Fu Yanqing immediately understood what the general meant and waved his hand, saying, "This is Li Dushi's first time leading an army alone, and he has never fought against the Liao army. I asked him to lead his cavalry and follow because I have no extra cavalry available, so I had no choice."

"Now I just hope he doesn't sacrifice your Majesty's elite cavalry."

The implication was that Fu Yanqing did not expect Li Yi to play a big role, and regarded him as the last resort to preserve his strength.

This is not because Fu Yanqing looks down on Li Yi, but because Li Yi is too young.

Many people may think that he was lucky for his contribution in the Gaoping battle.

Sometimes, although seniority and prestige are invisible and intangible, they really have a great impact on a person's status.

"You guys go make your own arrangements!"

"promise!"

The generals said nothing more and left.

Guo Congyi and Bai Chongzan both came from the Shatuo tribe, and they had a good relationship in private.

After leaving the front hall of the government office, Guo Congyi sighed in a low voice in Turkic:

"Prince Wei is old!"

When a person gets older, his energy and courage will wane, and he will be hesitant when encountering things... What he said was really disrespectful.

Bai Zhongzan was startled and quickly whispered, "General Guo, be careful with your words!"

Li Yi didn't understand Fu Yanqing's intention of dividing the troops before because he had no idea what Fu Yanqing was really thinking.

But Guo and Bai were both veteran generals of many dynasties, and they were very smart. They knew what King Wei was planning after just a little thought.

Although the emperor ordered to stop the Liao reinforcements, he did not say that the Liao army must be defeated.

After all, King Wei is old. No matter how brave and good at fighting he was when he was young, he is now just an old man in his sixties.

In addition, she is now in a high position and there is no room for promotion, and her daughter will soon become the queen.

King Wei no longer has too many desires, and maintaining the current respect is enough, so he naturally focuses on seeking stability.

It was indeed quite difficult for Xinzhou's small force to defeat the Liao army that came to support them.

However, if they could simply hold the enemy back, giving the emperor time to attack Jinyang, the difficulty would be much less. The King of Wei divided his forces to attack, hoping to confront the Liao army in Xinzhou and hold them back as much as possible.

Secondly, even if the attacking troops were repelled, they could continue to retreat to Xinzhou City and use the advantages of the city to delay the Liao army.

In this way, the Liao army can be delayed for at least several days, or even ten days or half a month.

But what King Wei didn't expect was that he had originally hoped to rely on Shi Yanchao's bravery to see if he could delay the Liao army for a few more days.

Who would have thought that this guy was so reckless that he led himself into the encirclement of the Liao army, and he didn't even last half a day.

"I just hope Shi Yanchao can come out on his own..."

Guo Congyi and Bai Chongzan looked at each other, and then went about their business.

……

Li Yi, who was dozens of miles away, had no idea what was happening in Xinzhou City.

After careful observation, he finally understood the situation on the battlefield below.

There are mountains on both sides of Xinkou, and there are only two narrow passages for entry and exit. There is a flat area near the south, but the area is not large.

Like a dumpling with its mouth open.

Shi Yanchao was trapped in a narrow area in the south and could not advance or retreat under the fierce attack of the Liao army.

But at the same time, the main force of the Liao army could not be deployed on a large scale.

The Liao army adopted a tactic that was somewhat like adding fuel to the fire, launching waves of rotating attacks, trying to use their numerical advantage to wear down Shi Yanchao.

It has to be said that under the constraints of this terrain, there was nothing wrong with the Liao army's approach.

But in this case, if you want to rescue Shi Yanchao, you don't have to face the entire Liao army phalanx at the same time.

As long as we find the right breakthrough point, there is still great hope.

Thinking of this, Li Yi turned and looked at the cavalry he brought with him.

There is no consensus in later generations on the classification of ancient cavalry, and there are often arguments about this on the Internet.

But in his opinion, those who are not armored are called light cavalry, those who are armored but the horses are not are called medium cavalry, and those who are both armored are called heavy cavalry, which can also be called armored cavalry.

This division is simple and clear, what is there to argue about?

The cavalry led by Li Yi were all elite members of the Inner Palace Guard, and all of them were wearing armor.

There were even a hundred heavy cavalrymen, all fully armored.

Those horse armors are made of leather. Although they are not as good as iron horse armor, their protective power is barely enough.

The cost of maintaining a large-scale heavy cavalry these days is too high. The leather horse armor was only put together with great effort by Li Gu, who was in charge of logistics.

Li Yi made a decisive move: "Wang Shenqi, you lead 400 cavalry to attack from the left flank of the Liao army. Zhang Jiangong, you lead 400 cavalry to attack from the right flank. I will lead 100 heavy cavalry to provide support. Once you have disrupted the Liao army's formation, I will rescue General Shi."

"Remember not to fight too long, and focus on breaking up the enemy's formation!"

"promise!"

"The last general takes command!"

Zhang Jiangong was the captain of Li Yi's personal guards. He and Wang Shenqi responded together.

Immediately afterwards, two large groups of cavalry rushed down the hillside like a whirlwind, and soon split into two groups, rushing towards the left and right wings of the Liao army.

The Liao army had noticed Li Yi's cavalry long ago, but the enemy was besieging Shi Yanchao, and Li Yi and his men were on a high ground.

The Liao army did not take the initiative to attack, but instead took precautions in secret.

Seeing that Li Yi's cavalry had taken action, the Liao army immediately sent out a part of the cavalry, trying to intercept them halfway.

Li Yi stared at the situation on the field nervously, waiting for the right opportunity.

(End of this chapter)