We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

"Commander-in-Chief of the Right Army, Wang Sanchun, presents this to Your Majesty!"

"I was ordered to divide my troops and march southwards into Yanzhou. Initially, the process went smoothly. Officials from all counties and prefectures all submitted to my orders and dared not disobey..."

Li Che smiled. The letter was written in a very literary style, which was totally different from Wang Sanchun's style. It was obvious that someone else had written it.

He didn't care about these details and continued reading.

After dividing their troops, Wang Sanchun and Chen Pingzhi continued to move south into Yanzhou and began to reorganize and deploy defenses on the front line.

At the beginning, everything went smoothly. When the counties and prefectures of Yanzhou saw Fengqi, they were frightened and came to surrender one after another.

The situation did not change until the 150,000 troops assembled by the imperial court entered Yanzhou.

There were two people leading the army in the court. One was the old acquaintance, Zhai Yan, the commander of the Southern Army, and the other was Zheng Mao, who came from a noble family.

The situations of these two people are completely different. Although Zhai Yan's character is questionable, he is an extremely famous and capable general in the south.

Although Zheng Mao was born into the Zheng family, he had never been on the battlefield. At most, he was familiar with military books.

Logically speaking, even a fool would know which of these two people has better commanding ability and is more likely to bring victory.

However, the aristocratic family chose Zheng Mao as the main general and Zhai Yan as the deputy general.

Zhai Yan could not stand such humiliation, so he immediately led his Southern Army to break away from the main force and chose to split up with Zheng Mao.

His army was divided into two parts. Zhai Yan led the southern army with about 50,000 men, and Zheng Mao led the capital and the aristocratic family troops with about 100,000 men.

So, the two men divided their forces and attacked, and it happened that the Fengtian Army also had the left and right armies.

Zheng Mao faced Chen Pingzhi of the left army, while Zhai Yan faced Wang Sanchun of the right army.

Both sides were restrained at the beginning. Although Zheng Mao had only read military books, he was unexpectedly calm and did not seek fame and fortune or act rashly.

He ordered the front to be tightened and sent troops to garrison various frontline cities. He used the Ji River as the boundary between Chen and Wang, and only tested each other without launching a large-scale attack.

But when Zhai Yan sent out his troops, the situation began to change.

Zhai Yan knew very well that the reason why the Fengtian Army did not attack was that they must be planning something big, and the main force of the Fengtian Army might not be here.

If we do not send troops to defeat the Fengtian Army north of the Jishui River at this moment, I am afraid that this battle will become more and more difficult.

So, Zhai Yan did three things.

First thing's first, attack!

He quickly sent troops to attack Dingtao and other cities occupied by the Fengtian Army, concentrated the army's firearms, and ordered his personal guards to supervise the battle, and kill anyone who dared to retreat!

Of course, although Zhai Yan’s offensive was powerful, the Fengtian Army’s artillery was no pushover and they were driven back every time.

After fighting several siege battles, they failed to capture a single city.

The second thing is to conscript men!

The siege was unfavorable, so Zhai Yan turned the pressure into motivation to send more troops.

Where do the troops come from?

Of course, they come from surrounding counties and towns.

In just half a month, Zhai Yan captured tens of thousands of able-bodied men from the surrounding areas and forced them to rush to the front line.

The third thing is to expand the influence!

He sent people to the surrounding counties to publicize the legitimacy and strength of the imperial army and slander the Fengtian army for being cruel.

He also came up with a dirty trick, having his men wear Fengtian Army uniforms and armor, carry Fengtian Army flags, and plunder surrounding villages.

It seems that Zhai Yan is indeed something, and she put Wang Sanchun in a passive position for a while.

The Fengtian Army generals thought that Wang Sanchun would not be able to control himself, but they did not expect that he would actually endure it.

He just smiled and said to the generals: "This stupid general on the opposite side thinks that I am a fool and will fall for his provocation, but he doesn't know that this trick is just a trick left by His Majesty!

"The rebels are now scattered. Although our army is stronger, we are outnumbered. If we take the initiative to attack, we will inevitably be passive."

"Brothers, let's wait a little longer. I'm sure they'll reveal their true colors sooner or later!"

As expected, although Zhai Yan's three tricks were effective, they also had a fatal flaw.

That is, the consumption of food and grass is extremely high.

Whether it is the mobilization of troops or the conscription of a large number of able-bodied men, food and fodder must be consumed.

Although Zhai Yan pretended to be a Fengtian Army soldier and robbed a lot, it was far from enough.

Finally, Zhai Yan could not withstand the pressure anymore and gathered all his troops to march towards Dingtao City.

When Wang Sanchun heard this, he laughed out loud, "I thought Zhai Yan had some talent, but he's just a jack of all trades!"

"Alright! Then let's fight! We won't fight in the city. Gather all the troops and we'll engage them head-on!"

. . . . . .

Yanzhou, outside Dingtao City.

The fields were barren, the villages were burned down, the land had lost its former vitality, and only charred ruins remained.

The iron hoofs of war ruthlessly crushed this land, and all of this was mostly thanks to the army under Zhai Yan's command.

Zhai Yan rode on a tall horse and looked at Dingtao City in the distance.

Outside the city, tens of thousands of people were standing in formation, with flags flying.

At the front were heavily armored soldiers, in the middle were crossbowmen, and mortars were placed at the back.

The musketeers formed lines on the left and right flanks of the main formation.

Seeing this scene, Zhai Yan's face showed no fear, but a hint of bloodthirstiness.

"Wang Sanchun... Humph, a mere bandit, yet you dare to stand in my way!"

Zhai Yan spat with a look of disdain.

The reason why he dared to mobilize his entire army for a decisive battle was that he judged that the main force of the Fengtian Army must be tied down elsewhere. At this moment, the Fengtian Army in Yanzhou was only a detachment and its strength was far inferior to his own.

Otherwise, with Li Che's character, he would have crossed the Jishui River long ago.

He wanted to use his absolute military superiority to crush this Fengtian Army detachment!

As long as Wang Sanchun is defeated, the war situation in Yanzhou and even the entire Lu area will be reversed!

Zhai Yan drew his sword and shouted fiercely, "Order! The front troops advance! The supervisory team will follow behind. Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed immediately!"

Wuwuwu——

A desolate horn sounded.

The dark mass of the imperial army began to move forward.

At the front were the able-bodied men who were forcibly captured.

They were dressed in rags, looked pale and thin, and had only simple weapons and even farm tools in their hands.

With numb and terrified looks in their eyes, they were driven by the elite soldiers behind them with swords and guns, and rushed towards the Fengtian Army's line like a tide.

Behind these cannon fodder are the real elite Southern Army and firearms battalion under Zhai Yan's command.

The county magistrate and a group of surrendered Yanzhou officials who were standing on the top of Dingtao City watching the battle were so frightened when they saw this scene that their palms were covered in cold sweat.

The rebels swarmed in like a swarm of locusts, their numbers stretching as far as the eye could see.

"Wang... General Wang, can you hold on?" the county magistrate asked the Fengtian Army's remaining commander with a trembling voice.

The captain simply glanced at him coldly and replied, "Just watch."

At this moment, the vanguard of the rebels entered the preset distance.

boom! boom! boom!

Under the Dingtao city wall, the artillery positions set up in advance by the Fengtian Army spewed out thick smoke.

Dozens of heavy solid iron bullets and shrapnel shells whizzed through the sky and slammed into the advancing rebel formation.

In an instant, people and horses fell to the ground, and flames splashed everywhere!

The solid bullets plowed out bloody furrows, and wherever they passed, broken limbs and arms flew everywhere.

Shrapnel bombs explode in mid-air or on the ground, scattering fragments and taking lives.

Wang Sanchun, this idiot, doesn't care at all whether those men are willing or not. This is war...

He knew very well that what really killed them was not their own artillery, but the rebels who forcibly conscripted them!

The young men who were driven in front collapsed and fled backwards crying, but were immediately ruthlessly hacked to death by the swords and guns of the supervising team.

The battlefield instantly fell into chaos.

Zhai Yan's eyes twitched as he watched from behind. He didn't expect that the Fengtian Army's artillery had such a long range and such strong power.

But he was also a ruthless man, and he immediately ordered the follow-up elite troops to continue advancing and close the distance at all costs!

And ordered his own artillery to return fire.

Yes, the rebels also had artillery, but they were obviously inferior to the Fengtian Army in terms of range, accuracy and rate of fire.

The rebels paid a heavy price and finally entered the range of muskets with great difficulty.

The musketeers on both wings of the Fengtian Army's main formation had already formed a standard linear array.

With the officer's command: "Raise your guns! Fire!"

Bang bang bang bang bang——

White smoke rose in clouds, and dense lead bullets swept towards the enemy. The soldiers who had finished shooting quickly retreated to reload, and the second row of soldiers moved forward seamlessly.

This cycle repeated itself over and over again. The Fengtian Army's musket array was like a cold steel machine, firing continuously and without emotion, maintaining a continuous firepower output.

The rebel soldiers fell in droves like cut wheat.

Although there were musketeers among them, they were far from comparable to the Fengtian Army in terms of training, discipline and the quality of their weapons.

Their shooting was sporadic and unorganized, often falling into chaos after firing a shot. They seemed vulnerable to the Fengtian Army's efficient volleys.

Seeing this, Zhai Yan anxiously shouted: "Cavalry! Where are our cavalry?!"

However, before his cavalry could move out, the sound of thundering horse hooves suddenly came from the side and rear.

A Fengtian cavalry unit emerged from the smoke and dust on the flank of the battlefield like ghosts!

Musketeers!

They did not directly attack the rebels' tight formations, but like a circling pack of wolves, they maneuvered at high speed on the periphery, constantly looking for opportunities.

Then, in platoons, they launched round after round of volleys at the rebels' flanks.

Amidst the thick smoke, the Fengtian cavalry would fight and leave without stopping, making it impossible for the rebels to effectively counterattack.

Occasionally, a few scattered soldiers rushed over, but they were easily dealt with by their sabers.

The appearance of this cavalry became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

There were artillery pieces overhead, a solid infantry formation in front, and musketeer cavalry constantly harassing the flanks and rear.

The rebels, whose morale had already plummeted to the bottom, finally collapsed completely.

No matter how hard the supervising team hacked and killed, they could not stop the soldiers from throwing away their armor and weapons and fleeing madly.

The entire military structure was completely disrupted, and everyone regretted that their parents had not given them two more legs.

"We won!" On the top of Dingtao City, the officials watching the battle almost jumped up with excitement.

In the Fengtian Army's main camp, Wang Sanchun, who had been sitting firmly in the center, finally stood up.

A cruel smile appeared on the ugly face:

"Brothers, the rebels have been defeated!"

"Kill him with my sword!"

After saying that, he brandished the long sword in his hand and rushed out first.

The Fengtian Army infantry phalanx, which had been accumulating for a long time, was like a tiger that had finally loosened its reins, launching an all-out charge towards the enemy army that had fallen into complete chaos!