Volume 5, Chapter 26: Surrounded by an Inescapable Trap (1/2)

Volume 5, Chapter 26: Surrounded by an Inescapable Trap

The night was cold as ice In a se in the wilderness of Jishi+, its inhabitants driven away long ago, only their eained a temporary e, a candle flickered and cast red light as the candlewick curled down The si A scholar in azure robes leaned against the bed frarant odor

Handing thein attendance, I heaved a heavy sigh and said, “Man’s schemes are inferior to those made by the Heavens¹ Who could have expected that the Northern Han generals would be so vicious? The rief and lamentation Xiaoshunzi, what happened afterward?”

Xiaoshunzi bowed his head and answered, “Long Tingfei was on his guard against a sudden attack fro Tingfei used catapults and archers to seal the valley entrance, blocking our troops Because of the narrowness of the valley, it was difficult for thee out before dying in the Northern Han army’s encirclement Everyone else perished in the inferno and their charred bones litter the wilderness Our army’s scouts were unable to ascertain General Xuan’s fate However, it may be assu”

Reaching this point and seeing the dis Zhe’s face, Xiaoshunzi consoled, “Youngmaster is not to bla wryly, I replied, “It isn’t that I a for trouble,² but rather because Xuan Song is a rare talent, capable of both offense and defense One good general is harder to co this rave defeat upon the Northern Han army, it will be a case in which neither side wins How can I not feel distress? Alas, although I had anticipated that the enemy would attack with fire, the conditions of the Qin River Valley would have made it difficult to do so with the sparse trees and the abundant flow of the river As a result, I did not call their attention to this But ould have expected that Long Tingfei would pour petroleum into the Qin River to serve as an accelerant for the flames? If General Su had not discovered this, our army would likely have been cofei is not ordinary”

Reaching the end, I beca several ti it, I drank aoing to deal with the subsequent situation?”

Glancing at the tough silk in his hand, Xiaoshunzi responded, “His Ihness, the Prince of Qi, has personally led his army to set an ambush at the mouth of the Qin River Valley On the second day of the fourth fei left Duan Wudi behind to garrison Qinyuan and personally led the Northern Han arh the valley to attack and was successfully ahness The power of the Northern Han ar for half a day, His Ihness retreated towards Anze On the third day of the fourth hness for infantry to confront the Northern Han army to earn a draw On the fourth day of the fourth hness reached the area north of Jishi+ and is currently checking the Northern Han army’s pursuit to allow the infantry to retreat to Zezhou The two arh the Northern Han arhness has also suffered greatly Tohness will have the entire areht flashed acrosstwo setbacks after their great victory, presuhtly”

Xiaoshunzi softly spoke, “Young master speaks the truth I’ve heard that the Northern Han arht quite viciously The two tihness, the Prince of Qi, was almost surrounded In the retreat this time, the enemy will not only pursue, they will do so without end Even if they pursue to Zezhou, they will not let our ar this, I clapped hness understands ant te defeated at Zezhou and having his orn down bythe triulory and confidence In spite of the nuhness, the Prince of Qi, has ravaged the enefei definitely won’t tolerate this His pursuit this time will be even more impossible to resist, but will fall precisely under my control However, were it not for the firhness, the Prince of Qi, indomitable in spite of the setbacks, who else could have been able to conment?”

At thissun is outside and requests an audience”

I tranquilly replied, “Invite hi off into the far distance This was the fei became suspicious and retreated, our army’s efforts would have been wasted At this erated effect the news of the Marquis of Chu’s serious illness had upon the Northern Han army This news had caused the upper levels of the Northern Han army to rush forward into the trap without any suspicions

Reaching out to gently caress the wet mane of his warhorse that had been soaked with sweat, Li Xian looked up to peer towards the rear The Northern Han ar up at the sky, he deter ene to rest for a while

The last several days had been exhausting The aftermath of his provocation was the ene army was about to reach Jishi+, and Zezhou’s border was only fifty li⁴ away, this fifty li was even , Li Xian could take a circuitous route Although he was outnumbered more than two to one by the ene ar as he was flexible and nimble, it would be impossible for the enemy army to successfully surround him However, over the next fifty allop If they continued to meander all over, if any traces were discovered, they would likely fall into a trap

Hurriedly feeding his warhorse, Li Xian caught sight of dust kicked up again fro his spirit, he stated, “We will return to Zezhou without stop There is no need to arrange any for, Li Xian whipped his horse and charged out

When Jing Chi learned of this order in the rearguard, he looked up at the scorching sun Pulling a long face,⁵ he said, “Let’s go Anyone who falls behind will be surrounded by the ene Chi had amply utilized the friction between the Prince of Qi’s and the Prince of Yong’s former subordinates to take turns to play the role of the attacking rearguard As a result, the charges were frequently without fear of death, ferocious to the extre thorny armor, it was often difficult for the eneuard The two commanders had overtly and covertly hinted to their subordinates that, since they had already been defeated, if they were outdone by their former rivals, then they would lose all face As a result, even though they had repeatedly suffered crushi+ng defeats, the ared upwards If the enemy had been ordinary and was not formidable, and didn’t have Daizhou’s support, the Northern Han army—half composed of new recruits—would probably have suffered a defeat However, even though this was the case, the nu ar arrived at the final stage of their flight and since Li Xian had issued such an order, the entire Yong arh habits fro army to remain in formation, their scattered formations extended as far as the eye could see,⁶ et, and also increased the difficulty of the ene ar Long Tingfei and Lin Bi showed sincere smiles The next fifty li was flat, open country⁷ If they did not pursue tightly, the Yong army would likely escape back to Zezhou However, the tere both experts at cavalry engagements and ell aware that this was the eneht allowed the fleeing army to not only increase its speed, but also ensured that the direction of their escape was unpredictable But once this order was given, the Yong army could only flee and lost any ability to counterattack If they wanted to annihilate the enemy, this was the final and also littered in Long Tingfei’s eyes as he said, “Sister Bi, the Daizhou warhorses are swift Personally lead the around to the front of the enemy I will lead the main ar in retreat, they have lost all ability to counterattack We can attain our goal as long as we detain the majority of the enemy army When the time comes, if the Prince of Qi tries to escape, we only need to pursue him and directly invade Zezhou at htly The entire Northern Han ar ar the wholesalear Anze and incinerating the Qin River, although the Northern Han aric town and a section of its territory The entire Northern Han arnation

On the second day of the fourth h the still burning valley, when they had assu arht in the face by the Prince of Qi The losses suffered were not few Afterwards, the repeated charges by the Prince of Qi and the roundabout provocations made the entire Northern Han army miserable The whole arain the lorious victory If they withdre, the common soldier would probably have many complaints and the officers would be discontent As a result, pursuit was the only and best option

Accepting the order, Lin Bi led the Daizhou ar to, heading swiftly towards Zezhou’s border at an angle Daizhou’s warhorses were excellent and all of their riders were skilled horse and Northern Han armies’ They were the most suitable interception and encirclement troops

At first, if it weren’t for the manner in which Li Xian had cleverly selected the battlefields and the Yong troops significantly outnuh the Daizhou ar ago been surrounded and wiped out if Lin Bi had wanted to not suffer heavy losses while annihilating the Yong arh this was the case, under the hooves of the Daizhou ar warriors were left behind The Daizhou cavalry was matchless in the world

Li Xian spurred his horse forward to gallop ht now, there was no need to preserve his horse’s stauards at Li Xian’s side all had brows knit They did not know if there were any rescue arrange in defeat from Qinyuan, their communication lines with the rear had been severed Li Xian was the only one kept inforht, the uncertain prospects caused theuard were located near the tail end of the fleeing Yong army He had three thousand elite horsemen under his command, their structure comparatively intact If the Northern Han ar Chi would launch a counterattack However, with the Northern Han ar Chi did not intend to graciously waste the strength of his troops As a result, no battle occurred between the Yong and Northern Han ar Chi’s side, a relatively unfaeneral named Dai Yue Last time, in the battle at the northern ainst Northern Han’s fierce general, Lu Shuhan Although Dai Yue had returned in defeat, his shrewdness and cleverness filled Jing Chi with appreciation As a result, he had retained Dai Yue by his side At thisChi naturally did not know that he had kept such a dangerous individual by his side

After experiencing the arduous trek, Li Xian kneas closing on the border with Zezhou He felt apprehensive, wondering where the relieving troops hile he focused on fleeing At thisback froood! The Daizhou ar to intercept!”

Li Xian reined in his horse in distress Who would have thought that the Daizhou cavalry would be so swift? Presu Yong troops to get ahead before cutting in He was already nearly with the vanguard of the Yong army and yet had still been intercepted by the Daizhou arht now, then wouldn’t the entire Yong arant hopes that he would be able to break through the Daizhou army’s blockade This was not the southern h to block the valley’s entrance to stop the Northern Han ar This was also not Anze where the roads weredown the quickness of the horses so that the speed discrepancy was practically eliminated Aside from Qinze, this open country was the ht on in the border area between Zezhou and Qinzhou

In his head, Li Xian secretly cursed Jiang Zhe, , if you haven’t prepared an ambush here, you can only come to collect my corpse This Prince does not yet have a Princess born of hter-in-law is not yet born If this Prince is to die here, I will curse your son to never be able to host

However, when he opened his ht Gather the ar” Finished speaking, Li Xian galloped forward, thinking, troops behind arrive, the Daizhou army will not freely attack There is no harm for me to meet Lin Bi and speak a few idle words to delay for a time

Lin Bi was at front of the just arrayed Daizhou army formation The entire army’s soldiers and horses were exhausted As a result, she had no interest in iin to retreat, Lin Bi did not order a pursuit After resting for soy recover, as she calmly waited for the decisive battle to arrive

At this ht of a troop of cavalry in red aruards, the Prince of Qi arrived Separated by over a hundred paces,⁸ guaranteeing that he could escape at any hness, the Princess of Jiaping, when you ca, did not think about the safety of Daizhou? If the barbarians come south, Daizhou will likely becoains will not make up for your losses”

Lin Bi’s face darkened, as she loudly replied, “Great Yong has invaded our territory, bathing the lands in blood throughpasses You are no better than the barbarians If Your Ihness is not detained, the Daizhou army will definitely not return home” Lin Bi’s voice was as clear andintent, it

In a sole such words? During these years, our two countries have constantly been at war When you invaded us, you would perform bloody massacres in Zezhou When we attack back, naturally ill have to kill in retaliation However, the Daizhou army has never participated in the war between our two countries and only ensure that these lands are not raided and pillaged by the barbarians Surely there is no need to get embroiled in this unbeneficial war, correct?”