Just as the Five Tigers of Northern Xinjiang such as Zhang Qi, Cao Da, and Youdou never thought that they would be defeated one day, King Li Mao of Yan also never thought that the mighty Yuyang Iron Cavalry under his command would one day be defeated by Jizhou soldiers. In the hands of the army he had always looked down upon.
Logically speaking, with the character of Yan King Li Mao who loves the military and warriors, to be honest, he will not feel contempt for the Jizhou Army, which can also be called a powerful force in the Zhou Dynasty. The reason is that the Jizhou Army is the earliest. It was an army attached to the former prince Li Wei. Of the Jizhou army with a full strength of 100,000 people, about 60,000 to 70,000 people had taken refuge with the former prince Li Wei. Who was the former prince Li Wei? That was Li Mao's fierce rival for the position of Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty!
In spite of his hatred, King Li Mao of Yan turned his hatred towards the former crown prince Li Mao on the Jizhou army. After all, the grievances between Li Mao and the two brothers Li Wei and Li Cheng had already started when the brothers were still in the capital. It was forged at that time. Although Li Wei and Li Cheng have passed away long ago, Li Mao still has no good impression of the Jizhou army. Even when he and Liang Qiuwu led the army to the northern expedition to drive out the Wairong in the north of the Great Zhou Dynasty, The Jizhou Army also provided great assistance.
"Report! - General Zhang Qi asks for an audience!"
Just when Yan King Li Mao was thinking about how to capture Jijing in one go in the military camp, an announcement suddenly came from outside the tent.
"Zhang Qi come in!" Li Mao said casually while looking at the sand table placed in the center of the handsome tent.
Immediately, the tent was raised and Zhang Qi walked in. He gritted his teeth when he saw Li Mao standing by the sand table simulating a battle. Suddenly he lifted his robe and fell to his knees.
Because he is wearing armor, so. When Zhang Qi knelt down, he could not help but make a squeaking sound, and it was this strange movement that woke up Yan King Li Mao who was deep in thought.
"Huh? Zhang Qi, what are you doing?" Looking back at Zhang Qi in surprise, King Yan Li Mao frowned and said. As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed the blood all over Zhang Qi's body.
"You told Ma Dan to run away?" Li Mao asked suspiciously. After all, he never thought that his Yuyang cavalry would one day be defeated by another cavalry. An army that was far inferior to his Yuyang cavalry in terms of equipment and training.
Hearing Li Mao¡¯s inquiry, Zhang Qi was silent for a moment, then suddenly hit his forehead and whispered, ¡°The general is guilty! Not only did he run away, but he also caused heavy casualties to his soldiers¡±
"Huh?" Li Mao couldn't help being surprised when he heard this, and put the wooden chess pieces in his hand that were used to represent the army on the sand table. He asked in confusion, "How many casualties are there?"
Zhang Qi gritted his teeth and replied bravely, "Five thousand riders died in battle"
"What?" Upon hearing this, King Yan Li Mao's eyes widened suddenly and he looked at Zhang Qi in disbelief.
You know, five thousand Yuyang cavalry. If this were on the grassland, it would be enough to wipe out a large tribe of ten thousand people.
"Is that Ma Danreally that powerful?!" King Yan Li Mao asked with a shocked look on his face.
Perhaps noticing the change in the tone of Li Mao's mouth, Zhang Qi felt cold sweat break out on his forehead. He forced himself to explain, "It's not Ma Dan. It's Fei Guo On the way to pursue Ma Dan, our army encountered Jizhou. Another branch of the army" He said. He then discussed with You Dou and Cao Da how to divide the troops into two groups during the pursuit of Ma Dan, how to encounter the 4,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry led by Fei Guo, and how they were finally defeated by Fei Guo. After telling Li Mao ten times, Li Mao's face turned gloomy and his eyes turned slightly, showing an unreadable expression.
"Fei Guo?" With his hands behind his back, Li Mao paced back and forth in the tent, frowning and murmuring, "Did Cao Da really lose to Fei Guo with just one move?"
"Reporting to your highness, according to Cao Da's soldiers, at that time he was focused on how to defeat the four thousand Jizhou cavalry led by Fei Guo. For a while, he did not notice that Fei Guo came to kill him single-handedly, so he was unable to attack him. However, according to reports Cao Da himself said that even if he was on guard, he would not be Fei Guo's enemy with five moves!" Out of pride, Zhang Qi did not reveal the fact that he was not Fei Guo's opponent at all, otherwise, Fei Guo would How could he not know what his strength is?
"Being able to defeat Cao Da with five moves is quite impressive for Fei Guo, but" The conversation changed. King Yan Li Mao glared at Zhang Qi angrily and scolded in a deep voice, "Twenty thousand Yuyang cavalry can't defeat eight thousand." Jizhou soldiers were defeated in the opponent's surprise attack, Zhang Qi, what do you want me to say to you?"
Zhang Qi was shocked when he heard this, his forehead was pressed against the ground beneath his feet, and his whole body was dripping with cold sweat. Without him, it was just because Yan King Li Mao was so forceful when he said these words that it made him feel a little breathless.
"Hmph!" Looking at the trembling Zhang Qi, King Yan Li Mao snorted loudly and scolded, "Since you have been following me for a long time and have worked hard for many years, I will press this matter for the time being.?¡Go down and reflect on it! "
"Thank you, Your Highness" Zhang Qi sighed secretly in his heart, and exited the tent with a look of shame on his face.
Glancing at Zhang Qi's leaving figure, King Yan Li Mao frowned tightly. Perhaps he still couldn't believe it until now. Twenty thousand Yuyang cavalry would be defeated by eight thousand Jizhou troops, and they lost a total of five soldiers. Qianqi.
[That Fei Guo is quite amazing]
Li Mao thought secretly in his heart.
According to Zhang Qi¡¯s dictation, Li Mao probably also understood what happened in that battle, and learned that Fei Guo had used some tricks to defeat Zhang Qi and Cao Da. Therefore, he didn¡¯t care much.
After all, of the 5,000 Yuyang cavalry lost by Zhang Qi and Cao Da, nearly 4,000 died in the initial spear formation of the Jizhou army, and they did not die at the hands of Jizhou soldiers, but died in the hands of Jizhou soldiers. After the horses fell down, they trampled each other to death. In other words, what Zhang Qi and Cao Da really lost was only a thousand horses.
On the other hand, Fei Guojun lost more than two thousand infantry and hundreds of cavalry that time. Calculated, the Northern Xinjiang side was not too badly defeated. It can only be said that Zhang Qi and Cao Da underestimated the will of Fei Guo and the infantry of the Jizhou Army under his command.
Thinking of this, Li Mao's heart suddenly calmed down, but after a few breaths, when he thought about it again, his face turned red with anger.
What a joke. How can the mere Jizhou soldiers and infantry be compared with our Yuyang cavalry? !
Because the anger in my heart cannot be vented. Li Mao didn't sleep all night.
Originally he was counting on Yudou to bring him some good news, but the next day, Li Mao saw Yudou who had returned to camp after defeating him.
"You Yuto, you"
Looking at Yu Dou¡¯s armor all over his body, Li Mao couldn¡¯t hide the horror in his heart and asked anxiously, ¡°Even you were defeated?¡±
Under the unbelievable gaze of King Yan Li Mao, Yudou lowered his proud head silently. He bit the bullet and said, "Liao Lin is very cunning, and his martial arts skills are quite good, so that the general accidentally fell into his trick and was ambushed"
"Tell me about it!" Li Mao asked with a frown.
So, Youdou told King Yan Li Mao everything he had experienced. Li Mao could only hear anger and resentment on his face.
You should know that after being severely taught a lesson by Liang Qiuwu, Youdou changed his initial arrogance and arrogance. As a foreigner, he studied the art of war of the Zhou Dynasty diligently, and now he is quite successful. Coupled with his extraordinary martial arts, Li Mao promoted him to deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as his deputy general to King Li Mao of Yan. It is hard to imagine that such a fierce general would be defeated by a two thousand Jizhou Army cavalry.
"It's not two thousand people, there are about seven or eight thousand" I don't know if he guessed what Li Mao was thinking. Yuto defended himself bravely.
"Okay!" Li Mao interrupted Yudou's words with a loud shout, and then took a deep breath. The guards outside the tent door shouted, "Call Zhang Qi, Cao Da, Le Xu, and Xiao Huo!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The soldiers outside the tent immediately responded.
Soon, Zhang Qi, Le Xu, Xiao Huo and Cao Da, who was all bandaged, came to the handsome tent. When they saw Yu Dou kneeling on the ground, their faces were obviously stunned.
Especially Zhang Qi and Cao Da looked at each other in disbelief, thinking no way. Could it be that even Yu Dou suffered a loss?
Seeing all the generals coming to the tent, King Yan Li Mao, who was quite angry, seemed to have noticed Yudou who was still kneeling on the ground. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, Yudou, you get up first!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!" After clasping his fists, Yudou stood up and returned to his queue, which was the first place on the left hand side of King Yan Li Mao.
After that, for dozens of breaths, the entire handsome tent fell into dead silence. Li Mao naturally glanced at the fierce generals under these tents. On the other hand, Youdou, Zhang Qi and others were looking at the ground under their feet, not even noticing. Don't dare to look up.
Finally, the silence in the tent was broken by a heavy hum from King Yan Li Mao.
"Look, look what you are doing these days?! A small Hebei capital cannot be conquered!"
"" Le Xu lowered his head with a red face.
"A formation of seventy or eighty thousand people was smashed to pieces by Ma Dan, who led a mere ten thousand cavalrymen, and was also tricked into spinning around"
"" The young general Xiao Huo shrank his head subconsciously, not daring to take a peek at Li Mao's face. After all, the idiot Li Mao mentioned who was fooled around by Ma Dan was undoubtedly him.
"Twenty thousand Yuyang cavalry were defeated by 4,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, a total of 8,000 Jizhou troops!"
"" Zhang Qi and ?Da Da lowered her head in unison.
"The same 20,000 Yuyang cavalry were fooled around by 2,000 Jizhou Jizhou, and finally ran into the opponent's ambush"
¡°¡¡± Yudou opened his mouth and was speechless.
"What do you want me to say to you?!" He slammed the table in front of him, smashing the entire table into pieces. King Yan Li Mao glanced at the five people who accompanied him on the grassland with his sharp eyes. The fierce general was angry and angry in his heart.
What makes him angry is that these generals who were highly valued by him actually suffered defeats one after another. Ji Jing could not be attacked and Jizhou soldiers could not defeat them. How could he, King Li Mao of Yan, achieve hegemony? !
What makes me angry is that Yudou, Zhang Qi and others are not incompetent. Think about how reliable these people were when they were on the grassland. In the most difficult time, he, Li Mao, Cao Da, Zhang Qi and later The betrayed Wu Heng, a few people started from a cavalry team with only a few hundred people, and step by step they reached what they are today. They can be called generals who share the joys and sorrows. Otherwise, they would have suffered such a defeat this time. According to Li Mao's temper has long pushed out the defeated generals and chopped them down.
During the time that lasted for half a stick of incense, King Li Mao of Yan cursed loudly in the tent. It was not that he had any prejudice against his generals, but that he hoped to use this curse to wake up these generals who had no idea what they were doing these days. .
From beginning to end. Yudou, Zhang Qi, Cao Da, and Le Xu bowed their heads in silence, silently enduring the anger from their lord. Only Xiao Huo secretly watched Li Mao's expression from time to time, scratching his head and secretly hoping that his lord would calm down soon.
And at this moment, a chuckle came from the entrance of the tent.
"Prince Mao, I think that Prince Mao hasn't hit the point yet! Even if he curses like this, I'm afraid the generals won't realize where they were defeated"
"What?" King Yan Li Mao subconsciously raised his head, wanting to see which bold guy dared to interrupt when he was scolding his generals. But when he looked up, he saw Chu You. This Anyi hero, known as the Common Sword God, was standing near the tent with his sword in his arms, looking at the defeated generals with a half-smile.
"Chu You, what do you mean by this?" Yu Dou glared at Chu You with a sullen face. You must know that his martial arts is on par with the sword god, so. Yuto was not afraid at all that this guy would attack him.
Seeing the angry expressions on the faces of You Dou and others, Chu You was stunned for a moment, then waved his hands and said, "Generals, please don't be angry. I am just discussing the matter. I have no intention of slandering you generals! - You generals are loyal to Prince Mao. I would like to help. The prince has achieved eternal hegemony, and I have also joined Prince Mao. You and I are colleagues, how can I say something to ridicule you?"
With Chu You¡¯s explanation, Yudou and the others suddenly looked much better. The complexion of King Yan Li Mao also improved a little, and he raised his hand and said. "Chu You, if you have any suggestions, let me hear them."
I saw Chu You, the commoner sword god, bowed to King Li Mao of Yan and said respectfully, "Your Highness, I'm sorry for eavesdropping. I think that the generals' repeated defeats this time are not due to their incompetence or fishing skills." The Yang Iron Cavalry is too weak. It should be said that the Yuyang Iron Cavalry is too strong"
"What are you talking nonsense about? Do you think we can't hear the irony in it?" The young and energetic Xiao Huo couldn't help but curse.
"Shut up!" After glaring at Xiao Huo fiercely, Li Mao frowned and looked at Chu You, puzzled and said, "Chu You, how do you say this?"
Hearing this, Chu You raised his right hand, stretched out three fingers, and said seriously, "The so-called tiger uses all its strength to fight a rabbit, and is as brave as a tiger. When hunting, it always uses all its strength, leaving no chance for the prey to escape or resist. However, these days, when you look at the fierce tiger of our northern Xinjiang army, it doesn't seem like this First of all, when Ma Dan led 10,000 Jizhou cavalry to provoke him, why was it that only General Xiao Huo led 10,000 cavalry to pursue him? At that time, the other 30,000 Yuyang cavalry were just waiting for orders, weren't they?"
"This" Touching his chin, Li Mao and the generals in the tent were speechless.
Shaking his head, Chu You said seriously, "If 40,000 Yuyang cavalry were dispatched at that time, even if Ma Dan was a famous general in Yanmen in the north, it would be difficult for him to do anything under the pursuit of 40,000 Yuyang cavalry, let alone He said that several wells of our army were destroyed"
"Does a tiger fight a rabbit with all his strength?" Li Mao had a dazed look on his face, as if he was recalling something from the past.
"Secondly, according to General Zhang Qi, when General Zhang Qi and General Cao Da saw Fei Guo's eight thousand soldiers, they immediately ordered an attackI am not good at commanding troops, but I can't help but ask, cavalry Isn't fighting about chasing and annihilating? Using tireless harassment to make the enemy upset, unable to retreat, unable to advance, and morale plummeting, then lead the entire army to attack? Why did Zhang Qi and Cao DaWhy didn't the two of them even do the most basic harassment and just kill them directly? ¡ª¡ªWithout him, the two generals did not try their best! "
"" Zhang Qi and Cao Da looked at each other, their expressions moved. After all, they were generals who had experienced hundreds of battles. With a little guidance from Chu You, they immediately understood.
"Thirdly, General Youdou, I don't understand. Why did the general subconsciously send two thousand Yuyang cavalry to cut off the rear when he saw that Liao Li only had two thousand cavalry? Although I am not familiar with military affairs, I also understand that if the general had left ten thousand cavalry at that time, How can Liao Li dare to be so presumptuous after his death?"
"This" Yudou opened his mouth and was speechless.
"To sum up, I think that although the generals suffered successive defeats, it is all because they did not use their full strengthincluding Prince Mao, you all underestimated the enemy! - Arrogant soldiers will be defeated!"
Chu You clasped his fists and said seriously.
Everyone in the tent was shocked when they heard this. King Yan Li Mao looked at Chu You with great energy and said in shock, "Excellent discussion! - Chu You, if it weren't for your words, I would have missed something important!"
Seeing Li Mao's words of praise, Chu You smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Your Highness is ridiculously complimentary What a noble comment, I just said a few words that everyone can understand. It's just that the onlookers are clear and the authorities are confused. Your Highness and you all Generals are all great heroes who have conquered the grasslands and are victorious in every battle, so they unconsciously think that the world's heroes are just that. This mentality is unacceptable"
"Hmm!" King Yan Li Mao nodded with a gloomy expression. In fact, he had already noticed this earlier. After all, if he had overestimated himself at the beginning, how could he not be able to capture Jijing, so that his northern Xinjiang army was blocked from advancing in Jijing?
Seeing this, Chu You said again, "General Liangqiu Wu is indeed a rare hero among women in the world, even worse than men. However, if His Highness feels contempt for General Liangqiu because he managed to trap him, , thinking that he can achieve hegemony effortlessly is a bit too underestimated of the heroes of the world! - His Highness Mingjian!"
"Well" Li Mao nodded and was about to speak when he suddenly heard an urgent message coming from outside the tent.
"Report! - Sixty miles south of the capital of Hebei, traces of a large group of people were found, suspected to be the main division of the Jizhou Army!"
"Xie An? You came so fast!" Xiaoxiao was startled. Li Mao narrowed his eyes, licked his lips and murmured, "Okay, just use Xie An's main force of the Jizhou Army to cleanse me." The humiliation that the Yuyang cavalry has suffered these days! - Send the order, and all the battalions in the army have a good rest. When the entire Jizhou army arrives, they will fight again! I want to kill Xie An in front of the defenders of Ji Jing City. The reinforcements that the imperial court placed its hopes on were completely defeated!"
On July 26, the fifth year of Jingzhi¡¯s reign in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the main division of the Jizhou Army that marched south finally, under the leadership of Xie An, triumphantly returned to Ji Jing.
By that day, Fei Guo, Ma Dan, and Liao Li from the partial division, as well as Xie An from the main division, and the Jizhou Army, totaling 80,000 troops, had all arrived in the capital.
This civil strife surrounding the capital and the throne of the Emperor of Zhou has truly begun.