LF Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Feinting East, Attacking West

The Prince of Yun’an’s brief meeting with Jiang Yinghua lasted half a day, discussing subsequent arrangements. During this half-day, the final ten thousand soldiers of the Imperial Guards, arriving in batches, had also reached their destination.

Jiang Yinghua, seeing that the time was right, immediately ordered four thousand troops to Fanyang. After a short rest, she reorganized the fifteen thousand troops in her hands, preparing to fight against the Jiedushi’s army within the state.

During the respite, a secret agent reported that there was another force confronting the rebel army on the eastern side of the state, seemingly a local garrison based on their military flags.

Yan Wanzhi had become a military advisor before the battle. Although worried about Jiang Yinghua’s safety, she was simply unable to split herself.

The intelligence network within the two states was paralyzed due to the war. She couldn’t think of a good way to inform Jiang Yinghua for the time being. Most importantly, the rebel army currently held the advantage. Her scouts and reconnaissance soldiers had tried several times but could not break through the blockade. She didn’t even know Jiang Yinghua’s specific location.

Instead, the sentries that Jiang Yinghua had set up in advance noticed the anomaly on the eastern front and reported the situation first.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yinghua unhesitatingly informed all the soldiers of the news. The Imperial Guards veterans, who had been fighting hard for days, were greatly encouraged, as if they could immediately wipe out the bandits and avenge their fallen brothers.

Since there were reinforcements attacking and defending on the eastern route, it would take Jiang Yinghua a long time to rendezvous with them from her current location. She pondered over the sand table, wondering how Qiao An would have arranged the battle.

Jiang Yinghua recalled Qiao An’s past guidance and teachings, and her eyes lit up with a plan.

She would lead these fifteen thousand troops northward along the western line, recovering the cities captured by the rebel army along the way, incorporating the scattered local forces everywhere, and then directly attack the defenseless bandit nest, the Jiedushi’s mansion, cutting off their retreat from the rear.

After nearly a month of fighting fiercely, Jiang Yinghua lost more than three thousand soldiers. Fortunately, most of the cities on the western line had been recovered. The people were grateful, and strong men willing to join the army followed all the way.

Jiang Yinghua instructed the local officials to reorganize the remnants and defend them strictly, personally supervising the deployments everywhere, incorporating the remaining soldiers, and then advancing further north.

Along the way, the total number of the team increased rather than decreased, exceeding twenty thousand people. Coincidentally, Yan Wanzhi broke through to the north on the eastern front. After breaking through the rebel blockade, she learned of Jiang Yinghua’s whereabouts. Yan Wanzhi, learning that she was safe and sound, sent a letter, wanting to bring reinforcements to meet her.

Jiang Yinghua was deeply surprised to receive Yan Wanzhi’s letter. She had never expected that the coalition forces of several states were brought by this weak-looking little official from the capital. She was both surprised and delighted, and her goodwill towards Yan Wanzhi deepened several levels unconsciously.

The war situation within the state was stable, and the route for transmitting news was once again clear. Your Majesty’s secret letter arrived late, confirming Yan Wanzhi’s message.

Roughly calculated, the two of them had about fifty thousand troops.

Now, within the borders of the two states, the only thing that needed to be dealt with was the Jiedushi’s old nest, the Shuofang camp. According to the news reported by the scouts, the garrison there was at most thirty thousand. The number advertised to the outside world was just a trick to confuse people. The main force had already fought with the Fanyang garrison in one place, with a tendency to swallow Fanyang.

The battle on the Fanyang front was tight, and the two sides were fighting to the death. The Prince of Yun’an mentioned in his military report that the Jiedushi’s soldiers were experienced, and the imperial army was struggling to cope, the situation was not optimistic, and preparations should be made for a prolonged confrontation.

From Your Majesty’s secret letter, Jiang Yinghua had already learned that the southern front of the imperial court had also sent troops. Military supplies and food were not easy to raise, and if it dragged on for a long time, there would always be more changes. If the military supply in the chaos had a mistake, I am afraid that there would be no hope of winning.

The most important thing right now is to cut off the Jiedushi’s retreat.

After planning this way, Jiang Yinghua wrote to Yan Wanzhi, ordering her to separate fifteen thousand troops to meet her, and ordering the remaining troops to personally lead them to Fanyang to meet the Prince of Yun’an.

Yan Wanzhi, upon hearing the news, responded quickly. Three days later, the fifteen thousand troops had arrived at the location designated by Jiang Yinghua.

Jiang Yinghua, seeing that the time was ripe, and after figuring out the general deployment of the Jiedushi’s garrison, Jiang Yinghua led her troops straight into the hinterland, dividing them into two groups, attacking from the left and right, and after three days of bloody battles, captured the Jiedushi’s old nest.

This should be the most enjoyable battle for the army to go north. Jiang Yinghua personally went to the battlefield, waving her sword in front of the battle, leading all the soldiers to fight with bloodshot eyes.

However, although the Imperial Guards won, the casualties were also the most in previous battles. These Jiedushi soldiers, who had been fighting with the barbarians for a long time, were not to be underestimated, and it was really difficult to deal with them.

Thinking of the Jiedushi’s sinister methods, Jiang Yinghua, after occupying the bandit’s nest, immediately sent troops to break through the Jiedushi’s official residence, captured all the family members in the mansion who had not had time to escape, sent the old and young to the Fanyang front under escort by soldiers, and slaughtered the rest.

According to common sense in using troops, once the old nest is found to be attacked, the Jiedushi will definitely return to rescue, so the siege of Fanyang may be able to get a respite. Moreover, because the returning troops will be exhausted on the way back and forth, if an ambush can be set up in the middle, then the Jiedushi’s returning troops will definitely be restrained and defeated.

Jiang Yinghua currently has a full fifty thousand troops in her hands, including the reinforcements sent by Yan Wanzhi, the surrendered soldiers she captured, and the militia who came spontaneously.

The soldiers under her command didn’t have time to rest, reorganize the army, and count the supplies. Jiang Yinghua freed her hands to plan with several junior generals the best ambush position they should set if the Jiedushi returned.

At the same time, Jiang Yinghua released the news, saying that the army would immediately march east, and attack the rebel army from both sides with the Fanyang garrison, encircling and annihilating the rebel army.

When the Jiedushi sent troops, he used bandits to contain Jiang Yinghua’s main force on the southern side, and quietly attacked Fanyang from the northern line. At this time, Jiang Yinghua claimed to march from the eastern route. Regardless of whether it was true or false, the Jiedushi probably wouldn’t dare to meet the enemy head-on when returning, and would always choose the southern or northern line to detour back.

Therefore, after surveying the surrounding terrain and previous troop deployments, Jiang Yinghua decided to deploy 30,000 troops on the northern line to set up an ambush and block. She appointed a lieutenant general to lead ten thousand troops to garrison the bandit’s nest, in case of emergency. She herself led the remaining ten thousand troops to set up camp on the southern wing, and by the way, settle an old score and clean up the scourge of the state.

The two suspiciously suspicious prefects were arrested by Jiang Yinghua when they were thrown down by the bandits. Due to the war, Jiang Yinghua had no opportunity to interrogate them.

And these two people, as the main officials of the state, if they really colluded with the Jiedushi to plan a rebellion and fatten the bandits, then they would be the most dangerous tumors and must be eradicated as soon as possible.

Jiang Yinghua, who was stationed in the southern wing, directed her troops to settle the people who were attacked by the war, while investigating the evidence of collusion between the officials of the two states and the Jiedushi.

These two people were very stubborn, only admitting that they were incompetent, made misjudgments in the early stage, underestimated the strength of the bandits, and later missed the opportunity, unable to resist the rebel army. They tried their best to argue that they were at most guilty of dereliction of duty.

Jiang Yinghua ordered the main officials of the state to be brought up for trial, and searched all the documents kept in the two prefectures. This tossing actually found that a large number of state documents were burned, and the officials in charge of the documents only said that they were accidentally scattered due to water during the war.

After dragging on for three days, only a small servant in charge of serving tea and water in the government office mentioned by chance that the chief secretary, who was most relied on by the prefect in the past, seemed to have some friendship with a deputy general of the Jiedushi. He had seen people come and go, and every time, he would be driven out, but he didn’t know what they were talking about.

After the subordinate reported this matter to Jiang Yinghua, Jiang Yinghua was about to bring someone up for personal trial, but the boy died strangely in prison.

After a series of investigations, there was still insufficient evidence to convict them in the imperial court. After all, they were local dignitaries, and it was not easy to deal with them on the surface. Just when Jiang Yinghua was at a loss, her subordinate sent Yan Wanzhi’s autograph letter:

“I heard Your Majesty’s decree that Your Highness should return to the capital and not go to Fanyang. The deputy general in charge of military deployment should take over with me. I also heard that the Imperial Guards are advancing eastward, and the rebel army has a tendency to divide its forces. Please be vigilant and go south as soon as possible.”

Jiang Yinghua put away the letter, turned around and threw it into the stove, her eyes flickering, erratic.

The matter here is not over, and Your Majesty is urging her to return to the capital. Jiang Yinghua knew very well that Your Majesty was worried that she would be dealing with a strong enemy for the first time, but it was obvious that Jiang Yinghua had bet right. No matter how skilled the Jiedushi was, he was still flustered and wanted to return to his old nest. She was not willing to give up halfway and return so sullenly.

What’s more, if the Jiedushi dared to come back, there must be something he cared about in the state, or an early plan. The details of these two Mixed prefects have not been found out yet, how dare Jiang Yinghua leave with peace of mind. If there are spies hidden among the main officials of the state, then the peace of the two states will not be maintained for a few days.

The next day, Jiang Yinghua personally interrogated all the officials in the state, from the chief secretary to the military advisor, and the tone of the superiors and subordinates was surprisingly similar. This small state has already colluded together.

Jiang Yinghua couldn’t swallow this breath in her heart. After confiscating the homes of the important officials, she still gained nothing. Jiang Yinghua’s killing intent suddenly arose.

That night, she ordered her close followers to lead a group of people disguised as bandits, turning the homes of several important officials in the state who were involved in the case and had enough power to cause trouble into a fake image of being harassed by scattered bandits after the war, setting fire to their homes and destroying the corpses and traces.

Rather kill by mistake than let go, Jiang Yinghua was so cruel in the face of national crisis, also learning from her elder sister’s style of handling things.

After hastily dealing with the mess in the state, Jiang Yinghua requested the imperial court to send alternate officials to take office here, but she stubbornly refused to return, and inquired about the movements of the Jiedushi’s army, vowing to fight to the death.

Little did she know that spies from the Secret Service had been buried around Jiang Yinghua long ago, reporting her actions of disobeying the emperor’s orders, insisting on fighting the enemy, and even using private torture and secretly killing people to Yan Wanzhi.

The Jiedushi is a cunning old fox, and his use of troops is the most unpredictable.

The news Jiang Yinghua received has always been that the troops secretly advanced to the northern line and went straight to the old nest. Her scouts responded like this, and the movements from the Fanyang military report were also like this.

Just as Jiang Yinghua wanted to lead her ten thousand troops to the northern line to join the ambush, an unexpected thing happened.

That day at midnight, Jiang Yinghua was leading her troops on the way to the northern line when the sentry suddenly reported that fifty miles east of the state garrison on the southern wing seemed to be the main force of the rebel army returning.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yinghua’s head “boomed”. There must be an internal spy in the state, otherwise, who would have torn open the gap in the deployment? How could the Jiedushi have quietly sneaked to the southern line?

Fifty miles, how fast is a rapid march? Jiang Yinghua immediately ordered to retreat to the pass outside the city twenty miles away to hide and prepare for battle, and ordered a team of men to go to the Jiedushi’s garrison to quickly move reinforcements.

Yan Wanzhi, who was far away in Fanyang, after receiving the report from the secret agent, had no time to think about why Jiang Yinghua acted so erratically. Her intuition reminded her that Jiang Yinghua stubbornly refused to obey the order to return to the capital, and there must be a dangerous situation within the two states that she couldn’t bear to let go. Thinking that the Jiedushi intended to return to the bandit’s nest, Yan Wanzhi was really worried about Jiang Yinghua’s safety.

Therefore, she did not dare to delay, and according to the location in the secret report, she asked the Prince of Yun’an for permission, and took her team of soldiers, without stopping, to Jiang Yinghua’s garrison, wanting to meet her and personally persuade her to return to the capital.

At dawn, the sky in the east was fish-belly white. Yan Wanzhi arrived at Jiang Yinghua’s original garrison with reinforcements, but was told by the garrison that Jiang Yinghua had already pulled out her camp and gone north the evening before.

On the way of the rapid march, Yan Wanzhi had already noticed the clues that the Jiedushi’s army had passed by in the middle. Hearing this, she panicked in her heart, and hurriedly turned her horse’s head, not daring to slack off for a moment, and went straight north.

Two hours later, in front of a pass that had been dilapidated due to several wars, two groups of soldiers were fighting fiercely. From the numerous corpses laid out on the ground and the strong bloody smell permeated in the air, one could see the tragic nature of this battle.

From afar, Yan Wanzhi caught a glimpse of a girl in red clothes and silver armor, covered in blood, riding on a tall horse and wielding a sword in the midst of the chaotic army.

“Damn it!” Yan Wanzhi secretly said that something was wrong, turned her head and ordered the general leading the troops: “Quick, kill them, Your Highness is in danger.”

The general hurriedly ordered the soldiers to form a formation and accelerated to rush into the chaotic army. In a short while, when he looked back, Yan Wanzhi’s shadow was gone.

Jiang Yinghua had been holding on for nearly three hours. The enemy had a large number of troops and a strong momentum, and the pass she was guarding was dilapidated. She had to personally charge into battle to boost morale, hoping to hold on until the reinforcements came.

Jiang Yinghua was already injured and only one step away from exhaustion. Thanks to Yan Wanzhi’s soft armor, otherwise she would not have the strength to swing her sword at this moment.

The girl who was fighting with bloodshot eyes was now only stubbornly following the memory of her muscles, frantically cutting her butcher knife towards the chaotic army surrounding her, and her reaction was no longer agile.

The enemy launched another wave of arrow attacks. Jiang Yinghua’s eyes were chaotic, and she was haphazardly blocking the arrows shot at her.

In an instant, a black shadow flashed in front of Jiang Yinghua, like a wolf pouncing from the air. Jiang Yinghua hadn’t reacted to what happened when she was knocked off her horse by a downward inertia and fell heavily to the ground.

Immediately after, she heard a scream of pain.

Jiang Yinghua opened her surprised eyes wide and took a closer look. The person who was pressing on her like a boulder and making her unable to breathe was actually Yan Wanzhi!

Not caring where this person came from, being in the battlefield, her first reaction when she came back to her senses was to push the person away and quickly grab the weapon beside her.

Just as she intended to reach out her hand, she suddenly realized that an arrow was inserted in Yan Wanzhi’s back. This person’s face was incomparably pale because of the pain, with cold sweat dripping down, and her facial features were twisted into a ball, but she was looking at herself with worry in her eyes, but she couldn’t speak.

“You, you’ve been shot by an arrow.” Jiang Yinghua was shocked. How did this fool who couldn’t even do martial arts summon the courage to fly over and boldly block the arrow for herself?

Yan Wanzhi endured the pain and opened her mouth in a muffled voice: “You, it’s good that you’re okay…”

Turning her head away, Jiang Yinghua’s afterglow glanced at the reinforcements that had already rushed up beside her, and reluctantly pulled out a smile, “Thank you. Can you move? I’ll take you away.”

Yan Wanzhi nodded with a frown upon hearing this. Jiang Yinghua raised her hand to touch a long knife and unhesitatingly slashed towards Yan Wanzhi’s back. Yan Wanzhi trembled with fright from the cold light and closed her eyes unconsciously.

Jiang Yinghua cut off the arrow behind him with one slash, leaving only a short section to facilitate carrying people away.

Jiang Yinghua turned over and got up, reached out and pulled the person up from the ground, holding a blood-stained long knife in one hand, and tightly holding Yan Wanzhi’s slender wrist in the other, protecting the person behind her: “Fool, follow me closely and hide well.”

After fighting and dodging all the way, Jiang Yinghua found her frightened war horse. The war horse was intelligent and ran over proactively when it saw its owner. Jiang Yinghua pulled Yan Wanzhi up onto the horse and left the battlefield to the north under the cover of her close followers, intending to retreat into the city, but ran into the lieutenant general who came with reinforcements.

After entrusting the lieutenant general to join forces with the local army to fight, Jiang Yinghua left on her own. Both her own injuries and Yan Wanzhi’s injuries were not suitable for staying on the battlefield any longer. Galloping to the nearest city to find a place to stay was the top priority.