Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 807 - 666: Dominating Vast Lands Like a Tiger

Chapter 807: Chapter 666: Dominating Vast Lands Like a Tiger

With the aid of Yu Hongchang’s Red Thunder Chariot, Li Xuan and two others took merely two hours to reach the airspace above Xuanfu Town after the court meeting had ended.

Li Xuan did not delay at all and directly entered the General’s Mansion of Xuanfu Town with Shaofu Yu Jie.

The former left Dudu, Zhu Guoneng, went in another direction to contact his old subordinates in Xuanfu Town.

The Court had already granted him the title of General Zhenshuo, which gave him the nominal command of ’Du Du of Jin and Datong troops,’ effectively controlling the military forces of both Xuanfu and Datong.

However, the actual person in charge of the operations was still County Prince Fenyang, Li Xuan. The Court was merely relying on his strength to regain control of the important town of Xuanfu.

When Li Xuan arrived at the General’s Mansion of Xuanfu, he found that Zongbing Fang Ying was self-serving drinks in a pavilion.

This man was about thirty years old with a square, commanding face, and a demeanor as steady as a mountain and as fierce as a tiger.

Upon seeing Li Xuan and Shaofu Yu Jie arrive, a hint of surprise flashed across his tiger-like eyes before he regained his composure, stood up without any expression, and bowed, "I, the humble General Fang Ying, greet County Prince Fenyang and Shaofu Yu."

Li Xuan entered the pavilion, picked up an unopened jar of wine, and broke the seal with a chuckle, "Fifty-year-old ’Zhuye Qing,’ General, you really do have leisure time. The Meng Wu troops are invading and yet you find time to drink wine and admire the flowers here?"

Fang Ying first laughed at himself upon hearing this, then said with a proud expression, "Over two hundred thousand troops are within my grasp here in Xuanfu, perfectly positioned. With my arrangement, Tuotuobuhua won’t be able to cross the line between Shaling and Ningyuan Fortress within three days.

And I reckon that within the next day or two, the Court will surely send someone to replace me in commanding Xuanfu."

As he spoke, Fang Ying casually placed the stamped letters in front of him on the stone table, "Fang, myself, currently sees no harm in enjoying a small drink in the backyard, can I not?"

"You still harbor resentment," Li Xuan snorted coldly, "I ask you, Jianguo Princess ordered you to lead troops to support the king, why did you hesitate?"

Fang Ying calmly responded, "First, I was unaware of the nature of the rebellion in the Capital City; second, I couldn’t verify the authenticity of the Princess’s orders; third, having taken control of Xuanfu only a month ago, I had not yet won the soldiers’ hearts; fourth, although Yexian, the Khan of Shiwei, was defeated at Niujia Fort, Tuotuobuhua’s Datan forces remained undamaged and frequently stirred trouble, hence I dared not act recklessly."

Li Xuan shook his head, his words laced with sarcasm, "Besides these reasons, perhaps there are other thoughts in your mind. You think the Li Emperor has already secured his victory. Commanding troops in support of the king would only make the situation more complex, thrust Jin into civil unrest, affecting your revenge for Lu River?"

Fang Ying’s father had died in battle at Lu River decades ago, and this distinguished general from the south had always harbored thoughts of revenge.

Fang Ying’s pupils slightly contracted, and he bowed in panic, "How could I harbor such terribly rebellious thoughts?"

But inside his heart, the turmoil was unable to calm for a long time. Li Xuan had voiced the most secretive thoughts in his heart.

The evening before the palace coup in the Capital City, the country’s brother-in-law, Sun Jizong had also contacted him.

Although Fang Ying did not participate, he was certain that Zhengtong Emperor had a ninety percent chance of winning.

Contrary to Fang Ying’s expectations, he had not anticipated that Li Xuan could break Shulv Ping’s army of seven hundred thousand demons in a single day, nor that after returning troops overnight, he would then achieve a resounding victory against Liang Heng at Chaobai River, achieving two consecutive victories and directly reversing the situation in the Capital City.

This had put him, Fang Ying, in an extremely awkward and embarrassing position.

"Really?" Li Xuan spoke leisurely, "You might lack the thoughts of vast treachery, but the charge of disrespecting the sovereign seems quite fitting."

He then, without waiting for the sweat-drenched Fang Ying to respond, asked sharply, "I want you to immediately go to the left guard of Wanquan and Baoan left and right guard to take control of the military power there. Can you do it?"

The command of a Jin military Zhihuishi Division typically ranges from three to six thousand men. However, the four guards mentioned by Li Xuan were large establishments, with a total force of forty-nine thousand men, including ten thousand cavalry and many strong fortresses.

Upon hearing this, Fang Ying was stunned, wondering to himself if Li Xuan really still dared to use him.

Without hesitation, he clasped his fists and said, "The loyalty of the military in Wanquan left and right guard and Baoan left and right guard remains with the Court. The generals of the four guards neglecting the Meng Wu invasion is a huge blow to morale. Once I arrive, I can take their military power in a snap of the fingers!"

Li Xuan nodded slightly, then with a flick of his sleeve, he rolled out a map of the terrain around Xuanfu on the stone table.

"After seizing the military forces of these four guards, I want you to threaten the Meng Wu from the flank while gathering the cavalry of the four guards to strike directly at this place."

Li Xuan pointed at the map, "Beyond the Great Wall, along the Qingshui River! The four guards’ neglect in facing the Meng Wu invasion has allowed Tuotuobuhua to advance unstoppable, but this also exposes his vulnerability to us. According to the Xiuyiwei reports, over three million sheep used for military provisions by the Meng Wu are all located here.

I want you to set out for this place by the Hour of Wu tomorrow. Rest assured, apart from the ten thousand cavalry under your command, I will also send Fan Guang, the Deputy Zongbing of Huailai, to lead fifteen thousand cavalry from the Longmen fort out of the Great Wall to the Qingshui River, coordinating with you from a distance."

"Hold on," Shaofu Yu Jie, sitting opposite, slightly raised his eyebrow, "Why take such a rash action? The defensive line established by Zongbing Zhu is very stable, and the military use by General Fang is appropriate. We have no issue holding the line at Xuanfu."

"The issue is that we are running out of funds and supplies, we don’t have the time, nor can we sit by while the Meng Wu loot Xuanfu."

Li Xuan looked calmly at Yu Jie, "Only by quickly breaking Tuotuobuhua can the Court focus on domestic affairs."

By "domestic affairs," he naturally meant Prince Yi, Prince Xiang, and Prince Ning.

Shaofu Yu Jie still disagreed, "If you’re thinking of cutting off their provisions, that might be overly optimistic. Tuotuobuhua is guarding the Qingshui River line with seventy thousand cavalry. This is hardly a vulnerability. Just the cavalry of the Wanquan four guards and the fifteen thousand led by Fan Guang are far from enough."

Li Xuan smiled slightly and casually placed a small ship and a wooden carving of a cannon on the map, "What about adding these two items?"

Shaofu Yu Jie’s pupils instantly lit up, "Has that ship been repaired? When did this happen?"

"It’s not fully repaired, but it can barely be used now." Li Xuan turned to look at Fang Ying while tossing back the stamped letters on the table: "General Fang, do you have any more questions? If not, please proceed as soon as possible."

Fang Ying immediately caught the stamped letters and bowed, "This subordinate follows the command!"

Without any hesitation, he flew up into the air, heading directly toward the left guard of Wanquan in the east.

At this moment, Shaofu Yu Jie, with a curious look, watched Li Xuan: "Are you planning to rely heavily on him? Can you rest assured?"

Li Xuan’s expression remained noncommittal: "Since the Xuan Emperor’s time, the heavenly-level generals of The Court have been dwindling. Now in the court, only a handful of famous generals remain. Fang Ying is one of the best among them; it would be a pity to discard him.

Especially since this man is deeply familiar with the military situations in Lu River and Southern Yue and knows the terrain like the back of his hand. If The Court wishes to use troops in the southwest in the future, he would be the preferred choice. In any case, use him but also guard against him. His heart is set on avenging his father, and now only The Court can fulfill his wish."

Shaofu Yu Jie immediately understood Li Xuan’s intent; as long as the general trend of the world remains in The Court’s favor, there is no worry about Fang Ying’s betrayal.

This man would even go all out to help The Court quell the rebellion, allowing The Court to concentrate on pacifying Lu River.

※※※※

To the west of Xuanfu, ten miles west of Ningyuan Fortress, Tuotuobuhua stood full of ambition and lofty aspirations, gazing into the distance at the fortified fortress ahead.

By now, his grand army had been stopped in front of this stone fortress for about a day.

The fortresses of the Jin people are troublesome indeed, not just because the walls are strong and hard to breach, but also because they are defended by powerful Arrays.

In the city, as long as there are about twenty to thirty thousand troops and a few generals from The Fourth Gate stationed, they can leverage the force of ten thousand armies and achieve several heavenly-level combat powers.

The various cannons and fire guns deployed on the city walls were especially feared by them.

If it were only so, Tuotuobuhua would not have regarded a mere ’Ningyuan Fortress’ so highly.

But ahead of this powerful fortress, there were a dozen more such as Yangfang Fort and Shaling Fort, all surrounding Xuanfu City. These were less than ten miles apart from each other, forming mutually supportive angles.

However, Tuotuobuhua was not concerned because he had no immediate plans to force an attack on this strong fortress.

His purpose in heading south this time was to raid, not occupy Jin lands.

Whether it was because of a royal dispute among the Jin people, this time the left and right guards of Wanquan avoided battle, clearing the fortresses along the route and watching idly as his grand army marched beneath Xuanfu City.

This also meant the Jin people were not able to fortify and clear the fields in time, resulting in large numbers of civilians and herders scattered outdoors.

This excited Tuotuobuhua tremendously; he anticipated that this invasion would bring great gains.

At this time, his grand army was scattered across the countryside, wildly looting the ironware, grain, cattle, sheep, gold, and silver needed by Datan, among other things.

They could even capture young and strong Jin people to serve as slave herders on the plains.

However, just as Tuotuobuhua was enjoying the spectacle of twenty Red General Cannons and numerous flanged cannons he had looted from Central Plains bombarding the walls of ’Ningyuan Fortress,’

a black eagle descended from the sky and transformed into human form in front of Tuotuobuhua.

"Khan! A Jin army of ninety thousand troops has already marched north from Huailai to Xuanfu, and many Weisuo Institutes on the southeast side of Xuanfu are also gathering troops, moving along the line toward ’Ningyuan Fortress.’

With slight hesitation, the black-clad man said in a steady voice: "It seems that the Jin people intend to have a decisive battle with our army along the ’Ningyuan Fortress’ line."

"A decisive battle?" Tuotuobuhua’s eyes shone: "At this time, the entire Xuanfu along with Huailai counts no more than a few hundred thousand troops; they actually have the courage to do this?"

"It likely has to do with Li Xuan, the County Prince of Fenyang, and Shaofu Yu Jie from Jin."

The man in black spoke with uncertainty: "There is a rumor that these two along with Zongbing Zhu from former Xuanfu have already marched north to Xuanfu. Because they have not brought any troops or followers, I have not yet confirmed this."

"So, you’re saying they’ve come all alone?"

After hearing this, Tuotuobuhua not only was unworried but laughed: "Interesting, do the Jin people think with these three heavenly figures, they can defeat my grand army below the walls of Xuanfu City?"

He then swung his horsewhip, exuding the might of a tiger that swallows thousands of miles: "Issue orders to all groups, have them recall their boys; since the Jin people want a battle, then I shall give them one right here!"

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