"Whoosh!" An arrow flew out, and a Xia Army lieutenant general with superb riding skills managed to avoid it after a narrow escape.
Just as he got up from Mashan, another arrow flew towards him, hitting his throat. He screamed and fell off his horse.
There was no trace of joy on Li Keyong's face.
He shot again and again, with almost no arrows missing, killing several people in a row.
The Xia army on the opposite side did not show any weakness, and the arrow rain came quickly and urgently. Li Keyong's personal soldiers held large shields and protected them tightly.
But in the end, an arrow flew forward.
In the midst of the lightning and flint, Li Keyong threw himself on the horse's back to avoid it. Then without getting up, he held the bow in both hands and shot directly from his stomach, knocking off the Xia soldiers who were sneaking up on him.
Shooting galloping, sideways, lying down, from behind, and shooting from the left and right, Li Keyong was as straight as a god of war, killing countless enemies, many of whom were high-value officers.
But as he kept fighting, he found that there were fewer and fewer soldiers around him, and he was killed without knowing when.
After cursing secretly, he performed a look back at the moon, fired two arrows in a row, killed one person, and then shouted a greeting to retreat.
The Jin army was well-trained and quickly broke away from contact and withdrew like a gust of wind.
Xia Jun also reined in his horse. Everyone looked at me and I looked at you. They were still frightened and did not pursue.
The Jin army withdrew several miles away and stopped.
Li Ke frowned. He was getting older and his physical strength was not as good as before. Twenty years ago, there was no battle he could not defeat with his men.
By a small river not far away, the last carriage also crossed the river.
The car was loaded with all kinds of goods, and the escorting sergeant was beaming with joy and couldn't help but hurry on.
"That's all." Li Keyong spat, dismounted and rested.
After fighting back and forth, he returned to the old way of robbery. This was actually his tacit approval.
In the past few years, Li Keyong has rectified military discipline and ostensibly no longer allowed robbery. But there is no money in Hedong, and the treatment of warriors is getting worse and worse. At this time, you have to compensate them in other ways, and the rectification of military discipline will end in vain.
If you have no money and want to improve military discipline, who the hell will play with you?
The warriors first ate something themselves, and then fed the horses salt water and dry food. After everything was prepared, Li Keyong ordered to retreat.
On the way back, he kept thinking about a question.
Hedong joined the battle to rescue Cangjing halfway, but it had been fought for quite a long time. He personally supervised the battle and even rushed to kill many times. The soldiers actually worked harder. And the battles he personally fought were basically won.
But the overall war situation has never changed. Why?
Well, he actually knows the reason, but he just doesn't want to admit it. That is, there is a qualitative gap between Xia and Jin in terms of strength. Even if you win more tactically, the overall strategy will continue to fail. Passivity is
certain.
"Damn it!" Li Keyong swung his riding crop and took the lead.
The sergeants were not surprised at all and urged their horses to follow him. King Jin was sulking more and more often, and they had long been used to it.
After retreating all the way to Linli County, Li Keyong returned to the county government on his own.
"Husband, please have some tea." Mrs. Liu personally brought a bowl of tea and said softly.
Li Keyong took the tea and drank it in one gulp.
Mrs. Liu turned behind him and gently massaged his shoulders.
Li Keyong didn't say anything and just enjoyed it quietly.
After a long time, Mrs. Liu stopped and saw that the tea had gone cold, so she ordered her soldiers to make another pot.
"No need." Li Keyong waved his hand and said.
The soldiers retreated in response.
Mrs. Liu brought over some snacks made by herself, twisted a piece and stuffed it into Li Keyong's mouth.
Li Keyong was reluctant at first, but Liu insisted and swallowed it.
"Is it delicious?" Liu asked with a smile.
"So-so." Li Keyong said.
"After we return to Jinyang, I will do more," Mrs. Liu said with a smile.
Li Ke was silent again.
"Husband, it's time to make a decision." Mrs. Liu said in a low voice.
Li Keyong suddenly stood up and walked around the hall.
Of course, the news about Youzhou was quickly delivered here. To be honest, Li Keyong was very panicked at first and wanted to withdraw his troops immediately and rescue Youzhou. However, the eldest son Luoluo assured him that Xia Zeibingfeng
Already dull, he was sure to keep the Xia people in Jizhou.
So Li Keyong hesitated again. He wanted to wait and see if the situation would change favorably.
But this time, they were waiting for the news of the capture of Dezhou City. Moreover, it took a long time. The morale of Li Cunzhang's army was unstable. Although they were given additional rewards, everyone knew that they could not hold on for a long time.
Now, he must make a decision. As a commander-in-chief, he must abandon all interfering factors and make a responsible decision.
"Thief Shao won without force!" Li Ke slapped his palm on the table with an angry look on his face.
If you look closely, it seems that there is a bit of shame and anger.
Yes, it would be strange not to become angry after being tricked and defeated by your own adopted brother!
The group of counselors under his command are all useless, so no one thought that the Xia thieves would cross the sea to make a sneak attack? They are obviously already operating in Liaonan, and I heard from the Khitan people that their momentum is not small.
I can't think of this. What is it if it's not a loser?
"Husband, now is not the time to be arrogant." Mrs. Liu came over, straightened his sleeves, and advised softly: "If the situation is like this, what can I say? Where is our foundation? Hedong."
It is true that Youzhou is also very important. But for the Jin army, Hedong is the fundamental place for serious affairs. This does not mean that they do not want to save Youzhou, but there is always a distinction between priority and severity.
"Can Luoluo defend Youzhou?" Li Keyong grabbed Liu's hand and asked.
Mrs. Liu sighed. Her husband could ask this, but he was already shaken.
"Husband, no matter whether Luoluo can hold on or not, the army outside Cangzhou City has already lost its morale and is eager to return home." Mrs. Liu said, "It's time to order them to withdraw."
"They left, what should Lu Yanwei do?" Li Keyong asked.
"Retreat to Yingzhou." Liu replied: "The household registration of Yingmo and Mozhou is no less than one million. It will not be a problem to support Lu Yanwei's remaining soldiers and defeat them. With them here, even if the Xia people occupy Cangjing, they will not be able to stabilize the situation in the short term."
"But in the end we were able to suppress the disobedience and stabilize it," Li Keyong said.
Mrs. Liu smiled, stretched out her hand to caress her husband's face, and said, "It depends on people. Who knows what will happen in the future."
"You think I'm a three-year-old again." Li Keyong said angrily.
Mrs. Liu chuckled, and then said seriously: "Husband, after losing the battle, how can you ask for this and that? It is the right way to recover the losses as much as possible and consider the long-term war in the future."
Li Keyong remained silent. Without Cangjing, the situation in Hebei was in dire straits, and how could there be any lasting war?
But what Madam said is right, it is more important to recover the losses. For now, let’s take care of Youzhou first, don’t think too much. If you delay further, it is not impossible that the Yan soldiers outside Cangzhou City will rebel against you.
Mrs. Liu waited patiently. She had said everything she needed to say. Her husband was already old and had suffered many setbacks over the years. He already knew what it means to be stronger than others. When it is time to admit defeat, you have to admit defeat. There is no shame in it.
Sure enough, after thinking for a long time, Li Keyong finally sighed painfully and said: "We failed again..."
Mrs. Liu took his hand and comforted him silently.
"Retreat, all of them." Li Keyong said helplessly: "Order Li Cunzhang to return to Youzhou for convenience. Then send envoys to Zhenzhou and ask King Zhao to send more troops to assist them in retreating. Lu Yanwei, let him
Where to go? Whether it’s to Youzhou or to seek refuge with Wang Rong, it’s up to him, I can’t control it too much. What do you think of this arrangement, madam?”
"My husband has made very thoughtful arrangements. I don't have much to say," Mrs. Liu said.
"Over at Cizhou, Yazi has full authority to command all the troops."
"After the armies withdrew, they took a short rest. After a while, they headed north to Youzhou."
"If we have time, we can deal with An Jingsi's traitor together."
When Li Keyong said this, Mrs. Liu did not interrupt.
In her opinion, these are all trivial matters. She only needs to persuade her husband to make the choice that is most beneficial to Hedong on major issues. As for the rest, it is not easy for her as a woman to interfere. What's more, she has no
I have fought on the front lines and never personally commanded an army in battle. It is better to leave these professional matters to men.
"After this battle, will Wang Rong defect to the Xia people?" Li Keyong suddenly remembered this and asked.
Chengde is still quite powerful. Not to mention anything else, the huge number of horses alone is a huge amount of wealth and necessary supplies for war.
Mrs. Liu frowned and thought for a while, then said: "King Zhao is weak in temperament and may be discouraged. My husband needs to send someone who can speak well to talk about the pros and cons and encourage him."
Li Keyong carefully thought about the candidates.
"Of course, husband, you don't have to worry too much." Mrs. Liu added: "Chengde, Yi Ding and the second town, even if Commander Ji wants to surrender, the warriors will not agree. It is completely different from Cangjing."
This ranks Cangjing as the weakest vassal town in Hebei. In fact, it is almost the same. It may not be the weakest in fighting, but its willpower and quality are indeed weak. In short, it is not rigid enough.
"Will Thief Shao take advantage of the situation to attack Chengde?" Li Keyong asked.
"Husband, you should worry more about Youzhou." Mrs. Liu said, "If we change positions, where will you attack?"
Li Keyong nodded and said: "I will follow Madam's words."
"Actually -" Liu said again: "I heard that Yang Xingmi in Huainan has stopped fighting with Qian Liu and made a truce. If they can move north in a large scale, they can still involve a lot of Xia people's troops. Maybe they can think of a way to send envoys through the Xia territory
, contact Yang Wu.”
"How much future can Yang Xingmi have?" Li Keyong said disdainfully.
In fact, if Mr. Liu didn't remind him, he really wouldn't be able to remember it for a while.
In history, it was actually Yang Xingmi who sent an envoy to cross Henan disguised as a merchant and made a painting for him. It can be seen that Yang Xingmi was in Huainan, but he was concerned about the war in the north. Let’s not talk about the combat effectiveness. The pattern is indeed better than that of Li Keyong.
Much stronger.
"But Yang Xingmi is in a good position." Mrs. Liu said with a smile: "If he massively attacks the Xia people's empty rear, it will be much more effective than my husband deploying tens of thousands of troops in Hebei. Yang Xingmi still has some foresight. He just killed Tian
Yan, An Renyi, has eliminated the internal hidden dangers, and Qian Liu has been defeated by him again, which may free him up to visit the north."
"Then send someone." Li Keyong said nonchalantly.
Anyway, he just gave it a try. It didn't matter whether Yang Xingmi agreed or not. What he was most concerned about now was the situation in Youzhou.