A crescent moon rose into the sky, accompanied by starlight, illuminating the earth.
In Chang'an City, the Xiliang army was already well fed and ready to go, waiting for Li Jue to give the order to go out.
"Report, I just saw about 200 people in Cao Zhang's camp setting off to the west. You can see the emperor's honor guard among them." The scout responsible for inquiring about the news returned and reported to Li Jue.
Li Jue nodded, then came to the front of the team and looked at the Xiliang Army officers in front of him.
These Xiliang troops are all his old subordinates who have followed him for many years and are also the elite of the Xiliang army.
Li Jue stood in front of the soldiers and began to lecture loudly: "Soldiers, our fight with Cao Zhang this time did not start well, and we lost our troops in Luoyang. However, everyone must understand that Cao Zhang is not invincible. Tonight, we will launch a counterattack , the best time to defeat him."
"I have already decided on a strategy. As long as we strictly implement it, we will definitely win the final victory!"
Li Jue's emotions began to get excited, and he said loudly: "Tonight's action can be said to be a battle, so I will set clear rules for rewards and punishments. Anyone who acts without authorization or escapes from the battle will be executed immediately! As long as you fight bravely to kill the enemy, , whoever has the merit of killing the enemy will be rewarded heavily!"
"Every time you kill an enemy, you will be rewarded with five thousand coins! As long as you kill more enemies, the more rewards you will get!"
"If you are a general who kills Cao Zhang's army, you can get a reward of 50,000 yuan for each person you kill! You can also be promoted to the third level!"
"If anyone can kill Cao Zhang, he will be rewarded with 100,000 yuan, 10,000 gold, and a hundred acres of fertile land!"
"I have prepared a large reward for you. As for who can receive what reward and how much, it all depends on your ability. There is no upper limit on the reward. The more you kill, the more you get!" Li Jue announced loudly to the soldiers.
Hearing the large reward amount given by Li Jue, the soldiers of the Xiliang Army were emotionally aroused instantly.
Killing enemies with meritorious services and receiving bounties is what soldiers look forward to most.
Li Jue offered such a large reward, which instantly ignited the soldiers' originally sluggish morale.
When Li Jue saw the excitement among the soldiers, he did not hesitate at all. He immediately waved his hand and ordered Li Shi and the other three: "Go to battle!"
The city gate of Chang'an slowly opened, and two groups of troops rushed out from the west gate and south gate of Chang'an respectively, and quickly began to act according to Li Jue's deployment.
Li Ying led five thousand soldiers and horses, fought out from the west gate of Chang'an, and marched rapidly toward the west to catch up with the retreating "Emperor's Mission".
Li Huan and Li Shi led 30,000 elite troops, fought out from the south gate of Chang'an, and went to Cao Zhang's camp in a roundabout way...
On the bank of the Feng River at dusk, Xia Houshang and Xia Houru followed Zhong Yao's emperor's guard of honor.
Li Jin led a hundred personal guards to protect them closely, and the wind on the shore blew the soldiers' robes.
Suddenly, they felt a slight tremor from the ground behind them. The shock became stronger and stronger, and it was obvious that there was a sign that the army was coming.
"Kill!" A shout of kill rang out from behind them.
"Report to Mr. Zhong that there are two more soldiers joining the army. The enemy general Li Ying is coming with five thousand troops and horses!" The personal guard responsible for breaking up the rear came on Pegasus and reported to several people.
Xia Houshang and Xia Houru looked up at the turbulent water of the Feng River in front of them and panicked.
Although they were surrounded by hundreds of personal guards led by Li Jin, the pursuers were a full five thousand. This huge disparity in strength gave them no hope of victory.
But the two of them were descendants of the Xiahou family after all, and the fighting aura passed down from their family quickly calmed them down.
"Jun Lin, you and Commander Li, the escort guard Zhong Shizhong, will leave first. I will lead someone to stay behind!" Xia Houshang gave the order.
"No, brother, you go away and I will take the throne." Xia Houru argued.
Li Jin, however, looked extremely calm and calm, and stepped forward to point at the water of the Feng River.
Zhong Yao turned to look at the river, and immediately understood what Li Jin meant, and hurriedly said to the Xiahou brothers: "You two gentlemen, the water in the Feng River is not deep. We can cross the river quickly and hide on the west bank to avoid the pursuing soldiers!"
Xia Houshang glanced at the river and nodded quickly: "Okay, let's cross the river first!"
Xia Houshang tightly held the weapon in his hand. He felt the momentum of Li Ying's killing. It seemed that the disparity between life and death this time could not be changed. This moment seemed to be frozen.
Li Jin commanded the personal guards and protected the people who organized the emperor's honor guard from the river in an orderly manner. Everyone rushed towards the west bank quickly through the water.
The river was obviously much shallower than usual. When they walked to the center of the river, the water was only up to their waists.
But at this time, the army led by Li Ying had also chased to the east bank of Feng River.
"Fire the arrow!" Li Ying pointed at the people in the middle of the river and gave the order.
The archers of the Xiliang Army quickly stepped forward, lined up on the bank, raised their bows and fired towards the center of the river.
Arrows fell from the sky.
Li Jin was well prepared. He led the soldiers of the personal guard and raised their round shields to protect Zhong Yao and others as they continued to cross the river.
Under their escort, only a few of the guards were injured by arrows. Most of them quickly rushed out of the Xiliang Army's shooting range and continued to wade quickly towards the other side.
Seeing that Zhong Yao and others were about to successfully cross the river, Li Ying pointed angrily at the other side: "Chase me! Don't let them run away!"
Although he can now confirm that Cao Zhang is definitely not among the targets of pursuit, the Emperor's honor guard is always real. If the Emperor's envoy can be caught, it will be considered a great achievement, and of course he will not give up just now.
Upon hearing Li Ying's order, the Xiliang army quickly rushed down the river embankment and began to cross the river to catch up.
Li Ying urged his horse to dismount and followed the team into the water to pursue.
At this time, Li Jin and others had all boarded the west bank of the Feng River.
Li Jin looked back at the enemy troops who were chasing him across the river, and understood that if they continued to run, they would soon be overtaken by the enemy troops, and everyone would be dead by then.
Li Jin waved to the Xiahou brothers, indicating that they should take Zhong Yao and leave first, while he and his personal guards stayed behind.
Xia Houchang looked at the approaching pursuers and realized that the situation was urgent and there was no time to delay. He could only pat Li Jin on the shoulder with water, and together with Xia Houru, he took ten soldiers to protect Zhong Yao and others and continued to move forward.
Li Jin turned around with his guards, and everyone showed off their weapons. Li Jin tightly held the Qingzhi Sword in his hand. His brows wrinkled slightly, but his face never showed the slightest trace of panic. He was ready. Preparation for a desperate fight with the enemy.
At this time, Li Ying led the Xiliang army to the center of the river. He also vaguely felt that the water in the Feng River today was a little strange, as it seemed too shallow. But seeing that Zhong Yao and others were about to catch up with him on the west bank, he didn't think about it and just urged his men to move forward quickly.
At this moment, he suddenly heard the faint sound of water coming from the upper reaches of the Feng River. The sound became louder and louder, and it was like thunder.
Li Ying felt something was wrong, and an ominous premonition flashed through his mind. He turned his head to look upstream and screamed: "Not good!"
