Yan Yunjun retreated into the city gate, the city gate was immediately closed, and the suspension bridge was pulled up. The soldiers who had narrowly escaped death felt as if their whole bodies were exhausted, and they were sitting staggeringly near the city gate. Yang Jiumei, Wang Kai and others came to Yang Peng. Everyone's eyes were full of admiration, and Yang Jiumei's eyes showed even more anger.
Yang Peng handed the black dragon colt to Wang Kai and ordered him to take the black dragon down to feed it. Wang Kai accepted the promise and ran down. Yang Peng felt very tired and sat down on the city wall ladder.
Yang Jiumei stood in front of Yang Peng and said angrily: "You are so messy!"
Yang Peng raised his head, glanced at Yang Jiumei, and said with a smile, "Am I okay?"
Yang Jiumei's eyes suddenly flashed, and she said resentfully: "You are so kind to that princess! You really didn't care about anything for her!" Yang Peng stretched out his right hand and held Yang Jiumei's delicate hand. Yang Jiumei was shocked. Even though he wanted to retract his hand, an inexplicable impulse suddenly came to his heart, and he didn't take it back. Seeing this scene, several staff nearby looked at each other and turned around quickly, thinking in their hearts: I have long heard that the relationship between the Lord and King Yan is not simple. I originally thought it was just a rumor, but now it seems that this is probably true!
Yang Peng held Yang Jiumei's slender hand, looked into her eyes, and said softly: "If you fall into the enemy's formation, I will risk my own life to rescue you!" Yang Jiumei's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but think of what happened back then, and her eyes changed. Extremely gentle. He rolled his eyes at Yang Peng and gently withdrew his delicate hand. Turning sideways, he said softly: "Thanks to you, otherwise I would have fallen into the hands of the Khitans! You have been so kind to me, and I can only use this life to repay you!" Yang Peng saw that she was saying The love is so sincere that I can't help but be moved in my heart.
Yang Jiumei threw away her chaotic thoughts, thought about the matter in front of her, frowned and said: "You saved more than 30,000 people at the cost of more than 3,000 casualties. Although it is worth it, the defense after Yanjing will be more difficult. !" Yang Peng smiled and said: "Don't worry, we will definitely be able to hold on!"
Seeing what Yang Peng said, Yang Jiumei couldn't help but feel infinite confidence in her heart, and sighed: "With King Yan here, everyone is a hundred times more confident! However, with this confidence alone, I am afraid that we cannot make up for the huge gap in strength! We must It takes a surprise attack, otherwise it would be impossible to hold on until reinforcements arrive!..."
Yang Peng nodded, frowned and said, "I'm also thinking about this matter." He looked up at Yang Jiumei and said with a smile, "I have an idea, it might be of some use."
…
The Khitan army retreated into the camp, and the uninjured soldiers went back to rest, while the injured were recovering from their wounds. The sounds of pain and screams came one after another, making the quiet night a bustle.
West, Butler, and others will sit in the big tent. West and Butler are naked, and several old medical officers are cleaning their wounds, applying medicine, and bandaging them. Thanks to the protection of the armor, the injuries on both of them were not serious, but the generals were still frightened by the sight.
The medical officer bandaged the wounds of the two of them, then bowed, cleaned up, and retreated.
One of the generals couldn't help but said: "The King of Yan is really the bravest of the three armies! He is invincible with one shot! Fortunately, God bless these two generals, otherwise the consequences would be really unimaginable!" West and Butler were still frightened. , Butler frowned and said: "I have fought with King Yan more than once before. I feel that King Yan is even more powerful now than before!" West also felt this way, and then said coldly: "He is just a tiger. , can't stand up to the endless pack of wolves! If he goes out to fight next time, all of us will go together, I don't believe that thousands of troops can't kill him!" Everyone nodded with deep understanding.
West glanced at the generals and said: "Everyone is very tired tonight. Go down and rest. Early tomorrow morning, the entire army will attack Yanjing from all sides. We must capture Yanjing before sunset tomorrow!" The generals agreed in unison and then exited the tent one after another.
Butler stood up and saluted West: "I'm going to rest too!" West nodded, and Butler left.
…
The noisy military camp gradually became quiet. Kill, ah... West, who had already fallen asleep, was suddenly awakened by the terrible sound of killing. He sat up quickly. He only heard the roar of horse hooves outside and the sound of killing was loud. He couldn't help but trembled in his heart and thought to himself: Could it be Yan? The Yun army came to attack? How can this be? How dare they?
Without thinking about it, he quickly got up and was busy putting on his clothes and armor. At this time, the captain of the soldiers rushed in and reported with a panic look on his face: "General, Yan Yun's army has entered the camp and is everywhere. There were flames and shouts of killing everywhere, as if there were countless people!"
With a shiver in his heart, West put on his armor, picked up his cross sword and ran out of the tent. Looking around, I saw fire everywhere. People were looking longingly under the fire. The sound of killings shook the sky, the shouts shook the ground, and the sounds of screams came one after another. West was both frightened and in disbelief. He really couldn't believe that the Khitan army had just experienced a frightening moment. They were probably still in shock and exhausted. How could they dare to leave the city immediately and sneak attack on their own camp?
Thinking that the enemy's troops were few, he immediately ordered: "Send orders to all battalions, don't panic, don't mess up your position! Lead your men to fight back!" The captain of the soldiers promised, called a few soldiers, and ran down together.
All Khitan troops and battalions launched counterattacks one after another, and there was a loud noise of killing. However, although the scene was lively, the enemy was not seen at all, they were all just making noise. A group of Khitan Army cavalry came to a relatively remote place, and another group of Khitan Army cavalry also came to this place. The leading officers of both sides looked at each other, nodded to each other, and then staggered away.
At this moment, one of the officers suddenly pulled out his machete and chopped down the other officer with one blow, and shouted loudly: "Do it!" His sergeants immediately launched a surprise attack on the other group of sergeants, and the other group of Khitan army sergeants were caught off guard. Immediately, people were killed and their bodies were strewn on the ground. They were all killed in the blink of an eye. Then the Khitan soldiers used torches to light all the surrounding tents on fire, and then quickly left the scene. Some Khitan troops heard the killing sounds and rushed over, but they only saw corpses on the ground and burning tents, but not a single enemy. They couldn't help but look at each other with chills down their spines. Many people thought they had encountered a ghost!
…
The Khitan army camp was noisy for a whole night before it calmed down.
Butler rushed to the tent and cursed angrily: "I didn't see an enemy, but thousands of people died!" West frowned and thought: "They must be pretending to be us. It seems that the military camp was in chaos last night, so there was no way to find them!" Butler nodded with deep understanding.
At this time, the curtain was opened, and a general rushed in, kneeling and reporting: "General Qi, we have lost more than 10,000 horses, as well as food and grass..."
West was most concerned about food and grass. If there was a problem with the food and grass, he would be in trouble. After listening to the general's words, he asked anxiously: "How is the food and grass? You didn't lose much, right?"
The general swallowed his saliva and said, "The food and grass are all destroyed!"
"What!?" Wester suddenly stood up and his expression changed drastically. He was very annoyed and said: "This is bad, there is no food and grass, we have no choice but to retreat!" He glanced at the generals and said angrily: "What did you do last night? The enemy came in to kill people and set fires without even knowing it!" The generals looked at each other, lowered their heads, and said nothing. Butler said with infinite frustration: "We raided Yanjing last night, and Yanjing was almost captured by us. Who would have thought that the Yanyun Army would raid our camp right away! We were unprepared and were caught off guard by them!"
West knew that the main responsibility for this neglect of precautions lay with him, and he couldn't help but feel depressed, and said angrily: "These Yanyun people are so cunning! Damn it! Damn it!"
West felt that Yanjing would be captured soon. It would be a pity to retreat now. He glanced at the generals and asked: "You all tell me, what should we do now? Is there any way to get food and grass? Continue Attack?" The generals thought to themselves: I am not a god, where can I get food and grass?
When West saw that all the generals were silent, he was very depressed. He sighed and said with great regret: "There is no other way, we can only retreat temporarily! Damn it!"
Yang Peng and others stood on the city gate tower and couldn't help but smile when they saw the Khitan army setting up camp and retreating towards the south. Yang Jiumei looked at Yang Peng with her beautiful eyes and said with great admiration: "Thanks to King Yan's plan! Who would have thought that in the situation like last night, our army would actually attack? The enemy was caught off guard, and their food and grass were stolen. Retreat!" All the Yanjing Mansion's staff began to flatter themselves. One said: "The King of Yan has seen thousands of miles away and has no plan left. How can a small barbarian be the opponent of the King of Yan!" The other said: "The King of Yan is extremely wise and brave, twenty years old. Ten thousand Khitan troops could not stand up to the King of Yan! However, the King of Yan did not bother to fight with the barbarians, so he used a little trick to make the Khitans run away with their tails between their legs!"...
What Yang Peng disliked the most was flattery. When he heard these horses, he couldn't help but get very angry and shouted: "Shut up!"
All the staff were shocked and closed their mouths. They couldn't help but think: 'Did I say something wrong? Could it be that King Yan doesn’t like such words? Then what kind of words does King Yan like? Everyone racked their brains to think of new words that would satisfy King Yan. At the same time, they secretly looked at Yang Peng's face, hoping to see some clues from Yang Peng's face and expression.
Yang Peng said angrily: "Who did you guys learn these flattering tricks from?" Everyone looked at each other in embarrassment, not knowing how to answer this question, and looked at Yelu Hanyu as if asking for help.
When Yang Jiumei saw her subordinates looking at her, she was very angry and said angrily: "What are you looking at me for?" The subordinates were at a loss and lowered their heads one after another, feeling very uneasy.
Yang Peng said to everyone: "You have nothing to do here, please go down." Seeing that Yang Peng did not punish him, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and bowed one after another: "My subordinates, please retire." Then they retreated.
Yang Jiumei said: "King Yan, don't get me wrong. I don't like flattery from my subordinates. It's just that these guys don't know what's going on. They always like to flatter you from time to time. At first I scolded them, but later I got used to it. I stopped paying attention to their flattery, but I didn’t expect these guys to flatter more and more, making King Yan laugh today!”
Ye Qianguan said in a mocking tone: "I think Mr. Yang also likes flattery, otherwise these officials are better than the last. If they knew that you didn't like flattery, who would come to ask for such trouble?" Yang Jiumei was so angry that she didn't care. The other party's identity as a princess was revealed, and she said angrily: "Everything I said is true. If the princess doesn't believe it, I can't do anything about it!" Ye Qi Guanyin didn't feel dissatisfied with Yang Jiumei's tone and attitude, and said with a smile: "Are you the only one? I know very well that there is no need to explain this kind of thing to me." Yang Peng smiled and said: "Like to flatter, that is just a weakness, not a sin." Yang Jiumei rolled her eyes at Yang Peng, her expression seemed to say: Don't you also? Don't believe me?
Yang Peng blinked at her, as if to say: 'Why don't I believe you? Yang Jiumei and Yang Peng had a clear understanding of each other, and they immediately understood and smiled slightly. Ye Qi Guanyin saw the two people's expressions in her eyes. Thinking of the rumor, she glanced at Yang Peng angrily.
Yang Peng thought: "Flattery and flattery have always been a trend in official circles. After all, there are many people in the world who like to listen to good things. Although we have made huge reforms in the bureaucracy, it is impossible to eliminate this trend. People who are good at flattery are good at flattery. After all, those who are more likely to be recognized by superiors and supervisory officials will have more opportunities for promotion. Those old scalpers who only know how to do things but don't know how to flatter others will have a harder time getting opportunities."
Yang Jiumei and Yedi Guanyin felt that what Yang Peng said was very reasonable, and they couldn't help but frowned. Ye Qi Guanyin thought: "I think our bureaucracy in Yanyun is very complete, but it is difficult to solve this problem!" Then he had an idea, looked at Yang Peng, and said: "Brother, I am There is a way, but I don’t know if it works?”
Yang Peng smiled and said, "If something works or doesn't work, tell me quickly."
Ye Qi Guanyin rolled her eyes at Yang Peng and said: "Our army holds various martial arts competitions every year, which are not only an important entertainment project in the military, but also one of the main ways to select junior officers. I want to Can similar methods be used in the civil service system?" Yang Peng and Yang Jiumei's eyes lit up. Just listen to Ye Qi Guanyin continue: "We set up various projects, anyone can participate, and the winners can be promoted based on their talents. From now on, the old scalpers who only know how to do things will have a chance to get ahead!"
Yang Jiumei praised: "This method is good. I would like to add one more thing. The assessment of officials from various places at the end of each year can be improved. Today's assessment only assesses officials above the prefecture level. Below the prefecture level, officials such as county magistrates are not assessed. There are hidden dangers in having the local prefect take charge. If the prefect is a little greedy, maybe he is not greedy for money," Yang Peng said with a smile, "Maybe he is greedy for sex." Ye Qi Guanyin chuckled, and Yang Jiumei's face was red and her eyes were watery. Looking at Yang Peng, Chen Xiao couldn't help but think of the unspeakable stories between the two people, and his heart skipped a beat.
Yang Jiumei came back to her senses and wanted to continue talking, but she forgot where she had said it. She asked Yang Peng angrily: "Where did they say it?" Yang Peng said with a smile: "You said that officials below the prefect are evaluated by the prefect. , not very safe." Yang Jiumei nodded and said: "If these prefects have a good relationship with a certain county magistrate, the assessment will probably be biased. I think this can be improved slightly, for officials below the prefect The assessment can be done by the supervisory departments in various places. These officials are usually under the jurisdiction of the prefecture, but they are assessed by the supervisory departments. In this way, it will not be easy for the officials to protect each other and collude with each other. There should be much less cases like this, and the officialdom atmosphere should be There can be some improvement.”
Yang Peng smiled and nodded, glanced at the two women, and said, "Your suggestions are very good. After this war is over, we will deal with this matter." He turned and looked outside the city. At this time, the Khitan army was no longer visible, but the huge smoke and dust they raised still obscured the sky and the sun, the earth was still shaking, and there was a faint thunder-like sound in the ears. Yang Peng frowned and murmured: "This war has just begun!"
Nearly 200,000 Khitan army cavalry were forced to retreat because their food and grass were destroyed. In fact, they could also make a desperate effort and continue to attack Yanjing Mansion. As long as Yanjing Mansion is captured, the food and grass problem will naturally be solved. However, West and Butler did not dare to take this risk. It would be great if they could capture Yanjing Mansion in a desperate attempt, but if they could not capture Yanjing Mansion before the food and grass were exhausted, the consequences would be disastrous. At that time, the Yanyun Army took the opportunity If they attack, more than half of the 200,000 Khitan army warriors will die here.
Two hundred thousand Khitan army cavalry hurriedly retreated to Shunzhou, and then prepared to retreat to Tanzhou to join the large army in Yeqihu City. In order to achieve an unexpected effect, the king ordered West and Butler to first lead the 200,000 elite cavalry who had just withdrawn from the Mongolian grassland to attack south, while the coach Yeqi Hucheng gathered the army to attack later. Therefore, at this moment Yeqi Hucheng I am afraid that the army has not entered Yanyun territory yet.
Just when West and Butler decided to continue to retreat, a military report suddenly came from the herald, saying that the protector of the country, Ye Qi Hucheng, had led an army of 100,000 infantry through Tanzhou. Both West and Butler were taken aback, and then decided to station troops in Shunzhou and wait for the arrival of Yeqi Tiger City.
One day later, Ye Qian Hucheng led 100,000 infantry troops to Shunzhou. After listening to the reports of West and Butler, he couldn't help but feel annoyed, and immediately ordered the army to station in Shunzhou and wait for the arrival of follow-up troops. It turns out that in order to rush on the road, Yeqihu City did not expect that West and his two hundred thousand warriors would be raided by their opponents and their food and grass would be burned. Therefore, the food and grass they brought were limited, and now they had to bear West and their twenty thousand soldiers. Wan Zhanqi's food and grass became even more nervous. Where could he attack Yanjing, he could only pause and wait for the follow-up troops and a large amount of food and grass to arrive before attacking.
As a result, the Yanyun Army got a chance to breathe. Under Yang Peng's order, the people in the southern and eastern prefectures and counties moved towards Hebei. At the same time, grain and grass were continuously transported to Yanjing. There was a constant flow of traffic, but the people did not appear to be too panicked. Everyone believed that King Yan and the Yanyun Army could withstand the Khitan offensive. However, compared to the confidence of the people, the current situation is not optimistic at all. Although the Khitans suspended their attack due to lack of food and grass, the food and grass will arrive sooner or later, and the 300,000 heavy troops that have entered Yanyun are already difficult for the current Yanyun defenders to resist.
This morning, the streets of Yanjing were filled with cheers and thunderous cheers. The people of Yanjing, who had been frightened for a long time, cheered and were excited. They crowded on both sides of the streets to welcome the arrival of reinforcements. It turned out that the 50,000 main force of the Second Army led by Li Xu entered the city! Although this 50,000-strong army was dusty, it was still in full glory and mighty. Their arrival not only made the people of Yanjing feel relieved, but even Yang Peng and others could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. With these 50,000 elite soldiers, it is somewhat certain to defend Yanjing. Although these 50,000 troops are still too weak compared to the 300,000 Khitan troops that have appeared near Yanjing, these 50,000 troops are not the previous city defense troops. They are not only Yanyun's main field force, Moreover, he is also a leader in the field army. The soldiers of the Second Army have always been proud of themselves. Their combat power is one of the best even among the Yanyun Army.
"Little brother meets big brother!" Li Xu paid homage to Yang Peng in the hall of the palace.
Yang Peng smiled and said: "No need to be polite!" Li Xu straightened up and walked to the left to stand next to Ye Qi Guanyin and Ma Jin.
Yang Peng looked at Li Xu and said with a smile: "Now that you are here, everyone will feel confident. Everyone was very worried before!" Everyone smiled. Yang Peng asked: "Where is Liu Zhiliang? Where is his third army?" Li Xu smiled, clasped his fists and said: "Brother Liu wants the younger brother to apologize to the elder brother on his behalf. He can't come to Yanjing for the time being." Yang Peng was puzzled. He asked: "What's going on? Why can't he come to Yanjing?"
Li Xudao: "My younger brother and Brother Liu discussed the current situation, and Brother Liu has an idea," and then told Liu Zhiliang's decision. Everyone looked worried. Ye Qi Guanyin said: "Although this move is clever, it is too dangerous! If the raid fails, with the hundreds of thousands of Khitan army's warriors, I am afraid that Liu Zhiliang and the others will It’s hard to get away!” Yang Jiumei said: “What the princess said is absolutely true!” Then she said to Yang Peng: “King Yan, you should immediately send someone to intercept General Liu and order him to lead his army back to Yanjing City immediately!”
Yang Peng thought for a moment and said: "Now that the Khitans have an absolute advantage, it is inevitable to underestimate the enemy. I know Yeqi Hucheng. He has a large army and will definitely be eager to capture Yanjing. He should not be too concerned about other things. Pay attention, although Liu Zhiliang's strategy is risky, it is very likely to succeed!" He glanced at the generals and said: "There is no foolproof strategy in marching and fighting. Liu Zhiliang's strategy has about a 50% chance of success. You can give it a try." Everyone saw Yang Peng expressing his stance. Although some people still had some thoughts in their hearts, they stopped saying anything.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
