Chapter 1609: The decisive battle begins
Zhou Yafu is undoubtedly a wise and courageous commander. Although he was not aware of Li Jing's intentions at first, this was the result of a blind spot based on intelligence. As the army's march direction became more and more deviated from the main line, Zhou Yafu gradually became aware of the situation. Something is wrong.
"The whole army listens to the order and stops the pursuit." Zhou Yafu suddenly reined in his horse and shouted.
"Xu..."
The generals reined in their horses one after another and looked at Zhou Yafu with confusion, only to see that his face was uncertain.
"We've fallen into the trap. Ran Min wants to move us away. If we continue to pursue him, even if we destroy the Qin Army's cavalry, we may not be able to catch up with the Qin Army's main force." Zhou Yafu said solemnly.
"We can ignore the Qin cavalry and directly pursue Li Jing's main force of the Qin army." Gongsun Shu advanced.
Zhou Yafu shook his head: "Our army can ignore this cavalry, but they will not ignore us. Even if they catch up with Li Jing by then, I am afraid they will fall into a situation where they are attacked from both sides."
"What should we do?"
Xia Luqi frowned and said that he came to help the Northern Han Dynasty to perform meritorious service. However, he failed to defeat the Northern Han Dynasty in the first battle but suffered repeated setbacks. Now he is in a dilemma again.
After hearing this, Zhou Yafu couldn't help but fell into deep thought. After a while, a carrier pigeon landed on his shoulder.
Zhou Yafu took out the letter with an expressionless expression. After seeing the content, his expression suddenly changed and he exclaimed: "Jintai is not among Li Jing's army. Li Jing sent Jintai to lead two thousand cavalry back to Beihai in advance to reinforce Beihai."
This homing pigeon was naturally released by Zhu Tianpeng, and his information was extremely timely for the Northern Han Dynasty.
When the generals heard this, they were stunned. Ju Wuba asked doubtfully: "The Qin army only has five thousand cavalry in total, and two thousand of them have been taken back to Beihai by Jintai. Where did Ran Min get the five thousand cavalry?"
"A suspicious tactic."
Shajuanlian frowned and said in a deep voice: "What we were chasing was not five thousand Qin troops at all, but three thousand. Ran Min deceived us with the trick of suspecting soldiers."
"What?"
Everyone screamed in shock, and everyone was furious.
If he had known that Qin Qi only had three thousand soldiers, Zhou Yafu would never have divided his troops into two groups before, because he could already crush them with strength and there was no need to implement any strategy. But now that he knows, it is not too late, Zhou Yafu already has the idea of victory in his heart. It's a strategy.
"From now on, the troops will be divided into two groups again."
A glint flashed in Zhou Yafu's eyes, and he ordered in a deep voice: "Gongsun Shu, you lead three thousand cavalry to contain Ran Min, while I will lead the remaining cavalry and pretend to turn back to pursue Li Jing.
Ran Min wanted to lure our army away to ensure the safety of the main army, but he would be shocked to learn that our army ignored him and focused on chasing Li Jing.
With General Gongsun Shu in check, Ran Min could not easily turn back. If he learned that you only had 3,000 cavalry in hand, Ran Min would definitely fight you decisively with his arrogance and defeat your infantry. Continue to contain our unit.
In fact, before the decisive battle has been launched, this general will lead the army back again, and then the two armies will join forces to annihilate Ran Min. "
"Good plan." All the generals praised him one after another.
"Tantaiyu, Juwuba, and Shajuanyan, the three of you will act together, Gongsun Shu."
"promise."
On the other side, Ran Min's troops, who were fleeing to the southwest, suddenly found that Zhou Yafu behind them had listened and did not continue to pursue. Everyone had a bad feeling in their hearts.
"They must have sensed our army's intentions."
Ran Min sighed, secretly thinking that it was a pity. If it were a little later, even if Zhou Yafu saw through it, he would be sure to continue to hold him back.
The generals also secretly thought it was a pity. After all, if the strategy was discovered, the subsequent losses would probably be huge.
"Report... to General, Zhou Yafu has divided his troops again. Zhou Yafu asked Gongsun Shu to lead three thousand of them to stay, while the other seven thousand went to the direction of Beihai under the leadership of Zhou Yafu."
"What?"
Everyone, including Ran Min, looked shocked.
There was nothing wrong with stopping the pursuit, but it was a bit intriguing to split the troops into two groups again and leave three thousand cavalry behind.
This shows that Zhou Yafu not only missed the Qin army's intentions, but also saw through the Qin army's lies.
"There is no other way. We have to defeat these three thousand cavalry first to save the situation."
Ran Min's eyes were full of solemnity, and then he sneered: "But Zhou Yafu is really conceited. Do you think he can contain our army by leaving three thousand cavalry?"
"But General Ran Min, this may also be Zhou Yafu's strategy to force our army to a decisive battle. To launch a decisive battle so easily is contrary to the strategy formulated by the prefect."
After Taishi Ci hesitated for a moment, he still said: "The general thinks that we should come according to the prefect's plan."
After Ran Min pondered for a long time, he waved his hand and said: "The key to war is to respond immediately. After all, how can we predict everything? The situation we are facing now far exceeds the prefect's expectations. According to the previous plan, It’s no longer appropriate to speak.”
"This...but..."
Taishi Ci was still trying to persuade him, but Ran Minze said: "There will be some disobedience to military orders abroad. If the prefect is here, he may have other methods, but he is not here now, and we have to rely on ourselves."
When Taishi Ci heard this, he was immediately speechless. They were indeed too dependent on Li Jing. When Li Jing was here, everything was planned well. They only had to obey Li Jing's orders to reap the rewards. Now that Li Jing is gone, they seem to have no idea. Will think the same thing.
The other generals also agreed with Ran Min's plan. After all, the current situation indeed exceeded Li Jing's expectation. If An Yuan's plan was implemented, if the enemy did not take the bait, there would be no hope at all.
Seeing that most of them agreed, Ran Min immediately said: "Okay, in that case, the whole army will obey the order and prepare for a decisive battle."
"promise."
Following Ran Min's order, the three thousand Huben battalion turned around and headed towards the Northern Han army that had been chasing them just now.
"The Qin army is here, and Ran Min was indeed fooled."
Gongsun Shu's eyes flashed with excitement, and he smiled and said: "Send a message to General Zhou Yafu. Everyone, let's go meet Ran Min."
"I have long wanted to meet Ran Min. Not long ago, I injured Yuwen Chengdu in Jizhou. Let's see if Ran Min is worthy of his ranking this time." Tantai Yu said with a smile.
The Qin army's 3,000 Tigers and Tigers cavalry and the Liao Kingdom's 3,000 Liaodong cavalry marched at full speed in one direction, and soon met on a plain.
Neither side immediately initiated a decisive battle, but instead stopped with a tacit understanding, and both chose to observe the other side.
