"You are required to evacuate the north bank within three days, and let things be bygones. Otherwise, the day the army crosses the river will be the day when the defenders on the north bank will be put to death!"
Linghuzhen opened the letter and read softly.
Ma Baoyun slapped the table and shouted: "These people don't pay enough attention to the national laws of the dynasty! Still want to punish us?"
Linghuzhen waved his hand and told the soldiers who delivered the message to step back. He turned to look at Ma Baoyun and said, "They are using a stratagem to make us confused!"
"Then how should we deal with it?" Ma Baoyun looked at him and asked.
"What are you afraid of? They are in the river and we are on the shore, so we get on them and build a raft to cross the river. We can also attack with fire!" Linghu Zhen looked outside the tent and said coldly.
When Ma Baoyun heard this, he praised it and said, "This move is amazing. No wonder His Majesty asked you to lead the army to fight against the enemy."
The two looked at each other and smiled, but did not take Li Ye's letter seriously.
...
That night, many of the 50,000 troops on the north bank slipped away quietly.
Since the battalions were stationed separately and there was no combat training, no one knew that anyone had deserted.
What they didn't expect was that at noon the next day, someone sent the same letter again. The content remained the same, but the date was changed to two days later.
Linghuzhen looked at the messenger and asked, "How many rafts are coming today?"
The visitor replied: "That's the same boat as yesterday, and the archers are the same girl as yesterday! But they shot ten arrows today."
"Did anyone get hurt?"
"no one!"
"Go back, cheer up everyone, and be careful of sneak attacks!" Ma Baoyun waved his hand.
Linghuzhen stood up, walked outside the tent, looked in the direction of the south bank and said, "What tricks do they want to play?"
Ma Baoyun wiped his face and said: "It's freezing cold today. I guess it will snow tomorrow. I don't believe they dare to attack in the snow? If they fall into the river, they will freeze to death without us doing anything." "
"I hope so!"
...
That night, many of the 50,000 troops on the north bank quietly slipped away again, and this time there were more than last night.
Because the ten feather arrows Mu Mu shot today were all letters of warning, and the soldiers guarding the riverside saw that the contents were the same, so they only sent one to Linghu Zhen, and they were passing on the others for reading.
Linghu Zhen never expected that the leaked letter would cause him to lose tens of thousands of soldiers overnight.
During the assembly in the morning, some people discovered that the people around them suddenly disappeared.
The guard generals of each battalion were startled and counted the personnel one after another. After doing the counting, they found that 10,000 people had slipped away quietly in two nights.
The shocked generals of each battalion reported the situation to Linghu Zhen and Ma Baoyun in the big tent.
The two of them were so angry that they were furious.
Ma Baoyun scolded: "Ten thousand people have fled before this battle even started!"
Before the two of them had finished being angry, the soldier guarding the riverside ran over with another letter in his hand, looked at Linghu Zhen and said, "Same as yesterday, they shot fifty arrows today!"
The two of them took a look and found that the content was the same as the previous two days, except that the date was changed to the last day.
Linghu Zhen looked at the visitor and said, "Let the guard leaders of each battalion come for a meeting. We will strengthen patrols tonight and don't let the soldiers run away again."
The visitor is ordered to leave in a hurry!
However, it is not as good as God. Linghu really expected that someone would run away again, so he stepped up patrols at night. In the early morning of the next day, there were still many soldiers leaving, including a group of patrolling soldiers.
After three nights, of the 50,000 troops on the north bank, 15,000 had fled, leaving only 35,000.
Linghu was so angry that he looked at Ma Baoyun and said, "You personally take people to patrol tonight. Anyone who dares to escape will be killed on the spot!"
Ma Baoyun looked at him and didn't reply, but nodded heavily.
...
Facing the camp, in Li Ye's tent.
With a charcoal fire burning and looking at the sparse snowflakes falling from the sky, a group of people sat making tea and chatting.
It took the army three days to build a raft for crossing the river.
Today Li Ye asked all the soldiers in the army to stay in their tents to rest and recover their strength.
"They must not have thought that we would dare to attack in the snow!" The eldest prince said quietly, looking at the snowflakes outside the tent.
"These are all minor issues. I guess what they have a headache about now is not whether we can attack or not. According to my estimate, in a few days, they will lose at least one-third of their soldiers, although I don't know how many troops they have. !”
Li Ye also looked at the sky outside the big tent and said quietly.
Tang Qiuyu looked at the two of them and smiled: "If the people in the imperial city knew that you just shot dozens of arrows in the air, which reduced the opponent's horse power by a third, I don't know how many people would be angry to death!"
It was only now that Yeluyan knew what Li Ye and Mu Mu had done in the past few days. Looking at the frail Li Ye in front of her, she was so shocked that she was speechless.
"Imperial Master, are those who are still refusing to leave really going to be punished?" The eldest prince turned around and looked at Li Ye.
Li Ye did not answer immediately, but looked at all the people in the tent with calm eyes. After a long time, he said, "What else?"
Mu Mu glanced at everyone, curled her lips, and muttered: "We have already warned them, and we have been warning them for three days!"
"In wars, people always die, and your life is almost at stake. For this reason, I want to make them afraid! Scared to death!" Li Ye said lightly.
The way Xia Wutong looked at him, he suddenly felt a strange feeling. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.
Li Ye looked at her and smiled and said: "I know what you want to say, but the emperor entrusted you and the generalissimo to me, and I will be responsible for your lives!"
Xia Wutong turned around and glanced at the eldest prince, who smiled bitterly and said, "It did happen. I was right there at the time."
"If something happens to you brother and sister, how will I explain to him when I see him again? Are you saying that I, Li Ye, am incompetent and didn't protect you well?" Li Ye shook his head and sighed.
I don't know how many times I scolded myself, and I don't know when I started to develop the habit of sighing.
Xia Wutong looked at the young man in front of him who made him feel a little scared. Thinking about what his mother said to him, his face turned red again unconsciously.
Yeluyan looked at Li Ye and smiled and said, "If I had known that we were going to fight when we came back, I would have asked my brother to lend you tens of thousands of troops."
Li Ye looked at her and shook his head: "I think the reason why Your Highness Yelu is willing to borrow troops from me is entirely for your face, princess. However, looking for war will lead to death."
Li Ye didn't know what Yelu Qi was thinking, but he just didn't want to bear more burdens for the grassland soldiers.
The responsibility on his own shoulders was heavy enough.
Yeluyan looked at him and said, "You scared away the opponent's large army without spending a single soldier. It's very impressive."
The eldest prince looked at him and asked, "What will you do tomorrow?"
Li Ye turned back to look at him and asked, "Tomorrow is the second day after General Nalan and the others leave?"
"The fifth day!" The eldest prince replied quietly.
"Report! General Nalan and General Ma have sent people over." A soldier came in from outside the tent to report.
Li Ye clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Come in quickly!" He turned back to look at the eldest prince and said: "Whatever you want, come to me!"
In a moment, Nalan Yu and Ma Feihu's men walked into the tent.
"I've met the Grand Marshal, I've met the Imperial Master!" the two greeted in unison.
"Why did they send you two here?" Li Ye asked quietly.
"The general said that everything is going well for us. When will we launch an attack on the north bank?"
Li Ye looked up at the two of them and said calmly: "Go back and tell the two generals that you will set off at 10 o'clock tomorrow. After seeing the fireworks signal we sent out on the river, we launched an attack at the same time!"
The eldest prince told the two of them again and again that they must set off on time and not miss the time.
The two took the order and left in a hurry.
...
Looking at the group of people in the tent, Li Ye said quietly: "The original plan was the day after tomorrow. Since the two armies are ready, let's catch them off guard one day in advance."
"I don't think the general on the other side would have expected that we would launch an attack on a snowy day, right?"
Li Ye pointed at Yeluyan and said with a smile, "Last year I invited her to have tea with General Yelu, but neither of them believed me."
Yeluyan glared at him and replied fiercely: "At that time, I really wanted to beat you up!"
Mu Mu looked at her and smiled: "Am I the one who shot you?"
When Yeluyan heard this, he ran over and pinched her arm and cursed: "No wonder my brother said, how dare the Imperial Preceptor from Southern Xinjiang come to Xichun City alone? You are here too?"
Mu Mu gently broke away and said with a smile: "I am responsible for protecting my brother."
Li Ye looked at the two men and shook his head. He looked at everyone and said, "You all know the time to attack. Don't go outside and talk nonsense."
The eldest prince looked at him and said, "You must tell the leaders of the army to get them ready."
Looking at the rising wind and snow, Li Ye said softly: "Let's cook at 10 o'clock tomorrow. After dinner, we will notify the army. We will launch the attack on time. It's too late!"
Xia Yunlan looked at the two of them, thought for a long time, and said in a solemn voice: "There is enough time, anyway, we will not bring heavy equipment when we attack."
Looking at the questions raised by everyone in front of him, Li Ye said slowly: "I just think about how to spend the least effort to eliminate more enemies. After all, I said I would take them home when I came out."
Tang Qiuyu looked at him and nodded, thinking that among the leaders of the five regions, apart from Li Ye, there was probably no one who valued the lives of the soldiers so much.
"During the first attack, I, Jiang Shuai and Mu Mu will lead the army across the river. Brother Xia will be responsible for protecting the safety of the generalissimo. After we capture the other side, you can cross the river again."
When Li Ye said this, it was not in a soliciting tone, but in a commanding tone.
The eldest prince frowned and said: "I am the marshal of the army, how can I be greedy for life and afraid of death?"
Li Ye ignored him and replied softly: "You are no longer just the marshal of the army!"
"Princess Mu Mu and I will follow the Imperial Master, Generalissimo, don't worry." Jiang Huo said excitedly as he looked at the two of them.
You must know that he is protecting the generalissimo in every first battle. This time, he can finally go to the battlefield in person. How can he not be excited? And still with the national master.
Seeing a group of people waiting inside the tent, Li Ye said mockingly, "Maybe when I wake up tomorrow morning, some of the defenders on the opposite side will run away again."
The eldest prince looked at him and shook his head helplessly.
Xia Wutong opened her wonderful eyes and looked at the young man in front of her quietly, at the flying snow in the sky outside the tent, and at Mu Mu who was about to move, and felt that her fists were getting more and more itchy.
"Since Mu Mu is following you, I will go too!" She said softly, looking at Li Ye, her tone unquestionable.
Li Ye looked at her blankly, then looked back at the eldest prince and Tang Qiuyu. Seeing that they were silent, he could only reply: "That's okay, you have to follow me."
Mu Mu took her hand and smiled: "Can you shoot arrows?"
Xia Wutong looked at her quietly and said, "Didn't you teach me how to use hand slaves?"
Mu Mu was stunned, patted her head and said with a smile, "You did it on purpose!"
Tang Qiuyu looked at Li Ye and said calmly: "Then I will leave the princess's safety to you!"
"Mr. Tang, please watch the Grand Marshal and stop running away!" Li Ye was most worried about the safety of the eldest prince at the moment.
Xia Yunlan looked at him and said, "I'm still here!"
Li Ye looked at him and smiled: "Half for each person?"
Xia Yunlan looked at him and grinned: "Half for each person!"
