The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 443: Intrigue and deception, racing against time

The envoys sent by the Crown Prince and the King of Chu to the vanguard army never returned, which made the two top decision-makers a little uneasy. When the sun was setting, several riders returned with good news, but the envoys were a little slow, and the vanguard army took the initiative to attack without receiving the order to rest in place.

Fortunately, the results of the battle were good. The Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji actually dared to divide his troops, using half of his troops to attack at night to delay him, and then built a camp in front, trying to counter the army. He never expected that the vanguard came too fast and caught him off guard. He was also defeated and retreated dozens of miles due to insufficient troops.

The King of Chu was overjoyed upon hearing this. Then, alarmed by the messenger's report that the Liao Emperor, Yelü Hongji, was actually planning to head north to recruit troops and avoid his army's attack, he hurriedly consulted with the Crown Prince. He planned to lead 50,000 elite cavalry to support the vanguard. Capturing Yelü Hongji in a single battle would be ideal, but at the very least, he would be pinned down to prevent his escape.

After all, Yelu Hongji was the Liao emperor, the legitimate emperor of the Liao Kingdom who had been on the throne for many years. He was not comparable to his father, the new emperor who usurped the throne as the commander-in-chief of the army. If he really ran around and gathered more troops, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The King of Chu summoned his troops and left in a hurry, but the Crown Prince played it safe and sent 50,000 reinforcements from the rear army to the central army. Then they continued to advance at a leisurely pace, and even spread out their scouts far away to form a large net to prevent Yelu Hongji from sneaking back to Shangjing by pretending to repair the plank road and secretly passing through Chencang. This was something he did not want to see even more.

The Crown Uncle Yelu Chongyuan accidentally ruined Yelu Hongji's plan and almost caught him. Although Yelu Hongji's 100,000 troops circled far away on the left and right, he still found out something. Although he didn't know the exact number of troops, he knew that two groups of troops were taking a detour to attack the rear.

Yelu Hongji discovered that his uncle Yelu Chongyuan was much more difficult to deal with than King of Chu Yelu Nerugu. He was experienced and steady in using troops, but he could not find the opponent's weaknesses and loopholes. Instead, because he was too determined to take risks, he was almost caught in the opponent's weakness.

What weaknesses?

Although he is not as strong as his opponent, he is eager to take risks in order to win.

Yes, Yelu Hongji seized the opportunity of the Emperor's uncle and the King of Chu's hasty and reckless advance, and with the help of Murong Fu's spies, he defeated the 100,000-strong vanguard army. After seeing the hope of victory, he was not so calm and made the same mistake as the King of Chu, that is, reckless advance!

It is true that speed is of the essence in war, but the sequelae of speed are equally alarming. With an army of 50,000 to 60,000 on each side, it is impossible to act silently. What's more, the Crown Prince's troops are steady and his scouts have spread a large net. If it weren't for the 50,000 troops sent out the day before and 30,000 who were always keeping an eye on the central army, attracting too much attention from the Crown Prince, he would have been discovered.

Even so, the Crown Prince found many inconsistencies. How could the defeated army have such fighting power, and how could the scouts he sent out intercept them so tightly? From a distance, the smoke and dust looked like a large army advancing, its shape regular, and moving forward in unison. Its momentum should not be underestimated.

be cheated?

The Crown Prince didn't suspect anything was amiss with the vanguard. After all, both the rear and central armies had been attacked the previous night. It was obvious that the Liao Emperor, Yelü Hongji, had divided his forces. His unconventional night march had caught him unawares. The vanguard, despite receiving no orders to halt their march, had stormed the enemy camp. Perhaps this was a combination of errors and mistakes. The Liao Emperor had assumed he would play it safe, giving them more time to set up camp. Unexpectedly, the vanguard's lack of orders had a surprising effect.

The main camp was broken, and Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji retreated dozens of miles. The vanguard army had been marching for two consecutive days and was exhausted and unable to fight anymore. Could it be that Yelu Hongji was trying to take advantage of the situation, using part of his troops to attract their attention, while he himself disguised himself as a defeated soldier and prepared to sneak back to Shangjing?

The more the Crown Prince thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He silently calculated the comparison of the military strength of the two sides. The number of troops in the night attack was at least 30,000 to 40,000. If they were defeated by the vanguard, they would have lost at least 10,000 to 20,000 or even more. In this case, the Liao Emperor had few troops left. In order to attract the attention of the vanguard, the defeated troops would have to make a huge noise. Then the number of people around him would be no more than 10,000 to 20,000.

The 200,000 or 20,000 soldiers had to be divided into two groups, one to reduce the noise, and the other to create deception so that he couldn't find his real location. When the Crown Prince thought of this, he set up a circular formation and spread out the 200,000 soldiers. For a while, the area within dozens of miles was under his surveillance, and various news came in continuously, accompanied by waves of confrontations.

Did the Liao Emperor meet up with the troops that attacked him at night?

The Crown Prince kept analyzing, but the more he thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. The number of troops under the Liao Emperor's command was far from right. Various signs indicated that the Liao Emperor led more troops than he had imagined, and much more.

He hurriedly ordered the central army to set up camp on the spot and integrate the rear army into it. With an army of more than 300,000 stretching for dozens of miles, he felt relieved. At the same time, all the scouts and patrols were dispersed to collect as much intelligence as possible.

Have I fallen into a trap?

The Crown Uncle stood alone in the central military tent, with all kinds of information continuously flowing into his hands. The small flags dotted on the map made him increasingly uneasy. As expected, the 500,000-strong army would arrive, and the relatives of the Liao emperor and the families of officials would appear in front of the battle line. However, the situation where the other side surrendered upon hearing the news did not occur at all. What went wrong?

As the crown prince, he knew Yelu Hongji well. While his nephew had some military prowess, it was limited to directing frontal battles. He wasn't good at larger-scale strategic tactics. Otherwise, he, a veteran of military affairs, wouldn't have rushed so hastily and led his army directly into a crushing defeat, committing many of the biggest mistakes in military operations.

Because he was familiar with it, he was very confident that he could kill with one strike! However, he was wrong. The first step was wrong, and the result was that every step was wrong.

After analyzing many possibilities, the Crown Prince gathered 20,000 cavalrymen and returned to Shangjing with his orders, ordering the generals defending the city to seal off the city for three days. No one was allowed to enter the city unless he came in person. Even the 20,000 cavalrymen could only be stationed in the military camp outside the city and were not allowed to enter the city without permission.

Additional personnel were sent to strictly guard the families of the Liao emperor and civil and military officials. The army was redivided into the front army, rear army, left army, right army and center army, but the distances between them became much smaller, and the marching became more regular and cautious. As orders were issued one after another, the impetuous atmosphere was immediately suppressed and morale improved a lot.

"No matter how many tricks you use, I will suppress them with my strength. Hongji, your uncle will wait for you to kneel before me and beg for mercy!" The Crown Prince looked towards the north, as if he wanted to see through everything and lock his nephew, the emperor, who was not there.

Fifty or sixty miles due east of the Crown Prince's central army, Yelu Hongjixing ordered the encampment in the darkness of the night. He was also on a forced march, leading only a mere fifty thousand elite troops, yet his speed surpassed that of the Crown Prince's and the Prince of Chu's vanguards. This was due in part to the elite nature of his troops, but also to his own role as commander. However, the limits of the human body were not easily overcome, and he dared not follow the reckless advance of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Chu. He reserved two reserves for his troops and ordered them to set up camp and rest.

"Uncle, this is your best chance. If you miss tonight, I can at least compete with you. If you can really defeat my army tonight, I can only accept my fate. But, the destiny must be with me!" Yelu Hongji's eyes flashed with a threatening cold light and he stared at the position of the Western Uncle, his face cold.

One day you can avoid disaster, one day you can take risks and advance, and the next day you can reverse the disadvantage, but this second day is crucial, success or failure depends on it!

Thousands of miles away, deep in the backyard of Fengguo Temple, in a simple yet spacious monk's room, the dim candlelight trembled slightly. An old monk with white eyebrows and beard stood with his back to the door, reading a Buddhist scroll in one hand and twirling his prayer beads in the other. The beads were made of fine jade and had become quite round from being played with. As the door gently opened, the old monk sighed softly, "The donor has finally arrived."

"My Murong clan wishes to replace the Yelu clan and annex the Liao dynasty with the Yan dynasty. The existence of you, the protector of the nation, is the greatest obstacle. I beg your forgiveness."

"The Khitans were originally descendants of the Xianbei, sharing the same roots. Why are they so eager to fight each other? The donor caused war and chaos in the Liao Kingdom in order to seize the country. It's over."

"The rebellion is caused by the Yelu royal family. This is an internal strife. My Murong clan is just a latecomer. We will triumph in the chaos and then bring order to the country. The Yelu clan's past is over, and the Xiao clan should be given more power."

"Amitabha, what does Mr. Murong think of my Buddha?"

"Buddhism is the state religion of the Great Yan Kingdom. It fulfills the duty of communicating and educating the outside world. The Buddhist teachings of the Great Yan Kingdom should be the orthodox teachings of the world."

"Donor, you have learned a lot from Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and you have three top Taoist masters around you. How can this old monk trust you?"

"An emperor should be broad-minded. There is nothing in the world that cannot be used. Taoism can be used, Buddhism can be used as well, and both are of great use. Huang-Lao philosophy is suitable for studying the natural world, while Buddhism, with its more aggressive nature, is best suited for diplomacy. With the other four classes of people, scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans, the Great Yan Kingdom is not afraid of any challenge! As for whether the master believes it or not, does it make any difference to me?"

"Amitabha, after I die, please treat the Xiao family and our Buddhist sect well!"

"Master, please leave! If you don't leave, the Liao Kingdom will not be destroyed. It's not that Murong Bo is ruthless, but the master is an extraordinary person. He cannot surrender or stay."

"Donor, you stripped off the sacred cloak of Buddhism and Taoism, lifted it high, and then gently put it down. Aren't you afraid of causing a backlash? Are these two religions really not afraid of inviting a wolf into the house and playing with fire, and then getting burned?"

"Master is indeed a smart man. He really cannot be kept. But there are too few smart people like you in the world. I just need to raise you high to gain the support of the mainstream of Buddhism and Taoism. That's enough. Master, don't think about inciting the rebellion of the three fellow Taoists around me. They have a high realm and have long transcended ordinary desires." Murong Bo glanced at Wuyazi, Li Qiushui, and Tong Piaoyun, and for a moment he didn't know how to describe them.