The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 363 Thinking of Retreat

Just as Liu Dazheng was heading the charge in the Military Formation with his elite troops to try and defeat the Hedong Army, and puncture a hole in the Hedong Army camp, Li Keyong appeared with gold armor.

White light reaching 10 meters appeared behind Military Formation behind Li Keyong. The white light was so bright that it even overpowered the mid-day sun. Under the white light was the mountain-like Military Formation.

Liu Dazheng felt like he had been smashed in the face by a heavy hammer, and his face turned pale instantly.

His own Military Formation, which had been marching forward without looking back, had come to an abrupt halt.

As a stream of blood flowed out of Liu Dazheng’s mouth, he stared at the confident Li Keyong. He was suddenly dumbfounded for in the confrontation of the two Military Formations, for there was a clear power gap between two sides. Not only was Liu Dazheng wounded, but the soldiers in his Military Formation were all banged up.

Within the Militarism Formation, commanders and sergeants were as one, if one succeeded, all would succeed and vice versa.

“He is indeed the Lord of Longxi, being able to train the military warrior of Militarism to such a level!” Liu Dazheng pulled up his helmet and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were full of fear towards Li Keyong, but he was not at all surprised.

What Li Keyong had displayed was also the realm of the general of Militarism, and it had reached the later period. His combat strength was obviously different from that of a general who found it difficult to advance after entering the mid-term realm.

It was no wonder Li Keyong dared to let Li Cunxiao stay at home. It turned out that he had such support.

Only that in the battles of recent years, Li Keyong led a large army to battle. And the ones who really fought on the battlefront were the Thirteen Grand Guardians. The situation that required Li Keyong to use all his strength to fight had not appeared for many years, so it was to the point that many had forgotten about it consciously or unintentionally. In fact, this young fighter who had become famous all over the world had once been evaluated as a potential famous general.

Though he had the talents of a famous general, it was not a sure thing to become one. There was still a gap between him and Li Cunxiao, who was destined to be a famous general. Even during the time of chaos, how many famous generals really existed?

It was more than enough to wipe out any opponent if one had the talents of a famous general and reached the senior general realm.

Li Keyong glanced at the frightened eyes of Liu Dazheng and snorted. “Do you really think that by winning a few battles and becoming a military warrior of Militarism is enough to rule the battlefield? It’s a big world out there. How can a frog in the well see the vastness of the heavens?”

After saying that, Li Keyong obliquely with a long spear, he was full of energy, leading the Military Formation and killing like a wolf.

Li Keyong’s condescending taunt made Liu Dazheng’s fear disappear, and it was replaced with an even stronger will. “I am also a general of Militarism, have you really taken me for chopped liver?”

Two Military Formations fought at one spot.

Although Liu Dazheng was at a disadvantage, he didn’t rush. He hindered Li Keyong here, so there was no decent opponent to face Shangguan Qingcheng. When she finished those two military warriors of Militarism, she would be able to come and help him.

By then, they could join forces, so that they would not be defeated by Li Keyong.

Liu Dazheng’s plan was good, but Shangguan Qingcheng’s plight was not as easy as he thought.

After her appearance, two generals of the Hedong Army no longer led the Military Formation to fight with the Pinglu army, but instead decisively merged to attack her.

Two military warriors of Militarism fighting against one general of Militarism.

Under normal circumstances, Shangguan Qingcheng would still prevail.

But the situation was different now.

The two generals in front of her were Fu Cunshen and Kang Junli from the Thirteen Grand Guardians.

There was nothing special about Kang Junli, and the special one was Fu Cunshen.

Fu Cunshen, one of the Thirteen Grand Guardians, also known as Li Cunshen.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Li Keyong dominated the north, and the number of brilliant generals under his command was abundant. In spite of the fact that Li Cunxiao, who was invincible in battles, had died young, there were two others that were aptly named the double walls of Hedong in the “post-Li Cunxiao era”. They were Li Cunshen and Zhou Dewei.

Fu Cunshen had fought hundreds of battles on his horse. He had crushed the Zhu Wen built Liang empire’s imperial troops multiple times. He also fought off the Qidan’s attack for many years in Youzhou. After his death, he was anointed Lord of Qin. Though he wasn’t what you’d call invincible, he never tasted defeat either.

In other words, the battles he hosted was at worst a tie with the opponent.

Not only that, Fu Cunshen had nine sons, all of them were brilliant generals. And they could all basically assume the position of commissioner. His fourth son, Fu Yanqing, became King Wei in the Northern Song Dynasty.

It was not groundless that Hedong Army (later known as the Jin Army), based on the relatively barren land in the north, was able to defeat Zhu Wen and his descendants in Li Keyong and Li Cunxu’s hands. They occupied the Central Plains and established the Later Tang Dynasty.

Right now, Fu Cunshen’s cultivation was so close to reaching the realm of general of Militarism.

Based on this cultivation, and co-operating with Kang Junli, the military warrior of Militarism, they were both fighting against Shangguan Qingcheng. Although there was still no hope to win, at least they could hold their ground and not be defeated quickly.

In this way, Shangguan Qingcheng was dragged by them, and it was impossible to achieve her intention of quickly breaching the formation and then help Liu Dazheng.

The two armies were now locked in a stale-mate.

The Hedong Army and the Pinglu Army all played their cards and tried their best to fight. It was hard to decipher the winning side at the moment. The tight situation on the battlefield was forming a balanced situation.

At this time, if someone put some weight on the other end of the balance, the equilibrium might be broken immediately.

Was there such a weight outside the city of Taiyuan?

Of course there was.

Dozens of people gathered in the watchtower of the Zhaoyi Army camp, and they were closely watching the fighting of the Pinglu Army and the Hedong Army. The first three were Kang Chengqian, the commissioner of Zhaoyi Army, Xue Wei, the commissioner of Tianping Army, and Liu Jingsi, the commissioner of Henghai.

The three men’s expressions were similar, which meant they had the same feeling. They wanted to do the right thing and help, but they also knew that their ability did not give them the confidence to be brave.

“The Pinglu Army and the Hedong Army are elites, both well-trained and experienced on the battlefield. The Pinglu Army is well-equipped. Not even the Hedong Army is their match, much less us. But the Shatuo Militarism of Hedong Army has always been brave and unafraid of death... It is hard to say who will win this fight.”

The man talking was Xue Wei, the commissioner of Tianping Army, who stroked his beard that did not exist on his chin, and looked dignified.

After listening to these words, Kang Chengqian and others all nodded slightly in agreement.

Kang Chengqian added, “The Hedong Army does have a lot of brave men who are unafraid of death. The Pinglu Army stood in front of it before, so we didn’t bear much pressure. Now after facing off against them, I know why that the Hedong Army is famous all over the world.”

He was staring at the Zhaoyi Army as he said those words. Over on the other side, ten thousand soldiers of the Hedong Army blocked the front of the camp and in turn blocked the path the Zhaoyi Army had to pass to help the Pinglu. They were locked in a fierce battle.

Not only the camp of the Zhaoyi Army, but the path in which the Tianping and Henghai armies had to travel to help the Pinglu was also blocked by the Hedong Army.

Though only the main path was blocked. It was the position that the three armies planned to cooperate with the Pinglu army to attack the Hedong Army from the wing, which was also the position the Hedong Army was most concerned about.

The number of troops of the three armies added up to almost a hundred thousand, but it was now blocked by ten thousand soldiers of the Hedong Army and they couldn’t even advance an inch.

Liu Jingsi sighed while shaking his head. “Li Keyong exhibited his ferociousness in front of the Hedong Army and their battle power and spirit has increased a level, with everyone willing to fight to the death. Whereas we have lost a commander like the Prince An, our fighting spirit had dipped a level. Considering the situation, if we wanted to break through the Hedong Army’s line of defense, we would require many times the number of soldiers and horses and attack day and night.”

Xue Wei glanced at the Taiyuan city and thought, “Taiyuan sits in a high position with deep valleys, and its defense barrier is tight. If a hundred thousand soldiers guarded such a city, it would require a million lion-like forces to breach it.”

Kang Chengqian nodded in agreement.

The path that the three armies had planned to attack the Hedong Army from the wing in cooperation with the Pinglu army was now blocked. Now that they couldn’t effectively provide the Pinglu army with support instantly, then attacking Taiyuan city so that the Hedong Army would not be able to cover attacks from both ends was probably the best way to help the Pinglu army for now.

Such a simple strategy was of course obvious to the three commissioners.

But they did not start an attack on Taiyuan city.

As though their hundred thousand troops could not breach a ten-thousand-man barrier.

The Kang Chengqian stroked his chin and sighed with a face full of concern. “Without the Prince An present, there is no one to suppress Li Keyong. He could do as he wanted on the battlefield, and Liu Dazheng was no match for him. If this situation keeps up, we would collapse.”

If the battle plan collapsed then everyone would retreat and run for their lives. By then, whoever had a more complete force and power would be able to get away unscathed.

Kang Chengqian looked at his men. Seeing as no one spoke but all seemed to agree with him, he continued, “To be frank, considering the current situation, the best support we could give the Pinglu army is probably not to make a rash move. Since everything is still stable, we can still hold on for a few days. Contrarily, if we made a sudden move and suffered serious loss, then we would have lost. The whole battle plan would collapse, like a dam collapsing due to a few ant holes.

For the three armies to quickly breach the Hedong Army’s barrier or to breach Taiyuan city, they would have to consume more than half of their battle power. No one could afford such a loss at the moment.

Considering the current situation, could they sustain such a loss? Did the Hedong Army have the ability to cause such damage to them?

It was highly unlikely.

But not entirely impossible.

The possibility lay in the hands of Li Cunxiao.

If Li Cunxiao led his 5000 elite troops, he would be able to breach any one of the three armies. He could rip open a gap for the Hedong Army to eventually win, for they could not stop him at all.

Though this was a slight risk, it was a risk none of the three armies were willing to take.

If Li Ye were here, they needn’t worry about any of this at all. They would all be fighting to lead the charge.

But since Li Ye was not present, they had no confidence in winning. By contrast, their concern for defeat had been enlarged, thus they chose to shrink their necks like turtles.

Kang Chengqian, Liu Jingsi, and Xue Wei were all anxious and concerned.

Their anxiety was not uncalled for. The reason they dispatched troops to battle the Hedong army was to follow Li Ye and enjoy the spoils of victory. Previously, everything was going well, thus the three armies had put everything on the line. At present, their lives and everything they had were all in Taiyuan city, and yet Li Ye was nowhere to be seen.

Though they hadn’t said anything, retreating was on all their minds.

They wanted to retreat from Taiyuan, and get away from Hedong.

...

The dome of the secret region was always gloomy and sombre, without a hint of sunlight. There were mountains and rivers but no wind, the tension in the air made everyone feel uncomfortable.

On the west side of the stone bridge that stretched over a river of several hundred meters, five or six Land Buddhism monks were rushing. A few hours ago, they were still battling fiercely in the secret region. After obtaining the copper blocks, they were now headed for the centre of the region.

The leader of the monks had a dark complexion, he looked back and a hint of fright showed on his face. The purple-blue grid was but a few hundred feet from them, they had to pull away otherwise they would not even have the time to battle if they got stuck in the ruins again.

The river was turbulent and rushed to the stone bridge, the sound of water was more clear to the ear. The dark monk glanced at both sides. This was a dangerous shoal, where the river had a large drop, and the terrain on both sides was quite steep with strange rocks and lush forests.

For some unaccountable reason, the dark monk suddenly shivered, and he felt palpitation in his heart. However, instead of stopping, he cursed himself, as a Land Buddhism monk with a mind stronger than gold, how could he be disturbed by the environment.

However, the next moment, someone fell on their back as they got near the eastern end of the stone bridge.

He fell because he was hit by crossbows.

The crossbows fired from the strange rock pile and woods at the bridgehead.

Suddenly, one of the monks was killed and the other monk was injured.

Before the dark monk could roar, there were vigorous silhouettes immediately rushing out like finches after the crossbows swept out.

After seeing the opponent clearly, the dark monk’s limbs became cold. His movements were stiff, and his eyes were scared.

The opponents were cultivators of the demon clan!

There were fifteen or sixteen of them!

The leading cultivator, dressed in a black robe, hid his fierce, murderous spirit in his calm eyebrows was Li Ye, the great enemy of Land Buddhism!