Chapter 97, Chapter 8: In a Hurry

Everyone thinks of waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out and waiting for them to come to them, but how can one remain indifferent when faced with a blood feud on the battlefield?

In an instant, both the Zhao and Jin armies went berserk, and for a time, cold light flashed, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the sound of horses' hooves, cries of pain, and roars of anger rose to the sky.

Although Shi Le was tied down by Liu Jun's central army, he still did not forget to send people to capture Liu Yao. However, the people he sent had all disappeared without a trace, which made him uneasy.

"Your Majesty, Liu Jun has personally led the charge and captured Liu Yao!"

Liu Jun sat on his horse, his right hand gripping the lance tightly, his left hand on the ring-pommel sword at his waist, and on his back was the divine bow he named "Starflow". He had minor injuries to his left abdomen and shoulder, but whether it was his excited mood or his boiling murderous aura, he felt no pain at all.

"Take him back to Jinyong City immediately, and make sure he doesn't die," Liu Jun said with a sneer as he looked at Liu Yao, who was even more seriously injured. "I'm going to take this man back to Chang'an to report to the temple."

After saying that, he looked at Lu Jing, who was standing to the side, and said, "You are reliable in your work, so you will personally escort him back. I am unable to leave for the time being, so this servant will be handed over to Tai Zhen for disposal."

"yes."

Liu Jun leaned down to look at Liu Yao, "Liu Cong is still being well taken care of in Chang'an, and you will be reunited soon."

Liu Yao glanced at him bleary-eyed and asked, "Do you have any wine?"

Liu Jun smiled good-naturedly: "Enough is enough."

Watching Liu Yao being escorted away, Liu Jun spurred his horse and said, "Let's go and meet Shi Le."

"My lord, your injury..." Ding Yi, a personal guard, said worriedly.

Liu Jun shook his head, "I have to go, otherwise he won't easily withdraw his troops."

"retreat?"

Liu Jun did not answer again. His goal this time was never to defeat Shi Le, but to force him to retreat.

Shi Le was indeed Shi Le. Just as Liu Jun was galloping towards him, Shi Le quickly realized what was happening and abandoned Liu Yao, turning instead to fight for Luoyang.

Unfortunately, he was facing Liu Dan head-on. Yuzhou had been through many wars and the people were exhausted. The fighting strength of Yuzhou soldiers was also no match for the Youyan cavalry. In a short time, they suffered heavy losses and the battle was extremely fierce.

Upon hearing the news, Liu Jun immediately ordered Ji Dan to lead his Xianbei cavalry to the rescue, while he himself led three thousand lynx warriors to attack Shi Le.

The Jin army was locked in a fierce battle, and Shi Le was not having an easy time either. The loss of Shi Hu's head had already shaken the morale of the army, and the failure to capture Liu Yao was even more disappointing. Shi Le cursed Shi Kan, who had caused the trouble, dozens of times in his heart.

Distracted in that moment, by the time he heard the wind whistling past his ear, it was already too late. He only had time to turn his head, and a sharp arrow struck his left shoulder.

"Your Majesty!"

Shi Le gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrow, shuddering in pain. When he looked again, he saw a small group of light cavalry lined up on a low hill not far away, and the leader of them drew his bow and shot down Shi Le's banner.

"Kill!" Shi Le roared.

It was a fierce battle, with both sides suffering heavy losses, and even the head coach was injured.

Liu Jun gritted his teeth. He could see that Shi Le was at his last gasp, but the Jin army was in no better shape. If they fought for another day or two, they would probably be wiped out.

"Are you ready?" Liu Jun asked Liu Yin in a low voice.

They fought and retreated, and according to the original plan, they led Shi Le into a gourd-shaped valley. In spring and summer, the southeast wind usually blows, and as long as a fire is lit, the barbarians will be reduced to ashes.

Liu Yin nodded, "We'll just wait for the lord's order, then set a fire, and our entire army will break out."

After a final survey of the terrain, Liu Jun confirmed the relatively weak points of Shi Le's army and nodded.

After Shi Le led his 5,000 troops into the valley, he soon realized he had fallen into a trap. He wanted to retreat, but he saw flames soaring into the sky. Knowing it was too late to break out, he gritted his teeth and said, "No matter how many people die, we must fight our way out of the encirclement!"

Liu Jun, occupying a higher position, kept a close eye on the movements in the valley. For some reason, despite having victory in his grasp, he felt uneasy. He whispered to Liu Yin, "It's dangerous here. Let's send some troops to the valley entrance. Shi Le is cunning. If there's an ambush, he'll catch us off guard."

Liu Yin won, and Liu Jun led several hundred soldiers to guard the valley entrance, watching the two armies fight at the bottom of the valley.

As the fire grew larger and larger, and many soldiers perished in the flames, Shi Le felt a chill in his heart and thought, "My great cause is not yet accomplished; must I perish here?"

Seeing Kui'an protecting him as he broke through the encirclement, his body covered in wounds, Shi Le looked at the corpses scattered on the ground and said with unbearable sorrow, "A slave has become king, and you gentlemen are with me. Even if I die here today, I will have no regrets in this life."

"Your Majesty, please do not speak such discouraging words. Even if we have only one breath left, we will protect Your Majesty from harm," Kui An said calmly. "Besides, there may still be a chance for things to turn around. Your Majesty, don't you feel that the winds of change... are subtly shifting?"

Not only him, but Liu Jun, standing on higher ground, also noticed that the direction of the swaying vegetation was wrong; the original southeast wind had suddenly shifted and was howling towards the northwest...

The situation reversed instantly. Shi Le's army, which had been struggling in the fire, was freed in an instant, while Liu Jun's army in the northwest was trapped in the fire.

The northwest wind, which is usually only seen in winter, appeared in early summer. Liu Jun couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but wonder if Shi Le really had a destiny in his hands.

Without a second thought, he immediately shouted, "Retreat!"

Shi Le was overjoyed, never expecting such an opportunity. He hurriedly addressed his generals, saying, "That brat Liu Jun thought he could annihilate us here, but now he probably can't. This is a golden opportunity! Pass on my message: do not retreat for now, launch a full-scale attack! Whoever takes Liu Jun's head will be appointed Grand Protector and rewarded with 100,000 coins!"

Flames roared and fire soared into the sky. Liu Jun stood in the wind, his eyes stinging from the thick smoke, and his heart ached with indescribable bitterness.

We were too careless.

Over the years, I have been too confident in my ability to control the terrain and celestial phenomena, but I have overlooked the fact that there are always unforeseen circumstances in this world.

With such a generous reward, many of Shi Le's soldiers endured excruciating pain, rolling on the ground to extinguish the flames before struggling to charge towards the Jin army.

"Liu Jun is halfway up the mountain!" Zhi Xiong, one of the Eighteen Riders of Yan and Zhao, had excellent eyesight and shouted loudly after spotting him.

Many sharpshooters were eager to try their skills, and a few impatient ones had already drawn their bows and shot arrows at Liu Jun. Fortunately, Liu Jun reacted quickly and managed to dodge them.

Liu Jun pinched his thigh hard, forcing himself to calm down—Shi Le currently has five thousand men in the valley, many of whom were injured in the fire. In addition, he should still have twenty to thirty thousand fighting forces in Luoyang, while he himself has more than four thousand men in the valley, and has not suffered too many casualties. There are also fifty to sixty thousand troops outside Luoyang...

As long as we can take two thousand men with us, we won't be annihilated by the pursuing troops, and we can reunite with the main force and take Luoyang.

Liu Jun made up his mind and personally climbed to a high place to beat the drum. The drumbeat was like thunder. The Jin army, which had been stunned by the fire and the enemy, slowly came to their senses and roared as they fought and retreated.