"General, standing below the city walls is the Emperor!"

Buzz—

The mind of Luo Ping'an, the main general of the Youzhou rebels, exploded with a buzz, still echoing the words of the archer soldier in front of him, which were choked with sobs.

Click!

The next moment, Luo Ping'an swiftly and decisively struck down with his sword, killing the archer soldier who refused to obey his orders, without the slightest hesitation or emotion.

Luo Ping'an, holding the still-dripping ring-pommel sword, roared with a ferocious expression and red-rimmed eyes, "Disobeying orders will result in immediate execution!"

"Even if the emperor standing outside Youzhou City is a fake, so what if he were the real Emperor Zhaowu of the Tang Dynasty?"

"He, Chen Huai'an, used to be the emperor to whom this general served, but from this moment on, he is no longer the emperor to whom this general serves!"

With that, Liu Ziyu pointed his blade and roared at another archer soldier on the city wall, "You, immediately fire an arrow for this general—"

"All of you, fire arrows at this general! Anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy!"

"Release the arrows—"

However, the soldiers guarding the city walls of Youzhou remained frozen in place, unmoved, even though their commander Luo Ping'an was almost in a frenzy.

But his eyes flickered with confusion and fear, as if he wanted to find out why General Luo had so ruthlessly killed the current emperor.

"What, you want to rebel?"

Luo Ping'an went completely mad, slaying another archer soldier who refused to obey his orders with a single stroke, roaring like a wild beast: "Left and Right Guards, heed my command—"

"From this moment forward, take control of the city's defenses. Anyone who disobeys will be executed—"

"Release the arrows—"

Whoosh!

Finally, Luo Ping'an seized the opportunity and personally swung his sword, severing the mechanism of a crossbow in front of him. Three arrows, as thick as spear shafts, immediately left the bowstring and shot towards the imperial army formation outside Youzhou City.

Due to the distance and lack of accuracy, these three crossbow bolts were like mud oxen sinking into the sea to the massive number of imperial troops, causing no harm whatsoever, let alone threatening the safety of Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an below the city.

However, Luo Ping'an's actions thoroughly enraged the soldiers guarding the walls of Youzhou City.

Immediately, someone shouted, "General, standing below the city is none other than His Majesty the Emperor!"

"General, how can you be so disrespectful to the Emperor?"

"General, stop!"

In an instant, on the narrow city wall of Youzhou, the soldiers who had learned the truth gripped their swords, spears, and halberds tightly, advising their commander Luo Ping'an to stop while stepping closer and closer to Luo Ping'an and his dozens of personal guards.

These soldiers remained restrained and did not directly brandish their weapons at their commander. However, their relentless pressure made Luo Ping'an and his dozens of personal guards breathless, let alone when facing a city defense force that outnumbered them by dozens of times. They could only lean against each other back to back, constantly shrinking their formation and defensive lines.

"What are you trying to do? Are you trying to rebel?!"

Luo Ping'an was filled with fear, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and muster his courage to wield his ring-pommel sword, successively killing several soldiers who came forward to "force the emperor's abdication," trying to overwhelm these rank-and-file soldiers with his imposing manner and regain his authority as the commander-in-chief.

Unfortunately, these soldiers were completely fearless of death, as if they couldn't see their comrades falling in front of them, and continued to press Luo Ping'an and his group step by step.

He kept repeating, "General, stop! The emperor is standing below the city walls!"

At the same time.

Emperor Chen Huai'an of the Tang Dynasty, standing proudly on his horse beneath the walls of Youzhou, also noticed the change in the garrison on the city walls. He immediately seized the opportunity to shout to the top of the city: "Listen up, soldiers of the Tang Dynasty stationed in Youzhou—"

"The rebel commander Luo Ping'an has betrayed his country and brought disaster to the Tang Dynasty. My personal expedition is to cleanse this house and remove these parasites from the Tang Dynasty's army."

"I hereby issue the decree that all soldiers stationed in Youzhou City, except for Luo Ping'an and his cronies, shall be pardoned!"

Immediately afterwards, all the Imperial Guards protecting the Emperor repeated the imperial edict in unison: "Except for Luo Ping'an and his cronies, all other soldiers are pardoned!"

"Except for Luo Ping'an and his cronies, all other soldiers are pardoned!"

The cheers grew louder and louder until all the soldiers and civilians inside and outside Youzhou City heard the contents of the Emperor's edict clearly and distinctly.

......

The news of the "fall" of Youzhou City reached Wuzhou City on the evening of the second day and reached the ears of Liu Ziyu, the general of the anti-rebel army.

At this time, Liu Ziyu was full of confidence and discussing with the newly succeeded Turkic Khan Batel how to cooperate with the Arab Empire's army on its eastward expedition and take the initiative to fight against Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an and the Tang reinforcements heading north.

Inside the Earl's mansion's council hall, Liu Ziyu stood before the battle simulation sand table, speaking with great enthusiasm: "Gentlemen, the scouts at the front have obtained reliable intelligence that the imperial army besieging Youzhou City numbers only 20,000 men, commanded by an unknown general surnamed Zhao;"

"The main force of the imperial army, along with Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who was personally leading the expedition, had just passed through Jinan Prefecture and were now rushing towards Zhuozhou City."

Liu Ziyu continued, gesturing wildly, "I never imagined that Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Huai'an, who rose to power on horseback, would make such a mistake in military strategy, recklessly venturing deep into enemy territory with only a small force of light and heavy cavalry, and even daring to challenge the garrison of Youzhou!"

"This is a golden opportunity for our punitive expeditionary force to defeat the imperial army. I have decided to take the initiative and concentrate our superior forces to catch the imperial light and heavy cavalry under the walls of Youzhou off guard."

"Once the imperial cavalry, both light and heavy, is eliminated, these 250,000 imperial troops will be like toothless tigers, only good for intimidation."

"When that time comes, the Turkic cavalry will launch an attack, harassing the imperial army's supply lines while coordinating with the garrison troops of Youyun Prefecture to launch a coordinated attack and utterly defeat the imperial army!"

With that, Liu Ziyu waved his hand and said sternly, "Now, I, the general, will assign specific combat tasks—"

"Deputy General Dong Tianbao—"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"This general..."

Liu Ziyu was confidently assigning combat tasks, preparing to use Youzhou City as the core battlefield to deliver a crushing blow to the imperial army marching north.

His generals were also in high spirits, eagerly awaiting a showdown with the northward-bound imperial army, ready to risk their lives on the battlefield for a bright future of being ennobled and appointed prime minister.

"Report—"

"Reporting to the General, there is an urgent military situation in Youzhou City!"

Suddenly, the latest news from Youzhou City, brought back by a messenger from the front lines, brought Liu Ziyu, who was harboring lofty ambitions, back to reality.

He first dismissed the generals in the council hall, telling them to go and prepare for the various matters before the war.

Only then did he summon the messenger and have him report the urgent military situation in Youzhou City.

The messenger, panting heavily, reported: "Reporting to the General, Youzhou City fell into the hands of the imperial army yesterday. The garrison commander of Youzhou, Luo Ping'an, was captured, and all the generals who commanded the troops died on the battlefield!"

"What?"

Upon hearing this news, Liu Ziyu was shocked and jumped up from his chair, asking incredulously, "What did you say? Youzhou City has fallen, and Luo Ping'an has been captured?"

"What exactly is Luo Ping'an good for? The imperial army besieging Youzhou City only numbers a mere 20,000 men, doesn't it? And they don't even have light or heavy cavalry carrying large siege weapons, let alone the Divine Machine Battalion or the Red-Clad Cannons to assist them."

"There are 30,000 of our troops defending Youzhou City. The city walls of Youzhou are tall and sturdy. With such a disparity in strength, even if we had a dog tied to the city gate tower to command, we wouldn't have surrendered Youzhou City to the imperial army in just one day!"

"Tell me in detail what exactly happened!"

As he spoke, Liu Ziyu, in a fit of emotion, grabbed the messenger's collar. His bloodshot eyes and ferocious expression made it seem as if he wanted to open his gaping maw and devour the messenger alive.

The news of the fall of Youzhou was like a bolt from the blue for Liu Ziyu, causing him to lose his composure.

Li Meng, the deputy general standing to the side, tried to persuade the messenger while saying, "Don't worry about what happened in Youzhou City. Report it to the general properly!"

Cough cough!

With the help of his deputy Li Meng, the messenger, who had been nearly suffocated by General Liu Ziyu's brutal "chokehold" maneuver, finally had a moment to catch his breath.

After coughing for a while and taking a few deep breaths, he looked at the two generals before him with trepidation and cautiously reported, "Reporting to the Generals, the Deputy General—"

"In Youzhou City, the rank-and-file soldiers of the garrison mutinied on the eve of battle, spontaneously defecting to the imperial troops surrounding the city. They bound General Luo Ping'an, the commander of the defending forces, along with his personal guards and a number of officers of the rank of chiliarch or higher, and then voluntarily opened the city gates, surrendering Youzhou City to the imperial troops."

"Those 20,000 imperial troops besieging the city were personally commanded by the current emperor. When the emperor shouted outside Youzhou city, the soldiers guarding the city walls immediately responded."

Ultimately, Youzhou City fell into the hands of the imperial army without being breached.

"This humble general risked his life to rush back from Youzhou City to bring back news to the General that His Majesty has personally led the vanguard of the imperial army north!"

After saying this, the messenger knelt down beside Liu Ziyu with a thud and said excitedly, "General, His Majesty's personal expedition, just the awe-inspiring presence of him standing outside the city and shouting is enough to rival a hundred thousand soldiers!"

"Please, please make a decision as soon as possible, General!"

Buzz—

After hearing the messenger explain the cause and effect of the fall of Youzhou City, the heads of General Liu Ziyu and his deputy Li Meng of the Anti-Rebel Army exploded.

For a moment, both of the rebel generals who had raised their armies went blank, unsure how to face the news.

Click—

The next moment, without warning, Li Meng, the deputy general, drew the sword from his waist and slit the throat of the messenger kneeling in front of the two men.

"Lieutenant General Li, what are you doing?"

Only when he saw the corpse of the messenger lying dead in front of him, eyes wide open, did Liu Ziyu, the leader of the rebel army, come back to his senses from his daze. He stared at his deputy Li Meng with fierce and incredulous eyes!

"General, the news of the fall of Youzhou and Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an's personal expedition must not be leaked!"

As Li Meng slowly sheathed his sword, he said in a solemn tone, "Otherwise, if the morale of the troops at the front is lost, this battle will be impossible to fight!"

"General, think about it. Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Huai'an, merely exchanged a few words outside Youzhou City, and the garrison of Youzhou was willing to defy his superior and open the city gates to surrender the city without a second thought."

"This shows the immense authority and high standing that Chen Huai'an, as the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, held in the hearts of the rank-and-file soldiers."

"If we allow Chen Huai'an to disrupt the morale of our troops on the front lines, all our carefully planned uprising will be in vain, General!"

hiss--

Faced with the earnest advice of his deputy Li Meng, Liu Ziyu, who had been dejected by the news of the fall of Youzhou, had no choice but to pull himself together after taking a deep breath.

yes!

What Li Meng, the deputy general, said was true; Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Huai'an, still held a very high prestige and status among the rank-and-file soldiers of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.

Not only because he personally led the soldiers of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and conquered the land of the Tang Dynasty;

Furthermore, the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, which has been ingrained in people's hearts for thousands of years, gives ordinary people and soldiers a natural awe for the emperor and imperial power.

This is why the fall of Youzhou occurred. Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an was able to incite the soldiers on the city walls to fight each other with just a few words outside the city.

If Chen Huai'an is allowed to continue like this, the morale of Liu Ziyu's anti-rebel army will truly collapse without a fight!

call--

After taking a few deep breaths, Liu Ziyu finally let out a long sigh. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on his deputy, Li Meng, and he said, word by word, "Deputy General Li, you did a great job. The news of the fall of Youzhou City must not leak out at this time."

"Not only must our subordinate Youyun generals not know, but we must also not let Batel and his group know. Do you understand what I mean?"

Um!

Li Meng nodded heavily.

Liu Ziyu continued, "The campaign to Youzhou must be swift. Speed ​​is of the essence in war. We must take the initiative and annihilate Chen Huai'an and the imperial troops in Youzhou before they can."

"Otherwise, if Chen Huai'an's 20,000 vanguard troops were to cross Juyong Pass and then use the same method to capture Youzhou City, the other prefectures would be safe!"

With that, Liu Ziyu said sternly, "Deputy General Li Meng, listen to my command—"

"Your subordinate is here!"

Liu Ziyu said, "I order you to immediately inform all the generals of the anti-rebel army in Wuzhou City that the previous battle order is cancelled, and the army will set off for Youzhou City to fight at the first sign of tomorrow morning!"

"Your subordinate obeys!"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Ziyu added to himself, "As for the Turks, I will personally go and talk to Batel to get his cooperation in sending troops. Let's try to wipe out Chen Huai'an's 20,000-strong vanguard army in one fell swoop!"