Chapter 365: Take refuge
The army did not leave. Lu Xueyin came out and said, "Send someone to investigate. If there is any snow, clear it away. Then let the army set out."
The heavy snow a few days ago made marching difficult, and they did the same thing. The people below didn't think much about it and immediately sent out orders to clear the snow.
Lu Xueyin turned around and called Zu Xingwei, Ji Ping and Wei Dong to discuss countermeasures.
The few of them discussed for the entire day, and even had lunch in Lu Xueyin's tent.
No one knew what they talked about, but the next day there was still a man riding his horse at full speed on the road that had just been cleared of snow. He was rushing to Ningzhou to deliver a letter.
Three days later, the Lu family army lost 200,000 soldiers.
Lu Xueying had not arrived in Ningzhou yet, and Gao Ming gave the reason that heavy snow had delayed her trip.
Gao Ming smiled calmly, "My Lord said that we won't start a war now. Even if we do, we have to wait until after the New Year and the beginning of spring. The soldiers have just finished fighting the Tatars and are exhausted. My Lord loves the people like his own children, so he wants the soldiers to rest."
This was indeed something Lu Xueyin could do, and her reasons were indeed sufficient, so His Royal Highness the Crown Prince believed it.
It just so happened that the prince felt that Lu Xueyin was not available, which made it convenient for him to act.
He sent a message to Peng Jiang to discuss the matter of surrendering. As long as he could win over Peng Jiang and the troops under his command, he would have the confidence and the trump card.
Peng Jiang also needed time to convince his soldiers, and everything went smoothly.
Everything is going according to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's plan.
Ten days later, there was a rare night of fine weather. Lin'an Prefecture in Jizhou was the headquarters of the Yilin Army, and the entire city was populated by the families of the Yilin Army.
They lived in peace and stability because the Yilin Army was guarding outside the door.
Late at night, a few meows were suddenly heard outside the gate of Lin'an Prefecture.
A guard guarding the city heard it and quietly approached the city gate, trying to open it. A guard next to him saw him about to speak, but a guard appeared behind him and silently cut his neck.
The guards opened the city gate, and then a group of people entered the city and joined those who had been waiting on the side.
The team leader is Weidong.
"Dou Jiangjun." Wei Dong bowed with a very respectful attitude.
Dou also quickly returned the greeting: "Master Wei, there is no need to be so polite. The important matter is more important."
Wei Dong smiled and nodded: "Thank you Dou Jiangjun for leading the way. In this battle, Dou Jiangjun deserves the most credit!"
Dou also smiled slightly: "We are all serving you, sir. We are all family members from now on. Sir Wei, you don't have to be polite."
Wei Dong smiled and patted his shoulder: "You're right, we're all brothers from now on."
After the two exchanged greetings, Dou Ye took Wei Dong into the city.
Dou Ye introduced the situation and said, "The medicine has been administered. Today is Mother Peng Jiang's birthday, and everyone in the army has gone to celebrate, and they've all drunk quite a bit." After a pause, he continued, "I've already convinced over thirty mid-level generals, commanding approximately three hundred thousand men, to submit to you, sir."
Weidong's eyes lit up. He never expected that Dou Ye was so capable that he could convince so many people.
The Yilin Army boasted a million-man force, but this was inflated. Many of them were family members of the Yilin Army, and the actual combat-ready force was much smaller. According to Lu Xueyin's deduction, the Yilin Army only had around 800,000 men.
Dou Ye instigated nearly half of the Yilin Army to rebel. How could Weidong not be happy?
Dou was also a general in the Yilin Army, but his position was not high, which was related to his background.
Before joining the Yilin Army, he was born into a military household. His family had served in the military for generations, and he had once risen to the rank of centurion before being killed in battle. Unlike the poor commoners, he joined the Yilin Army by donating a warehouse of grain and uniting with several other military households.
He came from a family of learned scholars and was very brave on the battlefield. However, because of his background, Peng Jiang did not respect him. After all, most of the Yilin Army's generals came from peasant backgrounds, the kind who could barely survive. In their eyes, Dou Ye was just a young official.
But he was very popular in the army and had very close relationships with the lower-level soldiers and team leaders.
He had long known that the Yilin Army was a mob that could not last long. He defected because the Yilin Army had occupied the city at that time. He chose to defect in order to protect his family.
He was always thinking about where he and the Yilin Army would go.
Then he knew Lu Xueyin.
Ever since he heard about Lu Xueyin's deeds, he'd been following her. Oh, back then, she was still called Lu Chenyang. The more he learned about her, the more he admired her. Lu Xueyin had defeated the King of Nanyang with a small force, and later took in refugees. Many of her deeds had made Dou's blood boil. It was something he'd wanted to do but couldn't, but Lu Xueyin had done it.
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