The ground was littered with charred corpses. Li Guang felt a great sense of satisfaction looking at the Jin soldiers who had been burned to death.
These people invaded the Great Northern Dynasty and committed countless atrocities. They deserve to be burned to death here today and are not worthy of any sympathy.
As the soldiers walked, they looked around and found a house that had not been burned down. This was probably because the house was relatively spacious and had a brick and tile structure, making it difficult for the surrounding fire to ignite.
This must be the house of a wealthy family; the house is very large, and the courtyard inside is also quite spacious.
If there are still people in this house, they must still be alive, and the soldiers immediately became alert.
They entered the courtyard carrying swords and began searching each room.
The soldiers searched every room but found no one; however, they did find several fragrant whole roasted lambs.
Li Guang immediately understood that this must be the house where Lü Chuang stayed when he entered the village. Once he moved into this house, no one else dared to come in.
When the village caught fire, the Jin soldiers frantically fled for their lives; how could they have ended up hiding in this house?
Before the large, fat sheep were even cooked, Lü Chuang escaped, proving he was lucky to have such a meal.
Li Guang ordered his men to take the roasted whole lamb back so that his soldiers could share it.
Li Guang devised a plan to burn down the entire village, leaving the villagers homeless if they ever returned. Li Guang couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
Li Guang did this out of desperation in order to resist the invaders. If there were people here now, he would give them some compensation.
The next morning, Li Guang led his soldiers to clean up the battlefield. A fire the night before had almost destroyed everything the Jin soldiers owned, and the soldiers had not obtained any spoils of war, but that didn't matter.
The soldiers were very excited after their first victory. After breakfast, they broke camp and set up camp, and the main force continued to advance towards Panzhou.
On the march, the soldiers frequently encountered small groups of Jin soldiers who burned, killed, and looted everywhere. Upon seeing these people, the soldiers would rush forward and kill them without saying a word.
These Jin soldiers were extremely fierce. If they encountered a large number of Jin soldiers, the soldiers would shoot them with crossbows to avoid direct conflict and casualties.
Since the Jin army encountered virtually no resistance in the Panzhou area, they became even more unscrupulous. Furthermore, the Jin army's dispersed forces made it easier for Li Guang to eliminate them.
The Jin army has already controlled most of Panzhou. If left to develop unchecked, more areas of Panzhou will fall.
Li Guang calculated the time and figured that the troops from Nancha Ancient Castle should have already set out and would arrive in the Panzhou area in a few days. At that time, he would join forces with Meng Liang.
At noon that day, a scout reported that Panzhou City was thirty li ahead, and about 50,000 Jin soldiers were stationed in the city.
Li Guang nodded and immediately issued the order:
"The army continued its advance and set up camp five miles from Panzhou City."
The soldiers knew that once they reached the outskirts of Panzhou City, the real battle against the Jin army would begin.
The journey of twenty or thirty li should be short, but the soldiers had not gone far when they discovered dust rising ahead. Based on their experience, they knew there was a large army ahead, and they were probably engaged in battle.
Li Guang stopped the troops, spurred his horse to a higher position, took out his binoculars, and observed the military situation ahead.
The location of the previous battle should be more than ten miles away from here, not far from Panzhou City. The fact that the battle took place there surprised Li Guang.
Could it be that the Northern Dynasty army is fighting against the Jin army here? If so, this army should be the sailors of Panzhou Lake.
The Panzhou Lake navy was extremely weak in land combat and had no chance of winning against the powerful Jin cavalry.
Li Guang observed through his binoculars for a while and quickly saw the situation ahead. As he had expected, it was indeed the Panzhou Lake sailors and the Jin soldiers fighting ahead.
However, the navy had already been defeated and was retreating in this direction. Tens of thousands of Jin soldiers were chasing after them and it was estimated that they would catch up in a short time, which would be a devastating blow to the Panzhou Lake navy.
There is no time to lose; we must hurry and rescue them first, and then find a way to stop these Jin soldiers.
Thinking of this, Li Guang immediately spurred his horse back and told Yue Heng what had happened ahead. Yue Heng was also very surprised after hearing it.
"So what do we do now? Should we go and rescue the sailors on Panzhou Lake first?"
Li Guang nodded and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking. General Yue, lead three thousand soldiers to intercept the Jin army and engage them in battle."
"I will set up an ambush here. General Yue, you can lure the Jin soldiers into our formation."
"Alright, then I'll go and engage the Jin soldiers now to lure them over." After saying this, Yue Heng mustered three thousand soldiers and quickly departed.
This place was still more than ten miles away from the battlefield ahead, and Li Guang was already fully aware of the battle situation ahead, which Yue Heng had to admire.
Before long, Yue Heng saw that the defeated navy numbered about three thousand, and the Jin soldiers behind them were getting closer and closer, and were about to catch up.
The sailors were desperately fleeing when suddenly a large army appeared in front of them, which startled them greatly.
Upon closer inspection, they realized that the troops ahead were not Jin soldiers, but rather the army of the Northern Dynasty. It seemed that reinforcements had arrived.
Yue Heng ordered his troops to clear a path for the sailors.
After the sailors passed, someone led them to continue their evacuation to the rear.
The Jin soldiers were taken aback by the sudden appearance of a troop of men ahead, realizing that the Northern Dynasty had already sent troops to this area.
However, the number of people in front is too small, at most three thousand, while our side has more than ten thousand. Wiping out this group is not a problem at all.
At this moment, Yue Heng's army formed a battle formation to confront tens of thousands of Jin soldiers.
After the Jin soldiers were stopped, they also formed their battle formation, and it was clear that the strength of the two sides was not equal.
These Jin soldiers were tall, especially the generals, who were almost all burly men. They looked down on the soldiers of the Northern Dynasty.
During this period, the Jin army had a smooth journey, especially when they entered the Panzhou area. They basically drove straight in without encountering any resistance. They really wanted to have a good fight, but unfortunately, they didn't have that opportunity.
During this period, the sailors of Panzhou Lake finally set out. They frequently sent troops to fight against the Jin army, but were always defeated.
After the first defeat of the naval forces, the Jin soldiers pursued them relentlessly all the way to Panzhou Lake, where they were ambushed by the Jin soldiers and suffered heavy losses.
The Jin soldiers finally realized that they had no chance of winning against the navy in the waters of Panzhou Lake.
In subsequent battles, the navy was defeated and fled to Panzhou Lake. The Jin soldiers pursued them for a while, but then stopped.
The Jin soldiers would not fall for it again. They knew that the purpose of the sailors' challenge was to lure them into Panzhou Lake. Although the Jin soldiers were powerful, they would be no match for the navy once they reached Panzhou Lake.
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