Yunzhou City.
One of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun in the Great Xin Dynasty, it was situated in a high position overlooking the North China Plain, relying on the Taihang Mountains, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Since the "Five Barbarian Invasions" of the previous dynasty, in the more than one hundred years of history of the Central Plains dynasties, every emperor who wanted to achieve something took it as his mission to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.
However, due to the special geographical location and pivotal strategic position of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.
In the past century, only Zhao Mang, the founding emperor of the Xin Dynasty, achieved the feat of recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and eventually conquered the Central Plains with a small force in the Hetao region.
Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin has raised an army in Longcheng to quell the rebellion. If the Southern Expeditionary Army wants to advance rapidly across the North China Plain, the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun will be the first to bear the brunt.
Yunzhou City served as a bridgehead and stronghold for the Longcheng Expeditionary Army in the south.
It was noon.
On the city tower of Qingyuan Gate, the north gate of Yunzhou City, the wind howled and the grass and trees seemed like soldiers.
Wu Qingyun, the commander of the Yunhui Army, wearing black armor and a short sword with a ring pommel at his waist, ascended the city tower and looked down to the north.
As far as the eye could see, a vast, dark mass of bandit soldiers was heading straight for Yunzhou City, their killing intent palpable.
Wu Qingyun had a sallow complexion and sunken eyes. He was already extremely ugly, but now he looked even more ferocious.
Since yesterday, while the army was on its march, it was learned that Chen Huai'an's rebel army in Longcheng had captured three cities in three days and was heading straight for Yunzhou City.
This once arrogant and domineering general, known as Tiger General, seemed to have aged ten years overnight, with many white hairs growing at his temples.
Despite all his calculations, Wu Qingyun never anticipated that Chen Huai'an would dare to use the military strength and provisions of his fiefdom—one city and thirty-six counties—to launch a partial southern expedition against the entire Great Xin Dynasty.
Even more unexpectedly, the rebel army under Chen Huai'an moved with incredible speed, advancing directly towards Yunzhou City within just a few days.
Furthermore, Wu Qingyun had completely lost contact with the Shuobei Yunhui Army at this point. If his 200,000 Yunhui troops could not be united, it would be tantamount to cutting off one's own arm before the great battle.
Moreover, after losing the unified command of Wu Qingyun, the commander-in-chief of the Yunhui Army in Shuobei, who was capable of strategizing and winning battles from afar, it was still unknown whether Liang Erhu, the simple-minded and physically weak commander of the vanguard, could defeat the cunning and treacherous Turkic Khan Temur.
At this point, the situation was becoming increasingly out of Wu Qingyun's control.
Even now, Wu Qingyun has racked his brains but still can't figure it out:
He was simply ordered to go to Longcheng to seize the eight thousand troops from a down-on-his-luck prince whose father had died. How did such a simple matter suddenly escalate to this uncontrollable state?
Not only did it cost the life of his eldest son, Wu Fengxian, but it also cost Wu Qingyun the power and future he had earned through forty years of hard work, enduring humiliation and hardship.
In the future, it may also cost him and hundreds of people in the General's Mansion their lives.
Which part of the process went wrong?
Wu Qingyun racked his brains but still couldn't figure it out.
However, there was one thing Wu Qingyun was very clear about.
If he could do it all over again, he would never have bothered getting involved in the mess in Longcheng, much less provoke Chen Huai'an, who was seen as a good-for-nothing by outsiders but was actually the number one ruthless person in the Daxin Dynasty who was pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.
Alas, of all the medicines in the world, there is none that can undo regret!
Who is guarding the city walls?
Suddenly, a roar like thunder rang out from outside the city, pulling Wu Qingyun, the absent-minded commander of the Yunhui Army, back to reality.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man dressed in gleaming armor and wearing a ring-pommel sword riding a horse outside Yunzhou City.
This man has an extraordinary appearance, tall and long-armed, with piercing eyes; one can tell at a glance that he is a fierce general.
Wu Qingyun searched his memory, but could not match the people below the city with the brave and skilled generals in the Po Lu Army in his memory.
Perhaps, Chen Polu has been secretly cultivating a general to command troops for Chen Huai'an in the army all these years!
Thinking this to himself, Wu Qingyun forced back his usual domineering air onto his hideous and grotesque face, and shouted fiercely towards the outside of the city:
"General Wu Qingyun, Commander-in-Chief of the Yunhui Army, General of the Northwest of the Great Xin Dynasty, and Tiger Might General, is here. Who is knocking on the gate outside the city? State your name!"
Upon hearing this, Chang Yuchun disregarded the danger of enemy soldiers suddenly launching arrows from the city walls and continued to ride forward alone, pacing back and forth along the moat of Yunzhou City, where the drawbridge was high and the city gates were tightly closed.
While observing the city's defenses, he replied with an air of authority: "I am Chang Yuchun, the Deputy Marshal of the Dragon City Army and the General Who Conquers the South!"
"Wu Qingyun, you criminal general, do you know that you have committed an unforgivable crime?"
Chang Yuchun snorted coldly and continued, "This general advises you to surrender quickly, open the city gates to welcome the Longcheng army's southern expeditionary force, and I will spare your life if necessary!"
"Arrogant!"
On the city wall, Wu Qingyun was furious and roared, "How dare this nameless rat spout such nonsense! Does he really think the walls of Yunzhou are made of clay? Does he think the swords, spears, and halberds of my 100,000 Yun army are made of clay?"
"If you want my life, come and take it on the battlefield. Let's see if you have the ability!"
With that, Wu Qingyun waved his hand and ordered sternly, "Pass on my command, all troops, prepare for battle!"
brush!
In an instant, on the crenellations of the Qingyuan Gate, the north gate where Wu Qingyun was located, countless archers of the Yunhui Army drew their bows and nocked their arrows in unison, all the poisoned arrowheads aimed at Chang Yuchun, who was riding his horse along the moat outside the city.
Just waiting for the general's order, a barrage of arrows could be unleashed in an instant, piercing the enemy commander who was spouting wild words through the heart and turning him into a hedgehog.
Hahaha!
Outside the city, facing the threat of countless arrows from Yunhui Army archers, Chang Yuchun showed no fear.
Instead, he burst into laughter as if no one else was around, and continued to shout to the city wall: "Wu Qingyun, don't be nervous, this general will not attack the city today!"
"I'm here today to tell you that Shuobei City fell into the hands of the Turks last night. The 100,000 troops you left in Shuobei are either dead or scattered. Don't expect any reinforcements to come and relieve the siege of Yunzhou!"
"Wu Qingyun, a key town on the northern border has fallen, and 100,000 troops have been wiped out. Tell me, haven't you committed an unforgivable crime?"
"Please carefully consider my suggestion. Surrender immediately, open the city gates to welcome the Dragon City army's southern expeditionary force, and I will guarantee you a whole corpse!"
"Oh, right, I almost forgot to tell you, the one who captured three cities under Yun's command in the past three days was also this general!"
"Hahaha!"
After saying this, Chang Yuchun laughed loudly and rode away, leaving Wu Qingyun, whose face was ashen, gritting his teeth and bewildered in the wind atop the city wall.
Then, he snatched the Lingbao Bow from the guards beside him, drew the bow, aimed an arrow at Chang Yuchun who was riding away, and shot it, but to no avail.
The arrows didn't even cross the moat before being blown into the river by a gust of wind.
Wu Qingyun is no longer the spirited and powerful general who shot the halberd at the gate.
Chang Yuchun, who had returned to Longcheng with the Southern Expeditionary Army, immediately convened a siege operation meeting in the central command tent. He drew a map of Yunzhou's defenses from memory based on his close reconnaissance and made targeted siege plans.
......
The northern part of the territory is Panlong Pass.
On the vast and boundless Loess Plateau of Northwest China, billowing yellow smoke, accompanied by flying dust, swirled in all directions, interspersed with the gleaming of sabers and the neighing of warhorses.
A troop of lightly armored cavalry galloped ahead, pursued relentlessly by another force of Turkic iron cavalry, several times larger than the lightly armored cavalry.
The distance between the two sides kept closing, getting closer and closer.
"General, we can't retreat and avoid battle any longer. Panlong Pass is the natural barrier ahead. Once the Turkic cavalry breaks through Panlong Pass, the next area will be flat and undefendable!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com