This was an army of eight hundred cavalry that had left the vassal territories without the permission of the Bureau of Military Personnel. They had traveled from Beiliang to Youzhou, through Hezhou, and were slowly making their way to the western part of the capital.
Along the way, the garrisons of the various provinces that were supposed to stop this army of light cavalry kept quiet out of fear, not even making a token appearance to question them. As a result, the eight hundred cavalry moved through the northern border of Liyang as if they were unstoppable. The elite cavalry of Beimang on the eastern front had done the same at the northern defense line of Jihe and Hezhou, but the problem was that Wang Sui had tens of thousands of soldiers under his command at the time, while this army of cavalry only numbered eight hundred.
According to normal reasoning, with just eight hundred people, forget about Liaodong where Northern Mang and Li Yang were both heavily garrisoned, even if they were thrown into Guangling Road where the flames of war were swirling about, they still wouldn't be able to make a single ripple.
Along with the eight hundred riders, who were far from being as fast as the wind and lightning, one by one, intelligence reports from Huai Jiedushi Cai Nan, Military Administrator Han Lin, King of Han Zhao Xiong, Deputy General Yang Huchen of Ji Province, and other important ministers, were delivered to the capital at the speed of eight hundred li.
Finally, on the westernmost border of the capital, an elite force responsible for the safety of the capital, appeared. This was the Jifu Garrisoned Army, with the Western Fortress Camp as its main force. The three main camps of the Western Army had mobilized in full force, numbering seven thousand men, half on horseback and half on foot. This Western Army should have been led by Yuan Tingshan, who was conferred the title of Western Pacifying General. However, this Ji Province General could not even keep his position, let alone have any control over the Western Army, which was second only to the Jingji Northern Army. The seven thousand soldiers of the Western Army today were led by Anxi General Zhao Gui, a member of the Zhao Clan's Imperial Clan. Above his head was one of the four Commandants of the capital with the title of General Fen Wu, the Huqi Commandant, and Yuchi Changgong as his deputy.
Seven thousand well-rested soldiers were facing off against eight hundred travel-worn light cavalry, and the former were acting like they were facing a powerful foe.
Yuchi Changgong, who was as famous as Yang Huchen and Song Li, was still able to maintain his composure. But Anxi General Zhao Gui was sweating profusely. He sat timidly on his horse, his stomach full of complaints as he softly cursed those old bastards from the Imperial Clan Court. How could he be lying when he said that he was ill? Even Tang Tieshuang of the Ministry of War had turned a blind eye to it, but in the end, it was his own family that had harmed his own. He had even threatened that if he didn't want to lead the army, he would use the name of the Imperial Clan Court to impeach His Majesty for cowering at the last minute.
Under the scorching sun, Zhao Gui felt like dying. If it had been ten years ago, he would have led seven thousand soldiers to intercept a few hundred Beiliang barbarians in his own territory. Forget about the Ministry of War and the Imperial Clan Court using both hard and soft tactics, they wouldn't have been able to stop him from reaping the rewards. However, as the cavalry left Beiliang, a few rumors spread from the northwest to the center of the capital, and then drifted out through the cracks of the yamen's doors or the beaded curtains of the palace. After hearing these shocking news, Zhao Gui, who was far better at killing in bed than on the battlefield, was completely dumbfounded. Had these Beiliang barbarians really defeated a million-strong army of Beimang? It was said that even the famous Beimang general, Yang Yuanzan, had his head chopped off in that damned place called Gourd Mouth? There were even people who swore that the Jingguan temples in Youzhou were as numerous as the snowmen in the capital during winter.
Zhao Gui's mouth twitched violently. He turned to Yuchi Changgong and asked in a trembling voice, "General Yuchi, if that little barbarian Xu … oh, no, it's the King of Beiliang. If the King of Beiliang refuses to stop, are we really going to have to fight with them?"
Yuchi Changgong, who had been ousted from the position of General of Anxi by this noble of the imperial clan, said expressionlessly, "General Zhao, this is the order from above. We can't disobey it."
In the past, whenever Zhao Gui met Captain Yuchi Changgong, he would purposely call him Sir Captain. Now, he squeezed out a smile and said, "Don't the military books say that subduing the enemy without fighting is the best of the best? If that King of Beiliang doesn't see the big picture, I have a good relationship with the southern army. Why don't we inform them and call a few thousand men over? It'll also teach the King of Beiliang the illustrious might of our garrisons in the capital. "
Yuchi Changgong calmly said, "General Zhao, if this general remembers correctly, no matter who it is, anyone who dares to privately transfer the capital's troops out of their garrisons will be beheaded. Let alone you and me, even Assistant Minister Tang of the Ministry of War doesn't have this right."
Zhao Gui laughed dryly. "I'm just worried that the young vassal king, who spends most of his time in the northwest, doesn't know the severity of the situation."
Yuchi Changgong narrowed his eyes and gazed into the distance. He had no interest in chatting with this Anxi general, only patiently waiting for the next batch of scouts to bring back military intelligence. Compared to Zhao Gui, who was a so-called great general who had risen from the ranks of the dwarves in the imperial family, Yuchi Changgong had gone to the frontlines of the Liaodong border after he had reached the age of twenty. He had worked hard to become a military officer at the border, and only then had he returned to the capital after his family had opened up some connections. He had risen step by step to his current position. Yuchi Changgong was naturally not an idiot like Zhao Gui who had relied on his family name to reach his position. The number of people in the capital who truly knew the details of the battle in Beiliang could be counted on two hands. Even in the Ministry of War, the position of minister was currently vacant. Assistant Minister Xu Gong was patrolling the border. Perhaps only Assistant Minister Tang Tieshuang, who controlled the Ministry of War in the capital, knew the inside story. Because Yuchi Changgong had once trained in Liaodong, he had a valuable personal relationship with Assistant Minister Tang. As a result, he knew more about the truth of the northwest than Zhao Gui. Not only did he know that Beiliang had repelled Beimang's million-man army on three fronts, he even had a rough estimate of the losses on Liang Mang's side. Yuchi Changgong had personally experienced the astonishing strength of the Beimang cavalry on the border. The more this was the case, the more shocked Yuchi Changgong felt. Although he appeared to be more composed than Zhao Gui, Yuchi Changgong's right hand had never left the saber at his waist. His knuckles had already turned white.
Perhaps Zhao Gui was just afraid of the young man's status as a vassal king and the three hundred thousand Beiliang cavalry. At most, he might have added on the terrifying title of the new Prince Liang as a martial grandmaster. But Yuchi Changgong truly had no confidence that the seven thousand people who had been away from war for many years could withstand the charge of eight hundred cavalry. One charge could stabilize the formation, but after two or three times? On the battlefield of official history, regular soldiers faced rebels, top elites faced ordinary regular soldiers. The advantage of military strength on the surface had always been meaningless. Not to mention the distant past, just the Spring and Autumn War twenty to thirty years ago, when tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of bandits like locusts were killed by a few thousand imperial soldiers until rivers of blood flowed. When had this ever been a small number? And on a large scale battlefield, it was not rare for one side to use thousands or even hundreds of elites to break through the enemy's formation. In the past, Yuchi Changgong did not look down on the Beiliang Frontier Army that was known as the best cavalry in the world like the scholars of Liyang, but he did not take it too seriously. He always felt that the Southern Ji Infantry of the old general Yang Shenxing might not be able to compete with the Youzhou infantry, but there was not much difference. He also felt that the Liao Defense Line, like the Duoyan Elite Cavalry and the Black Water Cavalry, were the top fighting force even in the Beiliang Frontier Army. But now, Yuchi Changgong was not so optimistic.
Yuchi Changgong unconsciously tightened his grip on the hilt of his saber. His emotions were complicated. If the Beiliang cavalry was not a hundred thousand, but a true three hundred thousand, then would they be able to directly attack the Norland in the heart of Beimang and help the Central Plains completely conquer the desert and grassland for the first time? But if the Beiliang really had such a force, since they could take down Beimang, then even if it was more difficult to take down the Great An City behind him, how difficult could it be?
When the scout galloped over to report that the eight hundred cavalry were only ten li away, Zhao Gui forced a smile and asked, "General Yuchi, I don't think the King of Beiliang will really start a war right under the Emperor's feet, right?"
Yuchi Changgong did not have the mood to hit Zhao Gui when he was down. He frowned and said, "Wait for them to advance another five li. If the Beiliang sends scouts to come into contact with our army, then it means that the vassal king will follow the rules."
Unknowingly, Zhao Gui's helmet was a bit crooked. He reached out to support it with trembling hands and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He asked in a small voice, "If we don't see the Beiliang vanguard scouts, what do we do?"
Yuchi Changgong said in a low voice, "Just go into formation and meet the enemy."
Zhao Gui trembled and almost fell off his horse. He laughed to hide his embarrassment and comforted himself. "It shouldn't be. Last time, the King of Beiliang came to the capital to meet the previous Emperor. No matter if it was at the Mawei Embassy or in the court, he still followed the rules."
It was clear that the Anxi General had automatically ignored the actions of the Crown Prince outside the Imperial College and the disturbance at the Jiujiu Embassy. He had even tossed to the back of his mind his bold words and lofty aspirations that he had once declared that if he ran into that little barbarian, he would exchange blows with him.
The two armies had faced each other for less than five li, but there was still not a single Beiliang cavalry to appear.
Zhao Gui slapped himself in the face and said angrily, "You jinx!"
Yuchi Changgong did not need to look at the cavalry behind him to feel that suffocating pressure.
Thinking back to that year, when the Hu Cavalry Captain Yuchi Changgong went into battle as a sergeant in Liaodong for the first time, it was as if he could clearly hear his own heavy breathing.
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