Chapter 148 Six Meridians Divine Sword breaks the city gate! Recover lost territory in ten days! (33)

The 50,000 Dingzhou border troops, plus the 50,000 other border troops that were transferred in succession, together formed the Western Expedition Army under Li Changan.

These 50,000 generals of the Dingzhou border army all have close ties with the Ye family.

Ye Chong, Gong Dian, and Ye Quan all started out in the Dingzhou Army, so these 50,000 Dingzhou troops all followed Ye Chong's lead.

Ye Zhong looked businesslike, stepped forward and said to the generals, "Grand Commander, please speak the truth, and don't worry about anything."

Li Changan glanced at Ye Chong. This guy could be considered his father-in-law, but he never called him father-in-law.

When working, just refer to his position, why call him father-in-law?

He would never call him that in private. Even if he called him ancestor, it was impossible for him to be completely on the same page with Li Changan.

Li Changan knew that all the generals of the Western Expedition Army under his command would have to be replaced by his own people one day.

With Marshal Ye's approval, the generals began to answer Li Changan's questions.

"General, Yangguan is built between high mountains. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. There are 50,000 soldiers and horses of Western Qin in the city."

"Western Qin's prisoners are fearless and extremely brutal. We should wait until all 100,000 Western Expedition troops are in place before we make any plans!"

"General, it's not that we are afraid of death, it's just that the pass is too dangerous!"

"If Grandmaster Ku He hadn't directly killed Grand Commander Shi Fei who was guarding Yangguan Pass, this pass would not have been lost at all."

Li Changan turned to Ye Zhong and asked, "Marshal Ye, what do you think?"

Ye Zhong replied, "Although the enemy's prisoner army is brutal, their military discipline and combat capability are far inferior to the main force of Western Qin."

"Now that I have arrived, even if I sacrifice 10,000 or 20,000 men, I will definitely be able to recapture Yangguan."

"If His Royal Highness the Grand Commander wants to reduce casualties, for the sake of long-term planning, it is better to wait until the Western Expedition Army arrives before starting the battle."

Along the way, Li Changan had discussed this with Ye Chong, Gong Dian and Ye Wan many times.

The task given by Your Majesty to destroy the Western Qin State is too arduous, so it is very necessary to reduce casualties now.

At this time, Ye Wan stood up and said, "Your Highness, the Grand Commander, the Marshal's plan is too conservative!"

Ye Zhong glared at Ye Wan. This eldest son was showing off his talent. It was obvious that Li Changan wanted to support this son to check and balance himself.

The problem is that Ye Wan is the most outstanding rising star in the Ye family, and Ye Zhong also hopes that his son will become a great man.

When the generals saw Marshal Ye and his son arguing, they didn't know what to say.

"I have observed your Highness's Shadow Guards these past few days. These five hundred third-rank warriors obey orders and are full of killing intent."

"I really don't know how His Highness was trained!"

Li Changan nodded and said, "You have a good eye. After all, these people are from poor backgrounds, and they have a lot of energy in their bones."

Ye Wan continued, "With the help of your Highness's special forces, and another 30,000 soldiers and horses given to me, we can capture Yangguan in one day!"

Hearing Ye Wan's words, Ye Zhong was immediately furious, "Ye Wan! You are too reckless!"

"Every soldier is the foundation of Daqing. How can we allow you to take such a risk!"

Li Changan said calmly, "Marshal Ye, you want to say that these soldiers are the foundation of the Ye family, how can you be so reckless, right?"

Ye Chong's expression suddenly froze. This son-in-law was too disrespectful to his father-in-law. Aren't the Ye family also yours, Prince Yong?

"Grand Commander, I am also considering your highness's long-term interests."

Ye Wan argued, "The Convict Army is unstoppable when the wind is favorable, but once they encounter setbacks, they will collapse in an instant."

"I participated in the war to destroy Nanzhao, and I have a deep understanding of this."

Ye Zhong was so angry that he almost rolled his eyes. He didn't even have the qualifications to participate in a war to annihilate a country.

When Ye Wan went to the Nanzhao border army, he happened to encounter Emperor Qing destroying Nanzhao and forcing it to become a vassal state, which allowed Ye Wan to gain a lot of experience and military merit.

Of the 100,000 Western Qin prisoners, 50,000 were stationed in Yangguan Pass, and 30,000 were stationed in the three county cities behind Yangguan Pass.

The criminal army has poor military discipline, but can unleash powerful combat power.

Among these prisoners, there are accomplices from Luowang.

It was also Ye Wan's good luck that the credit for the first battle after leaving seclusion would fall on this kid again.

Li Changan's goal is to force Ye Chong to step aside, completely subdue Ye Wan, and let Ye Wan take over the power of the Ye family.

"Ye Zhong, Ye Wan, Wang Qinian, and Jing Wuming stay here. The other generals return to their tents and wait for orders!"

After the others left, Li Changan quickly arranged a battle plan for them.

A master of the Shadow Secret Guard sneaked into Yangguan at night, contacted the insider, and directly assassinated the general of the Criminal Army.

Then they set fire to the general's mansion in the city, opened the city gate while the chaos was going on, and let Ye Wan's army enter.

Once the main army enters the pass, the criminal army will be leaderless and can only flee in a panic to save their lives.

In Yangguan City.

The general assigned by the criminal army to guard the pass was a captured border general of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

After learning the news that Li Changan had arrived at the Dingzhou military camp, he immediately went to the camp.

"Everyone, Li Changan has arrived at Dingzhou Army. How should we respond?"

A general under his command said, "Li Changan is nothing to worry about. He is just a dandy prince who is good at writing and has never even been on the battlefield."

"The trouble is that Ye Zhong and Ye Wan are here, we have to be careful they start attacking!"

Another general said, "Yangguan is easy to defend but difficult to attack. They can't attack it with only 50,000 men."

The commander of the pass said, "When I was in Northern Qi, I fought against Ye Zhong for many years and I know his character well."

"Ye Chong has some abilities, but he is extremely selfish. This time the Ye family's Dingzhou army lost 50,000 soldiers, and he must be reluctant to use the remaining 50,000 soldiers to attack Yangguan."

"I predict that Li Changan will be very dependent on his father-in-law when he first goes to the battlefield, so he will wait until 100,000 troops arrive before attacking the pass."

"Hurry up and prepare the city defense equipment. Make sure to turn Yangguan into an iron barrel within a month!"

The criminal army could never have imagined that on the first night that Li Changan arrived at the Dingzhou military camp, the Shadow Secret Guards launched a decapitation operation.

With Teng Zijing supporting outside, Wang Qinian and a dozen eighth-rank masters easily crossed the mountains and entered the city gate silently.

Li Changan stood on a hilltop next to the pass in a mysterious manner, watching the Shadow Secret Guard master successfully enter the General's Mansion.

Immediately afterwards, his figure flashed and in a few moments he arrived at the gate of Yangguan.

The soldiers guarding the door suddenly saw a young man in gorgeous clothes standing in front of them.

"who!"

"What are you doing here so late at night?"

"If you don't stop, we'll shoot!"

However, before these people shot their arrows, several acupoints on Li Changan's body instantly released sharp sword energy!
The sound of breaking air was endless, and all these soldiers were beaten into blood foam, with no body left!

Immediately afterwards, Li Changan unleashed the Shao Shang sword energy, the powerful sword energy was like a bolt of lightning, and a storm was coming!
"Boom!"

The heavy wooden city gate was instantly shattered by the sword energy, and even the walls of the gate were shattered by the impact!
Li Changan shook his head. It was indeed a bit boring for a grandmaster to play this.

He had to conquer the entire Dingzhou as soon as possible, and then join forces with Han Xin to destroy the Western Hu and Northern Barbarians, only then would he be worthy of the status of Grand Master.

Ye Wan, who was lying in ambush outside the city, heard a loud noise from afar, and the wooden door of Yangguan completely shattered!
"Recover the lost territory today. Soldiers, follow me!"

Ye Wan, riding a white horse, holding a silver spear and wearing a white battle robe, led the way and rushed into Yangguan with 5,000 cavalrymen like a flood.

The remaining 20,000-odd infantrymen followed suit. There was no so-called siege battle, only bloody street fighting.

The criminal soldiers in the city heard a loud rumbling noise, and then saw that the Qing cavalry had already rushed into the pass.

There were shouts of fighting, the sound of swords and spears piercing bodies, screams and curses everywhere! Then, the general's mansion caught fire, and the guard's head was hung on the platform!
Then, the Dingzhou Army shouted, "Listen up, Western Qin prisoners!

As long as you surrender, all your prisoners in Northern Qi and Western Qin will be abolished!"

"As long as you abide by Daqing's national laws, previous crimes committed by other countries will be forgiven!"

This tactic really worked. Most of the prisoners, who had no food to eat, laid down their weapons and surrendered.

When the sky was just getting light, Li Changan and other generals received Ye Wan's report.

Ye Wan was covered in blood, but he seemed very excited. "Reporting to the Grand Commander, Yangguan has been recaptured, and 30,000 of the 50,000 prisoners have surrendered."

"Ten thousand were killed, and another ten thousand fled. Our casualties were less than five thousand. This battle was a great victory!"

Ye Chong, Gong Dian and other generals of the Ye family found it a little unbelievable.

Yangguan is a strategic pass in the world. Last year, when it was still in the hands of Northern Qi, the Kingdom of Qing lost 30,000 soldiers before it captured it.

By taking Yangguan, the Northern Qi state was completely taken over.

But now, Ye Wan took down this mighty pass with less than 10% casualties.

Ye Zhong smiled and said, "Congratulations to the Grand Commander for his victory. This battle was all thanks to the Grand Commander's strategic planning!"

Ye Wan also said, "It is true that the Grand Commander's Shadow Guards are so powerful that they not only killed the guards, but also completely destroyed the Yangguan Gate!"

After hearing this, the generals in the tent finally understood why the casualties were so small.

The city gate was directly destroyed, so there was no need to attack the city. Then they could rush into the pass at night, like a wolf among a flock of sheep.

Wang Qinian smiled slightly, "Our ninth-grade hidden weapon expert, Deputy Commander Jing Wuming, has his own unique skills."

Ye Zhong looked at Teng Zijing standing behind Li Changan and suddenly felt a chill on his back.

The previous ninth-rank archer Yan Xiaoyi could launch sneak attacks across levels, and even ninth-rank long-range masters were not easy to mess with.

Li Changan said to Ye Wan, "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. I order you to lead 30,000 Dingzhou troops to pursue the victory and reclaim the entire Dingzhou!"

"Generals of each camp, you choose yourselves, and make sure the battle is quick and decisive!"

Ye Wan answered loudly, "Thank you for your trust, Grand Commander. I will definitely fulfill my mission!"

Ye Wan stood up and bowed to Ye Zhong, "Father, please lead the troops and capture Longtou City."

Ye Zhong glared at Ye Wan, then bowed to Li Changan and said, "I will obey the order of the Grand Commander!"

Afterwards, Ye Wan appointed Gong Dian and another border general to lead the troops out of Yangguan and sweep towards the northwest.

Ten days later, the three northwest counties of Yangguan were all recovered, and twenty days later, another 50,000 troops from the Western Expedition finally arrived.

In Kyoto City, Emperor Qing also received news that Li Changan had recovered the entire Dingzhou.

Looking at the urgent military report in his hand, Emperor Qing was a little dazed.

"You've already recaptured the entire Dingzhou before all the people have arrived?"

"Could it be possible that this kid Li Changan is really a person with a heavenly vein?"

"How come everything he does is so easy?"

According to Emperor Qing's estimation, Li Changan would have to wait for at least 100,000 troops to arrive, and then spend three to five months before he could capture Yangguan.

During this process, he had to ask the court for soldiers and food, and his arrogance could be curbed.

Not long after, the eldest prince and the crown prince were summoned.

"Look, the two of you, why do you think Prince Yong was able to win so quickly?"

The eldest prince glanced at the battle report and showed a look of surprise.

"Uncle Prince Yong was able to win quickly because he made use of the young general Ye Wan, who had few concerns and dared to charge!"

"Secondly, the Western Qin prisoners' fighting spirit is not strong. Once they encounter setbacks, they will lose the will to fight."

"Third, the Shadow Guards come and go invisibly, and the enemy cannot defend against them."

After seeing the war preparations, the prince felt extremely bitter. How had his uncle Prince Yong succeeded again?

All in all, it had only been more than a month since Li Changan left Kyoto, and he had won another great victory!

"The great victory in Dingzhou was achieved thanks to your majesty's great power and blessings. The prosperity of Daqing will be great."

"Uncle Yong was able to adapt to the situation and act quickly, and his contribution is invaluable!"

"Now that we have conquered the entire Dingzhou, we should seize the opportunity to capture Xi Qin!"

Upon hearing the prince's words, the eldest prince immediately retorted.

"Prince, don't be hasty in trying to seize Western Qin!"

"Western Qin defeated Northern Qi's army many times, with well-trained soldiers, sufficient food, and excellent armor and weapons."

"When Daqing and Western Qin go to war, Western Hu, Northern Barbarians, and Northern Qi are all eyeing them covetously."

"If we win too quickly, we will inevitably be besieged by many parties. We must not rush this matter!"

Emperor Qing glanced at his two sons and found that the eldest prince was indeed an honest man.

Every word he said was valuable, not a single word of nonsense.

"Boss, what you said makes sense. It will take time to destroy Western Qin. We need long-term planning."

"Fighting on the front line requires support from the rear. Prince, please make a decision in the next few days."

Emperor Qing is a man who will not personally take action unless he is pushed to the limit.

Now he is kicking the ball to the prince, which is also giving the prince a chance.

The progress of Li Changan's war in the northwest is in the hands of the prince.

Yangguan Pass City.

Li Changan called the Shadow Secret Guards and the generals of the Ye family and told them a piece of news.

"Here is a secret letter from the Northern Barbarian Khan to me. Please take a look."

Ye Wan stretched out his hand halfway, then retracted it, and Ye Zhong took it as a matter of course.

After Ye Chong finished reading it, his brows immediately furrowed.

"The Khan of the Northern Barbarians wants to meet with Your Highness to jointly attack the Western Qin."

"The Northern Barbarians have more than 100,000 cavalrymen, and they were previously suppressed by Uesugi Tiger."

"Now that Shangshan Hu has surrendered to Xi Qin, the Northern Barbarians are afraid that Shangshan Hu will lead his troops to attack them again."

"But barbarians have always been untrustworthy, so we should be careful!"

Then, Li Changan took out another secret letter and said, "This is a letter from Han Xin, the general of Western Qin."

"He also asked us to work together to eliminate the northern barbarians. After the success, he will give us half of the horses, cattle, sheep and slaves!"

Several generals read both letters and understood one fact.

Western Qin is now attacked from two sides, winter is approaching and the northern barbarians are about to move south.

Li Changan has just arrived, and the army has recaptured Dingzhou, with a vague intention of heading north.

Wang Qinian said, "The question now is, should we help the Northern Barbarians or the Western Qin?"

Li Changan said calmly, "We... want them all!"

PS: I don’t know how to kill the barbarians and try to finish it tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)