第60章 羽林！

第60章 羽林！
As the major aristocratic families prepared to launch their covert operations, Li Long also hurried to rectify the city's defenses.
Over 50,000 guards died defending the outer city, further weakening the defense forces inside the city. The newly trained soldiers and the guards drawn from the major mansions have not formed combat effectiveness yet, so they cannot be placed on the city walls. Li Long can only disperse the Imperial Guard and the remaining 10,000 city guards to different sections of the city walls, with 20,000 on each side.
The rebels are still mobilizing their troops, and the fierce battle in the capital has temporarily come to a halt. After settling the matter, General Li Long rushes to the palace and is summoned by the Empress.
"General Li, can the inner city be defended?" The Empress has become visibly thinner. With hundreds of thousands of rebels surrounding the city, the Empress, who has experienced the horrors of war, lives in constant fear of the rebels breaking through.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The rebel army has already lost more than a hundred thousand men. Relying on the inner city, I can at least consume another hundred and fifty thousand rebel soldiers. Once the city is breached, the Imperial Guards can defend the palace. I have already prepared for this and will continue to resist in the inner city with the remaining troops. This way, we can hold out for at least two more months. At that time, as long as Your Majesty summons General Yue's army to move north, the rebel army will surely be defeated," Li Long confidently said.
General Li's confidence is reassuring, but the messenger from the Hope Peak Army has already arrived at the North Lake. It would be better for the Hope Peak Army not to head north unless absolutely necessary," Chen Ling frowned and said.
Li Biao and Wu Xi glanced at each other and shook their heads secretly.
After leaving the study room, Li Biao asked Li Long, "Have the defenses in various places been organized?"
"Almost, if the rebels continue their attacks, we may not be able to hold the inner city, but I'm concerned that they may have some hidden cards within the city," Li Long worried about this above all else.
"It doesn't matter if the outer city is breached, as there is still the inner city. Therefore, if the rebels have any other tricks up their sleeve within the city, they would most likely launch them after the outer city is lost. The Imperial Guard and the city garrison are currently mixed together, making it difficult to determine if there are any infiltrators from the rebels among them."
Once they betray and attack the city, the inner city cannot be defended."
"So that's why you had the city guards consume themselves in the outer city, to reduce the risk?" Li Biao asked.
"Well, the generals of my Imperial Guards were all personally promoted by me and can be trusted, but it's hard to say about the City Defense Army." Li Long nodded.
"I have a question. If there are still infiltrators in the City Defense Army, why did the noble families retreat from the capital? With nearly 200,000 rebels and the Imperial forces having slightly over 100,000 troops, they could have easily taken the capital directly without withdrawing and launching a separate attack on the city," Wu Chang'an was a little confused. If there were really infiltrators in the City Defense Army, then at that time, the Emperor had 60,000 Feather Forest Army, 30,000 Imperial Forest Army, and tens of thousands of City Defense Army. The noble families could have just taken advantage of the situation to eliminate the remaining City Defense Army and directly control the capital. Why go through so many unnecessary steps?"

Wu Xi smiled faintly, "Just suspicion, and even if there are, probably not many. If the aristocratic families really have a big advantage, Jiang Shimou would not easily withdraw from the capital."
Moreover, if there is a direct skirmish within the city, once the main army is delayed, the three thousand Imperial Guards will escort Your Majesty out of the city to meet with the Feather Guards, and the rebels will not have the ability to pursue."

陛下走了，世家想要控制大夏的希望就落空了，因此，各大世家是不会在城内混战的，明白吗。”
吴常安恍然，“所以叛军只能出城，一但陛下出城，他们就有足够的兵力拖住陛下，等待四周的其他叛军围堵，让陛下无处可逃。
But once there is a melee in the city, the remaining forces will not be enough to hold General Li Long and may be counter-killed. Either way, it is not advantageous for the rebel army."
"That's right," Li Biao nodded approvingly.
Turning back, Li Biao said to Wu Xi, "I and Long Er will pay attention to the troops and horses inside the city, but for other areas, we need the Prime Minister to take more care."
Wu Xi nodded, pondering, feeling like something was overlooked.
After a while, a spark flashed in Wu Xi's eyes, and he asked Lijin, who followed him out to send someone off, "Has there been any news from other places recently?"
Lijin smiled bitterly and said, "The city is surrounded by a large army, and the surveillance on the surrounding areas is very strict. Currently, we can only receive very limited news, relying on carrier pigeons. However, it is difficult to control the arrival time of pigeons from far away. Those that arrive during the day are mostly shot down, and only a few that arrive at night are received. And the number is decreasing."
The nearby ones were mostly taken by the rebels, and there is no way to deliver messages."
Wu Xi sighed, there was no way. Although carrier pigeons have a fast transmission speed, they are easily intercepted. Moreover, carrier pigeons have to be sent back and forth, and the pigeon that flies back cannot fly back on its own. It has to be delivered to the designated location by human power. After being besieged for several months, there are fewer and fewer carrier pigeons that can be used in the capital city.
"I don't know what has happened in the northern states, whether they have started a revolt or not," Wu Xi sighed and continued walking, discussing with Li Biao.
For months, there has been no news from the northern three states, even in the capital city.
Li Biao shook his head, "Even if the three northern states rise up, they can only muster around sixty or seventy thousand troops. If the noble families have a presence in the north, they might not even be able to gather such a small number."
To set up a blockade, only a few tens of thousands of troops are needed at the critical points, and they could even directly surround and kill them. If new troops are to be enlisted, it would take several months just for training, so don't count on reinforcements from the north."
Wu Xi nodded, "Now we can only hope for Li Long. As long as he consumes more rebel forces under the city, when General Wang Yue's army arrives and we coordinate inside and outside, the rebels will definitely be defeated."
"I hope so," Li Biao pondered, agreeing with his words but deeply worried in his heart.
"The border army of Da Xia has long been decayed. Can the Wangyue army really reverse the situation by marching north?"
Looking at the sky, Li Biao sighed heavily.
On the first day of August in the 795th year of the Da Xia calendar, after a month of training, the Yuezhou Army underwent a remarkable transformation. Not only did the subordinates have better coordination and tacit understanding, but the soldiers also completed their adaptation. Wu Shilun was ready to attack the obstructing enemy forces.
In the past month, the Northern Xianzhou and Yuezhou once again provided support of 10,000 troops, including 5,000 subordinate troops and 5,000 combat troops, escorting a large amount of supplies. The Yuezhou army has expanded to eight combat divisions, five subordinate divisions, in addition to one Mangzu division, one cavalry division, and 1,500 personal guards, totaling 77,500 troops, matching the strength of the rebel forces on the other side.
Xin Xin man man de Wu Shilun dang ji lv ling Mang Zu Zhan Tuang, san ge cong shu zhan tuang, wai jia si ge zhan bing zhan tuang, yan shang lu shan dao qian xing, zhun bei gong po san jun fang xian. Er Li Qi ze dai zhe sheng xia de bu dui, du zhu sheng xia liang ge shan dao, bi mian Wu Shilun fu bei shou di.
After being missing for over a month, Li Ao has returned to Li Qi's side.
Watching Wu Shilun lead his troops into the distance, Li Qi smiled slightly, knowing that victory was certain in this battle.
"Order the troops from the middle and lower routes to advance towards Suzhou, to coordinate with Wu Shilun in holding back the defense forces along the middle and lower routes," Li Qi said directly to Ding Shixuan after Wu Shilun had gone far away.
Ding Shixuan was taken aback as this was not part of the plan. He called for his personal guards and gave them instructions. After looking at Li Qi and pondering for a while, Ding Shixuan seemed to come up with something. He glanced at Li Ao and let out a wry smile.
"Brother Wu, you've really embarrassed yourself this time."
On August 2nd, Wu Shilun began his attack on the mountain road. After receiving the news, Jiang Shouren arranged a defense of forty thousand troops, including twenty thousand Imperial Guard soldiers.
Wu Shilun used the distance advantage of the archers to constantly launch long-range attacks on the defending army's main camp. The warlords also became human catapults, causing severe damage to the camp guarded by the Feathered Guards, while the casualties were minimal.
After the bastion wall was almost destroyed, Wu Shilun began to launch an attack on the camp. After a fierce battle for a day, nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Imperial Guard were injured or killed, including nearly 7,000 fatalities.
Wu Shilun didn't fare well either. One of his battalions was severely damaged, with nearly 1,000 casualties and about 2,000 soldiers killed, including over 300 casualties among the dependents.
However, Li Qi's two armies, apart from continuously shooting arrows, did not launch a single melee attack for a whole day.
On August 3rd, Wu Shilun once again launched an attack on the upper camp. General Jiang took advantage of the night to transfer five thousand troops from the other two camps to reinforce the defense of the camp, and some repairs were made to the walls during the night.
In the face of such defense, Wu Shilun was also very helpless and could only continue to follow the same strategy as yesterday. It was another day of intense battle, with over 12,000 casualties in the defending army, including over 8,000 deaths. The Yuezhou Army once again severely inflicted damage on a battalion, with over 1,500 casualties, including over 200 casualties among the subordinate forces.
After two days of fierce battles, more than 15,000 soldiers of the defending army were killed, and out of the initial 50,000 troops, only slightly over 30,000 remained, with nearly a hundred injured.
Meanwhile, Li Qi continued to laze around, and over the course of two days, the casualties of the defending army were less than 500, with less than 100 deaths. However, the walls all over the place were nearly destroyed by the heroes under Li Qi's command, and the combined garrison of the two camps was less than 30,000.
At night, Li Qi launched attacks with his two armies. The defending troops fought back fiercely, but Li Qi's forces immediately retreated as soon as they made contact. Throughout the night, Li Qi launched seven or eight attacks, exhausting the defending troops, yet the casualties were less than a thousand.
On Li Qi's side, there were even fewer casualties. They sent out elite forces who basically killed the enemy and fled, resulting in less than fifty casualties.
By the time dawn was approaching, Li Qi had not launched an attack for an hour. The defending army had been harassed throughout the night, and most of them were drowsy. At this moment, Li Qi launched another attack, leaving the defending army in despair and anger, forcing them to continue to counterattack. However, some of the defending forces in the rear camp were arranged to rest.
In the morning in the mountains, the air is filled with moisture, and dense fog rises among the trees. The exhausted soldiers stationed on the rear camp wall have not noticed that thousands of troops have quietly approached through the thick fog in the mountains.
The guards on the village wall are few, as they have been called to defend the front. The most skilled warrior of the Meng tribe, renowned for his archery, is chosen to prepare the poisoned arrows. Dozens of arrows are simultaneously released, and the guards on the city walls groan as the intense poison takes effect, preventing them from even raising the alarm. Meanwhile, some guards lurking in the shadows remain immersed in their dreams.
Hundreds of Mange warriors approached the city wall with rope ladders, followed by thousands more behind them.
These Mange warriors quietly climbed up the fortification using their grappling hooks, secured the rope ladders, and made a hand gesture towards the ground. The Mange warriors below immediately started climbing the wall, while the hundreds of warriors who had already reached the fortification began silently eliminating the sleeping guards.
More and more soldiers climbed up the city wall until the patrolling guards noticed that the entire eastern wall had already been breached. The gate was wide open, and hundreds of Mancu warriors were already unleashing carnage inside the camp. Almost a thousand soldiers lay dead in their sleep.
"Enemy attack!" shouted the patrolling soldiers, but it was too late. The entire rear camp was left with less than a thousand men, while the remaining eight thousand were engaging in battle at the front camp. When the drowsy soldiers woke up, they were greeted by the smiling faces of two thousand burly Mangzu men.
The clever ones surrender and kneel down, while the stubborn ones still try to grab their weapons, only to be killed instantly.
Two hundred people remain to guard the prisoners, while the rest of the Mang tribe soldiers continue to advance further into the depths.
Li Qi, who had been observing from a high place, signaled, and Li Qi smiled slightly, knowing that the plan was successful.
"Attack!" Li Qi calmly issued the order. The three battalions that had been preparing for battle all rushed forward, breaking through the exhausted defensive forces. The remaining imperial guards fought back, but the Mogo warriors had already arrived, and Yan Zonglin, who was responsible for defense, was captured.
After half an hour, the entire barracks were filled with soldiers running in all directions, while one thousand troops were already arranged at the gates to prevent escape. The remaining eight thousand soldiers laid down their weapons and surrendered.
When Li Qi stepped into the camp with a smile, the corpses had been cleared and the road down the mountain was already open. However, Li Qi had paid a price of over a thousand casualties, killing more than three thousand enemy soldiers and capturing over nine thousand.
"Shixuan, have someone organize the intact armor. Weiyi, take a battalion and change into the armor of the Feathered Guards, hurry to the middle road immediately."
"Leave one battalion and the wounded to guard the prisoners, others follow behind Weiyi, pretend to pursue. Once Weiyi enters the camp, launch a coordinated attack from within and without to capture the middle road. If they refuse entry, wait for the attack from the mountain path and then launch a two-sided assault, conducting a strong attack."
Looking at the battle report handed over by Ding Shixuan, Li Qi was very satisfied and gave instructions for the next step.
Taking the orders, Ding Shixuan sighed as he walked, "Brother Wu, I hope you have made some progress, otherwise you will be completely overwhelmed by the lord."
When Wei Wei led his 5,000 soldiers pretending to be defeated to reach the central route, the defending army hesitated and let them into the camp without hesitation, while also sending people to notify the defending general, Yan Zonggao.
Before he even had a chance to go far, more than 2,000 people who had already entered the camp began to surround and kill the defending army, with a steady stream of reinforcements pouring into the camp.
The entire garrison consists of only 13,000 soldiers, with 7,000 stationed on the west side, and the remaining 2,000 scattered across the other three walls. They are no match for the 5,000 cavalry.
By the time the main force led by Li Qi arrived, Wei Wei had already begun clearing the other two sides.
The front defense forces were delayed by Li Qi's subordinate on the middle route, causing the morale of the defense forces on both sides to plummet. By the time Li Qi and his 10,000 army arrived, the defense forces had completely collapsed and started to scatter and flee.
However, just like before, Li Qi had already arranged troops to block the exits. In desperation, General Yan Zonggao led the army to surrender, and the 11,000 defending soldiers laid down their weapons, becoming Li Qi's prisoners.
Li Qi nodded with satisfaction and arranged for a war camp to escort the captives back to the lower camp, while the remaining twenty thousand troops gathered together and slowly headed towards the upper route.
At this time, Wu Shilun continued to attack the camp following the same steps as the past two days. After a morning passed, the defending army of over thirty thousand had decreased to less than thirty thousand, with all the remaining Imperial Guards stationed here. Most of the casualties in the past two days were ordinary soldiers, while the Imperial Guards, the elite force, remained intact, with over twenty thousand soldiers still remaining.
Noon, Wu Shilun's army retreated and arranged for frontline soldiers to eat. For the past three days, the three troops brought by Wu Shilun took turns to go into battle. After the experience of warfare, although the three troops did not undergo a qualitative change, they already showed signs of becoming more elite. Compared to before, their combat power has improved significantly.
Wu Shilun led a group of generals to inspect the camp, nodding in satisfaction frequently. The purpose of training the troops has been almost achieved, and the Imperial Guard has also consumed a lot. The main combat force can be deployed in the afternoon.
"Strive to take down the top lane today and quickly cut off the retreat routes of the other two camps. Four thousand against seven thousand, it can be considered as winning with less. I also want to let Li Qi see my strength," Wu Shilun laughed madly in his heart.
As the army of Wu Shilun began to deploy, they discovered that the enemy camp was in chaos. Reports also came from the observation posts on both sides of the mountains that a large army was approaching from behind the defending forces, numbering in the tens of thousands.
Wu Shilun disdainfully turned up his nose and said, "More reinforcements have arrived."
"Did Jiang Shouren give up on the other two routes? How dare he transfer troops over here?"
"Wait, if it's reinforcements, how could the main camp be in chaos?"
An indescribable premonition surged up in Wu Shilun's heart, causing him to panic. However, the army still launched the attack according to the original plan.
Just arriving were the 20,000 troops led by Li Qi. The four brigades divided into three routes, blocking the remaining three gates. Li Qi led one subordinate brigade and one infantry brigade to block the east gate, while the remaining two gates were blocked by two subordinate brigades respectively.
A 20,000-strong army did not launch an attack, while 4,000 archers continuously poured down arrows on the camp.
Jiang Shouren sat dumbfounded in the general's tent, feeling helpless.
An elite force of 40,000 Feathers Guards, plus an additional 60,000 troops, were annihilated in less than a month in Xuzhou.
"No, it should be said that it was ruined in less than three days," sighed Jiang Shouren.
After the camp was surrounded, the main flag was the flag of the Yuezhou Army, indicating that the other two routes had clearly been breached. Jiang Shouren couldn't understand how a camp defended by over 20,000 troops could be captured by an army of the same size in less than three days. What's even more absurd is that as of yesterday, the troops of the two camps had suffered minimal losses.
"Overnight, two camps, more than 27,000 people, even if it's 27,000 pigs, it would still take a day to kill them. In less than half a day, the Yan family has betrayed me."
Looking at the general of the Imperial Guards standing in the tent, Jiang Shouren was filled with sadness.
After three days of fighting, more than a third of the officers were missing. In order to push back the Yuezhou Army, the Imperial Guards suffered heavy casualties. Except for one of their own regiments, the other four regiments stationed here took turns to battle, with almost everyone being injured.
As a senior commander of the Yulin Army, Jiang Shouren is loyal to Daxia. However, his father wants to rebel against the noble family and establish a new ruler. Jiang Shouren is unable to oppose, so he can only follow along.
"Since we have already been defeated, there is no need to let the Yulin Army shed more blood. Let's leave some seeds for the Yulin Army."
"Pay attention everyone," Jiang Shouren said, "I have no intention of rebelling, but I cannot defy my father's orders. We have already lost, and I have decided to surrender. Let our soldiers lay down their weapons, there is no need for further bloodshed."
Those who appear in the grand tent are generally high-ranking generals, at least vice commanders of the war divisions, and they are all from the Jiang family's direct line. Everyone looked at each other silently.
"Since the establishment of the Yulin Army, there has never been a precedent of surrender. Are we going to break this precedent here? Sir, go ahead and fight. Even if we all die in battle, we cannot let the Yulin Army be humiliated!" a commander shouted with a flushed face.
"Ashamed, the Imperial Guard has long been ashamed since the rebellion of the Imperial Guard began," sneered Jiang Shouren.
The general's face instantly turned pale, standing still, unsure of what to say, but a wave of regret surged in his heart.
A group of generals watched the golden-bordered red flag fluttering outside the tent, and tears could be seen in the corner of some generals' eyes.
The Imperial Guard is the personal guard of the Great Xia Empire, established by the founding emperor himself, even earlier than the Jinfan Army. With a history of more than a hundred years, the Imperial Guard has fought in numerous battles, big and small, conquering enemies and gaining a formidable reputation.
The Yulin Army has also been defeated. The most disastrous defeat occurred during the war against Beiliang when the Yulin Army had less than a thousand soldiers.
In order to capture Yuezhou, Xianzhou, and Hengzhou, a hundred thousand Yulin Army soldiers were sent as vanguards. By the end of the battle, only twenty thousand remained. These twenty thousand Yulin Army soldiers fought against fifty thousand Beiliang cavalry for three days and nights, and in the end, only over a thousand soldiers were left. They bought time for the main force to eliminate the Beiliang main force.
When the emperor returned with a large army, 50,000 North Liang iron cavalry lost 20,000, and 20,000 royal guards foot soldiers lost 20,000 elite cavalry. Only over 1,000 remaining soldiers, and only a little over 100 returned to the military, with the rest forced to retire due to disabilities.
In such a situation, not a single Yu Lin Army member surrendered. The Yu Lin Army, with a history of several hundred years, has never had a record of surrender. Today, the Yu Lin Army is about to break this precedent.
None of the generals want to surrender, even if they revolt, but the spirit of the imperial guards has long been engraved in the hearts of these people. From the day they entered the imperial guards, the veterans have been constantly instilling the glorious history of the imperial guards. Some things have already become instinct.
The fluttering military flag, with a golden border and a crimson base, symbolizes honor in gold and the blood of the ancestors of the Imperial Guard in crimson.
Vice General Ai Hongming silently takes off his helmet, and the fluttering crimson plume remains bright red, but carrying the name of the rebels, he no longer has the qualification to wear it.
“羽林军有过投降的士卒，但不会有投降的将官。”
“其实末将也不愿附逆，但我是大帅一手提拔上来的，老帅对我有恩，我不得不从。今日即使战败，我也不能让让羽林军蒙羞。
"General, let me take the first step."
As he spoke, Ai Hongming took off the golden armor of the Feather Guard and arranged it neatly. After finishing his words, he drew his long sword from his waist, knelt down facing the Feather Guard banner, and stabbed it into his chest.
Blood stained the white war robe as Ai Hongming spat out blood from the corner of his mouth. With his last breath, he roared, "Feather Guards!"
Jiang Shouren remained silent, but his vision had already blurred. He couldn't die yet, as the over 20,000 Feather Guards couldn't surrender without his command. If they surrendered, he alone would bear the infamy.
Other generals also laughed, tears flowing from the corners of their eyes. One by one, they took off their battle armor, knelt behind Ai Hongming, and plunged their long swords into their hearts. Outside the tent, the soldiers began to tidy up their clothing and armor, while shouts filled the sky above the Feather Forest Army's camp.
"Yulin!"
(End of this chapter)