"The Empress Dowager's decree, Li Yang was defeated, and the situation in Hebei deteriorated. General Li Rubing led a 150,000 army from the northern border to quickly go south to reinforce Yecheng, and there must be no mistakes!" On the tenth year of Tiantong, on the tenth day of April, Li Rubing received an imperial edict from Jinyang, asking him to lead a 150,000 army from the south to reinforce Yecheng.

"My decree Li Rubing!" Li Rubing took over the imperial edict, then frowned and asked the angel who came to announce the edict: "Before you come, did the Empress Dowager say that after you arrive in Yecheng, who will be with Zhao Kuo?"

The angel shook his head and said, "The Empress Dowager's intentions are all in the imperial edict. As for who is the main force after the General arrived in Yecheng, the Empress Dowager did not explain. The General and the Empress Dowager were still waiting for the senior officials to return to report their lives in Jinyang. The senior officials were unable to stay for a long time, so they sued their retreat first!"

After the angel left, Li Rubing sighed and said to Le Ting beside him: "The Queen Mother and Zhang Ying are still guarding against me!"

"What do you say to the general?" Le Ting asked in confusion.

Li Rubing said: "The empress dowager's imperial edict to me is to lead my army south to lift the siege of Yecheng, but after I arrived in Yecheng, how should I deal with the relationship with Zhao Kuo? Zhao Kuo is the Grand Marshal and the General is the General, so who will listen to whom?"

When Le Ting heard this, he suddenly realized that it wasn't that right? The Grand Marshal and the General were both nominal military leaders. It would be easy to deal with it if the military power was all in one person. But the problem now is that Li Rubing has an army of 150,000 and Zhao Kuo has more than 70,000 soldiers and horses in his hands. Although Li Rubing has more soldiers than Zhao Kuo, Zhao Kuo has the support of Jinyang. Compared with the two, the strength of the two is almost the same.

"What does the Queen Mother mean?" Le Ting asked.

"The Empress Dowager and Zhang Ying were afraid that the general would regain military power, so they did not mention this matter at all, in order to allow the general and Zhao Kuo to check and balance each other, but they never thought that the army had two main generals at the same time and the military order could not be unified. How could they be the opponent of hundreds of thousands of Deng troops?" Li Rubing said helplessly.

"That general, are we still going to Yecheng?" Le Ting asked.

"Of course I'm going. Let's not talk about the empress dowager being the king and the general being the minister. If I don't go to Yecheng, Zhao Kuo will definitely not be Xue Rengui's opponent. Once Yecheng is lost, the land of Hebei will no longer be owned by me, Da Zhao. Without Hebei, how long can Da Zhao last? Leting, you go and reorganize the army immediately and follow me to Yecheng south." Li Rubing said.

"Here!" Le Ting replied.

Soon, under the order of Li Rubing, more than 100,000 troops gathered, but these 150,000 troops were the main force of Zhao's state in the northern border. Once these 150,000 people left Yuyang, there would be only 20,000 troops from the four counties of Liaodong. It would be impossible to defend the northern border by these troops alone. The Hu people outside the Great Wall were not vegetarians. In case, Li Rubing left the general Gu Tu to lead 30,000 troops to stay in Yuyang, while he led the 120,000 troops south.

After leaving Yuyang, Li Rubing marched all the way. In less than half a month, he arrived at Handan City, the capital of Zhao County. He walked forward and entered the territory of Wei County. From Handan to Yecheng, he could arrive in less than two days. He was about to face hundreds of thousands of Deng troops. Li Rubing did not dare to advance rashly, so he stopped in Handan and marched before exploring the situation of Deng's army.

But the general Le Ting didn't think so. Le Ting believed that the Deng army was strong and the Zhao army was not as good as the Deng army. If he wanted to lift the siege of Yecheng, he could only surprise him. If he stayed in Handan, the Deng army would definitely send troops to stop him after receiving the news.

However, Li Rubing did not follow Le Ting's advice, but insisted on staying in Handan. After following Li Rubing for so long, Le Ting knew that Li Rubing must have his ideas for doing this, so he asked Li Rubing privately.

Facing Le Ting's doubts, Li Rubing patiently explained: "I am sure to open a gap with a 120,000 army unexpectedly. But what should I do next? The Deng army has nearly 400,000 troops. Even if we can temporarily repel Deng's army, the Deng army can soon advance to Yecheng again. What about us? Although our army's strength has increased greatly after joining forces with Zhao Kuo, we are not subordinate to each other. Who should we listen to? Defending Yecheng with Li Rubing will easily cause internal strife in our army. Since this is the case, it is better to let Zhao Kuo defend Yecheng. Our army restrains Deng's army on the outside. As long as our army is on the side, the Deng army cannot attack Yecheng with all its strength. This is the best for Yecheng."

When Le Ting heard this, he immediately understood that indeed, after the two armies joined forces, the Zhao army's strength was close to 200,000. If all the troops followed Li Rubing's military orders and had 200,000 troops in hand, and Yecheng was rich in money and food, let alone defending Yecheng, it would not be a problem even if he went out of the city and went to the village to confront Deng's army. But the problem was that without the court's clear order, Zhao Kuo would not be able to listen to Li Rubing. Entering Yecheng would not be a good thing.

"Then we will stay in Handan?" Le Ting asked again. Since we don't go to Yecheng, should we stay in Handan all the time?

Li Rubing shook his head and said, "Handan is north of Yecheng. Although it is somewhat pressure on the Deng army, it cannot contain the Deng army's strength very well."

"Where do the general think we should go?" Le Ting asked. Yecheng could not go, so he could not stay in Handan, so where should he go?

Li Rubing walked to the map and said, "After Deng's army defeated Zhao Kuo in Liyang, they went north to siege Yecheng. It did make Zhao Kuo have no time to react, but at the same time, Deng's army also exposed a weakness, you see."

Li Rubing pointed to the location from Liyang to Yecheng on the map and said, "In order to capture Yecheng as soon as possible, Deng's army only captured Neihuang after taking Liyang, but did not take Fanyang, Yin'an, Weixian and other places as soon as possible. This gave our army a chance. It is impossible to directly siege Yecheng. For the sake of the present, only those who attack the enemy must save it."

"The general means we will attack Liyang and force Xue Rengui to return to the army?" Le Ting's eyes lit up when he heard this. The main force of the Deng army went north to Yecheng, and Liyang's rear defense was empty. Once the Zhao army captured Liyang City, it could cut off the Deng army's food route. Of course, if the Deng army lost the Liyang food route, it could also transport food and grass from Hanoi County. After all, Hanoi County has been taken down by Deng's army now, but the food route is not the most important. The most important thing is that once the Zhao army regained Liyang, it could directly threaten the hinterland of the Central Plains. By then, Deng's army would not be able to retreat.

"That's right!" Li Rubing nodded and said, "Li Yang has now become the main defense of Deng's army. Once our army threatens Li Yang, Xue Rengui will definitely divide his troops to rescue Li Yang. And our army goes south. If we can take Li Yang, it is good. If we can't take it, then we will transfer troops to Fanyang to visit Li Yang, Neihuang and other places. If Xue Rengui wants to ensure the safety of the defense, he must draw at least 100,000 to 150,000 troops back to defense. In this way, the pressure in Yecheng will be greatly reduced."

"The general is wise!" Le Ting had to say "super" to Li Rubing. Now that the Deng army is besieging Yecheng, the entire Zhao State is looking at Yecheng, thinking about how to repel hundreds of thousands of Deng's troops and lift the siege of Yecheng. Only Li Rubing thought of directly attacking Deng's defense, thereby reducing the pressure on Yecheng and dispersing Deng's troops.

"According to my general's estimate, Xue Rengui should know that our general's army has arrived in Handan at this time tomorrow, Xue Rengui will definitely send a large number of spies to stare at me, so we rested in Handan for a night, marched to Chiqiu tomorrow, and then rushed to Wei County, and could not stay in each place for too long. We just wanted Xue Rengui to be unable to understand our movements, and with the wisdom of the generals of the Deng army, we would soon detect our intentions through our army's marching route. Therefore, our army would have to travel from Handan to Fanyang within seven days. As long as we reach Fanyang, Xue Rengui could not help." Li Rubing said.

Le Ting quickly understood what Li Rubing meant, which was to fight a time difference. When Xue Rengui knew that Li Rubing had arrived in Handan, Li Rubing was already on the way to repel Qiu. When Xue Rengui knew that Li Rubing had gone to repel Qiu, Li Rubing was already on the way to Wei County. At this time, Xue Rengui must have also noticed Li Rubing's intentions, but when Xue Rengui was about to dispatch troops to intercept Li Rubing, Li Rubing was probably already on the way to Fanyang.

After one night, Li Rubing led an army of 120,000 from Handan and marched towards Shiqiu. At the same time, Xue Rengui also received news that Li Rubing led his army south and had arrived in Handan.

Xue Rengui immediately asked everyone to discuss and said, "Everyone, spies are here to report, Li Rubing has led his army to Handan, and the movements are unknown."

"General, how many soldiers and horses did Li Rubing bring?" asked Zhang Liao, the general of Shence Guard.

"According to the spy's news, Li Rubing brought about 120,000 to 130,000 troops this time," said Xue Rengui.

When everyone heard this, they all lowered their heads and thought. Li Rubing had a 150,000 army in the northern border, but this time he only brought 120,000 to 130,000. Where did the remaining 20,000 or 30,000 troops go? Was it stayed in the northern border or hidden in another place?

"It doesn't matter how many soldiers Li Rubing brought, and at most he died of only 150,000 people. What puzzles me the most is why Li Rubing garrisoned in Handan is no longer in advance. If Li Rubing wants to lift the siege of Yecheng, he should take advantage of our army's surprise and kill directly under Yecheng when our army didn't know that he had already gone south. Once our army knows his arrival, it will definitely send troops to intercept him. In this way, it will not be so easy for Li Rubing to come to Yecheng." Murong Ke said with a frown.

"This is also the place where I am confused." Xue Rengui said: "But no matter what Li Rubing's intention was to station the army in Handan, we cannot sit idly by. Murong Cheqi, I will order you to lead the Shence Guard and the Shenwu Guard to the north to Liangqi. I will stop Li Rubing from him and never let him get half a step closer to Yecheng."

Although I couldn't guess Li Rubing's thoughts, Xue Rengui still chose to take the initiative and let Murong Ke lead the Shence Guard. Shenwu Guard went north to Liangqi, Shence Guard and Shenwu Guard had a total of nearly 100,000 troops. Although there was a slight difference between Li Rubing's strength, Murong Ke's main task was not to fight with Li Rubing, but to intercept Li Rubing. As long as he defended Liangqi, Li Rubing could not go south to Yecheng. After conquering Yecheng, he would assemble the main army to go north to fight against Li Rubing.

"Here!" Murong Ke understood that this was the best choice at the moment. Although he didn't know what Li Rubing had, he must not let Li Rubing come to Yecheng, otherwise it would have a great impact on the battle situation in Yecheng.

The next day, Murong Ke led the Shence Guard and the Shenwu Guard to the north to the Liangqiu period. However, after Murong Ke left for only half a day, a spy came to report. Li Rubing led his army to leave Handan and headed towards the direction of Qiqiu.

Li Rubing's actions made Xue Rengui confused, but Xue Rengui did not recall Murong Ke, but sent someone to inform Murong Ke of the news that Li Rubing had transferred troops to reprimand Qiu, so that he could be wary of it.

On April 28, another spy came to report that Li Rubing's army left Qiqiu, headed south and headed straight for Wei County. As a result, Li Rubing's army became closer and closer to Yecheng. At this time, Xue Rengui realized that Li Rubing's target was not Yecheng, but Li Yang, Deng's defense. Suddenly, Xue Rengui was shocked and sweated in a cold sweat, and was anxious to discuss matters among the generals.

"Everyone, spies come to report that Li Rubing's army has left Qiqiu City and headed south to Wei County. I can be sure that Li Rubing must have gone to Li Yang for this move." Xue Rengui said with a gloomy face, but he didn't expect that he was actually pretending to be a move by Li Rubing.

"So that's it!" said Deng Qiang, the general of Jinwu Guard, "No wonder Li Rubing suddenly left Handan and turned to Qiqiu. It turned out that he was heading for our army's back defense. In fact, we should have thought that with Li Rubing's strength, even if he came to Yecheng, he might not be able to lift the siege of Yecheng. Therefore, Li Rubing took another approach and went to attack Liyang. This is what he must save when attacking the enemy. Li Rubing is worthy of being a famous general in the world."

"General, Li Yang has only 20,000 defenders, so he will definitely not be Li Rubing's opponent. Please send reinforcements back to defend Li Yang quickly." Ling Jing, a military advisor of Jinwu Guard, said in a speech.

Upon hearing this, Xue Rengui shook his head and said, "It is inevitable to send reinforcements, but we should remove the siege of Yecheng at this time and return to defend Liyang."

"What!" Everyone was surprised when they heard this. Wang Yanzhang, the general of the Lingser Guard, asked in confusion: "General, Li Rubing only has a force of more than 100,000. We only need to send two guards back to defense. Why do we need to withdraw the encirclement?"

Xue Rengui said: "It is OK to do this, but the two guards can only stop Li Rubing from defending, but they cannot relieve Li Rubing's threat to Li Yang. Moreover, Li Rubing is in the rear of our army, so our army must disperse its forces. It is difficult to achieve success if we continue to besiege Yecheng. Since this is the case, it is better to retreat to Li Yang and release Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo is the Grand Marshal of Zhao State and Li Rubing is the general of Zhao State. Both are nominal military firsts. It is definitely not to obey each other. As long as the Zhao army has an internal strife, our army can defeat them one by one."

When everyone heard this, they nodded repeatedly. Indeed, after Li Rubing came, it was no longer meaningful for Deng's army to continue to besiege Yecheng. Moreover, Li Rubing also went to the rear of Deng's army. Since this is the case, it would be better for the entire army to return to Liyang.

"Then just like that, send someone to send a message to Murong Cheqi and ask him to lead his army back. Ma Chao obeyed the order!" Xue Rengui said.

"The last one will be here!" Ma Chao said.

"I will order you to lead the Shenxing Guard to go south to Liyang quickly and march all the way. You must arrive in Liyang before Li Rubing." You will be slow, and now you want to arrive in Liyang before Li Rubing, you can only send cavalry guards. With 50,000 Shenxing Guards, it will not be so easy for Li Rubing to take Liyang, and at least you can hold on until his army returns to help.

"Here!" Ma Chao replied.

In the tenth year of Tiantong, on the first day of May, Li Rubing was leading the way to Fanyang, which was only half a day away from Fanyang.

At this time, a probing horse galloped to Li Rubing and said, "Report to the General, there are tens of thousands of Deng's iron cavalry approaching Neihuang, and the marching speed is very fast."

Li Rubing sighed and said, "Xue Rengui saw that he sent reinforcements as soon as possible, and they were cavalry. It seems that it is impossible for our army to arrive in Liyang before Deng's army. With the return of tens of thousands of troops, it is impossible for our army to capture Liyang."

"That general, what should we do now? Will we continue to go south?" Le Ting asked.

Li Rubing nodded and said, "Continue to go south and first hoard troops in Fanyang so that Li Yang's troops dare not make any abnormal movements. In addition, it is said that this general's general's military order will gather all the troops and horses of nearby counties to Fanyang to increase our strength."

Although the elite troops in the Hebei of Zhao State are all in Zhao Kuo's hands, there are still some defenders in each county and county. Although there are not many, they can still get 10,000 or 20,000 people together. However, the strength of these soldiers is really limited, but there is no way to do this now. Li Rubing cannot get the military power from Zhao Kuo, and can only increase his bargaining chips in this way.

"Here!" Le Ting replied.

In the tenth year of Tiantong, on the third day of the fifth month, Xue Rengui withdrew the siege of Yecheng and the entire army headed south to defend Liyang.

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the Tiantong period, outside Huguan, Yue Fei and Deng Yu led 50,000 Anguo Guards to appear here.

Yue Fei looked at the Huguan in front of him and said, "This Huguan is worthy of being a powerful pass in the world. Such a city is as steep as Hulao Pass and Hangu Pass. It is really not easy to win it."

Deng Yu, who was standing aside, smiled and said, "Duke Wu does not need to do this. Our mission is to hoard troops and force Chen Ping to divide his troops. It is not to take down Huguan. No matter how steep the Huguan is, it is not important."

When Yue Fei heard this, he shook his head and said, "Your Highness, are you really willing to do this?"

"What does Duke Wu mean?" Deng Yu asked.

Yue Fei looked at Huguan and said, "Huguan is the only way for Hanoi County to enter Shangdang County. After Huguan, it is the eldest son city of Shangdang County. As long as our army can take Huguan, it can attack Zhao's army with Li Siye. Once we defeat Chen Ping's 100,000 troops, we can march straight into Jinyang City."

"But Duke Wu, my father's order is to let us feint attack Huguan. Besides, with our little troops, it may be difficult to take Huguan." Deng Yu said hesitantly.

Yue Fei smiled and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. Your Majesty has never interfered in the war of the army. Besides, Your Majesty has also said that whether you can take Huguan is entirely up to the will of heaven. In other words, if we have the opportunity, we can take Huguan down. As for the lack of troops, this is not a big problem. Although we cannot get Huguan for a strong attack, there are some internal supporters in Huguan."

"Duke Wu is saying it's a clear mirror?" Deng Yu's eyes lit up immediately.

Yue Fei nodded and said, "Yes, Mingjing has great magical powers. There is no shortage of Mingjing people in Huguan. The reason why the old minister wandered in Huai County for so long before sending troops was to give Mingjing time to lay out the situation."

On the sixth day of the April 1st, Yue Fei led a large army to leave Luoyang, but stayed in Huai County and did not send troops until a month later, so that Mingjing had enough time to lay out Huguan.

"The Duke of Wu is far-sighted, and I admire him!" Hearing this, Deng Yu couldn't help but write a word "Super" to Yue Fei, who is worthy of being the first general of Deng. He has been in the world for decades and has not suffered a defeat. Deng Yu still needs to learn such thoughts for a long time.

"Your Highness is apologizing!" Yue Fei waved his hand and said, "It will take three days to go to Gaodu City to get a fast horse. Chen Ping dispatched troops and generals. When Zhao's reinforcements arrive at Huguan, it will take seven days at the earliest. This round trip will take ten days. In other words, it will only be ten days left for us. If we cannot get Huguan within ten days, everything the old minister planned will be futile."
Chapter completed!