Chapter 124 Unprepared
I thought we would spend this festive season on the boat, but we should be able to reach Suiyang before dark. Although the lights in Suiyang are definitely not as bright as those in Luoyang and Chang'an, at least we can see them and add to the festive atmosphere.

But these days plans are always slower than changes.

Dozens of miles away from Suiyang, they saw merchant ships returning north and messengers asking for help, only then did they realize that Suiyang was under siege again.

Two years ago, when Li Yuanhui was still in the Xiaoguo Army, he followed the old Prince of Wei Murong Ding to lift the siege of Suiyang. That time it was the Wagang Army.

And this time, it was still the Wagang Army.

When Li Yuanhui heard the news, he couldn't help but start cursing. Suiyang was the seat of Liang County and an important canal route. If Li Yuanhui could bypass it, he would definitely choose to take a detour and not get involved.

But this place is a must-pass route. Either we take the land route or we have to wait for Sui Yang to be relieved before we can pass.

Just when he was having a headache, Pei Minzhi's boat stopped and invited Li Yuanhui to board his boat to discuss the matter.

This was only natural, after all, Pei Minzhi was of a higher official rank than him and was also older, so Li Yuanhui took two of his staff members, Li Qinglian and Xie Xun, to Pei Minzhi's Wuya ship, and discussed with him in the uppermost deck about what to do next.

"There are tens of thousands of bandits. It is said that they are led by the brave generals of the Wagang Army, Shan Xiongxin and Cheng Zhijie. There are thousands of defenders in Suiyang City, so it should be safe to defend the city in a short period of time. The Wagang Army's siege of the city should be to block the canal. However, General Zhao, the left commander, is currently leading his troops to confront the main force of the Wagang bandits in Suanzao. The reinforcements from Liang and Zheng will not be able to provide support in a short period of time. Although the Suiyang defenders can still support us, we are eager to go south to take up our posts and cannot stay here for long."

Pei Minzhi reported the situation to several people. Li Yuanhui frowned when he heard it. This situation was somewhat tricky.

I'm really afraid of what will happen.

I thought that with more than a thousand elite soldiers, hundreds of guards and servants, and dozens of warships, they would be enough to deal with the bandits who were more likely to appear on the road, but it was also the right time for the Wagang Army to arrive, right?
If you had walked one step earlier, you would have missed it. Huh?
"Did the Wagang Army just arrive at the city this morning?"

"Yes, that's what the ships we encountered and the messengers asking for help said."

When Li Yuanhui heard that Wagang had just arrived in Suiyang today, a bold idea suddenly emerged in his mind.

"General Pei."

"Aye."

Two voices sounded at the same time. Li Yuanhui looked over and saw that the person who spoke with him was a sturdy young man, about twenty years old, with a resolute face and a sturdy build. It was Pei Minzhi's son Pei Xingyan.

When Pei Xingyan saw Li Yuanhui also speak, he couldn't help but clasp his hands together to show respect, and waited for Li Yuanhui to speak first.

Li Yuanhui said: "Pei Langjun, if you have any insightful ideas, please feel free to tell us."

Pei Xingyan saw that Li Yuanhui asked him to speak, so he did not refuse. "If the Wagang army only arrived in Suiyang this morning, they must not have a firm foothold now. General Li has a thousand elite cavalrymen under his command. They can disembark 20 miles away from Suiyang and surprise attack the Wagang bandits. We will surely win a complete victory by catching them off guard."

Li Yuanhui looked at Pei Minzhi, who also looked at him and asked, "General Li, do you think so too?"

Li Yuanhui smiled and said, "My son and I have the same idea."

Pei Minzhi was also an old soldier. In fact, he had thought about this idea, but he could not command Li Yuanhui's subordinates.

Pei Xingyan did not expect that Li Yuanhui actually thought the same as he did, and he immediately looked at Pei Minzhi with a smile on his face.

Li Qinglian also said: "We should take advantage of the fact that the Wagang bandits have not yet established a firm foothold and catch them off guard. We have a good chance of winning. Besides, our army has cavalry and ships to support us. We can give it a try. General, you can order a fierce general to lead hundreds of elite troops to attack first, and then order a hundred cavalry to drag a few branches to create smoke and dust. When the dust rises, the Wagang bandits will see the general's flag and will think that the imperial army is coming to help."

Pei Minzhi heard this and his eyes showed admiration: "This is a great plan. May I know the name of this gentleman?"

Li Qinglian said: "I am Li Qinglian, and I am honored to be the secretary of General Pingnan's army."

Pei Minzhi nodded repeatedly, and then said: "General Li, my son Pei Xingyan is quite brave. How about letting him lead the charge in this battle?"

Li Yuanhui looked at Pei Xingyan who was standing beside him and saw that he was a fierce general. He thought that was the best, but he still tried to persuade him: "Pei Langjun is the son of a general. How can we let him take such a risk? It's too dangerous, isn't it?"

Pei Xingyan said, "General Li, don't you believe in my ability?"

Li Yuanhui smiled and said, "No, no, it's obvious that Pei Langjun is a brave and powerful general, but on the battlefield, swords have no eyes."

"General, there is no need to say more. I was originally in the front line. If we cannot win, I will leave it to you to deal with."

Pei Xingyan understood that although it seemed that his father was presiding over the military meeting at this time, the one who actually made the decision was the teenage General Pingnan in front of him.

Because in his team, he had 1,000 elite cavalrymen assigned by the court and hundreds of guards, while Pei's father and son had only 300 guards. If Li Yuanhui wanted to fight, he could even go it alone without consulting Pei's father and son. If he didn't want to fight, Pei's father and son would have no manpower to fight the battle, and could only return to Junyi and wait for Suiyang to rescue him.

"Well, I will assign my 300 cavalry to you. These 300 cavalry are all world-famous Youzhou cavalry, good at fighting, and have followed me in many battles and made many outstanding achievements. They are the best soldiers in the world today. Since you are asking for a fight today, I will lend these 300 cavalry to you."

When Pei Xingyan heard this, Youzhou Tuqi? He immediately became more courageous: "I will live up to the general's high expectations."

After the agreement, Li Yuanhui returned to his ship and the fleet continued to move forward.

But the soldiers on the ship had already begun preparing armor and weapons.

As soon as I entered the ship's tower, Zhang Zhen'e, with red hair and yellow beard, came.

"General, why don't you let me be the vanguard?"

Li Yuanhui, who was holding a bow and preparing to string it, glanced at him and said, "Who should I let be the vanguard? I still need to ask you."

Zhang Zhen'e heard this and said hurriedly, "That's not what I meant, General."

Li Yuanhui said, "Please keep your heart in your heart. We only have more than a thousand people, and the enemy has tens of thousands. Are you still afraid that you won't be able to make any contribution? If someone wants to charge into battle, let him do it. Why are you trying to join in the fun? Don't forget, you are my personal guard."

Zhang Zhen'e seemed to be thinking about what he said, and then he crossed his hands and said, "Yes, General, I understand."

When they were still more than twenty miles away from Suiyang City, the fleet found a convenient place to dock.

Li Yuanhui and Pei Minzhi brought a thousand cavalrymen and their respective banners and went ashore one after another to form formations.

According to the military discussion, Li Yuanhui ordered the captains Zhang Shiwu and Zhao Teng to lead 150 cavalrymen respectively, to follow Pei Xingyan in the lead, to serve as the vanguard, and to take on the assault mission.

Zhang Shiwu and Zhao Teng were Zhang Shiwu and Zhao Silang, who were once Liu Xuanji's subordinates. Their names were given by Li Yuanhui after they were recently promoted.

Afterwards, the 800 cavalrymen originally transferred to him from the Right Dragon and Sorghum Army were divided into two wings by Colonel Ma Deyi and Wang Tong, and they served as the spearheads of the heavy armored cavalry to raid the formation.

Coincidentally, the cavalry of the former General You Longxiang was Pei Minzhi's old subordinate.

Ma Deyi and Wang Tong were both promoted by Pei Minzhi, but now they are under the command of Li Yuanhui, so Pei Minzhi cannot give them direct command.

As for Li Yuanhui and Pei Minzhi, the two generals each led more than a hundred personal guards, served as the central army, and were responsible for the implementation of the strategy of confusing the enemy.

A distance of twenty miles is just a cigarette break for the cavalry.

The Wagang Army under Suiyang City was still setting up camp at this time. Among the tens of thousands of soldiers, only two thousand were on guard outside the city to prevent the Suiyang defenders inside the city from leaving the city for a surprise attack.

The rest were cutting down trees, setting up tents, and digging deep pits.

But it was still the first month of the year, and the frozen soil had not yet thawed. The Wagang Army swung their pickaxes, picking up small white dots one by one. The time required to fully build the camp would increase exponentially.

The main generals Cheng Zhijie and Shan Xiongxin were also busy, using pickaxes to dig pits with the ordinary soldiers.

Shan Xiongxin was panting from exhaustion. Ka looked at Cheng Zhijie who was still swinging the pickaxe with all his strength and said, "Old Cheng, you are really born in the Year of the Ox. You have endless energy."

Cheng Zhijie felt his hands were a little slippery, so he put down the pickaxe and spit on his hands twice, then swung the pickaxe a few times, and then said in surprise: "Why the hell do I feel like the ground is shaking?"

Shan Xiongxin laughed and said, "Why is it shaking? The soil is frozen too hard, so it must be shaking your hand."

Cheng Zhijie threw down his pickaxe and laid on the ground with his ears close to his chest, but he heard nothing. He looked up and saw that everyone was still swinging their pickaxes, so he shouted, "Stop for a while. Let them stop and rest before digging over there."

The commander ordered a rest, and the Wagang rebels naturally followed suit. They all sat together to rest, panting.

And Cheng Zhijie listened attentively again.

This time, he heard it.

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, rolling in.

(End of this chapter)