Chapter 284 Old Friend from Hebei
"Second brother, could this be a trick? Although the Wagang was recently defeated and suffered heavy casualties, they still control three states. How could they fall apart like this? And half of them want to surrender to our Li family?"

Li Yuanhui was very confused. The Li family had such great influence? They just surrendered as soon as they said so? I haven't won the battle of Yingchuan yet.
Li Er said, "Fourth brother, why hesitate? Wagang and I have no old grudges. A group of heroes have come to us because our Li family is now very powerful. Don't worry, just let them come and join us."

Li Yuanhui thought about it again, and it seemed that according to the original trajectory, most people in Wagang eventually joined the Li family.

It seems there is really nothing to worry about.

So, Li Yuanhui asked Yu Zhining, an attendant on the imperial court, to draft a letter and submit it to the Prime Minister's Office. Such an important matter had to be told to his father.

On the other hand, he sent people directly to Puyang to appease the Wagang generals, and summoned Zhai Sixun, Xu Maogong, Murong Sanzang and old acquaintances from Qi County to lead 10,000 troops to help in the battle.

It’s not that we need these ten thousand people. Since they want to surrender, they have to obey orders. Letting Yingchuan participate in the war has more symbolic significance than practical effect.

On the other hand, Duan Yihong gained unprecedented reputation after the victory at Hulao.

The city of Luoyang, which had been in a state of panic, immediately returned to its former state of extravagance and decadence, with music and dancing continuing.

After the great victory, Duan Yihong returned to Luoyang. Murong Yang directly promoted him to the title of Grand Marshal, one of the Three Dukes, and Grand Protector, one of the Three Divisions, and increased his fiefdom to 10,000 households.

"The enemy in Yingchuan still needs the general's care."

After the battle, about 3,000 of the 15,000 cavalrymen were killed. After returning to Luoyang for a brief rest, they immediately returned to the Yingchuan battlefield.

Duan Yihong did not get carried away after the great victory. Instead, when he was in Luoyang, he was very nervous under the emperor's enthusiasm.

Not only was he worried that he would become too successful and threaten his lord, he was also worried about whether he could win the battle in Yingchuan.

The Battle of Hulao was able to defeat the Wagang Army because the enemy was caught off guard and was unexpected.

But the current Western Army is not Wagang.

In Duan Yihong's opinion, Zhai Rang was just a minor official in terms of strategic vision and tactical command.

He is short-sighted and has no foresight at all.

So you can win people's hearts, but you can't use them. If you ignore the overall situation for a small gain, it's not worth fearing at all.

However, the Li brothers who were confronting him and Mr. Lou, although young and not even older than his eldest son, were extremely steady in both the use of troops and in their deployment.

He even thought that it was the old fox Li Yuan who was giving remote commands, but Guanzhong was thousands of miles away, and he did not have such fast means of communication to allow for remote control.

The two young men from the Li family were so patient that the Eastern Yan army felt a little uncomfortable.

Even though the enemy at Hulao Pass was defeated in one fell swoop, the threat to Yuzhou and Guanzhong did not decrease.

As a result, less than five days after Duan Yihong returned to Yingchuan, Murong Wuji came to the army as the emperor's envoy and urged Duan Yihong and Lou Jushi to advance.

"My two generals, I also know that we cannot rush into the war, but your majesty and the officials in the court are all worried, so they sent me to the army to urge them. And Prince Duan, there are rumors in Luoyang that you were able to defeat the 100,000-strong Wagang army with only 15,000 cavalry in ten days, and even killed the bandit leader Zhai Rang. With your military ability, you should have solved the enemy in Yingchuan long ago. Why haven't you achieved any results yet? Is it because your family is in the west?"

Murong Wuji said a few words about Luoyang's message, and Duan Yihong was furious after hearing it. He was extremely helpless because his family was under the rule of Western Yan, and it was unknown whether they were in Chang'an or Shuzhong.

"Such a man must not know how to fight! Can the enemy in Yingchuan be as good as Zhai Rang? What do you and the prime ministers think?"

"General, the saint would not say this, but there is a lot of discussion in the court, and the saint is also a little anxious."

Duan Yihong sighed, "Hey." Mr. Lou said, "Then Minister Murong, what do you think we should do now? You have led troops before, so you should know that the current situation is not that we are unwilling to send troops, but that the Western Army is defending and not going out. If we attack by force, we will suffer heavy casualties."

Murong Wuji bowed and said, "Generals, although I came here by imperial decree, I am only here to urge you. I am not the commander-in-chief or the military supervisor. It is naturally up to you two to decide how to use the troops. But you two generals should think more about the public opinion in Luoyang."

Mr. Lou nodded, "Okay, thank you for telling me, Minister Murong. Prince Duan and I will repel the enemy as soon as possible. Minister Murong, why don't you stay for a few more days to see the situation of the Western Army and then talk to the Saint when we return to Luoyang."

Murong Wuji nodded and said, "Just as the general said." Then he bowed and left the tent.

Only two veterans were left in the big tent, worrying about each other.

The Li brothers on the opposite side, in addition to admiring their second brother's foresight, also admired General Duan's use of troops and the bravery of the Eastern Army's cavalry.

Li Sanlang said, "Now it seems that we made the right decision to hold on to this step. The Eastern Army has thousands of cavalrymen. If we rashly fight them, we will all have nowhere to bury our bones."

Li Er said: "Although the Eastern Army's cavalry is superior, my Guanzhong and Lianglong cavalry are not inferior. However, now that the Eastern Army has won a great victory, we cannot fight them lightly."

"Second brother, third brother, the enemy in front of us is very difficult, but what if there is a hero who crosses Jizhou and Youzhou? Is he our great enemy?"

Li Er and Li San were both stunned when they heard this.

Then he took the military intelligence handed over by Li Si.

It was sent by the Wagang people from Dongjun who had already surrendered.

The above only mentioned one thing. Liu Xuanji, who was elected as the governor of Youzhou, sent troops to Jizhou at about the same time as Wagang sent troops to Hulao.

That means it was at least twenty days ago.

"If Liu Xuanji takes control of You and Ji, it will be a huge threat," Li Er sighed.

For Liu Xuanji, who has a very deep connection with the Li family, if Li Si is the one who deals with him the most and knows him best, then Li Er is the second.

The two had competed in archery before and also became close friends, so he knew that Liu Xuanji had potential and could be called a hero in troubled times.

Then Li Er turned around and said, "Fourth brother, you have a history with Liu Xuanji, can you persuade him?"

Li Si shook his head and said, "Don't think about it, second brother. If he is just the governor of Yuyang in Youzhou, I can naturally persuade him to work for the Li family in exchange for wealth and glory. But if he spans two states and has 100,000 soldiers, he must be too powerful to be controlled, and I can't persuade him."

Li San smiled and said, "So what if the territory spans two states? Even if he takes over the entire Hebei province, my Li family is located south of the Yellow River, with the benefit of the Guanlong cavalry, the wealth of the Jianghuai region, and the abundant lands of Guanzhong and Shuzhong. What is there to fear? Besides, Zhao Da has not yet returned."

Li Er said, "Zhao Da has already been defeated. Don't forget the story of Guan Yu."

Li San's expression suddenly became solemn when he heard this, because he understood what his second brother meant by the story about Guan Yu.

When Zhao Da went to Jinyang, a large part of the troops he led were Jizhou people who were temporarily recruited. Now Liu Xuanji suddenly launched an attack and entered Jizhou. As long as he behaved like Lu Meng entering Jingzhou and did not harm anyone, Zhao Da's army would surely collapse because of the family issue.
If Zhao Da was defeated, they might have to face Liu Xuanji, who controlled You and Ji states, before they could even capture Luoyang.

But the actual situation may be worse than they expected.

Perhaps in addition to You and Ji, there will be another Bingzhou.

(End of this chapter)