Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 431: Battle in Hedong (XIX)
Following Huan Xi's order, the sound of drums and horns resounded throughout the three armies, and the Liang army moved forward as a whole with great momentum.

Although the allied forces of Yu and Yan had retreated, Huan Xi did not allow the various troops to pursue freely, in order to avoid disrupting his formation and giving the enemy a chance to strike back.

Although the chances of this happening were very small, Huan Xi saw that victory in this battle was already decided and did not want to create any complications, so he only wanted to swallow up the local rear guard troops.

The defeat of the Iron Chain Cavalry had already dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the coalition forces. If Huan Xi defeated the Han army at the rear, the morale would also plummet. Although the coalition forces still had more than 100,000 people, they were destined to not make any waves.

As the saying goes, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. When the building was about to collapse, Huan Xi waited and watched, wanting to see how many people could still be loyal to Fu Jian, the Heavenly King of Dayu.

In this battle, Zhang Yu was naturally determined to die. He could not accept the father-son relationship that Huan Xi forced on him. Even if it meant risking his own life, he wanted to bite off a piece of Huan Xi's flesh.

However, the soldiers under his command could not share his hatred for the enemy.

This Han army was once Zhang Yu's old subordinate, but since Zhang Yu was forced to go north by Fu Jian, he lost his military power and became idle in Jinyang.

It was not until Fu Jian went south this time that he appointed Zhang Yu as a general because he knew the hatred between Zhang Yu and Huan Xi. Only then was Zhang Yu able to regain control of his old subordinates after several years.

Zhang Yu hoped to avenge his humiliation, but his followers did not think so. They did not have any hatred towards Huan Xi.

It is true that Huan Xi once went east and plundered everything around Luoyang, but it was Fu Jian who forced them to leave their homes and Luoyang, so it cannot be entirely blamed on Huan Xi.

What's more, the Fu family now regards them as abandoned children. How can a group of Han soldiers abandoned by the Di people have any fighting spirit?

Seeing the Liang army's infantry and cavalry approaching, the Han army had already lost their composure before Zhang Yu could take command of the battle.

"We are originally from Jin! Fu Jian has abandoned us, so why should we risk our lives for the Kingdom of Yu?"

"Mr. Liang treats the captives well. If we surrender, we will not have to worry about our lives!"

"Zhang Yu has no regard for justice, how can we die for him!"

For a moment, shouts came one after another in the army, and they turned against the Liang army without waiting for their arrival.

Zhang Yu was captured by his cronies. He struggled and said:
"Let me go! You ungrateful beasts! Let me go now! Don't you worry about your wives and children far behind you?"

At this time, one person sneered:

"Even if you lose your wife and children, you can still marry again. But when Zhang Sikong drove us to our deaths, did he ever ask us how we felt?"

As soon as this was said, everyone echoed:

"Zhang Sikong, in the last years of the Shi Zhao Dynasty, we followed you through thick and thin. But now Fu Jian has abandoned us like a worn-out shoe, and you want us to fight to the death for the Fu family. We are only trying to save our own lives!"

"Mr. Liang is the one who is destined to succeed. Mr. Zhang, we are not to blame for what happened today!"

Everyone was filled with indignation and Zhang Yu was speechless.

However, when Fu Jian saw civil strife breaking out among the rear guard troops during the retreat, he no longer expected them to be able to stop the Liang army. The coalition forces of more than 100,000 retreated in disorder and fled in panic like frightened birds.

Huan Xi did not pursue the enemy too deeply, mainly because the battlefield was not far from the camp of the Yu-Yan coalition forces.

If we continue to chase them at this time, we won't gain much. If we suffer a small defeat, it will actually boost the morale of the enemy.

For Huan Xi, even if he allowed Fu Jian to escape back to the camp, he would be helpless in the face of the low morale after the failure of the battle.

Zhang Yu's 10,000 Han soldiers took off their armor and surrendered, and also took Zhang Yu to Huan Xi's horse.

"Oh! So it's an old friend."

Huan Xi looked down at Zhang Yu and said with a smile:
"My son, did you miss your father when you were in Jinyang?" Zhang Yu was unwilling to be humiliated, and he cursed:
"Huan Xi, little boy, I wish I could eat your flesh and sleep on your skin!"

Before Huan Xi could get angry, Shen Chiqian had already jumped off his horse and slapped Zhang Yu so hard that he saw stars.

Shen Chiqian wanted to fight again, but was stopped by Huan Xi:

"stop!"

Huan Xi looked at Zhang Yu and said:
"You are a tough guy. I originally planned to spare your life, but after careful consideration, the hatred between you and me is so deep, and you can still be pardoned. The rest of us can rest assured to fight to the end."

Zhang Yu hummed:

"Now that I have fallen into your hands, I, Zhang Yu, have never thought of being able to live in this world. You can kill me or rob me, it's all up to you!"

Huan Xi looked at Zhang Yu deeply. In fact, the hatred between him and Zhang Yu was initiated by Huan Xi.

When Huan Xi went east to attack Luoyang, he used the relationship between father and son as an excuse to force Zhang Yu to leave the city to fight.

However, Zhang Yu retreated to the city, so Huan Xi had to plunder the surrounding areas before leaving.

Huan Xi did not dislike Zhang Yu. On the contrary, he admired him quite a bit. Even Zhang Yu in the original time and space, facing the father-son relationship forced on him by Fu Jian, rebelled in anger instead of accepting it servilely.

But unfortunately, as Huan Xi said, he could not keep Zhang Yu. He wanted to let the civil and military officials of Yu know that stubborn resistance would only lead to death, and he would not let go of those stubborn people.

Huan Xi waved his hand:

"Take his head and throw it in front of Fu Jian's camp."

Zhang Yu continued to shout and curse, and never knelt down to beg for mercy, until he was beheaded by Shen Chiqian with a single blow.

Huan Xi stopped looking at the hideous head and turned to comfort the surrendered soldiers. He said to them:
"You don't have to worry about your families. The Yu army has already lost its courage. When I march to Jinyang, you will have to lead your old subordinates to clear the way for me. Huan will never treat you unfairly."

When the surrendered generals heard this, they all cheered.

Although Huan Xi failed to completely defeat Fu Jian, and even failed to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, the battle in Wenxi County was essentially over. What Fu Jian had to think about now was how to escape unscathed, rather than continuing to stalemate with Huan Xi on the front line.

Presumably, Yue Wan had already considered retreating at this time.

The Yu army was unable to fight any more, so what use could the 30,000 Yan troops that were left alone be?

What Huan Xi had to do now was not what happened on the battlefield, but what happened outside the battlefield, that is, to recruit surrenders and rebellions in the camp of Yu's army.

In this battle, Fu Jian gave his all, even imitating Murong Ke and developing the black technology of iron chain cavalry. However, Huan Xi was not Ran Min, and he once again consolidated his reputation with victory.

The State of Liang did not necessarily become stronger as the war went on, but the State of Yu became weaker and weaker. At this point, it was already on the brink of national extinction.

Among the civil and military officials of the State of Yu, the only one who had a personal grudge against Huan Xi and was determined to fight him to the death was Zhang Yu.

When Huan Xi took the initiative to extend an olive branch, how many people could remain indifferent?

This is also the reason why Huan Xi did not greedily let all the tribes rush forward to pursue the coalition forces of Yu and Yan.

With Xie Ai in charge of the southern front, once the news of victory on the northern front is passed on, it will surely boost the morale of the army and also hit the morale of the Yan army. Therefore, Huan Xi does not need to rush south. He has plenty of time to instigate the generals of the Yu army to rebel.

(End of this chapter)