Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 434: Battle in Hedong (Part )

After Fu Jian came to power through a coup, he seldom killed anyone. Even when it came to getting rid of Fu Fa, who posed the greatest threat to his power, it was Empress Dowager Gou who stepped in, while Fu Jian himself played the role of a helpless king and younger brother.

But this time, Fu Jian had no choice but to start a killing spree.

He knew that the successive failures had shaken many people's confidence in the State of Yu and in themselves.

Therefore, when he went south this time, except Zhang Yu, Fu Jian did not bring any Han civil and military officials with him, including Xue Zan, who had been highly trusted before.

As for Lu Polou and his son Lu Guang, everyone regarded them as Di people.

But Fu Jian never expected that the Di general, whom he regarded as one of his own, would actually contact Huan Xi secretly.

If he fails to shock everyone with his thundering actions, one day his head will be cut off and presented to Huan Xi.

Fu Jian's eyes swept across the people in the tent, and he said in a deep voice:
"I know that there were more than just the three of them who were sent out of the camp last night. Perhaps someone among you is planning to betray your former master."

When these words were spoken, many people with guilty consciences broke out in cold sweats.

Fu Jian continued:
"Since I ascended the throne, I have worked day and night to revive the country, but the heavens have not blessed me, and it is difficult for me to fulfill my wishes. But I have never treated you unfairly, so why do you betray me?"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers knelt down and apologized, regardless of whether they had done anything wrong or not.

Fu Jian sighed and did not pursue the matter any further.

After all, regardless of whether he had any clues to continue investigating, in fact, Fu Jian was unwilling to pursue the case further.

After scolding everyone, Fu Jian asked them to return to their camps and left himself alone in the royal tent.

Prior to this, Fu Jian still hoped that he could hold Huan Xi in Wenxi County and let Murong Jun defeat Xie Ai on the southern front, thus turning the situation around.

But now, reality has dealt Fu Jian a cruel blow.

He himself was still waiting to see the outcome of the battle on the southern front, but the people under him could no longer wait.

If they continued to stay in Wenxi County, there was no telling who would secretly open the camp gate and let the Liang army in one day.

However, if he retreated, Murong Jun would definitely retreat as well. Otherwise, Huan Xi would lead his troops south and use cavalry to harass the food supply routes of the Yan army. At this time, the Yan army would be deep in enemy territory and would be forced to retreat in embarrassment due to lack of food and grass.

Once Murong Jun left, the State of Yu would be irreversibly heading towards destruction.

The people under them are already planning to surrender to Liang. Can we still expect them to repel the invasion of the Liang army?

Fu Jian thought about it for a long time, and finally, he made up his mind.

Lu Polou and Lu Guang, father and son, returned to their own camp.

The two men took off their armor and saw that their clothes underneath were soaked with sweat.

Lv Polou said with some relief:

"Guang'er, luckily you came back safely last night, otherwise what would be displayed outside the tent today would be your father's head."

Lu Guang also felt a little scared.

The father and son sat opposite each other, sighing.

Lu Guang asked:

"Father, do you think the Heavenly King is planning to withdraw his troops?"

Lu Polou pondered for a long time, shook his head and said:
"The king will not leave."

The current Yu army camp is completely transparent to Huan Xi, and nothing that happens can escape his eyes and ears.

Although Liang's counselors and generals all believed that Fu Jian would leave, only Huan Xi was certain that he would stay. In his heart, Huan Xi certainly hoped that Fu Jian could escape back to Jinyang so that he could concentrate on dealing with Murong Jun and Murong Ke.

But reason told him that Fu Jian was not a coward.

Even in the original time and space, when he fell into Yao Chang's hands after his defeat at the Battle of Feishui, he kept scolding and yelling at him, and never knelt down and begged Yao Chang to let him go because of their past friendship.

For Fu Jian, there are things more precious than life.

Therefore, when the generals asked Huan Xi for an opportunity to ambush this group of frightened birds when the Yu army returned.

But was rejected by Huan Xi:

"Fu Jian will not retreat. If we set an ambush on the way back to Yu's army, it will be a waste of effort."

Huan Xi knew clearly that Fu Jian would rather take the risk and stay in Wenxi County to retain his last hope than retreat to Jinyang and wait for him to attack him.

The next day, as expected, Yu's army stayed in the camp and did not escape at night.

Huan Xi did not sit idly by and wait for news from the south. He had already received the new defense map of the Yu army camp and secretly contacted several Yu army generals who held military power, preparing to attack the camp at night.

According to Huan Xi's original plan, he should not have acted so quickly, but plans could not keep up with changes, and Huan Xi did not expect that the surrendered ministers of the State of Yu would come to surrender so enthusiastically.

At this time, the camp of the Yu army was truly a dilapidated house with holes all over it. Huan Xi only needed to kick it lightly and it would collapse.

In the south, Yue Wan sent a large number of messengers to venture south through Wenxi and Anyi counties, instead of taking a big detour through Chenguan Pass like Murong Chui did when he left Wenxi. The journey was naturally much shorter.

Although many messengers were captured, someone eventually successfully brought the news to Murong Jun's camp.

"Trash! They are all a bunch of trash!"

Inside the king's tent, Murong Jun was furious. While he was still forcing Xie Ai to fight him, bad news came from the north.

The 130,000-strong coalition army was actually unable to withstand a single blow. Huan Xi's 70,000-plus infantry and cavalry were so defeated that they dared not leave the camp. How could Murong Jun not be angry?

"Fu Jian is a useless Liu Adou!"

Murong Jun complained to Murong Ke.

He really regretted that he had such an ally and could not just leave the State of Yu alone.

Huan Xi was greedy for more, so how could he be satisfied with just taking the Hedong area? He would definitely press forward step by step and drive himself back to the bitter and cold land of Liaodong.

Murong Ke's face also looked unhappy. In this battle, there was no doubt that they had fallen into a passive position. Although Fu Jian held his ground and refused to go out, no one knew what his troops would think.

The most unpredictable thing in this world is the human heart.

Just when Murong Jun and Murong Ke were worrying about whether to fight or retreat, Xie Ai also learned the battle report on the northern front.

Unlike the Yan army who concealed the news, Xie Ai immediately informed the entire army of the matter to boost morale.

When Huan Xi went north, although he left 60,000 troops to Xie Ai, plus 5,000 elite troops from Dongyuan County and 10,000 elite troops from Anyi County, the Liang army also deployed 75,000 infantry and cavalry on the southern front, including the elite troops of Former Liang such as Guanlong Tuqi.

However, Murong Jun's Yan army was not Fu Jian's Yu army. Although they had failed many times in the past two years, they were not like the Yu army, who suffered psychological trauma from the Liang army and became afraid before the battle.

Therefore, on the southern battlefield, Xie Ai was already at a disadvantage when facing Murong Jun and Murong Ke. After all, the 50,000 Hetao and Hexi Xianbei left to Xie Ai by Huan Xi had very limited combat effectiveness, and those who were slightly capable of fighting were taken to Wenxi County by him.

However, Shen Jin and Yang An were each guarding the city and were unable to join forces with Xie Ai. The only one Xie Ai could really count on was the Guanlong cavalry.

For Xie Ai, Huan Xi's good news came at the right time.

(End of this chapter)