Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 436: The Fall of the Yu State (I)

Before his death, Fu Jian wanted to bring wealth and honor to Gou Chang, but his head was still taken away by Huan Qian.

"Lord Liang ordered me to capture Fu Jian alive. Now that he is dead, I will take his head and report back!"

Huan Qian spoke with great confidence, as if he was not trying to steal the credit and that Fu Jian's head should be his.

Gou Chang was just a surrendered general and did not dare to compete with Huan Qian. Moreover, he was filled with shame over Fu Jian's actions before his death and had no mood to compete with Huan Qian.

As soon as the fire spread to the Yu army camp, Yue Wan also led 30,000 Yan soldiers to flee at night to the Yan army camp not far away.

However, because the Xiongnu archers robbed the camp of the Yu people, the Yan army soldiers were less frightened and were much more orderly than the panicked Yu army on the other side.

However, during the raid on the camp today, Huan Xi had another trump card that he had not yet deployed, and that was the Baibao Xianbei led by Deng Qiang.

"General Deng, the Yan troops have left the camp, just as Lord Liang predicted, and are heading south."

The scout hurried back on his horse.

Deng Qiang was overjoyed when he heard this. He also knew that Yue Wan would definitely come.

After all, from Yue Wan's perspective, if Huan Xi raided the camp tonight, Fu Jian would definitely return north, and Huan Xi would need to deploy heavy troops in the north in order to capture Fu Jian.

In this case, he could only flee to the south where Huan Xi's defenses were weak, and then go south to join Murong Jun to have a chance of survival.

However, Yue Wan did not expect that Gou Chang would betray Fu Jian and lead him into the pocket of the Liang army. Therefore, Huan Xi did not need to deploy too many troops in the north and was able to launch another ambush in the south.

When Deng Qiang learned that the Yan army was approaching, he immediately ordered his soldiers to prepare for battle.

The Liang army attacked the Yu army camp in the second half of the night. When Yue Wan summoned all the soldiers in the camp and then ran thirty miles at night, it was already dawn. The soldiers were exhausted and still had lingering fears when they recalled the riot at night.

As the sun rose, the frightened Yan army soldiers saw a black line coming towards them in the distance.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"It's an armored cavalry! Run!"

Terror spread among the Yan army.

The State of Yan had its own armored cavalry, and they knew all too well how terrifying armored cavalry were.

Not to mention that the Yan army was an exhausted army that had run thirty miles at night. Even if they were at their most energetic, if they encountered an ambush by armored cavalry during the march and were completely unprepared, they would be dead.

Yue Wan couldn't understand. Huan Xi's target should be Fu Jian, so why would Baibao Xianbei appear here? How did he know that we had to break out to the south? Could it be that someone within the Yan army was secretly in contact with Liang?

Of course, Yan State has not yet shown signs of national destruction like Yu State. Murong clan still controls Hebei and most of the Central Plains. Unless they are at their wits' end, it is impossible for Yan army generals to rush to Liang State like Yu State did.

But now is not the time to dwell on this. Yue Wan wanted to turn the tide, but found herself powerless. The soldiers simply did not obey her orders and were fleeing in all directions.

Ten thousand armored cavalry ambushed an exhausted army of thirty thousand. In this situation, let alone Yue Wan, even if Murong Ke was pulled over, he would be helpless.

"go!"

Yue Wan gritted his teeth and led the 10,000 light cavalry in the army, abandoning the infantry and fleeing. He no longer had any illusions. If he did not take advantage of the armored cavalry's speed disadvantage and quickly escape, if a real melee broke out, these light cavalry would not be able to escape either.

Deng Qiang obviously discovered Yue Wan's intention, but he was helpless. While the armored cavalry had maximized its defense, it also sacrificed speed.

Even if Huan Xi equipped Baibao Xianbei with high-quality war horses such as Tuyuhun horses and Ili horses, how could they possibly catch up with the light cavalry of the Yan army when they were carrying two or three hundred kilograms of weight?

However, armored cavalry is still cavalry after all, and four legs are always faster than two legs. If they can't catch up with the Yan army's light cavalry, can they still do nothing about the Yan army's chaotic infantry?

After seeing Yue Wan abandoning them, the Yan army's infantry had already been routed and did not organize any resistance at all.

The Baibao Xianbei shouted that they would not be killed if they surrendered, but the vast majority of the Yan army were Xianbei people and there was no language barrier. The few Han people had no intention of resisting.

For a time, countless people surrendered and laid down their weapons.

Yue Wan turned around and saw this scene, her heart ached.

Thirty thousand infantry and cavalry were handed over to him, but he suffered such a miserable defeat. If he had known this would happen, he should have left decisively after the battle and no longer cared about the survival of the State of Yu.

Now he doesn't know how to report to Murong Jun after returning.

Huan Qian was in sharp contrast to this. At this time, the battlefield in the north had become quiet. The ten-mile camp had been burned down, with only wisps of black smoke still rising.

Huan Xi had already arrived at the front line and took Fu Jian's head from Huan Qian.

This head does not have a ferocious look on its face. Fu Jian died peacefully, but he was not at peace after death because he was still beheaded.

Huan Xi looked at Fu Jian's head, a little absent-minded.

He had never thought of letting Fu Jian die. When they were talking in front of the battle line that day, Huan Xi spoke sincerely and he was willing to treat Fu Jian well.

Even if Fu Jian surrendered, Huan Xi would not force him to knock on the door.

A monarch like Fu Jian should be respected. Moreover, under the current situation, there are countless people who are connected to Liang within the Yu State, so there is no need for Fu Jian to knock on the door.

"King Fu, why are you doing this?"

Huan Xi sighed, then handed the head to Shen Chiqian and said:

"Find someone with deft hands to sew his head and body together, and don't let him die without a complete body."

Shen Chiqian asked:

"Lord Liang, do you want to give Fu Jian a grand funeral?"

Huan Xi shook his head and said:
"Send a few captives to carry his body north to Jinyang. Tell Queen Mother Gou that I will give her a month to arrange the funeral. After the funeral, I will lead my troops north and drive straight to Jinyang."

The reason why Huan Xi made such a promise was simply because he had to get away to resolve the threat posed by Murong Jun. Only when he had no worries could he launch the Northern Expedition.

Despite this, many surrendered ministers were still moved. They had all received kindness from Fu Jian, and their rebellion was only an act of helplessness.

Now Huan Xi ordered people to send Fu Jian's body back. Although he did not say it explicitly, he actually wanted to fulfill Fu Jian's wish and bury him with the ceremony of an emperor.

After all, no matter how grandly Huan Xi buried him, it was impossible to do it according to the standards of imperial rites.

Others thought that Huan Xi was using this opportunity to make his attitude clear to the Fu family, and that he had no intention of killing them all.

But only Huan Xi himself knew that this was his respect for a benevolent and wise monarch.

At the beginning, Lu Polou instigated Fu Jian to plunder the people to boost morale, but was rejected by Fu Jian. Such a monarch finally committed suicide. In Huan Xi's opinion, he deserved to be buried with imperial rites.

(End of this chapter)