Chapter 265 The Eve of the Decisive Battle
Because Ye Mingsheng's order was to harass and contain, not to let Guo Zhiping lead his cavalry to fight against the main force of the Khitan cavalry with a sluggish attitude. So when he saw the cavalry that had been separated, with a number of about a thousand people, Guo Zhiping made a prompt decision and immediately took his men and horses and withdrew, wanting to lead this Khitan cavalry away...

Yelu Yan naturally saw through Guo Zhiping's intention, so he did not fall for it at first. As long as Guo Zhiping ran away, he would not let Xiao Xiu chase him too far.

But Guo Zhiping kept the order Ye Mingsheng gave him in mind!
This former bandit leader made full use of the essence of guerrilla warfare that Ye Mingsheng had taught him before his departure, and implemented the eight words "if the enemy pursues me, I will retreat; if the enemy retreats, I will harass you" to the fullest extent. As long as you don't chase the Khitan cavalry, I will keep harassing you.

After doing this a few times, the effect was quite good. It disrupted the offensive of the Khitan cavalry several times. Seeing that there was no better way, Yelu Yan could only accept it and let Xiao Xiu take people to deal with Guo Zhiping, which was considered an exchange with Ye Mingsheng.

Although the Khitans currently have the advantage, their military strength is limited. After sending out this group of troops to deal with Guo Zhiping, there are fewer cavalrymen who can be deployed to attack the camp. Naturally, the pressure on Liang Xuezhan, who is responsible for guarding the camp, is much less.

Time passed minute by minute. Under the tenacious and strong resistance of the soldiers of the Third Battalion, the Khitan cavalry rushed into the camp several times, but were beaten back every time.

At 1 p.m., the sun sets and the sky gradually darkens.

Although Yelu Yan felt that he could capture the Zhou army camp with just one more charge, he was very unwilling to give up. However, looking at himself, his exhausted subordinates, and the rapidly darkening sky, he had no choice but to call off the troops. His initial plan to capture the camp within a day was officially declared a failure...

Seeing the Khitan cavalry retreating, Liang Xuezhan, who had been commanding for a day on the watchtower, walked down weakly with the help of his personal soldiers. The long period of observation and command had consumed his physical and mental strength greatly.

After leaving some people to be in charge of guarding, cleaning the battlefield and building fortifications, Ye Mingsheng distributed the meals that had been prepared in advance to the soldiers of the Third Battalion who had been fighting fiercely for a whole day. After the meal, Ye Mingsheng immediately convened a new meeting. He wanted to understand the casualties on the front line so as to decide when to play his trump card!
"Reporting to the general, our army has lost 331 people in today's battle and injured 507 people, including 389 people with minor injuries and 118 people with serious injuries."

"As for firearms, among the twenty crouching tiger cannons, ten have malfunctioned, and seven of them are confirmed to be unusable. As for the three-barreled guns and bird guns, 30% have malfunctioned and can no longer be used. In addition, the gunpowder carried by our army has only a basic amount left due to moisture, and can only last until tomorrow at most!"

In the meeting in the central army camp, Liang Xuezhang, the commander of the third battalion and the frontline commander appointed by Ye Mingsheng, personally reported to Ye Mingsheng:
"Thank you for your hard work today, Commander Liang!"

Looking at Liang Xuezhang, whose face was a little pale, Ye Mingsheng said solemnly:
Although he was not always at the frontline, Ye Mingsheng had always been paying attention to the changes in the battle situation at the frontline through the reports from his generals in the Third Battalion and his own soldiers.
From the long list of numbers reported by Liang Xuechang, we can see how difficult the fighting on the front line was. The number of casualties exceeded 40%, and the proportion of seriously injured and dead exceeded half of the casualties.

However, Ye Mingsheng knew very well that this was only Liang Xuezhan. Otherwise, if someone else came to guard the camp, not only would the number of casualties be greater, but it would be uncertain whether the camp could be defended.

"Your Excellency is too kind. I am only serving my country with loyalty!" Liang Xuezhang said with a wry smile:

After he finished speaking, Liang Xuezhang looked at Ye Mingsheng, gritted his teeth and said:

"Sir, this is only the casualties of our Third Battalion. The situation of Sentinel Guo's cavalry team has not been calculated yet!"

“If the Khitans continue to maintain their current attack intensity tomorrow, it will be difficult to defend the camp tomorrow…” Although he was a little surprised that the usually low-key Liang Xuezhan could speak so bluntly, Ye Mingsheng was not surprised by what he said. He nodded and ordered:

"I understand. I will lend you a helping hand tomorrow when the Khitans' offensive is at its fiercest!"

When Ye Mingsheng said this, all the generals in the camp were shocked. They didn't know what Ye Mingsheng meant by the "lending force"?
After hesitating for a while, Liang Xuezhang asked Ye Mingsheng:

"Sir, do you have any other tricks?"

Liang Xuezhan's question immediately focused the attention of all the generals in the tent on Ye Mingsheng. Everyone hoped to get a positive answer from Ye Mingsheng.

Under the gaze of everyone, Ye Mingsheng smiled slightly and nodded:
"Of course! Since I dare to stay here and wait for help, I must have something to rely on. You just need to do your job and wait for my orders to get through this difficult time!"

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While Ye Mingsheng was holding a meeting, Yelu Yan in the Khitan camp was also listening to the report from his subordinate Yelu Hange.

“My lord, our army has lost nearly a thousand people today, including about 700 infantrymen and more than 200 cavalrymen…”

Listening to Yelu Hange's report, Yelu Yan's brows furrowed more and more. After Yelu Hange finished speaking, he raised the question and said:

"Has Xiao Xiu led his troops back?"

Yelu Hange nodded and replied, "He has returned, and the number of casualties also includes his group."

"According to what Xiao Xiu said, Ye Mingsheng's cavalry was very cunning and had no intention of getting entangled. They used the range advantage of their firearms to harass them all the time and refused to fight Xiao Xiu and his men. Xiao Xiu chased them for a while but was unable to catch up. He had no choice but to retreat."

After hearing what Yelu Hange said, Yelu Yan seemed to have thought of something and asked:

"Where are Yuan Song's and Lin Huaiwu's troops under Ye Mingsheng now?"

Yelu Hange thought for a moment and said:
"According to the scouts, Yuan Song's troops are still some distance away from Mentougou, while Lin Huaiwu's troops are making slow progress due to the harassment of our cavalry. They are only about a hundred miles out of Xinfa County. If nothing unexpected happens, it will take at least two days for the two of them to arrive here!"

(End of this chapter)