Chapter 266 The Final Battle! (Thanks to book friend Liao Jiazi, Harbin Zhang Qiandan for the reward!)

After hearing the report from his men, a hint of doubt flashed across Yelu Yan's ferocious eyes, and he fell into deep thought.

From the moment he learned last night that Ye Mingsheng did not choose to escape but to strengthen his fortifications, he realized that Ye Mingsheng's plan was to hold on and wait for help, and attack from both sides.

However, at the beginning, Yelu Yan was very confident in the strength of his cavalry. He believed that once his cavalry came out, he could trample Ye Mingsheng and the camp into mud, so Yelu Yan did not think too much at that time...
But after a day of fierce fighting with nearly a thousand casualties, Yelu Yan learned his lesson. Although he was cunning and cruel by nature, he began to calm down and started to reflect.

Although the Zhou army fought very well and tenaciously today, from a tactical perspective, they were undoubtedly the winning side.

However, a tactical victory cannot change the huge gap in strength between the two sides. Ye Mingsheng's troops have already tried their best to hold out today, and there is a high probability that they will not be able to hold out tomorrow.

Judging from Ye Mingsheng's series of actions, Yelu Yan believes that Ye Mingsheng is definitely not a stupid coach!

Yelu Yan was sure that Ye Mingsheng must be aware that his reinforcements would take another two days to arrive, and his Khitan cavalry would be able to break into his camp tomorrow and kill them all!
But why doesn't Ye Mingsheng do anything even though he knows this?

It’s not like he didn’t have a chance to escape...

Although doing so might mean that more than half of the soldiers would be killed, it is still much better than being wiped out, right?

Yelu Yan believed that Ye Mingsheng could figure out such a simple account!
After thinking it over carefully, Yelu Yan still couldn't figure out what Ye Mingsheng was up to, so he asked Yelu Hange, his always resourceful subordinate:

"Do you feel anything is wrong?"

Upon hearing this, Yelu Hange hesitated for a moment and nodded, saying:
"I feel like the Zhenwu Army on the opposite side seems to be fearless. If it were the Liaoyang government troops in the past, they would have run away last night and would not have resisted until now..."

Seeing that Yelu Hange also understood his feelings, Yelu Yan's doubts undoubtedly became three times stronger, and he began to think hard in his heart.

Seeing Yelu Yan's distressed expression, Yelu Hange comforted him and said:
"My Lord, we are now in an advantageous position. No matter what tricks that bastard named Ye Mingsheng is playing, as long as we charge into their camp tomorrow, we will definitely win!"

"After we completely wipe out Ye Mingsheng, we can charge into Fengzhou City and easily rob the Zhou people of their wealth!"

Upon hearing this, Yelu Yan nodded slightly, his eyes flashing with a fierce look as he looked towards the Zhenwu Army camp in the distance. Tomorrow would be the day for the decisive battle, and he wanted to see what tricks Ye Mingsheng had up his sleeve!
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Early the next morning, Ye Mingsheng, dressed in military uniform, appeared at the front line of the camp with Liang Xuezhan, He Jingyun and others.

Leading his military officers, Ye Mingsheng reviewed every soldier on the front line, showing his affinity to these soldiers and conveying his belief in victory to them.

Thanks to Ye Mingsheng's efforts, the morale of the Third Battalion, which had suffered heavy casualties, gradually gathered together. Everyone had a firm look in their eyes, gripped their weapons tightly, and waited for the final fight...
Under the watchtower, more than a hundred of Ye Mingsheng's personal soldiers were guarding there. Along with the personal soldiers, there were also ten large wooden boxes. These were the "gifts" that Ye Mingsheng was going to give to Yelu Yan today.

Like Ye Mingsheng, Yelu Yan, who had already decided to capture Ye Mingsheng as soon as possible, did not hesitate at all. As soon as he arrived at the Khitan camp at noon, there was a great bustle of people. The fierce Khitan cavalry, in groups, set up their formations about 300 steps in front of Ye Mingsheng's formation. As the enemy and our side took their positions, the air seemed to become heavy, and a solemn atmosphere filled the air. Yelu Yan, who was in front of the Khitan formation, stared at the camp not far away. Although he could not see the specific situation in the camp clearly at a distance of 300 steps, he knew that Ye Mingsheng must be on that watchtower...

After looking at it for a whole cup of tea, Yelu Yan discovered something unusual and asked Xiao Xiu beside him:
"Where are Ye Mingsheng's cavalry? Why can't we see them?"

Hearing Yelu Yan's question, Xiao Xiu hesitated for a moment, but still said honestly:

"Reporting to the eldest prince, according to the reports from my subordinates, after the battle ended yesterday, the Zhou army's cavalry returned to the camp and never came out again..."

Hearing this answer, Yelu Yan frowned immediately, and doubt appeared in his eyes again.

Ye Mingsheng's cavalry team performed very well yesterday, tying down one-third of his cavalry. Otherwise, he might have taken over the camp yesterday.

Because of this, Yelu Yan originally thought that Ye Mingsheng would continue this tactic, so he prepared countermeasures early, wanting to concentrate the superior cavalry force to annihilate this damn little flea, cut off all Ye Mingsheng's thoughts, and then destroy Ye Mingsheng.

But he never expected that Ye Mingsheng would actually cut off the source of his support this time and did not send out the cavalry. This time he was really in trouble...

After hesitating for a while, Yelu Yan still couldn't figure out what Ye Mingsheng was doing, so he simply stopped thinking about it and waved his hand and ordered loudly:
"Circle the camp and ride and shoot!"

"Yes!"

Led by their leaders, the Khitans began to charge towards Ye Mingsheng's camp. They came roaring and full of murderous intent. The Zhou army soldiers, who had already experienced their power, began to become nervous, and some of the timid ones even showed fear on their faces.

At this time, Liang Xuezhan, the front-line commander, also issued orders, asking the firearms units in the camp to begin preparations, and the bird guns and tiger squat cannons began to load ammunition.

The Khitan cavalry was approaching, whistling, and when they were fifty steps in front of the camp and were ready to draw their bows and draw their arrows, the firearms troops also began roaring at the wave of Liang Xuezhan's hand.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Although the Khitan cavalry were all equipped with armor and had high defense in the era of cold weapons, the power of firearms was still very strong within the range of fifty steps. Countless lead bullets quickly flew through the air and hit the Khitan cavalry.

The Khitan cavalry who were at the front almost certainly escaped disaster, as they all died tragically at the hands of firearms.

(End of this chapter)