Chapter 334 The Eve of the Battle
Yang Huai naturally did not hesitate at all to agree to Ye Mingsheng's request:
"Of course! Sir Ye, you are here to rescue our General Ping Kou. We, the subordinates of General Ping Kou, naturally cannot just sit back and watch! We are willing to be the vanguard for you, Sir!"

"Good! Very good! Commander Yang is indeed a loyal and righteous man!" Ye Mingsheng clapped his hands and praised:
After confirming that Yang Huai's troops were temporarily under Ye Mingsheng's command, Ye Mingsheng praised Yang Huai a few more words. After all, good words are free and easy to say.

After sending Yang Huai away, Ye Tie came to Ye Mingsheng, raised his thumb and said with great admiration:
"Master, you are amazing! With just a few words, you not only got the food and supplies that Yang Huai was transporting, but also got Yang Huai's two thousand men. This is really killing two birds with one stone!"

"I just went to see Yang Huai's two thousand men. They are well-equipped and the soldiers look well-trained. If it weren't for the food and supplies, those bandits would not be their opponents. With these two thousand men joining us, we will be more confident in killing Zhen Sanshan!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled faintly when he heard that. What he said just now were nine truths and one lie. Except for not rescuing Ji Qiwei, everything was true. And Yang Huai had only one choice. He had no other choice except to choose to believe in himself...

"Arrange Yang Huai's troops to the front and let them do all the dirty work. Then, while the battle is in chaos, find a chance to kill Yang Huai!" Ye Mingsheng said to Ye Tie calmly:

Although Ye Mingsheng cannot be said to love his soldiers like his own sons, he is a man who cherishes them. However, he cherishes his own soldiers. As for other people's soldiers, especially those of potential enemies, Ye Mingsheng naturally would not have any pity or sympathy. With Yang Huai's more than 2,000 cannon fodder rushing to the front, his own troops can also reduce a lot of losses.

When the time comes, he will find an opportunity to kill Yang Huai with one sword, and Ye Mingsheng can then quietly swallow up these people and add them to his own army.

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Just when Ye Mingsheng had seized the baggage and food and was preparing to take action at Qilipu, the scene in Sumugou was already a scene of bloodshed.

Facing the double-pronged attack from Zhen Sanshan, Ji Qiwei, who had begun to run out of food, could only kill horses to satisfy his hunger while dividing his troops into two groups. He asked the military officer Fan Ke to lead 5,000 people to block Lu Zhan'ao, while he himself led the main force to attack Sumugou regardless of casualties, striving to fight his way out and escape.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

At the front line of Sumugou, tens of thousands of Liaoyang soldiers, armed with spears, shields, and swords, rushed towards the bandits' defense line in the ditch with roars, under the overwhelming rain of arrows.

Because Yang Huai, who was escorting grain and supplies, was trapped in Qilipu, Ji Qiwei could not get supplies. In addition, the attack on Baihu Mountain was quite fierce, so after the battle of Baihu Mountain, all his gunpowder and lead bullets were used up.

Now the soldiers of Liaoyang Army can only rely on traditional cold weapons such as bows and spears to fight. In the past few days, without the cover of firearms, the Liaoyang Army finally destroyed the offensive set up by the bandits in Sumugou after paying a huge sacrifice, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with these bandits...

Looking at the intense and brutal battle in front of him, Ji Qiwei, who was sitting in the rear, was extremely anxious. These days were extremely tormenting for Ji Qiwei. Among his 30,000 Liaoyang troops, thousands were killed and wounded every day. The 30,000 troops before the expedition were now less than 20,000.

But that’s not the worst part!

After attacking for such a long time and with so many deaths, the bandits in Sumu Valley still showed no intention of retreating. And thirty miles behind him, the troops responsible for blocking Lu Zhan'ao and Fan Ke's troops suffered two thousand casualties in just one day and had been asking for help since yesterday.

If this continues, once Lu Zhan'ao's troops defeat Fan Ke, his Liaoyang army will be in danger of being wiped out!
Just as Ji Qiwei thought of this and felt more and more depressed, the offensive of the Liaoyang Army was once again repelled by the bandits in the ditch...
Looking at the defeated soldiers, the angry Ji Qiwei cursed:
"Feng Erlangzi, Li Mang, Sun Dahai, you bastards!"

"Damn, is Zhen Sanshan from the Gobi Desert your biological father? Why are you fighting so hard for him?"

At the beginning of this battle, Ji Qiwei had thought that Zhen Sanshan would use his influence in the green forest to find other bandits for help, but what surprised him was that Zhen Sanshan's helpers came so quickly and in so many numbers!
If he had known that so many people were willing to risk their lives for Zhen Sanshan, he would definitely be more cautious. Seeing that the attack on Baihu Mountain was inevitable, he would have withdrawn earlier and would never have fallen into such a desperate situation now!

Although he felt extremely regretful and desperate, it was too late now. Ji Qiwei could only concentrate on preparing for the dilemma ahead!

Taking a deep breath and touching the patch on his left shoulder, Ji Qiwei ordered the soldiers behind him:
"Take out all the food and horse meat and cook a good meal for the brothers. I will personally lead the charge in half an hour!"

Upon hearing Ji Qiwei's order, the family general who had followed him for many years immediately dissuaded him:

"My lord, you are already injured, so don't charge into the front yourself! We are willing to fight for you!"

Ji Qiwei was in no mood to care about his subordinates' good intentions at this moment, and immediately scolded them in a cold voice:

"Cut the nonsense!"

Under Ji Qiwei's reprimand, the family guards did not dare to persuade them anymore and all passed on Ji Qiwei's orders.

Ji Qiwei, who always liked to lead the troops, is now staying in the rear because he was hit by an arrow when he charged into battle a few days ago.

Although fortunately there was no injury to the vital parts and he was only shot in the shoulder, the bone was also injured. According to the military doctor, Ji Qiwei must rest for a month before he can recover. If he forcefully takes action, his left arm may be disabled...
Although he was injured, Ji Qiwei knew in his heart that he must stand up at this time!
The soldiers attacked for such a long time regardless of casualties, but still had no results. There is no doubt that the morale of the army will suffer a great setback.

Tens of thousands of troops were trapped in a desperate situation, they had run out of ammunition and food, and were on the verge of collapse. If they had lost even their morale at this point, then capturing Sumugou would undoubtedly be a pipe dream before Lu Zhan'ao arrived!

Therefore, morale must be boosted at this time. Ji Qiwei, who is known as the most powerful general in Liaoyang, knows that the way to boost morale is to go to the front line, charge into battle, and tell his soldiers that he, Ji Qiwei, will live and die with them!
Half an hour later, Ji Qiwei was dressed neatly, wearing all his armor, and took the big Guandao that had been with him for many years from the hand of his personal soldier. Although the wound on his shoulder was still aching, Ji Qiwei could not care less at this time...

Pointing the big Guandao towards Sumugou, Ji Qiwei shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me and kill!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Qiwei led his personal soldiers and generals and rushed towards the direction of Sumugou. Seeing his own general so brave and fearless in charging ahead.

The soldiers of the Liaoyang Army, who had just been repelled, were undoubtedly given a shot of adrenaline. Their morale was instantly boosted, and their fighting spirit was rekindled. They followed Ji Qiwei and launched another charge towards Sumu Valley.

The bandits entrenched in the ditch naturally noticed Ji Qiwei's attack, and arrows and muskets were fired towards Ji Qiwei.

However, the family soldiers around Ji Qiwei were also very loyal. Dozens of them held shields and risked their lives to clear the way for Ji Qiwei. Although some fell with every step, none of them retreated...
After suffering hundreds of casualties, Ji Qiwei finally led his men to the front of the enemy. As soon as he came into close combat with the enemy, Ji Qiwei's superb martial arts were immediately demonstrated. In just one encounter, the three bandits who were rushing in the front all had their throats cut by the big Guandao in Ji Qiwei's hand, and fell down limply.

Not only Ji Qiwei was extremely brave, but the personal soldiers and generals around him were also extremely brave. It was no problem for one of them to fight two or three bandits. In less than a cup of tea, Ji Qiwei and his men had already torn a hole in the defense line.

Noticing this situation, Sun Dahai and others who were responsible for the defense of Sumugou were so angry that they started cursing. However, they did not dare to stop their actions and quickly transferred personnel from other places to provide support.

With the support of other bandits, the breakthrough opened by Ji Qiwei himself has been restored. However, Ji Qiwei's brave performance has inspired the courage of the Liaoyang Army. The bandits are firmly suppressed along the entire front...
As government troops, their combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of these haphazard bandits. The reason why they had not captured Sumugou before was, on the one hand, because of the lack of food and clothing, and on the other hand, because of a series of failures in battles after entering Posa Prefecture, and the morale of the army had fallen to the bottom.

Now Ji Qiwei made a desperate move and took out all the food so that everyone could have a full meal. He also led the soldiers in advance and personally charged into the battle. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the Liaoyang army, which was fully energetic and mentally inspired at this time, was fully demonstrated. Although the bandit leaders tried their best to shout and resist, they were still unable to retreat and change the final outcome.

However, just when the Liaoyang Army was in a good situation and was preparing to take advantage of the opportunity to capture Sumugou in one fell swoop, the sky darkened early and a drizzle began to fall from the sky.

Seeing that the weather was not good and his men were exhausted after a day of fierce fighting, Ji Qiwei had no choice but to order his men to stop the attack.

The only thing that made Ji Qiwei feel fortunate in this misfortune was that although the Liaoyang Army had not yet completely captured Sumugou, it had already captured half of it.

They also seized some food from these bandits. Although there was not much, only about 100 stones, but even a small mosquito is still meat, and it could somewhat alleviate the predicament of Ji Qiwei's troops who were out of ammunition and food!
Just when Ji Qiwei was excitedly fantasizing about breaking through Sumugou again tomorrow and escaping, he received a despairing news...
Fan Ke, a soldier in charge of blocking the bandits in Baihu Mountain, was killed in battle, and all 5,000 Liaoyang troops under his command were wiped out!

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Qilipu, in the military camp of Fengzhou Army.

"Sir, news came from the front that Ji Qiwei had made a breakthrough from the Sumugou direction and is expected to break out from Sumugou tomorrow, but the 5,000 troops he used to stop Lu Zhan'ao were completely wiped out!" Ye Dong reported to Ye Mingsheng in a low voice:

Upon hearing the news, a hint of unnoticeable strangeness flashed across Ye Mingsheng's eyes, and he secretly did the math in his mind.

Ji Qiwei lost at least three to four thousand men in the battle of Baihu Mountain, and lost at least five thousand men in the assault on Sumugou in the past few days. Now another five thousand men have been annihilated, plus the two thousand men in Yang Huai's battalion who now have to serve as cannon fodder for him.

Of the 30,000 troops under Ji Qiwei, there are only 15,000 at most. There is no doubt that Ji Qiwei, who lost half of his troops, has suffered heavy losses and been seriously injured.

After this disastrous defeat, in order to maintain his military superiority over the Zhenwu Army in Changqing Prefecture, Song Wenhui would definitely not allow Ji Qiwei to continue staying in Posa Prefecture...
Although Zhen Sanshan drove Ji Qiwei away, he annihilated 15,000 government troops, and his own troops also lost at least 3,000 to 6,000 men.

This time, Zhen Sanshan was able to make Sun Dahai, Li Mang and other helpers fight so hard, and the price he paid must have been huge. I think he probably won't be able to afford it a second time.

What's more, Sun Dahai, Li Mang and others fought with Ji Qiwei, and each of them lost thousands of soldiers. Therefore, even if Zhen Sanshan could pay the price, they might not agree to continue helping Zhen Sanshan fight in order to preserve their strength.

Even if we take a step back and assume that they are really as close as brothers to Zhen Sanshan and are willing to abandon their homes and careers for Zhen Sanshan, their total number of troops is no more than 30,000.

Relying on the advantages of cavalry, firearms, and surprise attacks, Ye Mingsheng is confident that he can decide the outcome of the battle in one go!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng continued to ask Ye Dong:

"How's Jiang Chong doing?"

"According to the news sent back by our people, Jiang Chong has led 6,000 people from Yanjiang County. They should have reached Wucha River and are hiding there waiting for our news so that they can launch an attack on Baihu Mountain." Ye Dong thought for a while and said:

Seeing that everything was developing in a favorable direction, and everything was ready except for the east wind, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but feel a little excited, but he still tried his best to control his emotions and calmly ordered:
"Send the spies out to watch for changes in the direction of Sumugou. Report any situation immediately!"

(I was originally planning to have the protagonist take action in today's 4,000 words, but after thinking about it, I decided to lay the groundwork. Tomorrow's 4,000 words will be the protagonist taking action to stir up the situation. Then I want to speed up the progress in the next ten chapters. It's time to change the title of General Ye, such as Ye Dujun? ヾ(｀。ヾ))

(End of this chapter)