Chapter 554 This battle will not end until death!

Shunping Fuhugang, Yan Army Camp
Ever since the Fengwu Army’s reinforcements arrived in Shunping two days ago, the Yan Army’s already low morale and spirit have undoubtedly reached rock bottom. Under such circumstances, even though Zhao Fuqu wanted to kill the bandits, he was powerless to reverse the situation. He could only give up the siege of Xinle and retreat thirty miles to Fuhugang, preparing to reorganize his army...
At noon, a young man holding the Fengwu Army's staff, escorted by dozens of Yan Army soldiers, slowly entered the Yan Army camp at Fuhugang.

After an incense stick of time, Zhao Fuqu, who had been trying to keep himself alert in the Yan army's central camp, looked at the young man in front of him with his cloudy old eyes and asked in a deep voice:

"Who is coming?"

Hearing Zhao Fuqu's words, the young man holding the staff smiled and said calmly:

"I am Zhang Kenan, the envoy of the Wu army, and I am here to pay a visit to Marshal Zhao on the orders of my general Yuan!"

Zhao Fuqu's expression did not show any emotion when he heard this and he continued to speak:
"Why?"

Zhang Kenan continued:
"General Zhao, you have taken the initiative to start a war, causing tens of thousands of Youyan men to die in Shunping. This is truly a tragedy. My General Yuan feels pity for the people and hopes that General Zhao will consider the people of Youyan and withdraw to Zhuo County to seek peace together!"

Before Zhao Fuqu could speak, Liu Chuanbiao, who was guarding Zhao Fuqu, shouted angrily:
"Zhang Kenan, you are so bold! You dare to speak so arrogantly in my military camp? Do you really think that the swords of my Yan army are not sharp?"

As Liu Chuanbiao spoke, he half-pulled out the sword from his waist. His actions showed his threat...

Liu Chuanbiao thought that now that he had revealed his sword, Zhang Kenan, the fair-skinned and scholarly envoy of the Fengwu Army, would be frightened and submissive. He wanted to use this opportunity to win back the Yan Army, which had been unable to defeat the enemy on the front battlefield for a long time, and to give Zhao Fuqu some relief. However, he did not expect that Zhang Kenan would not buy into his tricks at all. He glanced at him with disdain and said calmly:
"Marshal Zhao hasn't spoken yet, why are you, a guard, interrupting? Are the people in the Yan army so unruly?"

"Or do you think you are the governor of Youyan? Can you make decisions on behalf of Marshal Zhao?"

Facing Zhang Kenan's question, Liu Chuanbiao, who suddenly felt that he had spoken out of turn, looked a little flustered. He turned his head and looked at Zhao Fuqu, as if he wanted to explain something. Seeing Liu Chuanbiao being played with in a few words, Zhao Fuqu could not hide a trace of disappointment in his eyes. Then the next second he took out Liu Chuanbiao's sword, walked in front of Zhang Kenan, put the sword on Zhang Kenan's neck and said calmly:
"Are you guys from the Fengwu Army not afraid of death?"

Although Zhao Fuqu's voice was very calm and slow, Zhang Kenan felt the coldness of the blade on his neck. He knew that if he said something wrong next, Zhao Fuqu would ignore the unspoken rule of not killing envoys when two armies are fighting, and he would really chop off his head without hesitation...
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Kenan clenched the Fengwu Army staff in his hand, and said with great emotion while looking at Zhao Fuqu:
"Who in the world is not afraid of death? Zhang Kenan is no exception, but the envoys of the Fengwu Army are not afraid of death!"

Listening to Zhang Kenan's words, Zhao Fuqu stared at him for a while. Seeing that Zhang Kenan's eyes did not evade at all, this famous general of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who had been a powerful general for most of his life, took back the knife on Zhang Kenan's neck, nodded slightly to him and said:
"Not bad!"

"Go back and tell Yuan Song that I am waiting for him here! This battle will not end until one dies!"

Feeling the firm will revealed in Zhao Fuqu's words, Zhang Kenan knew that he had made the final decision. He immediately said to Zhao Fuqu with a stern expression:
"I will definitely convey Marshal Zhao's words to my general! Goodbye!"

After saying this, Zhang Kenan turned around and walked out of the tent without any hesitation. Half a cup of tea after he left the tent, just when Liu Chuanbiao was hesitating whether to apologize to Zhao Fuqu, he heard Zhao Fuqu say:
“After he leaves the camp, you will personally lead people to catch up and kill him! Such a talent cannot be used by me, nor can he be left to the Fengwu Army…”

Half an hour later, Zhang Kenan, the envoy, rode on horseback and galloped towards Shunping City. Although his reason told him that Zhao Fuqu, as a famous general of the Great Zhou Dynasty, would not do something that violated the rules such as killing the envoy, but for some reason, when he thought of Zhao Fuqu's cold eyes in the Yan army tent, Zhang Kenan felt a little chilly and wanted to run back to his own territory quickly.

After walking for another stick of incense, Zhang Kenan realized that he had entered the ten-mile radius of Shunping City. Thinking he was safe, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, at this moment, there was a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds behind him. Zhang Kenan looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the people coming were Zhao Fuqu's guard commander Liu Chuanbiao and hundreds of Yan army cavalry. Seeing these people appear, Zhang Kenan was immediately shocked, knowing that Zhao Fuqu really wanted to kill him, and immediately picked up the whip and whipped his horse's butt hard.

After receiving the order from Zhao Fuqu, Liu Chuanbiao led his men to hunt down Zhang Kenan. They originally wanted to deal with Zhang Kenan near the Yan army camp, but Zhang Kenan sensed the danger and ran all the way out of the Yan army camp. In order to complete the task assigned by Zhao Fuqu, Liu Chuanbiao had no choice but to lead his men all the way to the area controlled by the Fengwu Army.

Although Zhang Kenan tried very hard to escape, Liu Chuanbiao and others behind him were faster and caught up with him quickly. They knocked him off his horse and made Zhang Kenan fall flat on his face...
Seeing Zhang Kenan's embarrassed look, Liu Chuanbiao jumped off his horse with a laugh and said to Zhang Kenan jokingly:

"Little pretty boy, you are good at talking, aren't you? Now watch how I pull your tongue out!"

Although he felt that he would die here today, Zhang Kenan did not beg for mercy and said very firmly:
"You, the big dog under Zhao Fuqu, don't be too proud! I am the envoy of the Fengwu Army. If you have the guts, kill me. If you kill me, the Fengwu Army will kill your whole family!"

Seeing that Zhang Kenan was about to die and still dared to be so presumptuous, Liu Chuanbiao became furious. He immediately drew out his sword and was about to kill Zhang Kenan. At this moment, the sound of a musket suddenly came from not far away. The next second, Liu Chuanbiao, who was sharpening his sword, had a blood splash on his chest, and his body stiffened and fell to the ground.

Before the remaining Yan cavalry could understand what was happening, they saw several more arrows and bullets hit the Yan soldiers. Under this sudden attack, the leaderless Yan army was thrown into chaos. In the panic, they no longer cared about Zhang Kenan. They picked up Liu Chuanbiao, who was shot and dying, and retreated in a panic.

After the Yan army retreated, a scout team of more than ten Fengwu troops came to Zhang Kenan. Seeing his own people, Zhang Kenan was overjoyed and said hurriedly:

“I’m the staff officer of the First Division. Brother, please take me back to Shunping!” An hour later, Zhang Kenan appeared in Yuan Song’s headquarters in Shunping City. Since Zhao Fuqu’s retreat, Yuan Song led his troops into Shunping City and formally accepted the command of the Yan Army within Shunping...

Yuan Song, who was observing the sand table, saw Zhang Kenan returning and asked with a smile:

"How was it? Did your trip go smoothly?"

Listening to Yuan Song's words, Zhang Kenan smiled bitterly and briefly recounted his experience. After listening to what Zhang Kenan said, Yuan Song nodded and said:

"This Zhao Fuqu is really narrow-minded. It seems that this old villain has reached a point of desperation. I wish you could come back, Kenan!"

After comforting Zhang Kenan, Yuan Song turned serious and asked Zhang Kenan:
"What did you find during your visit to the Yan army camp?"

This time, Yuan Song sent Zhang Kenan as an envoy of the Fengwu Army to Zhao Fuqu's camp. Although nominally to persuade Zhao Fuqu to stop fighting, Yuan Song actually understood that Zhao Fuqu had no way out. If this old man did not want to admit defeat, he could only continue to fight and survive.

Therefore, the real purpose of Yuan Song sending Zhang Kenan to the enemy camp was to let this observant staff officer of the First Division, under the guise of an envoy's visit, secretly find out the strength of the Yan army and prepare for the next step of the Shunping war!

Hearing Yuan Song's question, Zhang Kenan also recalled what he had seen and heard in the Yan army, and answered very seriously:

“According to my observation, the morale of the Yan army is low. When I entered the Yan army camp, the Yan army soldiers I met rarely looked at me with anger, which shows that the enemy’s will to fight is very low. In addition, the Yan army’s logistical support has become a big problem. They no longer have the ability to gather the wounded for treatment. When I walked in the Yan army camp, I could often hear the painful groans of wounded soldiers in the tents...”

"Also, the Yan army should not be out of food yet, but many of the Yan soldiers I saw were pale and thin, which is enough to show that their food supply situation is not very good. By the way, Zhao Fuqu also asked me to tell General Yuan that he is waiting for you at Fuhugang. It seems that this old thief is waiting for our army to attack Fuhugang!"

After listening to Zhang Kenan's analysis, Yuan Song did not say anything, but turned his attention to Fuhugang. Before, after his main reinforcements arrived, Zhao Fuqu chose to retreat. This was within Yuan Song's expectations. After all, the Yan army, which had been unable to capture the city for a long time and suffered heavy losses, no longer had the ability to launch an offensive against Xinle and Shunping with the arrival of reinforcements from the Fengwu Army. If Zhao Fuqu continued to bet everything on one throw, only destruction would await him.

However, Yuan Song found it difficult to understand why Zhao Fuqu chose to retreat to Fuhugang. He had conquered Fuhugang once before and was familiar with the terrain there. Although Fuhugang was easy to defend and difficult to attack, there were old forests in some places around it. If the Fengwu Army used fire attack, it would be very troublesome if the Yan Army did not defend properly.

But if what Zhang Kenan said was correct, and the Yan army's logistical supply had gone wrong as expected, then it would be understandable that the Yan army retreated to Fuhugang.

After all, Fuhugang is a high point within a radius of dozens of miles. It is very important to control the transportation of grain here. If the Yan army does not occupy this point first, but allows the Fengwu army to seize this point, unless the Yan army withdraws to Zhuo County, the grain route will inevitably be affected and harassed by the Fengwu army, and then the Yan army is likely to collapse completely...
Seeing Yuan Song concentrating on the coordinates of Fuhugang on the sand table, Zhang Kenan asked Yuan Song tentatively:
"My lord, do you want to attack Fuhugang?"

In response to Zhang Kenan's question, Yuan Song did not give a specific answer, but asked back calmly:

"What do you think about this?"

Seeing that Yuan Song seemed to really have this idea, Zhang Kenan frowned slightly and said:

"Although the Yan army suffered heavy casualties in Shunping and Xinle City, it should still have 60,000 troops. Our army now has only 30,000 at most. The enemy's number is nearly twice that of ours. Moreover, our army has to defend two cities, so the maximum number of troops that can be deployed for the attack is no more than 20,000!"

Zhang Kenan hesitated for a moment, but still firmly explained his thoughts to Yuan Song:
"Sir, I don't recommend attacking Fuhugang. The old thief Zhao Fuqu is now unable to capture Shunping and Xinle, so he hopes that our army will go out of the city and take the initiative to attack. He is also waiting for an opportunity to turn defeat into victory. Although the Yan army is struggling now, they still have the advantage in terms of total military strength!"

"Our army is now almost invincible. As long as Marshal Jingjing repel the Luobi people in the north and send troops to support us, we can completely defeat the Yan army and firmly capture the entire Youyan territory. There is no need to take such a risk again..."

Looking at Zhang Kenan who was very sincere, Yuan Song nodded and said with a smile:

"Your analysis makes sense, but you don't know the latest news yet."

"The latest news?" Zhang Kenan asked with some doubt:
Facing Zhang Kenan's puzzled look, Yuan Song calmly explained:
"Two days ago, our army wiped out 10,000 elite Luobei cavalrymen who were charging at us near Mingyun Mountain. The enemy leader Monsa and 4,000 Luobei people were killed in the battle, and most of the remaining people were captured. The Luobei people were unwilling to accept such a defeat and have begun to launch an offensive in the Jizhou area. So for now, the main force of our army can no longer come to support us as planned, and we need to hold on in Shunping!"

"In addition, the Coordination Office has confirmed that the Luobei people and the Yan army have reached a consensus on how to deal with our army. They want to attack our army from the north and south. So if the war drags on, it will cause great damage to the Yan army, but it will also be a huge test for our army's logistics supply!"

“So if we completely defeat the Yan army on the southern front now, we will cut off the Luobi people’s hope of attacking from both north and south. Their strategy has failed and all they can do is admit defeat. From now on, there will be no more wars in the north of Youyan, and the people on the border will enjoy peace for decades...”

(End of this chapter)