Chapter 616: Veteran of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

At the border between Hebei, Henan, Qi and Lu provinces, tens of thousands of Qi troops are slowly crossing the border and entering the border between Hebei and Henan from Qi and Lu...

A white-haired veteran riding on a tall horse, surrounded by hundreds of personal guards, looked at the Central Plains before him, with an indescribable complexity flashing in his eyes.

This white-haired veteran is named Duan Yanfeng, and he is sixty-five years old this year. He has served as the general of Licheng and the defense envoy of Qi and Lu. More than ten years ago, when the Great Zhou was not as divided as it is now, he went north to support Youyan in fighting against foreign races, wiped out the Japanese invasion in Qi and Lu, and followed the Great Zhou army south to Jiaozhi. He is a veritable veteran in the Great Zhou army.

Compared with the above glorious achievements, Duan Yanfeng has another more widely known title, that is, he is the mentor of the current Qilu Inspector General Cao Changping!
When Duan Yanfeng was the general of Licheng, Cao Changping was one of his commanders. It was because of Duan Yanfeng's recommendation that Cao Changping later took over his position and served as the general of Licheng. This led to Cao Changping suppressing peasant uprisings, being valued by the court, and being promoted to the Inspector General of Qi and Lu, becoming a separatist force.

It was precisely because of this relationship that even though Cao Changping rose to power later, he still respected his old leader Duan Yanfeng very much and strongly invited Duan Yanfeng to stay in Qilu to retire. He even sent people to deliver gifts during the holidays and sometimes even came to visit in person.

Since handing over his military power five years ago, Duan Yanfeng, who had spent half his life in the military, planned to retire peacefully. Being a rich man at home and enjoying his grandchildren was also a very happy thing. However, Cao Changping’s sudden visit seven days ago broke Duan Yanfeng’s peaceful life...
Cao Changping was both angry and unwilling about Ye Mingsheng's southward march to the Central Plains. Xu Zhaojie took advantage of his mentality and successfully tricked him. Cao Changping thought that Xu Zhaojie's surprise attack this time would definitely kill Ye Mingsheng. As long as Ye Mingsheng died, the Fengwu Army would immediately collapse. Not only could he, Cao, sleep well, but he might also be able to gain some advantages from the Fengwu Army.

However, the Anqing Army disappointed him. The carefully planned surprise attack not only failed to hurt Ye Mingsheng, but also resulted in the entire army being wiped out and suffering a huge loss. Cao Changping was undoubtedly very disappointed with this, but he was also a very cautious person!
Although he had high hopes for the Anqing Army's surprise attack on Ye Mingsheng, hoping that Ye Mingsheng would be killed without a burial place, Cao Changping was also prepared in case he failed to kill Ye Mingsheng!

The preparation was to immediately capture Xu Zhaojie's envoy Xu Kai, and use Xu Kai's head to make his position clear to Ye Mingsheng, trying to make Ye Mingsheng believe that he really did not participate in the Anqing Army's surprise attack, that he was also a victim, and that he, Cao, had always stood firmly on the side of the Fengwu Army!
However, what Cao Changping never expected was that before he could wait for the news whether Ye Mingsheng was killed, Xu Kai was killed by his brother-in-law Zeng Chao. If it were just that, it would be fine, after all, the news came back later that Ye Mingsheng was safe and sound. So even if Zeng Chao did not kill Xu Kai, Cao Changping was ready to kill Xu Kai and send his head to Ye Mingsheng...

But what made Cao Changping despair was that at the critical moment when he was about to make his attitude clear to Ye Mingsheng, his general Ding Li was bribed by Xu Zhaojie, and in broad daylight, pretending to be following his orders, attacked the inn where Su Yi, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Fengwu Army, was staying. Although he received the news in time and sent troops to rescue and rescue Su Yi from Ding Li, Su Yi was shot in the abdomen by an arrow and was seriously injured. Until now, he is still unconscious.

Cao Changping was both angry and powerless about this sudden incident. He knew that Xu Zhaojie was trying to drag him into this matter, but he found that he could not explain this matter clearly. With Su Yi being stabbed, no matter how he explained it, it seemed to the outside world that he had secretly teamed up with Xu Zhaojie to plot against Ye Mingsheng.

The Fengwu Army had already been coveting his Qi and Lu, and this time it undoubtedly gave Ye Mingsheng an excuse to send troops. With the strong character of the Fengwu Army, they would definitely not let him go. Thinking of this, Cao Changping was like a mute eating bitter herbs, with no way to express his grievances, and he hated Xu Zhaojie in his heart!

Although he wanted to chop off Xu Zhaojie's head with a knife, Cao Changping finally thought about it again and again, and finally made a painful decision to follow the path set for him by Xu Zhaojie. After all, if he did not do something at this time, then when the Fengwu Army took over Hebei and Henan, he would definitely be the one to be dealt with...
After deciding to send troops to Hebei and Henan to try to rescue Gao Zongchang, the first question Cao Changping faced was who would lead the battle?

Over the past six months, in order to allow Cao Changping to go south to contain Xu Zhaojie, the Fengwu Army gave Cao Changping a lot of second-hand firearms. Although these second-hand firearms had many minor problems, they still greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Qi Army. Cao Changping was overjoyed, but at the same time, he was full of fear of the Fengwu Army. If the firearms you eliminated are so good, then how powerful should the firearms you are equipped with be?

It was precisely because of the fear in his heart that Cao Changping wanted to save Gao Zongchang, and then the two of them, who were in the same boat, would join forces to deal with Ye Mingsheng. He was even more worried that after he sent troops, the Qi army would suffer too great a loss in Hebei and Henan!
In this hesitant mood, Cao Changping was always undecided about who to appoint as the commander. He pessimistically believed that none of his generals could defeat the Fengwu Army, which had been invincible and at its peak in recent years, and stop Ye Mingsheng's conspiracy to capture Hebei and Henan.

Finally, under the advice of his counselors, he made up his mind to ask his mentor, the experienced veteran Duan Yanfeng, to come out of retirement. In Cao Changping's view, in the current situation, only Duan Yanfeng could save him from the dire straits, so with this idea in mind, he personally visited Duan Yanfeng with gifts.

Duan Yanfeng was somewhat flattered by Cao Changping’s personal visit, but after learning the purpose of Cao Changping’s visit, he immediately declined Cao Changping’s request. Although he was born a military general and was in very good health, with strong bones and muscles, good hearing and eyesight, he could eat two bowls of rice and a big pork elbow at a meal, and when he was in the mood, he could even favor the little maid...
But he is already 65 years old after all, which is considered old in this era when the average life expectancy is less than 50 years old. In addition, he has been away from the battlefield for five years. Duan Yanfeng now wants to spend the rest of his life well. However, Cao Changping insisted on his request again and again, so Duan Yanfeng had no choice but to agree to Cao Changping's request.

As the Qi army was marching, a scout came to Duan Yanfeng on a fast horse and reported:

"Report to the general, our scouts have found traces of enemy scouts five miles ahead and have driven them away!"

Duan Yanfeng nodded and said:
"Explore again!"

"As ordered!"

"Dad, our army just entered the Hebei-Henan region, and the Fengwu Army has already targeted us. This is not a good sign!"

A middle-aged general behind Duan Yanfeng said with some concern that this man was named Duan Chong and was Duan Yanfeng's eldest son. He served as the commander in the Qi army. The reason why Duan Yanfeng reluctantly agreed to Cao Changping's request to come out again this time was that he wanted to pave the way for Duan Chong's future in the Qi army.

"If an enemy comes, we will stop him with our generals; if a flood comes, we will block it with earth. There is nothing to worry about!" Duan Yanfeng stroked his white beard and said calmly:

Seeing the composed veteran, all the Qi army generals, including Duan Chong, felt much calmer as if they had found a backbone.

Another half hour later, the scout came again to report, "General, we have found enemy forces in Shunshan Township 20 miles ahead. The enemy force has about 2,000 men. Judging from the flag, they are the troops of Peng Ce, the 4th Division of the enemy!"

As soon as these words came out, before Duan Yanfeng could speak, Duan Chong's eyes lit up and he subconsciously said:
“Shunshan Township is just a small town with incomplete defense facilities. This group of Fengwu troops are stationed here to protect the food supply route of the First Fengwu Army that is besieging Yujing…”

"Moreover, the Fourth Division of the Fengwu Army is not the main force of the Fengwu Army. The number of soldiers and the equipment of firearms are the worst in the Fengwu Army. Its commander Peng Ce is also unknown in the Fengwu Army and is not trusted by Ye Mingsheng. It is a complete ragtag army!"

At this point, Duan Chong became a little excited and clasped his hands together to challenge Duan Yanfeng:

"Father, give me 10,000 troops! I can definitely surround Shunshan Township and wipe out these two thousand Fengwu troops!"

Looking at his eldest son who was full of confidence, Duan Yanfeng shook his head and said:
"Ignore the enemy forces in Shunshan Township and continue to advance towards Muye according to the planned plan!"

Duan Chong was puzzled after hearing this, and he tried to persuade his father with some difficulty:
"Father, this is a golden opportunity! As long as we defeat the enemy forces in Shunshan Township, we can threaten the First Army's food supply route and even open a gap in the siege of Yujing. Even if we withdraw later, we can give an explanation to Marshal Cao!"

"Dad, I only need 10,000 men! I will definitely be able to capture Shunshan Township within three days!"

Looking at Duan Chong who still refused to give up, Duan Yanfeng shook his head firmly. Duan Chong wanted to say something, but Duan Yanfeng did not give him the chance. He said solemnly with a serious expression:
"Commander Duan Chong, I order you to continue leading your troops towards Muye!"

Seeing his father using military orders to pressure him, Duan Chong could only bow and accept the order, even if he was unwilling, and said:
"Yes!"

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The next day we went to Zhuo County, the governor's headquarters.

Looking at the battle report from the frontline sent by his men, Ye Mingsheng raised his head and said to Luo Gang's expectant eyes:
"Duan Yanfeng didn't fall for it!"

As soon as Luo Gang said this, he immediately showed disappointment in his eyes. After learning of his thoughts a few days ago, Ye Mingsheng sent a letter to Yuan Song at the front line of Yujing, asking the general of the Fengwu Army for his opinion on the war situation.
In Yuan Song's reply, he expressed to Ye Mingsheng his confidence in taking Yujing. However, like Luo Gang, Yuan Song also believed that the Fengwu Army had lost the best time to attack the city. Now the young and strong men in Yujing City have been fully mobilized. If they forcefully attack the city now, the Fengwu Army will suffer tens of thousands of casualties.

After learning of Yuan Song's idea, Ye Mingsheng weighed the pros and cons and decided to adopt Luo Gang's suggestion and temporarily abandon the plan to attack Yujing. He let Yuan Song's First Army continue to besiege Yujing and try to prevent all contact between Yujing and the outside world, making Yujing an isolated island in fact.

While maintaining the siege of Yujing, Ye Mingsheng also tried his best to deploy the Fengwu Army troops, including the 3rd, 4th and 7th Divisions, to carry out the mission of besieging and attacking the reinforcements, annihilate the Qi Army troops rushing to support Yujing, and look for opportunities to enter Qi and Lu.

Under this strategy, the Coordination Office learned of the Qi army's route of action in advance, and then the Fengwu army set up a trap in Shunshan Township based on the intelligence, hoping to annihilate the 30,000 Qi army in one go. However, it now seems that Ye Mingsheng and others seemed to have underestimated Duan Yanfeng...
Looking at He Jingyun and Ye Mingsheng beside him, he asked:
"How many days will it take for the cavalry of the Third Division to arrive?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, He Jingyun said without hesitation:
"According to yesterday's battle report, General Guo has left a part of his troops in the southeastern region of Hebei and Henan, and has led three battalions of cavalry on his back. It is estimated that they have now passed Yingcheng. It will take about three days to reach the vicinity of Yujing!"

Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly when he heard this. According to the battle report from the front line by Cao Changping, the veteran named Duan Yanfeng sent this time was indeed very difficult to deal with. Although he was ordered by Cao Changping to lift the siege of Yujing, he did not seem to be in a hurry at all. He did not head directly to Yujing as the General Staff had expected, but headed towards the direction of Muye, and only walked thirty miles a day, not a mile more.

In addition, this person's marching was very methodical. Every time he stopped at a place, he would dig trenches and build a strong camp. He was like a hedgehog, making it difficult to attack.

Seeing Ye Mingsheng frowning, He Jingyun pondered for a while and said:
"General, Duan Yanfeng is a famous veteran in the army of our Great Zhou. Fifteen years ago, I fought against the Golden Horde with him. I know Duan Yanfeng a little bit. He is experienced in combat and is very cautious and steady in using troops. He doesn't like surprises and never gets fooled easily!"

"In my opinion, he should have seen that our army has no intention of attacking Yujing, so he plans to use Muye as a base to threaten and contain our army from the side and rear, so as to form a remote response with the enemy in Yujing, so that our army cannot concentrate its forces to attack them and the enemy in Yujing!"

Listening to He Jingyun's speech, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and then asked:

“General He, what do you think?”

(End of this chapter)