Chapter 45 One After Another

After a round of intense preparation, night fell once again. To the quiet delight of Liu Jiye and the other Northern Han military commanders, a light drizzle unexpectedly began to fall as the sky turned pitch black.

Rain meant the absence of moonlight, which was undoubtedly advantageous for the Northern Han army, who desperately needed to retreat to preserve their strength. Therefore, Liu Jiye, Feng Jinke, and the others did not hesitate. They hastily ordered their soldiers to load important military supplies onto carts, distributed drinking water and dry rations, and prepared to abandon the camp along with some less valuable baggage, speeding back at full capacity to the national capital of Jinyang.

This was currently the wisest choice for the Northern Han army. With a small territory, a sparse population, weak military forces, and years of continuous warfare, what the Northern Han nation lacked most was able-bodied young soldiers. The remaining ten thousand or so troops under Liu Jiye's command were naturally the most precious asset to the Northern Han court and had to be prioritized for preservation.

Because Feng Jinke had sustained a minor injury the previous night, Liu Jiye resolutely rejected the kind offers of his subordinate generals, deciding instead that Feng Jinke should lead the vanguard to withdraw toward Jinyang first. Liu Jiye himself would personally command his main force to act as the rear guard. Just in case, Liu Jiye earnestly instructed Feng Jinke and the other subordinates well in advance:

"If any unexpected situation arises, do not turn back to rescue me out of concern for my safety! You must push forward at full speed and return to Jinyang as quickly as possible. Do not worry about me; I know what I am doing and have everything under control!"

Although he said this outwardly, Liu Jiye was extremely confident in his heart. He thought to himself, "It's fine. No matter how cunning that scoundrel Li Jixun is, he will never guess that we would so decisively abandon the camp and flee so quickly! The remaining soldiers and officers will certainly be able to retreat safely to Jinyang without a hitch!"

Unfortunately...

Unfortunately, despite Liu Jiye's meticulous and self-assured calculations, just as the second watch arrived and the Northern Han army began to leave the camp in succession, the darkness to the south suddenly erupted with thunderous drums, earth-shattering battle cries, and the terrifying rumble of hooves. An extremely massive force of cavalry suddenly swept forward. For once, Liu Jiye turned pale and cried out in shock, "How is this possible? How could the Song thieves be prepared in advance?"

"Could it be that I've fallen into another trap?"

Immediately afterward, a terrifying thought suddenly flashed through Liu Jiye's mind, causing him to scream inwardly in agony, "Could this be another scheme crafted by that brat Zhao Dezhao? Yesterday he feigned a desire to surrender, hinting and tempting me to launch a surprise raid, and today he repeats the exact same trick, warning us to retreat overnight so he can ambush and slaughter us while we are on the move?!"

The situation was too urgent to allow Liu Jiye any more time for thought. Snatching a close personal guard by the collar, Liu Jiye roared with bloodshot eyes: "Go immediately and order all units to retreat at full speed! Full speed retreat, and absolutely no looking back!"

The personal guard acknowledged the order and departed. Liu Jiye then raised his steel spear and roared at his own direct unit of over eight hundred elite cavalry: "Follow me! Slaughter the thieves!"

Roaring, Liu Jiye spurred his warhorse and charged first into the surging tide of Song cavalry. The eight hundred elite cavalry he had personally trained each wore a look of unyielding determination. Howling, they met the enemy—who outnumbered them several times over—embracing a determination to die in order to block the pursuers for their allied troops. A brutal, flesh-and-blood melee thus erupted in the pitch-black night where one could not even see one's own hand.

According to historical records regarding the Song dynasty's punitive campaigns against Northern Han, Liu Jiye had once led several hundred cavalrymen to charge straight into the main formation of the Song army. On that occasion, the Song army relied on a fierce general named Dang Jin, who fought to the death and paid an extremely heavy price before finally managing to beat back the suicide squad personally led by Liu Jiye.

Tonight, this history was reenacted ahead of schedule. However, for the Song army, the misfortune was that Dang Jin—who could barely match Liu Jiye historically—was not in the army, and Huyan Zan, who had been discovered early by Zhao Dezhao, was still on his way north. Therefore, as soon as Liu Jiye and his elite cavalry plunged into the Song formations, the Song army suffered a disastrous blow. Despite holding an absolute superiority in numbers, they were thrown into complete chaos by Liu Jiye's forces, suffering wave after wave of casualties among generals and foot soldiers alike, making it utterly impossible to pursue the retreating main force of the Northern Han army at full tilt.

Glancing by the light of sequentially lit torches, Li Jiyu—the younger brother of Song cavalry commander Li Jixun—saw Liu Jiye's forces rampaging through their formation as if no one was there. He flew into a furious rage and resolutely led troops forward in person to engage Liu Jiye. Yet, after the two generals crossed paths, although Li Jiyu was renowned for his valor within the Song ranks, he lasted mere rounds before being unseated by Liu Jiye with a single thrust of his spear. Terrified, the Song soldiers rushed forward desperately to rescue him.

In the end, at the cost of several brave Song warriors' lives, Li Jiyu—who had taken a spear wound to his left shoulder—was finally dragged back to safety by his men. Yet, this left Li Jiyu with no way to continue fighting, and he could only watch helplessly as Liu Jiye's troops galloped and brandished their whips within the Song formation, slashing back and forth, entirely unchecked.

This situation was soon reported to the Song main commander, Li Jixun. Learning that his younger brother was gravely wounded and the cavalry pursuit was faltering, Li Jixun's expression naturally turned extremely grim. He immediately ordered all Song units to pursue with all their might and arranged for another officer to take Li Jiyu's place in commanding the cavalry. Meanwhile, Zhao Dezhao suddenly recalled something and turned to ask Liang Zhouhan beside him, "Brother Yuanbao, if I remember correctly, last night General Yin Xun also suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of this very same Liu Jiye, didn't he?"

"Your Highness remembers correctly. Last night, General Yin was also defeated by him and almost lost his life."

Liang Zhouhan's reply made Zhao Dezhao frown, stirring once more the world-class stratagems in his mind. Then, after just a moment, Zhao Dezhao—who was exceptionally talented in this regard—thought of another wicked scheme. He hurriedly whispered a few words to Liang Zhouhan. Upon hearing the plan, Liang Zhouhan stood tongue-tied in astonishment and couldn't help admiring: "Your Highness is brilliant! This subordinate is in awe. For Liu Jiye that brute to cross paths with Your Highness is truly his misfortune!"

Precisely because of the desperate rear-guard defense put up by Liu Jiye's forces, the results achieved by the Song army's pursuit were far smaller than estimated before the battle. Although they successfully forced the Northern Han army to abandon a vast quantity of valuable supplies, even though the Song army pursued all the way to the outskirts of Jinyang in a single breath, they failed to annihilate many enemies along the way, and the captured Northern Han prisoners were pitifully few.

Xue Wei, the deputy commander of the horse and foot infantry, was the highest-ranking Northern Han officer unfortunately captured during this night battle. Because of this, when the skies had largely cleared by dawn and the Song army paused to rest after ending the pursuit, Xue Wei was escorted alone before a plump young man. The young man first inspected Xue Wei carefully from head to toe before asking, "What is your name?"

Extremely loyal to the Northern Han court and mentally prepared for death long ago, Xue Wei naturally lifted his head and refused to answer. Beside the youth, a man whose head was as round as a ball flew into a rage, gripped his belt, and shouted, "Are your ears deaf? Didn't you hear my Prince asking you a question? Do you know who my Prince is? He is the Emperor's eldest son of the Great Song, and the army's imperial inspector!"

Hearing this, Xue Wei inevitably cast a closer look at Zhao Dezhao. Zhao Dezhao wore a kindly expression and asked again, "Do you want to die or live? If you want to live, answer every single one of my questions truthfully. Not only will I guarantee you keep your life, but I will also grant you unexpected benefits of all kinds."

Xue Wei let out a disdainful snort, which served as his response to Zhao Dezhao. Zhao Dezhao's expression finally turned grim. However, right at that moment, a man in his thirties hurried over to Zhao Dezhao, bowed, and reported, "Your Highness, contact has been made with General Liu Jiye. The Northern Han court has indeed fallen for our ruse, allowing General Liu Jiye to lead his troops inside the city of Jinyang!"

"Liu Jiye?!"

Xue Wei's expression shifted drastically, and a deeply ominous premonition stirred in his heart. Zhao Dezhao, however, began clapping happily and exclaimed with delight, "Splendid! Taking Jinyang City now will be as easy as turning over our hands. Liu Ji'en and Guo Wuwei would never dream that last night was a staged performance between us and Liu Jiye, designed precisely to win the trust of the Jinyang defenders and secure their permission for Liu Jiye to bring his own troops into the city!"

Xue Wei's face turned pale. The middle-aged man laughed and said, "Your Highness's hard work has not been in vain after all. Coming forward personally in the identity of a Song imperial prince to offer terms of surrender—with the heavy reward of a governorship and three hundred thousand strings of cash—Liu Jiye has indeed made the wise choice!"

"Let's go and share this good news with Military Commissioner Li!" Zhao Dezhao waved his hand excitedly and instructed the Song soldiers guarding Xue Wei in passing: "Temporarily escort this rebel general away and keep a close watch on him. Once we return to our camp, I will interrogate him personally!"

The two Song guards guarding Xue Wei acknowledged the order and proceeded to escort Xue Wei back to the temporary prisoner-of-holding area. However, halfway there, one of the Song soldiers suddenly clutched his stomach and groaned, "Wait, my stomach hurts terribly. I need to take a massive dump."

"Go ahead, I've got things covered here."

The other Song soldier waved his hand dismissively and let his companion run off to a secluded spot by the roadside to relieve himself. As Xue Wei casually observed his surroundings, he inadvertently noticed a warhorse grazing by the roadside. The horse was untied, and its rider was nowhere to be seen—it had presumably been left behind when its rider temporarily departed due to an emergency.

Never dreaming he would encounter such an opportunity, Xue Wei hardened his heart, gritted his teeth, and said to the remaining Song soldier, "Could you loosen these ropes? My stomach hurts terribly too. I need to take a massive dump as well."

To Xue Wei's secret delight, the Song soldier turned out to be remarkably accommodating. With nothing more than a warning threat, the soldier reached out and untied the ropes binding Xue Wei's hands behind his back, snapping, "Don't try any tricks, or I'll have your head!"

As the ropes fell away and he felt his hands regain their freedom, Xue Wei feigned gratitude: "Thank you."

Before the words had even faded, Xue Wei suddenly spun around and delivered a vicious kick straight to the chest of the Song soldier. Caught entirely off guard, the soldier flipped over onto his back with his limbs flailing. Wasting no time, Xue Wei bolted toward the grazing warhorse, vaulted onto its back, whipped the reins, and mercilessly dug his heels in, forcing the steed to gallop toward the open, deserted fields in the distance.

"A prisoner has escaped! After him! After him!"

Panicked shouts erupted from the rear among the Song soldiers. When Xue Wei glanced back hurriedly, he was overjoyed to see that, because the incident had happened so abruptly, no Song cavalry had mounted an immediate pursuit; only a few foot soldiers were foolishly chasing after him. Muttering a silent "Heaven aids me," Xue Wei whipped the horse once more, charging at full speed toward the open wilderness—charging toward freedom, and charging back into the warm, spacious embrace of the Northern Han court...

This development was swiftly reported to Zhao Dezhao as well. Needless to say, upon learning that his cunning scheme was progressing so smoothly, Zhao Dezhao laughed heartily with immense self-satisfaction. Unable to contain his itching curiosity, Zhao Dezhao personally went to share the good news with the resting Song main commander, Li Jixun, so they could celebrate the triumph together.

Learning of this arrangement only after the fact, Li Jixun was naturally both pleasantly surprised and bewildered. He couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, is doing this really useful? Will the Northern Han's Liu rebel court fall for such a trick?"

"There is at least a seven or eight-tenths chance they will fall for it." Zhao Dezhao analyzed with absolute self-confidence: "Your nephew is only seventeen years old this year. No matter how suspicious and cautious the Liu rebel court may be, they have to guard against the possibility that I am young and ignorant, and accidentally leaked the secret. Even if they don't casually take that Liu Jiye's head, they certainly won't dare entrust him with heavy responsibilities ever again. Without this troublesome rival, our upcoming battles will undoubtedly be much easier to fight."

After finishing these self-assured words, Zhao Dezhao added inwardly, "Especially since *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* hasn't been published yet in this era; no one will ever suspect that I plagiarized this counterintelligence stratagem straight from the book."

After pondering carefully and realizing that the Northern Han court indeed stood a strong chance of being fooled by Zhao Dezhao's youth, Li Jixun nodded and said, "Your Highness's brilliant plan! The Liu rebel court really might fall for it! Even if that Yang the Undefeated doesn't lose his head this time, the Liu rebel court won't dare to trust him completely anymore."

"Yang the Undefeated? What do you mean?" It was Zhao Dezhao's turn to be utterly baffled. He asked in confusion, "Uncle, who is Yang the Undefeated?"

"Naturally, it's Liu Jiye." Li Jixun explained casually: "Liu Jiye's original surname was Yang, with the single given name Ye. Because he repeatedly won victories against the Khitan Liao dynasty without a single defeat in past battles, he earned the nickname 'Yang the Undefeated.' To win him over, the Liu rebel court of the Later Han bestowed upon him the surname Liu, which is why he changed his name to Liu Jiye."

After introducing Liu Jiye's true background, Li Jixun smiled and added, "There's something else: Yang Ye's own younger brother, Yang Chongxun, has already surrendered to the former Zhou army and is currently serving our Great Song forces. Therefore, Your Highness's counterintelligence plan truly stands a very high chance of success... Eh? Your Highness, what's wrong with you? Why that expression?"

On Zhao Dezhao's face at this very moment, the expression was nothing short of brilliantly colorful. Simultaneously, a single thought flashed through his mind:

"No way! Could it be that I've just played the legendary Yang family generals to their deaths? Please, absolutely not! The Yang family generals are far too important for the wars between Song and Liao!"

Hoping against hope that the counterintelligence plot he had personally crafted would fail, Zhao Dezhao could be said to have set a groundbreaking precedent.