In the afternoon, dry, cold winds crossed over the peaks of Mount Lüliang and Mount Taiyue, blowing into the Fen River valley, completely dispersing the fog vapor that had already become somewhat thin.

At this time, the numerous crude camps in Jiang County and Quwo territory had almost all been overrun. Corpses lay everywhere, while even more soldiers fled outward in panic like headless flies.

Wusu Dashi knew that if they stubbornly defended Jiang County, not only would they be unable to rally scattered troops, but once surrounded tightly by Liang forces, they would have no chance of escape even with wings.

Of course, with He Liufeng, Zhao Ci, and Tan Xiuqun leading thirteen to fourteen thousand elite infantry and cavalry pressing toward Jiang County city, Wusu Dashi did not dare take out the last six thousand organized elite troops in his hands for a gamble. He only watched for an opening, broke out from Jiang County, and fought his way northward in retreat. By the time they fled in panic to Yicheng County, the sky had already darkened.

The anxious cavalry entered the city to rest and reorganize. Xiao Yiqing sat in disheveled exhaustion supporting himself on the saddle, looking at the western horizon where cloud layers seemed shrouded in purple haze, and through the deep purple haze, faintly transparent bloody light glowed, as if presaging this scene of bloody disaster.

Currently, news had arrived that both Quwo County and Jiang County cities had fallen. Nearly seventy to eighty thousand Liang troops had entered the valley on the south bank of the Fen River. After occupying the two cities of Quwo and Jiang County, cutting off the southern Fen River battlefield, they were still not satisfied.

Near dusk, the Liang army had also divided into two columns of troops to cross the Fen River, marching toward Jishan and Gaoliang cities to the northwest, which had no defending troops.

By deep night, Wusu Dashi had rallied fleeing troops south of Yicheng County. Together with Yicheng’s original garrison, he finally had over fourteen thousand troops available. But at this time, he did not know how many troops had fled east to Anyi, Pujin, Linyi, Wanrong and other counties.

Xiao Yiqing wanted to cry but had no tears. He never imagined the Liang army had actually predicted in advance that heavy fog would arise and had made all preparations to launch this surprise attack before the fog lifted.

Just as he had previously suspected, after the surprise attack occurred, over three thousand soldiers from the Luoyang naval forces had used the fog’s cover to land and set up ambushes in advance on the post roads from the cavalry main camps toward Quwo, Yicheng, and Wenxi in three directions.

When Minshan, Zhehe and other commanders learned the Liang army was launching surprise attacks in the heavy fog, they also immediately worried the Liang army would directly attack the cavalry main camps. Even before Wusu Dashi’s orders arrived, they had each led their cavalry units to abandon the crude camps and disperse along post roads toward both flanks.

They wanted to avoid the Liang army’s surprise attack coming from the south, but had not expected to run into ambushes laid by Luoyang naval forces who had landed.

Under normal weather conditions, Luoyang naval soldiers wore no heavy armor and had not brought much heavy land warfare machinery. Defense lines hastily deployed along post roads after landing could not be very solid. Perhaps assembling cavalry for one or two assaults could easily break through.

However, in the dense fog of early morning, enemy cavalry completely could not ascertain the strength of the ambush forces ahead. When dozens of cavalry were shot down by a volley of arrows head-on, and considerable numbers of cavalry with their horses were tripped by horse-snaring ropes, horse hooves pierced by iron spikes—they were immediately frightened and deterred, not daring to charge forward in the chaos.

Troops panicked, commanders in disorder, anxious and uneasy, hesitating and not daring to advance. Seeing Liang troops also launching surprise attacks from behind, after fighting briefly, they completely scattered in the heavy fog, falling into chaotic individual battles.

Of course, the Mongol tribal cavalry were brave and skilled in battle. Leaving the post roads in the chaos to charge recklessly through surrounding fields and riverbank terrain, it was relatively easy for them to pull away from Liang forces.

The dispersed Mongol cavalry—some rallied toward Jiang County following vague impressions, some more cleverly dispersed north or east along the Fen River banks, while a considerable portion of cavalry wandered chaotically in the fog like clueless flies, fighting when encountering Liang troops, scattering in all directions when unable to prevail, their formations becoming increasingly scattered as they fought.

Fortunately, on such a wide-ranging battlefield with fog spreading everywhere, Liang forces in the early phase also had to operate as patrol units, gathering together as much as possible to advance and retreat along relatively obvious markers like stream channels, unable to disperse at will.

This meant there were still relatively large gaps on the battlefield. Considerable numbers of Mongol cavalry could rely on their speed and mobility to successfully break through.

The routed troops rallied at Yicheng at this time were overwhelmingly Mongol tribal cavalry.

The terrain east of Jiang County was even more open. Xiao Yiqing believed the number of cavalry escaping to Anyi, Pujin and other places would be even greater.

However, the Yan-Yun Han troops, Bohai submitted forces, and submitted Jin soldiers who were mainly infantry had weaker flanking and penetration capabilities. They were also easily pursued and surrounded by Liang forces. How many of them could ultimately escape from the Liang army’s encirclement was truly an unknown number.

And this directly determined how brutal the blow they suffered would be.

Now the biggest problem was they no longer had the capability to counterattack in the short term.

In the chaotic battle, the Liang army inevitably also suffered considerable casualties, but certainly far less than theirs.

More critically, the morale of both sides, the will to fight of the soldiers—at this moment there was a world of difference. Not to mention that the war materiel they had assembled in Jiang County and Quwo had all completely fallen into Liang hands.

They lacked the capability to counterattack Jiang County and Quwo. And if they could not immediately withdraw the troops that had fled to Pujin, Anyi, Linyi and other places, they were destined to become turtles in a jar for the Liang army.

But Pujin, Anyi, Linyi and other places bordered the Fen River to the north, Mount Xiang to the south, the Yu River to the west, while Jiang County and Quwo to the east had already been occupied by Liang forces. How could they withdraw?

“Order Minshan and Xiao Siqing to definitely break through northwest between Jiang County and Quwo tomorrow night. I will personally lead cavalry to receive them…” Wusu Dashi’s face was iron-gray. Gripping the sword at his waist was the only way he could keep his hands from trembling. He called on the secretary beside him to draft military orders while maintaining as much composure as possible.

Currently, only Minshan and Xiao Siqing had sent people from Linyi and Anyi to make contact. Another cavalry commander under his command, Zhehe, had no news. They did not know if he had become separated from his personal troops and was still trapped in the Liang army’s encirclement, or had perhaps already died in battle or been captured.

Right now they did not know when the Yu River would completely freeze over. If they now ordered troops west of Jiang County to concentrate at Pujin (Puzhou city) on the Yu River bank, before the Yu River froze allowing them to break through to Guanzhong to join with Wang Yuankui, the Liang army might already have Pujin city surrounded tightly.

At that time, could they possibly expect Wang Yuankui and Wang Xiaoxian to launch a reckless campaign to lift the siege of Pujin?

Realistically speaking, while the Liang army had not yet completely controlled the areas south and east of the Fen River, while the Liang forces had not yet blocked the southeastern Fen River valley without leaving a single gap, they should order forces west of Jiang County to break through northwest under cover of night. Not only could more cavalry escape to join them, they could even bring out considerable numbers of infantry from the encirclement.

Of course, they also could not remain in Yicheng too long.

Yicheng County was located on the east bank of the middle Fen River with open terrain all around. Having lost the capability for decisive battle with Liang main forces, even if they could rally forty to fifty thousand remnant troops and thought to defend based on Yicheng, it would be a dead end.

First, in the short term it would be difficult to transfer a sufficiently strong relief force from Taiyuan, Zezhou or Luzhou. If the relief forces that came were weak, they would only be consumed by the well-rested Liang army.

Second, Yicheng was located in the peripheral area of this decisive battle. The city walls were low, supplies scarce—it was not a place for prolonged defense.

They had to withdraw before the Liang main forces advanced north. Part of the troops must withdraw to Huo County one hundred twenty li to the north, utilizing the dangerous terrain there to defend the gateway along the Fen River valley northward into Taiyuan. They also had to divide another portion of troops to withdraw into Mount Taiyue eighty li east of Yicheng to defend the gateway along the ancient Mei River road eastward into Zezhou.

Only by defending these two mountain passes, blocking the Liang army’s routes north to Taiyuan and west to Zelu, could they avoid complete defeat and have the opportunity and time to conscript more troops from Taiyuan, southern Jin, as well as Heshuo, Yan-Yun, and Bohai.

Meng Prefecture was separated from the current fiercely contested battlefield in southern Jinzhou and eastern Puzhou by the two-hundred-li-long continuous Mount Wangwu.

For Meng Prefecture to communicate with Jinzhou, there were mainly two routes:

First was to take the narrow path along the southern slopes of Mount Wangwu on the north bank of the Yu River, proceeding north through Zhiguan Gorge.

Second was from Heqing County north of Meng Prefecture city, taking Taihang Gorge through the southern foothills of Mount Taihang, passing through Jincheng and Qinshui, taking the Qinshui River valley through the mountain valleys where Mount Taiyue and Mount Wangwu intersected, which would allow entry into Yicheng County territory in southern Jinzhou.

After Tian Weiye and his troops were annihilated at Yuanqu city, Lü Qingxia and Yao Xishui had not gone north to remain in Puzhou and Jinzhou but had returned to Meng Prefecture.

In Wusu Dashi’s plan, he predicted the Liang army might not dare launch a decisive battle this winter and would most likely use the dangerous terrain of Mount Wangwu and Mount Li to construct fortifications and strongholds to confront the Mongol main forces. At that time, he would need Zhao Mengji from Meng Prefecture, Zhu Rang from Bianzhou, Xu Mingzhen from Song Prefecture, and Sima Tan from Xuzhou to send troops to coordinate with Wang Yuankui and Wang Xiaoxian on the western flank in fiercely attacking the eastern and western flanks of Liang, forcing Han Qian to withdraw troops from Yuanqu so the Mongol army could retake the strategic pass of Zhiguan Gorge.

This was Wusu Dashi’s plan, but Han Qian showed no sign of weakness. After the ninth month, he had firmly and continuously conscripted troops from Liang’s various prefectures and counties.

Although among the over one hundred thousand Liang troops assembled at Yuanqu in early October, half were reserve brigades with weaker combat effectiveness, Han Qian’s determination to engage in decisive battle could not be ignored by anyone.

Although Han Qian’s determination to launch decisive battle cast a shadow over the hearts of Zhao Mengji, Lü Qingxia and others, they simultaneously clearly recognized that after so many forces had been transferred, the Liang army’s defensive strength in western Henan and other areas had become quite feeble.

Perhaps the deeper the shadow in their hearts, the more urgently Zhao Mengji as well as Lü Qingxia, Yao Xishui, and Zhou Yuan anticipated the Yu River freezing over earlier this year.

Only then could they quickly unite with Zhu Rang and Xu Mingzhen to send troops against Xingyang, western Henan, and southern Huai, forcing Han Qian to withdraw troops from Yuanqu.

Perhaps it was anxiety in her heart, but Yao Xishui increasingly felt that Xiao Yiqing and Liang Shixiong’s decision years ago to breach the river embankment and build a large dam downstream of Wuzhi to cut off the river water, forcing the great Yu River waters to flow into the Ying River, had been too mistaken a strategy.

Separated by mountains and peaks, Yao Xishui and the others were not clear how the war in eastern Puzhou and southern Jinzhou was progressing at this time. That morning she was asking Lü Qingxia whether to send someone through Taihang Gorge to Jinzhou to investigate the war’s progress, when unexpectedly the Wuzhi garrison on the south bank sent several cavalry galloping over to report that at dawn Liang commanders Li Xiu and Shen Peng had led five to six thousand cavalry, crossing the Sha-Ying River via floating bridges at dawn to raid into Weishi County territory in southwestern Bianzhou.

Yao Xishui at that time had paid no particular attention, nor did she think this had any direct connection with the warfare north of Mount Wangwu. She simply regarded it as a raid launched by western Henan Liang forces.

Though laying floating bridges across flood zones was extremely time-consuming and laborious for the Liang army, even laying bridges dozens of li long, it gave the Liang army the capability to raid the east bank.

Such raids had occurred seven or eight times before autumn. Lü Qingxia also did not think there was anything worth making a fuss about.

Even though they did not believe the Mongol army would necessarily achieve final victory in this decisive battle, with Wusu Dashi having assembled one hundred twenty thousand elite troops in the middle and lower Fen River valley south bank, including over fifty thousand elite cavalry, they absolutely did not believe the Mongol main forces had already been routed at this time.

That afternoon, hearing reports that Li Xiu and other cavalry were pressing toward the south bank of the Yu River, Yao Xishui and Lü Qingxia had not thought to send people rushing to Wuzhi and Bianzhou on the south bank to observe enemy movements. Rather, they quite casually ascended the city tower.

The reports were accurate. Climbing the city tower, they could see from afar a swarm of troops appearing densely on the great Yu River south bank embankment east of Wuzhi city.

Although the distance was great and they could not see the banners clearly, they could confirm these were Li Xiu’s troops who at dawn had crossed the Sha-Ying River to raid into Bianzhou territory.

Yao Xishui recalled the circumstances of their past interactions, full of bitterness. But in her heart she clearly knew that from the moment Li Changfeng died at Jinghai Gate, they had become mortal enemies of the Li clan remnants.

“What’s going on? Is Li Xiu coming to provoke us, or has his retreat route back to Changge been blocked by commanders under Zhu Rang?” Zhou Yuan looked at the scene before him and asked in puzzlement.

Yao Xishui looked toward Hulao Pass and Xingyang city to the southwest. Not expecting that the Liang naval forces stationed there showed signs of deployment, she was also full of confusion. Without the Liang naval forces crossing the river to press toward the north bank in coordination, why would Li Xiu lead a cavalry force in such a wide detour into Meng Prefecture territory? What was his purpose?

As for Li Xiu’s route back to Changge being blocked, Yao Xishui did not believe it either.

After Liang Shixiong and over twenty thousand elite Weibo troops were annihilated at Xingyang and Mi County, although Zhu Rang in Bianzhou and Wuzhi appeared to still have sixty to seventy thousand troops, there were truly not many field combat elite left—they might not even match Xu Mingzhen defending the various prefectures and counties on the east bank of the Guo River.

She found it hard to imagine that without coordination from Meng Prefecture forces and Shouzhou forces on both flanks, Zhu Rang would have the determination to mobilize all garrison troops near Bianzhou to encircle and annihilate these five to six thousand Liang cavalry.

In the seventh year of Yanyou, Xiao Yiqing had conscripted tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians to transport earth and construct a large dam between the north side of Wuzhi city and eastern Meng Prefecture to cut off the Yu River channel. This meant the Yu River bed east of the dam had been dry for several years. This allowed Li Xiu to lead his troops to appear near the south bank embankment of the Yu River, able at any time to cross the dry riverbed and directly enter north bank Meng Prefecture territory.

At this time, horns blew mournfully from the Meng Prefecture city gate tower. Several teams of fast cavalry galloped toward Qinyang to the northeast, Heqing to the north and other places with warnings.

Before this, no one had thought Li Xiu could possibly lead such a Liang cavalry force into Meng Prefecture.

At this moment, Meng Prefecture city appeared somewhat flustered and confused.

Zhao Mengji hastily ascended the city tower, his face grim. Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, Yao Xishui guessed he was probably wavering about whether to send troops out of the city to coordinate with south bank Eastern Liang forces to encircle and annihilate Li Xiu’s troops in the Yu River bed.

Before Zhao Mengji could make a decision, they saw the south bank cavalry had already divided into columns charging down the dry riverbed. Hundreds upon thousands of warhorses neighed, quickly entering the barren land of the north bank.

The Liang cavalry first occupied a low-lying area west of the Nanguan River. Like a flood, men and horses gathered in increasing numbers.

“What dog shit information did those idiots in Wuzhi send!” When even more cavalry entered the north bank, Zhao Mengji shouted anxiously.

At this moment, Yao Xishui also understood why Zhao Mengji was jumping with urgency.

The Liang cavalry that first entered the north bank were all one person per horse, appearing like standard raiding cavalry. But seeing subsequent teams of warhorses and military horses enter the north bank, many people realized something was wrong.

Roughly calculating, under Li Xiu’s command, the Liang cavalry entering the north bank had approximately three horses per rider configuration.

This was the standard configuration for long-distance raids.

The intelligence sent that morning by Eastern Liang army commanders defending Wuzhi city had precisely overlooked this crucial detail. This led them to always believe the Liang forces entering the east bank of the Sha-Ying River would at most raid in Weishi County territory. They had not thought at all of the possibility of them entering Meng Prefecture.

What did the Liang army intend by sending five to six thousand cavalry with so many replacement military and warhorses into Meng Prefecture territory at this time?

Yao Xishui and Lü Qingxia looked at each other in dismay.

Besides being equipped with double the warhorses or military horses, the five to six thousand cavalry clearly had not brought any war machinery. Moreover, the Liang naval forces at Xingyang and Hulao Pass showed no signs of deployment. No matter how one looked at it, it did not seem they intended to launch surprise attacks on Meng Prefecture, Heqing, Qinyang and other cities.

However, even if the Eastern Liang forces did not come to the north bank for reinforcement, even if Zhao Mengji was weak, he could still assemble forty thousand troops in Meng Prefecture. How could five to six thousand Liang cavalry be allowed to enter Meng Prefecture as if into uninhabited territory?

In the haste, Zhao Mengji could not organize sufficiently strong forces to exit the city and form battle lines. He immediately ordered subordinate commanders to lead a column of infantry and cavalry out the north city gate to rush to reinforce the naval camp stronghold to the northeast and strengthen defenses.

He still worried that Li Xiu was leading this Liang enemy force to target Meng Prefecture’s naval forces that had been decimated in the battle at Xingyang.

However, after Li Xiu led cavalry onto the north bank, they did not go north but traveled west along the Yu River north bank. With lightning speed, they sent troops to seize the Nanguan River floating bridge southeast of Meng Prefecture city. Besides dividing out a column of cavalry to gallop toward Meng Prefecture’s south city gate, the main cavalry force proceeded west from south of Meng Prefecture city, heading toward the southern slopes of Mount Wangwu…

“Has Han Qian transferred Li Xiu’s troops to reinforce Yuanqu?” Yao Xishui looked toward Lü Qingxia and Zhou Yuan in astonishment and asked.

Going west along the narrow slope road along the southern slopes of Mount Wangwu hugging the north bank of the Yu River led to Zhiguan Gorge in the direction of Yuanqu. The Liang cavalry main force riding off in that direction like dust—their destination was naturally Yuanqu.

A column of about six to seven hundred cavalry split off from the Liang cavalry main force and at this time headed directly toward Meng Prefecture’s south city gate. Li Xiu clearly intended to use this cavalry as a rear guard to prevent them from sending troops from Meng Prefecture city to attack their flanks and rear.

Zhao Mengji was also full of bewilderment. He did not order troops to strike their flanks and rear. Soon they saw the rear guard cavalry that had split off stop six to seven hundred paces from Meng Prefecture’s south city gate.

The leading Liang cavalry commander rode forward, reined in his horse and held his lance horizontally before him, then removed his helmet, revealing a young, thin face.

Seeing this person’s face clearly through the brass telescope, Yao Xishui’s eyelids could not help but twitch twice.

Li Changfeng’s second son, Li Yan.

Yao Xishui still remembered that during the palace coup, Li Yan should have been only sixteen years old. She had not expected he had now become a Liang cavalry commander.

At this moment, Yao Xishui also understood that Li Yan had intentionally removed his helmet before them. She seemed to sense the suppressed, gloomy hatred in Li Yan’s eyes. For a moment her spirit was dazed. Only when Li Yan led his troops westward did she recover her senses.

Although Meng Prefecture was at the southeastern foot of Mount Wangwu and had also constructed several fortifications based on dangerous terrain, garrisoning them with elite troops to control the narrow riverside path on Mount Wangwu’s southern slopes.

However, these defense fortifications were mainly to guard against the Liang army possibly attacking from the west. All the trebuchets, bed crossbows and other war machinery were deployed facing southwest. How could they have anticipated an elite cavalry force would penetrate from east to west?

After quite some time had passed, commanders from those fortifications sent people to inquire what was happening. They even doubted whether the troops passing before their fortifications were enemy forces.

Zhao Mengji initially had not realized that Li Xiu’s troops entering Meng Prefecture were merely borrowing the route to proceed to Yuanqu, and had not sent anyone rushing to those defense fortifications to report.

When Li Xiu led troops in large numbers onto the north bank, he had sent scouts in advance to block communication routes south and southwest of Meng Prefecture city. Zhao Mengji still had not realized this point. The vigilance of the western fortifications was even lower. Only when Liang cavalry approached did they wake with a start.

However, defenders at the western fortifications did not dare emerge from their fortifications to fight in the haste, and adjusting war machinery was too late. Thus they watched in alarm as large columns of cavalry swarmed past before the fortifications through the gentle slope area only three to five hundred paces wide.

At this moment, Yao Xishui was still somewhat dazed.

Even if she could confirm Han Qian was transferring Li Xiu to reinforce Yuanqu, she could not understand why Li Xiu would risk passing through western Bianzhou and southern Meng Prefecture.

Going this way, it was indeed much faster. After all, from Changge to Xingyang and the post road from Xingyang through Hulao Pass had many sections passing through flood zones where horses could not gallop freely.

Honestly following the post roads, encountering oncoming vehicles and horses from time to time, large-scale cavalry units could at best travel a hundred li per day.

Moreover, to avoid wasting time ferrying boats against the current at the Yi-Luo River mouth, they would have to detour along the post road on the southern foothills of Mount Mang to cross at a bridge in Mianchi territory, adding nearly a hundred li more to the detour.

In comparison, Li Xiu leading troops with extreme boldness through territories controlled by Eastern Liang and Meng Prefecture forces, with three horses per rider for replacement, could perhaps reach Yuanqu by dawn tomorrow, saving at least two days compared to taking the southern route.

The problem was, Han Qian had over a hundred thousand troops available at Yuanqu. Even if they were routed in great defeat, urgently transferring Li Xiu’s troops over could not make much difference, could it?

Just as Yao Xishui was about to ask something, she saw Zhao Mengji with a grim expression descending the tower first via the rampart stairs…

“…” Seeing this scene, the next moment Yao Xishui awakened in alarm. The Mongol army had been defeated! Han Qian needed to urgently mobilize more cavalry to pursue and slaughter the routed forces in the Fen River valley?

How could this be possible?

The Mongol army had assembled one hundred twenty thousand elite troops at and near Jiang County. Wusu Dashi had personally taken command at Jiang County. The decisive battle had only begun a few days ago. Even both sides had not yet committed their main forces to the battlefield—the Mongol army had already been defeated?

Yet if it were not so, this could not explain why Li Xiu would lead five to six thousand cavalry at great risk through Meng Prefecture territory!