Both sides suffer losses

This bloody battle lasted from early morning until the afternoon; there was no maneuvering of formations, no surprise attacks, only raw, head-on clashes—the kind of bloody fighting where every blade strikes flesh.

Northern Liang and Northern Jin, both having brought out their strongest forces, neither gained an advantage, and all retreated to their respective starting points.

The main force of the Northern Liang Army suffered heavy losses, especially their pride and joy, the Cavalry, of which fewer than seven thousand remained; they were unable to continue expanding their territory in the short term.

The Northern Jin army did not fare any better; their Turks Cavalry were almost completely wiped out, and for this, Li Zonghan had to compensate the Turks's Khan Tuli with a large amount of money and grain to appease them.

South of the Hedong Region, crossing the capital region, lay the fertile Central Plains, and the county government office of Jixian, the seat of Weizhou.

Sitting in the main seat of the central hall was a young man in a white robe, who was currently intently studying the map in front of him.

A general walked in quickly and saluted the young man.

"Young General, our army was a step too slow; the Lu Army has already seized Weixian ahead of us."

The young man was none other than Lu Kuan's eldest legitimate son, Lu Heng. Although he was not skilled in archery or horsemanship, he was well-versed in military strategy, and eight or nine out of every ten victories Lu Kuan had won along the way were his schemes.

Lu Heng looked up at the anxious general and waved his hand.

"General Zhang, there is no need to be agitated. It was within my expectations that Weixian could not be held. To be frank, I never intended to defend it from the very beginning."

"Young General, what do you mean..."

"General Zhang, we do not need to care about the loss of a single city or territory. As long as we annihilate the main force of the Lu Army, whether it is Weizhou, Cangzhou, or Qingzhou, they will all be within our grasp."

As for their Young General who lacked the strength to truss a chicken, there was no one in the Yan Army who did not admire him. Zhang Su saluted Lu Heng.

"I ask the Young General to instruct me."

"General Zhang, how have the tasks I assigned over the past few days been carried out?"

"As per the Young General's instructions, the able-bodied men and the government treasury's grain and provisions have all been shipped out, and the first batch has already arrived in Liyang."

Only then did Lu Heng nod with satisfaction.

"Good. Pass down the order: the army is to pack up, cook at the third watch tomorrow, and set off for Liyang at the fifth watch."

"Retreat? Young General, are we abandoning Jixian?"

Lu Heng revealed a confident smile.

"Yes, I am abandoning it. I intend to use this Jixian to trade for fifty thousand troops of the Lu Army."

Although he was completely baffled, out of trust in Lu Heng's ability, Zhang Su still resolutely executed the order.

Three days after the Yan Army withdrew from Jixian, a massive army arrived at the city gates, and seeing the four gates wide open, they guessed what had happened.

Shen Zhong, who was leading the troops, laughed loudly and said to Liu An beside him.

"General Liu An, you see, I was right. That scholar Lu Heng really was scared away. Men, enter the city."

Liu An felt a sense of unease and quickly tried to dissuade him.

"General Shen, beware of a trap. I think it would be better to send a detachment of troops into the city to scout first."

Shen Zhong was clearly somewhat dissatisfied; he widened his bull-like eyes.

"It's just a tiny little Jixian. Could it really be hiding thousands of troops? Enter the city!"

"General Shen, you and I bear heavy responsibilities; we must not be careless. I hope..."

"Hmph!"

Shen Zhong let out a cold snort from his nose.

"If General Liu An is timid and fearful, you may station your own troops outside the city. I will go into the city myself to eat and drink well."

Helpless, Liu An could only lead his ten thousand troops to set up camp on a hill five miles east of the city, while Shen Zhong took more than thirty thousand troops into Jixian.

Shen Zhong did not completely ignore Liu An's words; after entering the city, he ordered people to search everywhere for possible ambushes.

After a search, they found that only some elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people remained in the city, and everywhere was a mess, as if people had fled in panic, with no signs of any ambush at all.

The soldiers each found a house and began to build fires and cook; a rare, hot meal allowed everyone to eat their fill, and they fell asleep early that night.

Late at night, in a deserted courtyard in the city, a place covered by a pile of withered grass was pushed open, and several figures crawled out from an underground tunnel.

The few people looked at each other, nodded silently in acknowledgment without saying a word, and then separated and disappeared into the night.

In the middle of the night, Shen Zhong was awakened by the noise. He threw on his clothes and walked out of the room, fuming and ready to curse, when he saw a scene that made his soul scatter in terror.

A sky-high fire dyed the entire sky red, and the entire county seat was filled with panicked shouts.

While he was still bewildered, the door was kicked open, and a deputy general, covered in dust and dirt, ran in.

"General, there's a fire! There's a fire!"

Shen Zhong kicked the panicked deputy general over and cursed.

"I'm not blind, I can see it! Where exactly is the fire?"

"Everywhere! It's everywhere!"

"It's a trap!"

Three words flashed quickly through Shen Zhong's mind; even if he were foolish, he knew that if it were a normal fire, how could it be everywhere?

There was no time to think carefully; he rushed into the room and grabbed his robes and armor.

"Quick, stop trying to put out the fire! Organize the men to withdraw from the county seat immediately!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I will do it immediately."

While rushing toward the stables, Shen Zhong was still grumbling.

"These scholars are truly ruthless; there are still several thousand civilians in this city!"

Just as the disheveled Lu Army fled the county seat, they soon saw an even more desperate sight—the Yan Army, fully armed and waiting in battle formation, stood outside the city.

Seeing the disheveled Lu Army soldiers, Zhang Su laughed loudly.

"Hahaha, the Young General is truly brilliant! Brothers, charge! Kill anyone who does not surrender!"

Seeing the aggressive Yan Army approaching, the Lu Army soldiers could only bite the bullet and charge; many of them had even lost their weapons, let alone their armor.

This was almost a one-sided slaughter. Zhang Su watched from the side, laughing; in his view, there was no longer any suspense.

There is an old saying: extreme joy begets sorrow, which perfectly describes Zhang Su.

Just as he was intoxicated by the joy of imminent victory, the rear suddenly became chaotic, and everyone was stunned.

"What's going on? What happened?"

Zhang Su did not understand yet, but Shen Zhong had already figured it out and shouted excitedly.

"It's General Liu An's reinforcements! Brothers, break out and rendezvous with the reinforcements! Kill!"

When people see hope, they often unleash astonishing strength; this was perfectly applicable to the Lu Army soldiers at this moment.

The Yan Army soldiers had thought that coming here tonight was just to collect heads and earn battle merits effortlessly, not expecting that they would suddenly be attacked from both front and rear.

Those enemy troops, who had originally been like dead dogs, suddenly roared and charged toward them.

Under the cover of night, both sides were locked in chaotic melee; there was no longer any formation to speak of, only instinctive slaughter.

This slaughter lasted until dawn, and only when both sides could no longer fight did they withdraw their troops and cease hostilities.

Upon counting the losses, Zhang Su almost vomited blood; the casualties exceeded fifteen thousand.

He had managed to turn such an advantageous situation into a stalemate, and he did not know how he would explain it to Lu Heng when he returned.

The Lu Army fared even worse; fires, stampedes, and shoving in the city caused over four thousand casualties, and after escaping the city, thousands more were lost. Adding in Liu An's casualties, the total exceeded twenty thousand.

Upon seeing Liu An for the first time, Shen Zhong bowed deeply to him.

"Many thanks to General Liu for saving my life."

Liu An helped Shen Zhong up.

"General Shen, you are too kind; as comrades-in-arms, this is only to be expected."

"On that day, my words were disrespectful, yet you were able to overlook past grievances. This shows great magnanimity and spirit. If you do not mind, General, I would like to swear an oath to become your sworn brother."