Chapter 383 The Great Qian Dynasty Version of Xiangji Temple

As the Crown Prince of the Yan State, Lu Heng was still in Liaodong, but he had his own intelligence channels. Hearing that Lu Kuan had abandoned large swathes of territory in Huainan just to deal with him, he couldn't help but curse loudly.

"That senile old fool! The territory I worked so hard to conquer, this old fool just gives it away as if it's nothing. And that Gao Yuan isn't any better, just waiting to kick someone while they're down. Just wait; once I ascend the throne, I'll make him spit out everything he swallowed."

He knew that Gao Yuan wasn't the type to stop while ahead; he would definitely take advantage of the situation to grab as much as possible. Anxious, he threw caution to the wind and ordered his main army to advance toward Ji County at full speed.

Lu Heng, having steeled his resolve, no longer cared about the scale of casualties. Along the way, he didn't bother with sieges or forcing surrenders; if a city didn't agree to surrender after one attempt, he ordered an immediate all-out assault.

Although this resulted in heavy casualties, it did indeed accelerate the march. In less than two months, Lu Heng's army had arrived at the gates of Ji County, the capital of the Yan State.

Outside the walls of Ji County, one hundred thousand troops of the Yan Army gathered, fully armed and waiting in battle formation, just waiting for Lu Heng to deliver himself to their doorstep.

Lu Kuan had thought it through clearly: since he couldn't move easily, and others leading the troops couldn't defeat that rebellious son, he would simply set the battlefield at Ji County. If he sat in the city and commanded, surely no one would object to that.

As for the cities lost, once he crushed Lu Heng, he could take them all back without any effort.

While things were heating up over there, Cao Xing wasn't idle either. He had been monitoring the war situation in the Yan State from Tsushima Island. Seeing that Lu Heng was already bogged down and unable to extricate himself, he immediately began to take action.

With artillery leading the way, the Great Qian Navy began raiding all the coastal cities on the peninsula. Wherever they went, it was like a swarm of locusts passing through.

Grain, people, wealth—whatever they found, they moved. They strictly executed Gao Yuan's orders, not leaving a single grain of rice or a piece of cloth for Lu Heng.

Qian Jinlai, who was left behind to guard the rear, was merely a merchant. Having never seen such a spectacle, he was terrified and retreated into Pyongyang, not daring to come out. The garrisons in various places also withdrew into the cities under his orders.

This made Cao Xing even more reckless. The navy went ashore and swept through every village they encountered. In the two months that Lu Heng was advancing toward Ji County, Cao Xing had moved at least two hundred thousand people from the peninsula.

Lu Heng learned of this news in Ji County. It was fortunate that he was in good physical health and could handle it, otherwise, he would have surely vomited three liters of blood from anger.

However, no matter how angry he was, he had no way to extricate himself. Now, he only hoped to quickly deal with his foolish father, so that he could then spare the energy to rescue his rear.

When people are anxious, they easily lose their rationality, and Lu Heng was no exception. At this moment, he abandoned all his previous plans, prepared to use the simplest and most brutal method to resolve the father-son feud between himself and Lu Kuan.

A 'Battle of Xiangji Temple' of this space-time occurred right outside the walls of Ji County. The two armies, totaling nearly two hundred thousand, abandoned formation tactics and clever schemes, simply hacking out a result on the open plains.

In the twenty-sixth year of Great Qian, in Panyu, Gao Yuan looked at the battle report in his hand and sighed with deep emotion.

"Since we raised our troops from West City, there hasn't been a bloody battle of this scale within the borders of the Great Qian. What a pity, what a pity. If so many fine young men had died on the battlefield defending against foreign tribes, it would have been a worthy death. It's just a pity that they fell on a battlefield created by the Lu family's father and son fighting for power. How can one not call this a pity!"

Gao Yao was already very familiar with the temperament of his Prince of Tang. Knowing that he loved fighting foreign tribes the most, he didn't join in the sighing but instead spoke up.

"Your Highness, currently Northern Yan has plans to abandon the line from Mizhou to Dengzhou and retreat fully to defend Qingzhou. What do you think we should..."

"Since they have yielded it, it would be unreasonable for us not to occupy it. Order Liu Rengui to advance at full speed."

"But Your Highness, Grand Marshal Liu wrote to say that the Huaisi Corps has just been established and is not yet at full strength, and training is also lacking. It will be difficult to form combat effectiveness in the short term. If we advance into Shandong, I fear we will be taken advantage of."

Gao Yuan understood what Liu Rengui meant. Once they entered the territory of Shandong, Liu Rengui's left flank would be completely exposed to the attacks of Northern Liang.

Gao Yuan smiled and didn't take it to heart at all. He had long thought about how to deal with this point. He beckoned.

"Cheng'er, come here."

Crown Prince Zhao Cheng took a step forward and arrived in front of Gao Yuan.

"Father."

"How is the troop training going?"

"Reporting to Father, the two divisions of new recruits have been drilling for over a month and can basically achieve unified commands, but they have not yet formed combat effectiveness. If they are to be sent to the battlefield, it will take at least another half a year."

Gao Yuan frowned, but then his brow smoothed out. After all, it had only been a little over a month, and he couldn't demand too much.

Watching Gao Yuan's fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk, Crown Prince Zhao Cheng felt restless in his heart. Toward this father who had conquered the entire territory of the Great Qian, he felt both admiration and fear.

Gao Yuan thought for a long time before making a decision.

"How about this: you take half of your new recruits and hand them over to Xian Xing. I will transfer one division from the Lingnan Corps and one brigade from the Jiangxi Army Corps to you to form the Shandong Corps; you will serve as the Governor of the Shandong Corps to ensure the security of Liu Rengui's rear. How about it? Do you have the confidence?"

Crown Prince Zhao Cheng was overjoyed. He bowed deeply to Gao Yuan and said loudly.

"Father, please rest assured! This son will definitely not fail the mission!"

Gao Yuan nodded with satisfaction and looked at Gao Yao again.

"Zhao Xuan, pass the order to Pengju, commanding him to strike at the right time. Attack the line of Huang State and An State. You must attract the attention of Gao Yi and Gao Bing for me, and secure at least half a year or more for me."

"Understood!"

In E State, Yue Fei had long been eager to try. He brought the Iron Pagoda, thirty thousand Beiwei Army, five thousand Shenji Camp troops, and over a hundred cannons; he wasn't in E State just to watch a show.

Previously, he had also seized some opportunities to conduct small-scale sorties and achieved some results, but none had caused big waves.

This time, he finally received Gao Yuan's order, allowing him to mobilize the Xuanjia Army nearby to assist him in his attacks. Furthermore, the goal was clearly set to capture at least one or two prefectures from the enemy.

Of course, the most important goal was to seize the opportunity to annihilate the effective strength of Gao Yi and Gao Bing, and to buy time for Liu Rengui to gain a firm foothold in Shandong and Huabei.

Following Gao Yuan's order, Yue Fei immediately issued mobilization orders to the two regions of Jiannan and Jiangxi, drawing one division of troops from each region as a reserve force. Subsequently, the Shenji Camp, in coordination with the Beiwei Army, launched an all-out offensive.

The Northern Liang garrison general stationed in Huang State was Gao Yi's son, Gao An. He could be considered a capable general, having studied martial arts and military strategy under his father since childhood.

Facing the aggressive approach, Gao An chose to abandon the periphery and retreat fully to defend the state city, buying time for his father and third uncle.

Lu Heng abandoned the three prefectures of Shandong. How could Northern Liang not want to eat this piece of fat? But Gao Yi and Gao Bing also knew that once they entered these three prefectures, it meant going to war with the Great Qian.

Therefore, they had to hold off Yue Fei of E State in order to mobilize troops to fight a decisive battle with Liu Rengui in Shandong.

As for reinforcements, that was simply impossible. Gao Xianzhi at Tong Pass was watching like a tiger, with the attitude that as long as they dared to mobilize troops away, he would dare to capture Hangu Pass and kill his way into Luoyang.

To the north, in places like Jizhou, Lu Heng was also waiting for the opportunity to take a bite of meat to nourish Northern Yan.

This was also why Gao Yi placed his son here; he hoped he could hold off Yue Fei's attack, at least for three months, to buy time for their decisive battle in Shandong.