Chapter 156: Great Drought Across the Realm

As a imperial court captain, who was in fact acting as a regional commander, besides leading troops, there were several other perks, such as being able to share the official army's intelligence.

In the past, although Li Yun had a couple of hundred men under his command, his intelligence-gathering capability was extremely poor. Many things required Li Zheng to lead people out to scout and inquire. Even then, the information they gathered was not necessarily the truth.

Now, however, as a court general suppressing the rebellion, Su Jing's side would regularly send people to communicate frontline military intelligence with him, as well as to gather information on Li Yun's situation and report back to Su Jing, allowing the Great General Su to maintain total control over the entire situation.

This allowed Li Yun to have almost a bird's-eye view of the entire war.

Even as a "layman," he could discern the declining momentum of the Yuezhou faction.

At the beginning of his rebellion, Heavenly King Qiu Dian possessed a massive momentum, sweeping across several prefectures and forcing Surveillance Commissioner Zheng Kui into a series of retreats. After occupying Yuezhou, he commanded tens of thousands of troops.

However... his foundation was still too weak.

The court didn't even need to mobilize troops on a large scale; they merely dispatched an old general who had been idle for many years to levy and recruit soldiers locally. Including the newly recruited forces, in less than half a year, they had already driven these rebels into a corner where they struggled to fend off attacks from left and right.

One could imagine that if it were the Su Jing of a dozen years ago, leading his battle-hardened army to Yuezhou to suppress the rebellion, even with just five thousand or fewer troops, he could have easily swept away these rebels.

Qiu Dian's defeat and demise was merely a matter of time.

The trajectory of the Yuezhou faction served as a very typical negative textbook example for Li Yun.

The lesson was simple: although the current imperial court was decrepit and lacking in vitality, its foundation of over two hundred years still remained. Even if it was an old house that might collapse from a single kick by anyone, not just anyone was qualified to deliver that kick.

Therefore, Li Yun's strategy right now was very simple.

Keep a low profile and focus on development!

Until he was strong enough, he needed to act as docile as possible—at least on the surface—so that the imperial court would pay as little attention to him as possible.

Yet currently, the Yuezhou rebellion presented a wonderful opportunity for Li Yun. If the Yuezhou rebellion ended completely before the new year, the time Li Yun had to develop would be greatly shortened.

However, if Qiu Dian could hold out a bit longer, say for two or three years, Li Yun would be able to slowly grow and expand under the "protection" of this Heavenly King Qiu.

......

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

During this past month, Li Yun led his subordinates to traverse almost the entirety of Shanyuan County, while thoroughly probing its actual strength and conditions.

Although Shanyuan County was where Qiu Dian started his uprising, after capturing Yuezhou, Qiu Dian had taken the vast majority of his men away from Shanyuan. Presently, the garrison forces remaining inside the heavily strategic county town were estimated to be only five or six hundred men.

Given Li Yun's current troop strength and combat effectiveness, coupled with the county's low walls, he could have easily taken the place by force long ago with those mere five or six hundred men. The only reason he had delayed taking action was that he was waiting for movements over in Yuezhou.

Until Great General Su in Yuezhou City made a move, it wouldn't be wise for Li Yun to act rashly, as it could easily draw the rebel reinforcements.

Only when Su Jing initiated his offensive would it be proper for Li Yun to strike.

By this time, Li Yun and his men had pitched their camp less than twenty miles away from Shanyuan County, making all preparations for a siege, waiting only for his command to begin attacking and capturing the county.

That afternoon, Li Yun sat inside the main tent while Li Zheng sat opposite him, tilting his head back to take a sip of rice wine before shaking his head. "This weather gets hotter by the day. It's truly unbearable. The mountain was much cooler."

With that, he looked at Li Yun and asked, "Second Brother, what are you looking at? You haven't moved for ages."

"The account books sent over from Wuzhou."

Li Yun set the accounts aside and sneered, "At first, these people were honest, probably afraid we'd deal with them the hard way. But ever since we left Dongyang County, the account books from Wuzhou have grown more and more absurd by the day."

"If grain, forage, and other supplies hadn't been delivered somewhat on time, I'd have taken two hundred men back there to settle accounts with them properly."

Li Zheng curled his lip and remarked, "Second Brother, aren't officials all cut from the same cloth? This isn't the first time we've seen it."

"That bastard magistrate of Ningguo raised bandit-suppression funds in our name, and we haven't seen a single copper coin of it yet."

"Magistrate Luo Sheng of Ningguo County."

Li Yun chuckled. "I had someone inquire about that fellow. He still has two or three years left in his term in Xuanzhou. We have plenty of time to settle old scores with him."

"There's no rush... for this matter."

Before Li Yun could speak further, the tent flap was lifted, and Chen Da hurried inside, cupping his fists. "Chief! Great General Su has surrounded Yuezhou City and is preparing to begin the siege!"

Li Yun raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is the news reliable?"

"Reliable, of course! The news came straight from Great General Su's camp!"

Li Yun nodded and smiled. "Then it's time for us to get to work as well. We've been in Shanyuan County for a month; we can't afford to have zero achievements to show for it, or it won't be easy to reap benefits from Great General Su later on."

Chen Da grinned broadly, cupping his fists. "The brothers below haven't just been itching to attack Shanyuan for a day or two! They're just waiting for the Chief's command!"

At the side, Li Zheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Li Yun. "Second Brother, let's make our move at night. It's simply too hot during the day; there's no way to fight a battle."

Li Yun thought for a moment and glanced at the weather outside.

Summer had just begun, yet it was already unusually scorching.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Alright then, we'll strike tonight. You and Third Uncle will each select two hundred men. I will lead you personally to attack Shanyuan."

"Ah?"

Li Zheng scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Second Brother, I was just speaking off the cuff..."

Li Yun said solemnly, "Warfare requires taking the weather into account. We are the ones attacking the city; it really is impossible to fight when it's this hot."

"There's no problem with that. Just do as I say."

Li Zheng stood up, acknowledged the order, turned, and walked out.

Li Yun looked at Chen Da, who was still in the tent, and smiled. "Brother, are you fighting tonight?"

Chen Da jolted, quickly straightened his posture, and shouted loudly, "I'll fight alongside the Chief!"

"Very well, go and make your preparations too. Remember to wear your armor."

Chen Da acknowledged the order cheerfully and left.

......

That night, Li Yun led four hundred men as the vanguard for this siege, while the remaining six hundred men stood by in reserve behind them.

Having prepared for a month, although they hadn't built catapults and the like, they had certainly manufactured a good number of scaling ladders.

By midnight, the company of men carrying over a dozen scaling ladders followed closely behind Li Yun, surging straight toward the Shanyuan county town.

After a month, the garrison of Shanyuan County had naturally long since discovered the presence of Li Yun's detachment. The moment Li Yun and his men reached the city walls, they were spotted by the sentries on the ramparts, who immediately raised a loud alarm.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"The imperial troops are here! Prepare for battle!"

With several shouts, the soldiers on the city walls were instantly mobilized.

Li Yun had never intended to launch a stealth attack anyway. He let out a hearty laugh, his voice bold and majestic, "Brothers, charge forward with me! Everything in front of us is bloody merit!"

He slung his great spear across his back, grabbed a scaling ladder himself, and climbed furiously up the city wall amidst the sparse arrows raining down from the tower.

Being tall with long limbs, highly agile, and quick of movement—plus the fact that the county wall was low, perhaps not even ten feet high—the garrison archers only had time to loose a single arrow and hurl down a single boulder before Li Yun had already scrambled up the ramparts!

Such was the disadvantage of a county town; for fortifications like this, the defenders' advantage was not particularly great!

The Chief climbed onto the rampart, drew his sword, and forced the defenders back with a single strike, clearing a patch of empty space for himself. Then he sheathed his sword and unhooked his great spear from his back.

Under the moonlight, the spearhead gleamed with a silvery light. Armed with his spear, Li Yun plunged into the crowd like a heavenly deity, his voice majestic and imposing:

"Lay down your weapons and surrender, and your past offenses will be overlooked!"

"Resist stubbornly, and you will be charged with treason!"

As he shouted, he wielded his great spear. Within moments, over a dozen men had fallen beneath his weapon.

By this time, his soldiers had also seized the opportunity to scale the wall. The numbers on the ramparts quickly evened out, plunging into chaotic melee.

Both Li Yun and Zhang Hulu could navigate such combat formations with ease. The leader of the Li Stronghold, who hadn't personally taken the field in over a month, finally unleashed the ferocity hidden deep within his heart, indulging in a satisfying slaughter.

The battle did not last long. In less than an hour, Li Yun personally opened the city gates and let the main force outside march into the city.

By the time dawn was breaking, the battle was basically over. Hundreds of his men surged in a mighty wave into Shanyuan. The garrison forces collapsed in total disarray; a small portion were killed, half surrendered, and a small remainder fled into the distance, their whereabouts unknown.

As the first rays of sunlight illuminated the battlements, Li Yun stood atop the city wall, gazing toward the eastern sunrise. Sweat evaporated from his body, glowing red in the sunlight.

Li Zheng walked up to him and asked, "Second Brother, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just a small skirmish."

The Chief removed his helmet, looked toward the morning sun, and felt a strange sensation.

It was clearly just the rising sun, yet it already carried a stifling, dry heat.

This year was the fourth year of Xiande.

In this year, the realm saw little rain, and the Central Plains suffered a great drought.