Chapter 162 Deadlock
Li Jinzhong and Xiao Qingfang communicated again for a long time about the Turks' participation in the war. In the end, Li Jinzhong put the overall situation first and accepted She Ling's request.

Xiao Qingfang achieved her goal and left with great satisfaction, but Sun Wanrong was not very satisfied.

He asked Li Jinzhong directly: "Khan, you clearly did not want to fight Zhou Jun again before, why do you agree to Xiao Qingfang's request now?"

Li Jinzhong smiled calmly, and said casually: "What if they agree? What if they don't agree? We should do what we should do, and don't worry about their opinions."

Sun Wanrong seemed to understand what he meant when he heard this, and then asked tentatively: "Khan means that we should withdraw our troops back to Yingzhou, recruit the troops of the Xi and Mohe people for our own use, and attack Liaodong?"

Li Jinzhong nodded slightly, his eyes gleaming: "Yes, now that the Zhou army has just been defeated, it is temporarily unable to attack. Seizing this opportunity to strengthen ourselves is the most important thing. Everything else must give way."

"Xiao Qingfang is right about one thing. The Zhou army was going to attack us anyway. There is no way to avoid it. If the Turks can really stand on our side, it will be a good thing no matter sooner or later."

Sun Wanrong suddenly understood after listening to Li Jinzhong's explanation, and said impatiently: "In this case, there is no time to lose. I will pass the order down and tell the army to prepare to break camp and return to Yingzhou tomorrow!"

However, Li Jinzhong raised his hand gently and stopped Sun Wanrong with a smile: "Hey~ The distinguished guests haven't left yet, we still have to be polite. We have to wait until they leave the camp before we can talk!"

After they finished speaking, the two smiled at each other, and then burst into hearty laughter, and the atmosphere became relaxed and harmonious.

Xiao Qingfang left the Khitan central army tent and, without stopping, joined up with dozens of purple-clothed assassins outside the Khitan camp and headed towards Pingzhou.

Xiao Mei rode her horse beside Xiao Qingfang and said with some worry, "Sister, I think Li Jinzhong has become powerful now, so he may not abide by the agreement with you."

Xiao Qingfang raised a cold smile and said coldly, "How could I not know this? As I said before, they have already rebelled, and they can't regret it."

Seeing this, Xiao Jing, who was standing by, quickly agreed, his words full of flattery: "Big sister has made every possible plan. Whether it is Li Jinzhong or Mochu, they are just pawns on your chessboard and cannot escape your calculations."

Xiao Qingfang heard this, a hint of pride flashed across her face, but she waved her hand and smiled modestly, "That's wrong, we are just taking what we need and using each other."

"It's just that this time the imperial army was not completely annihilated, and Zhao Ji showed up out of nowhere, which really surprised me."

When Xiaomei heard the name "Zhao Ji", her heart was inexplicably moved, and she couldn't help but ask softly: "Sister, who is this Zhao Ji?"

Xiao Qingfang pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "This man was once Wu Zetian's personal guard, and was promoted all the way to the rank of General of the Thousand Bull Guards. Recently, he has been highly valued by Wu Zetian."

"As far as I know, he was the one who ruined Jin Mulan's plan in Youzhou. Wu Zetian also used him to check and balance the inner guards, but I didn't expect that he could still do anything on the battlefield. He is really a difficult character."

Xiaomei's eyes flashed with confusion, and she murmured: "Zhao Ji..."

Xiao Qingfang said to herself, "He has a close relationship with Di Renjie. I think Wu Zetian will definitely use him to save the situation. As a result, Zhao Jizhen has really become a key figure."

"Big sister, do you want to get rid of this person?" Xiao Jing's tone revealed ferocity.

Xiao Qingfang shook her head slightly: "I don't mean anything. Everything depends on the direction of the wind in the capital. Let's see how Wu Zhao reacts to this defeat, and then we can make a plan."

"But there are some things that can be prepared in advance. Xiaomei, you can secretly observe and test this person. It may be of great use in the future."

Xiaomei agreed immediately: "I understand."
-
At noon the next day, scouts sent by Zhao Ji came to report that Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong had already broken camp in the early morning and apparently withdrew their troops back to Yingzhou.

The Khitan army retreated in a hurry, and this news made the generals in Pingzhou city a little confused.

"General Yang, in your opinion, why are the Khitan troops so anxious to retreat northward?" Yan Feishi asked with a puzzled look on his face. Yang Xuanji stroked his beard and thought, then shook his head slowly: "It's hard to say."

Zong Huaichang looked nervous, and his words revealed a lingering fear: "Maybe it's a trick to lure the enemy. They also want to lure our army out of the city to chase them, so as to ambush our army again."

Zhao Ji glanced at Zong Huaichang and thought to himself that this man seemed to have lost his courage after the battle of Xixia Shigu, and was becoming paranoid.

He turned to analyze the situation of both sides: "Now the troops of Generals Yan and Zong have been badly defeated and their morale is low. The troops of General Yang and I combined only have more than 10,000 troops, which is not as good as the Khitan army."

"Besides, the Khitans ride horses. Although our army has several thousand cavalry, it is not easy to pursue them. It is better for us to defend Pingzhou City and wait for General Li to come to our rescue."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xuanji and Yan Feishi both expressed their agreement, while Zong Huaichang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart.

"Although the Khitans have withdrawn, we still cannot let down our guard. General Zhao, your cavalry scouts must be deployed widely to spy on the movements of the Khitan army and report back at any time," Yang Xuanji added.

Zhao Ji nodded calmly and responded, "Don't worry, old general. This is what is meant by the question. I have already given the order."

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere seemed to become a little dull, especially for Yan Fei Shi and Zong Huaichang, who felt mixed emotions.

"General Yang, is there really no problem with the battle report previously given to General Li and the court?" Zhao Ji broke the tense atmosphere with a guilty conscience.

After several people discussed it, the battle report recorded that more than 10,000 enemies were killed and countless Khitan troops were defeated, although only a few thousand Khitans were killed or wounded.

He Axiao and Li Kaigu, who were killed in the battle, also became famous enemy chiefs and generals, and their military achievements were completely false.

Yang Xuanji glanced at Zhao Ji expressionlessly. Yan Feishi and Zong Huaichang even laughed, as they were already used to it.

Only Zhao Ji was going into battle as a general for the first time and had no idea of ​​what was going on.

Zong Huaichang smiled and said, "Don't worry, General Zhao. After all, we really killed 7,000 to 8,000 Khitans. It is also a fact that we repelled the Khitan army. It won't hurt to report a little more."

Zhao Ji shook his head. He knew that Generals Yan and Zong were counting on this little bit of military power to help him shoulder Wu Zetian's wrath.

However, such boasting could not conceal the cruel fact that the Zhou army lost nearly 20,000 elite soldiers and three generals.

"That's right. I'm afraid Your Majesty may not be willing to admit the defeat in Liaoxi. He may even help cover it up and pretend that the defeat was a victory." Zhao Ji guessed maliciously.

After Yan bandits Shi and Zong Huaichang retreated, Zhao Jicai and Yang Xuanji asked about the business: "General Yang, although the situation in western Liaoning is bad now, the Khitan rebellion still needs to be suppressed. I wonder what method should be used?"

Yang Xuanji said solemnly: "There is no good way. The best opportunity is when Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong come out in full force to attack Tanzhou and ambush Zhang Xuanyu."

"If we could have taken the opportunity to annihilate the main force of the Khitan army at that time, it would have been easy to suppress the rebellion. Now the Khitan army has retreated to Yingzhou, and there are hundreds of miles between Pingzhou and Yingzhou, and the roads are rugged and difficult to travel. It's difficult!"

Zhao Ji understood what Yang Xuanji meant. With the road extending several hundred miles to the south, the Khitans would not sit still and wait for death. They would certainly attack the food supply route, making the situation indeed difficult.

“If we want to quell the rebellion, we must either lure the Khitans into attacking first, or we must lead a large army and advance slowly and cautiously. This is the only way to avoid repeating Zhang Xuanyu’s mistakes,” Yang Xuanji concluded.

Zhao Ji couldn't help but sigh, fearing that Wu Zetian might not have such patience.

(End of this chapter)