The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 541: Layout of Yanmen Pass and Leading Troops into the Grassland

In the eleventh year of the Sui Dynasty's Daye period, the situation of the Sui Dynasty took a sharp turn for the worse due to internal and external troubles, and the consequences of the three unsuccessful expeditions to Goguryeo gradually became apparent.

Although Gaochang King Ju Boya had married a princess of the Sui Dynasty long ago, he immediately pledged his loyalty to Shekui Khan of the Western Turkic Khaganate after returning to his country and married a Turkic princess.

Murong Fuyun, the king of Tuyuhun, who was defeated by the Sui Dynasty and became a hero of Pei Ju (Shi Zhixuan), also took the opportunity to emerge, recover his former territory, and repeatedly invade Heyou. If it were not for the brothers Yang Yu and Yang Jun who weakened Tuyuhun's strength and held him back, the counties and prefectures in Heyou of the Sui Dynasty would have been unable to resist. But even so, the barbarians from all directions still saw the weakness of the Sui Dynasty court.

Seeing the decline of the Sui Dynasty, the Turks, who were becoming increasingly powerful under the cultivation of Sui Emperor Yang Guang, ushered in the transition from Qimin to Shibi Khan. As the strength of the two increased and decreased, the relationship between the Sui Dynasty and DTZ, which had already turned cold, became even worse.

At this time, people with ulterior motives instigated rebellion. Bai Yuwang of Lingwu, Wang Xuba of Shanggu, and the bandit leader Wei Daoer all allied with the Turks in the north and became the younger brothers of Shibi Khan, gradually tearing apart the superficial warmth between the Turks and the Sui Dynasty.

Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, who had long been aware of the dangers of aristocratic families, quickly found an excuse to execute Li Hun, Li Min and others. In June, he went to Fenyang Palace (on Guancen Mountain in Ningwu County, Shanxi Province) to escape the summer heat, leading an army of 300,000, making Li Yuan, the prefect of Taiyuan, unable to sleep or eat.

Yang Guang was staying at Fenyang Palace. The palace was narrow and cramped, so officials and soldiers were scattered in the valleys, living in camps made of grass. Suddenly, the Turkic army moved south, raided Lancheng Town and looted. General Fan Angui was ordered to attack them, but was defeated and killed.

Lancheng Town is very close to Fenyang Palace. If the Turkic army marches quickly, it can arrive overnight. This is the first time in twenty years that the Turkic people have launched a direct military action against the Sui Dynasty since the founding of the Sui Dynasty. All officials are terrified. This incident shows that the Turkic people, who used to be submissive, have shown their claws and are no longer willing to submit.

Although Yang Guang was not the founding emperor, he was a commander who had commanded large armies to fight everywhere. Not only did he not go south, but after delaying for two months, he chose to go north.

He has his own pride. Since he registered as emperor, he has been fighting wars in the south, the north, the east and the west. His martial arts skills are even better than those of senior masters. The Yang family's ancestral war skills are quite mysterious. If he retreats at this time, his state of mind will inevitably be broken, and his martial arts will certainly regress instead of improve. This is something he cannot accept.

During the two months, Yang Guang summoned his generals and confidants, and carefully learned a lot of intelligence. He thought he had a certain degree of confidence, so he led his troops north.

On the fifth day of the eighth month of the eleventh year of Daye, the imperial family went on a northern tour in a grand procession.

On the eighth day of the eighth month, Shibi Khan personally led hundreds of thousands of troops south, preparing to give Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty a surprise.

Princess Yicheng was greatly alarmed upon hearing the news and quickly sent a messenger to inform the emperor. When the prefect of Loufan County, Yin Shishi, heard the news, he wrote a letter to the emperor, urging him to return to Taiyuan. However, Yang Guang insisted on his own opinion and continued to move forward.

On August 12, the Turkic army was right in front of him. Yang Guang hurriedly rushed into Yanmen City (Dai County, Shanxi Province) and ordered King Qi Yang Ling to lead the rear army into Gang County. The Turkic Shibi Khan led his troops in pursuit and surrounded Yanmen on August 13.

While the Turks were aggressively attacking Yanmen, they were also cutting off their own forces. Within a few days, they had captured 41 of the 39 cities within Yanmen Commandery, leaving only Yanmen and Gangxian, where Emperor Yang and the King of Qi had garrisoned. Yanmen City held only defenders, with only days' worth of food. Panicked, the Sui army was forced to demolish civilian houses to use as defensive materials.

Emperor Yang Guang personally inspected the troops, offering high positions and generous rewards to motivate them, and promising not to use force against Goryeo in the future. The morale of the Sui army was greatly boosted, and they fought bravely. At the same time, an imperial decree was issued to mobilize Sui troops from all over the country to rush to their aid.

Yang Guang was a battle-hardened veteran, but in every war he had fought, he had always prevailed with overwhelming superiority. This time, however, was different. In terms of both troop strength and high-ranking combat power, his side was completely at a disadvantage. Within Yanmen City lay over a hundred thousand Sui troops, with fewer than twenty thousand defending. Outside, the Turkic cavalry numbered three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand, not to mention the Grandmaster Bi Xuan, along with other veterans like the Demon Marshal Zhao Deyan, Dun Yugu, and the Flying Eagle Qu Ao.

You said that Feiying Qu Ao is the master of Tiele martial arts and does not belong to the Turkic side?

Since Qu Ao was defeated by Bi Xuan, Tiele lost the opportunity to dominate the grassland and was not even qualified to refuse the call of the Turks. The Turkic army's siege of the Sui Emperor was originally a bit hasty, and it was naturally impossible to mobilize a large army from Tiele, but it was still easy to simply recruit a few masters.

Qu Ao was a rare and exceptionally gifted individual, having independently developed the Nine Transformations of Condensation, achieving Grandmaster status through his ingenious methods. Had he not encountered Martial Master Bi Xuan early on, breaking his invincible state of mind, it's likely that a Grandmaster would have emerged in the Tiele tribe a decade or two later. However, history doesn't allow for "ifs," and Martial Master Bi Xuan would not allow other Grandmasters to emerge from the grassland tribes outside of the Turkic region, thereby undermining the Turkic hegemony on the grasslands. Thus, Qu Ao met his end.

Even so, Qu Ao's martial arts should not be underestimated. All the martial arts masters on the grassland have fought their way to success, and their combat effectiveness and lethality are better than those of the same level masters in the Central Plains and Goguryeo.

Well, it may be a different story for true geniuses, such as Yang Xuyan.

Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was trapped in Yanmen City. The Turkic army attacked day and night. The edict for help went down the river. The first to get the news were the Liaodong cavalry, who were thousands of miles away. However, their position at this moment was somewhat wrong.

Starting in June, the five brothers Yang Xuyan, Yang Yi, Yang Ke, Yang Gai, and Yang Ying led 8,000 cavalrymen into the grasslands. Abandoning their banners and drums, and donning disguised clothing, they quietly advanced in three directions. The Liaodong Merchants (the Liaodong County transport team) advanced by land and sea to collect the spoils. Meanwhile, the brothers Yang Yu and Yang Jun, far away in Tuguhun, temporarily entrusted their empire to Tyrant Sword Yue Shan and led 3,000 cavalrymen to join them.

In just over a month, the seven brothers captured and destroyed more than 20 grassland tribes, large and small. Although they were just remote and neglected areas on the periphery, they still captured hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses. Not only did the number of their cavalry not decrease, but it increased by hundreds or even thousands.

Since Yang Yu and Yang Jun left for Tuguhun to establish their empire, the seven brothers have rarely been together, so this reunion is especially cherished. The elder brothers, Yang Yu and Yang Jun, possess martial arts skills inherited from their family's War God Secrets, possessing a formidable advantage of growing stronger with each battle. Establishing themselves as Han Chinese in the foreign land, they are formidable trouble-takers, facing a constant stream of challenges that only provide opportunities for continuous refinement. The most dangerous encounter was the attack of the Celestial Monarch Xi Ying, which they ultimately repelled with their combined strength, though suffering considerable casualties.

It was the tremendous pressure and achievement of that war that allowed the brothers to break through to the Grandmaster realm one after another, thus completely gaining a firm foothold in Tuyuhun. Not long ago, Tyrant Blade Yue Shan completed his journey to Huashan and Ryukyu, and came to Tuyuhun. With the help of the two brothers of the Yang family, he blocked the Heavenly Lord Xi Ying, became famous in one battle, and completely intimidated the Tuyuhun alien race, making them dare not act rashly.

This is also the reason why the two brothers Yang Yu and Yang Jun dared to leave Tuyuhun. The foundation they had built with years of hard work cannot be lost easily. This place is also an important node on the Silk Road planned by their younger brother Yang Xuyan, which can bring them huge wealth.

The strong foreigners are respected. If there is no strong power to suppress them, no matter how much wealth they have, it will only be fat meat in the mouths of others. Therefore, the two brothers Yang Yu and Yang Jun have never stopped becoming stronger. Both their personal strength and power are constantly increasing, and the number of foreign cavalry under their command is also increasing.

Assimilation has always been going on and has never stopped.

The seven brothers split into four groups, moving in circles in a planned manner, and cooperating with each other from time to time. You attack and I rob, you rob and I silence, and others help to cover. Many merchants on the grassland were eliminated.

You say the businessman is innocent?

Haha, the route they chose was extremely remote and desolate. Few honest people could trade here. Many were simply bandits selling stolen goods, or horse thieves disguised as merchants. The ferocity of horse thieves depended on their opponent. The seven Yang brothers, except for Yang Xuyan, teamed up in pairs. With two masters joining forces, how could ordinary bandits and horse thieves stop them?

In August, Yang Xuyan received news that Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was under siege in Yanmen City. At that time, they were still seven or eight hundred miles away from Yanmen City. He decisively issued an order: attack with all his might, sweep across all the Turkic tribes encountered on the grasslands, burn! kill! rob! and pillage!