The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 241: Repel Mongolia and Seize the Fortress

"The King of Jiaodong of the Jin Dynasty is here, who among the barbarians outside the Great Wall dares to come and fight?" Yang Kang led 3,000 cavalrymen to set up a battle line, with one man, one horse and one spear pointing directly at the Mongolian army. Temujin, the 50,000 Mongolian soldiers in the front, looked at the young general in front and couldn't help but cast his gaze on the vanguard deputy general beside him.

The deputy general of the vanguard knelt on the ground and shouted, "It was this fellow who attacked from behind and killed the general with a despicable ambush. Please allow me to redeem myself for my crime and execute this fellow!"

"Correct!" Temujin's challenge was originally just to weaken the morale of the Jin Dynasty. He really didn't expect that anyone in the Jin Dynasty would actually dare to fight.

Outside the camp, a drum sounded and shouts were heard outside. Suddenly, someone came to report that the deputy general had challenged the King of Jiaodong of the Jin Dynasty, but was knocked off his horse and captured alive in just one round.

Temujin's expression changed slightly, and as he scanned the area with lightning-fast eyes, he asked, "Do you know anything about the King of Jiaodong of the Jin Kingdom?"

A Han Chinese general who surrendered from the Jin Dynasty immediately stepped forward and knelt respectfully, saying, "The King of Jiaodong is Wanyan Kang, the eldest son of King Wanyan Honglie of Zhao. He's less than twenty years old, brutal, violent, and exceptionally brave. At the age of fifteen, he was first appointed Marquis of Jiaodong. Within three years, he plundered Goryeo twice and was later promoted to King of Jiaodong. Not long ago, he forcibly occupied Zhoushan in the Song Dynasty. He has killed countless people and experienced countless battles, making him one of the few fierce generals of the Jin Dynasty. At the age of fifteen, he defeated ten Jin generals in a row. His strength is truly terrifying. It is said that he practiced the Western Region Tantric Buddhism's guardian skill, the 'Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra.' His arms have the strength of a thousand pounds, and his bravery is unmatched."

Yang Kang was so arrogant that he won seven consecutive victories. No one could stop him with spears and bows and arrows. However, the bows and arrows on his golden armor were basically ineffective against him. Even shields would be knocked off their horses by Yang Kang's heavy bow and killed by him. He killed seven generals in a row. One of them escaped to ten meters away from the Mongolian army, but he caught up with him and shot him with an arrow in the back of the neck. Only then did he retreat calmly.

Furious, Temujin dispatched ten generals to besiege Yang Kang. He ultimately killed six, captured one alive, and wounded only three, leading to a retreat. Morale among the Mongol army plummeted, while the Jin army gained momentum. Temujin had no choice but to call off his troops and retreat to his main camp. Seeing their retreat maintaining order, Yang Kang retreated to Zhongdu. The Jin emperor was overjoyed and personally arranged a celebratory banquet. However, Yang Kang, however, ordered all officers on duty to abstain from alcohol and offered tea to the emperor, further satisfying the emperor.

Sure enough, in the afternoon, the Mongol army returned, only to be crushed once again by Yang Kang. The Jin general who had given Temujin advice became a ghost under his spear. Temujin sent several archers to shoot Yang Kang's horse, but they could not cause any harm to Yang Kang. Without his horse, Yang Kang displayed a terrifying light skill and directly killed several archers. Only when he saw the Mongol army preparing to charge did he retreat.

The Mongolian army launched a surprise attack in the middle of the night, but was repelled by the Jin soldiers who were well prepared. However, Yang Kang was determined to defend the other three sides tightly and to dampen the enemy's morale on the front. When he was not around, he could only defend and not fight.

The Mongolian army used countless tactics, but they were all resolved one by one by Yang Kang. During the attack and defense, the Mongolian army used the surrendered soldiers of the Jin Dynasty as the vanguard. Yang Kang faced the enemy ruthlessly and organized archers to kill all the Mongolian military supervisors, rescuing thousands of surrendered soldiers, and making the Mongolian side steal more than just a handful of rice.

The attack and defense were in a stalemate for more than ten days. The Mongolian army suffered losses twice as much as the Jin army. This was unacceptable to the Mongols who had always believed that they were much stronger than the Jin soldiers. However, Temujin discovered through clues that the heaviest losses were basically when Yang Kang was commanding the battle. The Jin's city defense equipment was superior to his own siege equipment, making many of his methods useless.

At this moment, news suddenly came from the rear that a Jin cavalry of thousands of people suddenly rushed into the Mongolian grasslands. When they saw the Mongolian tribes and Mongolian herdsmen, they burned, killed and looted indiscriminately. When the news came, they had already defeated more than ten tribes, large and small, killed more than ten thousand people, and robbed countless cattle and sheep.

Temujin was shocked when he heard this. "Where did the enemy come from? Under whose banner are they fighting?"

"The enemy came from Liaodong, and they were flying under the banner of the King of Jiaodong. The enemy is skilled in archery and horsemanship. One man rides two horses, and there is a group of merchants following behind them, heading straight for the royal court of the Han Dynasty." The feedback from the scouts made Temujin very uncomfortable. When he was attacking the enemy's base camp and was frustrated everywhere, he suddenly heard that the enemy had a small force that was quietly moving towards his base camp. If he failed to conquer the Jin Kingdom, but ended up losing his own royal court, it would be a huge shame.

"Retreat!" Temujin's base was in the grassland and desert, but he did not gather all his strength, otherwise it would be impossible for him to have only a mere 100,000 troops. This time, Temujin was determined to go back and reorganize the army, leading more soldiers to crush the Jin capital with the force of a mountain pressing down on one's head.

The Mongols did not conceal their actions and set off openly. Yang Kang directly led 5,000 elite cavalry to escort them along the way. He rode two horses and came and went like the wind, and from time to time he greeted the lagging Mongolian cavalry. Temujin tried to set a trap to besiege Yang Kang, but he saw through it and directly destroyed a Mongolian detachment from the side, and left before the Mongolian reinforcements arrived.

"Khan, I think the King of Jiaodong is delaying our actions to give that small army enough time to launch a surprise attack on the Khan's camp." Mongolia is not without people who can be used. It can even be said that Mongolia at this time is really full of talents.

Temujin thought about it carefully and ordered the army to gather together and retreat quickly to the grassland. This place was close to the Jin capital Zhongdu, and strictly speaking, it was still the territory of the Jin Dynasty. The Jin army was more familiar with this place, and this was their home ground. But once they reached the desert grassland, it would be the world of the Mongolian army.

Although Tiemuzhen withdrew a large number of troops, he did not give up the strategic locations he had captured. Instead, he left behind several troops to garrison the hard-won fortresses, preparing for a comeback. He personally led the army back to the grassland to expel the invaders, and reorganized a larger army to prepare for two more expeditions to the Jin Dynasty.

Yang Kang's cavalry was blocked outside the fortress. The Jin soldiers advanced to challenge him. Seeing Yang Kang, the Mongol defenders saw that no one dared to fight. For three consecutive days, the 5,000 Jin cavalrymen forced the 8,000 Mongol defenders to retreat. Suddenly, news came that the Jin King of Jiaodong had attacked another fortress and the road to the grassland had been opened. Only then did the Mongol defenders realize that the man in golden armor who pretended to be a hero at the front every day was actually a fake.

The enraged Mongol defenders, without waiting for the Jin soldiers to challenge them, launched an attack. Five thousand Jin cavalrymen abandoned their armor and weapons, abandoning their camp and fleeing in panic. The Mongol defenders pursued them for hundreds of miles, only to be intercepted by tens of thousands of Jin reinforcements. After a decisive battle, both sides withdrew their forces and returned to camp. However, upon their return, the Mongol army discovered the fortress had been breached. It turned out that Yang Kang, riding his steed day and night, had arrived back at the camp before the Mongol messenger had arrived, orchestrating this dramatic move to lure the enemy away from their camp and recapture the fortress.

The Jin soldiers arrived soon after, and Yang Kang led his troops out of the fortress and attacked from both sides. The Mongolian army was defeated and fled in panic. Less than two thousand of the eight thousand troops finally returned to the grassland. Two of the four fortresses were also taken back by the Jin soldiers, and they were the two most dangerous to Zhongdu.

Yang Kang left behind thousands of guards and a large amount of supplies before returning to the capital. The Jin emperor personally went out of the city to welcome him and held a grand banquet. During the banquet, civil and military officials sang praises of Yang Kang, but their words and deeds revealed one meaning: as long as the King of Jiaodong was there, the Mongolian army could not capture Zhongdu.

Seeing the intoxicated look on the Jin emperor's face, Yang Kang was furious. These bastards actually used this victory as a basis for comparing the strength of the two countries. Yang Kang didn't bother to pay attention to them. After rewarding the soldiers lavishly, he found the royal relatives and ministers who had been agreed to be divided into fiefdoms early the next morning, allocated soldiers, equipment, and supplies to them, and asked them to go to their fiefdoms immediately to prepare for the second wave of Mongolian attacks.

"Your Majesty has taken back our military tokens." The words of a prince made Yang Kang feel a little bad.

"Misfortunes sent by Heaven can be avoided, but those brought upon oneself cannot be escaped." Yang Kang sighed to the sky, and then summoned the five hundred elite cavalrymen and eighteen guards he brought with him, and took the family of King Zhao and most of the wealth of King Zhao's palace, and rushed towards the city gate in a mighty manner.