Chapter 119: The Siege of Yanmen (Part V)

After a grueling forced march of over a dozen days, Li Wenyuan’s army finally reached Loufan Commandery. The Governor of Loufan came out of the city to meet them, greeting Li Wenyuan as if he were a long-lost relative: "General, you have finally arrived! His Majesty has been trapped in Yanmen Commandery for half a month now. My colleague from Yanmen informed me that their food supplies could last less than a month; by my count, they must be at the point of utter exhaustion. I implore you, General, to march your troops immediately to rescue the Emperor."

"Yanmen Commandery is currently surrounded by the Turks so tightly that not even water can leak through," Li Wenyuan asked, frowning. "How, then, did your colleague manage to convey this information to you?"

"It is like this, General," the Governor explained, sensing Li Wenyuan’s suspicion. "When the Turks besieged the city, my colleague had been dispatched to Loufan to handle official business, which is how he escaped the trap. As he serves as a Registrar in Yanmen, he is intimately familiar with the commandery’s grain stores."

"I see," Li Wenyuan replied. "Because we are currently at war with the Turks, as a commander, I must be cautious. Any negligence could lead to the total annihilation of the army under my charge. Please forgive my bluntness; I hope you take no offense, Governor."

"Not at all, General," the Governor replied. "It is through your defense of our borders that we are able to hold office and serve the people. We are all colleagues working to secure the eternal stability of the Great Sui dynasty; there is no question of offense here."

"I am glad to hear it. However, the situation is urgent, so I shall forgo further pleasantries. Beyond the lack of provisions in Yanmen, do you have any other intelligence? If so, please do not withhold it; it will help me break the siege and welcome His Majesty back to the capital."

"Forgive my incompetence, General, but I have no further intelligence. To be honest, I have fewer than five thousand troops in Loufan. We are barely able to defend ourselves against the Turkish threat, let alone conduct reconnaissance."

Li Wenyuan understood well that Yang Guang favored a military strategy of deploying elite troops to the borders to deter the Turks and the Goguryeo, while leaving the interior with forces that possessed almost no combat effectiveness. This was a calculated move to keep the military factions loyal to the Guanlong aristocracy as far from the capital as possible, grinding them down in constant border skirmishes. While this minimized the threat to the throne, it left the interior vulnerable to uprisings, leaving only men like Zhang Xutuo to handle the growing rebellions in the Shandong region with a meager force.

After dismissing the Governor, Li Wenyuan returned to his camp outside the city. The cost of this relief mission had been heavy. Under the brutal training of Wudelu, the cavalry of the Fourth Legion had become as skilled as the Turks themselves. To maintain speed, Li Wenyuan had equipped every soldier with three horses, yet nearly a third had perished or been abandoned during the two-thousand-li march.

These were not common horses conscripted from the populace, but top-tier warhorses raised with meticulous care at the Shandan stud farms. With Li Wenyuan’s heavy investment and the application of modern breeding techniques, every Shandan horse was worth its weight in gold. Losing a third before even seeing the enemy was a painful blow. Yet, he gritted his teeth and accepted it; the merit of rescuing the Emperor was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure his political future.

Since ancient times, legitimacy was paramount. Even Li Yuan, when he began his rebellion, had paid lip service to the distant Yang Guang as the retired emperor, only to formally depose the "false" successor once the central plains were unified. As a traveler from a different era, Li Wenyuan was acutely aware of the importance of a "just cause"—if he did not use this opportunity to build his political foundation, he would be no different from the hungry peasants rising in revolt.

Of course, this all hinged on successfully breaking the siege. If things went awry and Yang Guang was not rescued, Li Wenyuan would have lost everything. These were over ten thousand warhorses, not mere cattle.

Li Wenyuan’s elite scouts, the "Night Owls" and "Army Owls," could only penetrate the outer reaches of the Turkish lines around Yanmen. Beyond that, they were blind. He lamented that if Zhang Juntai were here, he would have had a perfect plan. But Zhang was guarding the Western Regions against the Western Turks. Wudelu, though a fierce warrior, lacked the strategic mind of a tactician.

At that moment, the Fourth Legion’s staff submitted a report. Based on fragmented intelligence, they proposed a high-risk offensive dubbed "Sharp Blade." The core strategy was to use the Fourth Legion as a dagger, tearing through the Turkish perimeter and driving straight for the headquarters of the Eastern Turkic Khan outside the walls of Yanmen.