After the war, Huili City was filled with the strong smell of medicine. The still intact houses were filled with wounded people. There were also people carrying the wounded people hurriedly into the city. From time to time, low cries could be heard from the darkness.
During the war, people's heart strings were tense and they didn't feel anything. When the war was over, it would be difficult for anyone to accept that the companions who lived and ate with them every day suddenly disappeared. A gloomy mood spread throughout the city, making Huali City, which should have been a noisy city, seem to have turned into a huge tomb.
Although the defense line of Huali City was finally defended in this battle, the loss of personnel was really too great. Wu Gen only deployed a small number of personnel to monitor Lin Qiu and the remaining half of the earth wall. There really were not so many people to set up more defenses.
Wu Gen was sitting in the city lord's palace, and someone was wrapping him in gauze. The main generals of the Northern Army were sitting around in the room. Almost everyone was injured. Even Ji Yan was beaten with an axe. If Ji Jing hadn't fought to save him, he would have been trampled among the rebels. die.
Baoxiang did not participate. He was seriously injured today and could not be seen in the rush. He fainted as soon as the fighting stopped.
Shui Congyue had also returned to Huali City. After fighting his way out of the coalition forces, Lu Lie originally wanted to lead his men to chase him, but was stopped by Gu Yangsi. At this point in the battle, both sides were exhausted and in urgent need of rest and reorganization.
"Everyone, although I defended Huali City in this battle, it was a miserable victory. We have no power left to deal with another attack by the coalition forces. I would like the entire army to withdraw westward immediately and join up with the Southern Army." Wu Gen waved his hand. , let the person who bandaged him leave, and directly stated his intention.
No one in the room was surprised by Wu Gen's decision. Hu Jia had just reported the battle losses. After several contacts with the coalition forces, the Northern Army had lost more than 8,000 people. Not counting the servant army brought by Zhuo Ke, there are now only 15,000 people left in the 23,000-strong team. Morale is low and people are terrified. Anyone can see that if we continue to defend, the entire Northern Army will have to be accounted for here.
"Yes, our army should withdraw as soon as possible and join up with Ji Zhenfu's Southern Army." Hu Jia also stood up and said, "But the key is not to withdraw suddenly. We must leave a force to confuse and intercept the enemy and cover the rest. People retreat. Otherwise, if the enemy forces cover up and kill us all the way, our army may be disintegrated before we reach Seululing."
"I will stay and guard Huili City." Wu Gen spoke immediately. Seeing Shui Congyue's unkind gaze, he quickly explained: "It's not that I want to put myself in danger. If I don't show up here, the coalition forces will definitely know about me. The army has left, and it is impossible to say that troops will be sent out immediately. There should not be many people left here, one thousand is enough, and Zhuo Ke and Luo Zhang will each receive five hundred.
Because the right army of the central army suffered too many losses, the people Zhuo Ke brought this time were divided into two and replenished the two armies. The retreat will begin tonight. The specific sequence of the retreat will be coordinated by Hu Jia. If there is sufficient time, the retreat will be completed in three days. Those who did not leave continued to repair the earthen walls and construct fortifications in the forest hills to confuse the enemy. "
"I will stay and wait for the army to withdraw, and then continue to penetrate behind the enemy's rear and harass the enemy's food routes." Shui Congyue said calmly from the side.
Wu Gen scratched his bald head, knowing that Shui Congyue was worried about him, so he could only nod in agreement, "The coalition food road is patrolled by the Flying Tiger Army, and the Rebel Army and the remaining mastiffs and wolves are all under the command of Shui Xiaowei." Command, in order to restrain the flying tiger army's secret technique of running away."
Speaking of this, Wu Gen looked at Xue Xin, who had been silent, "The Zuo Army suffered little damage this time, but in the next decisive battle, you will be the main force, Xue Xin."
"My subordinate is here." Xue Xin quickly stood up.
"After arriving at Zhuolu Ridge, immediately survey the terrain, lay out fortifications, and cooperate with Zu Yuantong. If he is disobedient, just say it was me, and not a single soldier will be supplied to him after the war." Wu Gen explained seriously.
"I obey," Xue Xin agreed, his face looking much better. He has been guarding the city these days and has not made any achievements. In fact, he is still a little depressed.
Wu Gen nodded and turned to look at Ji Jing who was sitting aside, "Thanks to Zhen Fu's men for their timely assistance this time, otherwise today's battle would have been difficult."
"Little things are all for the sake of the family." Ji Jing waved his hand carelessly. The five thousand men following Zhuo Ke today were none other than Ji Jing's men. Since there were many battles between Yuanxin and the southern allied forces, Zhuo Ke had been having trouble finding a gap, so he had to make a big circle all the way to the west.
, then turned around and headed north.
Later, Ji Ye heard about this and was afraid that these 3,000 people would lose their lives accidentally on the battlefield, so he sent 5,000 people to escort them all the way to Huali City. As a result, he met Niu Chao who was wandering around on the road. After hearing about the war here, Zhuo Ke was anxious and said hello to the escorting southern army. He marched all the way to this place, not wanting to solve the crisis in Linqiu.
"My five thousand men will leave tomorrow night and stay to help Wu Zhenfu repair the fortifications. It seems that there are more people so that the enemy will not dare to advance. As for me, I have to rush back to the Southern Army tonight and hurry up to prepare for the decisive battle. It's something." Ji Jing continued, stood up and bowed to Ji Yan, "Young Master, please leave with me."
Ji Yan shook her head, "Wu Zhenfu is fighting here. As the young master of the Ji family, how can I leave? When I go back, tell the second brother and ask him to pass it on to the eldest brother. The soldiers on the front line are fighting bloody battles for the family, and those suspicions are still there." Just be careful, as my younger sister, I will protect the east side for him."
Ji Jing's expression dimmed. He certainly knew the origin of the battle in Huili City. Ji Yan's words were probably inspired by the horror of the war, "I will convey this to you, young master, take care."
"Take care, please."
After saying that, Ji Jing bowed his hands to everyone around him and turned around and left the room without waiting for the military discussion to end.
Wu Gen sent Ji Jing out of the house, watched him leave, sighed and walked back to the house, "Everyone, stop talking and prepare for your retreat. I know everyone is working hard, grit your teeth, let's get through this. Some days."
On the city wall at night, Wu Gen and Yang Zheng were sitting on the east wall having a drink.
The wind rose from the ground and roared up along the towering city wall, bringing the blood of the battlefield with it and blowing their clothes so hard that they were about to fly.
Yang was stroking the green bricks with his hand, stroking the wine flask in his hand, watching the soldiers in the distance repairing the earthen wall overnight, "Consider defeat before fighting, Wu Gen, what do you think we will do if we lose this battle in the end."
Wu Gen was stunned for a moment, then thought carefully before replying: "If I lose, I can only take people to flee to Bailing Province, seek refuge with Hua Yanlin, encourage him to raise troops, and act according to the opportunity. If that doesn't work, I can escape back to Shixing Village. , let’s accumulate strength honestly and not take the opportunistic path of relying on others.”
Yang Zheng nodded slightly, "This is a good idea. No matter how bad it is, we will just go back to the starting point. What if we win." At this point, Yang Zheng turned to look at Wu Gen, his hair on his temples fluttering in the wind.
"Even if we win, it will be difficult." Wu Gen sighed, "As soon as the decisive battle is over, we will rush to the east with all our strength. On the pretext of wiping out the remnants of the coalition forces, we will seize each family's territory, collect troops, rob military supplies, and expand the troops as quickly as possible. Protect yourself."
"That's no different from rebellion." Yang Zheng chuckled, "I know what you're thinking, it's just that you're worried that Ji Xin and Ji Chen will take action. You want to take advantage of the chaos, and the Ji family has no time for him to take care of, to expand as much as possible. People and horses, if you support your troops and respect yourself, you will not be afraid of Ji Ye and Ji Chen sending troops to attack you."
"Afraid, that's why we have to expand the army because of fear." Wu Gen smiled bitterly and poured a sip of wine into his mouth, only to find that it was very bitter. "It's essential to be on guard against others. Needless to say, Ji Ye, he has already agreed to fight with others. Through mediation, my father and brother allowed me to wait until the southern part of the province, and hinted that I could occupy one or two families' territory.
The Ji family is in bad luck if he has an elbow turned outward. Because of this, for Ji Ye, I worked so hard in Huali City and tried my best to help him win the decisive battle. After I finish paying off my debt to my brothers, don't blame me for being rude if the Ji family tries any dirty tricks again. "
"It would be great if these two people could be killed and crippled, and Tui Jiye could take over." Yang Zheng turned to look outside the city, seeming to be talking to himself.
"No, I can't do this while Ji Ye is here. If I do this, believe it or not, Cong Yue will leave just like that." Wu Gen refused sternly and warned Yang Zheng that this person would really do it if he had the chance. Do something like this.
Yang Zheng smiled slightly, "I just thought about it, there is nothing I can do if I want to kill them."
Suddenly, Yang Zheng's expression became solemn, "Wu Gen, we can't fight like this anymore. The Fearless Army has suffered enough losses this time. In the decisive battle, try to let the Southern Army act as the main force and wear down its strength. Even if we advance eastward in the future, Ji The family is unable to pursue recourse. Remember, the Southern Army does not belong to Ji Ye, but to the Ji family."
Wu Gen was silent for a while and finally nodded.
Seeing Wu Gen agree,
Yang Zheng took out a mirror from his body and said, "The coalition forces have not used this thing until they meet up with the Confederate Army. Don't tell them for the time being. It just depends on the situation and it will cause the Confederate Army some suffering."
Wu Gen brought over the mirror, which he got from Meng Shuo when he attacked Qinghuai City. After the bridge squad got it, they worked hard to imitate some. Now the main generals of the Fearless Army have one, and they are strictly forbidden to reveal it.
"Well, sometimes I think that if I didn't bother at that time, staying in Zhao country might not be a bad thing. I drink wine and sell private salt all day long, and my life is nourishing." Wu Gen held the mirror and sighed, " But who would have thought that fate would make people do such things behind their brothers' backs. People are all forced to become evil people in their own eyes step by step."
Yang Zheng sneered and said: "When you live in this world, every time you take a step forward, you will carry more things on your body, and you have to give up something. As long as you keep your true intentions and don't do great evil, you will not be punished even if you are evil."
"Wrong logic." Wu Gen glanced at Yang Zheng with disdain, "Zi Ming has arrived at the Jiye Camp of the Southern Army. I am going to ask Bu Qiyin to write a letter to his father to persuade Bu Kuan that it is time to take action. "
"I don't think it's necessary." Yang Zheng disagreed. "You have seen these days that he is also helping us intentionally or unintentionally, but I think it is impossible for him to betray us immediately. A person like him, It’s not all about looking to the wind.
Bu Kuan had been in the Lu family for many years and had some feelings for him, especially towards Lu Lie, and he was absolutely incapable of doing anything like severing his wrist. I think he wanted to join the Ji family, but he didn't want Lu Lie to die, so he stayed by Lu Lie's side in several battles and didn't worry much about the military. I think that if the coalition is defeated, the final result will be that he lets Lu Lie go and sells the Lu family, which can be regarded as a little compensation for his inner guilt. "
Wu Gen was startled when he heard this, and after thinking about it carefully, it was really possible that as Yang Zheng said, Bu Kuan was actually very conflicted, worried and unable to make up his mind, so he still half-hided his face with his pipa, unable to call out after a thousand calls. .
"By the way, what are you going to do with Murong Yuqiang." Yang Zheng's eyes flickered, watching Wu Gen's reaction.
Wu Gen kicked him viciously and said, dumbfounded: "I tell you, there is nothing wrong between me and her, don't think about it. If Qian Hua finds out, I will kill you."
The Murong family need not worry. When Ji Ye came a few days ago, he secretly told me that the Murong family had secretly submitted to the Ji family. However, in order to confuse other families, they had been openly opposed to the restructuring and no edict was issued. He is known as an old fox, so how can he put himself in danger? Even if the Ji family loses, they will refuse to acknowledge their relationship with the Ji family. No, didn't they send five thousand people to help the coalition forces? "
"The Murong family turned out to be the secret son of the Ji family. He is indeed an old fox." Yang Zheng shook his head repeatedly, "My eldest daughter married into the Ji family, which made people think that she was close to the Ji family. But in the end, she came up with a righteous intention to kill all relatives and join the Ji family. The various families are actually still in cahoots with the Ji family. This cruel trick is used well, and they play people around. In this case, why did they only send 5,000 troops? They might as well send more as internal agents of the Ji family. "
"Haha, don't you want to see who is leading the army? Murong Yuqiang. On the one hand, she wants to lurk in the coalition forces secretly according to her father's wishes, but she also doesn't want her sister to become a bastard after the Ji family wins, and she has to kneel down when the sisters meet. After a lot of struggle, we managed to get a strange number of five thousand people, and they stayed in Yediyuan. Later, they reluctantly arrived at Yugu City to guard the retreat for the coalition forces."
"I see. No wonder Murong Yuqiang's performance has been so bad since the war started." Yang Zheng suddenly realized.
