Chapter 644: A single spark can start a prairie fire
Yanzhou, Chenliu.
Li Xiuning's eyes were full of excitement. He excitedly reported to Li Shimin who was sitting on the dragon throne: "Second brother, all the Ming Dynasty remnants in the city have been eliminated. Now Chenliu has been completely captured by our army."
Li Shimin was also very excited. After all, this was the first achievement of Fuming, but he also knew that the war would never end because of this, and the subsequent counterattack would be the real test.
"How are the casualties?" Li Shimin asked with a chuckle.
"This battle is mainly due to the internal fighting of the Ming army, so our army's casualties are not large. With the troops who surrendered, our army currently has nearly 7,000 people, which is enough to defend Chenliu."
Li Shimin had long been familiar with these data, but he still had to confirm it again from his sister's mouth.
"The five-pronged army with nearly half a million troops attacked the Ming Dynasty, but this was taken away by Li Shimin's 4,000 extraordinary soldiers. The faces of the other princes must be very good when they find out."
Li Shimin laughed and mocked, then seemed to remember something again and asked: "By the way, which family members of the generals who rebelled against the Ming Dynasty were captured?"
"Second brother, my little sister just wanted to tell you."
Li Xiuning's expression immediately changed and he said seriously: "Now in Chenliu City, not to mention the family members of the generals who rebelled against the Ming Dynasty, even the relatives of the soldiers who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty are no longer in the city. Zhang Sheng has been prepared for a long time, and Chen Liu was secretly transferred."
"What?"
Li Shimin frowned and said in a deep voice, "So, all we got was an empty city?"
"That's not true. The equipment warehouse, grain warehouse... most of them are still there. Ming Dynasty may not have had time to move, or the target was too big to move, so only the old and weak were moved."
"Is that true?"
Li Shimin held his head with his left hand, and kept tapping the dragon chair with his right hand, his eyes gradually becoming blurred.
After seeing this scene, Li Xiuning knew that his second brother was thinking about something, so Tingting stood aside and didn't make any sound.
After a while, Li Shimin seemed to have thought of something, and the look in his eyes instantly recovered. He chuckled and said, "That woman Zhang Sheng is really amazing. She still wants to fight to the death even though she is like this. But this is just a waste of effort."
"Second brother, what do you mean, the war will be more intense in the future?"
"No, it will be easy later."
Li Shimin raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said meaningfully: "It's much easier than you think."
Li Xiuning immediately frowned upon hearing this, her beautiful eyes full of doubts, but Li Shimin smiled and shook his head without explaining much.
——————
Jizhou, Julu County, Guangzong City.
"Chen Liu has been defeated by Li Shimin like this?"
Looking at Zhang Sheng who still looked in disbelief, Zhang Liang's face became even more bitter, and he said with difficulty: "Yes, Your Majesty, Chen Liu has been broken."
Only then did Zhang Liang understand the true meaning of the word 'involuntarily'.
During the decisive battle in Sizhou, Zhang Liang was captured by Qin Hao, so he did not participate. As a result, the Yellow Turban army was eventually annihilated.
At that time, Zhang Liang was thinking, if he had participated, would the Yellow Turbans still end like this?
This time the five Han armies attacked the Ming Dynasty. In order to protect the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Liang racked his brains to think of all possibilities and made all the preparations he could, but Chenliu was eventually defeated by the Han army.
Chenliu was not only the capital of the Ming Dynasty, but also the core point of the war. The five fronts were all centered around protecting Chenliu.
Once Chenliu is defeated, the Ming armies in various places will be completely separated, while the Han army will unite in one place while marching straight in. It is only a matter of time before the five major fronts are defeated one by one.
Therefore, from the moment Chenliu was breached, the fate of the Ming Dynasty was doomed.
"Lost, lost again."
It was only then that Zhang Liang realized how difficult it was for one person to go against the will of heaven. Even if he had been present at the time, he might still have been unable to reverse the defeat, because the outcome was already doomed.
After working hard for so long, but in the end it was all in vain. Is this really God's will?
Although Zhang Liangzhong was unwilling to admit it, what could he do if the facts were so?
"Your Majesty, our army... was defeated in this battle."
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Liang's whole body seemed to be emptied out, and he seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
A flash of sadness flashed across Zhang Sheng's beautiful face, and his eyes were full of unwillingness, but in the end he sighed helplessly.
"Yes, defeated, completely defeated."
When all the ministers in the hall heard this, they all clenched their fists unwillingly, and some even started sobbing softly.
This country founded by them is now about to perish in their hands. How can everyone not feel sad about it.
Guo Jia stood up at this time and said: "Your Majesty, although the defeat of this battle has been determined, the Ming Dynasty must not be destroyed. I request that the final retreat be initiated to preserve the fire of the revival of the Ming Dynasty."
Zhang Liang sighed in his heart when he saw this, Jia Guo, no, Guo Jia and Guo Fengxiao, are you so eager to return to Qin Hao's arms?
Of course Zhang Liang knew that Guo Jia was Qin Hao's man, but he didn't reveal it just because there was no need. After all, even the Ming Emperor's heart was with Qin Hao, so was it necessary to reveal Guo Jia's identity?
The "last retreat" mentioned by Guo Jia was actually proposed by Zhang Liang.
This time the Han Dynasty attacked across the board, and the Ming Dynasty responded to the enemy with its troops dispersed. It was too difficult to win.
Therefore, when the decisive battle just started, Zhang Liang had already reserved the final retreat for the Ming Dynasty. In the case of inevitable defeat, he would retain the fire of revival and retreat into the mountains to wait for the Ming Dynasty to change.
Now that Chen Liu has been breached and the Ming Dynasty has been completely divided, the defeat is doomed, so it is time to activate this last retreat.
"Qin Hao, have you guessed this day a long time ago?"
Thinking of this man whom he wanted to hate but couldn't, Zhang Liang felt extremely complicated. When he thought back to the man's confidence when he released him, he clearly believed that he could not succeed.
Qin Hao gave Zhang Liang a chance, but he failed to seize it. Now it is finally time for Zhang Liang to fulfill his promise.
There are always some people who cannot accept the facts. After all, once this last retreat is launched, it will be a disguised admission that the Ming Dynasty has been defeated.
Therefore, as soon as Guo Jia's "last retreat" proposal came out, it was like detonating a bomb in the middle of the court. There were supporters and opponents, and the Ming Dynasty court instantly became a mess.
Seeing this, Zhang Liang stood up and said with a sad face: "Your Majesty, if you continue to resist, it will only increase casualties. I believe that retreating into the 'Three Mountains' and retaining strength to wait for its plans is the best policy."
Zhang Liang's sad words silenced everyone.
Just then Zhang Sheng spoke, and it was something Qin Hao had said to her.
"If the land is saved and people are lost, everyone and the land are lost; if the people are saved and the land is lost, the people and the land are all villages. A single spark can start a prairie fire...
Temporary failure does not mean everything. As long as Ming Dynasty is still there and you are still there, one day, Ming Dynasty will definitely start a prairie fire again. "
