After escaping hundreds of miles in one breath, Zhu Chongyuan and the bandit generals secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
By the time they collected their defeated troops, they were on the verge of tears. Only less than half a million of the million-strong army was left. Especially the elite cavalry of the old battalion suffered heavy losses, and millions of stones, food and grass were also lost.
This was the fortune they had managed to accumulate, and it was all lost in just one battle.
"My son, the Emperor, I am incompatible with you, and we will fight to the death!"
Zhu Chongyuan raised his head and roared, his face extremely pale.
"Commander, what should we do now? The morale of the army is low now, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit. They will no longer have the will to fight. I am afraid that they will no longer be able to fight against the officers and soldiers?" Qiu Jun was full of worries about the future.
The reason why their rebel army is what it is today is because of the funding from the family members. In today's battle, the rebel army will live up to its former glory. I'm afraid the family members will consider the benefits and return on investment.
"Why panic!"
Zhu Chongyuan said angrily: "I still have an army of 500,000 people, and Li Yi only has a few hundred thousand new troops. Besides, I still have an army of more than 100,000 people in the land of Sanqin. I have the advantage. As long as I defeat Li Yi, If you do this once, the imperial court will have no reinforcements to send."
"As long as our army fights tooth and nail to defeat Li Yi Xiao'er, there will be no chance of winning the Central Plains!"
As soon as these words came out, all the bandits and generals looked horrified and trembled all over.
Qiu Jun's face also darkened and he shook his head helplessly. Do you still want to fight?
A million troops laid siege to Wancheng, which was garrisoned by tens of thousands of people, and already lost many troops and generals. Now the emperor Li Yi personally led the expedition and brought an extremely powerful new army. How easy is it to defeat this new army?
Even though the opponent only has hundreds of thousands of troops, they have sharp and terrifying firearms and extremely brave elite cavalry.
On the other hand, although there are 500,000 troops on our side, there are also a large number of refugees among them. They can barely serve as cannon fodder. Fighting in the field with the official army is a joke!
The elite of the old battalion were beaten to shit, what use are these refugees?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but remind: "Commander, this matter needs to be considered in the long term. Although our army still has an advantage in strength, morale is low now. A decisive battle at this time will not be good for our army. I still recommend avoiding it." Be sharp, stabilize the defense, look for opportunities to fight, and then turn defeat into victory. If you attack rashly, I'm afraid you will fall into the emperor's child's treacherous plan again!"
The bandit generals on the side also spoke up, "Commander, what Military Advisor Qiu said is right. We suffered too many losses in this battle. The two tiger generals Zhu Yong and Zhu Lin died in the battle. General Liu Zongmu was seriously injured. The elite of the old battalion suffered heavy losses. As long as We cannot have unified firearms with each other and are not rivals at all."
"Yes, Marshal, the wounded are invincible in the camp now, and there is not enough food and grass. If we fight now, we will be easily besieged by the opponent. Once we are really surrounded by the little emperor, our army of 500,000 will be completely finished."
Zhu Chongyuan gritted his teeth and showed his fierceness. These generals and Qiu Jun were right. This army was indeed different from the previous army. Not only were the firearms and magical arrows sharp, but the cavalry were also brave and good at fighting. We had to be careful. ah!
But if he is asked to retreat now, he is unwilling to do so!
"What do you think we should do?" Zhu Chongyuan said angrily.
Qiu Jun had already thought about it and blurted out: "Commander, we are just here to cooperate with King Fu to seize power. Now as long as we guard against Li Yi, Li Yi's new army will be exhausted under the fortified cities. King Fu is in the capital." If we succeed in usurping power, we are still the victors!”
"As long as we defend with all our strength, our army of 500,000 is enough to defend Li Yi. In less than three days, Li Yi's backyard is on fire. He will naturally retreat without a fight, and our army can recover its combat strength. Then we can fight steadily. If we advance towards the capital, the final winner will definitely belong to us."
"Okay, just as you said, pass on the order. From now on, the city will be secured. Without my commander's military order, no one is allowed to fight with the army in the field. I will kill Li Yi's son!"
Zhu Chongyuan stamped his foot fiercely, but he was still unwilling to accept it. What he wanted was not to cooperate with Prince Fu, but to become the emperor himself. In this case, all plans would be put on hold.
What a useless fight!
Some say it was careless, some said it was caught off guard.
He never expected that the new army recruited by the little emperor would be so difficult to deal with. They came up with a violent attack, which completely caught him off guard. If he was properly prepared next time, everything would be different.
Finally, the bandit army began to establish an impregnable defense line based on the several cities where it was located.
Wancheng.
Cao Fengyang and Suoyi generals were already at the city gate ready to welcome him.
Today, the imperial commander went on a personal expedition and defeated a million-strong army of thieves. The whole army was full of morale and murderous intent.
Li Yi was dressed in black gold-plated armor, and the dragon relief on his chest seemed to come alive. He wore a long knife at his waist.
The Wancheng County Magistrate and other local officials were so frightened that they knelt on the ground in fear with a look of surprise on their faces.
Is this the legendary ignorant and incompetent emperor?
This doesn’t look like it either?
Rather like a tyrant!
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
All the soldiers shouted long live.
"I love you so much!" Li Yi waved his hand in a majestic manner, "Everyone of you dared to fight in today's battle. I am very pleased. When I return to Beijing, I will reward you one by one!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"..."
Enter the county government office.
Li Yigao took the top position, and the generals took their seats below according to their official positions, and all their faces were filled with the joy of victory.
Li Yi glanced around and asked, "What was the result of this battle?"
Cao Fengyang hurriedly replied: "Less than half a million of the bandits' army of one million were defeated, and the elite of the old battalion suffered heavy losses. They killed 586 people from more than a thousand households of the enemy. Among them, the two great bandit generals Zhu Lin and Zhu Yong were killed. Liu Zongmu He was seriously injured and fled, and captured hundreds of thousands of armors, 2.18 million stones of grain and grass, and countless gold, silver and jewels."
Li Yi nodded, "Very good. Thank you for your hard work in today's battle. I will give you another reward when the master returns to the court."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
All the soldiers were ecstatic and overjoyed.
But Li Yi then asked: "Then what are we going to do next?"
Suo Yi was the first to speak, "Your Majesty, I think we should continue the attack to drive the bandits out of Tongguan and take advantage of the situation to regain the land of the Three Qins."
Li Yi nodded, noncommittal, "That's wrong, who has any other ideas?"
Su Changyu also spoke: "Your Majesty, the general thought he was under siege and did not attack. He trapped Zhu Chongyuan to death in these cities without spending a single soldier."
"Not bad." Li Yi nodded and continued to ask, "Who has any other ideas?"
The generals spoke one by one, but no one could make Li Yi nod with satisfaction.
This scene left all the generals scratching their heads.
"It's all said and done, now it's my turn, right?"
Li Yi said calmly: "I have just received the exact news that Prince Fu, Prince Xiaoliang and Mr. Yan Ge are going to take advantage of me to personally conquer the rebellion and seize power in the capital. How much time do you think I have to put down the rebellion?"
"And the day of their rebellion will be three days later, the day of the annual ancestor worship of the Gale Dynasty."
"First of all, I can be sure that the strategies you mentioned are correct, but we have no time. I must completely wipe out Zhu Chongyuan within two days, and then send troops back to Beijing to destroy King Fu on the third day, and also send troops to defend Xiao Liang king."
"Tell me, in just two days, how should I destroy Zhu Chongyuan next?"
As soon as these words came out, the generals were completely speechless. It was an impossible task to wipe out Zhu Chongyuan's remaining 500,000 troops within two days.
Not to mention anything else, if you want to clean out these cities in one go, it would take ten days and half a month to do it.
The key point is that the enemy has a numerical advantage and an army of 500,000 is defending the city. This is not a field battle.
In today's battle, he had the upper hand. Zhu Chongyuan did not expect that Li Yi would come, nor did he expect that Li Yi's new army would be so strong?
Zhu Chongyuan violated a taboo in the army. He underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. He also made poor tactics and adopted the tactics of adding fuel to the enemy, which led to a huge defeat.
Moreover, the reason why the bandits suffered such heavy losses was that most of them were not killed, but broke out and killed each other, trampling them to death.
Today's battle will never happen again, and Zhu Chongyuan will never make such a big mistake again.
All the soldiers looked troubled and bowed their heads helplessly.
Li Yi smiled faintly, "I have a plan. I need a general who is not afraid of death to accompany me. Can anyone dare!"
"Dare!" Suoyi was the first to jump up.
"Dare! Dare!" Su Changyu and Yuan Jianfan followed closely behind.
The other generals stood up one after another to challenge.
Li Yi nodded, "Okay, but think about it carefully. This plan of mine is a dangerous one. If not, the entire army will be wiped out. Are you not afraid of death?"
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid! If you are afraid of death, you are not a man!"
"That's right, His Majesty's kindness is so great. It's worth dying for Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, the last general who died for Your Majesty is a hero. Even after death, down below, the last general will still be a ghost hero!"
"..."
I have to say that these generals are really brave and not afraid of death. Having such strong generals is worth it!
Li Yi was so moved that he blurted out, "I want to capture Tongguan!"
"Wow!"
There were sounds of surprise one after another!
