With a clang, a bloody arrowhead was thrown into a copper basin filled with water.
Wisps of green smoke rose from the incense burner, and a strange medicinal fragrance filled the room. Many people stood quietly in front of the screen, not daring to make a sound. There were only some tiny and indistinguishable sounds in the room.
I don’t know how long it took, but the two doctors came out from behind the screen, wiping the sweat on their heads and saying with a smile.
"The general is out of danger, but I am not sure when he will wake up."
Almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this sentence, as if a big stone fell to the ground in their hearts.
Kuai Yue quickly stepped forward and bowed.
"Thank you for your hard work, doctors. Please go and rest."
Upon seeing this, the doctors quickly bowed in return and then left the room.
The room became quiet again.
But now that the war is not over, how should Jiangling City arrange it?
"Did the General give any instructions before he fell into coma?"
Seeing Kuai Yue asking such a question, He Lou hesitated for a moment, stepped forward and answered.
"The general told Huo Yi to give orders before he passed out."
Several other generals couldn't help but create a little commotion and looked at each other from the corners of their eyes.
Cai He snorted and expressed his dissatisfaction first.
"Before, the situation was critical and we needed to temporarily give unified orders to withdraw to Jiangling. Now that our army has returned to Jiangling City, we naturally obey the orders of the prefect."
There are only two generals in Jingzhou, one is Wenpin and the other is Zhang Yun. Neither of them followed Taishi Ci on the expedition this time. When Taishi Ci was in coma, the person with the highest position was naturally Jiangling Prefect Kuai Yue. It is beyond imagination to put Kuai Yue aside and let a general command the entire army.
Song Lian immediately agreed with Cai He's speech, while Wang Wei and He Lou remained silent.
At this time, Huo Yi suddenly knelt on one knee in front of Kuai Yue and said.
"Huo Yi recklessly contradicted Sir and encouraged the General to pursue the Shu army, which resulted in the defeat of the battle. Fortunately, the General escaped from danger, otherwise Huo Yi would have died. Now I just want to leave a useful body to fight the Shu thieves to the end. Please do it for me, Sir." "
Huo Yi lowered his head. There was only regret in his heart, and there was no thought of fighting for power.
"That's enough! The general is in charge of major military and political affairs in Jingzhou. It is the strong wall to the west of the Chu Kingdom. When will it be your turn to be the commander-in-chief to take responsibility?"
For some reason, Kuai Yue was a little angry.
After a pause, Kuai Yue smiled bitterly, gently helped Huo Yi up, and said softly.
"Huo Yi, don't think too highly of yourself. You, like Wang Wei and Cai He, are just a great commander. You can see that a victory over Zhang Ren will help deter the princes, and the general can also see that at risk. The general made this choice between profit and profit. Okay, you can go back and have a good rest for now, it will not be easy starting tomorrow."
That's right, Zhang Ren will definitely come to attack the city tomorrow. Although he has ordered to block the news of Taishi Ci's coma, how many days can he keep it secret?
"Take orders."
In uneasiness, everyone dispersed.
······
The Shu army's offensive began again, with greater intensity than before.
The only news that made Huo Yi happy in the past few days was that the second envoy sent by Liu Zhang arrived at the Shu army camp. It could be seen that Liu Zhang really did not want to go to war with Chu, but soon Huo Yi received the news that Zhang Ren had detained the second envoy. News from two envoys from the King of Shu.
He is simply crazy! Could it be that Zhang Ren really wants to rebel?
Huo Yi stamped his feet angrily. But then I thought about it. Taishi Ci has not shown up in the past few days. Zhang Ren may have guessed that something happened to Taishi Ci. How could he be willing to withdraw his troops at this time?
Sure enough, the Shu army's offensive weakened the next day, and they began to adopt the strategy of persuading surrender and spreading rumors.
This change was extremely effective, and more than a hundred Chu soldiers fled that night.
Just when Huo Yi was worried about the morale of the army, new news came from Jiangxia.
The Qin army sent troops.
Twenty thousand Qin troops captured Xinye City. Facing the overwhelming enemy, the Xinye defenders abandoned the city early and retreated into Xiangyang.
Although this news is currently known to only four people, Kuai Yue, Huo Yi, Wang Wei, and Cai He, it may not be long before it will become one of the tools used by the Shu army to continue to persuade them to surrender and spread rumors.
The entire Jingzhou is in danger!
Another night.
Huo Yi tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, perhaps because he felt guilty for refuting Kuai Yue, perhaps because Taishi Ci had asked him to give orders on his behalf before he fell into coma, or perhaps because he was anxious about the war not going well.
He climbed up to the top of the city to relax, and the cold wind at night cooled his messy mood slightly. Looking at the dim light in the distance, which was the campfire of the Shu army, Huo Yi fell into thinking.
What a fuss! The importance of Jingzhou is something that one of his young generals can afford.
But if the general faced this situation, how would he choose?
If Xinye is lost, Xiangyang cannot be defended. Should Jiangling City be defended?
It would have been better if we had let the troops withdraw at that time, and now we can concentrate on dealing with the Qin army. It was really one wrong step, one wrong step after another.
A strange feeling of disharmony arose in Huo Yi's heart, making him frown but he couldn't tell what was strange. Shaking his head vigorously, he thought again about how Taishi Ci would deal with the current situation.
From an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength to the fact that the war situation gradually turned towards Chu, Taishi Ci showed extraordinary wisdom and means. Huo Yi believed that even if there were some losses due to the pursuit and ambush, Taishi Ci would be able to defend Jiangling. The only surprise was that Taishi Ci was seriously injured and fell into coma.
This timing is so bad!
The Qin army in the north of Jingzhou happened to be confronting the Wei army at this time, while sending troops to capture Xinye.
The strange and disharmonious feeling suddenly became stronger and stronger, and the expression on Huo Yi's face became more serious. He felt that he was about to catch something.
right!
Didn't Taishi Ci predict that Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao would send troops to Jingzhou?
right!
To defeat Zhang Ren and intimidate Qin and Wei, the Chu army did have good reasons to pursue Zhang Ren. He, Wang Wei, Cai He and others also thought so.
It was only now that the situation was so bad that Huo Yi felt whether his original decision was too rash. With Jingzhou's current military strength, even if Zhang Ren retreats safely, he still cannot be careless. Every step is like walking on a tightrope, and he must be extra careful.
But Taishi Ci still chose to go out of the city to pursue Zhang Ren.
Why?
Huo Yi's heartbeat became faster, and he felt that he had caught something.
Fake defeat!
Huo Yi shuddered when he thought of Zhang Ren's determination in detaining the second Shu king's envoy. Could it be that Taishi Ci had already anticipated that Zhang Ren's retreat was a fraud, and that the defeat in this battle was just a part of Taishi Ci's plan?
Since it was a false defeat, Taishi Ci must have seen a chance to win!
Where? Where?
Huo Yi, who had been standing quietly at the top of the city meditating, suddenly rushed towards the city tower like crazy, startling the soldiers who were keeping watch at the side. But Huo Yi didn't have time to worry about the eyes of others. He hurriedly found the map, roughly pushed everything on the table to the ground, solemnly placed the map on the table, picked up the lampstand and looked at it carefully.
Perhaps the only thing that exceeded Tai Shici's expectations was his own coma.
Huo Yi stared at the map with gleaming eyes for a long time. Suddenly he pulled out his dagger and stabbed it into a spot on the map. The sharp dagger pierced the table.
"right here!"
