The reinforcements rushing from both sides did not shock the two priests. On the contrary, they breathed a sigh of relief, as if they were waiting for them.
The reason why the second batch of elite natives was sent out at this time was to force out Su Qi'an's remaining soldiers.
Along the way from City No. 1 to City No. 3, the second priest intentionally or unintentionally exposed the flaws in both wings, but did not wait for the initial raid.
It seemed that the only thing stopping them was the three thousand people in front of them. The two priests did not believe this.
Since the temptation failed, the second priest could only change his tactics and press forward with heavy troops, forcing the reinforcements to attack.
City No. 3 is extremely important to both parties, and no one can give up easily.
Two groups of 7,000 to 8,000 elite indigenous people rushed forward, suddenly increasing the pressure on City No. 3.
If there was no rescue, City No. 3 would be captured sooner or later. Sure enough, everything was as he expected. After the wall of City No. 3 was hit by catapults in succession, a gap was finally opened. Read the book
All the elite natives followed the gap and swarmed forward. At this extremely critical moment, reinforcements rushed out from both wings.
A rough estimate of the reinforcements numbered more than 3,000 people, which was obviously inconsistent with the 5,000 troops they knew Su Qi'an had.
The priests didn't care about the extra thousand troops. After the five cities were occupied, they had been actively preparing for war. In this atmosphere, expanding the army by one thousand was not a problem.
On second thought, just expanding by one thousand is enough to show that this Liangren Marquis, like them, has no trust in his subordinates.
The priests and priests have occupied such a vast territory, not to mention the local Liang people, but the local indigenous people. It is not a problem to expand to tens of thousands as long as they are willing.
But the man named Su didn't do this. It can only be said that in his heart, he was full of fear of the indigenous people.
Now it seems that the so-called abolition of slavery is just a way for Su Qi'an to deceive people. When his position is established, the life and death of these natives will only depend on Su Qi'an's thoughts.
This is Su Qi'an, who has been lifted to the sky and called the savior by the natives. How is he different from the previous priests? He is just a hypocritical Liangren.
Here, Su Qi'an's position in their hearts became clearer.
Although Song Biao's second group was able to kill them in time, the two sides were temporarily tied.
But unfortunately, the No. 3 city wall has been broken, and the gap in the wall is getting wider due to the anxiety of the war.
Even if Chen Dao personally led his soldiers to stop them, everyone could only retreat steadily.
The elite natives they brought out this time were not the useless bunch under the three priests.
It is always at the side of the elder priests and protects the safety of the elder priests.
In terms of combat effectiveness, they are not much worse than the state soldiers, but the conditions for training these truly elite warriors are very demanding and the cost is high.
In such a vast territory of their eight priests, there are only about 20,000 people at best, and the combined population of their territory is at least 500,000 to 600,000.
Being able to stand out from these people is powerful.
As time went by, the situation of equal footing between the two sides was finally broken.
Eight thousand elite natives finally broke into the city after casualties reached about 3,000. As long as they were given some time, they could capture City No. 3 in two-quarters of an hour at most.
At this critical moment, suddenly, a native from behind came quickly and gave an order to the five priests.
"Send the order of the two elders to suspend the attack. The five priests will return quickly. We have important matters to discuss. Anyone who does not return will first be removed from the priest's position, and then be punished with severe punishment."
As soon as these words came out, the five of them were stunned. They couldn't believe that the two elders would give such a heavy order.
In their impression, this had only happened many years ago when Li Kang, the governor of the state, led his army to invade the Yuanlao City.
"Could it be Li Kang who stabbed him in the back at this moment?" The five people's eyes flashed with different expressions on their faces.
The leaders of the priestly alliance are the three elders.
The senator's ability to command hundreds of priests, large and small, does not rely on powerful force, but on the prestige of being highly respected for many years.
The Priest Alliance has not been formed yet
In the past, the elders were the most powerful priests. They did not call the shots, but they could always smooth things over when the priests were being persecuted, so that the natives would not be persecuted by the Liang people.
The elder priest system has existed longer than the founding of the Great Liang Kingdom and is the true god in the hearts of countless indigenous people.
Just like this, in order to express respect and admiration for the three elders.
In the central location, three Elder Cities were built. The Elder Cities gradually became a holy place in the hearts of countless natives and even priests, and they visited them regularly every year.
In their eyes, the Elder City is sacred and inviolable. If anyone violates it, they will become enemies of countless natives.
Back then, even if Li Kang led his army to invade, he only stopped about five miles away from Yuanlao City and did not move forward. After all, no one could bear the anger of millions of natives in Jiaozhou.
It is also because of the sanctity of the elders that there are not many troops left behind in the city.
It is their eight priests who protect the safety of the Senate City and guard it around it.
If you want to reach the Elder City, you have to break through the layers of defenses of the eight priests. After so many years, even Li Kang has not dared to come rashly. Who can be so bold?
The minds of the five people were filled with various thoughts. Finally, the second priest came to his senses, looked at the subordinates who came to report, and asked him seriously.
"Is what you said true? Er Er always said this?"
"Back to the Second Priest, what you said is absolutely true. Elder Duan quickly tells all the priests to return and stop the attack."
As soon as these words came out, the two priests' hearts sank somewhat. They didn't dare to lie to the person who was delivering the order.
But the second priest had no intention of withdrawing immediately. He turned his eyes and looked at the elite natives in front of him who were gradually breaking through the city and entering with deep hesitation.
The four people around them couldn't understand what the second priest was thinking. They had finally reached this point and were about to capture City No. 3. But at this moment, the two elders asked them to withdraw their troops, which undoubtedly failed them.
But if they violate it, even if they win City No. 3, they won't be able to make a difference.
Although there will be friction and conflicts between them, the five of them are now ants on a rope.
Regardless of what the two elders said, if one person does not reply, only one person will be punished, but they will also have to suffer the crime of not persuading. If the two elders can issue such a heavy order, something big must have happened.
The four priests hurriedly persuaded, "Second brother, please withdraw. It's not worth being punished by the second elder for a No. 3 city. We retreat first. Once the matter is cleared up, it won't be too late to come and get the No. 3 city."
"Yes, City No. 3 is already in ruins. When we regroup, we will definitely be able to defeat City No. 3 in one fell swoop."
"That's right, second brother, withdraw. Our elites have lost three thousand casualties. If we continue to fight, the two elders will blame us."
"..."
How could the second priest not know the good intentions of these people? He stared at the two sides in front who were still fighting fiercely after breaking the city.
After a brief silence, the second priest sighed and said nothing. He just said "Retreat", then turned around and drove away.
Several people breathed a sigh of relief. They were afraid that if this stubborn second brother insisted on doing this, they would be the ones to suffer.
Fortunately, the second priest made the right choice. Although it was a pity, it was nothing compared to being punished by the second elder.
After giving the order, the elite natives who were fighting fiercely with Chen Dao and Song Biao heard the call to withdraw. Although they were puzzled, they still chose to retreat.
The withdrawal of the elite native troops made the two of them stunned for a moment, but they quickly thought of something and looked at each other, both seeing the joy in the other's eyes.
The two of them supported each other, "It seems that Mr. Hou succeeded."
"Yes, our resistance was not in vain, but the casualties this time were a bit heavy. If you had been a step later, we might have been reimbursed." Chen Dao sighed.
Song Biao laughed, and then his face became serious. He looked at the elite indigenous people who were withdrawing and said, "I underestimated them this time. I didn't expect that the strength of this group of indigenous people is not at the same level as that of the high priest. It's almost Capsized in the gutter."
Chen Dao agreed. Only after fighting with this group of people can we know how special these elite natives are.
Not to mention anything else, just
They are now withdrawing their troops in an orderly manner without any panic.
They suffered three thousand casualties and were still so calm and calm. These people were definitely experienced veterans, and they also suffered one thousand casualties.
Sighs are sighs, but the two of them will not belittle themselves.
The main reason why they suffered so many casualties was that after the expansion of the army, there was not enough time to train new recruits.
From the original five thousand to the current ten thousand, recruits accounted for half, but in general, the casualties suffered by the two elders during this expedition were relatively small.
In this battle, plus the two previous battles, a rough calculation showed that the indigenous army numbered at least 8,000 people, while they numbered more than 2,000.
The battle damage ratio is one to four, which is generally considered very good.
The two of them did not plan to attack the elite native troops with the withdrawal. Their mission was to block the attack and buy time for Su Qi'an.
If we attack rashly, who knows if the other party has an ambush. Judging from the battle just now, these priests who are commanding are not all rubbish. They still know some tactics.
"I don't know what's going on over there, sir. Going deep behind enemy lines is much more dangerous than us."
"Sir, we don't need to worry about it. With Su Yong and the others here, we will definitely succeed. Our top priority is to gather the soldiers immediately and quickly build the damaged city wall. I have a hunch that these guys won't give up so easily." Chen looked at him. Flashing, looking at the natives who had completely retreated.
At this time, in the camp at the rear of the indigenous people, Er Er had already got off the sedan chair. He was sitting on top of the camp. At this time, his face was no longer as calm as before, but instead looked ashen.
The five priests who returned to the camp circulated the letters in their hands with unhappy expressions on their faces.
Sure enough, whatever you read comes to mind.
Just as they thought, the man named Su actually quietly led a group of people deep behind enemy lines and raided the Elder City.
According to the news sent back, fortunately, the high priest and eight priests of the guard responded quickly and increased their troops in time. Su Qi'an did not cause much harm to the Elder City.
They were probably afraid of the wrath of millions of natives, but even so, Su Qi'an led his men to raid the Elder City and escaped unscathed, and now he is missing.
This is not just a slap in the face, but a naked offense to the three top elders of the Priest Alliance. This feeling can be described in Liang Ren's words.
It was equivalent to Su Qi'an raiding the imperial city of Kyoto, causing a scene in the imperial city, and finally retreating in a daze.
This is absolutely treasonous, a blasphemous offense against God, and absolutely unforgivable.