The carriages and horses are sparkling and winding like dragons.
Tens of thousands of Ning's troops lined up in a long queue, marching quickly along the official road and heading east.
They had been traveling for two days and one night.
Traveling long distances makes everyone very tired, but no one complains. Just because everyone knows that this trip is not a rush, but an escape for one's life.
He lost the battle here.
As the price of failure, hundreds of thousands of Chu troops have rushed in from all directions, and they may be surrounded at any time.
Once caught in a tight siege, not only will one's life be in danger, but one will also be unable to return home in the future.
Thinking of this terrible consequence, everyone suppressed their fatigue, and new strength surged out of their bodies, supporting their bodies and continuing to move forward.
Stay alive!
go home!
At this moment, the two beliefs put forward by Marquis Wu'an before departure have become the hope and source of strength in the hearts of all Ning Army soldiers.
In the middle of the long Ning army, a magnificent and huge carriage was guarded by nearly a hundred knights in golden armor.
Beside the carriage, in addition to the knights, there were also burly eunuchs standing there, and further behind, there were also slim and pretty palace ladies sitting on the carriage accompanying them.
There is no doubt that when the army is on its way, only the emperor of Ning State, Shen Qiu, the commander of the army, can still have such a pomp.
"Where are you now?"
Inside the carriage, which was as spacious as a small cabin, Shen Qiu was lying on the dragon couch, flipping through a Taoist scripture in his hand, with no expression on his face.
There were two white-faced and beardless eunuchs waiting beside him. At this time, when the emperor heard the question, he hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, the forward army has now arrived in Yongxing."
"Yongxing..."
Shen Qiu pondered these two words and sighed: "We are almost in Yuzhang, and we are about to return home!"
The young eunuch next to him echoed: "Yes, Your Majesty. Cross Yongxin and arrive at Ruichang, which is the territory of Yuzhang. Then we can return to the country and the Chu army will not dare to pursue us again."
"Don't you dare to chase me?"
Shen Qiu smiled bitterly and said in a low mood: "The Chu thieves have now surrounded Nanchang City. Hundreds of thousands of troops are coming from all over the world, just to catch me. How could he not dare to chase me?"
"Your Majesty, please be at ease. Marquis Wu'an is good at fighting. He is a famous general for generations. He is a man of great ability. In recent days, the people of Chu have attacked several times, but they were all easily repelled by Marquis Wu'an."
Seeing that the emperor was in a bad mood, the little eunuch next to him quickly comforted him: "With him here, he will ensure that your majesty is not worried and will allow us to return home safely."
"Marquis Wu'an..."
When Shen Qiu heard this name, his mood became more complicated.
In fact, when I first heard that Yuzhang was attacked by the Chu army, Nanchang was even surrounded, and my army had lost its way out.
At that time, Shen Qiu was really furious and fainted for a moment.
But after all, he is a second-level innate master.
In the current world, when all the monks from Kyushu were crossing the sea together, apart from Lu Yuan, who had extraordinary combat power, Shen Qiu was the small group of people at the top of the world.
Among the hundreds of Xiantian masters in the entire Nine Provinces and Ten Regions, there are only a few twenty or thirty who can reach the second level of Xiantian.
Among the ten innate masters, there may not be a second-level master.
This shows how strong Shen Qiu is.
It was even because of this strength that the Xiao family lost people's hearts and the entire Linhai family was elected again.
Shen Qiu relied on the strength of the second innate realm to stand out, successfully replaced the Xiao family, and started a new dynasty.
This is the weight of a second-level master.
But now it seems that those who are powerful in martial arts may not be good emperors. Those who are weak in martial arts may not necessarily be weak in other abilities.
At least in terms of fighting, Shen Qiu was far behind his ability in governing the country.
In a war with the Chu State, not only did they lose the Yangzhou hegemony, but they were also about to lose half of the country they originally owned.
Losing so miserably, how can one not be demoralized?
How can it not make people feel depressed?
So after falling into coma, Shen Qiu actually woke up before the imperial doctor arrived after returning to his tent.
But after he woke up, he heard someone next to him mention that Bai Yi'an, the deputy commander of the army and Marquis of Wu'an, had taken over the power of the entire army while he was in coma, and began to arrange various ministries to break out and evacuate with his left hand.
Shen Qiu, who originally wanted to save the crisis, suddenly fell silent.
At that moment, he remembered the many proposals Shen Qiu had made to him before.
It's like devoting all the troops and horses in the country to a decisive battle with Chu.
If you call off your troops and make a truce, withdraw all your troops and horses into the country, build fortresses extensively, and defend them to the death, then the state of Chu will be consumed in this way.
No matter which of the above two strategies was chosen at the beginning, the situation may be very different at this time.
But in the end, in order to balance the interests of all parties in the country, he was paranoid and self-righteous, and completely ignored Wu Anhou's suggestions.
Now that we have reached this point, we have reaped the consequences.
It was precisely because of this that Shen Qiu, who wanted to stand up and redeem his mistakes at that time, suddenly felt a sense of fear in his heart.
He was afraid that his next decision would bury all the 100,000 troops.
He was afraid that his next decision would cause the entire Ning Kingdom to fall.
He was afraid that one of his decisions would destroy the entire six surnames and seven clans and their thousands of years of foundation.
Successive defeats and successive mistakes in decision-making have made the once high-spirited Emperor Ning no longer have the confidence and spirit of the past.
At this time, lack of confidence and fear deeply filled his heart.
Therefore, after seeing Shen Qiu stand up in the crisis, take over his responsibilities, and begin to lead the army to escape the crisis.
He chose to retreat.
It seems that this way, I no longer have to bear the blame, the infamy, and the responsibility that has already weighed me down and made me breathless.
Everything in the world seems far away.
As long as I shrink into this small car, I don't have to worry or worry anymore, there will be someone to help take care of everything.
Shen Qiu was like a shrunken ostrich, covering his eyes and not thinking about everything anymore.
However, this kind of escape day is illusory after all.
He knows.
As the Chu army continued to press, and as the situation in Ningguo continued to deteriorate, it was impossible for him to escape forever.
One day, I have to stand up.
Either perish with Ning Guo, or tide over the difficulties with Ning Guo.
This day is not far away.
"With Marquis Wu'an here, I can really rest assured."
After coming back to his senses from the long thoughts in his heart, Shen Qiu let out a long sigh, feeling lost.
Compared with other escapes, Marquis Wu An, who stood up in times of crisis, was indeed capable and responsible, and worthy of the title of Wu An.
In the past few days, since leaving Jiangxia Camp, Ning Jun's return journey has been full of hardships and waves.
The first was the Chu army's tens of thousands of cavalry, who were chasing after them like vultures eating carrion.
In terms of riding skills, these elite cavalry selected by the Chu State from Zhou captives and snowy Tibetan people were indeed far superior to the Yangzhou people who lived in the water towns of the south of the Yangtze River and traveled by boat.
The Ning Army in the Jiangxia camp actually had quite a number of attached cavalry, numbering as many as 10,000.
But when Ning's cavalry and Chu's cavalry fought, they often had the same number of people, but their own side was at a disadvantage.
Even when the number of troops increases, because the riding skills are more skilled and more tactics can be used, Ning Jun's disadvantage in this regard will be even greater.
In order to protect the safe evacuation of the army, the Ning army cavalry sent out to drive away the Chu army's cavalry paid a heavy price, and the final results were extremely poor.
Under the harassment of the Chu army's cavalry, the Ning army traveled for a whole day and only traveled more than 20 miles.
According to this situation, let alone return to the country safely.
Whether they can leave Jiangxia before the Chu armies from all sides encircle them is a question.
At the critical moment, Wu Anhou made a decisive decision and mobilized elites from each battalion in the army to form a team composed entirely of internal warriors.
He gathered more than a thousand elites, led by himself, and planned ambushes several times. He severely defeated the Chu army's cavalry and beheaded thousands of them. Only then did he scare the Chu army's cavalry away, and no longer dared to come and offend.
Without the Chu army's cavalry harassment, the Ning army's escape speed was undoubtedly much faster.
In one day, he walked more than eighty miles and was considered to have left the Jiangxia battlefield.
But not long after leaving Jiangxia, the fleeing Ning army encountered the Chu army coming from the direction of Luokou Ferry to intercept the attack.
On the other side of Luokou Ferry, Chu State has 40,000 forbidden troops and 20,000 naval troops, which is quite powerful.
After receiving Lu Yuan's order, Han Hua, who arrived here not long ago, made an immediate decision and directly left 20,000 naval troops to guard the ferry. He personally led 40,000 forbidden troops and rushed to an official road intersection southeast of Luokou Du to carry out the stop.
At this time, Ning Jun had been on the road for a day and a night. It could be said that he was exhausted mentally and physically. His combat power was not at its peak. He could only maintain a 30% to 50% strength.
No matter how you look at it, facing the Chu army waiting for work, this Ning army has only one ending, and that is to be intercepted and eventually besieged to death.
But in times of crisis, miracles always happen.
At the last moment, it was Marquis Wu An who stood up again.
Because they know that the army is exhausted and unable to fight, and cannot be used in a big way.
If you want to defeat the interception of the Chu army in front, you must use the power of thunder to focus on one point to be able to defeat the enemy.
Therefore, when Bai Yi'an faced the interception, he did not use a larger army to attack, and relied on the numerical advantage to break through.
Instead, each battalion in the army recruited elites who dared to die, and selected warriors who had spare strength and stronger force to form a selected vanguard army of about 5,000 people.
In the end, he personally wore armor and led the five thousand selected vanguard troops to defeat the enemy first and fight bravely.
After several hours of bloody fighting, relying on this desperate fighting style and fighting for serious injuries during the period, the Chu army general Han Hua was also seriously injured and escaped.
After suffering the casualties of more than 3,000 elite soldiers and leaving behind nearly Wanning Army corpses, the remaining army finally broke through the Chu army's interception.
Then the Chu army, which was also hit hard, and Han Hua, who was almost killed, finally did not dare to pursue or intercept them.
But behind the Ning army, there were those Chu army cavalry who were also frightened, hanging from a distance of ten miles, following and peeping.
After a series of bloody battles and continuous breakthroughs, the Ning army led the remaining 50,000 remaining soldiers and struggled to reach Yongxing County in front of them.
This is the border of Dongting of Chu State, far across from Ruichang County of Yuzhang in Ning State. You only need to cross here to enter Xunyang Mansion in Yuzhang.
In Xunyang Prefecture, there is Pengli Lake, the largest lake in Yuzhang. This lake is connected to the Yangtze River, spreads across several prefectures in the northern part of Yuzhang, and irrigates countless fertile fields.
Therefore, water transportation here is convenient and money and food are abundant.
As long as Ning Jun fled back to Xunyang Mansion, relying on the savings of the mansion, the current food shortage dilemma could be solved immediately.
At the same time, because it is the junction of Pengli Lake and the Yangtze River and is geographically important, outside the city of Xunyang Prefecture, Ningguo also specially set up a water stronghold, stationed tens of thousands of naval troops, and hundreds of warships.
As long as they can escape back and reach Xunyang Mansion, they can rely on this navy to support them, whether they go all the way down the Yangtze River and return to the capital Jinling.
It is extremely convenient to go south along Pengli Lake and rush to the county town of Nanchang for rescue.
The way to survive is right in front of them. All Ning Jun see hope and naturally cannot give up.
After repelling the Chu army one after another and achieving several victories, everyone believed that as long as Marquis Wu'an was there and General Bai was there, they would definitely be able to return to their hometown and Ning State.
With his ability, bravery and military exploits, Bai Yi'an's prestige in the hearts of the remnants of the Ning Army has reached its peak, surpassing Shen Qiu's.
Under normal circumstances, this would definitely arouse the king's jealousy, and even cause a tragedy. It would not be surprising.
But when the country is ruined and the country is in danger, everyone just wants to survive, even the monarch, no one cares about these.
Stay alive!
go home!
All the Ning troops, holding this belief, dragged their tired bodies and long shadows in the direction of Ruichang under the reflection of the setting sun.
…
"Ning Jun has arrived in Yongxing."
Lu Yuan was riding a white horse, looking at the dark red dusk on the horizon, and stood still.
Under the afterglow of the setting sun, tens of thousands of Chu troops were walking, just like Ning's army, they were struggling to make their way.
Ning's army fled for several days, and Chu's army naturally pursued them for several days.
After two hundred miles of pursuit, the Chu army was actually very tired.
However, what makes them better than the Ning army is that because there are friendly forces in front of them that are constantly blocking and harassing them, the Ning army has to fight and break out from time to time, so even if they rush hard, they can't go any faster.
After leaving the Jiangxia camp in three days and two nights, Ning Jun had only traveled a little over two hundred miles, averaging less than seventy miles a day and a night.
And because of fleeing, Ning Jun basically didn't get any good rest, and it was a luxury to hope to sleep for a long time.
The Chu army led by Lu Yuan could move at full speed because they had no obstacles.
After a long pursuit during the day, you can also have a comfortable sleep at night to restore your physical strength and spirit.
After the same journey of two hundred miles, Ning's army was exhausted physically and mentally, but Chu's army was full of energy and maintained its combat power at a high level.
After this back and forth, the strength gap between the two sides naturally became more and more disparate.
"According to time calculation, the vanguard of the Ning Army should have arrived at the border of Ruichang by this time."
Next to Lu Yuan, Han Hua, who had a pale face, erratic breath, and a weak voice, replied: "At this time, the left prime minister has led 50,000 troops to capture Ruichang County. This city is a border fortress and is located in the center of the official road. , the most convenient transportation.
If you don't go to this city and choose to take a detour, it will take at least two extra days to travel.
Ning Jun is being pursued by us, and every time we delay for a moment, there will be more danger. They will never dare to take a detour.
It is inevitable to take the official road of Ruichang City.
The left prime minister has the support of a strong city and can advance and retreat freely. The Ning army follows this path, whether it is to forcefully attack the city and recapture Ruichang. Either taking a detour from the city would be ten times more dangerous than breaking through the minister's obstruction before.
At that time, as long as the left prime minister blocks Ning's army for a moment and leads the king and troops to arrive, Ning's army will be destroyed under this city. "
Han Hua's tone was cold, with a hint of murderous intent.
Previously, he led troops to block Ning's army. As a result, the 40,000-strong army was waiting for work, but Bai Yi'an led 5,000 men to break through. He himself was seriously injured and fled, losing face.
Since Chu Ning started the war, this is almost the worst battle that Chu has suffered.
As the coach who caused this failure, Hanhua was inevitably criticized and had his own abilities vaguely doubted.
As an innate master, Han Hua is also arrogant.
Such a shame and humiliation must be washed away with blood.
So even though he was seriously injured at this time, he still forced himself to go into battle, just thinking that when he finally annihilated Ning's army, he would personally find Bai Yi'an, kill this person, and humiliate him.
"Yes, it has been delayed for a long time. It is almost time for this war to come to an end."
Glancing at the injured Han Hua, Lu Yuan said nothing, his eyes dark.
In fact, since the day when the Ning army fled, he led his troops to defeat the soldiers in the front camp of the Ning army and killed Li Dao, the Marquis of Wuyang of Ning State on the spot.
On the second day, he led his troops in a hurry and caught up to the rear of Ning's army, twenty miles away.
However, at that time, Lu Yuan considered that the main force of Ning's army was still there, and they had just escaped not long ago, and their morale was still at a high level, so it was not that easy to deal with.
Moreover, there is a saying in the art of war: don't stop when you return to the army.
Facing an army that wants to return home alive, if you directly step forward to stop them, even if you can succeed, you will definitely have to pay a heavy price.
In addition, Lu Yuan also wanted to see if after killing Li Dao, he could leave another Ningguo innate to reduce his top level combat power.
Therefore, based on the above considerations, when Han Hua was leading the army to stop Ning's army, Lu Yuan could actually rush to join the battle.
But in the end, in order to do his best and obtain greater benefits, he finally calmed down and watched from the back, watching Ning's army break through.
Anyway, even if Ning Jun broke through Hanhua's blockade, there would still be two blocking lines of defense behind them, Sun Siwen and Huang Xuan.
The road was still long, and it would not be easy for Shen Qiu and the others to escape.
However, after hanging all the way, now, when Ning Jun was about to return home, the time for the decisive battle finally came.
Lu Yuan has received the news. Yesterday, after an emergency march, Sun Siwen finally led his troops to Ruichang. He was one step ahead of Ningguo, captured the county seat, and built an interception line of defense.
Similarly, yesterday, Huang Xuan contacted the main body and sent back the news.
After besieging Nanchang City, this clone personally led the troops and took the lead in attacking the city.
After two days and two nights of fierce attack, they finally broke through Nanchang City and captured the capital of Yuzhang County early yesterday morning.
Now Huang Xuan has left a force of troops to clean up the mess in Nanchang City, maintain law and order, and hunt down the remaining soldiers.
He himself led 30,000 soldiers and horses, riding on the ships collected from Nanchang City, and rushed towards the Ruichang line.
At the speed of the boat, we can reach Ruichang City probably early tomorrow morning.
Together with Lu Yuan and Han Hua who came to join them, the four armies that had been planned to be surrounded on all sides were about to gather at the foot of Ruichang City.
Ning Jun ran for his life, but in the end he still failed to escape the encirclement, and was about to face his final fate.
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