late at night.
Outside Nanhe County.
In the Han army's commander's tent, Ren Jun sat in the big tent and listened to his general reporting on the battle situation.
"Commander, in today's battle, our army attacked with all its strength and suffered heavy casualties, mainly concentrated at the South City Gate.
In this attack, more than 11,000 people were killed or seriously injured, and more than 13,000 people were slightly injured. Those with minor injuries could regain their combat effectiveness within a few days. "
Ren Jun nodded and asked,
"Aren't there any military reports from the north?"
Hearing this, Zhang Feng smiled bitterly and said,
"Commander, don't you know it yet? The Mingwu family has always been at odds with you, and the intelligence agents' fast horses and carrier pigeons are all in the hands of the emperor.
We have sent scouts to explore the north today, but there has been no reply yet. "
At this moment, an emergency call came from outside.
A messenger came in from outside, knelt on one knee and said,
"Meet Ren Shuai!"
"Get up, are you from the capital?"
Ren Jun asked.
"Yes, I have brought your majesty's order and the letter from your right minister."
The messenger handed the two letters to Ren Jun.
Ren Jun waved his hand and asked him to go down and rest.
Then, Ren Jun opened Mingxuan's order first and looked over.
"Commander, what did the emperor say?"
The generals asked quickly.
Ren Jun said calmly,
"It says that the emperor ordered me to capture Nanhe County within one day, and then defend Nanhe County to resist Nie Chen's army."
"What? Capture Nanhe County in one day? How is this possible?"
"Nanhe County is the throat of Hanzhong County and Gyeonggi County. It is in a dangerous location with tall city walls. The opposite coach is Wang Hao, who is famous for his defensive battles.
How could we possibly defeat him? "
"If it's a field battle, our army has hundreds of ways to kill Wang Hao. But in a defensive battle, we can only fight to the death or fight stupidly, and use our lives to fill the gap."
"That's right, we fought all day today. The opponent's counterattack was too fierce. The ladder was taken away by the opponent. How can we still fight?"
"No, we absolutely can't defeat it. Your Majesty, isn't this nonsense? Why would you issue such a ridiculous order?"
All the generals expressed their dissatisfaction with every word they said to me.
Ren Jun waved his hand and said,
"Okay, stop arguing. I think something must have happened in the north. Nie Chen is coming soon, so the emperor is in such a hurry."
As he spoke, Ren Jun opened the letter sent to him by Mr. Fang, the Right Prime Minister, and read it.
"Something happened in the north? Is it possible that the Mingwu Department was completely wiped out? Impossible. It has only been a few days. Are all his subordinates pigs? They were wiped out so easily?"
Zhang Feng rambled on about his dissatisfaction, but suddenly found that Ren Jun's face was livid.
"What's wrong, Marshal?"
Ren Jun sighed and said leisurely,
"The result was worse than total annihilation. Mingwu died and his head was chopped off by his men and given to Nie Chen.
Now, the remnants of Mingwu's army of 100,000 have been recruited by Nie Chen, and Nie Chen now has an army of 400,000. "
"What? Nie Chen recruited our troops?!"
Zhang Feng's eyes widened in disbelief, and then he picked up the letter and read it. The other generals also gathered around.
After a while, Zhang Feng slammed the letter on the table and cursed,
"Wow, ah, ah, ah, Mingwu boy, how could he be fooled by the enemy despite his bravery and lack of strategy? I'm so angry.
This Mingwu died when he died, and he gave up an army of 100,000 to Nie Chen, as well as so much food, grass and weapons, all to Nie Chen.
He was not going to fight Nie Chen. He was clearly going to send soldiers, horses, supplies, and food to Nie Chen.
He was afraid that our army could defeat Nie Chen, so he ran over to give Nie Chen so many things! "
Another general also said,
"Those soldiers have been with us for many years. How could they rebel just because they said they were rebelling? Mingwu must have done something outrageous and forced them to rebel."
"That's right, what do soldiers know? As long as you have something to eat, they will work with you. As long as you don't default on military pay, they will dare to follow you to death. You can force the soldiers to kill the commander. This shows how unpopular Mingwu is!"
To be honest, the generals under Ren Jun still had great complaints about Mingwu's appointment as the former army commander.
In their view, Ren Jun was the best commander, and the entire army should be led by Ren Jun. The result was good, as Ren Jun was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army, with only 200,000 troops under his command.
He knew that his martial arts was nothing more than a foolhardy common man, and he was just relying on his status as a prince.
No one could say anything about asking him to charge into battle, but why should he be the commander-in-chief of an army of 200,000 people? Wouldn't that push an army of 200,000 people into a pit of fire?
Well now, Ming Wu is dead, the 200,000 troops are gone, and there are 100,000 troops on the opposite side.
They use our people, eat our food, and use our weapons to attack us.
Listen, how rare it is.
Ren Jun waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said,
"Okay, don't argue. Nie Chen's army will arrive tomorrow evening at the latest. Let's talk about how we should fight this battle, shall we?
Fight or retreat.
If we fight, we only have one day tomorrow, and we will definitely press the entire army and fight to the death with the enemy.
There are just two outcomes. The first one is that we lose our troops and suffer heavy casualties. We defeat the city and then defend the city, changing positions offensively and defensively. We then continue to resist Nie Chen's attack.
In the second type, we lost our troops and suffered heavy casualties, but we still couldn't defeat it. Then Nie Chen's army arrived and defeated our army in one fell swoop. "
When all the generals heard the words, they were all silent. How could they do this?
Zhang Feng heard this and said,
"How about we try to fight first, and then withdraw if it doesn't work?"
Hearing this, Ren Jun laughed angrily and said,
"There is no reason to try in a war. If you try, you will definitely not win. It will only increase casualties and waste time. We cannot risk the lives of soldiers to try and make mistakes.
Regardless of the outcome of the battle, there will be heavy casualties. But if we withdraw, we can ensure that the army has enough strength to retreat to Wang'an County, forming a corner with the capital, and only engage in defensive warfare.
Our army now has very few troops, and is surrounded by enemies, all looking at us with eager eyes. The situation is not optimistic. "
"But, Marshal, doesn't the Emperor's order tell us to fight?"
Zhang Feng said cautiously.
"Yes, but we can't fight. I am a commander-in-chief. I am not only responsible for the emperor, but also for the entire army."
Ren Jun covered his forehead with a headache and said,
"But if we withdraw, I will definitely be charged with disobeying military orders and be punished by His Majesty."
Everyone knows this truth.
Zhang Feng held his hands and said,
"If Ming Wu had not died and was not defeated, why would our army have fallen into such a passive situation?
Commander, I think we should fight. Instead of being accused and executed, we might as well have a vigorous fight, fight to the death with the enemy, and die on the battlefield anyway! "
