Two days later, the capital of Yan Kingdom.
At this time, Zhang Xi, with 80,000 remaining soldiers and defeated generals, retreated here.
His defeat was not terrible, but what was terrible was that he lost a hundred thousand troops in just one battle.
After hearing the news, King Yan, who had been worried all day, became furious and started clapping the case in the court meeting hall.
The twelve strings of jade beads trembling in front of his forehead, he pointed at Zhang Xi who was kneeling below, and said sternly:
"Zhang Xi! You loser! We lost a hundred thousand soldiers in one battle! Why do you have the nerve to come back to see me!"
Hearing this, the latter swallowed hard and couldn't help but lower his body. At the same time, he said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty does not know something. The Ling Army General Ye Gui Zhiyong attacked fiercely all the way. It was not the minister who was invincible, but I really can’t stop it…”
"You still dare to quibble! Is this an excuse for your incompetence!?"
King Yan was still angry and couldn't help shouting: "Zhang Xi! It's not that I'm ruthless! It's that the enemy is facing us. If we consider defeat, we should be punished by military law!"
ah! ?
Hearing this, Zhang Xi was startled and hurriedly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, have mercy! Your Majesty, have mercy! Please look at my past achievements and spare me this time..."
At this time, a minister who had a good relationship with Zhang Xi stood up and said:
"Your Majesty, there is an old saying that victory or defeat is a common thing for military officers. For generals, those who are victorious in a hundred battles are rare. Although Zhang Xi was defeated, his crime will not lead to death. I hope your majesty will show mercy."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Another minister stood up and said seriously: "The enemy is approaching. It is not a good idea to kill the general at this time. It is best to make General Zhang Xi pay for his crime and perform meritorious service. Your Majesty, please think twice."
"Your Majesty, think twice..."
Many people stood up.
Upon seeing this, King Yan's anger subsided somewhat. After taking a deep breath, he sat back and said in a deep voice:
"Zhang Xi, did you also hear what the ministers said? I will give up my merits, otherwise I will definitely be executed without mercy!"
"Yes! Yes! Your Majesty, don't worry, I will fight to the death!" After escaping from death, Zhang Xi was extremely excited, and his tone changed when he spoke.
"Go away! Guard the south gate!" King Yan waved his hand angrily.
"Yes! I retire." Zhang Xi hurriedly fell to the ground and saluted again.
After he left, the Yanguo court exploded.
At this point in the war, people were already in panic.
A minister stood up and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, now our 600,000-strong army has been defeated, and there are not many troops left. Here in the capital, there is only Zhang Xi. If the Ling Army launches a strong attack, how can we Keep it?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, the capital city is so big and surrounded by walls. With only 80,000 soldiers, it is difficult to defend it for a long time..."
People talked a lot, and when they mentioned this, they all panicked.
King Yan frowned deeply and asked in a cold voice: "What do you think, in the opinion of all my dear friends?"
"This." A minister pondered for a moment and said, "For the present plan, General Yue Zheng should also be ordered to return reinforcements. Our capital city has a century-old foundation and sufficient food and grass supplies, so it may be able to defend it for a long time."
"How long can we keep it?"
"One or two years, there will definitely be no problem."
But what about a year or two later? King Yan was silent, but now, he had nothing to do.
If you don't let Yue Zheng come back, he will die faster. If you come back, you can only hold on to the capital.
After thinking for a long time, he could only smile bitterly: "Okay, okay, let Yue Zheng come back for help..."
His tone was full of helplessness.
On the other side, after Zhang Xi retired from the court, he returned to where he was stationed at the south gate and escaped from death, as if he had come full circle from the gate of hell. Until now, his back is still wet with cold sweat.
When he came back, the deputy general also came to greet him: "General, how is the situation?"
"I almost died!" Zhang Xi shouted in a trembling voice, unable to help but grin.
"This..." the deputy general swallowed and said, "Now that our unit has been defeated and the country is facing such a situation, can we still hold on?"
"So what if we can't defend it? We still have to defend it." Zhang Xi shook his head.
The deputy general is not optimistic about the current war situation. He is actually even more negative than the deputy general, but no one can do anything about it.
Seeing this, the deputy general moved his lips again and said cautiously: "The general was almost killed during the meeting today. What should we do if it happens again?"
Hearing this, Zhang Xi couldn't help but feel nervous, and a kind of fear also hit his heart.
After a moment of silence, he turned to stare at the deputy general and said, "What do you want to say?"
"The general has no other intentions. He just feels that with the current battle situation, in the end, we will all have only one end, a dead end." The deputy general said seriously.
"Alas!" Zhang Xi sighed, because the deputy general told the truth, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
These two people have no intention of fighting to the death. For Zhang Xi, if he knew that King Yan wanted to kill him, he might not dare to come back.
A few days later, Yue Zheng sent his troops.
At this time, King Yan's transfer order had arrived. The words in the letter were full of helplessness. After reading it, Yue Zheng could only sigh.
There were other generals in the tent. When people saw this, they all looked at Yue Zheng nervously. Li Po was the first to ask: "Commander Yue, what is your Majesty's order?"
"Go back to the division capital." Yue Zheng got straight to the point.
"This..." People looked at each other, and someone said, "But if we return to the army, who will stop the Qin Xuan coalition?"
"Is there any way? The spirit army is just outside the capital. If we don't return, the capital will be in danger." Yue Zheng said helplessly: "Zhang Xi's defeat can no longer reverse the situation."
The Yan Army's two decisive battles both ended in failure. At this time, the generals and even the army's sergeants were in a state of depression.
Moreover, King Yan was designated as a rebel, and he lost a lot of popular support in the country. So far, there is not much suspense in this battle.
The defeat of Yan Kingdom is not far away, but it is just making its final struggle.
Afterwards, Yue Zheng began to lead the last 150,000 troops, evacuated the front line, and rushed back to the capital.
As soon as he left, military information reached Xiao Yuan.
The monarchs of the Three Kingdoms had nothing to say about this situation. After starting to march along Yue Zheng, they also marched towards the capital.
In this way, Yue Zheng withdrew and the coalition troops advanced.
Originally, King Ling could have sent troops to block Yue Zheng from the side at this time, but due to various reasons, it was not implemented after all.
Seven days later, the Allied forces joined forces.
The armies of the four countries came to the city and began to attack Yandu from all sides.
There are four city gates, one country and one side. Yue Zheng also began to integrate his forces and made certain arrangements for the city defense on all sides.
At this time, the Yan Army still had 220,000 troops, and each location was around 50,000 strong.
The defense of the capital city is very tall and solid. If we want to attack it by force, it is not easy and requires a bloody battle.
The generals and counselors of the four countries also discussed how to break this last place.
The counselors all believed that the superior troops would attack the city and the subordinates would attack the city.
The generals, such as Tang Yue and Ye Gui, thought there was no need to talk nonsense and directly attacked and fought head-on with the Yan army.
