This was a pursuit suggestion, and it won the support of the generals, who began to request orders one after another.
Yan Qi thought about it for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
After the generals of the various ministries were dispatched to attack, he and his deputy Tan Zhen began to patrol the Lingjun camp at will.
Fan Que's retreat left nothing useful behind, and even the camp was wantonly destroyed.
Looking at this scene, Tan Zhen said: "Baiting has a lot of food and baggage. Carrying these things, the marching speed of the Ling Army will be greatly reduced. I believe it won't take long for our army to catch up with them."
"No, you are wrong." Yan Qi said: "Fan Que is not mediocre. Since he wants to retreat, he must have thought of a perfect strategy. As expected, their baggage troops have already left in advance."
"Then, if that's the case, why did Yan Shuai agree to pursue him?" Tan Zhen was puzzled.
Yan Qi laughed and said: "It's good to keep some hope. Besides, the generals are in high spirits, so you can't pour cold water on them."
Then he added: "Fan Que's retreat is planned. Xujiakou is not in our hands. We can't stop it even if we want to. We'd better give the king a battle report as soon as possible."
He was almost right about Bai Ting's situation. The Ling Army was not defeated in a hurry. Fan Que still had about 70,000 troops. After retreating to Xujiakou, the nearby transportation arteries were also in the hands of the Ling Army. , Therefore, the withdrawal to Caizhou will not be greatly hindered.
In the afternoon of that day, the Ling Army completely abandoned its left-wing defense line, and Caizhou's strength increased to 80,000. The various Qin armies that attempted to pursue and intercept were relatively unsuccessful. At the same time, Yan Qi's battle report also reached Xiao Yuan's hands.
After Xiao Yuan read it, he immediately wrote a reply to him, ordering his troops to station troops in Xujiakou and use this place as a springboard to threaten Caizhou from the west.
In terms of military maps, Baiting cannot bypass Caizhou. Only by capturing Liupan Mountain on the right can Caizhou be besieged.
As for Liupan Mountain, there is no stronghold that can be cut off like Xujiakou. This is a terrain problem, and it is also the reason why King Ling dared to abandon the left wing first.
To put it simply, as long as Liupan Mountain is not lost, Caizhou will always have a way out.
Due to the changes in the battle situation, Caizhou's military strength increased sharply, and it was no longer possible to attack it by force in a short period of time. Xiao Yuan immediately summoned the generals and held a military meeting.
Caizhou was in danger before, but now the defense line was suddenly strengthened. The generals were somewhat unwilling to accept this. Wei Qing took the lead and said: "After eight days of bloody battle, victory is in sight. If we can give the general three more days, he will definitely be able to Capture Caizhou! But now, alas!"
Jiang Yi said: "This is an inevitable decision made by King Ling. If you want to protect Caizhou, you have to abandon Baiting on the left. From an overall perspective, it is also more beneficial to us."
"That's right." Xiao Yuandao: "The key issue now is to force Liupanshan to return to defense. Once this happens, Caizhou will lose without a fight."
Hearing this, Jia You stood up, cupped his hands and said, "The king wants to focus on the right wing of Caizhou. The minister suggested that we lobby Wei Guang."
"Oh? Lobbying Wei Guang? What is the success or failure?" Xiao Yuan looked at him.
Jia You said: "Whether it is successful or not, the king has an excellent candidate, and that is Murong Yan."
After saying that, he raised his head and looked at Xiao Yuan.
There is no doubt that Xiao Yuan did not want to keep Murong Yan, but due to the surrender of his troops and various reasons, he had to give him a title.
It was up to him to persuade Wei Guang. First, they were both generals of the Ling Kingdom and had a personal relationship before.
Secondly, the current King Ling hates Murong Yan very much, and he might end up losing his life if his persuasion fails.
So whether it succeeds or not, Xiao Yuan is happy to see it.
After thinking for a moment, he immediately shouted: "Come here, tell Murong Yan to come over."
"No!" the soldier took the order and left.
Not long after, Murong Yan quickly walked into the tent, knelt down and saluted, and said respectfully: "See you, Your Majesty."
"The Marquis of Guiyi is exempt from courtesy."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Murong Yan stood up, bowed his head, and did not dare to ask questions easily while standing there.
"That's it." Xiao Yuan pondered for a moment and said: "The current battle situation, Guiyihou must have understood. After Baiting was captured by our army, although Caizhou can be defeated in a day, the Liupan Mountain on its right is always a There is a hidden danger, so I, the king, want to send important ministers to negotiate with Wei Guang and try to avoid unnecessary casualties to the soldiers of both armies."
The meaning of these words was already obvious. Murong Yan's heart tightened, but he pretended to be stupid and asked, "I don't know, I don't know what your Majesty means."
Xiao Yuan got straight to the point: "Marquis Guiyi and Wei Guang have known each other for many years and have a close personal relationship. They are indeed the best candidates. If they can contribute to the country and persuade their troops to surrender, it will be the first contribution to the Caizhou campaign. I, the king, should also discuss his merits." Reward."
"Ah? This, this..." Murong Yan stammered, and he himself didn't know the hatred of the Spirit King. If this happened, it would be unpredictable.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help his Adam's apple sliding and swallowed hard. At the same time, he quietly raised his head and glanced at Xiao Yuan cautiously.
The latter sat behind the handsome case and asked with a gentle smile: "What? Isn't Marquis Guiyi unwilling?"
This is a big problem. Not agreeing is the same as disobeying the king's order.
Regardless of this, Murong Yan's mind was spinning, and he immediately gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty has an order, minister, if you dare not follow it, you will definitely... you will definitely go all out."
"Okay." Xiao Yuan said without too much nonsense: "Then I will wait for the good news from Guiyi Hou."
"Yes, yes... I will go and prepare now." Murong Yan swallowed again, bowed and left.
After he left, General Youqin couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, if Murong Yan goes here, will he run back to Ling Kingdom?"
Xiao Yuan was happy: "Isn't that better? It just happens and saves us a lot of trouble."
The next morning, Liupan Mountain, Lingjun camp.
At this time, Wei Guang was deeply worried. He was pacing back and forth in front of Yu Shuai's case. Because of Bai Ting's retreat, he felt that the situation was becoming more and more dangerous, and Liupan Mountain would soon be in a state of being unable to support himself.
In fact, at this time, he had already written to King Ling, requesting to return to Caizhou.
There was another civil servant in the tent. After pacing back and forth, Wei Guang stopped and asked, "Your Majesty, has there been no decision yet?"
"There has been no transfer order sent back yet," the civil servant said.
"Alas." Wei Guang sighed, "Once Bai Pavilion is lost, King Qin will definitely focus on Liupan Mountain. It is better to evacuate early than to evacuate late."
Just as he said this, a soldier ran in quickly, knelt down and saluted: "General, the envoy of Qin wants to see you."
"What?" Wei Guang was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked at the civil servant. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Invite him to come over."
"No." The soldier took the order and left.
Not long after, Murong Yan was brought in.
With the current situation, it was not surprising that Qin envoys came, and Wei Guang knew in his heart that they would probably come to persuade him to surrender.
But he didn't expect that the visitor would be Murong Yan.
(End of chapter)
