Chapter 384
Tang Yin led the people out of Yancheng. Before he walked far, he heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. Looking back, he saw two knights running quickly from the direction of Yancheng. Because the distance was too far, Tang Yin could not see clearly. He only saw that they were two generals wearing steel helmets and armor.
He frowned secretly. He did not order the generals of the court to be recruited. Who are these two people?
When the two knights ran closer, he saw clearly that these two were indeed generals, but they were both female generals, Wu Mei and Wu Ying.
He did not expect them to come. Tang Yin reined in his warhorse. When the two women came closer, he asked in doubt: "Why are you here?" Wu Mei spoke first: "Of course I am going to fight with you." Tang Yin laughed and said: "Nonsense! Fighting is not a joke, go back quickly." In his opinion, women are not suitable for fighting. Going to war with the army will be more of a burden than a contribution. It is better to stay behind.
Wu Mei curled her lips when she heard this and said in dissatisfaction: "What nonsense?! Don't forget, it was me who recruited you into the army." He was bringing up the old things again! Tang Yin knocked his head with a headache and asked: "Does Wu Xiang know that you two are going to go to war with me?" Wu Ying was about to shake her head, Wu Mei hurriedly said: "Of course! Xiao Ying and I have already told my father, and my father agreed." "Oh!" It would be strange if he agreed! Tang Yin nodded seriously, turned his head and shouted: "Cheng Jin!" "I'm here!" Cheng Jin behind Tang Yin immediately urged his horse forward.
Tang Yin said: "Send a brother back to the city to ask Wu Xiang at the Xiangfu if he knows that Miss Wu Mei and Miss Wu Ying are going to go to war with the army." "Yes! Sir!" Cheng Jin saw that Tang Yin was trying to scare Wu Mei, and he raised the corner of his mouth, pretended to turn his head and called a dark arrow brother to go back to the city to ask.
Before the man left, Wu Mei hurriedly called him back. Tang Yin smiled secretly in his heart, but raised his eyebrows in confusion, looking at her blankly.
Wu Mei looked at the people around her embarrassedly, rode to Tang Yin's side, grabbed his sleeve with her little hand, and muttered in a low voice: "Okay, father doesn't know about this, just be kind and don't send anyone to ask!" Sure enough. Tang Yin sighed lightly, looking at Wu Mei with both helplessness and love.
Under the pitiful gaze of Wu Mei and Wu Ying, Tang Yin thought for a while, and finally compromised. He nodded, shook his head, and said to Wu Mei and Wu Ying: "This is just the first time, and it won't happen again!" "Great!" Wu Mei and Wu Ying both smiled brightly.
One hundred thousand Tianying troops bypassed Wancheng to attack Fengcheng. Wu Guang and Zhan Hu commanded 50,000 direct troops to set up an ambush between Wancheng and Fengcheng, and Tang Yin led the remaining 350,000 Tianyuan troops to attack Wancheng directly.
Zhong Tian had just spent a few days in comfort after retreating to Wancheng. He heard from his subordinates that Tang Yin had led the army to attack again. He was so angry in the palace that he jumped up and down and cursed Tang Yin for being a worthless person and wanted to kill him alive.
His civil servants and military officers were not in a hurry. Although they only had less than 30,000 soldiers and horses now, the defense of Wancheng was very strong, and there were more than 100,000 Ning troops stationed in the city. It was not so easy for Tang Yin to capture Wancheng. The arrow formation of the Ning army from a high position alone was not something that the Tianyuan army could withstand.
A civil servant suggested to Zhong Tian that he should summon Zhan Wushuang and Zhan Wudi immediately and ask them to send the Ning army to the top of the city to garrison. After hearing this, Zhong Tian said it made sense and immediately sent people to find the two brothers of the Zhan family.
He had just sent people out and had not yet left the palace when Zhan Wushuang and Zhan Wudi came first.
After seeing Zhong Tian, the two simply bowed their hands and saluted, then stood up straight and looked around at the civil and military officials around them. Finally, their eyes fell on Zhong Tian.
Zhan Wushuang asked: "I think your Majesty has heard that Tang Yin led the army to the south and approached Wancheng, right?!" "Yes, yes, yes!" Zhong Tian nodded repeatedly and said: "I was just about to find the two generals for this matter. The two generals should quickly dispatch their soldiers to the top of the city to resist the Tianyuan Army that may come to the city at any time..." Before he finished speaking, Zhan Wushuang smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "It's too late! Your Majesty, you only know that the Tianyuan Army is approaching Wancheng, but do you know that another team of Tianyuan Army has gone to attack Fengcheng?" "Ah?" This surprised Zhong Tian and his ministers. It was really unexpected that Tang Yin would split his troops into two groups, one to attack Wancheng and the other to attack Fengcheng.
Zhong Tian was stunned for a moment, then smiled, rubbed his hands and said, "It's a good thing that Tang Yin dispersed his troops. In this way, he will not be able to concentrate all his efforts on attacking our Wancheng, and our hope of success will be greatly increased!" "Zhan Wushuang almost vomited blood when he heard this. At this time, he didn't have a map at hand. If he had a map, he would put it under Zhong Tian's nose, so that he could see clearly how important the closure of the city was to Wancheng. He took a few deep breaths, suppressed the anger in his heart, and said sternly: "Your Majesty, what's the use of us just guarding Wancheng? Fengcheng is our only way to retreat. Once Fengcheng is lost, Wancheng will be destroyed." Chenggu City has no reinforcements and no support. How long do you think we can hold on with only the current 100,000 people? One month, two months? One year, two years?" After Zhan Wushuang's series of questions, Zhong Tian was speechless. He looked at his civil servants and generals and asked, "Dear ladies, what do you think?" Everyone looked at each other, stepped forward, raised their hands and saluted, "Your Majesty, what General Wushuang said?" It makes sense, Your Majesty, you should make arrangements early!" Zhong Tian nodded thoughtfully, turned to look at Zhan Wushuang, and asked: "General Wushuang, in your opinion, how should we divide our troops to reinforce the city? Zhan Wushuang shook his head and said: "According to the detective report, the Tianyuan Army went to attack Fengcheng with a large number of troops, as many as 100,000. If we divide our troops to reinforce, how many troops should be divided? Too many troops?" Wancheng cannot be defended, and the number of troops is too small. In my opinion, we can only abandon Wancheng and withdraw southward! Now that most of the rivers and mountains have been lost, Feng Kingdom has fifteen counties, and he only occupies four of them. The other eleven counties have fallen into the hands of the Tianyuan Army. Now they have to retreat. When will the withdrawal end?
Zhan Wushuang could understand Zhong Tian's mood. He sighed helplessly and said: "Your Majesty, this is not allowed to happen! If you keep the green hills, you are not afraid of running out of firewood. I hope your Majesty will make a decision soon and don't delay any more." It's time." Alas! Zhong Tian looked up and sighed, and couldn't help but look at the ministers under his command. He really didn't want to retreat anymore. He knew that no matter how hard he retreated, there would be no chance of coming back, and his dream of becoming a king was finally over. At this time, he wished that someone could stand up and provide him with a good strategy to retreat from the enemy without retreating.
But when all the ministers in the court saw Zhong Tian's questioning look, they all lowered their heads, not even daring to breathe.
The past events are still vivid in my mind. Li Qi, Xu Hui, Ye Cheng, Wei Xuan and other generals were all left to guard Yancheng by Zhong Tian. In the end, only Li Qi escaped back. The rest of the generals died on the battlefield, even those who escaped with a narrow escape. Li Qi also met a good end and was executed by Zhong Tian on the charges of being unfavorable in combat and escaping from the battlefield. Now everyone is afraid that Zhong Tian will call his name and let him stay in Wancheng.
In times of crisis, no one came forward, and no one could offer any good advice. Zhong Tian felt his heart sinking, leaned back, slumped on the king's chair, and said quietly: "Just... according to General Wushuang's opinion, We are evacuating Wancheng and going to seal the city!" "See you, Your Majesty!" Zhan Wushuang and Zhan Wudi both stepped in and saluted, and then said, "The general will go back and prepare." After saying this, the two brothers did not wait for the clock. Tian didn't have anything to say, so he turned around and strode out of the hall.
Now the two brothers of the Zhan family have been completely disappointed with Zhong Tian. Standing on Zhong Tian's side and facing off against Tang Yin, there is no hope of victory at all. The two brothers have also made up their minds. No matter what, they will no longer face the Tianyuan Army. If fighting and preserving one's own forces is not possible, they simply withdraw from Feng Country and go all the way south to Mo Country.
Zhong Tian accepted Zhan Wushuang's suggestion and continued to move his court south, exiting Wancheng and heading towards Fengcheng.
Zhan Wushuang and Zhan Wudi found out that the Tianyuan Army had sent troops to attack Fengcheng, but they did not find out that the Tianyuan Army had an ambush between Wancheng and Fengcheng.
Now, Ning's army has about 120,000 troops, and Zhong Tian's troops have nearly 30,000. The two sides together can barely reach 150,000. However, Zhong Tian has many family members accompanying the army. He himself has only wives and concubines. There are dozens of people, and the families of the ministers below also range from dozens to hundreds. In addition, there are also many wealthy people who are attached to Zhong Tian. Now that Zhong Tian is retreating south, they can only drag their families and follow them. Looking up, The scale of Zhong Tian's team is huge. People are crowded together, and there are also carriages and trucks in the middle. At a glance, one would think there are hundreds of thousands of people, but in fact there are too many old and weak people mixed in. Women and children.
Zhan Wushuang and Zhan Wudi were worried that Tianyuan's army would capture Fengcheng first. They urged the marching speed, but due to Zhong Tian's drag, Ning's army couldn't move faster even if they wanted to. Not to mention the slow progress of the family members, even the baggage carried by Zhong Tian and others was a big burden. The boxes of gold, silver, and jewelry that Zhong Tian had accumulated have now become a huge burden.
It was only less than two days' journey from Wancheng to Fengcheng, and Zhong Tian and his party walked for two days, and the distance was only half of it.
Seeing such a large group of enemy soldiers, Wu Guang and Zhan Hu, who had set up an ambush halfway, were also startled.
After receiving the report from the spies, the two men quietly left the ambush site and lay down on a higher mountain. They looked up and saw the enemy soldiers walking on the official road. To describe it, one can see the beginning of the procession, but not the end of the procession. The flags flying in the army are also confusing, including Ning flags and Peng flags, and vehicles carrying heavy baggage are one after another.
After looking at it, Wu Guang and Zhan Hu both frowned, and the latter muttered in a low voice: "How many reinforcements did the other side send? It feels like hundreds of thousands!"