Chapter 717

Zhou Chang cut off the remnants of the Sky Eagle Army who had escaped, but he was alone after all, facing tens of thousands of Ning Army soldiers. It was difficult for him to defeat four hands with just two fists. How many nails could he break with his body made of iron?

At the end of the battle, the corpses in the city gate cave were piled up. If the Ning army outside wanted to rush in and kill them, they had to drag the corpses out first.

At this time, Zhou Chang's strength and spiritual energy were exhausted, and even his spiritual armor and spiritual weapons could no longer be maintained. There were as many as thirty wounds, large and small, all over his body. Even so, he still stood in the city gate. Before he fell down, when the Ning army outside rushed towards him, he could still carry his spear and fight. When the Ning army outside fired arrows, he could still lift his body to make an arrow shield...

Zhou Chang's delay delayed Ning Jun's pursuit for nearly an hour, buying a lot of time for the Sky Eagle Army to escape smoothly.

In the end, Zhou Chang, who had run out of oil and lamps, died under the blades of Ning's army, but Ning's army's pursuit of the remnants of the Sky Eagle Army also failed.

In this battle, the Feng Army was defeated, completely and completely. Of the 60,000-strong Sky Eagle Army, only 10,000 people were left to escape back to Hexi County, and the two Tianying Army sent by Tang Yin were In the end, only one of the pioneer officers came back.

Fifty thousand soldiers were lost in Daiyun City. It can be said that Tang Yin has never suffered such a disastrous defeat on land since he started his army. There was no need for Situ Qi to enter the Chinese army's tent to see him. Tang Yin had already personally "welcomed" him out of the camp.

When the embarrassed and disgraced Situ Qi saw Tang Yin outside the camp, he burst into tears. Li Laoyuan fell to his knees, using his knees as his feet, crawling forward while slapping his mouth and wailing: " Your Majesty, the last general is incompetent...the last general is incompetent..."

Tang Yin looked at Situ Qi expressionlessly. In fact, his body was shaking with anger. His fists were clenched so tightly that he couldn't even feel his nails digging into his flesh.

He had asked Situ Qi to enter Xiaoling County and then come back, but he never expected that Situ Qi would be defeated so completely by him. Sixty thousand soldiers and only ten thousand soldiers came back. In just one battle, it was equivalent to destroying the Sky Eagle Army. The number of battles was gone, and the morale of our entire army also fell to the bottom.

Seeing Situ Qi crawling closer to him, without any warning, Tang Yin raised his leg, kicked Situ Qi's shoulder, and asked in a cold voice: "All the soldiers in the army are almost dead, why are you coming back?" ...Why don’t you die with your fallen brothers?”

"Your Majesty..." Situ Qi couldn't even say anything to beg Tang Yin for his life at this time. He put his head on the ground, as if it weighed a thousand kilograms, and he couldn't lift it up no matter how hard he looked. He just watched big drops of water dripping on the ground. On the dirt.

Looking at him more than once made him feel upset. Tang Yin raised his head, held his waist with both hands, walked back a few steps in front of him, and then shouted to the left and right: "Come here! Drag Situ Qi out and kill him!"

Situ Qi had already foreseen such a result on the way back, and was not surprised at all at this time. He slowly raised his head, looked at Tang Yin, cupped his hands and said, "I will be unworthy of the great king's trust. I am willing to die to lead the army." I just hope that the king can be kind to the wife, children and children of the general’s family. The general will also be grateful to the king for his kindness..."

"You dare to negotiate terms with me?" Tang Yin walked up to Situ Qi and wanted to kick him a few more times, but seeing how pitiful he was with tears streaming down his face, he lifted his foot and put it down again, waving his hands distractedly. , said: "Pull it down, drag it down!"

The guards on both sides don't care what your status is. They must carry out the king's orders. The guard lifted up Situ Qi's arm and said with an apology in his tone: "General Situ, I'm offended!" After saying that, the two men held up Situ Qi and walked down, preparing to behead him.

The generals around Tang Yin, including Guyue and Wuying, all felt that Situ Qi's death was not a pity. He suffered such a huge defeat and caused such huge losses. It was an advantage for him to only kill him and not implicate the nine clans. But Qiu Zhen suddenly said: "Wait a minute!"

The two guards stopped hurriedly and turned back to look at Qiu Zhen.

Qiu Zhen bowed his hands to Tang Yin and said, "Your Majesty, although General Situ was defeated, according to the battle report, this battle was not entirely General Situ's fault, but that the commander-in-chief of the Ning Army was too cunning and sacrificed three thousand soldiers like this. He used a trick to cover up Shi Jie’s false surrender. If it had been anyone else, he would have fallen into the same trap as General Situ.”

Qiu Zhen's words moved Situ Qi to tears again, but he was so guilty that he didn't even dare to say a word for mercy. He could only look at Tang Yin helplessly, waiting for his resignation.

The anger and resentment in Tang Yin's heart could not be dispelled by Qiu Zhen's words. He glanced at Qiu Zhen and said angrily: "If you lose, you lose. Why do you need those excuses? If it were Ziying in this battle, he would definitely be able to see through Ning Ren's trick!"

Qiu Zhenzhen said: "Yes! If General Ziying had been allowed to go, our army would not have been defeated like this. And it was the king who allowed General Ziying to recruit the army and promoted General Situ to the commander-in-chief of the Sky Eagle Army. It is also the king who allowed the Sky Eagle Army to enter Xiaoling County to fight. Now, does the king still think that the fault lies solely with General Situ? "

Tang Yin raised his eyebrows, turned around and looked at Qiu Zhen, and asked in a serious voice: "Qiu Zhen, what do you mean? Are you saying that the fault is my fault?"

Qiu Zhen bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty has always been a brave leader and has the courage to take responsibility. Because of this, no matter how hard and tired the soldiers are, they are willing to fight with your Majesty in the north and south."

After Tang Yin heard this, he secretly took a breath. Yes, if he said that this defeat was all Situ Qi's fault, it would be an injustice to him. At least he would have to bear the blame for improper employment. If Situ Qi is to be punished, he should also be punished.

Thinking of this, his expression softened a little, and he looked at Situ Qi. He was silent for a long time and then said: "What Prime Minister Qiu said is reasonable, but Situ Qi can be exempted from death penalty, but life crime is unforgivable. He will be punished with eighty military sticks and will be recorded as a major demerit. Military rank Demoted two levels and not allowed to be promoted within three years!”

As long as a person is alive, it doesn't matter how he is punished. Situ Qi knelt down again in excitement, kowtowed to Tang Yin repeatedly, and shouted loudly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness, thank you for not killing me!"

Tang Yin ignored him, turned around, faced the soldiers behind him, suddenly drew out his sword and put it on his shoulder.

Seeing this, everyone was startled and instinctively moved forward, exclaiming at the same time: "Your Majesty?"

Tang Yin grabbed a strand of hair, swung his sword, and cut off the hair. He raised the broken hair and said loudly: "The defeat of this battle is something that I, the king, should not be blamed for. I am unworthy of the soldiers who died in the battle, and even more." I am ashamed of the high hopes of the entire army and the people of the country. I should have died to apologize, but the Ning Kingdom is not destroyed, the Feng Kingdom is not peaceful, and the great cause has not been completed, so I cannot die. Today, I swear here to pacify Xiaoling County. All Ning people, avenge the soldiers who died in Daiyun City, and use a hundred times the blood of Ning people to pay tribute to the soldiers’ spirits in heaven!”

Wow - after hearing this, all the generals and soldiers present knelt down and shouted in unison: "Destroy the Ning thief and take revenge! My king is wise, my king is wise -"

The low morale of the Feng army was instantly replaced by blazing fire. Tang Yin also used Feng Ren's long-standing hatred for Ning Ren to boost the morale of the entire army. Of course, his doing this will undoubtedly make Xiaoling County a river of blood in the future, but he can't control so much now. Fighting relies on hard work. If morale is gone, how can you kill the enemy on the battlefield?

Moreover, Tang Yin never cared about the life or death of people who had nothing to do with him.

This defeat in Xiaoling County taught Tang Yin a big lesson. It was not advisable to change the commander-in-chief of the entire army, and it was even less advisable to change generals on the spot.

With only over 10,000 people left, the Sky Eagle Army is actually dead. Tang Yin doesn't know how to reorganize the Sky Eagle Army in a short period of time and how to revitalize the Sky Eagle Army.

He asked Qiu Zhen for advice, and the latter smiled helplessly and gave Tang Yin the answer: Qiu Zhen is good at copywriting and making large-scale strategies and tactics, but as for how to reorganize an army, he is a complete layman, and he is not that big. ability.

Hearing this reply that was more like a sarcastic remark, Tang Yin's nose was almost twisted with anger. If Qiu Zhen couldn't do it, who else under his command could do it now? Use Guyue? As a nominal commander, he doesn't have much real ability at all, and it would be even less effective with Cheng Jin, Letian, Ai Jia...

Seeing Tang Yin staring straight at him and breathing heavily, Qiu Zhen smiled and said, "Reorganize the Sky Eagle Army. We already have a ready-made man in our army. Why should your Majesty worry about this matter?"

Ready-made person? "Who?"

"Ziying!" Qiu Zhen said: "The Sky Eagle Army was originally created and brought up by General Ziying. Now it has been beaten back to its original shape by the 'useless' Situ Qi. Naturally, the king should ask General Ziying to reorganize it. ”

He deliberately emphasized the word "useless" to satirize Tang Yin. Tang Yin blushed and said with a wry smile: "Reinstate Ziying? I was the one who dismissed him in the first place..."

Qiu Zhen shrugged and said, "If the king can't bear to look like this, then just don't let the Sky Eagle Army go. Once it's clear, Ziying can never be hired."

Although his words were calm and calm, Tang Yin might have heard the anger in Qiu Zhen's words.

You don't need to ask to know that Qiu Zhen must be angry about him abandoning Ziying.

Tang Yin also regretted it so much that his intestines were almost green. He laughed dryly and said, "When did I ever pay attention to face? Qiu Zhen, go back to the camp for me and invite General Ziying over!"

Qiu was really happy and said: "Zi Ying was dismissed by the king at the beginning. Now if General Zi Ying is invited, naturally the king should come forward. Only in this way can we be considered sincere."

Tang Yin frowned and said, "Ziying's temper is too stubborn. If I step in, I'm afraid he won't allow it!"

It would be strange if you don’t allow it! The Sky Eagle Army is like Ziying's child. He was hit hard today and Ziying was more anxious than anyone else. How could he not agree? Qiu Zhen thought so in his heart, but he would not say it with his mouth. He sighed helplessly and said, "That's why the king must be sincere! In addition, the king should also bring some gifts."

"Yes, yes!" Tang Yin nodded and murmured: "We should prepare gold and silver as an apology..."