Chapter 342: It's All for You

The wind was rustling, and the bleak wind also took away the confidence of the army in Shangyong City. Finally, some soldiers began to whisper, hesitating. Originally, the 800,000 army was assembled impromptu, and many of them were coaxed by sweet words; now that some of the lies have been exposed, many soldiers have retreated.

Cao Guobin's eyes gradually turned cold, but he knew very well in his heart: the soldiers cannot be allowed to retreat, otherwise the army's morale will be scattered, and the 800,000 army will become a mess. Once the Tang and Anyang armies arrive, they are likely to be defeated without a fight. Only by reducing the fighting can the current scattered army be preserved; of course, stimulation is also needed.

After thinking for a while, Cao Guobin had an idea. "We have an army of 800,000, but we are intimidated by the opponent's army of 200,000. Everyone, are you so timid? What is the essence of practice? It is self-improvement, and self-improvement can never stop! If we retreat now, it will Becoming your demon will haunt your practice forever.

Now, we are not only fighting for Cai Guo, but also fighting for ourselves. Use victory to eliminate your own demons!

We have an army of 800,000, and we will divide into four groups later to break out in four directions. As long as we succeed in breaking through the encirclement all the way, we will be able to outflank and annihilate Xiao's 200,000 troops inside and out in one fell swoop!

Everyone, we are 800,000, four fight one!

Besides, many of your relatives are in the city, can you guarantee that Xiao Guo's 200,000 troops will not commit any crime after entering the city? Which time after breaking the city was it not burning, murdering and raping|prostitution.

Our dignity needs to be obtained by ourselves. Are we going to entrust the lives of our wives and children on the mercy of the enemy?

Besides, we are protected by the city wall of the empire, and it is not an easy task for Xiao Guo's army to break through the defense! "

There are incentives and tactics, and there is more hope of victory. Cao Guobin's speech can be regarded as temporarily stabilizing the morale of the army. But this is only temporary! Cao Guobin is not the kind of person who takes it for granted. He understands the difference between these makeshift soldiers and the 200,000 elite led by Xiao Liming.

Not to mention, it is expected that at noon, the armies of Anyang and Tang will also arrive, and by then... the situation will be even worse. It is really difficult to fight for three days for Emperor Cai and his party!

Deep in his heart, Cao Guobin kept sighing. Once upon a time, what he thought was not about winning, but buying time. Is it because I am getting old? Or is the world changing too fast?

Looking at the black muzzle of the cannon, Cao Guobin exerted a little force with his withered hands; artillery, which has only been around for less than four years, has already changed the mode of war. Locomotives, airplanes, machine guns, etc., all of which presented new challenges to previous military thinking.

Time passed little by little. Xiao Liming was very good at doing things. One hour was divided into eight quarters. Every time a quarter passed, Xiao Liming asked the soldiers to wave flags and shout "a quarter has passed".

This is like a countdown to the death penalty. The torment caused by this process has made many soldiers in Shangyong City sweat. In particular, some passionate patriots who had been mobilized temporarily were finally gradually awakened by this fear. War is no child's play!

Although Xiao Guo only has 200,000 troops, they are 200,000 professional soldiers, which are fundamentally different from the mob like himself. One elite soldier can beat three or two ordinary people; ten thousand elite soldiers can drive millions of people to flee for their lives.

The wind is blowing, the flag is rustling, and time is slipping away. But at the last moment, Xiao Liming received a report from the scouts - the armies of Tang and Anyang stopped a hundred miles away, and set up camp to demarcate the border.

"What's the situation?" Xiao Liming frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

After thinking for a while, Xiao Liming made a decision: "Don't attack yet, but keep encircling Shangyong City. Besides, Ji Quanshan, you should immediately go to the army of the Tang State to inquire about Li Wei's specific situation. Hurry up and come back."

An hour passed. Although Xiao Liming didn't let his men attack, he started firing artillery. After all, he is the emperor, so he has to keep his word. If he says to attack after an hour, he must attack after nine hours. Of course, the army has not moved, and such an attack is more like a show.

But Shangyong City also started a counterattack, and Shangyong City also has artillery. You know, it was Cai Guo, a military adviser from Zhao Guo, and Xiang Bowen who first cracked the Anyang artillery. Today, the artillery owned by Shangyong City is no less powerful than the Anyang export version, but some production techniques, gunpowder purity, and steel purity are not up to Anyang's standards; but killing and war are enough.

The two sides shot at each other four to five miles away, but the formation that emerged on the wall of Shangyong City blocked the attack from Xiao Guo very well. Xiao Guo's sporadic artillery attacks were just scratching the surface. But at the same time, Xiao Guo also used simple spells to block the opponent's attack.

The first time that the cannon attack was clearly deciphered was the method invented by Xiao Liming, which could stop the cannonball with simple spells. Today, Xiao Liming even has a special team to intercept shells, and the effect is outstanding. For the time being, the interception rate of shells against Shangyong City is 100%!

The two sides just attacked without pain or itching, Xiao Liming's attack was not violent, and Cao Guobin's attack in Shangyong City was not violent.

Cao Guobin didn't know why Xiao Liming was so passive-aggressive, but he was so happy--anyway, as long as he can delay time, it is enough, and one point for delay is one point. Even in order not to anger Xiao Liming, Cao Guobin strictly limited the number of artillery attacks.

"Perhaps, Xiao Liming is waiting for the arrival of Anyang and Tang's army!" Cao Guobin could only think this way, because he couldn't find a more appropriate reason.

Time slipped away little by little in this attack like scratching an itch, and unintentionally, it stabilized the morale of the miscellaneous army on the side of Shangyong City.

And here, Ji Quanshan also ran for two hundred miles, and finally returned to the army, and gave Li Wei's jade slip to Xiao Liming.

In the jade slips, Li Wei laughed wildly, "Your Majesty Xiao, my country of Tang has only one county in the first place, and it has been in operation for less than a year, so its foundation is weak. Now that I have acquired three and a half counties, I am already struggling. We are already very satisfied with the so-called gluttony.

As for the rest of Cai's land, I will give it to you. I swear on the honor of Tang, as long as we are not provoked, attacked, etc., we will never cross the border that has been demarcated by Cai.

I wish Xiao Guo can conquer Cai Guo in one fell swoop, expand the territory and establish a powerful empire. "

After reading it, Xiao Liming frowned slightly. For the time being, the cessation of the offensives of Tang State and Anyang is indeed a great opportunity for the development of Xiao State. But Xiao Liming is not an idiot, he always needs to think more about things.

Is it just because you can't chew too much? not necessarily! There is Anyang's support behind it; there are other reasons than this!

Is there something wrong with Anyang? Anyang is nominally a part of Tang State, but Tang State itself does not count Anyang as part of its own power. Li Wei's words are very clear - "My country of Tang has only one county in the first place", the meaning could not be more obvious.

Did Tang Guo feel that he was stronger and wanted to turn around and wrestle with Anyang? This is also possible.

But the above two possibilities are unlikely. Neither Li Xian nor Li Yulong are fuel-efficient lamps, and they will not be so short-sighted. Then the most likely thing is what happened to Cai Guo, but Tang Guo and Anyang knew about it, but didn't tell themselves!

Today, Xiao Liming is not an idiot; as long as there is an instruction for many things, Xiao Liming can figure out the most "reasonable" result little by little.

Of course there is the problem of being greedy and chewing too much. But if Anyang and Li Yulong join hands, it is still possible to occupy half of Cai Guo. But now, they only occupy four counties, less than a third of the area of ​​Cai Guo, or even only a quarter of the area; the area of ​​​​the counties in the north of Cai Guo is particularly large, especially Luochuan, Yongchuan, and Tongchuan The area of ​​Sanchuan is almost 40% of that of Cai State.

Is there any more reasonable reason that can lead Tang Guo and Anyang to make the current decision?

Suddenly, Xiao Liming looked at the city wall of Shangyong City. There was only an old Cao Guobin there, only Cao Guobin... only Cao Guobin! Only Cao Guobin... Cao Guobin!

"All the top executives of Cai Guo have run away!" Xiao Liming suddenly stood up, looking at the city wall of Shangyong City in the distance, the more he looked, the more certain his guess was!

"I'll try it out!"

Finally, Xiao Liming flew into the air again, "Senior Cao, in another hour, the armies of Anyang and Tang will arrive. By then, we will launch a decisive battle. I wonder how sure Senior Cao is?"

Cao Guobin's voice was loud and clear: "If you want to fight, fight, mother-in-law is like an old woman!"

Xiao Liming also replied with a loud voice: "Senior Cao, Xiao has an idea, how about we join forces?"

"Oh?" Cao Guobin's eyes stared straight. At this time, Xiao Liming actually wants to join hands with him? What are you doing?

After a short pause, Xiao Liming began to talk: "Senior Cao also knows that Xiao Guo and Tang Guo can be said to be immortal, if there is a chance to destroy the 200,000 elites of Tang Guo, I am willing to try.

I don't know what Senior Cao thinks? "

Good thing! Although Cao Guobin was suspicious, he felt it was reasonable. Immediately agreed, "Yes! But how to cooperate?"

Xiao Liming's voice was loud and hearty: "'Zhen' wants to talk to His Majesty Cai Guo in person, how about it? As long as the emperor of your country shows up, we can make a covenant through the city wall."

Cao Guobin's complexion changed drastically! I finally knew that Xiao Liming was Xiao Liming's fundamental purpose.

According to the normal situation, when encountering such a major event, Cao Guobin would definitely not be able to make the decision. He had to ask the emperor for instructions, or even ask the emperor to come forward in person. But where to find the emperor at this time. But... wait, there is no way!

Cao Guobin responded loudly, "Please wait a moment, I will go to ask His Majesty for instructions."

After finishing speaking, Cao Guobin left, preparing to make a fake emperor out. At this time, he couldn't care too much, and buying time was the most important thing; if he could really make an alliance with Xiao Liming and jointly dispatch troops to destroy the army of the Tang State, that would be a great achievement.

But be careful with this matter, there is an idiom called "King sees the king"; real kings can recognize each other's identities at a glance, it is a kind of breath traction. The demeanor, spirit, etc. of a true king are difficult for outsiders to imitate—if you can’t reach that height, can’t sit in that position, and your mind will not be able to touch that level.

While walking, Cao Guobin thought, who should play the role of emperor?

In the middle of the dilemma, some soldiers came running from behind, "My lord, Xiao Liming has retreated!"

"What?!" Cao Guobin quickly flew back to the top of the city, looked around, and found that Xiao Liming had indeed withdrawn his troops, the 200,000 troops slowly retreated, and the encirclement gradually dissipated, regrouping into teams one by one.

Seeing this, Cao Guobin finally sighed, "Cunning Xiao Liming, I don't know where I have exposed my flaws?"

At the same time, Xiao Liming was explaining to the people around him: "Cao Guobin coped very well, and there was no flaw; the biggest flaw is actually only one, that is, Cao Guobin himself is the only one on the city wall! At this critical moment, Cao Guobin should not leave The city wall, leave the defense, but should send a supervising army, or a lieutenant general, etc. to inform Emperor Cai!

Too much is too late, Cao Guobin's performance is not stable enough.

Not to mention, we have already speculated, and this conversation is just to verify it.

Alright, Ji Quanshan, you lead 50,000 elite troops to station on the spot to monitor the movements of Shangyong City. If someone leaves the city, they will attack and harass them; if the other party does not leave the city, they will hide and wait for the army from behind to arrive.

Prince Xiao Yunlong led an army of 100,000 to the north to pursue Emperor Cai and others. Pursue in the direction of Sanchuan. Your purpose is not to kill the enemy, but to seize the wealth, books, talents, etc. carried by Emperor Cai. Remember, there are only three days; after three days, you must return anyway.

Taiwei Xiao Zhenwu led an army of 50,000 to the north, cut off the communication between Cai Guo and the border, and could forge information when necessary. How to do it is up to Taiwei himself to decide.

Similarly, it is also three days, and you must return after three days. "