The Zhai-Li Allied Forces paid a heavy price for the failure of the Battle of Shilibao. When they retreated, although Li Mi volunteered to serve as the rear guard in order to unite the overall situation, Li Mi's selfless rear guard still failed to change the situation of the Zhai-Li Allied Forces in the face of the Sui Army's counterattack. The fate of complete defeat, even if his main central army was formed by the elite veterans of the Pushan public camp as the backbone, it would still be overwhelmed by the mighty Baoguo army and the Sui army cavalry. Let the Sui army discover his location, and Cai Jiande led his own soldiers to protect him to the death. It is difficult for Li Mi himself to escape the poisonous hands of the Sui army.
Fortunately for Zhai and Li's allied forces, the Shilibao battlefield is not too far from Hulao Pass. The distance of more than ten miles leaves little space and time for the Sui army to pursue. Zhai Rang, Li Mi, Pei Renji, Xu Shiji and Yang Jishan and other big bandits finally fled back to Hulao Pass with some of their elite troops. Shan Xiongxin also fled back to Hulao Pass with injuries under the protection of Mulan. Most of the bandit cavalry under Shan Xiongxin also relied on their mobility advantage. He fled back and was not wiped out.
However, the infantry of the Zhai Li coalition army was miserable, especially those cannon fodder infantry who joined the bandit army for food. A large number of people were abandoned and abandoned. Zhai Rang, who fled back first, saw the Sui army's pursuers approaching the moat. Regardless of the tens of thousands of infantry on the other side of the moat before entering the city, he immediately ordered the drawbridge to be pulled up and the city gate closed. , in order to prevent the defeated soldiers from attacking the city gate, they threw down the yaksha ring without hesitation. Slowly pulling up, the bandit infantry who hadn't entered the city cried loudly and wailed all over the ground, but they still couldn't shake Zhai Rang and Li Mi's action of abandoning them as abandoned children.
In the end, just outside Hulao Pass, the Sui army captured more than 4,000 heads, and most of the dead were trampled to death by their own companions. If Chen Sang hadn't been soft-hearted and ordered to surrender It is no problem to double this number, but even so, on this same battlefield, the number of rebel soldiers who surrendered to the Sui army in order to survive still reached more than 5,000, and only a small number of rebel soldiers obeyed the generals. He ordered to climb up the mountains on both sides of Hulao Pass to escape, but Chen Sangliang didn't order the mountaineering to hunt down, considering that the army was exhausted.
Not to mention how Chen Sangliang led the Sui Army in the Eastern Capital to clean up the battlefield outside the city and lead the army to retreat, but Shan Xiongxin escaped back to Hulao Pass under the protection of Mulan. The bandit army was defeated and wounded, all of them were covered in dust, and all of them were still in shock, and the miserable voices of calling brothers and brothers and looking for fathers and sons could be heard everywhere. Xiongshi, Shan Xiongxin couldn't help feeling like a knife stabbed in his heart, couldn't help but shook his head and said: "I really didn't expect, I really didn't expect that group of white-robed lunatics to be so powerful. We lost this time, and we lost because of those white-robed lunatics." hand."
"Brother, did we lose at Duke Wei's hands, okay?" Mulan took the opportunity to sow discord, and said, "If it wasn't for Duke Wei's misjudgment, and the tricks of Chen Yingliang's little thief, let us meet suddenly without preparation. Shangguan army is the first elite to serve the national army. Even if we can't win those white-robed lunatics, we won't lose so badly. Brother, please persuade Dongjun Gong more, don't listen to Wei Gong in everything, Wei Gong He's smart, but he's not as treacherous as Chen Xiaozei, and if the fight continues like this, sooner or later he will give Chen Xiaozei our heads."
Shan Xiongxin was speechless, and felt that Mulan's words were quite reasonable. Li Mi was obviously not Chen Sangliang's opponent in playing tricks and tricks. At this time, Mulan and Shan Xiongxin suddenly heard Shan Yingying's voice again, and saw Shan Yingying dressed as a young woman, under the protection of several soldiers, walking towards this side with difficulty through the street crowded with defeated and wounded soldiers. Shan Xiongxin and Shan Xiongxin hurriedly greeted her, and Shan Xiongxin complained: "Yingying, the city is in such a mess now, what are you doing here? Why don't you stay at home?"
"I heard that we lost the battle, and I was worried about your situation, so I came to see you." Shan Yingying explained casually, and then exclaimed: "Brother, why are you injured? Is it serious?"
"It's okay, a small injury." Shan Xiongxin replied casually, but before he finished speaking, Shan Xiongxin's facial muscles twitched because of the severe pain of the wound, and he couldn't help moaning. They teamed up to bring Shan Xiongxin into the garrison, and took the golden sore medicine to apply the medicine to Shan Xiongxin himself. It took a long time to bandage the three wounds on Shan Xiongxin's body, and then Shan Xiongxin immediately urged Shan Yingying to go home and asked Mulan to send her Back home, Mulan, who was about to say something to Shan Yingying, couldn't wish more, and Yiling personally sent her honorary wife back to her residence.
It took a lot of effort to pass through the chaotic streets and send Shan Yingying home. Then Mulan drove away the outsiders first, and immediately said to Shan Yingying: "Sister, I almost have a chance to meet him today, but It didn't work out."
After that, Mulan hurriedly recounted what happened on the battlefield today. Shan Yingying's expression darkened after hearing this, and she nodded but did not speak. Sister Yingying, I have to remind you that even if you meet him, it will be useless. He is an important official of the court, and you are the younger sister of General Wagang. Even if he has you in his heart, it will be difficult for you to be together. He also has to pay attention to the influence and consequences, as long as your brother is still in the Wagang Army for a day, it is impossible for him to combine with you in a fair manner."
Shan Yingying's eyes dimmed, she almost shed tears, and she was even more unwilling to speak. Mulan observed the situation, and seeing that the time was right, she whispered again: "If you want to reunite with him, there is only one possibility, that is, your brother repents. Take you to join him, then not only will he accept you, but he will definitely accept you."
Shan Yingying's body shook, she shook her head first, and then said in a low voice: "I don't want to marry him, I just want to ask him face to face, why did he lie to me like that? What did he think of me? Besides, my elder brother is so loyal to Duke Dong, how could he betray Duke Dong and take me to join him?"
Mulan didn't say a word, but she was pondering in her heart, and said to herself: "Shan Xiongxin is loyal to Zhai Rang? I'm afraid it may not be true? Don't think I can't see it. Shan Xiongxin and Zhai Rang are close, but it's just a relationship of mutual dependence. Shan Xiongxin Xiongxin only considers the interests of the Wagang thieves first, and has no intention of working hard for Zhai Rang. Can I think of a way to force Shan Xiongxin out of the Wagang thieves? Cut off Zhai Rang and Li Mi's Arm, if I want to avenge Dashuai Zhang, it will be much easier..."
At the same time, after discovering the news of the disastrous defeat of the Zhai-Li Allied Army in the Battle of Ten Mile Fort, Wang Shichong, who was by no means inferior to Chen Sangliang, stepped up his attack on Li Mi's camp. Fei Qingnu and Wang Renze once broke through Li Mi The army's fence rejected the horse's defense line and pushed the battle to the fence defense line. Li Mi had no choice but to quickly organize a defeated army to go out of the city for reinforcements. Zhai Rang, who was afraid that his retreat would be cut off, also sent a new force to defend the city and handed it over to Pei Renji. The father and son led out of the city to reinforce, and it took a lot of hard work until it was dark, and finally repelled Wang Shichong's attack. Wang Shichong's army, who had only planned to do it before, was not prepared enough for the night battle. Although it had the upper hand, it lacked With dry food and torches, they had no choice but to give up the action of attacking the camp overnight, and returned to the Banzhu camp with great regret.
It must be mentioned here by the way that this time Li Mi also got the credit of Wang Shichong's shameless notoriety. If it weren't for Wang Shichong's notoriety for killing surrendered troops, Hao Xiaode, who was stationed outside the east gate of Hulao Pass, would have given birth to an uprising in the front line at the most critical moment of the war However, because he was afraid of Wang Shichong's shamelessness and viciousness, Hao Xiaode finally gave up this plan.
The Battle of Ten Mile Fort was a disastrous defeat, and Wang Shichong smashed the outlying fortifications of the Dongmen camp to pieces. The two-line battle was a disastrous defeat. Although the Hulao Guanjian City was still in hand, and most of the elite backbones were still preserved, the Zhai-Li Allied Forces The morale of the army still suffered an extremely heavy blow, especially the fact that even the best of the best could not defeat the Sui army in the eastern capital in the field, which made the decision-makers of the Zhai Li coalition army fall into deep despair. I no longer dare to have any hope, the soldiers have no fighting spirit, the generals have no fighting spirit, the morale is low from top to bottom, and the army is panicked.
Under such circumstances, Zhai Rang, who had already given up the idea of giving up Hulao, was naturally more shaken. Coupled with the instigation and instigation of Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou's father and son, Zhai Rang finally made up his mind. On the morning of the second day of the Battle of Ten Mile Fort, Zhai Rang invited Li Mi to enter the pass to hold a meeting, convening several confidant generals to discuss the matter of abandoning Hulao Pass and retreating.
Although he had already guessed that Zhai Rang would be firm in this idea, Li Mi still strongly opposed Zhai Rang's doing so, because it was really a pity to give up Hulao Pass. After losing the strategic initiative of the Eastern Capital battlefield, it would be impossible to get it back in the future. Knowing the price to be paid, Li Mi still pointed out to Zhai Rang that although the current situation of the self-army is indeed a bit bad, the losses of the Sui Army in the Eastern Capital in the Battle of Shilibao are not that small. At most, the army is just a balanced situation where no one can do anything to anyone. Although Wang Shichong entrenched in the rear is dangerous, he is slightly weaker. As long as the Zhai Li coalition forces take a breather and defeat Wang Shichong before the food and grass run out, they can still master the strategy of the Eastern Capital battlefield. Taking the initiative, there is still hope for capturing Luokoucang and even Luoyang, the eastern capital.
Li Mi's analysis of the strategic situation is of course correct. If you continue to stay in the tiger prison, even if you can't win Chen Sangliang, you can still make Chen Sangliang, who is eager to get out, disgusting, but it's okay for Chen Sangliang. This time, he refused to listen to Li Mi's fooling around, and shook his head again and again: "Wei Gong, I have always admired your talent, but under the current situation, it is too mysterious for us to continue to stay at Hulao Pass, Officer Chen Gou Even if it is difficult to deal with, Wang Gouguan is also a tough guy. Before he was in such a critical situation, he was able to handle it. Now that he has enough food and grass and a strong camp, it will definitely be more difficult for us to pull out his nail. We are fighting against these two treacherous dog officials at the same time, no matter where there is a mistake, the consequences will be disastrous."
Li Mi insisted on persuading, but Zhai Rang insisted on not listening, and the idiot Zhai Hong said: "Wei Gong, if you like Hulao Pass so much, how about we make a deal? We will exchange Hulao Pass with you for grain in Liyang warehouse. We leave Hulaoguan to you, and you can give us half of the grain in Liyang warehouse, or 30%."
Hearing this, all the generals under Li Mi's command showed anger, but Li Mi himself remained calm. On the contrary, he was still considering the feasibility of Zhai Hong's proposal. Originally, the strategic significance of exchanging part of the stored grain in Liyang warehouse for Hulaoguan was extremely important. It is not completely unacceptable to the broad-minded Li Mi, but after careful consideration, Li Mi found that even if he did this, it would not be of much use, because the current power in his hand is not enough to control the tiger at the same time. Prison Pass and Liyang Warehouse are two important places, the opponents they face are too strong, and there is a dangerous Yellow River in between, the connection is very easy to be cut off, the consequences of a slight mistake are unpredictable, and there may be danger of destruction.
It was also a coincidence that at this time, a messenger hurried into the hall and presented a feathered arrow with a letter in front of Zhai Rang, saying that the Sui army of the Eastern Capital had just shot the arrow against the wall of the pass. The cavalrymen of the Sui army left after shooting the arrows without saying a word. Zhai Rang took down the letter curiously and read it carefully. Official, actually persuaded the old man to take off Duke Wei’s head and present it to the court in exchange for glory and wealth. He also promised that as long as I lead the army to surrender, he will definitely beg to spare me in front of the tyrant. Son of a bitch, just beat a Victory is so crazy, this old man will kill you sooner or later."
Zhai Rang is not someone who sells friends and seeks glory, Li Mi can tell this, but Li Mi can't guarantee whether other people in the Wagang Army have such thoughts. Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou next to Zhai Rang were not only not angry at all, but also faintly happy. Seeing this scene, Li Mi was secretly angry, but also faintly desperate, knowing that the relationship between the Zijun and the Wagang Army was doomed to be impossible. There will never be friction and suspicion, and Chen Sangliang, who has a despicable character, will definitely never give up the labor-saving and useful tactic of defeating the enemy by sowing dissension. If he continues to confront Chen Sangliang, such things will only increase. The contradictions between the Wagang Army will only become more and more acute, and the rift will become wider and wider.
"Why don't you just give up on Hulao Pass?" Li Mi couldn't control the thought, and said to himself: "The little thief Chen Yingliang is also eager to get out of the Hulao Pass battlefield. I gave up on Hulao Pass and crossed the Yellow River north. It is unlikely that the Yellow River will chase me down, and it is difficult for him to do so with his current strength. If I get rid of this terrible enemy for a while, I can gain time to recover, annex and control Wagang, and when the time is right, I can turn around and take it. It's not too late for Luokoucang. At that time, maybe the chance will be better. After all, the hatred between Chen Yingliang's little thief and Li Yuan's family is so deep. Sooner or later, this little thief and Li Yuan's old fox will have a decisive battle. The situation is likely to be more favorable."
Thinking of this, and thinking about it for a long time, Li Mi finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind, nodded and said, "Well, since the Duke of Dongjun decided to give up Hulao Pass to avoid the sharpness of the officers and soldiers, then I have no objection, let's do it like this Now, I will bring the army back to Liyang Cang, Duke Dongjun, what are your plans?"
Zhai Rang showed a smile, which was a little awkward, and said: "Wei Gong, the old man has given up on the Wagang Mountain Village for a long time, and it is not realistic to go back there to rebuild the mountain village now. If Wei Gong doesn't mind, the old man wants to go north to Liyang Warehouse with you." , go there and join hands with you to continue fighting against the tyrant. Of course, you are still the leader of the alliance, Duke Wei, and this old man still obeys your command."
"Thank you, Lord Dongjun, for your love. I'm ashamed and dare not take it." Li Mi said modestly, and then said: "Don't worry, Lord Dongjun. After your army arrives at Liyang Warehouse, I will provide food and grass. We will attack again in the future." What city granary, it will also be divided equally according to the previous agreement."
When Zhai Rang was overjoyed, he quickly thanked Li Mi, and then he couldn't wait to discuss with Li Mi how to abandon the pass and retreat. Li Mi replied: "The enemy is facing a strong enemy, and we must retreat before the battle. We must carefully consider how to retreat. Let me think carefully about how to retreat." Besides, but the most important thing right now is to keep it secret. We must not let the officers and soldiers know that we are planning to abandon the pass and retreat. This matter can only be known to a few of us present, and it is absolutely forbidden to leak it, even if it is ours. Soldiers and relatives, absolutely don’t let them know!”
Zhai Rang only wanted to be able to get away, and of course he agreed to Li Mi's request, but Zhai Hong was a little disdainful, and said, "Wei Gong, why don't you trust our soldiers and relatives?"
"It's not that I don't believe it. I just want to be cautious. Official Chen Yingliang is treacherous. We have to guard against him planting traitors in Hulao Pass!" Li Mi said sharply: "Old General Zhai, you don't want to be on your ferry!" When the Yellow River was going up north, suddenly there was an army of officials coming from the upper reaches?"
Zhai Hong's heart trembled, and he quickly nodded in agreement. Zhai Rang strictly demanded that the Wagang generals present not to reveal this secret to anyone, and threatened that once they found out, they would be executed without mercy. In this way, Mulan, who is not qualified to participate in this meeting, will lose the opportunity to know the news, and naturally, she will have no way to report the news to Chen Sangliang...
Only one day later, on the second night, Li Mi personally designed a large-scale retreat. However, the first step was not to use ships to carry food, grass and military supplies across the river, but to send an army to the east overnight to attack Wang Shichong's plank. In the Zhu camp, Wang Shichong's army discovered the traces on purpose. Wang Ren, who was on duty at night, led his army to attack. The bandit army feigned defeat and left. Wang Renze was defeated by the thieves on both sides of the road. Hearing the news, Wang Shichong hurriedly sent Fei Qingnu to respond. Although Fei Qingnu succeeded in rescuing Wang Renze, Wang Shichong's army still suffered a lot of losses.
Wang Shichong's army was not in vain. During the period when Xiao general Fei Qingnu was responding to Wang Renze, he more or less captured the two wounded captives. Wang Shichong sent people to interrogate the prisoners and learned that Zhai Rang and Li Mi had already declared to the army that Zhai Li's army's next goal has been changed to himself, to take down his Banzhu camp and turn back to deal with Chen Yingliang. Li Mi has also mobilized 30,000 troops from Liyang warehouse to cross the Baima River, preparing to attack Wang Shichong behind him. Wang Shichong was shocked when he heard the news, and quickly ordered the army to strengthen the camp with all its strength, and sent people to Luokou Cang to contact Chen Sangliang, reported the situation to Chen Sangliang, and asked Chen Sangliang to launch a siege as soon as possible to protect himself. Army relieves stress.
"Let Chen Yingliang continue to fight with the main force of the bandit army. It is not sure that the main force of the bandit army is attracted to the east of Hulao Pass. If I send troops again, I will write the word "king" upside down." This is the oath that Wang Shichong made in his heart. .