The sky was slightly bright, and a group of men and horses in a panic ran through the farmland, crossed directly to the official road, and continued to escape on the official road.
Zhou Shouxian, who was sitting on horseback, had a livid face. Looking at the surrounding people and horses, he found that they were exhausted.
Jin Wuguang, the head of the True Spirit Academy, and Cao Yu'er, the head of the Feihua Pavilion, also had tense faces and looked quite ugly.
In just a few days and nights, the battle was completely disrupted, and it was so chaotic that it was impossible to command.
No one expected that Xiawu County would not care about the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people. Most of the cavalry led by Yingyang Wuliewei rushed towards Zhou Shouxian. Tianyumen, Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect and Lingxiu Mountain were even more concentrated. A large number of monks accompanied him to cooperate.
Knowing that the opponent had gathered so many monks, Zhou Shouxian could only temporarily avoid the attack and retreat. However, the opponent was almost all cavalry, so he had to order his own troops to block it head on. Zhou Shouxian led a small group of troops to retreat first.
While still on the way to the emergency retreat, they learned the bad news that the 100,000 troops intercepted were defeated.
The monks from Zhenling Academy and Feihua Pavilion were unable to withstand the joint attack of the four sects of Tianyu Sect, causing a large number of casualties. Unable to stop them, the two surviving monks were forced to flee.
The four Tianyu Sect factions did not pursue and kill the monks from the two factions, but continued to follow Yingyang Wu Liewei and cooperated with the army to continue to pursue Zhou Shouxian.
At this time, Zhou Shouxian was really filled with regret. He regretted that he shouldn't have advanced with his army, and regretted that he shouldn't have hid behind the army. The enemy attacked all the way, and the elite troops mobilized the layers of defensive troops deployed at the front to turn back and rush for reinforcements. The enemy's follow-up troops They took advantage of the situation, burned, killed, and looted, and burned the defensive army's baggage along the way.
By the time he realized what was going on and understood the enemy's intentions, it was already too late!
As soon as the war started, the food and fodder for hundreds of thousands of horses were almost gone. It was a joke. How could we fight this war? Do you need to fight later
Then again, he was not prepared to fight the enemy at the beginning, otherwise he would not hide behind the army. Didn't he think that hiding behind the army would be safer and easier to retreat. In the end, it was safe, but it didn't matter that the enemy would come to attack him. He had never seen such a way of fighting. Hundreds of thousands of enemy troops would actually abandon their baggage and not even carry their food and grass, and just come over like this. Who would have thought? Hundreds of thousands of people fighting without food and grass? This is simply making fun of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
But it turns out that this is no child's play. There are people who really dare to fight like this. Someone targeted his defense and hit his weak point with such precision that he, Zhou Shouxian, wanted to cry without tears!
The dark-faced Jin Wuguang and Cao Yu'er also vaguely remembered Zhou Shouxian's words before, saying that we don't want to win this time, as long as we can hold a stalemate with the enemy, we will win, and the remaining majesty will go to the three major factions. The imperial court is powerful, and the three major factions are also under pressure. It is impossible to consume the entire Yan Kingdom for Tianyumen, who has been unable to win Nanzhou. By then, Tianyumen will die.
The two of them were convinced at the time, but now, not long after the war started, everything was in complete chaos. Does this seem like the stalemate can continue
A golden wing landed in the morning light, and soon a general rode forward and reported to Zhou Shouxian: "Sir, the spies reported that the enemy soldiers are tired and out of horses. They have stopped chasing and have stopped to rest."
Cao Yu'er smoothed her skirt that was blown by the wind, and said to Zhou Shouxian: "The enemy is far away from us and cannot catch up with us for a while. We are also exhausted, so let's take a rest."
Zhou Shouxian immediately asked the general, "How far is it from Dingzhou?"
The general replied: "There is still about eighty miles to go."
Zhou Shouxian immediately shouted to everyone: "We are almost reaching Dingzhou. Brothers, just hold on. We will be safe once we reach Dingzhou. The rebels dare not enter Dingzhou."
So a group of tired people continued to move forward at a slow speed and arrived in Dingzhou in the evening.
Dingzhou had men and horses stationed at the border. When they learned that Zhou Shouxian was coming, Xue Xiao, the governor of Dingzhou who was personally stationed at the border, rushed to greet him. The two governors jumped off their horses to meet him.
Xue Xiao grabbed his arm and asked urgently: "Brother Zhou, why did you retreat to Dingzhou so quickly?"
Zhou Shouxian was so ashamed that he didn't know how to answer.
Xue Xiao asked urgently: "Brother Zhou, where are the 200,000 horses that I secretly supported in Dingzhou?"
Zhou Shouxian looked back at his entourage and saw that he only brought back 3,000 troops. Only the 3,000 cavalry of the Chinese Guards followed, and they were all tired and embarrassed. The rest were left by him to stop the pursuers. If not for this, I'm afraid it will be difficult to escape.
Xue Xiao said in shock: "Brother Zhou, in just a few days and nights, 800,000 pigs were killed. You wouldn't tell me that they were all gone so quickly, right? Even if there were 800,000 pigs, the rebels wouldn't be able to defeat them." Can we finish the killing so quickly?"
Zhou Shouxian: "The 800,000 troops are basically still there..." I don't know how to go on.
Xue Xiao was shocked again: "Since the troops are still there, as the commander, why did Brother Zhou abandon the army and retreat to Dingzhou?"
Zhou Shouxian really didn't know how to explain it. Judging from the various battle reports he received, most of the 800,000 troops were indeed still there, and at least 600,000 troops were still there, but they were all in chaos.
He, the coach, ran away, but the key was that he ran too fast. Looking back, he couldn't even imagine how big a blow it would have on the morale of his men.
He ran so fast that the men and horses below could not catch up, and he threw away the food and grass. Now he is looking for food everywhere, and there are rebels attacking. Hundreds of thousands of people are scattered, and it may be difficult to gather for a while...
In a place surrounded by mountains and rivers, in the main tent of the rebel army, military information from all over the place was constantly sent, and military orders were constantly issued.
Peng was waiting for the top management of Tianyumen to watch Meng Shanming busy.
A general broke in and handed over: "Report, Zhou Shouxian has retreated to Dingzhou."
Meng Shanming immediately turned back to look at the map, while Luo An quickly pushed the wheelchair to make it easier for him to look at the map.
Meng Shanming asked: "How is Yingyang Wu Liewei's rest going?"
Feng Lingbo said: "I was ordered to stop the pursuit and have rested for the whole day."
Meng Shanming asked for the command pole and pointed to the large-scale enemy troops that had gathered along the way and were retreating towards Dingzhou after replenishing food and grass from a city. "Order Yingyang Wulie Guards to go south and block the escaping troops on this road. "Looking back at Peng Youzai, "The accompanying mage must concentrate his efforts to kill the enemy's main general. The enemy has 80,000 troops. Can it be done?"
Peng nodded again, "It should be okay."
Meng Shanming: "Don't tell me what you should do. I want a definite answer."
Peng Zaizai was a little hesitant. With so many men and troops, the threat to the monks was also great, not to mention that the enemy general was also protected by many monks, but in the end he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, we must win it for Commander Meng at any cost!"
Meng Shanming nodded and looked at Feng Lingbo, "The Yingyang Wulie Guards feigned an attack. When the accompanying mage killed the enemy general, the Yingyang Wulie Guards immediately gave up the interception. If the enemy general died, the enemy troops would still return. Instead of breaking up, the Yingyang Wulie Guards went around to the rear of the enemy army and pursued them all the way! Remember, they only pursued and killed, not attacked by force. Most of the 80,000 horses couldn't run fast on two legs. Our cavalry had the advantage to harass them all the way and delay them. Marching speed, not allowing them to rest.”
The hand pole clicked on a location on the map, "At the same time, order Mei Linsheng to gather the troops and go north. After all the troops arrive to intercept, they will form an encirclement in one fell swoop and force them to surrender. If they do not surrender, they will be annihilated on the spot!"
"Zhou Shouxian has fled to Dingzhou, and we can close the net in Nanzhou. We ordered each ministry to send some troops to guard the main roads in various places, forcing the enemy troops to scatter and have no way to go, and forcing the stragglers to have no choice but to walk on mountain roads or rugged areas. It consumes their morale and physical strength, making them exhausted and unable to assemble easily to facilitate subsequent elimination."
"Order all ministries to gather the main troops and besiege the city nearby, and order the enemy troops retreating in the city to open the city and surrender. If there is a place to open the city to surrender, the army will immediately enter the city to control it and rest and reorganize. Those who refuse to open the city to surrender will be besieged and not attacked for the time being. , the army is resting outside the city, waiting for the follow-up baggage to arrive, and after the soldiers are well fed and recharged, they can then concentrate their efforts to attack one by one. Do not attack at the same time, so as not to attack multiple places poorly and suffer backlash. At this point, we must attack steadily. "
"Yes!" After confirming that there were no other orders, Feng Lingbo agreed and quickly issued the military order.
Meng Shanming put down his command pole, looking a little tired.
Peng Youzai immediately stepped forward to greet him sincerely, "Shuai Meng, you haven't slept all day and night again. Do you want to take a rest first?"
Meng Shanming: "As long as we act in this way, it will be difficult for the panicked troops left by Zhou Shouxian to assemble. After occupying the cities in the upper six counties, the general trend of Nanzhou will be set. I don't need to say more about the remaining clearing matters." After speaking, he raised his hand, Luo An pushed the wheelchair, and Shang Chaozong and others followed and left.
A group of people came out of the tent to see each other off out of respect.
Watching the figure leaving in the wheelchair, Peng sighed again: "He is really a genius who can strategize on the battlefield. The famous general of the generation is indeed well-deserved. It is a pity that Emperor Yan Shang Jianxiong broke off his arm. Otherwise, if he had such a person, how could he have An opportunity for my Tianyumen."
He never dreamed that the so-called quick battle could be so fast. In just a few days, Zhou Shouxian's 800,000-strong army was broken into pieces, and the general situation of Nanzhou was firmly in Tianyu's hands. Door hand. As for Zhou Shouxian, there is nothing to worry about. He only fled to Dingzhou with a few thousand troops. He is already in ruins and cannot make trouble.
There was a trace of regret in his sigh. Commander Meng had such ability, but Tianyumen had no chance to put him to use again. After capturing Nanzhou, Tianyu Sect will not start another war, and its strength will not allow it. It will take at least fifty years for Tianyu Sect's strength to accumulate to another level. It's just that at that time, even I may not be able to survive until then, let alone Commander Meng. After this battle, the pearl of this generation of famous generals will be covered in dust.
Feng Lingbo's expression as he watched was also complicated. At first, he was a little dissatisfied with Meng Shanming. However, after witnessing the other party's command of the battle, he was truly amazed and convinced. He found that the gap between himself and others was not the smallest. Big, it's a world of difference.
Although they had been fighting randomly before, they were very organized in the chaos. They mobilized their troops to advance and retreat in a well-founded manner. Each unit had its own rules on when to rest and when to rush in. Hundreds of thousands of troops were really able to move freely in their hands. , Zhou Shouxian's 800,000-strong army was confused and confused in a few strokes.
He had to admit that if he were to implement the same strategy, he would not be able to achieve such a command and execution effect at all. It would be difficult for Zhou Shouxian to let so many people drop their baggage, so that he would be led around by the nose. His commanding skills are so great. It's so profound that I can't match it.