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Zhang Xianzhong angrily beheaded Hu Yansan and kicked Xu Yixian, and the consequences were unparalleled.
Hu Yansan's deputy general was worried that Zhang Xianzhong would continue to hold him accountable for the defeat in the first battle and that he himself would not be able to escape death, so he immediately abandoned his division and fled for his life.
When the remaining soldiers who had come with them to attack Liling saw their leading general dead and their deputy general flee, they were immediately in an uproar and dropped their weapons in a rush to flee.
The rout of more than 20,000 vanguards caused great panic, which soon triggered a chain reaction. The other rebels almost collapsed as well. Fortunately, Zhang Dingguo came forward in time to calm the situation.
Zhang Xianzhong, realizing the seriousness of the situation, then personally stepped forward and promised that after Changsha was recaptured, each soldier would be rewarded with ten taels of silver. Only then did the remaining 130,000 troops barely calm down, but the morale was so low that it could no longer be helped. All kinds of rumors were still spreading wildly in the military camp, which was more terrifying than the plague.
Meng Ke and Huo Sheng also sent many small groups of troops to burn the autumn crops in the fields, further causing the rebels to worry about food supplies.
The atmosphere in Zhang Xianzhong's central military tent was extremely cold and desolate. Xu Yixian and others kept their mouths shut, fearing that saying something wrong would bring down Zhang Xianzhong's wrath.
Zhang Xianzhong secretly sighed, suppressed his restless emotions, and said in a deep voice: "You have all become mute, right? Dingguo, tell me first, what should we do next?"
Li Dingguo said, "Father, according to the reconnaissance, Meng Ke has set up five lines of defense from Liling to Zhuzhou, and is ready to fight. Our army's morale is low, and the food and grass in the army can barely support six days. If we attack one by one, unless we can capture Zhuzhou within six days, otherwise..."
Otherwise, it is needless to say what would happen. The morale was already low, and the food and grass were exhausted. There was a strong city in front and pursuers behind. There was only one way to go.
This time Zhang Xianzhong was not angry, but asked expressionlessly: "Faced with such a dilemma, what do you think Dingguo should do?"
"Father, my elder brother has followed you for many years. His withdrawal does not necessarily mean that he is secretly colluding with Qin Mu..."
"What do you want to say?"
"Father, Meng Ke has 50,000 troops. If the battle goes badly, Qin Mu can send reinforcements from Changsha. Our army is short of food and grass, and morale is low. It is not appropriate to continue to fight here. Father, in the past, we were mainly attacking, and the officers and soldiers were mainly defending, so we were often able to take advantage of both sides and defeat them one by one.
Since we conquered Huguang, the situation has reversed. Our army has 200,000 or 300,000 soldiers, and we march slowly and have difficulty in supplying food and grass. Qin Mu has few soldiers and moves quickly, so we are passive everywhere and always fall behind. As a result, we have fallen into the predicament we are in today;
Father, now that things have come to this, if we don't leave behind the pots and pans around us, we will be completely dragged down. From Liling to the north, there is a small road that passes east of Changsha and reaches Yuezhou. Father, I dare to ask you to order all baggage to be abandoned, and to march quickly along this small road with a light army, and return to Yuezhou in the north;
Only in this way can my father return to the sea. After rebuilding the army's morale in the future, whether to continue to attack Changsha in the south or to seize Shu in the west is all up to my father. "
Zhang Xian asked in a deep voice: "What if Qin Mu sends troops to intercept us halfway?"
"I still say the same thing. I don't believe that my elder brother will really betray father for some money. If Qin Mu leads his army to intercept us, my elder brother will definitely attack from the north. Then it will be Qin Mu's turn to be attacked from both sides. The road to the north is narrow. We only need to send a small number of elite troops to block it. No matter whether it is Wu Xueli or Meng Ke, they will never catch up with us.
Furthermore, Wu Xueli and Qin Mu have a deep grudge against each other. If we abandon the baggage and head north, Wu Xueli and Meng Ke will meet. Once these two enemies meet, they will probably fight to the death. How can they care about chasing our army?"
As soon as Li Dingguo proposed this strategy of cutting off the tail to survive, it was immediately recognized by Xu Yixian and most of the generals. Even Zhang Xianzhong could not help but nod his head frequently. At the moment, he was like a dragon trapped in the shallows, and even a shrimp dared to tease him. As Zhang Dingguo said, once he could escape from the current predicament and return to Yuezhou, he would be like a dragon returning to the sea, free to roam... ... ... ... .
"Okay, without further ado, let's do as Dingguo said. Pass on my order. The whole army should have a meal, then abandon all baggage and march north with a light force. Dingguo!"
"The child is here."
"I will give you five thousand elite soldiers. You will be responsible for clearing the way. You must defeat all the enemies and clear all obstacles ahead. We have limited food and fodder, so we cannot delay for even a moment."
"Yes, father."
"Yin Xianmin!"
"I will obey your orders."
"You take your men and are responsible for collecting food and supplies along the way."
"Yes, my king."
"Li Zhaoguang!"
"I will obey your orders."
"You take five thousand men and horses to cover our retreat. If there is any mistake, you will be killed!"
"I will definitely live up to your orders, my king."
No one expected that when Zhang Xianzhong encountered some setbacks in Liling City, he would immediately abandon all his baggage and march north with a light army.
Meng Ke was still working hard to strengthen the defense of Zhuzhou City in preparation for Zhang Xianzhong's fierce attack. He was a little confused when he heard the news. He was thinking about how to respond when he saw a fast horse from Liling rushing to him and reporting: "General Meng, it's bad. Wu Xueli's troops have surrounded Liling City."
"Tell me quickly, what's going on?"
"General Meng, when Zhang Xianzhong left, he left a large amount of baggage, including artillery, outside Liling. When General Huo sent people to pull it back to the city, Wu Xueli's troops arrived. When they saw us pulling things, they immediately attacked us. General Huo had few men, so he temporarily retreated to Liling. Now Wu Xueli has surrounded Liling. General Meng, General Huo, please send reinforcements immediately."
After hearing this, Meng Ke was so angry. Outside Yuanzhou City, Wang Yuncheng was the first to hand them a knife, and now he has not changed his bad habits after arriving in Huguang. It would have been fine if you didn't chase Zhang Xianzhong, but you came to besiege Liling City. If the tiger doesn't show its power, you really think it is a sick cat.
No matter what, Meng Ke could not sit idly by and watch Huo Sheng be trapped in Liling. He immediately assembled an army of 30,000 and marched towards Liling.
As for Qin Mu in Changsha, he was also greatly surprised when he heard that Zhang Xianzhong had left behind more important things and was marching north with a light army. There is a saying that goes "It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality." Once a person has some good things, it is not easy for him to give them up voluntarily.
Zhang Xianzhong was carrying baggage and his marching speed must have been slow. Qin Mu would not be afraid of him, but he was now determined to fight to the death. His light troops advanced rapidly, covering sixty to seventy miles a day. His courage to cut off his own retreat and save his life was terrifying.
Zhuge Min said anxiously: "Sir, we must stop Zhang Xianzhong at all costs. Otherwise, if he escapes back to Yueshan, the offensive and defensive positions will be reversed, and our army will be in a very passive position."
"Quickly call Generals Liu Meng and Ning Yuan." Qin Mu shouted to the guards outside the door. Among the generals Qin Mu brought out, Cui Feng escorted the millions of taels of property seized in Yuanzhou back to Ganzhou, Meng Ke and Huo Sheng were in Zhuzhou, Ling Zhan and Su Jin were in Xiangyin, and only Liu Meng and Ning Yuan were left in Changsha.
As soon as the two arrived, Qin Mu immediately ordered: "Ning Yuan will take 10,000 troops to stay in Changsha and be vigilant to prevent any sneak attacks from the enemy."
"Sir, let others stay behind..."
"Military orders are as heavy as a mountain. How can you bargain with us?"
"I will obey your order."
"Liu Meng, you must immediately gather 20,000 men and bring plenty of gunpowder and defensive weapons. You have one hour to prepare for departure."
“Yes, sir.” They were ready to set off in an hour. This would have been impossible under normal circumstances. Fortunately, in order to fool Zhang Kewang, Changsha’s troops had just “went north” and their food and logistics were all ready, so they could just pull them away.
Liu Meng left in big strides, while Ning Yuan was a little dejected. After all, everyone had work to do, and he was the only one left in Changsha worrying.
Seeing his dying look, Qin Mu was so angry that he rushed up to him and kicked him, cursing: "Fuck you, look at how useless you are. The world is in such a mess, and you are still worried about not having a war? I handed Changsha City to you because I trust you. You look like your parents have died, you might become the second Zhang Wenxiu. If that happens, I will not be named Qin unless I chop off your head myself."
Ning Yuan shuddered, straightened up, saluted, raised his head and shouted: "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely defend Changsha."
"I might as well tell you that from the moment Changsha fell into our hands, I have no intention of giving it up again. If you guard it well this time, I will leave you here when I return to Ganzhou in the future. If you lose Changsha, you will end it yourself."
"As long as there are people in the city, they will be there. If the city is destroyed, the people will die." Ning Yuan was overjoyed after hearing this. If he stayed in Changsha in the future, it would be equivalent to handing half of Huguang to him. How could he not be happy? Ha wow, this kick was worth it, it was really worth it.
"roll!"
Qin Mu kicked him out again, "Thank you, sir." Ning Yuan ran away with a grin.
Qin Mu turned around, rolled up the marching map and went out of the government office. Zhuge Min and the others had not yet digested what Qin Mu had just said to Ning Yuan. Seeing Qin Mu's vigorous and resolute style, they woke up one by one and hurriedly ran out to chase him. They were several staff officers, including the military counselor... ... ... ...
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