******
Duoduo suddenly found himself like a fly in a glass bottle. His future was bright, but when he tried to spread his wings and fly out, he ran into obstacles everywhere.
Liu Meng had no intention of rescuing Chuzhou. After setting up camps on the south bank of the Chu River, he sent troops to patrol the Chu River day and night.
The three thousand cavalrymen were divided into groups of several hundred people and stationed in villages near the river bank, taking turns patrolling the river. Once there was an alarm, several hundred cavalrymen would arrive in a short time.
In fact, the width between Lai'an River and Xiang River is only 20 to 30 miles. Liu Meng's 50,000 troops were stationed in this section of the river, with an average of 10,000 troops stationed every five or six miles.
The Qing army might succeed in sneaking a small group of troops across the river at night, but after a hundred or so troops crossed the river, they would not be able to play a big role and would often face a siege by the Qin army, which was ten times their size. It was basically like throwing meat buns at a dog, and there was no return.
If they wanted to cross thousands of troops at once, it would be impossible under the tight defense of the Qin army. Duoduo tried his best to use the cover of night and tried several times, but was soon discovered by the Qin army.
The cruel reality made Duoduo more and more irritable. If his generals did not do what he wanted, he would scold them. This made Zu Dale, Sun Degong and others dare not go to his tent.
Just at this time, news came that Qin Mu and Aobai were flirting with each other outside the city of Chuzhou.
In front of tens of thousands of Qing troops under the city, Qin Mu praised Aobai for his loyalty and bravery, and promised that as long as Aobai was willing to turn hostility into friendship, he would immediately send food and fodder and send Aobai back to the north.
Duoduo was not stupid. He could see that Qin Mu wanted to alienate him and Aobai through this action.
The interesting thing is that Qin Mu also knew that this plan would not alienate Duoduo and Aobai. He did this only to give Duoduo an excuse to deal with Aobai.
Duoduo and Aobai have always been at odds with each other, so is there any need to drive a wedge between them
When Duoduo felt more and more pressure, he would inevitably want to find someone to vent his anger on, or to find someone to bear the responsibility for the unfavorable situation in the battle.
Qin Mu was not only considerate but also thoughtful, and he gave Duoduo a perfect reason in time.
Duoduo was in a very bad mood, and with the weak offensive of Aobai in Chuzhou, Qin Mu's homesickness song, and Hongniangzi's fire attack, Aobai's morale was low, and Duoduo was extremely dissatisfied with this. With the reason Qin Mu gave him in time, he immediately wanted to dismiss Aobai and question him.
Ning Wanwo quickly advised: "Your Highness, the war is not going well now. If we continue to punish the general, the morale of our army will only drop further. Your Highness, we can't do that."
Under Ning Wanwo's persuasion, Duoduo barely suppressed his anger, but still dismissed Aobai from his post and instead asked him to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.
"How many days can our army's food and grass last?" Duoduo asked in a deep voice.
"Your Highness, we have searched the area within a radius of several dozen miles, and the gains are limited. At present, our army's food and fodder are only enough to support us for three days at most."
"Master Ning, what do you think we should do now?"
"Your Highness, since Liu Meng has no intention of crossing the river and heading north, it will be useless for us to stay here. We should return immediately and attack Chuzhou with all our strength. Once Chuzhou is captured, the Qin army will also collapse without a fight."
"That's the only way." Duoduo thought for a moment and said, "Pass on my order and have Xihan defeat Ningyuan and seize the enemy's food and grass before tomorrow. If he doesn't make any progress by tomorrow, don't blame me for enforcing military law."
Although it was difficult to cross the river and attack the enemy on both the southern and western fronts, which made Duoduo very annoyed, but with Xihan on the east bank of the Lai'an River and no worries about the retreat, Duoduo did not feel that he was surrounded.
Indeed, as long as Xihan's 10,000 troops on the east bank of Lai'an remain strong, Duoduo will not have to worry about not being able to cross the Lai'an River.
But Ning Wanwo always had a bad feeling. He felt vaguely that this was a huge trap and he had fallen into it without knowing it.
Out of caution, he suggested: "Your Majesty, why don't we move our army eastward and first attack the city of Xia'an with all our strength, and then... "
"What else? Do you think Liu Meng's 50,000 troops are all vegetarians? If we go to attack Lai'an, will Liu Meng just sit there on the bank of the Chu River and not go to lift the siege of Chuzhou
There is also Li Jiu in the west, with a total of 10,000 infantry and cavalry. This place is only a few dozen miles away from Chuzhou. Once Liu Meng and Li Jiu cross the river, they can reach Chuzhou city in a day at most, or half a day at least. Once Qin Mu breaks through and returns to Jinling, do we still have a chance?"
"this... ... ... "
"Mr. Ning, there is no need to say more. Someone, come and pass on my military order. The army will immediately set up camp and return to Chuzhou."
"twitter!"
In Lai'an, Xihan, who was highly expected by Duoduo, started his journey. The distance between ** County and Lai'an County was only sixty or seventy miles. After walking for half a day, Ningyuan's fifteen thousand troops were only thirty or forty miles away from Lai'an.
The distance was thirty or forty miles, and Xihan's cavalry could arrive there in an hour at most. Ningyuan had absolutely no chance of retreating.
Xihan left Li Guohan with 3,000 troops to continue besieging Lai'an, and he himself led nearly 7,000 cavalry and galloped to the southeast like a gust of wind.
However, just as Xihan left, the gate to the north of Lai'an County suddenly opened, and a large flag with the word "Su" on it rushed out of the north gate against the howling north wind.
Li Guohan was overjoyed. To be honest, even he, a member of the Han Army Banner, did not take the Qin Army's cavalry seriously. Even if Su Jin's 6,000 cavalry were not injured, with a one to two ratio, Li Guohan had full confidence that he could defeat Su Jin with the Qing Iron Cavalry's powerful riding and archery skills.
Therefore, not only did he not stop Su Jin from going out, he also led three thousand Qing troops to retreat to the northeast corner, leaving space for Su Jin to leave the city. Of course, he guarded the northeast corner to prevent Su Jin from causing trouble for Xihan.
Led by the big banner with the Chinese character "Su", six thousand black-armored Qin soldiers rushed out of the north gate. At first, they heard the sound of a rustling horse, and then it was like a mountain torrent bursting through a dam, surging and surging; the sound of clanging and clanging, the sound of metal and iron ringing;
The six thousand black-armored cavalrymen had recuperated for a few days, and after leaving the city, they were like a group of man-eating tigers, charging towards Li Guohan's army without stopping. Thousands of horses galloped, the earth shook, and the mountains trembled, and the sound shook the sky.
The war drums on the city walls also rumbled to cheer for the cavalry brothers. The heavy drums were like thunder, and the sound was heard for dozens of miles, making people's blood surge. A solemn and murderous atmosphere suddenly enveloped the surrounding area.
"Charge! Let the Qin army see what real cavalry is!" Li Guohan drew out his saber, pointed at the 6,000 Qin soldiers rushing towards him, squeezed his waist hard, and rushed out like a tiger and a dragon.
The three thousand Qing troops behind him had defiant grins on their faces as they rode out on their horses, their formation becoming tighter and tighter like an indestructible iron fist. Their acceleration was as fast as an arrow shot from a bow. Although their numbers were half that of the Qin army, their aura of looking down on the world seemed to be able to destroy mountains and topple hills, and was unparalleled in its majesty.
Under the bombardment of tens of thousands of iron hooves, the earth was shaking constantly. The two sides were like two black crows blown by the wind, flying close to the ground and getting closer and closer. The defenders on the city wall were watching with fear. According to the astonishing speed of the two sides, once they collided, it would surely be earth-shattering and extremely tragic.
When the two armies were about one mile apart, Su Jin pointed his sword horizontally, and forty or fifty cavalrymen immediately rushed out from both sides of the Qin army's formation, as if the formation had suddenly grown two wings.
Li Guohan couldn't help laughing wildly. The Qin army rushed out dozens of cavalrymen. Could it be that these few people wanted to include the Qing cavalrymen? The southerners' cavalry warfare skills were really... ....Hahaha!
However, Li Guohan soon stopped laughing. Dozens of Qin cavalrymen who rushed out from both sides quickly stopped their horses, then took a four or five-foot-long rocket from the victory hook beside the saddle, carried it on their shoulders, and lit the fuse with great skill.
At this time, the Qing army rushed into the distance of 300 steps. The fuse burned out. Chirp! Chirp! With the frightening chirp sound, one by one the shells with long tails of flames whizzed towards the Qing army.
At this time, the Qing army was taking out their bows, ready to give the Qin army a rain of arrows as soon as they came into range. However, this time, they were hit by a rain of artillery first.
A full hundred rockets filled with yellow explosives rained down on the densely packed cavalry formation of the Qing army. Boom! Boom! Boom! Balls of fire shot up into the sky, and the explosions seemed to have the power to destroy the heavens and the earth.
Countless shrapnel swept across the Qing army, and it was like rushing into hell. A large number of them were blown down in an instant;
The shock wave caused by the explosion tore the horses apart, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and some were thrown up two people high by the shock wave and fell to the ground with their bones broken.
Li Guohan himself and his general's flag were blown into several pieces, with his head and feet separated, and not even a complete body was left.
In the Qing army's formation, people were howling and horses were neighing. Those war horses that were not injured were also frightened by such a violent explosion. Some of them stood up with a cry of grief and threw the panicked Tartars off their horses. More war horses no longer listened to their masters' control and rushed forward recklessly, rushing around like crazy. The cavalry behind them could not stop their momentum and rushed forward wildly, colliding with each other. Countless horses fell off their horses.
"Kill!" Su Jin swung his sword forward and led six thousand black-armored cavalrymen, sweeping forward like a wave.
Three hundred steps away, arriving in an instant... ... ... .
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ps: Because the number of subscriptions is really too small, I can't help feeling a little discouraged. Sometimes I feel inexplicably irritated when typing and can't continue. I have only written one chapter in the past two days, and all I posted are the few chapters I had saved. I originally wanted to keep them until the end of the month to publish them in full swing, but now it seems impossible.
I really want to continue writing, but the number of subscriptions is frustrating. I beg you to subscribe and support me, my friends, so that I can finish writing this book.
.(To be continued..)
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