***
“Okay, great!”
Upon hearing the news that Xia Chengde had successfully burned the Qin army's food supplies in Pukou, Duoduo couldn't help but clap his hands and cheer.
Pukou is only a few dozen miles away from Chuhe River. Burning the grain and grass in Pukou may not necessarily cause Liu Meng's 50,000 troops to collapse immediately. After all, Nanjing can immediately transport more grain across the river; but at least it can delay Liu Meng and give himself more time to capture Chuzhou City.
Under the continuous day and night attacks of his 30,000-strong army, the city of Chuzhou was already on the verge of collapse and it looked like it could not hold out for many more days.
In order to break the city, Duoduo ordered his generals to lead the troops to attack the city personally, and attacked fiercely regardless of casualties.
Now, everything else is secondary. As long as we can capture Chuzhou and capture and kill Qin Mu, it will be worth it no matter how many casualties there are.
However, before Duoduo could be happy for long, some defeated soldiers fled back from Laian. Among them, a Niulu Zhangjing named Bat was brought into Duoduo's tent.
He fell to his knees with a thud and said to Duoduo in panic, "My Lord, this is not good! This is not good..."
"What's wrong? Tell me quickly!" Duoduo knew something was wrong and became impatient. However, Bart kept saying "it's not right" several times but didn't tell what was wrong, which made Duoduo very angry.
"Your Highness, we were defeated. We were defeated by Su Jin at the foot of Lai'an City. Gushan Ezhen of the Bordered Blue Banner was killed in the battle. The Qin army has a new firearm that is more powerful than the red cannon and can be carried on horseback. They suddenly fired hundreds of shells at us at once. There were flames everywhere. General Li was killed on the spot. Our army was defeated..."
"What? The whole army was wiped out?" Duoduo shouted, "How could this happen? Where is Xihan? Is Xihan dead too?"
"Your Highness, I don't know. At that time, Lord Beizi led more than 6,000 troops to fight Ningyuan. Only General Li Guohan and our 3,000 men were left outside Lai'an City. When the army collapsed, I fled to Chuzhou. I don't know what happened to Lord Beizi..."
Hearing that only Li Guohan's 3,000 troops were wiped out, Duoduo felt a little relieved. He then asked other soldiers who had escaped and got the same information as Bart. He didn't know what was going on with Xihan.
Ning Wanwo suddenly rushed in from outside the tent and said in a hurry: "Your Majesty, quickly, quickly control the fleeing soldiers and don't allow them to contact the soldiers in our camp, quickly!"
After listening to Ning Wanwo's words, Duoduo immediately realized the importance of this matter. If these fleeing soldiers were allowed to spread the news everywhere, rumors would surely spread throughout the army, and the morale of his 20,000 or 30,000 troops would probably be shaken.
Do it once and for all. Duoduo suddenly shouted: "Come on, drag these cowards who fled from the battlefield out and chop them up!"
"Your Majesty, spare my life. I did not flee from the battlefield. I..."
Clang! Duoduo suddenly drew his sword and chopped off Matt's head, spilling blood all over the ground.
The twenty or thirty people who escaped with Bart were all executed for deserting the battlefield at Dodo's order.
Duoduo quickly sent out scouts to inquire about Xihan's news. At the same time, in order to prevent more deserters from returning, Duoduo sent his personal soldiers out for patrol. Whenever he saw deserters fleeing back, he would let them know that they were defeated because Xihan led the main force eastward and only 500 of them were left under Lai'an City. He used this method to appease the soldiers in the camp.
On the other hand, Duoduo held urgent discussions with Ning Wanwo, Malaxi, Gong Adai, Tong Tulai and others. Although it is still uncertain what the situation of Xihan is, judging from the fact that Li Guohan's 3,000 troops were quickly defeated, Xihan may not avoid following in Li Guohan's footsteps.
Duoduo's first reaction was to retreat, and to withdraw immediately. Otherwise, if Xihan was really defeated and the Lai'an River in the east was blocked by the Qin army, his 20,000 to 30,000 troops would be short of food and clothing and would probably be wiped out.
Gong Acha, Malaxi and others also believed that the siege of Chuzhou should be lifted immediately, and the Lai'an River should be crossed to the east to withdraw from this deadly place where the Qin army was about to surround them.
Ning Wanwo advised at this time: "Your Highness, we must retreat immediately, but going east may not be the best strategy. Qin Mu deliberately set up this trap. He first defended the three sides of the west, south and north to trap our army. He may have a backup plan on the east line. If our army is blocked from retreating eastward, we will really have no chance."
"Master Ning, you are always resourceful. Tell me, what should we do now?"
"Your Highness, it is said that we should take the enemy by surprise and attack them when they are unprepared. The Qin army must think that we will retreat to the east. If they have any backup plan, they must stay on the eastern front. For example, those powerful new firearms are the best proof. If we do not take the eastern front now, and unexpectedly break out from other directions, we will definitely catch the Qin army off guard."
Malaxi rushed to say: "What Mr. Ning said does make some sense, but the Qingliu Pass in the north is more difficult to attack than Chuzhou because it is guarded by one man and ten thousand men cannot break through. The Qin army is guarding the west and south. How can it be so easy for us to cross the river?"
Ning Wanwo said with a burning gaze: "It is not easy, but it does not mean that we cannot cross the river. It is just that we may have to make some sacrifices. The situation is critical now, so we have no choice but to take a gamble.
Your Majesty, Liu Meng has an army of 50,000 in the south, the largest number of troops. If we take the southern route, it will certainly be the most unexpected for the Qin army. But in fact, Liu Meng looks to be the strongest, but in fact, there are very few cavalry among his 50,000 troops. Once our army successfully crosses the river, we will have to attack him, but he can't do anything to us.
In addition, Xia Chengde had just burned a large amount of food and grass in Pukou. These food and grass were all supplies for Liu Meng. Now that they have been burned, Liu Meng's army may be shaken. Moreover, his 50,000 troops are camped separately, with a camp every six or seven miles. Although this is helpful in preventing our army from crossing the river, it also gives us the opportunity to break through quickly or even defeat them one by one.
Also, Your Majesty, don't forget that our food and grass are almost gone. If we encounter any obstacles during the retreat to the north, it will be difficult for our army to continue. Therefore, during the retreat, we must have food and grass supplies.
The food and grass in Pukou were burned. Nanjing will definitely not sit idly by and will definitely send more food and grass. After we cross the Chu River, if we can catch Liu Meng off guard and defeat him in one battle, turning defeat into victory, that would naturally be the best.
If we cannot defeat him quickly, we can also use our speed advantage to charge to Pukou and get enough supplies from the dock. By then, we will have food in hand and escape the ambush of the Qin army. We can retreat northward or attack other places. The initiative will be back in our hands."
Ning Wanwo's suggestion immediately impressed Duoduo. As time was not wasting, Duoduo immediately ordered his generals to act accordingly.
Soon, another defeated soldier fled back and reported to Duoduo the news of Xihan's defeat in Suzhuang. Although Duoduo had been mentally prepared for this, he could not help but feel shocked and angry when he received the news. At the same time, this also made him more determined to follow Ning Wanwo's strategy.
He first ordered Xia Chengde to rush to the south bank of Chu River to meet the enemy. On the other hand, after nightfall, he sent Aobai with 5,000 men and horses, with men holding grass and horses holding gags, to gallop southward at night.
After calculating the time accurately, Duoduo quickly broke camp and led his army to rush south.
In Chuzhou City, Qin Mu had just received the news that Su Jin had defeated Li Guohan and Xi Han. Now Su Jin and Ning Yuan were rushing back to the east bank of An River at full speed, ready to stop Duoduo's army.
As a result, shortly after nightfall, Han Gang rushed in and reported to him: "King Qin, things have changed. Duoduo's army did not go east..."
"What? He didn't go east? Then where did he go?" Qin Mu asked anxiously. This was an ambush he had planned for a long time. He was about to catch the turtle in the jar, so he had to make sure nothing went wrong.
"King Qin, Duoduo has gone south. Should we pursue him?"
"Wait, wait..." Qin Mu's mind was suddenly overloaded. "Find out the situation first. If we rush out now, we may be ambushed by Duoduo. First, quickly inform Liu Meng of Duoduo's movements. Secondly, immediately find out Duoduo's specific location. Go!"
"Yes, King Qin."
Han Gang left in a hurry and almost bumped into Hong Niangzi who was rushing back from outside.
Hongniang quickly jumped out of the way and said to Qin Mu in a hurry, "Quick! Quickly mobilize the cavalry. I think Duoduo is trying to survive this time. As long as he is willing to sacrifice some men and horses, it will not be difficult to cross the river. Once he is allowed to cross the river, Liu Meng is mostly infantry and cannot catch up with him. Quickly mobilize the cavalry!"
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ps: Yesterday the brothers were awesome, thank you very much for your support. This morning I found out that I had poked the ass of "The King's Avatar", I was secretly happy, but when I went to check, it turned out that he had finished the book long ago. Damn it, never mind, this is the ass of a great god, before he farted 10,000 times I couldn't smell it, now I can poke it and feel a little bit of Ah Q, it's fun.
May my brothers be stronger and the sun break through the clouds and shine brightly... Please give me your monthly vote!
.(To be continued..)
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