At night, the sky is full of stars.
The fog of summer night slowly descended and turned into dew. The camp was damp, and the dew on the branches and leaves continued to splash down, crackling on the tent, as if it were raining.
Gong Shangming stood alone under the lamp, looking up at the stars in the sky, silent.
"Wow."
The tent door opened, and it was Custer, the leader of the exile regiment in uniform.
"Why the military division is still awake?" He asked with a smile.
Gong Shangming nodded and smiled: "How can you sleep, but why is the commander still awake."
"I can't sleep either." Caster touched his nose and said: "The military division has heard the news, Yongyezong, Bloodcoat Sect and other sects have surrendered to the four-winged angel Midnight. The entire Shenyi army is now completely Not subject to our restraint, as if you have become a private army of Angels, this is not good."
"Then what can be done." Gong Shangming was a little frustrated: "The marshal died and the dragons were headless. You and I were not prestigious enough to command the three armies, and even the Dragon Cavalry Lord Lin Tongtian died together, Na Dora again Attached to Midnight, they are the real masters at this moment, we can only take one step and see one step at a time."
"The food road in the rear has been repeatedly intercepted. The light cavalry in the Longdan camp has gathered and scattered from time to time, and has already burnt our more than 20 granaries one by one. We even had a full meal. Unable to let the soldiers eat, the horses almost ate them in three days. It takes at least ten days to go to Dongshuang City on foot here, and it will last ten days for the nearly 150,000 troops to eat."
Gong Shangming was silent.
"You are a military adviser, you have to say something." Custer said lightly.
"Okay." Gong Shangming raised his head to look at Castel and asked: "Commander, you said we are humans or beasts."
"Nonsense, we are naturally human."
"Then I have nothing to do."
"Then..." Caster frowned, "What if we are beasts."
"Then there is a way to feed the army."
"any solution."
"Eating human flesh." Gong Shangming's voice was soft, but sure: "Those who make big things do not stick to the trivial. From here to Dongshuang City, although the land is barren and the towns are sparse, there are still some villages. We send our people into it. The village catches the civilians of the Great Qin Empire, kills them, and eats meat, so that the army may be able to support the return to Dongshuang City."
"..." Caster sweated instantly. If he followed Gong Shangming's method, I am afraid that the Tianji Empire would not be able to gain a foothold in the Broken Ding Realm in the future. : "This action of the military division is simply utterly conscience. If we really do this, the Tianji Empire will never want to rule the Broken Ding Realm anymore."
"Hehe, does the commander think that the Tianji Empire can win the Qin Army?"
"What does the military commander mean? There are at least 800,000 people recruited from our empire and Master Zhang Sheng. Why can't we win this war?"
Gong Shangming took a deep breath and said, "Because Qin Yin, the female emperor of Da Qin, is back... The people are back to heart, and with such famous generals as Lin Muyu, Feng Jixing, Xu Jiantao, and Wei Chou, what shall we use to fight Qin and retreat? Wanbu, we are only relying on the dragon knight, but now they have the cannon that can shoot the dragon knight, and they are completely ahead of us in weapons. If they continue to stay in the broken tripod world, they can only drag the mainland and let Tianji The empire is exhausted. By then, once the new emperor Chen Yu of the Tianjue Empire uses force, I am afraid that even our homeland may become something in the pocket of others."
Custer's back was chilled when he heard it: "Sergeant's words...really."
"What else can I hide from you?" Gong Shangming turned around and patted Custer's shoulder lightly, and smiled: "We may have disagreeed in strategic opinions before, causing some misunderstandings, but at this moment there is no What kind of gaps, master, don’t think we are the victors anymore. The expeditionary army has been defeated. If you continue to persevere, it will only push the Tianji Empire to the edge of the cliff. After all, the Tianji Empire is different from the Blackstone Empire. Our country is different. It's vast and the people's livelihood is rich enough to contend with the Tianjue Empire. We don't need to put all our bets on the broken tripod realm. After all, in terms of force and strategy, we have all lost to Qin."
Custer furrowed his brows: "The military commander feels that... he has lost to Lin Muyu and Feng Jiong in strategy."
"Yes."
Gong Shangming bluntly confessed: "We killed the enemy with an absolute superior force, but we ended up completely defeated. The responsibility of strategic command must be at least half."
"Then now, what shall we do."
"Didn’t you have decided to retire? The commander can send 10,000 people into ten units to catch people and make food in the rear villages and towns, and leave 50,000 elites to persuade the Shenyi Army to help in the battle. Retreat steadily to prevent the Qin army from taking advantage of the situation to hunt down. In this case... Maybe we can return to Dongshuang City alive."
"Well, I see, thank you for your advice."
A grinning smile was raised at the corner of Custer's mouth: "In a battle a few days ago, we captured more than 2,000 Daqin soldiers. It just so happened that we made them into food first."
Gong Shangming was silent.
From a military point of view, cannibalism is right, but from a moral point of view, the Tianji Army is gradually becoming a beast, and the military will change sooner or later, but a reckless man like Custer does not understand this change.
…
In the early morning of the next day, the soldiers of the Liuji Corps got up and prepared to pull out the camp and retreat, but the meal before the retreat made many people vomit because they found human fingers, legs and other limbs in the soup pot. I don’t know when. Army rations have actually changed from grains to human flesh. Many people refuse to eat, and many people just take a bite or vomit after drinking a little soup.
Custer held the soup bowl, looked at the crowd with stern eyes, drank the soup, and shouted in a low voice: "If you don't eat, you won't have the strength to march. If you still want to leave alive, then eat and give Lao Tzu a mouthful. Eat, otherwise, stay here as Qin Jun’s rations, tell you, the meat in the soup pot is the meat of the enemy, we are not afraid of the living Qin Jun, let alone the dead, give me eat, eat meat to live Back home."
Many soldiers cried and chewed while crying.
Gong Shangming wore a robe and stood quietly among a group of counsellors. His face was pale. He hadn't eaten anything, but he was hungry, and his eyes were almost dizzy from hunger.
"Leave camp, retreat."
With the sound of the horn, the 150,000 armies of the Tianji Empire finally retreated.
…
To the west of Daojiang, behind a ruined steel wall, the empire's scouts entered the Chinese army's tent for the first time and respectfully said: "They retreated."
"Great." Feng Jixing slapped the table and said, "Immediately prepare to pursue it."
The scout's face was not very good, and said, "One more thing..."
"Oh, what, say." Lin Muyu said.
The scout gritted his teeth and said: "Our people discovered that they killed all the captives for food late last night. The more than two thousand people captured in the empire... all were martyred."
"Beasts... It's a group of wild beasts." Xiang Yu roared.
Qin Yin's delicate body trembled slightly, clasping her palms tightly, and the golden flames between her eyelashes became more and more frightening.
Lin Muyu shook her hand gently, and said softly, "War is like this... Have we seen such things for so many years?"
"I know, but... those emperors shouldn't die like this..."
"They will rest in peace, because we will avenge them."
Lin Muyu sonorously said, "Since they have no food, they will definitely try their best to get food. Take a map and see which towns are on the way from here to Dongshuang City. We must quickly reinforce these. The cities and towns cannot allow the people of the empire to continue to serve as rations for the enemy."
"Yes."
Zeng Yifan suddenly whispered: "His Royal Highness, if we chase, what will the princes do? They have gathered nearly 400,000 horses, and food is very scarce..."
Lin Muyu frowned, "I don't know, does Fan Gong have any idea about this matter."
"The army of the princes is in harmony with each other, and all of them are embarrassed. They must be comforted, otherwise there will be turbulence easily."
"In this case, Fan Gong is an emperor and god, and his prestige is enough to deter these princes. It's better to leave them behind to appease them, so that the leader Feng Jixing and I can concentrate on pursuing the enemy."
Zeng Yifan nodded: "Please rest assured, Your Highness Yin and Your Highness Yu, the old ministers will do their best."
"Ok."
Qin Yin stood up and said, "I will go with Commander Yu to chase down the enemy bandits. Aunt Yu, please stay too. You must be cautious about helping Fan Gong to appease the princes."
Su Yu clasped his fists: "Yes, Your Highness."
"So... it's decided." Feng Jixing asked.
Qin Yin nodded: "Yeah."
"Okay, send orders to the three armies, ready to cross the river to pursue them."
…
In the afternoon, countless bamboo rafts and wooden rafts were placed in the Daojiang River, forming a series of man-made pontoon bridges. The horses neighed and the Daojiang water was turbulent, but it could not stop the emperor’s pursuit and killing, nearly one hundred thousand. People have already crossed the Daojiang River in less than two hours, but they can no longer carry heavy weapons, and the floating bridge can't bear the weight of the heavy magic crystal cannon.
Before the evening, the cavalry led by Qin Yin, Lin Muyu, and Feng Jixing had bitten the tail of the Tianji Emperor ** team. After a fight, they beheaded more than ten thousand people. It seems that the Tianji Empire has lost its intent to fight and is unwilling. Continuing to fight, it was just like leaving an army behind the palace, but their luck was not good, and the main force of Emperor Qin was eyeing.
When it was midnight, the war eagle scout reported that an army of the Shenyi Army went to Longhai County.
There are nearly 50,000 residents in Longhai County. Once the hungry soldiers arrive, the civilians there will almost become food.
Lin Muyu decided to separate the troops to fight, Feng Jixing, Tang Xiaoxi, Xiang Yu and others led the main force to continue the pursuit, while he and Qin Yin led the 20,000 Longdan camp cavalry straight to Longhai County.