Qi Yoyo sent a team of elite cavalry to chase and intercept it, but was blocked back by the eight second ancestors with "the general will not be subject to the foreign monarch's order", so angry that she wanted to tie up these eight idiots and hang them.

Xiao Chong didn't care.

I feel that these second ancestors should face the cruelty and see the world, otherwise they will always think that the war is so easy and comfortable, and the city and military exploits are so easy to obtain, and they will feel that the soldiers who protect the family and the country are nothing great.

These Second Ancestors will be in charge of the Empire in the future, and their thoughts and attitudes will determine the future posture of the Empire, so they must be allowed to grow and mature.

Although Qi Yoyo agreed with Xiao Chong's point of view, he was still relieved, and hurriedly led the remaining 80,000 soldiers to chase after him.

The eight men took a total of 270,000 troops, all of whom they brought with themselves.

There were a total of 500,000 troops on this expedition, of which 400,000 were the troops brought by these second ancestors, only 100,000 were local soldiers in Yancheng, and 20,000 of these 100,000 were logistics soldiers.

In twenty-three days, eight first-class main cities were captured, with a total of more than 140,000 losses.

If it was a normal siege battle, these battle losses were not much, but they attacked a defeated army with little will to fight, so such battle losses seemed to be more.

If it weren't for the two ancestors who were greedy for merit twice or three times, Qi Yoyo was confident that this number would be reduced by 50,000.

However, what caught Qi Yoyo off guard was that in just two days, the battle damage more than doubled.

The 270,000-strong army rushed headlong into the ambush circle of the rebels, and the battle was terrible, almost one-sided slaughter.

If it weren't for Qi Yoyo leading the army to arrive, and at all costs to kill a gap in the rebels' iron bucket-like encirclement and help the besieging army break out, the 270,000 troops would probably be wiped out.

The defeat was like a mountain.

Qi Yoyo led the army to flee.

The rebels were like hungry wolves, chasing and intercepting them, clenching and biting, and the number of battle losses increased at a rapid rate.

Qi Yoyo soon found out that this was a premeditated ambush, because the other party was 300,000 fully armed, spirit-shimmering, and extraordinary combat forces, which was definitely the core elite of the rebels, and it stands to reason that they should not appear here.

To the north and west of the Xiehuangling, the rebels have clearly given up, and their posture has been clear, taking the Xiehuangling as a moat, holding on to it, occupying the southeast corner of the empire, becoming a country of its own, and then slowly drawing it.

Therefore, it is right to say that the core elite of the rebel army should not fight across the Xiehuangling, because the core elite should fight across the Xiehuangling is a meaningless loss.

If it is said that it is to let out a bad breath and boost the morale of the army, it is understandable, but it is strange to chase and intercept and bite tightly, so you are not afraid of falling into the ambush circle of the emperor's ** team?

Qi Yoyo thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure out why the rebels were suddenly so irritable and crazy, until she swept over the eight second ancestors without a light, and a thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she couldn't help but guess that the rebels would not come for these eight second ancestors who had more than enough success and more defeat, right?

These eight second ancestors are very valuable, if they can be captured alive, they can definitely be exchanged for a considerable amount of wealth or food supplies, and they can also delay the offensive of the empire and buy them precious time to stabilize their foundation.

The more Qi Yoyo thought about it, the more he felt that it should be like this, otherwise the rebels would have no reason to bite them tightly.

On the night of August 15, the moon was full and the wind was slightly cool.

It was supposed to be a quiet and peaceful night, but Qi Yoyo and her only remaining 160,000 defeated troops were still fleeing in a hurry, and they were not in the mood to enjoy the gentle breeze under the white moonlight.

Just a few days ago, they had an army of 350,000.

It's hard to imagine what kind of brutal fighting they've been going through these days.

"I feel that my body has reached its limit, the soldiers must be close to breaking down, I should order the army to stop and rest for a few hours, the rebels are not iron-clad, they must also stop and rest, it is impossible to catch up with us. Hong Yehua, the son of the minister of Sanpin, said quite unhappily, and the days of running for his life made him feel that the bones of his body were about to disperse.

"I'm almost at my limit. ”

"It's better to bear with me, if you are surrounded by rebels again, you don't have to ask, the bloodstained butcher's knives of the rebels will be happy to let you close your eyes and rest forever. ”

"Be content. If it weren't for a few of us, the warriors would be lying asleep in Tianling City right now. ”

As soon as these words came out, several people immediately fell silent, leaving only the sound of the hooves of the horses running under their crotches.

Although they are still holding on to the face of the Second Ancestor on the surface, everyone knows in their hearts that it is none other than the eight of them who are causing the current bleak situation.

It was their wanton and reckless behavior, failure to abide by military discipline, failure to obey orders, blind arrogance, and greed for merit that caused the lives of more than 100,000 soldiers, and turned the proud army, which was advancing steadily and winning a great victory, into a defeated army that fled in panic like a lost dog.

They added a great deal of shame to the expedition.

"Why don't you say she punishes us?" After a long time, one person suddenly broke the silence and asked, the "she" in his mouth naturally referred to Qi Yoyo.

After rescuing them from the rebels' encirclement, Qi Yoyo did not say a word of scolding to them.

"Would you really like to be beaten with a stick?" one of the people next to him glanced at him angrily.

The man was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed and said with a wry smile: "I didn't want it before, but this time, I always feel panicked without taking a few hits." ”

"Me too. One of them whispered.

The atmosphere was again oppressive and silent.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, isn't it just a loss? It's not that there is no chance of a comeback. Let's go back and regroup, and then come back and kill these bastards!" Wei Nian couldn't stand it, and several people pulled a crying face, and scolded loudly in anger.

He is the son of the Marquis Wei Changping, and if he wants to inherit his father's marquis title intact, he needs to have merits that have made special contributions to the empire, and war exploits are naturally the most convincing merits.

"Brother Wei is right, victory and defeat are common things in soldiers, and we can't be decadent because of a defeat. A man's husband should be able to bend and stretch, and the more frustrated he is, the more courageous he becomes. One of them chimed in.

"Hey-" One person suddenly sighed, and said with a gloomy expression: "When I went out, I swore to the soldiers that we were going to Yancheng to pick up merit this time, and the master would ensure that you returned with a full load, and you were promoted to the third level of official attention."

The result?

Of the 50,000 good men, there are now only more than 8,000 left.

I—I can't even imagine how the parents, wives and children of the more than 40,000 broken families will look at me when I return to Ningcheng with the remaining 8,000 people.

If it is against the rebels, and if you fight against the generals, and you will die without regrets, you will be the only one who will live, and I can also go back with my waist straight, and proudly tell their parents, wives and children, their sons, husbands, and fathers are good, and they have not embarrassed the men of Ningcheng, and they have not been embarrassed by the men of the empire, Ningcheng is proud of them, and the empire is proud of them.

But no.

It was my arrogance and greed for merit that caused them to crash into the enemy's ambush, and caused them to die unjustly!

I-I don't have the face to go back to Ningcheng!"

After saying that, he was already in tears, and even beat his head with remorse and self-blame.

He had realized his mistake, but the price he had paid was too heavy for him to bear.

After listening to his words, the other people were also panicked, and their faces gradually turned pale, and there was a lot less blood.

They are not like that.

But what was supposed to be a joyful comedy was smashed by them and turned into a tragedy.

"Also—can't blame us all, who knew the rebels would—would ambush there?" Hong Yehua shouted with a stiff neck, but listening to his snorting tone, he knew that even he himself was not convinced when he said this.

"Who is to blame? Blame the rebels? Or blame Qi Yoyo? Blame it for the sky is too dark and the moon is not bright enough? Or blame the horse for running too fast and rushing into the enemy encirclement without reacting?"

"Blame me for being negligent, blame me for being too light on the enemy, blame me for not being strict with your subordinates, I will definitely do a deep review when I return to Yancheng and ask the general for guilt!" Qi Yoyo said to Xiao Chong with all kinds of self-reproach.

The sudden huge defeat hit her ambition during this period of time, and gave her a profound lesson, there is no child's play on the battlefield, that is, in the face of a weak enemy, you must fight 10,000 points of spirit, improve 10,000 points of defense and vigilance, otherwise this is the end.

Proud soldiers, they will be defeated.

Xiao Chong said: "I let them go, and I am responsible." But isn't it time to blame yourself and figure out how to deal with the rebels' pursuit?"

Qi Yoyo wrinkled his eyebrows and said: "Our army has been fighting continuously for nearly a month, and its physical strength and energy are far inferior to the elite troops of the rebels. If I were caught up in the wilderness, I would be crushed and covered with corpses, so I wanted to defend the city. ”

Xiao Chong nodded, he thought so in his heart, so he asked, "Is it in Gannan City in front?"

"Nope. Qi Yoyo shook his head and said, "Gannan City is too big, I'm afraid that the limited force can't defend it, I plan to go to Fuzhou in the west of Gannan City, although the city wall of Gannan City is lower than the main city, but its defensive range is also small, with our current strength just enough to defend with all our strength." The rebels will not dare to stay here for long, so we will only need to hold out for a few days, and the siege will be lifted. ”

"Okay, then go to Fuzhou. Xiao Chong nodded in agreement.

"I heard that your situation is not optimistic, but I didn't expect it to be so unoptimistic. A voice rang out on the oblique side.

As soon as Qi Yo Yofu heard the voice, his eyes lit up suddenly, and he hurriedly looked at the voice, and asked in surprise: "Why are you here?"

"Because you're here. Zhang Xiaopai replied with a smile.

Qi Yoyo frowned, the corners of his mouth slowly hooked, and a beautiful smile bloomed.