Since leading the defeated army to flee to Lanling County in Northern Xuzhou, Gao Changgong, the king of Lanling, has been in his fiefdom for the past few days, but he has always been worried, and he is afraid that Xiao Yao, who is only two hundred miles away, will suddenly appear here in Lanling County.

If Xiao Yao suddenly appeared in Northern Xuzhou, then Gao Changgong really didn't know whether to stick to the city and have a decisive battle with Xiao Yao at that time, or abandon the city again, cross the Yellow River, and flee back to Qi!

If you defend the city and fight, now that you have the experience of the two decisive battles of Xuyi County and Xiao County, Gao Changgong knows that with this amount of strength in his hands now, he is definitely not Xiao Yao's opponent, and he will definitely be easily attacked by Xiao Yao!

But if he escapes, it will inevitably make Qi Jun even more afraid of Xiao Yao! Because even he, the god of war of the Qi army, was so frightened by Xiao Yao that he gave up two cities in a row, gave up the entire Huaibei to Chen State, and then retreated eight hundred miles and fled back to Qi State, then from now on, who else would dare to fight against Xiao Yao in the Qi army!

And at that time, the emperor Gao Wei, who has always had opinions about himself, will definitely find an excuse to attack himself because of his defeat! I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid that like Hu Luguang, I did not die on the battlefield, but died at the hands of the emperor I was loyal to, and I died a very nest!

However, when Gao Changgong had a few days of restless sleep, he found that Xiao Yao did not appear in the vicinity of Lanling County out of nowhere, and according to the report of the spies, Xiao Yao still has stayed in Xiapi County with his forward brigade now, and there is no sign of going north to attack Lanling County!

"Lord Wang, according to the report of the spies, this Xiao Yao and his forward brigade, and even Lu Guangda's troops, have been stationed in Xiapi County and Xuzhou City, and there is no sign of coming to attack Northern Xuzhou at all! Don't they think that the distance between our two armies is only more than two hundred miles now, which is a distance that can be launched at any time to launch a surprise attack? Could it be that this Xiao Yao was very hasty in sending troops to Huaibei this time, so after fighting a decisive battle with us in Xiao County, he was weak to attack now, so he could only hide in Xuzhou to rest? Yu Xiangyuan guessed.

"Impossible! Although Xiao Yao seems to be marching and fighting out of common sense, he is by no means a risky person, if he is not fully prepared, it is impossible for him to lead this newly rebuilt forward brigade to Huaibei! And he is treacherous and cunning, and it is very likely that he is thinking of some kind of conspiracy to calculate us! Gao Changgong shook his head and said negatively.

"So what do we do now? Although Xiao Yao has not taken any action against Northern Xuzhou now, according to Chen Guo's Northern Expedition plan, Northern Xuzhou is also their target, and Xiao Yao will launch an attack on Northern Xuzhou sooner or later! If we stay, with the current strength in our hands, we will not be Xiao Yao's opponent at all! And now although Xiao Yao has not taken any action, he must be planning some conspiracy, we must make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise if Xiao Yao is ready, we will have no chance of winning! Wei Xiangyuan said worriedly.

"Of course I know we can't waste time here, but now I can't decide whether I stay or leave! I can't imagine that my high and long skills will have such a hesitant day! What did the following soldiers think? Gao Changgong said with a wry smile.

"Of course, the soldiers are thinking about retreating! They were all scared by Xiao Yao! Now every day is worried that Xiao Yao will suddenly attack Northern Xuzhou, and everyone has no consciousness to think of fighting Xiao Yao to the death! Wei Xiangyuan also said unwillingly.

"There is no chance of victory, but you still have to fight to the death, what is the difference between that and sending to death? Therefore, it is normal for the soldiers to have such thoughts, otherwise we would not have fled here from Xiapi County overnight! Alas! Gao Changgong shook his head and sighed, as if he had made up his mind!

"What does the prince mean is that we still have to continue to retreat, flee back to the Qi Kingdom, and give up Northern Xuzhou to Xiao Yao? But now that we retreat again and again, fleeing without a fight, how do people in the world still look at the prince, and then the prince's reputation will be ruined! Wei Xiangyuan said in surprise, in his eyes, Gao Changgong should not be such a person who admits defeat easily!

"Now we don't even have an artillery unit, and we are not qualified to fight against Xiao Yao at all! Acting recklessly, he heroically stayed here in Northern Xuzhou for a while, but in the end, it was still the same as last year in Xuyi County, and tens of thousands of troops could not resist Xiao Yao's siege! When the time comes, it will only make these Great Qi soldiers of ours die meaninglessly! I am loyal to the country wholeheartedly, leading these soldiers from birth to death, and I have long regarded you as my own brothers! Now you tell me how can I be ruthless, for what so-called god of war is in vain, and let everyone stay here to die! Gao Changgong said a little disheartened.

"But if we withdraw to the Qi State like this, how should Your Majesty explain it? Your Majesty has always had murderous intentions towards the prince before, how can we return from defeat now, Your Majesty will definitely not let the prince go easily! Wei Xiangyuan continued to persuade.

"That can't be helped! We have sacrificed more than 10,000 soldiers in Xiao County, including Zhang Dabao, who was also executed by Xiao Yao Lingchi, and many soldiers, Xiao Yao also left no one behind, and all of them were killed! I can't let the soldiers stay here for my high merits and wait for Xiao Yao's slaughter! Bring everyone back to Qi State, not only can you avoid Xiao Yao's attack, but you can also reserve your strength for Qi State, and then find a way to deal with Xiao Yao when the time comes! As for what Your Majesty wants to do with me, I have no complaints! ”

Just when Wei Xiangyuan wanted to continue to dissuade Gao Changgong from returning to Yecheng to die, a guard rushed in and said to Gao Changgong: "Tell the prince, Yecheng sent a messenger, saying that he brought His Majesty's holy decree!" ”

"Divine decree? What holy decree? Is it a holy decree to hold the prince responsible for the defeat? Wei Xiangyuan hurriedly asked nervously.

"It's not! It's the decree of transfer! His Majesty has transferred Zu Yan to the assassin of Northern Xuzhou, and he will take over the position of the prince and lead all military and political affairs in Northern Xuzhou! Then His Majesty has appointed the prince as the great Sima, and asked the prince to return to Yecheng immediately to take office! The guard said in a nutshell.

"Zuyan? Isn't he being favored by His Majesty and appointed as a powerful servant? How could he suddenly come to the dangerous place of Northern Xuzhou to be a assassin? Gao Changgong and Wei Xiangyuan looked at each other and said confusedly.

Gao Changgong, who did not want to get involved in the party struggle of the imperial court, has been leading troops to fight outside for a long time, and he has been dealing with Chen Guo's Northern Expedition during this time, so he does not know much about the party struggle situation in Yecheng, and now when he hears the news that Zu Yan, a powerful minister, was transferred to the assassin of Northern Xuzhou, of course he felt very puzzled!

You must know that since this Zu Yan framed Hu Luguang to death, but he was favored by Emperor Gao Wei, it was when the spring breeze was proud, why was it only a few months now, he was driven out of Yecheng, and he still came to Northern Xuzhou, a place that would be attacked by Chen at any time! And he is a civilian official, but he came here to lead the military and political affairs of Northern Xuzhou, isn't that tantamount to asking him to die?

In fact, Gao Changgong really guessed correctly, Zu Yan was transferred to Northern Xuzhou to let him die!