Standing on top of a simple arrow tower behind the fence, Wang looked at the continuous spring rain, in the past two days, the army has been gathered again, his camp has gathered as many as 5,000 people, and as the number of routs increases, he knows more and more news.

The army is indeed gone.

Li Zuxin was also killed in battle.

The entire Eyue had fallen into the hands of the Northern Tang army.

The only good news is that the general Xiang Zhen is still missing.

At this time, the unknown situation has become good news. What is certain is that the Northern Tang army must not have captured or killed Xiang Zhen, otherwise the other party would have vigorously publicized it. Xiang Zhen's death or capture will deal another blow to the Guangzhou Imperial Court. Without these news, it means that Xiang Zhen is still alive and has not fallen into the hands of the other party.

When the Right Xiaowei and the Right Qianniu Wei of the Northern Tang Dynasty surrounded and annihilated the tens of thousands of troops of Xiang Zhen, they did not use the perverted and ferocious artillery bombardment he suffered in Ezhou. A classic encirclement, cutting, interspersed, and brutally defeated Xiang Zhen's army of more than 40,000. The king, who had figured this out, was even more frustrated.

The army led by Xiang Zhen is recognized as the most effective force in the Southern Alliance, but it is also vulnerable in the face of the Northern Tang army.

Wang also knew very well that the army under Xiang Zhen's command was completely imitating everything in the Northern Tang Army, and the drill code used was common to the Northern Tang Army.

And the implementation of this code of conduct in the Southern Union has been met with great resistance. Because there are too many interests involved here, if you want to balance the interests of all parties, then this code of conduct will be reduced to a piece of waste paper. And this fiasco is only afraid that it will cast a thick shadow on the military reform that Xiang Zhen has been working on.

Wang has been waiting in Yangxin for ten days.

He couldn't wait any longer.

As soon as he came, almost all the grain and grass that could be raised in Yangxin had been brought by him, and the request for help from Qian Wenzhong in Hongzhou was like a stone sinking into the sea, and he didn't even hear a sound.

Second, the vanguard of the Tang Army, the Right Qianniuwei led by Ren Xiaonian, has been advancing in the new direction of Xiangyang, and if he doesn't leave, he won't be able to leave.

The barracks are already packing up, but there is nothing to do. Many of these people have lost even the most basic weapons in this army on the way to escape.

He glanced into the distance again, and was about to turn around to leave the arrow tower, but his eyes froze.

In the distance, on the path, a hobbling figure was staggering towards his camp. Although he couldn't see the man's face clearly, but the silhouette of his body was so familiar, the king felt a burst of ecstasy in his heart, quickly got down the arrow tower, beckoned a few soldiers around him, and flew towards the front.

Hearing the sound of dense footsteps, the man who was covered in mud and could barely see his eyebrows stopped on his feet, raised his head, looked at Wang You, grinned, and showed a mouth full of big white teeth.

Wang looked at Xiang Zhen in a daze.

At this moment, Xiang Zhen's clothes were ragged, torn in many places, hanging upside down one by one, his hair was scattered, a lot of hair was knotted one by one, his face was crippled with blood in many places, he was holding a half-broken spear in his hand, and above his shoulder, there was a rope, and at the other end of the rope, he was tied to a wooden row made of tree poles, and there was a person lying on his back facing the sky, if it weren't for the fact that the person's chest was still slightly undulating, the king would almost think that this was a dead man.

"General!" Tears rained down again, and he took a step forward and knelt down on one knee.

Xiang Zhen stared at Wang for a long time, but his eyes rolled, one fell back, and he fell heavily into the mud, and the scene was in a panic.

When Xiang Zhen woke up, it was already nightfall. Wang took matters into his own hands again, bathed and changed clothes for him, and saw the scars on Xiang Zhen's body, which was even more shocking, in some places, it was already purulent maggots, and the doctor who was caught by Wang Youlin from Yangxin treated Xiang Zhen's wounds with trembling hands and feet.

"General, if you drink this potion, if the high fever can go down tonight, then it will be fine." The doctor said tremblingly.

"Thank you, doctor!" Xiang Zhen was not as fierce as Wang You, and he lay on the bed and bowed: "Wang You, do you still have money, give more to the doctor." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare!"

"Let's go!" But the king picked up the doctor and took him to the door: "But you go to rest first, and if the general is okay tomorrow, he will naturally be rewarded with a lot of money." ”

When he heard this, the doctor was terrified.

Xiang Zhen is in such a situation, whether he can survive or not, it really depends on his fate, if this person dies, I am afraid that my life will not be guaranteed.

Back in the tent, Xiang Zhen was already sitting up leaning on the quilt.

"General, how did you get to this point?" The king asked again.

"I just escaped with my life." Xiang Zhen said lightly: "Along the way, I encountered some routs and robberies, hehe, for a little food, I can draw my knife against each other." ”

"How dare they offend the general!" The king was furious again, but immediately realized that under such an environment, where did Xiang Zhen dare to reveal his original identity, but he was afraid that he would really show his appearance, so some ill-intentioned people captured him and presented him to the Northern Tang army, and he could properly get a large bounty.

"Liu Xinda sold me." Xiang Zhen sighed: "If I can join forces with his two armies, even if I am defeated, I will not be defeated so badly." ”

"One day, he will be broken into ten thousand pieces!" Wang gritted his teeth and said: "Now that Liu Xinda has already arrived in Jiujiang, and when we meet Qian Wenzhong, we will go to clean him up." ”

Xiang Zhen shook his head: "Right now, I can't move him." Even Qian Wenzhong would not agree. In the future, Qian Wenzhong was only afraid that he would collude with this Liu Xinda and collude. ”

The king was stunned again.

"This time I sent troops to Eyue, and asked Qian Wenzhong to send troops and food, this guy is not pulling out a dime, now I am defeated and lost, of course he is also afraid that we will settle accounts after the autumn, Liu Xinda has a feud with me this time, and he can just use Liu Xinda to fight against us. Under the current overall situation, we must finally unite all forces to fight against the Northern Tang Dynasty, and we can only swallow this breath. ”

"Are they really reliable?"

"They all have their own little calculations, but one thing is clear, once Li Ze's soldiers come over, they will have nothing left. Therefore, it will not be wrong for them to resist the thoughts of the Northern Tang Dynasty. Eyue is lost, Jiangxi here will bear the brunt, no matter how stupid Qian Wenzhong is, he also knows that he can't confront Li Ze with his own strength alone, and he still has to borrow our strength. Xiang Zhen said: "When I go back, let's make plans." Wang again, tell me, how did the battle of Ezhou collapse in one day? ”

Wang sighed again: "General, the Northern Tang army has a new weapon, and its power is unparalleled, and we didn't know anything about it beforehand. Killing and wounding are secondary, but the shock to the soldiers is incomprehensible, not so much that we were defeated by the Tang army, but that we were frightened and defeated, and the battle has not yet begun, but the army's spirit has been dispersed. ”

When Wang You's description of the Battle of Ezhou arrived, Xiang Zhen was also silent.

At a distance of about four or five miles, it can inflict heavy losses on the defending side, and such a weapon is terrible.

"Can you spot any weaknesses in him?"

The king thought for a moment, and said, "After their defeat of my defensive position on the embankment, they dragged this weapon, called artillery, to the shore. It is estimated that it weighs at least thousands of pounds. This also explains why they had it on board earlier, and you didn't encounter such a weapon in Guangshui. ”

"It's not invulnerable!" Xiang Zhen breathed a sigh of relief: "The south is mountainous, the roads are rugged and difficult, and it is impossible to use such a heavy weapon on a large scale, which can be regarded as a blessing in misfortune." ”

"General, tomorrow we will leave Yangxin, and the Northern Tang army is approaching in this direction. I plan to go to Hongzhou first, get some supplies from Qian Wenzhong, and then return to Lingnan, this batch of troops, without a long period of reorganization, I am afraid that they will not be able to go to the battlefield! The king said again.

Xiang Zhen nodded: "Okay, go to Hongzhou, I also want to meet Qian Wenzhong." Thinking about it, his attitude should be different now. ”

"But it's too late."

"It's not too late to make amends." Xiang Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

To Wang You's surprise, after the night passed, Xiang Zhen's high fever actually faded, and the person seemed to be more energetic, and he no longer hesitated at the moment, immediately pulled out the camp, and retreated all the way to Hongzhou with these thousands of remnants of the defeated army.

What he didn't expect was that in Hongzhou, they not only met Qian Wenzhong, but also met Liu Xinda's subordinate Fu Xiaotian, who made him hate.

Xiang Zhen didn't say anything else, it seemed that Liu Xinda's betrayal earlier led to the destruction of his entire army, and it had no effect on him at all.

Under the defeat, the three parties maintained a rare calm, and everyone understood that now was not the time to settle accounts, and it was the matter of gathering all the forces to resist the attack of the Northern Tang Dynasty, even if it was Liu Xinda, Xiang Zhen could tolerate it, let alone Qian Wenzhong.

The negotiations between the three parties in Hongzhou can be described as a harmonious atmosphere.

Liu Xinda got the right to be stationed in Jiujiang, but the Fumin officials in Jiujiang had to be sent by Qian Wenzhong, and they were sent from Jiujiang to support Liu Xinda's department. Qian Wenzhong immediately gathered all the forces he could gather and prepared to fight the Northern Tang army, while Xiang Zhen would immediately return to Lingnan and gather Lingnan troops to support. At the same time, it will also coordinate with Fujian to send reinforcements or advance support with Jiangxi in terms of money and grain.