Lü Zhao continued to receive battle reports from all sides, except for the defenders of Wuyi, Fucheng, Nangong and Guangchuan near Xindu, which were relatively smoothly withdrawn to Xindu, the retreat of other people and horses did not seem so smooth.

  More than half of the troops withdrew from Changshan, and only seven or eight thousand people safely withdrew to Xindu, but this was already the most lost among the people and horses of all roads, and the army of Zhongshan County was almost wiped out, and only more than two thousand people withdrew to Xindu, and even the Taishou Song Ming died in the withdrawal of Zheng

  Of course, this is not the worst, the worst is the withdrawal of the Bohai Navy from Nanpi, that is the real annihilation of the whole army, not even a single escapee, according to the news heard by the scouts, the Bohai Navy in the process of retreating, was encircled and suppressed by the combined cavalry of the Zhouzhou Cavalry, and the Zhouzhou Army set up a net in the Anping area, and the Bohai Navy did not have the slightest chance to escape.

  A total of about 80,000 troops retreated, and in the end, only more than 20,000 people arrived in Xindu alive, and the remaining 60,000 were either captured or killed in battle, and the heavy losses greatly surprised Lu Zhao.

  According to Lu Zhao's original estimate, at most, half of the men and horses were lost, that is, 40,000 people, and the other 40,000 people had the opportunity to withdraw to Xindu.

  Lu Zhao urgently needed such an army to supplement the weakness of Xindu's defense, after all, even if Xindu had 50,000 defenders and a strong city, with two city walls inside and outside, if Xindu's defense was not good before, Lu Zhao would definitely be anxious with him.

  But after the loss of Lecheng, Lu Zhao's confidence in himself also became shaken, and it was true that the strong strength shown by the Jizhou army was completely incomparable to the Jizhou army.

  All other cities can be abandoned, but not faith, the letter is the state city of Jizhou, if even the letter is lost, doesn't it mean the fall of the entire Jizhou?

  This is not a problem of the loss of the northern defense line, it is related to the life and death of the entire Jizhou, of course Lu Zhao does not dare to take it lightly, if the Xindu is lost, the Sima army will completely lose all the territory in the north of Jizhou, and the state army can then drive straight down and threaten Yecheng.

  Even if Sima Shi arrived with reinforcements, in the face of such an unfavorable situation, if he wanted to turn the tables, the chances were quite slim.

  Therefore, in Lu Zhao's view, any city can be lost, but the letter must not be lost, as long as the letter is not lost, the state army will not be able to go south, and the reinforcements of the Sima division are expected to arrive in a month, Lu Zhao only needs to hold on to the letter for a month, even if the cavalry of Bingzhou is powerful, and the catapult is mighty, Lu Zhao does not believe that he can't hold on for even a month?

  In order to increase the insurance coefficient, Lü Zhao adopted Zhong Hui's suggestion, gave up other cities, and concentrated all his troops in Xindu, so that the number of defenders in Xindu would be greatly increased, creating the best conditions for holding Xindu for a month.

  But judging from the current situation, it is far from the similarity with Lu Zhao, originally he thought that all the defenders would go out of the city at the same time on the same day, so that the cavalry of the Bingzhou army could be involved, after all, even if the Bingzhou cavalry was powerful, it was also lacking in skills, and it was impossible to encircle and suppress all the retreating troops at the same time.

  Unfortunately, the development of things was still beyond Lu Zhao's expectations, although the Jizhou army withdrew as many as a dozen teams, but except for the defenders of the four cities in Xindu, the other armies were intercepted by the Bingzhou army and inflicted heavy losses on them.

  Many of the armies were wiped out, and not even a single person escaped, and the army of the three major counties, the Changshan army, which had lost as much as seventy percent, finally became the most successful team to break through, and the other two counties were either wiped out or lost, so that Lu Zhao's plan to integrate defensive resources finally came to naught.

  Lu Zhao originally planned that 40,000 to 50,000 people would be able to withdraw to Xindu, so that the defense of Xindu could be greatly strengthened, but now there are only more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in various cities who have fled to Xindu, and many of them are still wounded, which makes the army with poor combat effectiveness even worse, and the defense situation of the entire Xindu has become dangerous.

  After the evacuation of various cities, there is only one lonely city left in the north of Jizhou, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of Xindu's defense, after all, the state army no longer needs to attack other cities, and then concentrate on dealing with Xindu.

  If he had known that the losses of the evacuation were so heavy, maybe Lu Zhao would have thought about the withdrawal of the army, especially the army of Nanpi, the whole army was wiped out, and none of them escaped, like this result, it is better to defend Nanpi, with the defense of Nanpi City, if the state army wants to conquer it, at least it will take a lot of effort, but in the field battle, the Bohai Navy is not the opponent of the Bingzhou army at all, and it was easily swept away.

  For such a loss, Lu Zhao's heart was gloomy, and his prospects for guarding Xindu became unoptimistic.

  Originally, after Lu Zhao was in charge of the northern Hebei defense line, he had always been full of ambition and confidence, but after experiencing the battle of Lecheng and the great retreat, Lu Zhao found that the strength of the Bingzhou army was completely beyond his expectations.

  When he was in Weize Pass, what he encountered was just a partial division of the Bingzhou Army, but now he is fighting the main force of the Bingzhou Army that had defeated Sima Yi, and their combat effectiveness was strong enough to make the Jizhou Army tremble.

  Lu Zhao didn't even dare to send Xindu's soldiers and horses to respond remotely, only to carry out short-range support within a range of dozens of miles around Xindu, even if he had a team of veterans in his hands, Lu Zhao didn't dare to fight with the Bingzhou army, this lineage army is the capital of his life, once he fights out, what to use to guard Xindu, count on those newly recruited troops, nonsense!

  Jizhou recruited 300,000 troops, now it seems that it is just a joke, these soldiers and horses have no more food at all, but the combat effectiveness is weak and scum, Lecheng is lost, and the retreat has become a big rout, which is enough to prove that the numerical advantage alone is useless.

  In a war, the decisive outcome of the war is by no means just by relying on the accumulation of numbers, and only a strong and invincible army can truly dominate the situation on the battlefield and truly win the war.

  Now Lu Zhao is eagerly looking forward to the arrival of Sima Shi's reinforcements, he really doesn't know how long Xindu can hold out, and the one-month deadline given by Sima Shi really doesn't know if it's enough?