However, looking at the end of the letter, Lu Zhao's heart suddenly cooled again, although Sima Shi promised to send troops to Jizhou, but also needed to raise troops, horses, grain and grass, the scale of the 150,000 rao, the preliminary estimate will take about a month.

  With the speed at which the Bingzhou army captured Lecheng, in a month's time, he knew what kind of changes would happen, and Lu Zhao was even a little worried, could he live to wait for Sima Shi's reinforcements to arrive?

  Zhong Hui gave Lu Zhao a plan, that is, to abandon other cities and concentrate all his forces in Xindu, so as to strengthen the defense of Xindu, and at the same time avoid being broken by the Bingzhou army.

  Zhonghui's new plan is tantamount to giving up the old plan entirely. In fact, Zhong Hui's plan is decisive, since the loss of Lecheng proves that the defensive strategy is flawed, it is better to simply give up, although it is a helpless choice, but it is also the most pragmatic choice.

  As for whether they will be intercepted and killed by the Bingzhou cavalry in the process of retreating to Xindu, there is naturally no doubt, there will definitely be, and the Bingzhou cavalry will definitely not sit idly by and watch the retreat of the Jizhou army, and will definitely try their best to intercept and kill halfway.

  If a group of men and horses go out of the city, it will definitely be wiped out, but the defenders of more than a dozen cities have all abandoned the city, and it is impossible for the cavalry of the state to intercept and kill them all, and there will always be fish that can escape to Xindu.

  Zhong Hui's withdrawal plan is equivalent to banishing a flock of sheep to the wilderness, leaving the beasts to hunt, the number of beasts is limited, it is inevitable that he will take care of one or the other, as long as half of the army escapes to Xindu, his plan will be considered a success.

  As soon as Sima Shi's reinforcements arrive, the situation in Jizhou will be truly reversed, and at that time, the cost of such casualties will be almost negligible.

  There are about 150,000 troops stationed on the northern defense line, in addition to the 50,000 garrisons of Xindu, the remaining 100,000 people are stationed in other cities, of which there are 20,000 people in each of the four major counties, and the remaining 20,000 people are stationed in other cities, and after the loss of Lecheng, its 20,000 defenders have been wiped out, so this retreat, involved, there are about 80,000 people.

  However, there is one exception, that is, Jingcheng Pass, which guards the Taihang main road, is an important pass to prevent the eastward advance of the state army, and is not in the grain of this withdrawal

  Of course, after the withdrawal of the army, the defense of Jingcheng Pass will be empty, if the state army attacks Jingcheng Pass, Jingcheng Pass will face the risk of being attacked by the enemy, but the terrain of Jingcheng Pass is dangerous, even if it becomes a lonely pass, and it is not easy for the state army to cross it.

  Lu Zhao left 3,000 people in Jingcheng Pass, and sent his henchman Wang Tao to garrison, the 3,000 people who stayed in Jingcheng were not newly recruited troops, but Lu Zhao's descendants, and their combat effectiveness was relatively strong.

  Since they have prepared for a large-scale retreat, it must be implemented immediately, after all, Lecheng has been lost, and no one knows where the next target of the Bingzhou army will be, but no matter where they attack, their fate will not be better than that of Lecheng, so the withdrawal plan is very urgent.

  Lu Zhao set a date for the guards of each county and each city, that is, the tenth day of the first month of February, and only ten years have passed since the loss of Lecheng.

  Lü Zhao demanded that all the soldiers and horses of each city set off on the 10th day of the first month of February, throw away all unnecessary baggage and materials, travel lightly, and set fire to the city when leaving the city.

  Of course, Lu Zhao hoped that when the Bingzhou army saw the fire in various cities, he would send troops to fight the fire, so that the number of Bingzhou troops who were chasing and intercepting would be reduced, which would naturally increase the chances of the Jizhou army escaping.

  However, at the time of the withdrawal of the army, there are two things that must be bringed, that is, weapons and vehicles, among the weapons, spears and bows and arrows are effective weapons against the cavalry, and the vehicle is the magic weapon to block the cavalry attack, so whether it is a special chariot or a baggage vehicle or a civilian carriage, it has become the target of the Jizhou army.

  Even if they can't make flat box cars, it is almost no problem to collect a large number of various vehicles.

  On the way to withdraw the army, Lu Zhao asked all the men and horses to march in formation, with vehicle protection on the periphery, pikemen lined up inside, and archers on the innermost layer, so that the formation arrangement could protect their safety to the greatest extent, and if the formation was scattered, it would be easily crushed by the Bingzhou cavalry.

  After receiving the order, the guards and guards of the counties and cities immediately made preparations, because the preparation time given to them by Lu Zhao was very short, only two at most, and it was almost impossible for such a large-scale withdrawal plan to be orderly in such a hasty time.

  After the loss of Lecheng, the cities of Jizhou are panicked, no one knows which city will become the second Lecheng, Lecheng can't hold it, and the other cities are naturally difficult to protect, at least these guards have no confidence, and they hold the attitude of co-survival with the city to defend the city, that is pure nonsense, the catastrophe is coming, and many people still put their lives first.

  Since the news of the loss of Lecheng came, the defenders in various places have been constantly spreading the news that soldiers have fled, obviously these people are not willing to give the city a burial, while the state army has not yet attacked, escape from the barracks, maybe there is a way to live.

  Although the punishment of deserters by the Jizhou army was extremely severe, all deserters who were caught were punished on the spot, and they were beheaded in front of the soldiers of the whole battalion.

  However, even such a method of killing a hundred people could not completely prohibit the soldiers' determination to flee, and many people tried to escape even if they risked their lives.

  Now the most popular in the military camp is not who was caught and beheaded because he escaped, but who escaped successfully, after all, the outside of the city has become a forbidden area, as long as you can leave the city, the chance of survival is much greater.

  The wind of escape has been repeatedly banned, giving the defenders of the cities a headache, and if they continue to flee like this, don't wait for the state army to attack, the cities are almost empty, even if they use high-pressure means, it will not help.

  Fortunately, Lu Zhao's order to withdraw his troops reached the cities, which could be regarded as a relief to the guards.