The battle losses during the day were too great, Tan Daoji was already depressed, no matter who was the commander in the face of such a loss, he couldn't bear it, and at this time he suddenly sent the news that Kaiyang City was attacked and captured, although it didn't say that it completely cut off the return route of Liu Song's army, at least in a short period of time, these tens of thousands of horses and horses could not get any supplies, because Kaiyang City was the only way for the supply line of Liu Song's Northern Expedition. In addition, the cadres who captured Kaiyang City could threaten Xuzhou and Donghai County.

This news crushed Tan Daoji, he knew what it meant, and if he was not careful, he might all explain the remaining 40,000 horses here, and he would never be able to go back.

Tan Daoji's coma made the generals and officials in the tent mess up, and someone shouted: "Call the medical officer, call the medical officer!" ”

After the first aid of the medical officer, Tan Daoji was finally rescued from the coma, and his son Tan Yi cried: "Father, you must not have anything at this time!" ”

General Xue Tong also said: "Yes, Dashuai, the net worth and life of these tens of thousands of horses are all on you, you must hold on!" ”

Tan Daoji's face was still ugly, he turned his head to look at it, and asked, "What time is it, how long has Ben Shuai been in a coma?" ”

"Father, you have been in a coma for half an hour, thanks to the medical officer who woke you up!"

The medical officer said: "The handsome man is fine, it's just a hurry, just take a break!" ”

Tan Daoji said: "It's hard work! Yi'er, send the medical officer back to rest, reward! ”

"Yes!"

Tan Daoji drank two bowls of hot soup, recovered a lot, and convened the generals and officials to discuss the matter.

"Kaiyang City was raided and captured by the cadre army, we have lost supplies, and more importantly, once the news spreads in the army, it will definitely cause the army to be unstable, so this commander ordered, everyone should keep their mouths shut about this matter!"

A staff member said to Tan Daoji: "Marshal, it is impossible to hide the news for too long, our supplies are cut off, the soldiers are not stupid, someone will guess something, it is important to block the news, but it is more important to come up with countermeasures before the news spreads, after today, where will our army go?" Will it fight to the end, or will it be quickly withdrawn? ”

Tan Daoji nodded and said: "This is also what Ben Shuai wants to say, gather you together, that is, to discuss the next step, you can say what you think!" ”

Staff member Zhu Yan stood up and said: "Dashuai, through today's battle, Dashuai must have seen that this cadre army is more fierce and more powerful than other Northern Wei armies!" The other Northern Wei armies were only brutal, and in terms of cavalry tactics, the cavalry tactics of this cadre army were more flexible and changeable than those of other Xianbei armies, and after a long period of training, they knew how to cooperate; Speaking of infantry, there are very few regular infantry in other Xianbei troops, and when they encounter sieges, they are all conscription and state and county soldiers, these soldiers almost do not know how to attack the city, and every time they attack the city that we are defending, they fill it with human lives, but the infantry of this cadre army is completely different, obviously after a long period of strict training, they are familiar with many formations and siege tactics! ”

"In today's battle, our army can be said to have lost more than half, plus the more than 10,000 soldiers and generals who were lost by the surprise attack the night before, our army has lost more than 30,000 people in the past two days, and the morale of the soldiers is extremely low, and they are full of fear of the cadres and troops.

Gao Jinzhi's eyes widened: "Mr. Zhu, what do you mean by these words?" Is it trying to persuade the marshal to withdraw the army? Could it be that the soldiers have died in vain these days? ”

Xue Tong persuaded: "Brother Gao, listen to Mr. Zhu first!" ”

Zhu Yan continued: "Now the court and the emperor are suspicious of the marshal's self-respect for the army and the self-respect for the thieves, our army is a strong enemy on the outside, and there are constraints on the inside, and the time is not on our army's side!" In the next inventory, it was found that the existing more than 40,000 soldiers and generals are still the old foundation of the marshal, the loss is not big, the dead are all soldiers and horses requisitioned from all over the country, if the army is withdrawn at this time, the marshal still has the confidence to talk to the court, the court should also be jealous of the marshal, dare not go too far with the marshal, but if you continue to fight with the cadres, once the soldiers and horses lose too much, the marshal will not have enough confidence when talking to the court! ”

"Therefore, the next idea is to persuade the marshal to take the opportunity to withdraw the troops, not to retreat at this time, and wait for the news of the capture of Kaiyang City once the news comes, then the army will be disheartened, and the situation will not be under the control of the marshal!"

Tan Daoji was also retiring at this time, he was too passive, whether it was politically or in the military, he was in a passive position, politically he was suspicious of the emperor, and there were ministers in the court who had been slandering; Militarily, there was a serious lack of cavalry in his army, there was no cavalry, and he was passive and suppressed everywhere in the face of the cadre army.

Tan Daoji thought for a long time and said: "At this time, I am afraid that it is not so easy to retreat, the cadres have many cavalry, and the cavalry of our army has almost been exhausted in the battle, and the retreat at this time will be followed by the cavalry of the cadre army, waiting for an opportunity to attack and disturb." The morale of the soldiers is already very low, and if they are constantly harassed and attacked, the slightest carelessness will be the result of the collapse of the overall situation! ”

Zhu Yan said: "Therefore, it is recommended to leave a garrison camp, as long as it is delayed for three or five days, the main force of our army can evacuate the safe area, and then the retreat will be very calm!" ”

Tan Daoji sighed: "The soldiers and horses left behind are only afraid that they will be more auspicious!" ”

Zhu Yan was silent for a moment, "At this time, there is no other way but to break the wrist of a strong man!" After the remaining troops and horses delay for three or five days, they can choose the opportunity to break through, and how many people can return to Jiangzhou can only rely on God's blessing! ”

Tan Daoji thought about it and weighed it a lot, and then finally made up his mind: "Since you want to withdraw, it is better to withdraw sooner rather than later." The order went down and retreated overnight tonight, but it was just the soldiers who stayed behind······"

The generals looked at each other, Gao Jinzhi stood up and hugged his fists and said: "Thanks to the marshal for all these years, he has not given up, and he has turned over the knots, and he is regarded as a sibling. ”

Xue Tong stood up: "Dashuai, let's let the last general stay!" ”

Tan Daoji's lips trembled, and he turned his head to hide his gaffe, "Jinzhi, you stay, you must return to Jiangzhou alive, Ben Shuai can't be without Jinzhi!" ”

"Don't worry!"

Gao Jinzhi and Xue Tong were called Guan Zhang by the people of the time, and regarded as Tan Daoji's right-hand man, Tan Daoji knew that Gao Jinzhi was calmer than Xue Tong, and handed over the matter to Gao Jinzhi after the break, and Tan Daoji was also relieved.

Late that night, Tan Daoji led the main army to retreat to the south overnight, arrived at Dongyang City at dawn, Tan Daoji did not make any stop and directly led the army to bypass Dongyang City to the south, along the way in order to speed up the march, discarded a large number of baggage, and even the grain was discarded everywhere.

Camp of the Dry Army.

Zhao Junsheng had breakfast and was about to order the army to assemble and set off to continue the battle with Liu Songjun, when a small colonel walked in and hugged his fists and said, "King, Liu Songjun sent a messenger!" ”

Zhao Junsheng looked at the generals and officials in the tent, and instructed the little colonel: "Lead him in!" ”

Soon, the envoy of Liu Songjun walked in and saluted Zhao Junsheng and said: "King Qiyu, the lower officials came to negotiate with the king on the order of my marshal, hoping that the truce will be two days, so that you and I can collect the remains of the soldiers, there are too many corpses on the battle array, and now the weather is beginning to pretend to be warm, and the corpses abandoned on the battlefield are easy to cause epidemics, please allow the king!" When the two sides converged on the remains of their respective soldiers, the well water did not interfere with the river water, I wonder what the king thought? ”

Zhao Junsheng is really hard to refuse in the face of the other party's proposal, there are thousands of people under him who have died on the battlefield, and the corpses have not yet been collected, if you don't agree, how can you be worthy of those soldiers who died?

These words are just good, saying that they are sorry for the fallen soldiers, but in fact, they are still for the living.

Zhao Junsheng pondered for a while and agreed: "Okay, you go back and tell Tan Daoji, this king agreed, today and tomorrow, both sides will collect the corpses, and they are not allowed to do anything, and they will fight again after two days!" ”

"The lower official must bring the words!"

After the envoy left, Zhao Junsheng said to the generals: "You each sent some soldiers from the army to collect the remains of the fallen soldiers and transport them to the camp!" Wang Huilong, you take some people to collect dry firewood, and when the remains of the fallen soldiers arrive, prepare for cremation! ”

"Command!"

For two days in a row, both sides were reinforcing the corpses of their fallen soldiers, and the attention of the cadres and the whole army was attracted by the matter of reaping the corpses, and no one noticed that the main force of Liu Song's army had retreated south.

In the afternoon of the next day, when all the corpses were gathered and burned, and all the names written on the ashes collection jar were placed, Zhao Junsheng returned to the tent.

Guo Yi followed up and reported: "King, there has been a bad rumor in the army in the past two days, and the minister thinks that the king should know."

"Rumors? What is the rumor? Zhao Junsheng asked.

"There are rumors in the army that the king's power is new, the power position is unstable, the origin of the subordinates under his command is complicated, the family was suppressed too hard in the past, and the remnants of the Northern Yan are also hidden under the rule of the king, and now the wealthy families in various places, the remnants of the Northern Yan and the remnants of Goguryeo are all ready to move in various places, and some people say that some people have launched a rebellion in Yingzhou and Andong Prefecture, and even some people have launched a rebellion in Youzhou, and the current soldiers are in a ······ of heart"

Zhao Junsheng frowned and asked, "What about the real situation?" Is there anyone who is planning to make trouble while the king is away? ”

Guo Yi said: "My subordinates have found out that there are indeed people who are about to move, but it is not the remnants of Northern Yan and Goguryeo, but the family!" ”

Zhao Junsheng has long known that the family under his rule has always been resentful, so this southward campaign also brought out Mulan and her son, in order to let those people feel at ease to jump out, and now it seems that those people can't help it.

Zhao Junsheng asked: "Tell me about the families you have found, what are they going to do, where did they start the incident, and how many people have been gathered?" Say it one by one! ”

"Yes!" Guo Yi agreed, and immediately reported the news found by the black-clothed guard to Zhao Junsheng one by one.

After listening to this, Zhao Junsheng thought for a long time, wrote two secret letters in his own hand, and called Li Bao to instruct: "Send a reliable person to send this secret letter to Fu Zhan!" ”

"Yes!" Subsequently, Zhao Junsheng sent someone to call Chang Kun and instructed him: "You take two hundred cavalry back to Linzi, tell Madame, just say that someone is going to rebel in Youzhou, give her this letter, let her return to Jixian County as soon as possible, you lead the troops to guard along the way, and obey Madame's orders!" ”

Chang Kun clenched his fists and promised: "The last general will obey the order!" ”