Lanling.

Liang Yi knelt straight in the big tent, both sides were overgrown with generals and officials, and Hua Mulan sat on the main seat and stared silently.

The atmosphere in the tent was a little depressing and dull, after all, Liang Yi was ambushed because he did not follow Mulan's military orders, if he seriously pursued it, this was enough to kill his head.

After a long time, someone finally shouted, "Ahem! The veteran Guo Sheng stood up and hugged his fists and said to Mulan: "Marshal, General Liang actually just wants to hurry more while it is dark and cool, so as not to be pulled too far away by the Southern Korean army and not put enough pressure on them, his idea is good." Speaking of which, he didn't disobey the military order, but just extended the marshal's military order! ”

"According to the inquiry and investigation sent by the old minister, after encountering the ambush, General Liang reacted quickly, responded in a timely manner, and made correct decisions, which avoided the loss of our soldiers to the greatest extent and made the ambushed Southern Korean army return in vain!"

"The war is imminent, and now our army is at the time of employing people, the old minister today relies on the old man to sell the old man, and asks the marshal for personal favors, so that General Liang is exempted from the death penalty, and he will be punished lightly, let him wear the crime and make meritorious service!"

Liang Yi let the striker be ambushed because he did not fully carry out the military order, killing and wounding more than 800 people, if he did not kill him, how could Mulan's authority be established? As a woman as a marshal, if there is no strict law, how can you control the generals and soldiers?

Liang Yi is Zhao Junsheng's sworn brother, and he can't be killed, which is why Hua Mulan hasn't spoken out, she is waiting for someone to find a reason for her not to kill Liang Yi.

When Guo Sheng stood up and said something, the generals and officials reacted, and they all understood the reason why Hua Mulan had been silent just now, so the generals and officials bowed down one after another: "What General Guo said is very true, please leave General Liang with his life and let him make meritorious contributions!" ”

Hua Mulan secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, she was already riding a tiger just now, it was not good to kill, it was not good not to kill, fortunately, Guo Sheng, an old and sophisticated veteran, understood her thoughts, otherwise she really didn't know how to end!

Hua Mulan looked at Liang Yi and said in a deep voice: "Liang Yi, according to the mistakes you made, this commander must order you to be beheaded to set an example, but now there is General Guo Lao and all the generals and officials to intercede for you, and this commander will give you a chance to make meritorious contributions and not kill you!" But the capital crime can be avoided, the living crime cannot be escaped, and beating you with twenty military sticks will make you increase your memory, can you be convinced? ”

Liang Yi seemed to have escaped death, kneeling on the ground: "Thank you for the marshal's grace of not killing, surrender and obey!" ”

Hua Mulan waved her hand: "Come on, execute!" ”

A few armor soldiers walked in from outside the tent and pressed Liang Yi to the ground, waved the wooden staff and started fighting, at first a few sticks could withstand it, but after beating Liang Yi, he couldn't hold it anymore, and he was so painful that cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he couldn't help screaming in his mouth.

After the beating of the twenty military sticks, Liang Yi's face turned dark blue, and he gasped for breath.

"Take him down to rest!" Hua Mulan waved her hand expressionlessly, and several armor soldiers helped Liang Yi out.

Wang Huilong looked left and right, stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Marshal, after this incident, it can be seen that the heart of the Southern Dynasty army is still there, and the will to fight is still very strong, and our army should not be taken lightly!" In terms of today's situation, it should be the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Dynasty who are anxious, not the marshals, who think that our army does not need to rush to the road, as long as they are not greedy for merit, the Southern Dynasty army will have no way to take our army, and they will be defeated in the end! ”

Hua Mulan also saw that under the situation of poor overall military strength, the monarchs and generals of the Southern Dynasty liked to play strategy. These people are indeed veterans of strategy, and the army of Qianguo is mainly cavalry, supplemented by infantry, and the overall combat effectiveness is stronger than that of the Southern Dynasty army, but most of the generals and colonels in the army are still young, not as old and cunning as the monarchs and generals of the Southern Dynasty.

Therefore, if you want to fight against the Southern Korean army, you can't play strategy with them, you can't play with them, you can directly come hard, fight steadily, do everything in the march and fight in accordance with the rules and common sense, don't be greedy for merit, don't take risks, stipulate how many miles you can march every day, stipulate when to pull out, when to set up camp, make proper arrangements for patrols and patrols, stop advancing when encountering dangerous terrain, send spies to investigate clearly before leaving, and don't give the Southern Dynasties any chance to play conspiracy!

"Pass the order, go out on time every day, march faster, stop looking for a place to camp at noon, rest in the afternoon and night, and the next day, and so on!"

"Yes!"

The temperature in the morning is not high, and the real high temperature is before the afternoon and night, and the temperature drops down when the time comes, but the cadres cannot come at night, so they can only make use of the whole morning's time, rush as fast as possible, and rest all afternoon and night, so that the time really used for marching does not exceed seven hours at most.

However, if the efficiency and speed of the march were fast enough, it would be possible to travel fifty or sixty miles in seven hours, which was only a dozen miles shorter than the distance of a normal march in one day.

Three days later, Hua Mulan led the army to Yongfu County, northeast of Pengcheng, at this time the Southern Dynasty army of nearly 80,000 horses had set up camp outside Pengcheng, the Southern Dynasty army relied on Pengcheng, a fortified city, to set up a camp so that Hua Mulan had some traps, once he fought with Liu Yikang's Southern Dynasty army, if the defenders of Pengcheng were killed, her flank would be attacked.

Hua Mulan's army set up camp ten miles northeast of Pengcheng, and she was not in a hurry to attack at this time, not because she was afraid of too much loss, but because she couldn't find it.

"Where are the king's soldiers and horses?" Mulan asked, looking at the map.

"The news I received in the morning has broken through Suiyang!" Liang Yi stood up and replied with his fists clenched.

Hua Mulan looked at the map and pondered for a while, and said to the generals: "It seems that the king's intention is clear, and he wants to attack Pengcheng with our army!" ”

Wang Huilong stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Marshal, the minister thinks that the king's intentions will not be so obvious, if even we can see it, the monarchs and generals of the Southern Dynasty will not be unable to see it!" ”

At this time, a long announcer sounded outside: "Report-"

As soon as the words fell, a knight ran in from outside and bowed: "Marshal Qiqi, the king sent eight hundred miles to send a confidential military report urgently, and I specially explained it, and I can only hand it over to the marshal himself!" ”

Hua Mulan quickly got up and walked over, picked up the military newspaper, opened it, read it carefully, pondered for a moment, and then ordered: "General Yuan listens to the order!" ”

Genga stood up and clenched his fists: "The minister is here!" ”

"Order you to lead 10,000 light horsemen to quickly go south to bypass the cities along the way and go straight to Huaiyin! Break through Huaiyin in the shortest possible time, destroy all ships and bridges within a radius of two hundred miles from the riverbank, and then rest on the spot, you can wait for the opportunity to move, but you must report your whereabouts at any time! ”

"Yes!" Genga said yes and turned around and left quickly.

On July 25, Zhao Junsheng led a large army to break through Qiaoxian.

When the news reached Pengcheng, Liu Song's ministers changed their complexion, and Zhao Junsheng's army did not rush to Pengcheng as they inferred, but went south to capture Qian County, which was in the southwest of Pengcheng, and once the cavalry of the cadre army swung eastward to cut off the logistics supply line of the Southern Korean army, this would be an absolutely disastrous blow to the more than 80,000 Southern Korean army, and the 80,000 Southern Korean army would collapse without the cadre army attacking.

In the lobby of Pengcheng Taishou Mansion, Emperor Liu Yikang and the ministers and generals all looked solemn.

Minister Zhu Yan stood up and said: "Your Majesty, our army's current grain and grass can still be eaten for a month, and the Qianjun army has captured Qian County, and now our army has only two choices: first, defeat the Mulan army twenty miles away in the northeast, and then wave the army west to find Zhao Junsheng for a decisive battle and defeat him, so that our army can continue the Northern Expedition; Second, the army abandoned all the heavy things that could be discarded, quickly withdrew south, withdrew to the south of the Huai River, and held the coastal ferries and important military towns to confront the cadres across the river! ”

Wang Zhongde stood up and clenched his fists and said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that he should quickly retreat south!" Our army has been fighting with the Mulan department in the northeast for a long time, and we already know their combat power and depth, and it is almost impossible to defeat them in a short time. Also, even if they can't be defeated, the cadres can still quickly rear, most of them are cavalry, and our army can't catch up even if they want to! ”

Liu Yikang is an ambitious person, he doesn't want to be an emperor who only guards the one acre and three points of land in the south of the Yangtze River, let alone an emperor with a nest, he wants to dominate the world and be an emperor whose cultural and martial arts far surpass those of previous dynasties, but his own talent limitations and reality make him helpless.

Retreating, unwilling, they all reached the edge of the Yellow River, and they were driven back again, how could Liu Yikang be willing? But what if you are unwilling? Is it possible to fight to the death with the Wei army and fight all this strength to the end?

Zhu Bian said that it was two choices, in fact, Liu Yikang had no choice at all, he could only lead the army to retreat, he did not have the courage to fight to the death with Mulan, it didn't matter if the tens of thousands of troops in Mulan's hands were lost, and the 80,000 troops in his hands Liu Yikang could not afford to lose, once the 80,000 horses were lost here, the Southern Dynasty would not be able to make a northern expedition for at least twenty or thirty years.

"Give the order to go down, abandon all ordnance and equipment that slows down the march, and retreat south as fast as possible! In addition, he sent an order to Liu Yuanjing of the Western Route Army to lead the army to retreat south to Xiangyang."

If only one of the troops and horses is to be withdrawn, then the other road is likely to be cut off and the return route is possible.

Liu Yikang gave an order, and looked at the generals again, "Wang Xuanmo, you stay and take three thousand men and horses to garrison Pengcheng!" ”

Are you kidding? Mulan's 60,000 male division is only twenty miles away from here, and you asked me to take 3,000 people to guard Pengcheng, doesn't this make me wait for death? Wang Xuanmo scolded in his heart, he knelt on the ground with a puff and cried: "Your Majesty, it's not easy for these sons to practice, the court has spent a lot of grain, grass and money to train them into an army, and it's a pity if they are lost to the cadres in vain!" It would be good if the cadres killed them, and if the cadres captured them, they would be reorganized and let them attack our dynasty again! ”

"The old minister has been loyal to the court and His Majesty all his life, and he has been fighting with the Northern Dynasty for decades, although he has lost many victories and won few battles, there is no merit and hard work, please Your Majesty for the sake of the old minister and the white spots on his temples, let the old minister return to Jiankang with His Majesty!"

Liu Yikang saw Wang Xuanmo crying sadly, and he couldn't bear it, so he waved his hand: "Okay, okay, since you think you can't hold Pengcheng, it's okay if this Pengcheng is not defended, you can go south with the army!" ”

Wang Xuanmo kowtowed: "Thank you Your Majesty for your compassion!" ”