Chapter 49: Withdrawal

Yang Xingmi had a hunch in his heart that this might be his last chance to go north to the Central Plains. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoIf he misses it, he will have to settle for the south at most.

This hunch made him very worried, since ancient times, the forces that favored the south have not unified China. At that time, Sun Quan seized Jiangdong and repeatedly defeated the army of Wei in the north, but in the end he still could not escape the fate of destruction; Later, the Eastern Jin Dynasty and even the Song Qi Liang Chen and other regimes, the place they controlled was larger than the current Yang Xingmi, but so what? In the end, it was unified by the Sui Dynasty.

What's more, even if he doesn't consider entering the world, just for his own Huainan, he can't easily withdraw his troops.

Judging from the current situation in the world, the most powerful force is obviously Zhu Quanzhong; There were four forces second only to Zhu Quanzhong: Li Keyong, the king of Jin in Hedong, Li Maozhen, the king of Qi in Fengxiang, Wang Jian, the king of Xiping in Shu, and Yang Xingmi himself.

However, among the four major forces, Li Keyong was disabled by Zhu Quanzhong last year, and now he is unable to send troops to deal with Zhu Quanzhong; Wang Jian only wanted to divide the land of Shu, and he had always had conflicts with Li Maozhen, and was helping Zhu Quanzhong attack Li Maozhen at this time; And Li Maozhen faced the attack of the two forces, and he was about to be completely disabled, if Yang Xingmi didn't save him, when Zhu Quanzhong completely defeated the other forces, it would be difficult for Yang Xingmi to resist at that time.

So whether it was to enter the Central Plains north or to support Li Maozhen, he was unwilling to withdraw his troops.

After the many generals retreated, Gao Mian said to him with a sad face, "King, although the generals' desire to fight is still very high, the grain and grass in the army are really not available. ”

"Yes, Xu Wen still has a foresight, if he hadn't suggested using a small boat to transport military rations, I'm afraid that the food would have run out of food by now." Thinking of Xu Wen's original suggestion, Yang Xingmi couldn't help but feel surprised, his old brother had been with him for almost twenty years, and he had always kept a low profile, and he didn't know that this person actually had such knowledge.

Then he remembered that when he first entered Xuanzhou, the other generals went to rob the property, but Xu Wen led his subordinates to seize the granary and open the warehouse to release grain to help the people. This incident made him feel strange at the beginning, thinking that Xu Wen had insight, but after that, Xu Wen was very low-key and had no credit, so he forgot about him back and forth.

"It seems that I still underestimated this person before, and I should reuse him in the future!" Yang Xingmi secretly decided.

"The king, it's all because of the ineffective handling of his subordinates that he missed the king's major affairs, and I ask the king to punish him!" Gao Mian looked frightened and fell to the ground to plead guilty.

"Mr. Gao, why bother? The army has always used large ships to transport grain and grass, and what is happening now is not Mr. Gao's fault. Besides, if I could have stayed a few more days when I was in Guangling, and waited until enough boats were collected before setting off, I wouldn't have encountered today's predicament! Yang Xingmi hurriedly helped Gao Mian up.

"But the matter has come to this point, the food and grass in the army are already insufficient, and I ask the king to withdraw the army as soon as possible!"

"The withdrawal of troops is not possible for the time being, and Mr. Gao is also asked to be responsible for the dispatch of grain and grass, which must be supported for at least five days. Five days later, if Suzhou cannot be conquered, Gu will definitely withdraw his troops at that time. Yang Xingmi got up and said to Gao Mian.

Gao Mian saw that he was so firm in what he said, so he had to grit his teeth and promise to hold on for another five days.

For the next five days, Yang Xingmi's army braved the rain like crazy, but the result was still so desperate. Five days later, Suzhou was still firmly in the hands of the defenders.

This is also a common thing in this era, and as long as the troops defending the city deal calmly and have enough food and grass, it will not be a problem to hold out for a few months or even more than a year. The Huainan army has been attacking the city for less than ten days, and it has encountered heavy rain, so it is strange that it can take Suzhou. So at this time, the generals under Yang Xingmi also came to their senses.

"The army is about to run out of food, the king, you can't attack anymore, let's withdraw the army!" Inside the tent, Gao Mian persuaded Yang Xingmi hard.

"Yes, king, if you don't retreat from the army, I'm afraid that the army will be in danger!" The generals also persuaded one after another.

Wang Maozhang and the others also lost the anger they had a few days ago, and the supply of grain and grass in the army has been getting smaller and smaller these days, and they naturally understand the current predicament of the army. Until now, the soldiers had to eat only one meal a day, and they had to brave the rain to attack the city, and the supply of arrows and other ordnance was also insufficient, so there was no point in continuing the siege except to cause casualties.

"Order, tomorrow the army will begin to withdraw in turn! Tai Meng, you lead your troops to be responsible for breaking off the rear to prevent the enemy from pursuing. ”

In the face of such a situation, although he was still unwilling in his heart, Yang Xingmi could only order to retreat.

That night, the Huainan army began to retreat one after another, but fortunately, the fierce siege of the Huainan army in the past few days made the Suzhou defenders also pay huge casualties, and they couldn't figure out whether the Huainan army pretended to withdraw but lured them out of the city, so they didn't dare to pursue, just watched the Huainan army retreat.

The heavy rain was still falling, the pouring rain shrouded the night sky, Yang Xingmi rode a horse and stood on a small slope, looking at the not too high city wall of Suzhou from afar, he sighed in his heart, "Farewell, my Central Plains!" ”

Dai Yougui on the side seemed to see his thoughts, and persuaded in a low voice, "Since it is difficult for the king to succeed in entering the Central Plains in the north, he should turn to the south of the Yangtze River first, and wait for the changes in the Central Plains according to the people of Jianghuai." Jiangxi Zhong Chuan, Wuchang Du Hong, Liangzhejiang Qian Biao, etc., these are what the king should consider. ”

Yang Xingmi was shocked when he heard this, "Yes, Zhu Quanzhong's troops are strong and difficult to deal with, but can these forces in the south also fight against my army?" As long as these forces are eliminated and the south is unified, it will at least be able to divide the south. As for whether he can dominate the world in the future, it depends on Wu'er. ”

Thinking of Yang Wu, he couldn't help but feel gratified, at least his son has shown a certain ability now, and if he trains well after going back this time, he will definitely be able to become a good successor in the future!

"Let's go, go back to Yangzhou!" Yang Xingmi laughed and beat his horse away, and Dai Yougui behind him couldn't help laughing when he saw his expression.

In June of the second year of Tianfu, Yang Xingmi, the envoy of Huainan Jiedu and King Wu of Wu, led an army to attack Suzhou, but he did not resist and returned with insufficient military food.

This war against Suzhou is recorded in history only a few words, but it was a major turning point for Yang Xingmi.

Before this, he still had the dream of going north to the Central Plains and competing for hegemony in the world, thinking about eliminating Zhu Quanzhong and supporting the imperial court, but this time, the war of less than a month completely shattered his hopes.

Fortunately, he is an indomitable person and has not been depressed by this. After that, he began to devote himself to eliminating the internal unstable forces, and his suspicion of Tian Yan, An Renyi, and Zhu Yanshou became more and more serious; At the same time, he began to increase his training of Yang Wu, hoping that he could grow up as soon as possible and take over his position.

In addition to the above changes, this battle of Suzhou was also the last time Yang Xingmi led the army to march in person, and he has not led troops to fight again.

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