At the end of December, Chang'an City.

From the time Li Yi suspended his offensive in November, the Taiping army launched a frantic counterattack in an attempt to retake the city walls. Although Li Yi ordered to defend it strictly, because the fortifications were too simple, even if Li Jun was well-equipped and the soldiers were even more united, they still paid a tragic price.

In less than two months, the casualties of Li soldiers exceeded 20,000. This is also because Li Jun has a medical unit of hundreds of people to treat the wounds of those wounded soldiers, otherwise the number of casualties will only increase. Just look at the Taiping Army, the number of casualties directly exceeded 60,000, and you can imagine what kind of tragic battle took place in Chang'an City in less than two months. Even, where the two armies fought, the floor tiles had been stained red with blood that would not fade.

It's just that Zhang Ning doesn't seem to see such a huge casualty figure at all, and he still has no intention of stopping.

"As long as the offensive continues! Li Zikang will not be able to hold it sooner or later! Our army still has nearly 300,000 troops at its disposal, and among them, only 100,000 people are needed to defend the imperial city! Zhang Ning said coldly, it seemed that the soldiers who were killed and wounded in the battle were just simple numbers for her.

"Naturally, what the queen mother said will not be wrong, but in recent times, the morale of the soldiers has become more and more low, and there have even been many escapes and rebellions......" Wang Yi said with some concern.

"Erchen also agrees with the queen mother's words, but the soldiers outside the city are not as loyal to the court as the elite in the city after all, and if this continues, I am afraid that the commotion will become bigger and bigger......" Ma Chao also rarely raised objections.

From the perspective of his inner thoughts, Ma Chao agreed with Zhang Ning's idea very much, and even he couldn't wait to personally pick up his gun and get on the horse and lead the elite in the city to fight with Li Jun. It's just that although he is not good at strategy and strategy, governing the territory or anything, Ma Chao understands the way of using soldiers very well, because he has been forcibly required by Zhang Ning to be familiar with various military books since he was a child, and he has already begun to command the army when he is more than ten years old before the crown salute.

Therefore, Ma Chao is very aware of how dangerous the situation of the troops is today, and if one is not good, it may cause a large-scale mutiny.

Hearing this, Zhang Ning couldn't help but be a little stunned, obviously she didn't expect Ma Chao and Wang Yi to oppose her at the same time. However, after pondering for a while, she still nodded and said, "Since Meng Qi and Jun Qi both said so, let's stop the offensive for the time being and let the soldiers rest for a while." Well...... The New Year will be in a few days, and when the time comes, Meng Qi will personally go and send some wine and food to the soldiers outside the city. ”

"The queen mother is wise!" Ma Chao and Wang said in unison.

"Hehe, if I were really wise, there would be no such mistakes, if it weren't for the two of you reminding me, I'm afraid that after the New Year, the enemy army would be able to capture the outer city and surround the imperial city." Zhang Ning smiled when he heard this, and directly admitted his mistake.

"The queen mother must not do this, if it is not the queen mother, how can our army fight with the enemy army to such a point?" When Ma Chao and Wang heard this, they immediately said in a panic.

"Okay, okay, it's not too late to talk about this kind of flattery when you repel the enemy army." Zhang Ning waved his hand and smiled.

Inside the Chinese army tent in Li Jun's camp.

Li Yi put down the case file in his hand, casually picked up the wine jug next to him and poured a big sip, and then leaned on Xiaobai's body without any image and sighed, "Although I have long known that there will be a large number of casualties if this continues, I didn't expect it to be so serious......"

"Lord......" Hearing Li Yi's exclamation, Lu Wen on the side looked at Li Yi without saying anything, and her pretty face was full of worry. At this moment, she wanted to comfort Li Yi, but when the words came to her lips, she didn't know what to say.

Perhaps sensing Lu Wen's concern, Li Yi, who was constantly pouring wine, shook his head and said, "Don't worry, although I can't bear it, I will definitely not give in because of this!" ”

"A merciful man cannot lead an army, because in war, casualties are inevitable. If you give up your existing advantage just because you can't bear to have casualties, then this person is not qualified to become a general in command of an army! Looking at the past and present, which famous general has not piled up dry bones like a mountain under his feet? Li Yi looked at Lu Wen and said with a smile.

"Humph! The subordinates didn't worry about the lord! The subordinates are just because the New Year is approaching, and some of them want to talk to them. When Lu Wen heard this, her originally worried expression was instantly retracted, and she snorted with an unhappy face. Obviously, although almost two months have passed, Lu Wen still seems to be angry about the fact that Li Yi and Zhang Ning spent two hours together in the camp tent before.

Well, obviously Lu Wen didn't believe Li Yi's explanation at all, and still suspected that something happened to Li Yi and Zhang Ning. Of course, it was not this reason why she was angry, nor was it that Li Yi didn't tell the truth, but that ......

"Damn! What am I not as good as that witch?! Lu Wen thought angrily in her heart.

"yes, the end of the year is approaching...... Time flies so fast, more than a year has passed in a blink of an eye......" didn't care about Lu Wen, who was angry, Li Yi's attention fell on the New Year's pass. Because, this battle is indeed too long. Well...... Only for Li Yi.

Li Yi has participated in countless battles in his life, but rarely has been away for more than a year. In the past, when he fought against the Yellow Turban and Dong Zhuo, it could be regarded as Li Yi's longest battle abroad, but it was only about half a year and it ended. But now? Counting the upcoming New Year, Li Yi is going to spend the second New Year outside Chang'an City.

And over there, seeing that Li Yi didn't pay any attention to his plans, but after hearing his words, he fell into contemplation inexplicably, and Lu Wen's unhappiness in her heart was even worse. However, she didn't have a seizure like just now, but silently wrote it down in her heart, and then waited quietly.

Perhaps, this is the reason why Li Yi has always had nothing to do with Lu Wen, right? Even if Lu Wen is very willful many times, and even bluntly says that Li Yi will not marry, but Lu Wen, as Li Yi's subordinate, can't find any fault.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly, Li Yi patted the case, stood up and looked directly outside the tent, and said loudly in an excited tone, "That's right! You can use it this way! ”

"The lord has thought of a way to break the enemy?" Seeing Li Yi's appearance, Lu Wen hurriedly asked, "Do you need to invite Xu Junshi and them over?" ”

"Well, invite them over quickly, although it may not be successful, but it is completely worth the try!" Li Yi looked at Lu Wen with blazing eyes and said in a deep voice.