Gan Zining arranged these, but he was still very worried in his heart, he was not sure if Xiang Tong on the other side also knew the news of the loss of Nanyang. If he knew about it and spread the news, his side would definitely be discouraged, and then he would take the opportunity to cover it up, and he would not be able to parry.

Thinking of this, Gan Zining called his deputy general Xu Zhendong and said: "Our current situation is very dangerous, the retreat has been cut off by the Yan army, Yan and Chu are allies, I am afraid that this news will not be able to hide from Xiang Tong for long." Ning Buqu completely blocked the news, the imperial court should not know so soon, and when the person I sent sent sent the letter back, it would be ten days later. The general sent troops to come to the rescue, and it would take a month to reach Nanyang at the earliest. ”

Speaking of this, Gan Zining looked solemn and continued: "Our grain and grass are only enough to last for half a month, and we can't wait for the imperial court to come to the rescue, so we can only rely on ourselves to find a way to save ourselves." I want to divide half of my troops for you to quietly kill back to Nanyang, and I will keep the remaining half to resist Xiang Tong. ”

Xu Zhendong knew that the situation was serious, nodded heavily, and said worriedly: "The last general will take away half of the men, and the general only has 70,000 people left, can he resist Xiang Tong's 100,000 army?" ”

Gan Zining said: "Even if you can't resist it, you have to find a way to block it, the key to this battle is still on your side, Ning Bu Qu only has 30,000 light horsemen, as long as you can take advantage of his unstable foothold and recapture Nanyang City as soon as possible, I don't have to worry about Xiang Tong on my side." ”

Xu Zhendong didn't dare to slack off: "That's without further ado, the last general will go and kill all the people and horses back to Nanyang now." ”

Gan Zining advised again: "Slow down, you must do this quietly, take people away in batches, don't bring too many people at a time, arouse Xiang Tong's vigilance." Also, be careful to keep it secret, and don't tell our people where you're going, lest those who stay panic. When they arrived at Nanyang City, they told them that if they wanted to survive, they had to fight against the water, and if they didn't recapture Nanyang, everyone would only have a dead end. ”

Xu Zhendong nodded, went out of the camp and led 30,000 people, and took the first step to kill back to Nanyang. The remaining 40,000 troops had a few lieutenants under his command who brought 5,000 men to follow every hour.

Xiang Tong in Changli City, two days before Gan Zining got the news, received a message from the Ghost Shadow Gate, Xiang Tong has been closely monitoring the Qi army camp for the past two days, Xu Zhendong's withdrawal in batches, naturally did not hide from Xiang Tong's eyes. Only then did Xiang Tong believe that Ning Buqu did not lie to himself, and Nanyang City was indeed lost.

Xiang Tong smiled, called his eldest son Xiang Chu, and said, "Gan Zining already knew that Nanyang City was lost, so he sent Xu Zhendong back, wanting to take advantage of Ning's unyielding foothold and recapture it. ”

Xiang Chu hurriedly said: "Then what are we waiting for, hurry up and send troops to intercept him." ”

Xiang Tong shook his head: "Don't worry, Ning Buqu still has 30,000 people in his hands, let them defend it first, if they can fight and lose both, then it would be good." You go and release this news now, so that everyone in the Qi army knows that their retreat has been cut off. ”

Xiang Chu understood: "The child understands, as long as this panic spreads, the combat effectiveness of the Qi army will drop sharply, and then we will be able to win more easily." But Ning Buqu only has 30,000 light cavalry, and in the face of the 70,000 Qi army in the face of a back-to-back battle, can he hold it? ”

Xiang Tong seemed to have great confidence in Ning Buqu: "Don't worry, in the last water battle with the Qi State, Ning Buqu was able to drag the Qi army with thirty newly formed naval troops and one hundred warships until the Song army came to the rescue, which is enough to prove that this person is not simple." Among the young generals of the Five Kingdoms, Shi Luosheng and Yan Guoning, who currently belong to the Song Kingdom, have the potential to be unyielding famous generals, Chu'er, you still have to work hard. ”

Xiang Chu nodded a little ashamedly.

In the camp of the Qi army, rumors spread everywhere, and after a while, five or six partial generals had already walked into the big tent to ask Gan Zining about the situation in Nanyang. Gan Zining knew that this must have been done by Xiang Tong, and he should have colluded with Yan Jun a long time ago, otherwise he would not have known about the loss of Nanyang so quickly.

After Xu Zhendong took away 70,000 troops, his own strength was no longer as good as the Chu army, and now the people are panicked, and the combat effectiveness is not as good as before, but he is afraid that he will be defeated in a battle.

After worrying for two days, Gan Zining found that Xiang Tong did not have any signs of sending troops, but Gan Zining would not be naïve to think that Xiang Tong would let him go, he was just waiting, waiting for news from Nanyang. If Xu Zhendong can't take Nanyang within half a month, then the grain and grass will run out, and his 70,000 people will not have to fight, and they will starve to death.

Ning Buqu's previous identity was the young master of the Ghost Shadow Gate, and he was not well-known among the Five Kingdoms, until the last naval battle, although it was the first time Ning Buqu led the army, but it also made all the Qi Dynasty remember this name.

Jiang Huanyan and others may not know his strength in naval battles, but how could Gan Zining, as a general of Qi State, not know? Ning Bu yielded to Jiang Huanyan, who had more than three times the number of troops, and could hold Penglai for more than a month, so now facing Xu Zhendong, who had only twice as many troops, could he hold for half a month?

What's more, at that time, Ning Bu used the newly formed naval army, and now he has the most elite cavalry of the Yan Kingdom. Besides, Jiang Huanyan is the first person in naval warfare, and Xu Zhendong is just an ordinary general of Qi State, and the gap between the two cannot be compared at all. The more Gan Zining thought about it, the more worried he became, and wanted to withdraw his troops to support Xu Zhendong, but he was worried that Xiang Tong would take the opportunity to pursue him.

Under Nanyang City, the Qi army also knew at this time that they were in ruin, and within half a month, it would be a dead end if they could not recapture Nanyang City. But the Yan army on the city wall, why aren't they? Compared to the Qi army, they had no way to retreat, and the Qi army could still count on reinforcements from the imperial court, and they could not count on anything but victory.

In the face of Xu Zhendong's repeated attacks, the Yan army resisted desperately, and Ning Buqu's father and son also did not join the night for two days and two nights, standing on the city wall, guarding the front line.

Three days have passed, Xu Zhendong has no way to take Ning Unyielding father and son, and Nanyang City has no sign of being breached.

It was precisely because Gan Zining was three days late that he knew the news, and in those three days, Ning Buqu had already led people to purge the recalcitrant elements in the city, including Xiong Yunzhi, the commander of the city defense army, who was not stabbed to death by the elders of the Ghost Shadow Gate. Now the city is also full of masters of the Ghost Shadow Gate patrolling around with people, and the people dare not make any changes at all.

The Qi army can not attack for a long time, naturally there will be people whose confidence is shaken, in the face of the back road is cut off, the grain and grass will be exhausted, and the rescue is indefinite, once this panic spreads, the blow to morale is rapid, and it is only on the seventh day, the siege of the Qi army has been much worse than before.

After another two days, even Xu Zhendong began to waver, looking at the disheartened Qi army in front of him, let alone attacking the city, Xu Zhendong even doubted that if Ning Buqu led his troops out of the city now, he would be able to resist it. You must know that these Yan troops defending the city were originally light cavalry, and the cavalry of Yan was the strongest among the five countries.