Xiao Yin struggled to get up, and just wanted to say that it was okay, but his body was not strong and fell down again.

Yan Chixing hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed him and said, "Your Highness, don't be reluctant, it's still important to be physical." There are 120,000 troops here, and in the current state of His Highness, I really dare not entrust them to you, so I will write to Your Majesty and ask him for his approval to send you back to Jianye to recuperate. After saying that, he arched his hand, turned around and was about to leave the tent.

Xiao Yin hurriedly grabbed him: "Da Sima, don't worry, this king's condition has improved, I believe that he will be cured in a few days, I don't need to tell Your Majesty, let him worry about me, during this time, I will first bother Da Sima to take care of military affairs for me." ”

Xiao Yin didn't want to go back to Jianye, bow down to his former competitors, not to mention how uncomfortable he was. He knew in his heart that if Xiao Yan was not available now, he would not have sent him to the Qin State. If you go back like this, you will not have the opportunity to return to the political stage of the Great Song Dynasty in the future.

"What about the war in Chudi? The fighters over there are also fleeting, and there is no room for delay. "Yan Chixing grasped Xiao Yin's psychological weakness and did not give up, and wanted to let himself not give Xiao Yan a book, it is not enough to give up the command of the Qin State, you have to find a way to solve it on the Chu Di side.

Xiao Yin had no choice but to say: "Danyang's left-behind General Wei Zhongxing has followed Da Sima for many years, and he has also been in battle for a long time, so he should win with an army of 80,000 against Wu Teng's 30,000." This king will send a letter to His Majesty, the military affairs of Chu are temporarily in charge of General Wei, what do you think? ”

Yan Chixing was happy in his heart, but his expression was reluctant: "I can't think of a better way for a while, let's do it for the time being." Your Highness, you should recuperate well, and we will not bother you and take our leave. ”

"General, Your Majesty has just announced to the world that you have disobeyed the king's orders, supported your own troops, and had bad intentions. It has now been decreed that we are all rebellious, and that Danyang will remain in Wei to rebel against the generals, and lead 80,000 troops to attack our Jingzhou. General Wu Teng has just lost the battle, and he only has 30,000 defenders in his hands, I'm afraid it will be difficult to hold it, right? After Zhou Yunjing finished cutting Yan, he also returned to Deng Yuanjue's side, and hurriedly came to report when he heard the news of the loss of Xiakou and the defeat of Jingzhou.

Deng Yuanjue's expression was still calm and composed, without the slightest panic: "Don't worry, as long as the leader is not Yan Chixing, Wu Teng will definitely be able to hold it." However, Xiakou has been lost, and Jingzhou's strategic position is not important, Wu Teng is just there to block Wei Zhongxing for Jiang Huanyan. ”

After speaking, Deng Yuanjue sighed again and continued: "Although I have been prepared for a long time, Your Majesty really tore his face to fight me, which still makes me very uncomfortable. I think that my Deng family has been loyal and good for generations, but in my generation, it has become a rebel, which is really ashamed of my ancestors and ancestors. ”

"Father, it's not our fault, Your Majesty is going to attack us first, we are just defending ourselves and fighting back, if we let them slaughter and lead to the decline of the Deng family, then we are truly ashamed of our ancestors." Deng Wenjie on the side was angry.

Zhou Yunjing also explained: "General Wenjie is right, we are surrounded by enemies on all sides, and it is not the time to think about this, so let's quickly think about how to retreat from the enemy." ”

Deng Yuanjue nodded and began to analyze the current situation: "Jiang Huanyan's soldiers attacked Jingzhou in two ways, they could have defeated Wu Teng, but in the end they let him live, the purpose was to let Wu Teng block Danyang's 80,000 army for them in Jingzhou, and they themselves could free up their hands to deal with us." ”

"Then Jiang Huanyan is planning to send troops to Suizhou? He and Tian Wuji have an army of 350,000, and Lei Zhengming will definitely not be able to hold it. Zhou Yunjing looked worried.

Deng Yuanjue shook his head: "Jiang Huanyan will not fight Suizhou, because he knows that once Suizhou loses, I will withdraw to Shouchun, and then this war will become a protracted war of attrition, which we don't want to see." ”

"If it's not Suizhou, it can only be Chaisang. Jiang Huanyan is planning to take the route we used to destroy Chu at the beginning, Chaisang, Shuzhou, Huicheng, and then Shouchun. He wants to slowly encroach on us, if we withdraw to Shouchun now, then we will have to give up all the cities north of Shouchun, which is equivalent to giving up half of the Chu land. Deng Wenjie said while pointing to the map.

"Yes, Jiang Huanyan knows that if there is a little way, it is impossible for me to give up so many places directly, so I will not use troops against Suizhou until he conquers Huicheng. Yunjing, I'll give you 20,000 light horsemen first, and you hurry to Chaisang to garrison, Chaisang is the big city second only to Shouchun on Jiang Huanyan's marching route. Back then, Gao Kegong could fight with me for several years with the solidity of this city, and you could also use this city to drag Jiang Huanyan. As for the troops, I will ask Wu Shiqi to transfer another 80,000 troops to you from the rear later. Deng Yuanjue said to Zhou Yunjing.

Zhou Yunjing looked at the map, thought for a while, and asked: "It will take half a month from me to Chaisang at the earliest, and it will only take three days from Xiakou to Chaisang, I am afraid that by the time I arrive, Chaisang will have already lost." ”

"If Chaisang is lost, then you will go to defend Shuzhou, although Shuzhou is not as strong as Chaisang, but it is also an important town, as long as you don't let Jiang Huanyan get close to Shouchun, we will have a chance to turn defeat into victory." Deng Yuanjue had already predicted that this situation might occur, so he had already taken countermeasures.

"Please rest assured that the general will definitely live up to his mission and will never let Jiang Huanyan approach Shouchun." Zhou Yunjing was full of confidence.

Deng Yuanjue said to Deng Wenjie again: "You write a letter to Wenhao, ask him to give up Yingchuan, and quickly bring troops to make peace with me, I want to concentrate my forces to take Zhoukou first, and then fight with the Qi army." ”

"Your Highness, the spies in front have sent news that Zhou Yunjing has set off from Zhoukou with 20,000 light horses, why are you still holding your troops, and Wu Teng is unlikely to come from Jingzhou to attack us?" Zeng Dong came to urge Jiang Huanyan to send troops for the third time this day.

Jiang Huanyan still looked at the map unhurriedly: "Don't worry, Zhou Yunjing will arrive in half a month at the earliest." ”

Zeng Dong was even more anxious: "It's not in a hurry, although we are close to Chaisang, but it will take time to attack the city, even if we set off now, before Zhou Yunjing arrives, the time left for us to attack the city is less than ten days." ”

Jiang Huanyan ignored his rhetoric and asked rhetorically, "If I take Chaisang before the Song army arrives, what do you think Zhou Yunjing will do?" ”

"Of course it's Shoushuzhou." Zeng Dong blurted out.

"If my goal is to kill Zhou Yunjing, then what's the difference between fighting him in Chaisang and Shuzhou?" Jiang Huanyan asked again.

Zeng Dong was still puzzled: "After all, we can take one more city, and besides, Chaisang City is much stronger than Shuzhou, and the decisive battle with the Song army in Shuzhou is always higher than the chance of victory in Chaisang, even if Your Highness plans to finish the battle, then you should put the battlefield in Shuzhou." ”

"Yes, I'm just going to do it." Jiang Huanyan nodded: "But I didn't say that I would fight him in Chaisang." ”

Speaking of this, Jiang Huanyan pointed to Wulao Mountain, a hundred miles away from Chaisang City, on the map, and then said: "Xiakou left 50,000 people to defend the city, and we still divided our troops into two ways, I led an army of 100,000 to surround Chaisang, and you also led 100,000 troops to bypass Chaisang and set up an ambush in Wulao Mountain." When Zhou Yunjing passes, you ambush him again. ”

"It turns out that the reason why you don't send troops now is to give Zhou Yunjing an illusion and make him feel that he can rush back to Chaisang in time. Deng Yuanjue has to besiege the city to send reinforcements, but Your Highness, you don't have to besiege the city, every time you can let their reinforcements obediently walk into our ambush circle, the end will be really breathtaking. The longer Zeng Dong followed Jiang Huanyan, the more he felt that he couldn't see through him.

Jiang Huanyan waved her hand impatiently: "Since you know, don't bother me several times a day." By the way, you have to put on the appearance that we plan to send troops to Yicheng, so as not to make Zhou Yunjing suspicious. ”

At this time, it is understandable that others want to send troops to Yicheng, because all the surrounding areas of Xiakou are the cities of the Song Kingdom, and Xiakou is equivalent to a lonely city, and the capture of Yicheng can open up the connection between Xiakou and Xiangyang.

Although Zhou Yunjing was in a hurry, he was also paying attention to Jiang Huanyan's dynamics at all times. At first, I thought it was strange to see that he was slow to send troops, but later inquired that he planned to take Yicheng first, and then send troops to Chaisang, Zhou Yunjing still laughed at Jiang Huanyan in his heart for being too cautious, so that he missed the fighter.

When there were still seven days away from Chaisang, Jiang Huanyan still had no sign of sending troops, and at this time, Zhou Yunjing secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and he could finally rush to Chaisang.

"What's up ahead?" Song Jun walked for another five days, but still did not receive any news about Jiang Huanyan's troops, seeing that Chaisang City was about to arrive, Zhou Yunjing decided to find a place to rest first.

During this time, in order to hurry, the soldiers under his command have not rested much, and now everyone has a tired face, if this appearance is seen by the defenders and people of Chaisang, maybe their combat effectiveness will be underestimated, which will affect the confidence of defending the city.

"General Yu, there is Wulao Mountain in front, and you can reach Chaisang after crossing this mountain and walking for more than half a day." The lieutenant next to him replied.

Zhou Yunjing nodded: "Okay, the brothers have worked hard in the past half month, we will camp at the foot of Wulao Mountain tonight to rest, and then go to Chaisang City tomorrow." ”

As soon as the words fell, the soldiers around him were excited, not to mention camping and resting all the way, when it rained, it would be good to find a dry place to lie down, and most of the time was spent on horseback.

The army marched to the foot of Wulao Mountain, just set up camp, and was about to bury the pot for cooking, when suddenly there was a shouting and killing sound from all around, and when I looked up, I saw countless Qi troops surrounding from all directions.

Zeng Dongchong was at the front, and when he saw Zhou Yunjing, he smiled: "General Zhou, we met again, last time we were under Liuzhou City, I wanted to fight with you, but I didn't expect you to slip away overnight, see you today, do you still have a place to escape?" ”