More than ten miles northwest outside Youzhou City, the temporary Chinese army in the Baoguang Temple on the bank of the Sanggan River was shrouded in a rather heavy and suffocating atmosphere for a while.

Because of an unexpected incident, most of the main generals of the Pinglu Army as foreign aid gathered here, and quietly discussed the next step of the countermeasures and stay, and from time to time looked at the large silk scrolls hanging on the wall.

As the convener, the two armies are in charge of Liu Menglong, but he watched calmly and calmly, and his own army introduced the latest situation and reports in public.

In fact, before that, he had found himself in a dilemma; First of all, the first battle the day before yesterday had already been frustrated, and almost in front of the firearms, the most elite group of men and horses were lost.

Then, yesterday, after a short period of negotiation and negotiation with the Pinglu Army, which had arrived from the other two routes, the elite and daring men were selected to launch a strong attack again overnight, but they were once again hit by the Huai Army's empty city plan in the camp under the city;

Nearly 3,000 soldiers were attacked on the spot, and almost nothing was spared under the siege of the ambush and four firearms, and then in the contact and break from the battle, more than 1,000 people were lost one after another, most of them were his more valuable cavalry,

At this point, it is enough for Liu Menglong to have the corresponding intention to retreat, and he has the intention to turn to another place to rest and reunite;

After all, except for Han Zhongyan, the governor of the city who was trapped in the city, he had already become the most powerful existence among the only remaining military orders in Pinglu Dao; If it is placed in the past, at least it is one of the four towns, and even the deputy governor of the envoy of the festival degree has never been impossible.

If there is any accident or accident in the city's metropolitan governor Han Zhongyan, he will take over the first rank of the feudal towns of Pinglu Dao.

Even if things are really out of control in the end, and it is difficult for people to do anything, he can rely on the military power in his hands to go to the land behind the mountains or retreat to the border between Hebei and Pinglu, and continue to divide the local states and more than ten cities, and it is not a way to survive for the sake of retreating and protecting himself and waiting for a price between the surrounding forces.

However, most of the generals under his command firmly believed that the other party was waiting for them to rescue him because their families and relatives were all in Youzhou City; The surging emotions they launched because of this were a disguised coercion of the will of the majority of the army, and made him a little jealous and did not dare to retreat lightly.

Especially after converging the two men and horses who had paid a lot of money and conditions and had finally withdrawn from the Hebei Provincial Division, this thought was even more unlikely to appear on the table;

Although, now, according to his rank and prestige, he is still implicitly respected, and is responsible for coordinating the common advance and retreat of the three departments; However, the commanders of the other two roads are obviously not fuel-efficient lamps, and although they have vowed to work together to tide over the difficulties under the current situation of foreign enemies, they will not mind any opportunity to take the lead in the direction of these troops.

What's more, although after the loss of troops in the early stage, with the two roads of men and horses returning one after another, and the native soldiers and archers who were coerced and requisitioned along the way, including the last bit of town defense soldiers and military households along the border, the available soldiers under his command once again reached the so-called 60,000 people, of which at least 40,000 were combatable soldiers.

This also inevitably gave birth to a certain illusion and confidence that many Pinglu generals, including him, could not fight with the Huai army, or discuss the length of the war;

After all, no matter how sharp the opponent's firearms are, it is really difficult to say how much fighting spirit and combat power can be left after the fatigue of the division after the siege and street fighting, as well as the consumption of fierce wave battles.

Especially after the Huai army took the initiative to give up and demolished the camps outside the city, which were against each other outside the city, they were given such encouragement and hints, and the other side was obviously a little short of troops, and it was necessary to shrink the defense line and concentrate resources to maintain the defensive position in the city.

After all, judging from the situation they explored and observed, it was obvious that the defenders under the command of most of the Metropolitan Governor in the city were still holding on to resisting, and most of the Huai army had never been able to resolve the battle and were still bound in the city, and could not divide more troops to deal with them, this series of news inevitably made people more optimistic and confident.

Of course, compared with the middle and lower-class soldiers who have been angered and carried away by the bad news of the fall of the family and the fall of the township, as a relatively sober and far-sighted senior general, Liu Menglong will certainly not feel that things are so simple after fully understanding the power of the Huai Army's "field battle and good defense first".

To be able to defeat the Huai army and break its myth and reputation of "invincible" is of course a great thing, but also a rare merit and great cause, which is enough to push oneself to a more veritable high position; But there is also a lack of sufficient possibilities and opportunities, after all, the other party has already occupied the advantage of the city's defense;

After seeing the prestige and strength of the Huai Army's battle, he didn't want to easily consume the living force in his hands and lose his right to speak and dominate in the army.

Therefore, his purpose is more to contain and harass the living forces of the other side through constantly tentative military offensives, and to divide troops to attack and cut off their food routes and rear routes; As a result, the internal and external forces will form a pressure and general trend that is difficult to ignore, so as to achieve the basic goal of finally promoting peace through war;

After all, after this attack, the Pinglu Dao perennial gathering was once again empty, and from the feudal town to the local area, it was also ruined and withered and its vitality was greatly damaged, and there was no longer the capital and support to continue the war against the Quartet, but could only ask for a peace that could barely settle down.

Therefore, being able to make the other party unable to gain a firm foothold and gain a foothold in Pinglu Road, and having to retreat from Youzhou City despite difficulties, as well as the rescue and preservation merits obtained from it, are already the best psychological expectations that he can achieve;

And if it is the worst, it is necessary to rely on these strengths to reach some kind of alliance agreement with the Huai army that entered Pinglu Dao;

For example, through a secret agreement, he sacrificed the Metropolitan Governor and his followers who were still fighting in the city, in exchange for some better conditions for these powerful factions under his command; Or seek a broader space and retreat, and obtain more realistic compensation for interests, instead of being coerced by the will of the military and the public here, and the dilemma of long-term confrontation continues.

But in any case, he must first achieve a sufficient upper hand against the enemy in a short period of time, which will be used to inspire people and serve as the basis and confidence for subsequent negotiations with the Huai army.

However, as if Heaven had heard his heart, suddenly such an opportunity was placed in front of him;

A small group of disguised sergeants who broke out to ask for help with the seal letter and blood letter of the Governor of Han finally encountered his patrolmen and horses after a lot of hardships and the search and killing of the Huai cavalry outside the city, and were brought back the last few survivors who were scarred and dying.

Although the news and letters brought by the other party did not have much practical significance to them except for symbolic supervision and encouragement, the news and inside information that one of the lieutenants unintentionally gave made him pay special attention to it all of a sudden.

For example, in addition to the military strength of guarding and patrolling the gates, most of the Huai army is now participating in street battles and plundering in the inner city, and the control of the outer Guo city is relatively empty;

Another example is the hidden danger of several disrepairs on the outer city wall and serious collapse inside; the location of several large captive camps and districts in the city,

Therefore, the reason and name he wants, as well as the corresponding mature conditions, seem to have all of a sudden.

Therefore, no matter how cautious and suspicious Liu Menglong is, he can only put aside his more stable and conservative style for the time being, and take a little risk to take advantage of this opportunity.

on the other hand, because of the needs and persecution of reality, he is no longer allowed to make a decision;

In order to be able to return to Pinglu Dao in time, they almost gave up most of the booty and population captured from Hebei, and they could not take care of the territory they had already occupied, and only brought the most basic baggage and half-moon rations.

Although there are plunders along the way and local aid supplements, but for these soldiers and horses gathered outside Youzhou City, it is also a drop in the bucket and not enough to support for a long time.

。。。。。。。。。。。。

(End of chapter)