Chapter 42: Recovering Hexi
Months of attacks by the Predators ended in failure, and after a terrible battle, the morale of the retreating Predators was extremely low.
Wei Zeng would not let go of this good opportunity to defeat the Iron Blood Army, and followed closely with tens of thousands of Yanbei soldiers, constantly giving blows to the Iron Blood Army. For a while, the offensive and defensive situation changed, and the advantage of the Yanbei Righteous Army became more and more obvious.
Bai Zheng chose to make a desperate bet, and the result of the all-or-nothing bet was either a big win or a loss. The current Bai Zheng no longer has the intention of pacifying Yanbei, he just wants to hold the land west of the river and not make this expedition a complete failure.
But the defeat was like a mountain, and the result was no longer under Bai Zheng's control.
After Wei Zeng and Sajiali rendezvous, they concentrated their elite attacks on the retreating Iron Army. The morale of the Yanbei soldiers is now high, and they are also sparing no effort to attack the Iron Blood Army.
Wu Deli's 30,000 old Qin soldiers did not participate in the assault, and the establishment was the most intact, and they also took on the task of blocking the pursuit of the Yanbei Righteous Army.
Udeli looked at the endless pursuers behind him, and he also felt a sense of despair in his heart. The big city of Hexi has been captured by Zhang Ling, and the enemy army in Yanbei is in hot pursuit, and this posture has the meaning of driving the iron-blooded army out of Hexi.
The old Qin soldiers fired a flurry of bows and arrows to push back the approaching enemy troops, and then slowly retreated to the west.
Gu Chayi's horse team played a major role in the pursuit of the Predators, leaving the Predators without a respite.
Gu Cha was defeated by the iron-blooded warriors one after another, and he took this opportunity to avenge the arrow, so that the iron-blooded warriors would also suffer the shame of defeat. Therefore, when Gu Chayi was pursuing, the target was the Chinese army of the Udeli soldiers.
Gu Chayi's horse team was very mobile, and it was not the old Qin soldiers of Udli who could stop it; The Iron-Blooded Warrior experienced defeat and had long since lost his original bravery, and in the face of Gu Chayi's pursuit, the marching formation of the Iron-Blooded Warrior became more and more scattered.
"Wei Zeng, what are your plans? We have pursued for more than a hundred miles, and it seems that it will not be a problem to drive the Iron Army out of Hexi. Sagaree asked.
"After nearly half a year of fighting, I finally waited for this opportunity, and I must not let go of the Iron Army. Now although they have suffered heavy losses, the main force is still there, if they are allowed to withdraw to Anyun safely and make a comeback next year, we will have to fight hard again. Now that they are demoralized, it is a good opportunity to eliminate them. Wei Zeng said.
"You mean, annihilate the Iron Blooded Army to the west of the river. Now that Zhang Ling has cut off their back road, as long as we make proper arrangements, it is not impossible to annihilate them. But after all, the enemy is an army of 100,000 people, and it will be difficult for us to do so. Sagaree pondered.
"It is of course difficult to besiege the enemy and then annihilate it. If we don't handle it properly, the enemy will fight the trapped beasts, and we will also be in great trouble. But after chasing the dead and chasing the north, the enemy will not have any chance to turn over. What I mean is for Zhang Ling to cooperate with us to flank the enemy first, and when the enemy's morale is reduced, deliberately open a gap to give the enemy a chance to escape. Then we pursued the enemy all the way to the hinterland of Anyun. Wei Zeng said with a flash of light in his eyes.
"Hit the hinterland of Anyun! This is indeed a good opportunity to destroy the Iron Army, but the Iron Blood Army has 200,000 people, even if we defeat these 100,000 people, there are still 100,000 people waiting for us, how can we capture An Yun? Sagaree said in shock.
"Naturally, it is not possible to occupy Anyun now, but it is no problem to lead the war to the hinterland of Anyun. As long as the Iron Blood Army is not given a chance to regroup, the Iron Blood Army will not have a chance to attack Yanbei again. As long as we have the ability to take the initiative, the Predator will fall into a situation of passive defense.
"Anyun is a land of abundance, but it is also a land of four wars, as long as the myth of the invincibility of the Iron and Blood Army is broken, their troubles will not end." Wei Zeng said.
"So we're going to fight Anyun? No problem, as long as you give the order to attack, my men will definitely move forward. Sagaree agreed.
"Then inform Zhang Ling now, let him hold on to a few big cities, and definitely not let the iron-blooded army open up the back road. Cha Yi's horse team continued to harass the enemy army, and as long as the formation of the Iron Blood Army appeared to be scattered, it was the time for them to perish. Wei Zeng said resolutely.
The end of the strong crossbow does not penetrate Lu Min, and the city of Hexi, which the iron-blooded army captured without much effort, has now become an insurmountable natural danger.
Zhang Ling's Tianjia Army spared no effort this time in order to stop the Iron Blood Army.
Gu Chayi's horse team had been chasing the enemy for days, and the Iron Blood Army had no respite, and was now exhausted. When the main army led by Wei Zeng arrived, the iron-blooded army was finally defeated.
The defeat was like a mountain, and the situation was no longer under Bai Zheng's control. When one of the defensive lines of the Tianjia Army on the Western Front was broken through that day, 100,000 iron-blooded soldiers rushed over one after another. They now just want to escape from the land of right and wrong in Hexi. The desire to survive finally broke through the heart defense of the iron-blooded soldiers, and the iron-blooded army was defeated.
The breakthrough of the Western Front was naturally deliberately arranged by Zhang Ling, in order to dispel the last will of the Iron and Blood Army to resist. In the midst of desperation, there is a way to survive, and even the well-trained Iron Warriors will find it difficult to maintain their last composure.
Looking at the iron-blooded soldiers who had scattered and only cared about escaping, Bai Zheng was already desperate. He came this time to surpass Di Xianlan, and now not only did he not make the credit for pacifying Yanbei, but instead destroyed the army of 100,000, and he no longer had the face to live.
"Death is death, do you want to go back and suffer the white eyes of others?" Bai Zheng secretly said, pull out the sword and kill yourself.
When the surrounding generals saw Bai Zheng like this, they stepped forward to stop him.
Bai Zheng pushed away the people who were blocking him, pointed at everyone and said, "Whoever dares to step forward, don't blame me for being ruthless under the sword." Flee for your life, each of you. If the commander blames him, he will put all the blame on me. ”
"Bai Shuai's victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, we will definitely be able to regroup when we return to Anyun, and we will definitely be able to wash away today's shame in the coming year." The generals listened to this.
"Regrouping? Fight again in the future? Hahahaha, there's no coming day. Bai Zheng laughed miserably, and then there was a resolute look in his eyes, and he quickly raised his sword to kill himself.
With a "ding" sound, Bai Zheng's sword was knocked away. I saw Wu Deli glaring angrily at Bai Zheng and said: "Coward, when you encounter something frustrated, you want to commit suicide, is that what the husband did?" If you want to die the enemy is right in front of you, take up arms and fight them to the end. In vain, I still regarded you as a confidant at the beginning, and thought that you were a man who stood up to the sky. Do you remember what you said? In this life, you must be the first person in the Iron Army. If you die today, I'm afraid Di Xianlan will treat you as a laughing stock forever. ”
When Bai Zheng heard Wu Deli's words, there was a tingling in his heart, which made Di Xianlan laugh, it really made him more uncomfortable than killing him.
"You must not let Di Xianlan laugh at the end." Bai Zheng gritted his teeth and said this, his eyes were full of unwillingness.
"Only by washing away the shame of defeat with victory can we laugh at the end. As long as the final victory belongs to us, Di Xianlan will not want to be proud. Only by living can we have a chance to wash away our shame. Udeli took the opportunity to persuade.
Bai Zheng weighed several times and gave up the idea of seeking death, and fled to the hinterland of Anyun with some personal soldiers.
While the iron-blooded soldiers were scrambling to escape, Wei Zeng and Zhang Ling's main forces were naturally not idle. Chasing the dead and chasing the north, the losses were very small, the enemies were killed, and the 100,000 soldiers of the Iron and Blood Army completely became lambs to the slaughter.
Since the war went well, after the recovery of Hexi, neither Wei Zeng nor Zhang Ling had any intention of ending the war. The new defeat of the Iron Blood Army was a good opportunity to attack Anyun's hinterland, so Wei Zeng and Zhang Ling divided their troops to attack Anyun's land and cities.
Wei Zeng led an army of 100,000 to the south and occupied a large area of land in the southern part of Anyun. Zhang Ling's Tianjia army headed north, trying to capture the land of Lao Qin.
The two sides agreed to wait for the situation between the north and the south to stabilize, and then jointly attack the Beijing division and completely destroy the Iron Army.
"The Iron Blood Army has 200,000 people, but because they have to defend the four sides, it seems that the troops are a little thin. But now that we are going to attack Anyun, the Iron Blood Army will inevitably concentrate all its forces to resist us. There are more than 70,000 defense troops in various parts of the Iron and Blood Army, and we have not completely wiped out the 100,000 defeated troops. Therefore, it is not difficult for the Iron Blood Army to gather more than 100,000 combat forces. If we want to destroy the Iron Army, we and Zhang Ling are a little powerless. Therefore, I decided to send envoys to Kansai and Jiangnan to join the ranks of the people there in the fight against the Predators. Wei Zeng said.
"But will the Jiangnan Governor's Mansion and the Kansai Military Government send troops? They must have been set up by the imperial court. It's nice not to be on the opposite side of us. Gu Chayi said suspiciously.
"In the face of a rich place like Anyun, there are always people who will be tempted. In the past, the Iron Blood Army was prestigious, and no one dared to attack An Yun, but now it is different. Even if they don't send troops, it doesn't matter. It would be of great benefit for us to let the Predators know that they don't have a single ally, and to think that their rear will be broken through by the enemy at any moment, so that they don't dare to gather their forces in one place. Wei Zeng said.
"It's doable. In the face of interests, no one can trust anyone, and the roommate is still fighting, not to mention the colleague relationship that has disappeared. Sagaree agreed.
"Then while we are attacking the hinterland of Anyun, we will send envoys to contact the various forces in Jiangnan and Kansai, and at the same time spread the word that Kansai and Jiangnan have formed an alliance with us and will march into Anyun soon. In doing so, the Predators may not be at peace for a day. Wei Zeng arranged.
"Then the Death Sect in Kansai should send someone to inform you." Gu Chayi didn't think much about it and asked directly.
"No need, when the Predators are destroyed, they will be destroyed next. If you have an alliance, it will be a problem. Wei Zeng's heart tightened, and he said coldly.
When Gu Cha saw Wei Zeng's expression change, he remembered some rumors he had heard, so he didn't say anything more.
After the arrangement was completed, the Yanbei Righteous Army began to attack a big battle of Anyun.