Bi Shiduo's face was pale, sitting on the Taishi chair, unable to say a word, the officers above the rank of general, all of them were in the wing room of the Jiedu Envoy's Yamen, looking at Bi Shiduo, no one spoke, and they didn't know what to say.

Bi Shiduo sent General Sun Counselor to lead 10,000 sergeants to Shuibo to ambush the vanguard of the Iron Army, which was a top secret, many officers did not know, but unfortunately when less than 1,000 sergeants who fled back arrived in Yangzhou, all the circumstances were exposed, to set up an ambush to deal with the army of the Iron Army, and finally encountered an ambush by the Iron Army, only 10,000 people returned to Yangzhou, and the rest were all wiped out.

In just a few days, the 100,000 army lost nearly 30,000 people, the 20,000 troops stationed in Haozhou and Luzhou were cleanly wiped out, and the 10,000 troops sent to ambush lost ninety percent.

There are only 70,000 people left who can guard Yangzhou.

Such an ending is unbearable for Bi Shiduo, he has written a fold to the imperial court, but unfortunately at this time, the fold may have just arrived in the capital, you must know that this day is the thirtieth day of the lunar month, it is the time of the New Year, the court received the fold, it will take a few days to deal with it, and the officials left by the departments are the officials on duty, and the officials have gone home for the New Year.

The combat effectiveness of the Iron Blood Army is too strong, it can be said to be terrifying, this kind of combat power, Bi Shiduo can't understand it, it is said that the 100,000 army under his command has a good combat effectiveness, especially these troops have been trained by Gao Biao for many years, and have also followed Gao Biao for many years of fighting, and have rich experience, but why is it so vulnerable in the face of the Iron Army, is the Iron Blood Army really the legendary heavenly soldiers.

The iron-blooded army is coming in the direction of Yangzhou City, because of several consecutive fiascos, the officials along the way are looking down on the wind, and no one has the heart to resist at all, but fortunately, the iron-blooded army does not disturb the people. Along the road, they did not disturb the common people, on the contrary, they saw some people in difficulty, and gave them grain and grass, which made the whole place very calm.

Bi Shiduo hoped that the people of Huainan Province would be able to resist the Iron Army, but now it seems impossible.

He had to make a decision in the shortest possible time, whether to continue to send troops to fight the iron-blooded army face to face, or completely retreat to Yangzhou City, and the previous plan had to be reconsidered.

Unfortunately, because such serious consequences were not taken into account, Bildor's preparation was not very adequate. You must know that the consumption of 70,000 troops is huge, and there is a lot of grain and grass needed every day, not to mention other things, and it seems that it is not very possible to transport a lot of grain and grass to Yangzhou City in a short period of time.

There is already a feeling that the army is full of soldiers, and Bi Shiduo knows this situation, and he can't change this situation, in short, it doesn't take long for the army to suffer three defeats. To ask the sergeant to muster up his spirit is to deceive himself.

can just give up the remaining 70,000 troops, give up Yangzhou, and even give up the position of Huainan Jiedu envoy and the commander of all the provinces. This is something that Bi Shiduo can't endure, hard work, I don't know how much calculation it took to be able to reach such a high position. No one wants to give up.

Bi Shiduo, who has experienced a lot of turmoil, knows very well that the acquisition of power depends on the army. If he can't control the army, then it's nothing, the famous Gao Biao, I don't know how much credit he has made for the imperial court, but because he can't control the army, he hasn't been ostracized, and no one cares about it, Bi Shiduo has not been able to make much credit, it is completely relying on praise and calculation to be able to reach such a position, if he loses control of the army, the end is much more tragic than Gao Biao.

From many aspects, Bi Shiduo must work hard, even if the fish is dead and the net is broken, he must do so.

The key at the moment is what kind of tactics to adopt, whether to let all the 70,000 troops enter Yangzhou City to defend it, or continue to deploy a certain number of sergeants in the military camp outside Yangzhou City to consolidate the outlying strongholds, so that the iron-blooded army can not attack Yangzhou City wholeheartedly.

Silence is not the way, there is always a choice, and the iron-blooded army is moving in the direction of Yangzhou City. Of course, there is one more thing that Bi Shiduo does not know, that is, the iron-blooded army that attacked Yangzhou City this time was led by Li Rupei himself, if he knew this news, Bi Shiduo might make other choices.

"You all know the situation, what are you doing with a bitter face, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, Yangzhou has not yet 70,000 troops, is it impossible to resist the attack of the iron-blooded army, even if the field combat can not resist the iron-blooded army, guarding Yangzhou City can always be done, as long as the iron-blooded army dares to attack Yangzhou City, let him have no return."

When Bi Shiduo spoke, his tone was still very flamboyant, maybe this tone was to inspire everyone's fighting spirit, but unfortunately, many of the officers below could not be relieved in a few words.

Finally, one of the generals spoke.

"Marshal, his subordinates suggested that all 70,000 troops enter the city to guard, Yangzhou City, the southeast, northwest and northwest gates, must be firmly guarded, the loss of Haozhou and Luzhou is caused by the lack of dedication of the soldiers stationed there, the situation in Yangzhou is different, the city is very large, the materials are also sufficient, as long as the army can hold on, the Iron Blood Army has no way to break through, the Iron Blood Army has nearly 100,000 troops, the consumption is huge, they must not be able to bear it for a long time."

The general's words aroused everyone's enthusiasm to speak, and soon another general spoke.

"The marshal wrote a memo to the imperial court, this move of the Iron Blood Army is tantamount to a rebellion, and it will definitely be reprimanded by the imperial court, maybe the court will send a large army to attack the Iron Blood Army, and at that time, the Iron Blood Army will definitely not be able to sustain it." ……

Listening to these discussions, Bi Shiduo's face did not have much expression, he would not believe the words of the imperial court sending a large army to encircle and suppress the iron-blooded army, that was impossible, the imperial court could not dispatch many large armies, not to mention that the jiedu envoys everywhere were desperately trying to preserve their own strength, who would obey the dispatch of the imperial court, and besides, the emperor would never admit that Li Rupei, the king of Yi, had rebelled, that would be the internal struggle of the royal family, and the emperor was obviously at a disadvantage.

The advice of all the officers is one-sided and inclined to stick to Yangzhou City, which is actually an attitude of fear of death, the two armies are fighting, if it is not a last resort, no one will first huddle in the city, so they will give up all mobility, completely rely on the solidity of the city to defend, the army that has lost its mobility, the only thing that can rely on is the strong city wall.

This is a big taboo in warfare.

It's a pity that judging from the current situation, Bi Shiduo has no other choice.

He was a little reluctant, and when everyone was almost discussed, he spoke again.

"You all know that sticking to Yangzhou City is just the most helpless choice, the Iron Blood Army is still a certain distance from Yangzhou City, in this case, the army consolidates the stronghold on the periphery of Yangzhou City, and uses the favorable terrain to fight the Iron Blood Army, it is also possible, if you retreat to Yangzhou City so quickly, wouldn't you give up all your initiative and mobility."

After Bi Shiduo said these words, everyone quickly quieted down, and everyone lowered their heads, afraid to make eye contact with Bi Shiduo, they all knew that three generals had already died at the hands of the Iron Blood Army, if Bi Shi Duo determined who was holding on to the periphery this time, it would be the next general or deputy general under the command of the Iron Blood Army.

Seeing this situation, Bi Shiduo sighed, and he didn't dare to use force.

If a general or deputy general is forced to lead the army to attack and harass the Iron Blood Army on the periphery, people can't bear it anymore and lead the army to surrender directly to the Iron Blood Army, it will be a major loss, and such a move will shake the sergeants stationed in Yangzhou City to the greatest extent, such a stupid thing Bi Shiduo will not do.

"I know, the iron-blooded army is brave, this time it is prepared, the army is not fully prepared, and suddenly asked the sergeant and the iron-blooded army to fight face-to-face, it is still a little reluctant, so it is decided that all the sergeants will withdraw to Yangzhou City and stick to the city, so I don't believe it, the iron-blooded army can still take Yangzhou City."

Speaking of which, Bi Shiduo felt the need to boost the morale of the people.

"A certain has written a note to the emperor, presumably the court has already known about it, the iron-blooded army's move is tantamount to rebellion, the court will definitely reprimand, if the iron-blooded army insists on going its own way, it will be reduced to the Yellow Nest and the like, losing the support of the court, the iron-blooded army cannot support for a long time, you must do your best, stick to Yangzhou City, I believe that the court will have an attitude, at that time, the army will be able to take advantage of the situation to control the entire Huainan Road."

"The soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass go first, 70,000 soldiers are stationed in Yangzhou City, the most important thing is the grain and grass, so the grain and grass raised from all over the country must be transported to Yangzhou City, so as to ensure the fighting spirit of the soldiers, the 20,000 soldiers stationed in the military camp outside the city must be transported to the city within two days, all the grain and grass in the military camp must be transported to the city within two days, in case it cannot be transported, it will be destroyed on the spot, and it must not be left to the iron-blooded army, the iron-blooded army wants to attack Yangzhou City, so let him know that it is powerful." ……

After some arrangement, everyone went to prepare, and in the wing room, only Bi Shiduo remained.

A painful look appeared on Bi Shiduo's face, he looked at the map on the table, thinking about the heavy losses he had suffered in the past few days, he couldn't get rid of the depression in his heart at all, the huge Huainan Road, only Yangzhou City was left, and the rest of the places were basically controlled by the Iron Army, in this case, he was not sure how long it could last, and he didn't know what kind of combat deployment the Iron Blood Army would use in such a situation, whether it was a strong attack or a siege.

Bi Shiduo hoped that the Iron Blood Army could attack strongly, so that the two sides would fight solidly, and he was most worried about the Iron Blood Army holding on, which was likely to disturb the mind of the army. (To be continued......)