In Sun Ning's conjecture, it is inevitable that there will be a series of fierce battles, even bitter battles.

To this end, he issued many orders in a row, and he was also prepared to suffer from the pressure of both Luoyang and Chang'an.

However, the next development of the war situation was completely contrary to this plan.

On the Luoyang side, Zhao Guang's school department did try to take advantage of the victory to counterattack because of the big victory in the Tiger Prison Pass, and it did have two confrontations with Chen Qingyun's department.

But in terms of scale, on the battlefield where the two sides have invested hundreds of thousands of troops, it is so small, that is, a tentative attack by tens of thousands of people.

After the attack was blocked by the Vietnamese army and finally returned in vain, the Luoyang soldiers quickly retreated and continued to defend key cities such as Xingyang, without any intention of continuing to expand the results of the battle.

In this regard, whether it was Chen Qingyun on the front line or Sun Ning in the rear, the initial conjecture was that the enemy army was accumulating strength, or pretending to retreat, so as to paralyze the Vietnamese army, so he did not dare to relax at all.

But as a result, after half a month, except for these two attacks, the Luoyang soldiers never took the initiative to attack, and they kept defending the cities. As if the previous victory had nothing to do with them, it was better to lose morale than to put stability first.

If this choice of the Luoyang side can still be accepted by Sun Ning - after all, there is a lesson from the defeat of Qin Yude in Kaifeng, which really made Zhao Guangxiao and them become more cautious and dare not act rashly - then the reaction of Guan Long Li Wannian's department is really too unexpected.

The Guanzhong Iron Cavalry did come out, and there were a lot of them, there were 30,000 people.

If the Vietnamese army and the Luoyang soldiers start a decisive battle and have no time to look back, these 30,000 cavalry killed from the flank and rear will naturally be enough to change the entire battle situation.

But at this time, the two armies were only in a stalemate, and Sun Ning also made arrangements early in the morning, by destroying the road, greatly delaying the time for the cavalry to enter the Central Plains battlefield, and setting up cards along the way, not to defeat the enemy, but to consume this Guanzhong cavalry.

The plan is naturally quite good, if this cavalry really goes deep into the Central Plains regardless of it, they will inevitably suffer huge casualties.

But as a result, they actually chose the most unexpected countermeasures like Luoyang Bing. After seeing the difficulties in advancing eastward, this cavalry retreated directly back to Tongguan.

This made the tens of thousands of Vietnamese troops who were deployed in the west and wanted to rely on the geographical advantage to maneuver with the cavalry also lost their goal in an instant. What made it even more difficult was that they could not evacuate yet, because no one knew if the enemy would come out again.

As a result, the entire Central Plains battlefield, during this April and May, presented an extremely strange stalemate.

The two sides put out so many soldiers and horses, but they have not been able to really start a frontal battle, and there has been no imaginary battle to attack and defend the city. But because each of them was afraid of it, it was not good for the soldiers and horses of several parties to retreat at this time, and they could only consume it patiently.

What they consume is not only time, but also the morale and patience of their respective generals, and most importantly, their own family resources.

You must know that the consumption of a large army on an expedition is several times more than that of being stationed in one place. It is also that these families have accumulated a lot of money over the years, so they can still support it, and if they change to other ones with thin foundations, two months of confrontation and consumption are enough to make the rear unbearable, and even turmoil.

In particular, the Vietnamese army, which took the initiative to attack, took out more than 100,000 soldiers and horses at once, and its daily consumption was an astronomical amount. That is, with the wealth of Huguang and Jiangnan, it can always be supported, otherwise there will be no harvest for a long time, and the courtiers at the bottom will already retreat first.

And even so, after two months of such a stalemate and confrontation, and when the time entered the midsummer of June, the Vietnamese troops on the front line finally ran out of energy.

It's not that there is no supply of food and materials, but because of the hot weather, the soldiers generally suffer from heat, and then many people get fever.

After that, it even turned into a certain contagious epidemic, which put everyone in the army at risk.

Although Sun Ning quickly transferred a group of doctors and medicines from Jiangnan, the situation only improved slightly, and the morale of the army had also suffered

It's not a small blow, and it looks like it's about to be overwhelmed.

In view of this, even the many generals who supported the recapture of the old capital here began to waver. As for the civil officials, they have been persuaded several times to let His Majesty the Emperor collect his troops as soon as possible and return to Jiangnan, so as to wait for the next opportunity. Look at the book

Today, Wen Liangyu asked to see Sun Ning again. Without waiting for him to speak, Sun Ning first asked, "You are also here to persuade me to withdraw first?"

"Your Majesty, the minister really thinks that there will be no future trouble when he retires at this time."

"But have you ever thought about it, this time the imperial court is raising a large army to the north, and there are many losses, if you can't even achieve the set goal, how big will the blow to the soldiers be?" 、

Sun Ning sank his face and said, "Moreover, this retreat will leave a conclusion for both the enemy and us, that is, the imperial court army has returned. In this way, next time we send troops, what chance will we have of military victory?"

"Your Majesty's concerns are indeed reasonable, but the minister thinks that these problems can be slowly resolved with time. Moreover, to be honest, we have not failed, since His Majesty ordered the troops, haven't we also taken Kaifeng and Ludi?

"Right now, in the Central Plains, only this area of Luoyang is still in the hands of the rebels, as long as we are patient enough and spend a few years, more than ten years, it is a matter of course to take this place, why rush for a while?"

Sun Ning was silent, his remarks had actually been mentioned more than once by other courtiers in the court, but he was still unmoved.

Because he knows very well that once some things cannot be done in one go, it will cost several times or dozens of times the cost to do it in the future.

Moreover, he is indeed unwilling to return to Jiangnan in vain.

"Your Majesty, the reason why the minister changed his original mind is not only because this battle is difficult, but also because of ......," Wen Liangyu said, slightly hesitating, because even he himself was not too sure of this.

Sun Ning frowned slightly: "Because of what?"

After settling down, Wen Liangyu solemnly spoke: "Your Majesty, have you ever wondered if Chang'an Li Wannian's actions this time are a little too unreasonable. If Luoyang Zhao Guangxiao did not dare to fight because he had concerns, what about the cavalry in Chang'an? Just because the road is blocked, they don't even have the courage to try? This is obviously different from Li Wannian's previous style of rescuing the remnants of Qin Yude regardless of the consequences."

"What do you mean......" Sun Ning suddenly understood, he had always focused on Luoyang Zhao Guangxiao, and he really ignored Li Wannian in Chang'an.

He is so conservative, what bigger plan does he have?