Chapter 270 Yelu Yan's Dilemma
In Yaowo Fort, Yelu Yan sat alone in the room, with his eyes closed and legs crossed like an old monk in meditation. Although he looked very calm, his tightly clenched fists with pale knuckles visible betrayed his true inner thoughts...

“Boom! Boom!…”

Hearing the footsteps coming from outside the door, Yelu Yan did not open his eyes to see who was coming, but immediately said in a deep voice:

"How many people are left?"

Facing Yelu Yan's question, Xiao Xiu, with a heavy face, said in a low voice:

“Prince, there are about 3,000 people left, but among them, there are 300 seriously injured and over 500 lightly injured…”

Upon hearing this news, even though Yelu Yan already had the answer in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart.

As a general with many years of experience in commanding troops, he knew very well that with the medical level of their Khitan, more than 90% of the more than 300 wounded soldiers would not survive. Even if they survived, they would be basically useless and it would be difficult for them to march and fight again!
Even among these 500 lightly wounded soldiers, many of them would see their injuries worsen due to various reasons. It would be great if more than 300 of them survived.
This means that, excluding these wounded, the number of Khitan warriors who can fight next is only about 2,500!

When I think of Yelu Yan, I feel a suffocating pain, as if my heart is being cut by a knife, and my face can no longer remain calm...
He never imagined that those seemingly fragile mallets could actually explode with such great power, causing such heavy casualties among his Khitan warriors.
As a nomadic people living in the Songmo area, the Khitans did not have many people. Even if all men of military age were recruited as soldiers, the entire nation would only have an army of 50,000.

This time, the military action against Fengzhou and Ye Mingsheng was carried out privately by Yelu Yan and his troops for personal gain, without the authorization and support of the Khitan tribe.

The 5,000 troops he brought with him were all, without exception, his trusted subordinates who were loyal to him, and now nearly half of his troops have been killed before the war is over. There is no doubt that this is a disastrous defeat. The most crucial thing is that with today's disastrous defeat, he, who originally had the upper hand, has shown a clear trend of decline!

Although he didn't want to admit it, Yelu Yan was also very clear that the situation had changed drastically from now on. Even if he didn't consider morale and people's hearts, with only 2,500 combat forces left, he would not be able to break through Ye Mingsheng's camp within two days...
His original plan to first annihilate Ye Mingsheng's troops, then defeat Ye Mingsheng's reinforcements one by one, and finally plunder Fengzhou City, has now been aborted with his defeat and has officially been declared bankrupt!
"Big Prince, shall we continue fighting?"

Seeing that Yelu Yan closed his eyes and didn't speak, Xiao Xiu asked tentatively:
Upon hearing this, Yelu Yan slowly opened his eyes, took a look at Xiao Xiu's expression, and asked in a deep voice:

"What are the ideas below?"

"We all listen to your orders, the eldest prince. No matter through fire and water, we will follow you..." He first expressed his loyalty to Yelu Yan, but at the end, Xiao Xiu hesitated and said:
"Of course it would be best to take a break. The brothers are all very tired..."

Although Xiao Xiu's words were very tactful, Yelu Yan's heart sank and he immediately understood what he meant. In fact, this was also within Yelu Yan's expectations. After all, after suffering such a great defeat, the morale of the people had fallen to the lowest point. It was natural for them to want to withdraw their troops!
After quietly taking a look at Yelu Yan's expression and seeing that he was not angry, Xiao Xiu gradually grew bolder and continued:

"Also, my prince, we don't have much dried meat and food left. With the current number of our troops, we can only eat for five days at most. If we don't have supplies after five days, we may have to kill the horses!" "Also, because there are too many casualties today, the herbs stored by the shamans are running out. We can only let the shamans bless the injured warriors."

Xiao Xiu's words made Yelu Yan's heart sink to the bottom. He hesitated for a moment and made a painful decision.

"The gods will bless the Khitan warriors. Let the seriously injured warriors make a final decision..."

Xiao Xiu was not surprised by Yelu Yan's decision. A trace of sadness appeared on his face, but he still nodded and said:
"Yes, Prince, please have a good rest. Everyone is waiting for you!"

With Xiao Xiu's departure, Yelu Yan, who was alone in the room, immediately became much more gloomy.

He knew that his decision would disappoint many of his loyal people and would shake their loyalty to him!
But there is no way to prevent kindness from being in charge of the army, he has to lead more people to survive!

Thinking of this, Yelu Yan's eyes gradually became firm...
Even though he was unwilling to give in and wanted to cut Ye Mingsheng into pieces to vent his hatred, he also knew that if he continued to fight now, he would commit suicide with everyone!

As a commander, after realizing his current situation, Yelu Yan certainly thought about withdrawing his troops...
But the problem is that you can't withdraw your troops just because you want to!

Ye Mingsheng, this bastard, has been so deliberate in trying to hold himself back here, and has only taken out his secret weapon now, all in order to delay time and wait for reinforcements to arrive, so that he can attack himself from both sides.

Now I want to withdraw. Can Ye Mingsheng let me withdraw my troops so easily?
Yelu Yan could already foresee that as long as he withdrew his troops, Ye Mingsheng would definitely send out his cavalry units to harass and contain him along the way, slowing down his withdrawal and buying time for the main force. Not only that, there were also Lin Huaiwu's two thousand men on his withdrawal route.

Normally, if Yelu Yan met Lin Huaiwu's two thousand men on the plain, he could look down on them as dry bones in a grave and reap their lives at any time. But now he was like a tiger in a trapped position, with his troops in ruins and low morale, and they were no longer as tough as they used to be.

If they encounter Lin Huaiwu’s troops now, they will definitely be entangled by the enemy. By that time, even if Ye Mingsheng arrives with the main force, it will still be a dead end...

Thinking of this, Yelu Yan couldn't help but frown and think hard. He was now in a dilemma. If he was not careful, his whole army would be wiped out.
Today is the second day of the battle. Ye Mingsheng’s reinforcements will arrive at the earliest the day after tomorrow morning. He doesn’t have much time!
He must plan carefully and come up with a feasible solution as soon as possible to get out of the current predicament.

(End of this chapter)