Chapter 689 Dilemma!

Hebei, Henan, Shenzhou
In the Zhennan Army’s central camp, they were happily boasting about each other’s achievements...

"He brewed it! The Fengwu Army has a great reputation, they are invincible, but when they met our Lord, they turned their brewing into silver spears and candles, which are good-looking but useless!"

"Hahaha!"

"That's right! That's right! This First Army is known as the ace elite of the Fengwu Army, and Yuan Song is also known as the number one general of the Fengwu Army. But in front of our Lord, all these ace generals are bullshit!"

"Now the main force of the Fengwu Army is hiding in those cities and dare not come out. I think we should just go directly to Fengqiu and completely defeat the First Army that Ye Mingsheng, the young man, is so proud of!"

"Brother, what you said makes sense. Kill Yuan Song and annihilate the First Army. Let's see if Ye Mingsheng dares to be so arrogant again."

Just when the generals of the Zhennan Army were discussing enthusiastically how to capture Ji and Yu, teach Ye Mingsheng a lesson, and divide up the money of the Fengwu Army, Xu Zhaojie walked in with a serious expression. Seeing Xu Zhaojie's appearance, the generals who were in high spirits the previous second immediately lowered their heads and closed their mouths. No one dared to look Xu Zhaojie in the eye.

Xu Zhaojie looked around at the generals around him with a cold gaze, and then fixed his gaze on General Gao Song, who had just spoken the loudest and highest tone, and asked:

"Gao Song, have you taken over Pingqiao County now?"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's question, Gao Song hesitantly said:

"Report to the general, my troops are attacking Pingqiao County, but it will take some time..."

Xu Zhaojie ignored him and turned his attention to the other general Ma Zhengze who had spoken in a high tone just now and asked:

"Ma Zhengze, have you cut off the connection between Fengqiu and Shangzhou?"

Hearing Xu Zhaojie's question, Ma Zhengze stood up and said with the same embarrassment:

"Report to the general, the Fengwu Army's cavalry is very powerful and can come and go like the wind. It is difficult for our soldiers to complete their mission!"

Hearing this answer, Xu Zhaojie slammed the table and cursed:

"How dare you bastards talk so loudly here when you can't take down the county and complete the order?"

As soon as these words came out, the generals' expressions suddenly became serious, and they all bowed to Xu Zhaojie and apologized:

"I know I was wrong, please calm down, my Lord!"

Seeing the generals reflecting, Xu Zhaojie felt helpless. He didn't say anything more, but waved his hand to signal the generals to disperse from the tent. After a cup of tea, Xu Zhaojie was the only one left in the huge tent. Xu Zhaojie then let out a long sigh, with a hint of fatigue on his face.

If you think carefully, the contempt shown by these Zhennan Army generals towards the Fengwu Army just now was actually caused by Xu Zhaojie's deliberate connivance!
At the very beginning of the war, because of the Fengwu Army’s reputation for being invincible, as well as its powerful firearms and cavalry, the Zhennan Army was very afraid of fighting with the Fengwu Army. Some low-level soldiers even became afraid of fighting, and some deserted before the war even started...
Xu Zhaojie was also very troubled by this, and could only choose to publicly humiliate the Fengwu Army and Ye Mingsheng himself in a very contemptuous tone, in order to eliminate the fear of fighting among the Zhennan Army towards the Fengwu Army. However, perhaps he used too much force, which led to the defeat of Yuan Song's troops in Chengfeng County. The morale of the Zhennan Army suddenly swelled and went to another extreme - underestimating the enemy and being arrogant!
To be honest, although the Zhennan Army won the battle of Chengfeng County, annihilated more than 3,000 Fengwu troops, struck a blow to the arrogance of the Fengwu Army, and took advantage of the situation to advance into Hebei and Henan and seize strategic locations such as Shenzhou, but Xu Zhaojie was not satisfied at all!
The trap in Chengfeng County was carefully set by him for Yuan Song. For this purpose, he led tens of thousands of Zhennan troops to travel overnight just to give Yuan Song a time difference. Originally, in Xu Zhaojie's plan, this battle was to completely annihilate Yuan Song's troops, and at the very least, to cripple and destroy the First Division so that it would no longer have the ability to fight against him!

Xu Zhaojie had a good plan. However, just when he was confidently preparing to use the corpses of Yuan Song's troops in Chengfeng County as a surprise for Ye Mingsheng, he was extremely disappointed to find that Yuan Song was more cautious and decisive than he had imagined. Although he fell into his trap, when facing the surprise attack, Yuan Song immediately made a decisive choice to give up attacking Chengfeng County, and the various troops took turns to cover the retreat.

Under Yuan Song’s decisive command, the surrounded First Division did not panic at all. Each unit performed its duties and successfully fought their way out of the encirclement of the Zhennan Army, leaving a very deep impression on Xu Zhaojie...
After letting Yuan Song escape, Xu Zhaojie wanted to annihilate the Fengwu Army cavalry unit that was causing chaos in Anqing. Although this cavalry unit was small in number, its movements were very flexible. They would attack in a county town today and in a provincial capital tomorrow.

Although the actual damage caused was very limited, it caused panic among the people in Anqing. Xu Zhaojie had long wanted to kill them!

Just when Xu Zhaojie was mobilizing his troops and preparing to catch the Fengwu cavalry in a trap, Xia Yunsheng, the commander of more than a thousand cavalry, retreated vigilantly, leaving Xu Zhaojie with nothing to do.

Xu Zhaojie was somewhat helpless as his plans were repeatedly frustrated, but he still carried out his established plan and led 35,000 Anqing troops into Hebei and Henan. Due to the failure in Chengfeng County and the lack of troops on the Shenzhou front, the Fengwu Army was unable to organize an effective resistance in Shenzhou, allowing Xu Zhaojie to lead his troops to capture Shenzhou.

This also made Xu Zhaojie feel a little comforted. However, just when he was about to continue to take Shangzhou and Pingqiao County and gradually erode Hebei and Henan, he discovered that the Fengwu Army had completed its deployment. In the face of the Fengwu Army's superior firepower, it was difficult for them to continue to move forward to capture the city.

Not only that, after going deep into Hebei and Henan, their food supply route was also lengthened a lot, which gave the Fengwu Army cavalry an opportunity. They made full use of the cavalry's ability to move quickly and the Zhennan Army's lack of cavalry, and kept wreaking havoc on the Zhennan Army's food supply route...
This also forced Xu Zhaojie to reduce the number of troops on the front line in order to ensure the safety of his food supply route, and transferred them to the rear to protect the food supply route!
Although some difficulties were encountered in Hebei and Henan, this was not what Xu Zhaojie was most worried about. Xu Zhaojie was still confident that he could defeat Yuan Song's troops. What really made Xu Zhaojie feel bad was the strategic shift of the Fengwu Army and the situation in Qi and Lu.

Although he regarded Ye Mingsheng as his lifelong enemy, Xu Zhaojie had to admit that under the leadership of Ye Mingsheng, the Fengwu Army developed very quickly. Even if his Zhennan Army occupied Huainan, it was not an opponent of the same level as the Fengwu Army. Therefore, Xu Zhaojie has been trying to avoid direct confrontation with the Fengwu Army, but trying to become the third party that controls the development of the situation outside the Fengwu Army and the Luoan court. Therefore, in this offensive against Hebei and Henan, Xu Zhaojie's main purpose is to cooperate with and instigate the offensive launched by Shangguan Hongyuan on the Yunbing battlefield, thinking that when Ye Mingsheng and Shangguan Hongyuan are arm wrestling, he can benefit from the quarrel between the snipe and the clam, and take advantage of it in Hebei, Henan, Qi and Lu!
However, the situation is now developing in the direction he least wants to see. The Fengwu Army is completely on the defensive in the Yunbing battlefield, and is moving the remaining troops towards the Hebei-Henan direction. What Xu Zhaojie least wants to see is that Zhang Meng's troops of the Fengwu Army's Seventh Division captured Licheng, forcing Yin Biao to surrender to Ye Mingsheng after capturing Han Wenbao.

You know, although Xu Zhaojie's main purpose of going north this time was to cooperate with Shangguan Hongyuan's offensive in the Yunbing battlefield, on the other hand, Xu Zhaojie also wanted to use this to contain the First Army and make them unable to interfere with the situation in Qi and Lu, thereby helping Yin Biao to take over Qi and Lu, and making Yin Biao a chess piece to contain the Fengwu Army on the southern front...

Therefore, now that Licheng was broken, Yin Biao was forced to surrender, and the control of Qi and Lu fell into the hands of the Fengwu Army. Xu Zhaojie's attempt to go north this time was equivalent to a complete failure. What made Xu Zhaojie even more upset was that he had received news that Ye Mingsheng ordered Yin Biao to be the commander of the Fourth Army of the Fengwu Army, and asked him and Zhang Meng's troops of the Seventh Division to launch an attack on Anqing.

Now after he led the main force northward, Anqing was left with only more than 10,000 garrison troops, which were simply not enough to withstand the enemy's offensive.

Therefore, Xu Zhaojie could only send envoys to Yin Biao in the hope that Yin Biao could delay time as much as possible, and on the other hand, he also transferred newly trained troops from Huainan to Anqing to strengthen the guard against the offensive of the Fengwu Army, so as to prevent the Fengwu Army from attacking from Wei to save Zhao.

Thinking of this, Xu Zhaojie couldn't help but sigh again. The gap in overall strength between them and the Fengwu Army could not be narrowed by winning a battle.
Although he has now invaded Hebei and Henan, he has attracted Ye Mingsheng's main attention. He is now in a dilemma and may even get deeper and deeper into trouble. Fortunately, Lu Jianchao in Jiangnan is only thinking about how to protect Jiangnan. If he has any ambition to take the initiative to attack, then this time his Zhennan Army will be unable to take care of both ends, and the situation will be very dangerous!
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"My husband, how is my elder brother?"

Bai Yuanyuan, lying on the bed, looked at Ye Mingsheng in front of her and asked in a trembling voice:

At this time, Bai Yuanyuan's voice no longer had the arrogance of the past. The inquiring tone seemed to want to get an answer from Ye Mingsheng, but was afraid of getting that answer.

Seeing Bai Yuanyuan like this, Ye Mingsheng felt a little pity in his heart. He stroked her face and said:

"Yuanyuan, don't worry too much about the news from Fengqiu. Your elder brother Bai Changrong is safe! He will be able to return to Yijing in a while!"

Hearing the words "life is safe" from Ye Mingsheng's mouth, Bai Yuanyuan's eyes suddenly regained their spirits, and she said excitedly:

"I knew that big brother was a lucky person and nothing would happen to him!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded with a smile and said:
"Of course! Yuanyuan, the most important thing for you now is to take good care of yourself. When your eldest brother returns to Yijing, your family will be reunited!"

"Well! Thank you for your consideration, sir!"

As if thinking of the scene of a family reunion, Bai Yuanyuan's eyes showed some longing··················

After comforting Bai Yuanyuan for a while, Ye Mingsheng walked out of the room. Seeing this, An Miaoyi immediately followed him out and said to Ye Mingsheng apologetically:

"Husband, I'm sorry! It's my fault for not keeping the good news secret!"

After hearing An Miaoyi's words, Ye Mingsheng asked calmly:
"How did she know this news?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, An Miaoyi hesitated but finally said truthfully:
"My husband, you had previously graciously allowed the Bai family to come to visit Sister Bai. The old man of the Bai family and Bai Changjiu did not come on the pretext of something, and only allowed Sister Bai's two sisters-in-law, Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Cui, to visit. Mrs. Hu thought she knew the news about Bai Changrong, and she was so sad that she became ill, so Sister Bai might have seen some clues!"

Listening to An Miaoyi trying her best to smooth things over for the Bai family, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:
"Don't let Hu come here anymore!"

"Yes!"

Seeing An Miaoyi lowering her eyebrows and looking docile, Ye Mingsheng's attitude softened a bit and he said:
“Thank you for your hard work during this period, Miaoyi…”

An Miaoyi's heart warmed when she heard this. She knew that she had been busy in the mansion during this period of time and was noticed by Ye Mingsheng and recognized by him. She was so excited that her eyes were wet. She whispered to Ye Mingsheng:
"It's Miaoyi's duty to take care of the harem for her husband. It's not hard at all!"

Looking at An Miaoyi who worked hard without complaint, Ye Mingsheng said a few personal words and then returned to his study.

Looking at the battle report on the desk, Ye Mingsheng looked somewhat helpless. He had not yet figured out how to face Bai Yuanyuan. He did not lie to Bai Yuanyuan just now. According to the news from the front line, her elder brother Bai Changrong was indeed safe!
However, because he encountered artillery fire from the Zhennan Army when he was covering the rear of the First Division, the accompanying military doctor had to amputate Bai Changrong's left calf in order to save his life. This also means that with current medical conditions, Bai Changrong will probably have to spend the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair!

According to the report sent back by Yuan Song, Bai Changrong indeed performed very bravely in this battle. As the deputy commander of the First Army, he took the initiative to volunteer to cover the rear of the large army and resist the fierce attack of the enemy. Yuan Song was able to lead his troops out of danger safely this time, and Bai Changrong can be said to deserve the primary credit...

(End of this chapter)