Chapter 708: Abandon the car to save the king and flee in panic!

June 1, Yin time, 3:30

There is a place on the border of Hebei, Henan and Anqing, named Yangliu Township. As the name suggests, there are a lot of willow trees here. Also, because the terrain is flat and connects Hebei, Henan and Anqing, this place has become an important transportation route...

At this moment, when the sky was just beginning to turn pale, thousands of Zhennan troops, under the command of their generals, launched an attack on the earthen city of Yangliu Township amidst the hail of bullets from the Fengwu Army.

Although this is a township, Yangliu Township is located on the main transportation route between Anqing and Hebei and Henan, and caravans from both places pass through here. So in the past few years when the years were bad, there were often people who could not make a living and turned into bandits and gangs to rob caravans here.

In order to fight against these bandits, Yangliu Township also built an earthen city. It would be more appropriate to call it an earthen village rather than an earthen city. The highest point of the city wall was only ten feet high. Basically, no bricks or tiles were used. It was all made of original yellow mud.

Although the earthen city fortifications were very simple, for the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division of the Fengwu Army who were responsible for blocking the Zhennan Army, it was definitely better than digging trenches and building temporary camps in the wild. Facing the attack of tens of thousands of Zhennan Army, General Ye Dong of the 9th Division who was personally guarding Yangliu Township was struggling to command his men to attack the enemy.

“General, these Zhennan soldiers seem to be fearless of death. They all rushed forward. The northeast and northwest corners of the city have been breached by the enemy, and the city gate is about to be lost…” A sentry with bloodstained clothes came to Ye Dong and reported hastily:

Listening to his subordinates' reports, Ye Dong couldn't help but frowned slightly. His Ninth Division was a newly formed division with only six battalions and 18,000 soldiers. Because it was newly formed, its combat effectiveness was not very strong. In order to support Zhang Meng's troops of the Seventh Division in Anqing, he transferred three battalions and 10,000 people to Zhang Meng at the instruction of Ye Mingsheng.

Therefore, only three battalions with more than 8,000 people were left to take on the important task of guarding the three retreat nodes of the Zhennan Army: Yangliu Township, Kaoshantun, and Zhaojiawazi. Compared with Kaoshantun and Zhaojiawazi, the flat terrain of Yangliuxian was undoubtedly more suitable for the retreat of the Zhennan Army.

Therefore, Ye Dong also brought a battalion of more than 4,000 people to garrison here personally. As for the remaining two places, he ordered his subordinates to stay there. Judging from the current situation, the Zhennan Army that broke out from Shenzhou had the same idea as Ye Dong. They took a fancy to the flat terrain of Yangliu Township, so they also wanted to break out from here and return to Anqing.

Although the Zhennan Army was a defeated army at this time, their fighting spirit was still high, supported by the desire to escape and return home. In addition, their strength was several times that of Ye Dong's troops, so their offensive was still very fierce and difficult to resist.

"Has there been any news from Chengfeng County?" After thinking for a while, Ye Dong asked the lieutenant general beside him:
'not yet!'

The lieutenant shook his head without hesitation and said:
Upon hearing the news, Ye Dong's eyes flashed with suspicion. Chengfeng County of Anqing is adjacent to Hebei and Henan, and is eighty miles south of Yangliu Township. There, Xu Zhaojie's confidant Wang Sai is leading 10,000 elite Zhennan Army troops, eyeing the area covetously, ready to support Xu Zhaojie's breakout at any time...

For this purpose, Ye Dong specially arranged dozens of sentries to keep an eye on the movements of the enemy forces in Chengfeng County. If Xu Zhaojie's target of breaking out was really Yang Liuxian, then Wang Sai should have rushed up from behind Yangliu Township by now, and attacked Yangliu Township from the front and back with Xu Zhaojie, trying to open up Yangliu Township as soon as possible and withdraw to Anqing earlier.

After all, as soon as daybreak comes, the cavalry of the Fengwu Army will catch up, and then the escape of the Zhennan Army will become even more difficult!
However, the sentry stationed in Chengfeng County has not reported the movements of the enemy forces in Chengfeng County. Could it be that Xu Zhaojie has some other tricks up his sleeve?
Just when Ye Dong was feeling doubtful and hesitant, another messenger covered in blood ran over. As soon as he saw Ye Dong, he cried out loudly:

"General, the city gate has been lost. Thousands of enemy troops have rushed into the city. Brothers are blocking the enemy troops along the houses in the city!"

Although Ye Dong still had some doubts after hearing this, the tens of thousands of Zhennan Army in front of him could not be faked at all. If he did not take action now, and the Zhennan Army really overwhelmed Yangliu Township, allowing tens of thousands of defeated troops to escape back to Anqing, this responsibility was not something he, Ye Dong, could bear!
Thinking of this, Ye Dong immediately made a decision and instructed the lieutenant general beside him:

"Send a signal flare to Liu Que in Kaoshantun and ask him to bring troops to support us immediately!"

Then he turned back to the messenger and said:
“Tell the brothers that reinforcements will be here soon! Let the brothers hold on! I allow you to fight and retreat, but you must stick to the enemy! Anyone who dares to flee without permission will be punished by military law...”

"Yes!"

An incense stick later, on a nameless hill thirty miles west of Kaoshantun, Liu Zhaohu quickly walked to Xu Zhaojie, who was sitting on a rock with his eyes closed, and whispered:

"Marshal, the Fengwu Army from Kaoshantun has been dispatched!"

Hearing this, Xu Zhaojie slowly opened his eyes, a frightening cold light flashed in his eyes, and he nodded at Liu Zhaohu and said:

"Take action!"

"Yes!"

Following Xu Zhaojie's order, a cup of tea later, the commander of the Ninth Division, Liu Qu, was leading more than a thousand people to support Yangliu Township, when he was ambushed by more than two thousand soldiers of Xu Zhaojie on a mountain path. Although the Zhennan Army was not yet able to mass-produce firearms, as the personal army guarding Xu Zhaojie, whenever the Luoan court sent firearms, they would pick the best. Although they were still not as well equipped with firepower as the Fengwu Army, they were much better than the general Zhennan Army troops. One-third of the two thousand people were equipped with Shenwu guns.

At this time, they had the geographical advantage and launched a sudden attack without any intention. They caught Liu Que's troops off guard. The commander Liu Que was shot dead on the spot. Although the remaining Fengwu Army was leaderless, they still fought back, using excellent firearms and teamwork to deal with the Zhennan Army.

After another cup of tea, seeing that defeat was inevitable, the remnants of the Fengwu Army retreated. Xu Zhaojie, who was fleeing in panic, did not dare to continue chasing them, but led his troops to march quickly towards Kaoshantun, where was his real escape place·······································

As the name suggests, Kaoshantun is a small village backed by a mountain. The village is backed by the Bayun Mountain which spans across Anqing. Ever since Xu Zhaojie realized that Shenzhou, the place he had carefully chosen to defend, would become a death place after the fall of Anqing, he fell into regret and helplessness.

Although he was very regretful, Xu Zhaojie knew that if he didn't want to die, he had to leave Shenzhou as soon as possible. He was very frustrated in this battle, and although he wanted to escape back to Anqing and fight Ye Mingsheng to the death, his reason made him understand that Shangguan Hongyuan had been on the battlefield in Yunbing for so long and only managed to capture a county town.

If he retreated to Anqing and fought Ye Mingsheng to the death, he might be besieged and killed by Ye Mingsheng's army of more than 100,000. At that time, Shangguan Hongyuan had not yet surrounded Jinzhong, so Xu Zhaojie quickly made a decision, which was to retreat to Huainan!

In this way, giving up Anqing, the place where he started his business, would inevitably cause serious damage to the Zhennan Army and the Huainan people would also be ready to move, but it could at least guarantee temporary safety. As the saying goes, if you have the green mountains, you will never be short of firewood.

As long as people are alive, there is hope. Even if a vampire is stabbed on Ye Mingsheng and cursed to kill him suddenly and the Fengwu Army to fall apart, it is still a hope. If people die, everything will be over!

After deciding to withdraw to Huainan, Xu Zhaojie still fantasized about withdrawing all the troops under his command. However, as the Fengwu Army gradually closed in, he became more and more aware of the facts. He pessimistically believed that in this breakout operation, it would be good enough for him, Xu Zhaojie, to be able to pull out Shengtian, and withdrawing most of the troops was an unrealistic fantasy...
After understanding this, Xu Zhaojie made the decision to let the main force cover him as he attacked Yangliu Township, while he took his personal troops to take advantage of the chaos to Kaoshantun and hide in Bayun Mountain. As long as they hid in the mountains, it would be difficult for the Fengwu Army to catch up with him!

The reason why Xu Zhaojie did not choose Yangliu Township with its flat terrain was very simple. Although Yangliu Township had a flat terrain and was suitable for large-scale marching, because of the flat terrain, even if they ran desperately, they were destined to be unable to outrun the Fengwu Army cavalry on horseback. Once they were entangled by the Fengwu Army cavalry, it would be very troublesome, and there was a risk of annihilation of the entire army!

The reason why he did not choose to lead the main force from Kaoshantun to climb Mount Bayun was because once they entered Mount Bayun, the logistical supply of tens of thousands of Zhennan Army could not be maintained at all. These Zhennan Army soldiers would either starve to death or die of malaria, and very few people would be able to get out of the mountains.

Therefore, Xu Zhaojie thought that instead of dying in such a miserable way, it would be better to attack Yangliu Township fiercely to provide cover for himself on the one hand, and to consume the manpower of Fengwu Army on the other hand. This could be regarded as the last act of loyalty of these Zhennan Army officers and soldiers to him, Xu Zhaojie, and it could be regarded as a worthy death...

This is also the reason why Xu Zhaojie did not let Wang Sai send troops to attack Yangliu Township from the front and back. Whether Yangliu Township was conquered or not was of little significance to Xu Zhaojie. Instead of attacking Yangliu Township from the front and back, it would be better to keep the troops and retreat back to Huainan. After such a disastrous defeat this time, it was expected that returning to Huainan would not be peaceful and would definitely be a bloody storm. He needed these ten thousand elite soldiers to maintain his rule in Huainan.

An incense stick later, the Fengwu Army stationed in Kaoshantun saw the Zhennan Army of more than 2,000 people trying to enter Bayun Mountain and immediately wanted to send troops to stop them. However, because their commander Liu Qiu was killed in the battle, the disparity in military strength was huge. Although they wanted to stop Xu Zhaojie and others, they were ultimately powerless and could only watch Xu Zhaojie enter Bayun Mountain.

After entering Bayun Mountain, Xu Zhaojie realized that he was safe and sound, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back at the vast land of Hebei and Henan behind him, a feeling of aggrieved came over him. He thought back to a few months ago when he led tens of thousands of Zhennan Army soldiers north to Hebei and Henan. How high-spirited he was.
How come it was only a short time ago that I had to flee in panic?
The Fengwu Army was far superior to his in terms of manpower, firearms, cavalry, etc., but he never lost on the frontal battlefield. In fact, in some battles, he defeated the Fengwu Army despite all kinds of unfavorable conditions and annihilated thousands of their people. But why was the final result like this·····························
In this battle, not only did he lose tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Zhennan Army, but he also lost Anqing, his old nest which he had run for several years. It can be said that it was even worse than losing both his wife and his soldiers!
He had clearly been able to fight the Fengwu Army calmly before, so why did everything take a sudden turn for the worse with the appearance of Ye Mingsheng?

After leaving this time, will I be able to come back in this life?
Thinking of this, Xu Zhaojie closed his eyes in pain. Seeing Xu Zhaojie's sad look, Liu Zhaohu came to his side and whispered:
"Sir, the Fengwu Army cavalry has appeared, we should leave!"

Xu Zhaojie couldn't help but feel nervous after hearing this, and he had to calm down and lead his troops into the mountains.

At noon, in Shenzhou City,
In a temporary mansion, Yuan Song, Ye Dong and others came to Ye Mingsheng. Seeing Ye Dong's ashamed expression, Ye Mingsheng already knew the answer and immediately spoke:
"Let Xu Zhaojie run away?"

Ye Dong nodded in shame, and Yuan Song took over the conversation and said:

"Marshal Xu Zhaojie is indeed a ruthless character. He actually abandoned more than 20,000 Zhennan troops and fled into the Bayun Mountain with 2,000 personal soldiers alone...
"This move was indeed unexpected and hard to guard against, but General Ye Dong also did a great job in Yangliu Township and never let the main force of the enemy pass through Yangliu Township!"

"Among the more than 20,000 Zhennan troops, about 5,000 were annihilated by our army. In addition, about 12,000 chose to surrender, and only more than 2,000 escaped. Our army can be said to have won a great victory in this battle. After this battle, the Zhennan Army is finished!" When he said the last word, Yuan Song, who had always been calm and experienced, also showed a hint of excitement in his expression.

During the period of confrontation with Xu Zhaojie, Yuan Song could be said to be under considerable pressure. The defeat in Chengfeng County caused Yuan Song's First Army to be greatly questioned.

Later, when facing Xu Zhaojie despite having all the advantages, he still dared to advance steadily, which made some people in the Fengwu Army think that he, as the "number one general", was too afraid of Xu Zhaojie, which would damage the Fengwu Army's reputation for being invincible...

(End of this chapter)