Chapter 178: Forced to break the city, win the first battle

Tiger Roar Pass.

Situ Rui climbed up to the city, surrounded by Situ Yue, Situ Ying, Tuoba Ye, Xiao Chengdong and other generals, stood on the city and looked down. He saw that the wilderness outside the city was boiling in the sky. The two armies were fighting fiercely. Qin Yong's Mingyue Knights were invincible and galloping across the Guanghui Empire Army. However, the Guanghui Empire Army was quite tenacious, and gradually stabilized its position after the initial riots.

"What a pity."

Xiao Chengdong sighed with regret, "If the enemy's riots could last for a while, General Qin Yong's Mingyue Knights could break into the enemy's central army. In this way, the enemy's defeat would be inevitable. Alas, it's just a little bit short of it, which is a pity."

Situ Rui looked solemn and didn't say much, but with his skill, he had already seen that the Guanghui Empire Army had changed its commander. Just because the enemy could react quickly and effectively after Meng Yan was trapped this time, Situ Rui could judge that the enemy's commander was not sure how many times better than Meng Yan.

The opponent's commander's dispatch of troops to condemnation can be said to have hit Situ Rui's key point, making Situ Rui unable to fight back. No matter what, Situ Rui's Qingzhou Legion and the three divisions of Yingzhou, and even Xiao Chengdong's heavy infantry division have been destroyed. Now Situ Rui wants to take advantage of the situation to chase and kill.

"Turn away the troops."

Situ Rui sighed lightly and said helplessly, "If two elite troops of the enemy are really allowed to come and block the closing gate, General Qin Yong's Mingyue Knights' Order will be trapped in a heavy siege. Although the heavy armored iron cavalry is unstoppable, the manpower and horsepower are exhausted after all, alas..."

"well."

"Hey!"

The generals behind Situ Rui sighed unwillingly. A great opportunity to turn defeat into victory was missed in vain. But what could I do? Who made the eight heavy infantry divisions in the pass be crippled by others in the previous defensive battle? Now they just want to fight back but they don’t have enough troops.

In an instant, the low sound of trumpet sounded from the majestic moment.

Hearing the sound of trumpets, the Mingyue Knights, who were galloping across the Glorious Empire Army, immediately turned their horses and swept towards the open door. Finally, they retreated to the gate before the two Glorious Empire heavy infantry that had detoured. With the thunderous closing of the gate, the fierce battle came to an end for the time being.

In the end, the Mingyue Empire Army failed to win a complete victory.

Most of Meng Yan's Qin King Guards escaped back, and Meng Yan, who was seriously injured, was rescued by Lu Chengwu for his death. However, in order to save Meng Yan and his Qin King Guards, the Guanghui Empire Army still paid a heavy price, especially the solemn Northwest Legion and Leyu's Southwest Legion, who were crushed back and forth by Qin Yong's Mingyue Knights, with blood flowing into a river and countless casualties!

The tiger roars outside the pass, and the glorious camp.

Lu Chengwu was covered in blood on his back. Meng Yan, who was unconscious, rushed to the Central Army's camp. Shi Miyuan, Pu Sanzhi, Zheng Chongguang, Le Yu, Han Feng, Lin Tu, Teng Qingyun, Yu Longyun and others surrounded him. While helping to put Meng Yan on the marching couch, he shouted at His Highness in a lingering manner. Pu Sanzhi burst into tears...

Shi Miyuan put his veins on Meng Yan. When he raised his eyes, he saw Park Sanzhi crying, and frowned and said, "Pu Sanzhi, why are you crying? Your Highness has just suffered some minor injuries. Have you cursed him to die early?"

"Ah, this..."

Pu Sanzhi was shocked when he heard this.

Han Feng, Lin Tu, Lu Chengwu and other five people turned around and stared at Pu Sanzhi like a wolf. They were very irreconcilable and drew their swords to face each other. Pu Sanzhi was suddenly silent and did not dare to make a trace of sadness.

Shi Miyuan opened Meng Yan's eyes again and then stood up and said to everyone, "It's nothing. Your Highness has just been slightly injured. I will never have any accidents. But within these three or five days, your Highness will not wake up, so who will command the army within these three or five days? You need to make a decision early."

Zheng Chongguang's eyes turned, he clasped his fists and bowed, "I think the army should be temporarily commanded by Mr. Miyuan!"

Le Yu browed and quickly agreed, "I also believe that Mr. Miyuan should be temporarily instructed."

Han Feng and others had no objection. Shi Miyuan's eyes finally fell on Pu Sanzhi's face and asked, "What does Mr. Sanzhi mean?"

To be honest, Shi Miyuan did not want to take over the position of commander temporarily. The situation has developed to the present, and the situation faced by the Guanghui Empire Army is already in danger, and it is often the end of the destruction of the entire army. It is really a thankless task force to replace Meng Yan as the temporary commander at this time.

But Shi Miyuan had no choice. Who made the chief die of illness at this juncture? The situation in the Holy Kingdom was unstable, the original Western Expedition was cancelled, and the responsibility that Shi Miyuan shouldered was temporarily changed. His current task was no longer to destroy Meng Yan's army, but to try every means to assist Meng Yan ascend the throne and then control the military and political power of the Guanghui Empire through Meng Yan.

If you want to help Meng Yan ascend the throne, this Western Expedition must not end in a crushing defeat!

As a last resort, Shi Miyuan had no choice but to take over the temporary command of the Western Expedition Army.

Seeing that Zheng Chongguang and others had agreed, Pu Sanzhi knew that he could not help but said sadly: "I have no objection."

"Okay, since everyone has no objection, I will be brave." Shi Miyuan said in a deep voice, "Now, I will use the order of the temporary commander of the Western Expedition Army to cancel the Western Expedition. The army will immediately withdraw from Qua, and then take Kawabara from Qua and return to the western province!"

"Ah? Cancel the Western Expedition?"

"I saw that Hu Xiao Pass was about to be taken down, so I retreat at this time?"

"Yes, although we suffered a small loss today, the enemy did not take any advantage. Isn't it a pity to suddenly withdraw troops at this time?"

"Yes, Mr. Miyuan, should you wait until Your Highness wakes up before making a decision? It's important."

Suddenly hearing Shi Miyuan's order to withdraw troops, Zheng Chongguang and others immediately forgot the identity of Shi Miyuan's temporary commander and started talking.

Shi Miyuan said coldly: "Everyone, if I was wrong, Qiu Yutang's 500,000 army had been suppressed from the north. If our army did not retreat in time, it would be likely to be surrounded by the enemy. It was now at this time. Do you think our army could capture Hu Xiao Pass?"

"Report..."

As Shi Miyuan finished speaking, the scout captain suddenly stepped inside and knelt down and reported, "Two gentlemen, generals, a large number of enemy troops were found fifty miles north of Hu Xiao Pass. The specific force was unknown, but at least three legions were more than three legions!"

"ah?"

"What!?"

"At least three legions!?"

"It seems that Meng Hu's northern wing division has been completely destroyed, it's bad now!"

As the captain of the scout finished speaking, the faces of the tent, Zheng Chongguang, Pu Sanzhi and others changed drastically, and the situation took a sharp turn, which was beyond their expectations. They suddenly realized that Qiu Yutang, the most famous in the Mingyue Empire, had not appeared until now, and Situ Rui seemed to be supporting the situation at Hu Xiao Pass.

"It is still unknown whether Meng Hu's northern wing partial division has been destroyed. Don't draw conclusions easily."

Shi Miyuan snorted lightly and said in a dark voice: "Tell us the order that the entire army immediately set off the camp and retreat in the direction of Qua, and then send a fast horse to General Chongshan on the south wing and General Meng Hu on the north wing, and ask them to lead the partial divisions on both sides to retreat immediately and go to Qua to join the army in the middle, to fight or retreat, and make a conclusion after arriving in Qua."

The messenger responded to the promise and took the order. No one dared to oppose Shi Miyuan's military order this time.

Fifty miles north of Hu Xiao Pass, Mingyue Daying.

Qiu Yutang is convening all the division commanders and above generals of the five major legions of the Imperial Guards, Guards, Bingzhou, Dingzhou and Yunzhou to convene a formal military meeting. However, it is said that they are the five major legions. In fact, the two major legions and Yunzhou are already empty. The two major legions are all in one piece, and they can't get together to get two complete divisions.

The generals participating in the military meeting were excited and asked Qiu Yutang for battle.

Qiu Yutang was not mentally irritated and said coldly: "I just received an urgent letter from General Situ. Hu Xiao Pass is still under the control of our army. Our army has just experienced a long and urgent marching for more than ten days. It is already scarce and there are no urgent battles at present. The army should rest for three days first, and then take the opportunity to fight with the enemy."

"Report..."

As Qiu Yutang finished speaking, the scout captain suddenly stepped into the tent and knelt down and reported, "Your Highness, report urgently in front of you!"

Qiu Yutang said in a clear voice: "Tell me."

The captain of the scout gasped and said, "I just received an urgent report that the Guanghui Empire Army outside Hu Xiao Pass has set off its camp overnight and is retreating in the direction of Qua!"

"Oh?" Qiu Yutang asked with a light eyebrows, "His the Guanghui Empire suddenly retreated?"

The captain of the scout replied: "Yes."

Xiao Lang, the commander of the Guards, stood up and said, "Your Highness, it seems that Meng Yan has discovered our army's whereabouts. He knows that there will be no good results in continuing to attack Hu Xiao Pass. Moreover, we may be intercepted by our army and fall into a dilemma of being attacked from both sides. He had no choice but to retreat."

The commander of the Bingzhou Legion Tuoba Shou shouted: "Your Highness, you must not let the enemy retreat easily!"

"Well said!" Yao Chang, the commander of the Yunzhou Legion, stood up and agreed, "The enemy army will come whenever they want, and leave when they want. Where does our Mingyue Empire be regarded as? Does the vegetable market?"

As Yao Chang finished speaking, the other division commanders who participated in the military convention also stood up to agree, and the crowd was indignant for a moment.

Prince Mingyue, Qiuye, who attended the military convention, also turned his black eyes to Qiu Yutang. As far as he knew, Qiu Yutang had formulated two sets of countermeasures, one was to fight a head-on battle with the Guanghui Empire Army under favorable conditions, and the other was to implement flooding measures under unfavorable conditions, and sacrifice the entire Qingzhou for victory in the Patriotic War!

The current situation seems to be between the two, which is neither beneficial to the Mingyue Empire nor is it unfavorable.

Qiu Yutang was also in trouble. The conditions for the head-on decisive battle seemed to be immature, and the flooding of Qingzhou was something she tried hard to avoid.

Although Mengyan's middle army failed to attack Hu Xiao Pass for a long time and suffered heavy casualties, its main force still existed, but there were still nearly 200,000 soldiers in battle, and they were all elite troops who had experienced many battles. On the other hand, most of the 300,000 troops under Qiu Yutang were newly recruited and had never been on the battlefield. The two armies were head-on and head-on battles. Qiu Yutang was not sure of winning, and it could even be said that the Glorious Imperial Army had a greater chance of winning.

However, Qiu Yutang was unable to bear it. Once Yan Changkong digs the Yuehu embankment and the rushing floods pour down, it will flood the entire Qingzhou Plain. By then, all the fields, villages, and towns in Qingzhou will be razed to the ground, and more than one million refugees who are still stranded in Qingzhou will be tragically destroyed.

What's even more terrifying is that the flooding floods flow downstream, Zhuozhou, Yingzhou and the southeastern Zhongzhou, located in the lower reaches of Tongtian River, will also suffer a catastrophe. Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, Qiu Yutang will never use the flooding strategy. This is a strategy of killing 800 enemies and 3,000 of them to harm themselves!

After thinking about it, Qiu Yutang thought that the safest way was to first try to hold Meng Yan's middle army and wait for the arrival of Shuozhou and Youzhou two armies before launching the final decisive battle. In this way, the chances of the Mingyue Empire Army will greatly increase, but then again, it is not easy to hold Meng Yan's middle army.

Qiu Yutang had a certain idea and was about to announce it to the generals, her confidant maid Qiu Yirou suddenly walked in and solemnly handed a secret letter to Qiu Yutang. After Qiu Yutang saw the secret letter, her face changed and she stood up suddenly from the tiger-skin chair. All the generals in the tent changed. They knew something big was happening according to the situation!

Xiao Lang asked with concern: "Your Highness, what happened?"

Qiu Yutang took a deep breath of air conditioning, and his expression on his delicate face quickly calmed down, and waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, it's just my private matter. Today's military discussion ends here. Please return to the camp by yourself. As for whether to intercept Mengyan's army, I have already made up my mind. At that time, military orders will naturally be delivered to you."

The generals looked at each other and dispersed.

After the generals left one after another, Prince Mingyue Akio couldn't wait to ask: "Auntie, is something wrong?"

Qiu Yutang sighed and said, "Just received an urgent report from General Wukuifeng, Meng Hu's northern wing division did not cross Qingyun Mountain to return to the country, but rushed straight into Zhongzhou. When this secret letter was sent, General Wukuifeng had already been killed, and Meng Hu's army had already gone south through the sword and sword go to the imperial capital!"

"ah!?"

Akino was shocked when he heard this, "There is no large army left in the imperial capital. Apart from the three thousand imperial guards guarding the imperial city, there are only eight thousand imperial guards left. What should I do?"

"Yes, if General Wukuifeng had not conveyed the news in time this time, the imperial capital would have been caught off guard and would have been successfully attacked by Meng Hu." Confidant maid Qiu Yirou said with concern, "But even if the imperial capital was prepared in advance, it would be difficult to defend it. The Shuozhou Legion of Old General Yan and the Youzhou Legion of General Gongsun are still seven or eight hundred miles away from the imperial capital."

Akino said anxiously: "My aunt, since Mengyan's middle army has retreated, let's not worry about them for the time being. Let's go back to the imperial capital to rescue his father. Otherwise, if Meng Hu really attacked the imperial capital, the consequences would be unimaginable if his father had any good or bad luck."

Qiu Yutang gently stroked Qiu Ye's little head and said softly: "Ye Ye, don't worry. Although the imperial capital has empty troops, the city is high and the pond is deep, and there are more than 100,000 strong men in the city. Meng Hu's northern wing partial division can compete and fight, and it is impossible to capture the imperial capital in a short time. Just wait for Shuozhou and Youzhou two armies to arrive, Meng Hu's northern wing partial division will become a turtle in the jar, and it will be difficult to fly with his wings."

"Yes." Akino said angrily, "When the veteran General Situ attacked Xiling in the east, Meng Hu organized the strong men in the city to participate in the defense of the city. His father could also follow Meng Hu and organize the strong men in the city to participate in the defense of the city. In this case, with the strong city of the imperial capital, there would be no problem to stick to it for ten days and half a month."

Qiu Yutang smiled slightly, turned around and said to Qiu Yiru: "Yirou, immediately send a letter to Feige, Feige, the imperial capital."

Qiu Yirou agreed and took the order. Qiu Hanyun also took Qiuye down to rest. Only Qiu Yutang was left in the tent. Looking at the white mountains and ridges outside the tent, Qiu Yutang's beautiful eyes gradually became cold. Even if the emperor and the imperial capital were prepared in advance, they could really stand for ten days and half a month. Will the two armies of Youzhou arrive in Shuozhou and Youzhou?

Thinking of Meng Hu's cruel use of troops, Qiu Yutang suddenly felt a strong uneasy in her heart. She had a strong premonition that Meng Hu might really be able to capture the imperial capital this time!

I was careless, but I was careless. At this moment, Qiu Yutang really regretted it. It seemed that she shouldn't have forced Meng Hu. It was a blessing for this tiger to leave the battlefield. Why should I send troops to cut off the Tianlang Mountain Road to make things difficult for him? With a moment of thought, now the tiger's crazy counterattack has been attracted!

But it's too late to regret it now. The two legions of Shuozhou and Youzhou are still seven or eight hundred miles away from the imperial capital, but her army is even further away from the imperial capital. It's too late to go back to the army to save it now. What's more, Qiu Yutang can't return to the army at this time. If she really wants to return to the imperial capital at this time and allow Meng Yan's 200,000 elite soldiers to withdraw back to the country, she will inevitably leave great troubles in the future!

Even if you want to return to the imperial capital, you must first deal with Meng Yan’s 200,000 troops before returning to the army!

Suddenly, a hint of unbearable gloom appeared between Qiu Yutang's eyebrows, and he said to himself with some sadness: "Are you still unavoidable to do that? Alas, for the sake of the fate of the imperial capital, I have to be a sinner for the ages..."
To be continued...