On the tower of the east gate of Xuzhou City, the two generals Ling Su and Su Ding rarely appeared on the same city wall in Xuzhou.
They all bowed their heads and saluted Shen Yi, quietly waiting for Shen Yi's instructions.
Shen Yi was looking into the distance silently at the moment. After being awakened by his two subordinates, he came back to his senses, looked back at the two people, and said slowly: "The scout battalion and the internal guards came to report at the same time, all the people..."
"There should only be about half left."
Mr. Shen narrowed his eyes and said softly: "According to estimates, they should have started to retreat north a few days ago, but Tu Yuan was very smart and withdrew his troops while attacking the city."
Su Ding said: "Mr. Shen, do you mean that when the Qi army was still attacking Xuzhou a few days ago, it has already begun to withdraw?"
"almost."
Mr. Shen said slowly: "Moreover, they have not retreated on a large scale, otherwise they would not be able to hide it from the eyes of the internal guards. They should have broken into pieces and retreated north bit by bit."
"It's even weirder."
Because it was already autumn, Mr. Shen put on a long robe with long sleeves. He turned around, looked at Ling and Su, and said slowly: "Although the defenders in Suqian in the south have made some moves, But the action doesn’t seem to be big…”
"Either Tu Yuan thinks that his troop deployment can be hidden from me, or..."
Shen Yi turned to look north and said leisurely: "Either something particularly important happened in the north, which made them willing to abandon the Xuzhou area, or even the Suqian garrison, and rush north at all costs."
Ling Su's eyes lit up and he said, "Mr. Shen, is Emperor Hu Qi dead?"
Shen Yi touched his chin.
"I don't know if I will die or not, but something may have happened, or..."
"The battle for the crown prince in Yandu has begun."
Ling Su stroked his palm and smiled and said: "In the past, when my subordinates heard that the throne of Northern Qi was not passed down to the direct descendants, they felt that there was something wrong with it. It was called the selection of virtuous people, but no one could define the virtuous and unvirtuous. Now Hu Qi As soon as the emperor dies and the heir is not decided, the country will immediately be in chaos."
"You're really asking for your own trouble!"
Shen Yi laughed dumbly, shook his head and said: "General Ling underestimates Emperor Yongping."
"He has been in office for thirty-four or five years now. For such a long time, the Northern Qi court has been under his control. Even if he is seriously ill and about to die, he is still capable enough to appoint the crown prince and provide the throne for him. All obstacles to Ping's succession."
"Among the princes of Northern Qi, he can establish whomever he wants."
"Even if there will be some twists and turns in the succession of the Northern Qi throne, it will only be a small storm at most. We Dachen have been waiting for the Northern Expedition after the death of Emperor Yongping. We have never expected Northern Qi to fall into chaos because of the dispute over the crown prince. Instead, we want to use Northern Qi's new When you succeed to the throne, it is time for the Northern Expedition when the situation in the country is not stable."
Having said this, Shen Yi frowned slightly and said, "But now Yandu is indeed in chaos again."
Mr. Shen squinted his eyes and said slowly: "It's really weird."
Ling Su lowered his head slightly and said, "Mr. Shen, could it be that Emperor Yongping did this on purpose?"
"I've considered it."
Mr. Shen said calmly: "If he really did it on purpose, then he is really confused. Now that the Southern Army has withdrawn northward under such circumstances, it has almost completely destroyed Xuzhou, the nearby Haizhou, and Bozhou to the west. It fell into the hands of my master Wang."
"The people of Qi can only rely on Jining Mansion to hold on in the short term."
"Almost half of Jiangnan Province was sent out in one breath..."
Ling Su thought for a while, but couldn't figure out the key, so he lowered his head and stopped talking.
Su Ding, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked: "Mr. Shen, there is something I don't understand."
"tell me the story."
Mr. Shen is smiling.
At this moment, he was in a very good mood, because Qi Ren had withdrawn like this. No matter what the reason was, a huge achievement had almost been achieved.
"The civil strife in Yandu in the Northern Qi Dynasty...why did they mobilize Xuzhou's troops? Xuzhou is more than a thousand miles away from Yandu. Even if you run all the way back, it will probably take more than half a month after you return. By then, the situation in Yandu will have been settled. ."
"This is what you don't understand, General Su."
Shen Yi said with a smile: "Yan can be in chaos, which shows that both sides of the fight have their own strengths, and an army of 100,000 people heading north, although of no direct use, can intimidate people's hearts, and they don't need to actually arrive. Yandu, as long as the news of their northward journey reaches Yandu, it will be enough."
"and…"
Shen Yi put his hands in his sleeves and said slowly: "Besides, the Northern Qi Dynasty is different from ours. The Northern Qi Dynasty has many horses, and they have more cavalry than we do. The entire army of 200,000 soldiers conquering the South, there are less of them." There are about 30,000 cavalrymen. If these 30,000 cavalrymen do not spare their horse power, they can reach Yandu in six days."
"Now…"
Shen Yi said thoughtfully: "Maybe we have arrived in Gyeonggi."
"I just don't know if Zhao Zhen is dead or not."
After muttering this sentence in a low voice, Shen Yi looked at the two subordinates and said, "Okay, that's all."
"Although I don't know what happened to Yandu, but now that it is confirmed that they have withdrawn..."
"Heaven and God cannot take it, but they will be blamed for it."
Shen Yi looked calm and said: "I have already sent a letter to Xue Wei. He will do his best to entangle the Suqian defenders. We can start making plans to encircle and annihilate the Suqian defenders."
Su Ding stood behind Shen Yi with his hands hanging down. After thinking for a while, he said: "Mr. Shen, even if half of the Qi people withdraw to the north, there will probably be nearly 100,000 people left. We are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and have to be on guard."
Shen Yi nodded.
"General Su is right to remind you."
"The current Qi army, part of it is still near Xuzhou, and the other part is in Haizhou, totaling nearly 100,000 people. Currently, I only have more than 70,000 troops at my disposal."
"I will transfer some more people to the Huaihe Navy to ensure that the battle situation here in Xuzhou does not involve any risks."
Mr. Shen glanced at the north again, and after being lost in thought for a while, he ordered: "General Su, in the past two days, you have tentatively attacked the main force of the Qi army in the east to see what the attitude of the Qi people is."
"I doubt…"
Mr. Shen said slowly: "I suspect that Tu Yuan and Zhou Shizhong are no longer here."
Su Ding bowed his head respectfully, cupped his fists and said, "I obey my orders."
"General Ling."
Ling Su also lowered his head and clasped his fists: "The end will be here."
"You have to start paying attention to Suqian at all times. When the time comes, you immediately lead troops to block the Qi army in Suqian and prevent them from retreating north."
Having said this, Mr. Shen clapped his hands and said: "You two, this is the credit before you, and it is also a great opportunity that Dachen has never had in the past seventy years. At this moment, I hope you can put aside all your personal ideas and concentrate on doing a good job. This battle."
"After this battle is won, no matter what happens in the future, both of you will be rich and prosperous for the rest of your life, and you will be considered successful!"
After hearing Shen Yi's words, both of them lowered their heads.
"I will obey my orders!"
Ling Su lowered his head lower and spoke respectfully.
"General... I obey."
………………
In Yandu, the sky is about to dawn.
Wei Wang Zhao Kai, with dozens of people, entered the city from the south gate of Yandu.
At this time, following him were his uncle Lang Yan, Zhou Yuanlang of the Zhou family, and the chief minister of the Liang Prince's Palace.
Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head slightly and said: "Your Highness, my father and General Tu will be able to arrive at Yandu in three or four days at most. No matter what happens in the palace at this time, we will delay it if we can..."
Zhao Kai glanced in the direction of the imperial city and said in a hoarse voice: "After the third brother entered the meeting hall, his ability to suppress information became more and more powerful. He and the two prime ministers entered the palace yesterday evening, but we didn't arrive until midnight Know."
"During this period, we don't know anything about what happened in the palace."
Zhou Yuanlang looked calm and said: "As long as the Imperial Army is not mobilized, the chance of victory is still in our hands. Your Highness, the more this time, the more calm you must be."
Zhao Kai nodded and was about to speak.
"Dang~"
From the direction of the imperial city, a melodious bell sounded.
Zhao Kai stopped and frowned: "Father is going to the morning court today?"
Zhou Yuanlang looked up at the sky, shook his head and said, "The time is wrong."
"Dang~"
Another bell sounded.
Zhao Kai had an ominous premonition in his heart. He stood where he was and stopped moving forward.
"Dang~"
"Dang~"
The bells sounded one after another.
Until the ninth bell rang, Zhao Kai looked up at the imperial city and stopped breathing.
finally.
The tenth "dang" sound also sounded.
His Royal Highness King Wei's hands began to tremble.
The nine bells ring, marking the emperor's grand ceremony.
More than nine...then it is not in line with etiquette.
But there is one exception.
That is the death of the emperor!
When the emperor dies, the bells in the palace and in the palaces in Beijing will be rung, 30,000 times, which means the death knell.
At this time, ten bells rang in the palace, the meaning of which was self-evident.
At this time, the eleventh bell rang.
Zhou Yuanlang pulled Zhao Kai, who was stunned, and whispered: "Your Highness, please leave the city."
Uncle Lang Yan on the side also persuaded in a low voice: "Your Highness, please leave the city."
King Wei's whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.
After a long time, he managed to regain his composure, knelt on the ground and kowtowed nine times in the direction of the imperial city, then got up and gritted his teeth.