Cao Baozong was indeed ill, but it was just a heart attack. He realized that he had been fooled and that he had lost 25,000 troops in vain, which made him feel regretful, angry, worried, and afraid.
The regret is that he should not have believed the intelligence from the Qinzhou spies. He still does not understand why he failed, but he puts the blame on the incorrect intelligence.
Anger is Chen Qing's insidiousness, laying a trap for himself to fall into. If he knew that Chen Qing was in the city, he would never attack the city like this. Why didn't he know that Chen Qing was in Longxi County? Because the intelligence said that Chen Qing was in early February Wu Cai will lead the army to set off, so the intelligence is still wrong and it is not his responsibility.
The worry is that he doesn't know how to retreat. He is very worried that the scene last year will happen again and their entire army will be destroyed halfway.
I was afraid of him because I was afraid that Emperor Li Qianshun would get angry and kill me. If the whole army was destroyed again, how would I explain to the Emperor when I went back?
It was this mentality of worrying about gains and losses, coupled with the huge pressure of failure, that made Cao Baozong psychologically unable to bear it, so he simply pretended to be sick.
It was very quiet in the big tent. Cao Baozong was lying on the bed with a pale face, his eyes were sunken and lifeless, and there was no trace of blood on his lips.
The soldiers applied wax on his face, and the effect was very good. At least they deceived Tuoba Chengqing into thinking that he was really seriously ill.
Tuoba Chengqing sat next to him, took out a joint letter and said: "Everyone knows that the general is ill and unable to make decisions, so the five generals of our unified army held a temporary discussion and reached a consensus on withdrawing the troops. Let's take a look at this plan. Can the general approve it?"
This is actually five people trying to force the palace. If Cao Baozong refuses to accept their plan, then they will take some extraordinary measures. Cao Baozong may become seriously ill and die tonight.
The Xixia army has always only valued strength. A child from a family like Cao Baozong has no foundation in the army, no trusted generals and direct troops. If he can achieve great success in battle, he can convince the crowd, but if he loses miserably due to incompetence, the consequences will be serious. In the army, None of the major generals will tolerate him.
Cao Baozong just had no actual combat experience and was easy to talk about war on paper, but he was not stupid, and he was extremely smart, otherwise the emperor Li Qianshun would not have been fooled by his rhetoric and sent him as a general.
Cao Baozong immediately understood what the other party meant. These generals had already left him alone and made their own decisions.
He was secretly wary and asked quietly, "Can you tell me your plan?"
"Everyone unanimously decided to withdraw the army to Lintao Prefecture and occupy Didao County, or return to Lanzhou from Lintao Prefecture."
Cao Baozong was startled and asked urgently: "If we leave from Lintao, what should we do with the several military cities in the north?"
Tuoba Chengqing remained silent and did not answer his questioning.
Cao Baozong was stunned for a long time, then sighed and said, "What about the baggage?"
"The baggage is also carried with us, but we don't need to carry the siege weapons, which will drag us down."
Cao Baozong pretended to be very weak and said: "I am very ill and can no longer make decisions. You can just make the decision without telling me!"
"I understand your humble position. General, take good care of your health. We will send troops to escort the general."
Tuoba Chengqing turned around and walked away.
When the other party walked away, Cao Baozong struggled to sit up and cursed, "This is a mutiny! I want to complain to the emperor. It was the yin and Yang of these bastards that made the soldiers unwilling to work hard to attack the city, which led to the defeat."
Suddenly an idea flashed in Cao Baozong's mind. He finally found the real reason for the defeat. He was not wrong in sending 40,000 troops to attack the city, but his generals secretly disobeyed his orders and made the soldiers unwilling to sacrifice their lives. As a result, Longxi City was delayed. The delay in taking it down resulted in heavy casualties in the end.
In line with this, Cao Baozong immediately said to several soldiers: "Pack your things, we will leave as soon as it gets dark."
Cao Baozong knew very well that if an old fox like Xia Lian wanted to launch a mutiny, how could he allow himself to go to the court to sue him? He would definitely let himself die of illness accidentally so that he could legally seize the military power.
At two o'clock in the night, the army was very quiet and there was no movement to withdraw.
Tuoba Chengqing was a little anxious and quickly found Xia Company, the commander of the army, "General Xia, didn't you agree to withdraw the troops tonight? It's already the third watch, why is there no sign of withdrawal at all?"
Xia Lian said coldly: "Things have not been settled yet. For example, there are no military orders or military symbols. How can I give the order to withdraw the troops?"
"But Cao Baozong has personally promised that we will make the decision ourselves."
Xia Lian sneered, as if he was laughing at Tuoba Chengqing's naivety.
"These high-ranking officials who come from aristocratic families in the imperial court may not know how to fight, but they are all masters of intrigues in the court. If he has no skills at all, how can he become a general? Can the emperor trust him and send him as a general?"
"The general means to say"
"I mean, he will definitely put the responsibility for the defeat on us."
"No way! He insists on going his own way. Even monk Dongyan turned against him. How can he still put the responsibility on us?"
Seeing that Tuoba Chengqing still didn't understand, Xia Lian was really a little annoyed, and simply said frankly: "Without the emperor's will, if we discuss the withdrawal without authorization, we are seizing power and rebelling. The Cao family has no power in the army, but it has power in the court."
It's very big. Once he complains to the emperor, you and I will be unable to bear the burden of walking around. He will definitely say that it was our secret constraints that led to his defeat."
Only then did Tuoba Chengqing realize that the problem was serious, and he quickly asked: "What does the general mean?"
"I have two plans. Either listen to him and go wherever he says. In the end, it is also his responsibility for all the troops to die, but we all have to watch our subordinates and soldiers die. Maybe we
My own life is in danger."
Tuoba Chengqing shook his head, "We've reached this point and there's no way we can turn back. General, just tell me!"
Xia Lian said coldly: "That is my second plan. Unfortunately, Cao Baozong died of illness tonight."
Tuoba Chengqing nodded slowly. He understood that they would not be able to implement their plan unless Cao Baozong was removed.
At this moment, a soldier rushed to report, "To the commander-in-chief, to the deputy commander, there is news from the Chinese army's tent that the general is missing!"
"What!"
Xia Lian's expression changed drastically. He grabbed the sword and rushed out of the tent. Tuoba Chengqing stamped his feet in anger and ran out too.
There were many soldiers gathered in front of the Chinese army's tent, and they were all discussing in secret.
Xia Lian strode over and shouted loudly: "Whatever you are doing, go back to your own tent!"
Xia Lian's prestige was so high that the soldiers did not dare to disobey the order and left one after another.
The person who discovered Cao Baozong's disappearance was a military doctor. He came to see Cao Baozong, but he found that there was no one in the tent. None of the more than a hundred soldiers were missing, and their belongings were packed away. Only then did he realize that the problem was serious.
"When did you realize that the person was missing?" Xia Lian asked.
The military doctor quickly said: "I just discovered it."
Xia Liandang immediately ordered: "Find me all the generals on duty from the four camps!"
Several soldiers rushed away.
Tuoba Chengqing asked the military doctor again: "Is the general sick?"
"I feel that his pulse is stable, it's probably just a mental illness."
"But he looks so bad, is he just pretending?"
"I don't dare to talk nonsense because of my humble position."
"Say!" Xia Lian shouted sharply.
The military doctor then said hesitantly: "Perhaps there is something painted on his face, which could easily make people think he is sick."
"This bastard!"
Xia Lian clenched his fists, thinking that he should kill him first, but he caught his scent and was even smarter than a rabbit.
At this time, the general on duty at the Northern Army Camp was brought up and saluted: "General, a group of the general's soldiers rode out of the military camp today. They said they were going out to buy medicine, and they had the order to leave the camp. I am humbled by my position."
Dare to stop it."
Needless to say, Cao Baozong must have been among them. Xia Lian asked anxiously: "When did it happen?"
"It's just getting dark!"
Three hours have passed, and I definitely can't catch up now.
Xia Lian was upset for a while. He knew that Cao Baozong was trying every means to shirk responsibility. Now he would definitely accuse himself of mutiny in front of the emperor, which led to his disastrous defeat in Longxi County. It was his carelessness that allowed him to seize the handle and suddenly fell into trouble.
In extreme passivity.
Tuoba Chengqing whispered: "There are Song army scouts outside, so he may not be able to escape."
Xia Lian nodded and could only place his hope on this. He sighed and said: "Stand still for the time being and wait and see for two days!"