When Dou Xiong's soldiers and horses were defeated at Jiping City, the sun had already risen high, and he almost collapsed.
After sending a messenger to ask for help last night, Dou Xiong had already learned that Tang Kaijia had lost his troops and generals in order to attack Jiping City, but Jiping City remained unbroken, and the situation there was not much better than his own.
He originally thought that Tang Kaijia had 5,000 soldiers and horses, and it would be easy to capture a county town without strong defense at all.
As long as Jiping City is conquered there, troops will be mobilized immediately for reinforcements, and Longba will be captured sooner or later.
Who would have thought that Tang Kaijia was never able to capture Jiping City.
Naturally, he secretly cursed Tang Kaijia for his incompetence, but he never imagined that another military report would come. Not only did Tang Kaijia fail to capture Jiping, he was actually attacked by the defenders at night. Thousands of soldiers and horses were killed and wounded, and they were routed.
He almost spit out a mouthful of old blood.
Overnight, the five thousand Liaodong soldiers were completely defeated. This was simply unimaginable.
The Liaodong Army guards the four counties in the Northeast. The court has always allowed only 20,000 troops to be established. However, the 20,000 Liaodong Army plus the garrison troops from each county are enough to suppress the forces in the Northeast and surrounding areas.
The plan that Wang Xingchao made this time was not unreasonable.
And in order to achieve the goal of annihilating the main force of Long Rui's army, Wang Xingchao even took a chance and mobilized a large number of Liaodong troops to participate in this battle.
The 20,000 Liaodong Army, including Huangfu Yunzhao's troops, has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses deployed in Yingping County this time, accounting for more than half of the total strength of the Liaodong Army.
Tang Kaijia and Qian Siyi joined forces, with a strength of 5,000, and these were all serious and regular Liaodong soldiers. Logically speaking, even if the battle was unfavorable, they would not be defeated overnight, but
The fact is that these thousands of troops were killed by Yuwen Chengchao, who was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength, and fled in all directions.
After receiving the battle report, Dou Xiong didn't come back to his senses for a long time.
He really couldn't understand what happened to the Liaodong Army?
When Wang Xingchao planned this military operation, the generals involved were full of confidence and thought that they would achieve a crushing victory.
Even though Song Shixin was defeated by Long Ruijun in his previous defeat, the Liaodong generals still disdained Long Ruijun.
And there is an undead army.
Although the Liaodong generals also looked down on the Xile people, they still knew the strength of the undead army. Tens of thousands of Liaodong troops plus two thousand undead troops. With such strength, even Dou Xiong would not feel that this war was going to happen.
How difficult it is.
Long Ruijun fell into the trap as expected and sent troops to capture Jiping City, and Guangning did send reinforcements.
Everything was according to Wang Xingchao's plan.
But what happened next was completely different from what had been planned.
Dou Xiong never thought that the undead army would dare to resist orders on the battlefield, nor did he expect that two thousand fine knights riding on a high earth dam would suffer heavy casualties and make no progress.
He never expected that Tang Kaijia would be defeated so neatly.
Under the sun, Dou Xiong looked at the enemy troops on Longba, relying on the fortifications to prepare, and he couldn't spit it out.
He was already in a dilemma.
Continuing to launch an attack, with the enemy's current defense and morale, it is almost impossible to capture Longba in a short time.
But if we withdraw at this time, all our efforts will be wasted.
The military operation that Wang Xingchao painstakingly planned will end in complete failure.
He failed to achieve his set goal, and his subordinates suffered heavy casualties. In the future, his status in the Liaodong Army will surely decline sharply, and it will even be difficult to gain a foothold.
"General...!" Hearing the voice of General Qi Hui in his ears, Dou Xiong came back to his senses and saw Qi Hui's solemn expression: "Are we... going to attack or retreat?
"
Dou Xiong looked at the flag fluttering on Longba and clenched his fists.
"Tang Kaijia has been defeated, and Yuwen Chengchao is likely to lead troops to rescue him." Qi Hui whispered: "If the reinforcements from Guangning dare to come, General... I will worry that our army may
Encircled by enemy troops."
Dou Xiong knew that what Qi Hui said was true.
Before Tang Kaijia's defeat, his side and Tang Kaijia's troops were at odds with each other, and they could support each other. Moreover, there was Shunjincheng in the north as backup. In fact, the three troops formed a triangle and were invincible.
However, Tang Kaijia was defeated and his side was immediately in an extremely dangerous situation.
Reinforcements from Guangning may come from the west at any time. Yuwen Chengchao controls Jiping City and has thousands of cavalry under his command, and they may come from the east at any time. And there are thousands of Qin Xiao's troops and horses on Longba. If
If the stalemate continues, it is indeed very likely that we will be attacked on three sides.
He was silent for a moment, and finally said: "Yuwen Chengchao only has a thousand cavalry under his command. If he really comes to reinforce, the undead army can deal with it."
Although the two thousand undead army did not participate in the attack on Longba, Bu Liudahai also promised that as long as it was not a tough battle, they would definitely take action.
If Yuwen Chengchao led his troops to reinforce him, the undead army would certainly meet the enemy.
Dou Xiong still recognized the strength of the undead army, and felt that if he used the undead army to fight against Yuwen Chengchao, he would definitely have the upper hand.
Qi Hui's lips moved, his brows furrowed, and he stopped talking.
"Just say whatever you want without hesitation."
"General, I am worried that those barbarians will not keep their word." Qi Hui said: "If reinforcements from Long Rui Army arrive, will they...will they really go to war? Since they dare to disobey orders once, they will
There may be a second time." After a pause, he said worriedly: "Long Ruijun and Bu Liudaren have no grudges at all. In this battle, neither of them died at the hands of the other. If their reinforcements arrive,
, the undead army will retreat without a fight, and Long Rui’s army will not pursue them relentlessly.”
Dou Xiong frowned and said, "Go on!"
"But Qin Xiao will never let us evacuate smoothly." Qi Hui said: "Once our army is surrounded, their target will only be us, and our army will be in an extremely dangerous situation."
The corners of Dou Xiong's eyes twitched.
His two thousand cavalrymen have suffered hundreds of casualties. Once they are truly surrounded and the undead army retreats without a fight, the consequences will be truly disastrous.
The most terrible thing is that even he cannot guarantee that the Undead Army will really advance and retreat with the Liaodong Army by then.
It is not impossible for the Immortal Army to see a large number of enemy reinforcements arriving and lead the troops to retreat with Bu Liudahai.
"Then what do you mean?"
"General... I think that it is already very difficult to capture Longba quickly." Qi Hui whispered: "We can quickly evacuate to Shunjin. Huangfu Yunzhao has already made preparations in the city.
Defense deployment, as long as we defend Shunjin City...!"
Dou Xiong didn't wait for him to finish speaking, he shook his head and said: "You want to say that you will stick to Shunjin and wait for the general to send troops for reinforcements? Unless the general doesn't even care about Liaodong, there will be no troops to send. Although there are still nearly ten thousand soldiers in Liaodong,
Soldiers and horses, but those must be used to defend against the Bohai people and the wealthy families." He looked solemn and sighed: "Once the troops in Liaodong are empty, there will be chaos."
Qi Hui also frowned.
"For this reason, once we retreat to Shunjin, Qin Xiao will gather all his troops and capture Shunjin at all costs." Dou Xiong said: "If we retreat to Shunjin, I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for reinforcements.
Even if we hold Shunjin for the time being, Long Rui's army will take advantage of the situation to attack the counties in Yingping. Soon Shunjin will become an isolated city...!" At this point, he pondered for a moment and then said: "We're here.
At that time, we will be absolutely passive and at a disadvantage in the entire Northeast."
Qi Hui said: "If we don't withdraw, then... what will happen?"
"The only chance left for us is this." Dou Xiong's eyes became cold and stern, and he said slowly: "Qin Xiao is on the dam. As long as we can take off his head, we can still save the defeat and reverse the situation.
, once I miss this opportunity, I’m afraid I will never have such an opportunity again.”
Qi Hui said: "But...!"
"There is nothing more." Dou Xiong's tone became firmer and he said: "At this point, the overall situation is more important and we can no longer care about the losses. We still have more than a thousand people. As long as we are determined to die, we will do it at all costs.
A fierce attack may not mean there is no chance."
Qi Hui said: "But the morale of the brothers is low now...!"
"Generals have no greed for survival, and soldiers have the heart to die." Dou Xiong sighed: "The Liaodong Army has reached a critical moment of life and death. If we continue to have selfish thoughts, the century-old Liaodong Army will cease to exist." Looking at Qi Hui
He said: "For the sake of my family, I have to fight tooth and nail this time."
Seeing that Dou Xiong had made up his mind, Qi Hui immediately said: "I am willing to follow the general and fight to the end."
"I will personally lead the battle." Dou Xiong stared at the dam with a sharp gaze and said, "The matter has come to an end. Let's fight to the death!" He said in a deep voice, "Give me the order. All the soldiers will follow me and fight to Longba, even if only one is left."
One soldier at a time, we must take down Longba!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard the sound of a horn.
It was an extremely low horn sound, not very loud, but the sound seemed to fill the space between heaven and earth.
Dou Xiong was startled and looked around.
"It's not our horn." Qi Hui said immediately, looking around, and suddenly raised his finger to the north and said: "General, the sound... the sound seems to be coming from the north!"
Dou Xiong was puzzled, so he found a slightly higher place and looked north.
Under the sun, it was discovered that black lines appeared on the northern horizon. Soon, the lines became clear, like a black tide rushing towards this side.
The constant sound of the horn attracted many Liaodong soldiers to look north.
"It's cavalry!" Qi Hui finally saw it clearly and said in surprise: "General, over there... there is a large group of cavalry coming over there!"
Dou Xiong could see clearly without Qi Hui's reminder.
Amidst the sound of the horn, the black torrent was rapidly advancing towards this side, and the ground began to shake. However, for a moment, he really couldn't tell who this sudden large group of cavalry was.