Shortly after digging the Yellow River and flooding the Qi army, Li Jing set fire to the entire forest and burned the Northern Han coalition forces.
Although they failed to achieve full success this time and only eliminated nearly 5,000 enemy troops, the Qin army still admired Li Jing greatly.
After the water attack, there was the fire attack, and both were successful.
He was able to counterattack his opponent while running for his life and almost annihilate them all. It took the smartest brain to come up with so many strategies in such a short period of time.
Originally, because they retreated before the battle and were chased away by Wang Mang, the entire Qin army was a little panicked. However, after the fire attack, the entire army was no longer worried. They all firmly believed that Li Jing would be able to bring them back to Beihai.
Li Jing was also touched by everyone's trust, but his heart was not as calm as he appeared, because he knew that the biggest crisis was coming soon.
Shortly after joining the main army, Li Jing led the army to continue retreating and at the same time summoned all the generals over. The generals were all laughing and joking, as if they all thought that the war was over and they would definitely be able to return to Beihai safely.
"The war is not over yet, how can you be so lax?" Li Jing frowned and reprimanded.
The generals stopped laughing and joking after hearing this, but Qin Ming laughed and said: "Prefect, there are fire and forest obstacles, how can Wang Mang pursue us? By the time the fire is extinguished, our army will have returned to Beihai."
"That's it."
Li Jing sighed, and then said seriously: "A forest of fire cannot stop Wang Mang."
With that said, Li Jing spread out the map, pointed to the upper corner, and said: "Although it will take us dozens of miles to take this road, we can still catch up with our army if we are pursued by cavalry.
I guess Wang Mang must have gathered all his cavalry, and in at most half a day, the Northern Han cavalry will catch up."
"What?"
The generals all exclaimed in alarm. They all thought that Wang Mang would not be able to catch up because of the fire forest blocking them. However, they did not expect that even if there were more than ten miles of forest missing, they would still be unable to stop the enemy's pursuit.
"Master Taishou, since you have guessed that I will catch up with you, why don't you set up an ambush on this road?" Qin Ming asked doubtfully.
Li Jing shook his head speechlessly and did not answer immediately, but Ran Min replied instead: "Look carefully at this terrain. It's flat. How can you set up an ambush?"
"This...is true."
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Qin Ming's face, and then he seemed to remember something again, and said: "But even if the Beihai cavalry comes, there are only more than 10,000 cavalry. Our army has 55,000 troops. How can we be afraid of this mere 10,000 cavalry?"
Can’t make it?”
"Yes, we are here just in time to wipe out all these ten thousand horses." Shi Jin said excitedly.
Taishi Ci retorted: "How to eliminate them? In such a flat terrain, unless the enemy takes the initiative to engage in a decisive battle with the Qi army, it is impossible for our army to catch up."
"The cavalry of the Northern Han Dynasty came after them, didn't they just want to destroy our army? How could they not fight a decisive battle with our army?" Shi Jin said in surprise.
"Beihai's cavalry does not need to engage in a decisive battle with our army. They only need to slow down our army's advance until Wang Mang's army catches up." Taishi Ci said in a deep voice.
"So, if our army wants to retreat to Beihai, it's still not that simple?"
Qin Ming looked surprised, while Ran Min and other generals did not answer, but the meaning was self-evident.
Li Jing saw that everyone was talking to each other, and they had almost explained the situation faced by the Qin army, so he added: "I had expected this before retreating, and this is what I must bear when carrying out the fire attack."
risks of.
I just thought that if the ten thousand fire attack could succeed, our army would suddenly turn defeat into victory, and all crises would be eliminated invisibly.
It’s a pity that the fire attack failed to achieve its full effect in the end, and now our army must endure the backlash.”
After finishing speaking, Li Jing started to start, but found that everyone was looking at him.
"Master Taishou, just tell us what to do, and we will all listen to you." Tai Shici said seriously.
"Well, we all listen to you." The generals said in unison.
Hearing this, a trace of guilt flashed in Li Jing's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Once the Beihai cavalry catches up, it will be almost impossible for our army to successfully retreat to Beihai, so we must contain them before that happens.
"
"How to contain them? Our army cannot catch up with the cavalry." Qin Ming asked.
"Only the cavalry can catch up with the cavalry."
At this point, Li Jing's eyes flashed with pain, and then he walked up to Ran Min, put his hands on his shoulders, and said with great difficulty: "General Ran Min, whether our army can successfully withdraw to Beihai depends on you.
The Huben camp is here."
Ran Min was stunned and before he could speak, the generals exploded.
"What? Let three thousand tiger soldiers fight against tens of thousands of Northern Han elite cavalry? This is simply going to die."
"Yes, among the cavalry of the Northern Han Dynasty, there are not only Liaodong cavalry, but also Youzhou cavalry. How can it be possible to stop them with only three thousand tiger battalions?"
"Yeah yeah……"
"enough."
After Ran Min shouted loudly, all the generals stopped immediately, and Ran Min said to Li Jing: "I, the Huben Battalion, have taken over this task."
Li Jing's eyes were full of guilt and he said: "This is a tough battle. Even if we are as elite as the Tiger Camp, we will probably suffer heavy casualties, but our army has no other choice.
If Huben Camp does not go, the 50,000-strong army will not be able to return to Beihai, and may even be wiped out, so for the sake of the entire army, we can only sacrifice Huben Camp."
Ran Min said very calmly: "As long as the entire army can be saved, the general will accept any price."
Ran Min still understood the principle of abandoning the rook to protect the commander. If the commander was gone, the game would be lost, so why would he still need the rook?
Therefore, in Ran Min's view, even if Huben Camp is really regarded as an abandoned son, as long as the main force can be retained, Huben Camp's sacrifice is worth it.
As for his own safety? Ran Min is not worried about it.
The worst-case scenario is that when the time comes to ride back alone, if Ran Min really wants to escape, who else in the world will be able to keep him?
Hearing what Ran Min said, Li Jing was relieved. After all, Ran Min was the commander of Huben Camp, and he had a history of disobeying military orders.
Therefore, if Ran Min is unwilling to go, even Li Jing, as the commander-in-chief, cannot force Ran Min to submit.
"General Ran Min, please rest assured that although this mission is dangerous, as long as it is done properly, casualties can be minimized and the mission can be returned."
As he spoke, a glint flashed in Li Jing's eyes, and he sneered: "If I am not mistaken, Wang Mang should have concentrated all the strong generals into the cavalry to strengthen the combat power of the Northern Han cavalry.
So this time, Tai Shi Ci, Qin Ming, Lin Chong, Lu Junyi, Hu Yanzhuo, Shi Jin, Lu Zhishen, Chao Gai, and you all also go with General Ran Min."