Withdrawing troops is undoubtedly a difficult decision for Liu Ji.
You must know that the Shu Kingdom has occupied the entire Nanjun County except Jiangling City and most of Xiangyang County, which is much larger than the Jiangxia County occupied by the Chu Kingdom.
If the main force is transferred back to Yizhou at this time, if the defenders fail to withstand the Qin army's counterattack, then all the efforts made by the two countries will be in vain.
Liu Xiu was also shocked when he heard Liu Ji's words and said: "Brother King Shu, are you sure you are not joking with me?"
Liu Ji did not dare to look directly into Liu Xiu's eyes. He felt ashamed of Liu Xiu, and his momentum naturally weakened.
You must know that after Liu Xiu occupied Jiangxia County, he deliberately did not occupy other areas in order to allow Shu to take pressure off the Qin army.
After the Chu State invaded Jingbei, all the newly occupied cities were given to Liu Ji in accordance with the covenant. Therefore, the land in Jingbei occupied by the Shu State was much larger than that of the Chu State.
Liu Xiu continued to lead the army and stayed in Jingbei, just to fulfill his obligations as an ally. Even if he completely defeated the Qin army, he would not gain an inch of territory, and all the benefits gained would belong to the Southern Han Dynasty represented by Liu Ji.
With such a caring ally, Liu Ji wanted to withdraw his troops back to Yizhou at this time, which was tantamount to betrayal for the Chu State. After all, once the Shu army left, the Chu State would face the Qin army's revenge alone.
The pressure is great.
Liu Ji naturally knew that withdrawing his troops at this time was both unethical and a pity, but he had an instinctive fear of Chi You in his heart.
When the Southern Barbarians invaded, Liu Jizeng personally led the army against Chi You, but was defeated in one battle. The entire 50,000-strong army was wiped out. Even he himself was almost killed by Chi You. Fortunately, Xing Tian rescued him and saved his life.
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Later, Liu Ji, in conjunction with Liu Yu, repelled Chi You's invasion, but it left a deep shadow in his heart, and he was both afraid and afraid of Chi You.
No one knows the horror of Chi You better than Liu Ji. Now that Chi You and the Nanman army are about to make a comeback, he will naturally worry that Yizhou is not safe.
Before the war started, Liu Ji was already confused and decided to withdraw his troops back to Yizhou without consulting his military adviser Chen Ping.
Liu Ji knew that he was sorry for Liu Xiu, but he couldn't open his face to apologize, so he lowered his head and said nothing, but it was self-evident.
"You...you..."
Liu Xiu pointed at Liu Ji and was so angry that she couldn't speak. After a long time, she lost her strength and said, "I'm so confused."
"Um?"
Liu Jize frowned and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
"Brother King Shu, I think you haven't discussed it with Military Advisor Chen Ping yet, right?" Liu Xiu asked.
Liu Ji showed a displeased look and said, "I am the king of Shu and the lord of Yizhou. Why should I discuss it with others?"
Seeing Liu Ji being so abnormal, Liu Xiu was stunned for a moment, and then said in a concentrated voice: "Brother King Shu, your heart... is messed up."
Liu Ji was suddenly startled, and a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.
Is my mind confused?
Seeing that Liu Ji had begun to reflect, Liu Xiu took advantage of the victory and pursued it, admonishing: "Brother Wang does not need to worry about the safety of Yizhou.
If the Nanman King really wanted to attack Yizhou, why would he send only 30,000 troops?
Besides, Zhu Rongchi is also a master in the art of war, so his troops should be swift and powerful, but can there be any news from the counties in Yinan that the barbarians are attacking the city?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Ji suddenly looked puzzled.
Yes, Chi You's 150,000-strong army was repulsed by himself and Liu Ji, so what's the use of sending 30,000-strong troops now?
It is true that there was no news of the barbarian army attacking the city from the border.
"In this case, Zhu Rongchi has no intention of attacking Yizhou. He is just sending troops to deal with the Qin army just to show off?" Liu Ji suddenly realized.
Liu Xiuze smiled and said: "That's right, otherwise the number of barbarians coming this time would be far more than 30,000, but 100,000."
Hearing this, Liu Ji couldn't sit still anymore, got up and left directly, going to discuss with military adviser Chen Ping.
Looking at Liu Ji's leaving figure, Liu Xiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Liu Ji was stabilized, otherwise if the Shu army were to retreat to Yizhou, the consequences would be really disastrous.
"With Mr. Chen Ping's intelligence, he will definitely convince Liu Ji." Liu Xiu whispered to himself.
Chen Ping certainly lived up to Liu Xiu's expectations.
With Liu Xiu's intelligence attribute of 98 points, he could see the situation in Yizhou so clearly. It was naturally impossible for Chen Ping, who had an intelligence of 101, not to be able to see it.
After Chen Ping learned that Liu Ji wanted to withdraw his troops, he gave up Liu Ji's plan to withdraw his troops with just a few words and understood Chi You's thoughts vividly.
"hiss……"
After hearing this, Liu Ji suddenly took a breath of cold air and said in shock: "How dare this barbarian be so audacious? He dares to take advantage of the three great princes of the Central Plains with only the small territory of the southern barbarians? He is simply looking for death."
"Although the Southern Barbarian King is a wise man, he only has a small cleverness rather than a great wisdom."
Chen Ping's wise eyes flashed with a trace of ridicule, and he said with a smile: "He only wants to let the Qin army weaken our army, but ignores that if our army suffers too many casualties, it will attract the tiger Qin Hao to occupy Yizhou."
If so, the situation of his Southern Barbarians will only become more difficult."
"That's right. Now that I know Zhu Rongchi's intentions, I will naturally not send troops back to Yizhou."
"No."
Chen Ping shook his head and said: "My lord, we should send some troops back to Yizhou to aid."
"Why is this? Isn't it following the wishes of the barbarians?" Liu Ji asked puzzledly.
"My Lord, most of our elite troops and generals are now gathered in the north of Jing. There are not many generals who can resist the Southern Barbarians. Besides, how can the Southern Barbarian King just give up?
If our army does not return reinforcements, the Southern Barbarians will definitely continue to increase their troops, and when the number increases to a certain level, they will actually attack us. At that time, technology will be self-defeating.
Therefore, even if we know it is a trick, in order to stabilize Yinan and not be too passive in the face of the southern barbarians, we must call back some of our soldiers."
Under Chen Ping's persuasion, Liu Ji decided to order Peng Yue and Cao Shen to lead 30,000 elite soldiers back to Yizhou to guard the Yinan area and guard against Gonggong's 30,000 barbarian soldiers.
Peng Yue, Han Xin, and Yingbu are also known as the three famous generals of the early Han Dynasty. They are currently the generals with the highest command under Liu Ji, and their military strength is second only to Fan Kuai, who ranks fourth. Only with him in Yinan can Liu Ji feel at ease.
Before leaving, Liu Ji grabbed Peng Yue's hand and warned him to only defend and not attack, and that he must exercise restraint and never start a war unless it was absolutely necessary.
After Peng Yue returned to Yizhou with 30,000 troops, the total strength of the Shu and Chu coalition forces dropped to 230,000. They were: 140,000 Shu troops and 90,000 Chu troops, while the total strength of the Qin army rose to 210,000.
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The military strength gap between Qin and Shu and Chu has further reduced, and has been shortened to only 20,000 troops.
Although the disadvantage in terms of military strength has been moved back, in terms of the overall situation, the Qin army is still passively beaten, mainly because too many places in Jingbei have fallen, just like a ship leaking everywhere.
It is really difficult to fix all the loopholes.
Although Xiangyang City is still stable, Jiangling City is almost exhausted and may be attacked by the coalition forces at any time.