The news that Sheng's army was pursuing them caused the Japanese army, which had not yet been able to truly rest, to fall into fear and tension again.
A leader of the Japanese army was frightened and said: "How could the Sheng army come after them so quickly... They obviously never dared to step out of the defense line before!"
Before this, Sheng Jun behaved like a person who was truly afraid of water. He did not dare to move freely on the water for fear of falling into unknown dangers, but now...
"You also know that it was 'before'..." Maro Fujiwara sat in the cabin, full of gloom: "Everything Sheng Jun showed before was all an illusion under a trick!"
Now he can almost conclude that the source of these tricks comes from Chang Sui Ning!
From the first time she appeared on the sea and Yoshimi injured her with the knife in the armrest, she had already laid out her scam!
Fujiwara Maro felt unwilling hatred in his heart, but he knew clearly that this was by no means the time to blame others—
"How many troops are left at this time?" Fujiwara Maro asked in a deep voice.
They fled all the way here. Because medicine and food were in short supply, in order not to delay their journey, they lost many wounded soldiers on the road who were seriously injured and unable to fight.
A general replied: "There are still 28,000 people, and more than half are still injured..."
This number is undoubtedly shocking.
When they raised their troops to attack this place, they brought 70,000 soldiers with them... more than half of them were lost in this battle.
At this time, thinking of the strange smoke screen and killings, the remaining Japanese soldiers still felt uncontrollable fear, as if they had crawled out of purgatory. Just thinking about it, they still break out in cold sweat.
Is this still a cowardly and useless Shengjun who can be bullied at will in their eyes?
"General... I'd better return as soon as possible to apologize to the emperor!" A general knelt down and begged in a trembling voice.
Fujiwara Maro looked at him intently, his voice hoarse and terrifying: "This battle is not over yet, who allows you to apologize on behalf of me, General?"
The general's face turned pale and he immediately kowtowed.
"Winning or losing doesn't matter..." Maro Fujiwara showed no intention of retreating in his eyes, but instead inspired a greater desire to win: "I promised the Emperor and the Fujiwara clan that we would go on this battle to conquer Sheng.
No matter the cost, we won’t pay back if we don’t win!”
Although the generals had different moods, they could only obey at this moment.
"Yes, we still have soldiers who have returned from Runzhou!" A warrior who was also unwilling to retreat said at this moment: "We still have the ability to fight Shengjun again!"
The "soldiers who returned from Runzhou" in his words refer to the Japanese troops who retreated from Runzhou.
Just an hour ago, they had found out that the 40,000 Japanese troops were not defeated by Xuance Army, but by the Taihu Navy who pretended to raise the flag of Xuance Army... It was only a mere 8,000 Neihu Navy, a trick to fake the power of the tiger.
!
At this moment, a Japanese soldier quickly walked into the cabin and brought back news about the Japanese army's defeat in Runzhou.
The reason why the 40,000 Japanese troops were defeated was that they were attacked by the sudden appearance of the "Xuan Ce Navy" and the Sheng army whose morale was greatly boosted. And because, as Chang Suining said, they
They are not good at large-scale battles and lack experience in collaboration, so they retreat in defeat.
Because they escaped quickly enough, the casualties were relatively controllable, with the number of losses at around 3,000.
There are more than 30,000 people left, but in the process of fleeing one after another, they were roughly divided into two groups in the chaos. One of them was about 20,000 people, who were converging here, while the remaining 10,000 people have not yet been able to escape.
No trace was seen.
The commander of the more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers was named Ishimoto Takehiko. He was also from a large family and had never been easy to deal with Fujiwara Maro.
"This Ishimoto Takehiko has always had his own way of doing things and is despicable. He may not have heard about our defeat and led his remaining troops to return to the island and take advantage of the opportunity to complain!" someone scolded.
Fujiwara Maro suppressed his anger: "Just a trivial clown..."
When he wins, he will be the greatest hero and the most glorious warrior of Japan, so why should he be afraid of these shameless villains... So, he must win!
Seeing his expression, the others did not dare to mention the matter of Takehiko Ishimoto anymore, so they asked and suggested: "General, the west wind is blowing from the north at the moment. We should take advantage of the wind to go south and go to meet the more than 20,000 troops.
?”
If they go south to meet them, they are sailing with the wind. On the contrary, if the more than 20,000 troops rush here, they are sailing against the wind and are destined to be slow.
"Now that water and food are scarce, what can we do to support them?" Fujiwara Maro said solemnly: "To the south from here are all Dasheng waters. The deeper you go, the farther away you are from the rear supplies. If you are attacked by the Sheng army on the way,
, without Shengjun’s intervention, we will die without food!”
Fujiwara Maro's concerns are very practical.
When marching by sea, it is most taboo to go deep into the enemy's territory when there is insufficient water and food, especially if you have just fought a big defeat.
Therefore, he could not go to meet the more than 20,000 troops.
"Then...should we return directly to the back island?" The general asked uncertainly: "But if Shengjun catches up, we may not have the advantage in terms of strength..."
The "back island" he refers to is a hidden island they used as a rear material reserve during this battle.
Fujiwara Maro said coldly: "The sea route back there has probably been traversed by Sheng Jun..."
Several generals changed their expressions, and one said: "The location of Hou Island is hidden, and its existence is rarely shown on the sea charts. How could Sheng Jun detect it?"
"But the warships and soldiers who came to deliver supplies from there have disappeared for no reason." Fujiwara Maro would not ignore this extremely abnormal incident. He said cautiously: "At this time, we must not rush back there.
.”
They cannot return to the rear without picking up the remaining troops... So, where will they go in the face of Sheng's army's pursuit?
Fujiwara Maro looked forward through the cracked cabin of the ship: "Don't forget how much preparation we have made for this battle... There is more than just an unknown island nearby that can provide us with a foothold."
He decisively issued the order: "Leave and go to Tamna!"
Tamna is under the jurisdiction of Dongluo. From Tamluo Island to the north, it takes a day's sailing by speedboat to reach the border of Dongluo.
Jin Xianying had said before that it would take at least half a month to completely quell the civil strife and send troops to help him defeat Sheng. Now that the half-month period has passed, he can first establish a foothold in Tamluo and then let Dongluo send troops——
Besieging and killing the coach of Da Sheng was such an honorable thing that Jin Xianying would not dare and would have no reason to refuse.
Therefore, Chang Sui Ning had better be young and vigorous enough, and have the courage to lead his troops to chase her... As long as she dares to come, he will dare to tell her to never come back!
Taking into account the current situation, Fujiwara Maro made the choice that he believed was the least risky and most advantageous.
At this moment, he still doesn't know that the judgment he thinks he is careful about is always under the control of others.
The dilapidated warship sailed according to his orders, carrying him to the end of his war career.
…
At the same moment, a small boat coming from the northeast, paddling in the dusk, approached the fleet with the military flag "Chang".
They brought a document from Dongluo.
It is a very formal document, usually used by small countries to send written requests for help to the overlord country and request the overlord country to send troops for assistance.
It is written in Dongluo and Dasheng languages, and the elegant handwriting of Sheng language is slightly familiar to Chang Sui Ning.
The place where I started writing was the identity of the person asking for help. He was Jin Chengyuan, the fifth son of the old King Dongluo.
Chang Sui Ning took advantage of the last twilight to look at it, showing a satisfied smile.
In this way, it is reasonable and reasonable, and the teacher is famous.
When he closed the document, Chang Sui Ning said: "Yuanxiang, I would like to trouble you to go to Dongluo Kingdom again."
Previously, when Tamluo paid citrus tribute to Dongluo, Yuan Xiang mingled among them disguised as an envoy, went to Dongluo Kingdom, and met a person in private.
After that, Yuanxiang did not stay long and quickly followed Chang Suining and his party back to the Jiangdu defense line, but left enough manpower in Dongluo to help the other side.
This person originally had his own abilities and power, and was planning a counterattack. This time, with Chang Suining's secret promise, he quickly gained support from more people who were dissatisfied with Jin Xianying.
At this moment, the throne of Dongluo changed hands, and only the final step was left.
This kick needs to be kicked by Da Sheng, who is the overlord of the country, in order to be considered foolproof.
Chang Suining immediately led Yuan Xiang and led 10,000 troops, took a shortcut and rushed to Dongluo, taking charge of the overall situation in the name of Dasheng.
In the past half month, in a corner that the Japanese army could not take care of, she had people open a shortcut to Dongluo in the northeastern sea of Hwangsuyang, without having to go around Tamluo to take advantage of it.
Chang Suining handed the folded document into Yuan Xiang's hands: "Soldiers need to be quick, and anyone who gets in the way will be killed on the spot."
Yuanxiang took it with both hands: "I obey!"
This time, I'm not delivering oranges, but picking heads.
But compared to the former, Yuan Xiang thinks he is better at the latter. After all, battles are not fought in vain, and the art of war is not learned in vain... The time has come again to make his own governor look good!
Yuan Xiang was full of energy and quickly ordered his troops to set off.
At this point, the troops brought by Chang Sui Ning were divided into two groups, 10,000 people rushed to Dongluo with Yuan Xiang, and more than 20,000 people followed Chang Sui Ning to continue to pursue Fujiwara Maro.
…
Reports of the battle at sea have been delayed. People in the governor's office in Jiangdu have been in panic lately, especially Wang Yue. He was so distracted that he knocked over three teacups recently.
Luo Guanlin couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but say a few words, asking Wang Yue to concentrate on not worrying about useless things and to do the job at hand.
"How can I not worry about it? Now, in the governor's office and even in the entire Jiangdu, who can not worry about it?" Wang Yue said, looking at his friend: "In the final analysis, you are the only exception."
Luo Guanlin: "..." Why did you suddenly target him?
To be fair, he was not completely unconcerned, but he knew better that he had to focus on the overall situation and not let the governor's office get into trouble.
The governor's office is now like the head of the entire Jiangdu City. If the head is messed up, it will really be messed up.
The Japanese army gathered all their forces to attack Runzhou and Jiangdu, especially Jiangdu, where the sea battle was the most dangerous. The governor rushed to the battle in person, and everyone said that the battle situation was not optimistic. There were even rumors of defeat from time to time, some of which were so outrageous as "
Rumors such as "Chang Jishi has died in battle".
Wang Changshi arrested many people who spread rumors, but under such circumstances, Jiangdu was inevitably upset.
After all, in the past six months, although the Japanese army had gone back and forth, they had never made such a big move. It is difficult to say that they were not destined to win...
Every day when he opened his eyes, Luo Guanlin's first thought was how to stabilize the people of Jiangdu. He must not let the situation that Jiangdu had just sorted out fall into chaos again.
Today's Jiangdu carries too much hard work and hope.
The Chinese New Year will be here in two months. This is the first New Year's Eve after Jiangdu was recovered. It has grown new flesh and blood at a speed unimaginable to others, and is still growing vigorously despite the war——
All the schools in Wuer Academy have been completed. The students in the Literature Hall and the Mathematics Hall have passed three ten-year examinations. The students in the other three halls have also been selected and are about to enter the hall to receive education...
The workshop she wants is also under construction. Due to sufficient preparation in advance, it is expected to be put into use before the year...
Everything is developing in a good direction. At this time, nothing can happen to Jiangdu, and she... must not have anything happen to her.
This is Luo Guanlin's true thoughts.
Precisely because he felt so much guilt towards Jiangdu, he was most reluctant to see Jiangdu fall into the hands of Japanese pirates.
Wang Wangshan had been so worried that he couldn't sleep these past few days. Last night, he suddenly knocked on his door and asked him through the door: "Are Guan Lin'an sleeping?"
He was forced to put on his clothes and stand up, and held a candlelight conversation with Wang Wangshan at night.
Wang Wangshan got deep into the conversation, and his eyes even turned red. He said that he would never serve two masters in this life. If the governor really had any shortcomings, he would never turn to someone else——
The words "It doesn't matter to the two masters" made Luo Guanlin silent for a while.
But then he heard Wang Wangshan entrusting him with something, saying, "Guan Lin, if you find another enlightened master in the future, I hope you will take care of and support the people of my Wang clan."
He looked as if he was delivering his last words.
As everyone knows, Luo Guanlin had no intention of leaving Jiangdu - or in other words, he never thought of leaving Jiangdu if Jiangdu fell.
If everything goes well in Jiangdu, he can feel free to leave in three years, but if Jiangdu is trampled upon by Japanese bandits, he will definitely stick around until the last moment.
Luo Guanlin never mentioned these words to anyone. He just watched Wang Yue burst into tears and said: "This is the Mingzhu that I finally got. I haven't had time to pull her up yet. Let me ask."
How can I be willing to...]
Having stayed up all night, probably because he had stayed up so hard, Wang Yue was somewhat delirious before leaving, so he took the liberty to ask: "Guanlin, have you ever asked someone to calculate whether your horoscopes have any countermeasures?"
The Lord’s suspicion?]
Luo Guanlin: [...] Is this what people say?
After sending away... no, driving away his friend, Luo Guanlin returned to his room, but had no intention of sleeping. In the end, he unconsciously pulled out a book containing numerology and secretly compared his birth date and horoscope.
.
And the next day after this night, that is, early this morning, a group of eunuchs from the capital suddenly came to the Jiangdu governor's house to inquire about the military situation at sea, in the name of being ordered to supervise the army.
What surprised Wang Changshi and Luo Guanlin was that this time the eunuch holding the emissary's order and wearing a red robe was actually the head of the palace, Yu Zeng.
Yu Zeng's coming to Jiangdu was a decision made after consideration by Emperor Shengzhen and the officials.