Li Zhen brought out a total of three regiments of soldiers, plus 300 people from the cavalry battalion, as well as many miscellaneous personnel responsible for logistics, etc., the number was definitely close to 7,000. After a battle, Zhou Xiuying's The female soldiers lost more than 800 people, nearly half of the soldiers, and the soldiers under Smith and Yang Banhou also lost nearly 600 people each.
All told, a full two thousand men were lost, almost a regiment of troops.
Such a large-scale loss made Li Zhen heartbroken.
Almost all of this was lost in the battle with Rael and Xi Changzhen.
Li Zhen stopped chasing and led the army back to Zhennanguan, and then ordered the accompanying medical staff to treat the injured soldiers. After staying at Zhennanguan for a day, Li Zhen led the soldiers and continued to move towards the treatment center of Wuzhou Prefecture. So when thousands of soldiers arrived in Cangwu County, the magistrate of Wuzhou Prefecture opened the city gate and surrendered with the magistrate of Cangwu County and all the government officials.
After all, big men like Xi Changzhen had already withdrawn with their soldiers, so it was useless for him to resist. Besides, Li Zhen was so famous that the prefect of Wuzhou did not dare to confront Li Zhen and had no choice but to surrender.
Outside the city gate, Jiang Baitong, the prefect of Wuzhou, was kneeling on the ground, his head lowered, feeling uneasy in his heart.
The same is true for the officials behind him. What these officials look forward to most is to maintain their original official positions after changing their banners. However, they cannot guess what Li Zhen will do. If Li Zhen does not agree, what should they do? What to do? For a while, all the officials were confused, wondering how Li Zhen would arrange themselves.
Li Zhen looked at the people kneeling on the ground and waved his hand for all the officials to get up.
Jiang Baitong felt relieved and said respectfully: "My lord, please come in."
Li Zhen shook his head slightly and ordered: "Marquis Yang Ban, lead your soldiers into the city."
"yes."
Yang Banhou understood what Li Zhen meant, and immediately led a regiment of soldiers under his command into the city. About half an hour later, Yang Banhou quickly rushed out on horseback. Yang Banhou got off his horse and reported: " Commander, there is nothing unusual in the city, and I have taken control of the corresponding key locations. Please come into the city, Commander."
When Jiang Baitong heard this, he suddenly realized.
It turned out that this was the reason why Li Zhen sent people into the city. He smiled bitterly in his heart. He was just a small prefect, how could he dare to frame Li Zhen? He was really impatient to live.
Li Zhen nodded, strode forward, and entered Cangwu County.
Later, Li Zhen's army also entered the city and garrisoned it.
After Li Zhen entered the government office, he asked his soldiers to control Cangwu County in the shortest possible time. Li Zhen lived in the government office and was busy dealing with the affairs left over from the army for several days. His battle with Xi Changzhen resulted in There were many sequelae left behind, all of which needed to be dealt with by Li Zhen one by one, so Li Zhen was too busy to meet Jiang Baitong.
Jiang Baitong was put aside, and his heart began to beat.
How will Li Zhen deal with him?
Judging from the current situation, Li Zhen has no plans to kill him, and he probably won't in the future.
But, what about his official position?
Jiang Baitong was worried about whether he could keep the black gauze hat on his head, so he worried day and night. Jiang Baitong spent three days in torment, but Li Zhen still had no intention of looking for him. Finally, Jiang Baitong decided to take the initiative. Dressed neatly, he came outside the courtyard where Li Zhen lived and said to the soldiers stationed there: "Brother, please send a message and tell Jiang Baitong, the prefect of Wuzhou, to come and see you."
While talking, Jiang Baitong quietly handed him a banknote worth one hundred taels.
The soldier refused to accept it and turned around to report it. Seeing this, Jiang Baitong felt a little more in awe of Li Zhen in his heart. It also takes skill to keep the soldiers under his command from being greedy.
After a while, the soldier came out and said, "Go in."
"Thank you brother."
Jiang Baitong took steps and walked towards the courtyard.
"Wait a minute."
Just as Jiang Baitong started to take steps, the soldier who sent the message immediately said something. Jiang Baitong stopped and looked at the soldier, only to hear the soldier say: "It's best not to use your method of bribery with money again. This time , I didn’t poke it for you. If it were another brother, once he told the commander, you wouldn’t be able to eat and walk around, so be careful."
"Thank you, thank you very much."
Jiang Baitong thanked him profusely before entering the courtyard.
He entered the study and said respectfully: "I've met your Excellency Jiang Baitong."
Li Zhen asked: "Prefect Jiang, what's the matter?"
Jiang Baitong said: "This official is here on behalf of the officials of Wuzhou Prefecture. I want to ask if you need help. Your Excellency has just arrived in Wuzhou Prefecture and is not familiar with the situation here, so your colleagues have this idea. "
Li Zhen stared at Jiang Baitong, his eyes calm and upright.
However, Jiang Baitong did not dare to look directly at this look. In terms of official position, Jiang Baitong was Li Zhen's subordinate and had a superior-subordinate relationship. There was a huge disparity in their identities. Jiang Baitong lowered his head slightly. .
Li Zhen's heart moved and he said: "Well, since you have nothing to do, I will give you a task. Immediately order the county magistrates of Wuzhou Prefecture to come to Cangwu County. I have something to tell you. At the same time, you Then send an order to Pingle Prefecture in the north of Wuzhou Prefecture, and ask Pingle Prefecture and all the magistrates of Pingle Prefecture to come to Cangwu County. I have instructions."
"yes."
After Jiang Baitong received the order, he turned and left.
Later, Yang Banhou, Smith and Zhou Xiuying came together.
Li Zhen asked: "You three are here together, what can I do?"
Yang Banhou said: "Commander, our army has been staying in Cangwu County for several days. The soldiers in the army have been repaired and can go on the road again." The three of them did not know Li Zhen's next plan. During this period, Li Zhen did not hold a meeting, so he took the initiative to ask.
Li Zhendao: "We won't send troops for the time being, and there may be no action in the next month."
"ah,."
Smith exclaimed and said with a look of astonishment: "Commander, aren't you going to beat Xi Yinglong?"
Yang Banhou and Zhou Xiuying also nodded in agreement, not understanding Li Zhen's intention.
Li Zhen said with a serious expression: "It's not that we don't fight, it's that we need to adjust our strategy. According to the current loss of soldiers, we will attack all the way to Guilin Prefecture in Guangxi. How many soldiers are left under our command, regardless of the number of soldiers? Whether we can fight it or not depends on the soldiers. We have lost almost a regiment of soldiers in the current battle. If it continues, the situation will not be good."
Zhou Xiuying said: "Zhennan Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is why the soldiers were killed and injured."
Li Zhen shook his head slightly and said sternly: "The attack on Zhennanguan relied on the power of artillery, but our soldiers did not lose much. What really caused the loss of soldiers was the battle with Xi Changzhen and La Er. That was a large-scale disaster. If we suffer losses, if such battles happen a few more times, the soldiers under our command will be wiped out."
After a pause, Li Zhen continued: "When our army loses strength, Xi Yinglong will definitely counterattack. Therefore, I plan to fight steadily. After capturing a place, I will control the counties and then continue to move forward, step by step to Guilin Mansion. When we arrive at Guilin Prefecture, we will be surrounded by our area and our strength. Xi Yinglong will definitely be defeated. This is what I think."