There were 23 forces in the alliance. Some had more soldiers, some were fewer, and some were stronger than others.
However, since they had a place in the alliance and had the right to speak, the troops they brought with them were naturally not weak.
The force that was ambushed by Prince Changshou's army was the county chief of Wolong County in Haozhou.
Jiang Pengji sneered. "So this old man is waiting here. Does he want to capture all of the alliance forces in one fell swoop?"
It was one thing to proclaim himself emperor seven days before the former emperor, but now he refused to retreat and was waiting at the border of Chenzhou to ambush the scattered alliance forces.
The county chief of Wolong County was an impatient person. He wanted to return to Haozhou immediately after taking credit for the rescue mission, but he didn't expect to lose his life.
Jiang Pengji's scouts were the first to discover the remnants of Wolong County in Haozhou. They heard about it from the survivors.
The situation was serious, so Jiang Pengji didn't continue on her way. Instead, she chose to rest and reorganize while gathering people to deal with the situation.
Everyone's faces turned pale when they heard what the remnants of Wolong County told them.
Prince Changshou had been emperor for more than half a month, but he had been quiet and didn't do anything.
The alliance forces camped outside the imperial city of Chenzhou for a while. At first, they said they were there to protect the imperial court.
To put it bluntly, there were 23 forces in the alliance, ranging from the governor to the county magistrate. They had gathered more than 400,000 soldiers. The 400,000 soldiers camped outside the imperial city of Chenzhou. Their camps were connected, and their flags fluttered in the wind. It was a majestic sight.
However, the royal family didn't feel safe when they saw this. The 400,000 soldiers didn't listen to their commands.
After Prince Changshou became emperor, he didn't target the imperial city of Chenzhou, nor did he intend to attack it.
Therefore, some people couldn't help but think that maybe Prince Changshou was satisfied with being emperor and planned to retreat to his fief in Zhangzhou!
As a result, the alliance forces protecting the imperial city of Chenzhou and resisting Prince Changshou seemed unnecessary.
The empress dowager wasn't a strong woman with foresight. She was just an ordinary woman. It was already good enough that she was familiar with makeup, clothing, and jewelry. How could she have any knowledge of politics? Her biggest skill was having a messy private life. She had cheated on her late husband countless times.
The relatives of her mother's family had secretly slandered her several times, urging her to find trouble with the allied forces and secretly squeeze them.
The Empress Dowager still wanted to secretly take back the military power that was scattered in the hands of the allied vassals.
From the Empress Dowager's point of view, how could she sleep soundly when there were 400,000 troops of unknown loyalty stationed outside the Imperial City where she and the young emperor lived?
As a result, she had spoken several times in court meetings, vaguely mentioning the matter of withdrawing troops and handing over military power. The allied army of the feudal vassals all pretended to be ignorant.
The royal family of Dongqing was nothing. What right did they have to take back the military power in their hands?
Who gave them so much face?
Thus, the allied forces all chose the former option. If they wanted to retreat, then so be it. Who would want to stay in the imperial city of Chenzhou?
Recently, many of the alliance's vassals had packed their bags and spoils of war, preparing to return home.
Haozhou wasn't far from Chenzhou, and the Wolong County Governor was an impatient person. He was secretly annoyed by the empress dowager, so he left without a second thought.
Who would have thought that the Wolong County's governor, who had withdrawn his troops several days earlier, would die just like that?
Jiang Pengji scanned the crowd and clenched the bamboo slip in her hand. "We have more than 10,000 elite soldiers and strong generals. Even if we were ambushed by Prince Changshou in advance and caught unprepared, we shouldn't have lost so miserably. After a night of fierce fighting, there are only a few dozen soldiers left! "
Although there were dozens of defeated soldiers who managed to escape alive, they were all wounded, and a few of them even suffered extremely serious injuries.
If it weren't for the fact that they were still holding onto their last breath, these people might have already died.
Even so, more than half of them had been left with physical disabilities that could never be cured.
As for the Wolong County Governor, he had died a heroic death in the ambush. Not even his bones were left.
Before he died, he entrusted his only remaining bloodline, the eleven-year-old Cai Xiang, to his trusted aide and asked him to protect Cai Xiang as she broke out of the encirclement.
Jiang Pengji had the logisticians take care of the wounded. Only when those with lighter injuries woke up would she be able to ask for more first-hand information.
When everyone heard this, their hearts sank.
Li Yun pondered for a while, then said, "It seems that Prince Changshou intends to take advantage of the disintegration of the alliance army to defeat them one by one. For now, should my lord send people to chase after the other allied forces? At the very least, they can't be left alone and give the enemy an opportunity? "
The first force to leave Wolong County had already been destroyed. The eleven-year-old Cai Xiang had escaped. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a massacre.
Thinking about the grudge between their lord and Prince Changshou's forces, this ambush would fall on them sooner or later.
Although Jiang Pengji and Liu She's forces added up to only 30,000 troops, so it should be safer, but life was unpredictable.
Who knew how many troops Prince Changshou would send to ambush them?
Even the newly joined technicians, Qi Kuang and Shao Guang, were not optimistic about this idea, not to mention Yang Si and Feng Zhen.
"The allied forces come from all over the world, and they all have different paths. The most eye-catching among the forces in the north of Dongqing are my lord and the old master. If we were to count them, there is also the Haozhou Maode County Governor, Huang Song. But who knows where Huang Song is now? "
The allied forces did not evacuate at the same time. They were separated by a day or two.
In ancient times, communication was not very developed. It was not easy to contact the allied forces.
Li Yun's expression darkened. "That's true …"
It was better to rely on oneself than on others. Who knew what the other allied forces were planning?
When Li Yun mentioned the other allied forces, Jiang Pengji suddenly thought of Yang Jian.
Yang Jian was the county chief of Zhangzhou's Dongmen County, and Zhangzhou was Prince Changshou's original fief. Yang Jian's achievements today were all thanks to Prince Changshou's promotion … Logically speaking, Yang Jian should naturally be in Prince Changshou's camp, but he joined the allied forces.
According to Prince Changshou's narrow-minded personality, how could he let Yang Jian and the others go?
However, she thought of Yan Lin, who was by Yang Jian's side. That young man had always been vigilant, so he might not be at a disadvantage.
As they were talking, a messenger reported that someone from Wolong County had woken up, and he was a trusted aide.
"Thank you, Commander, for saving my life!"
The person's body was wrapped in white cloth that oozed blood. Although there were many wounds on his body, none of them were fatal, so he had woken up earlier.
Two medical female soldiers carried him in on a stretcher. The person propped himself up and bowed to Jiang Pengji.
"No need for formalities." Jiang Pengji skipped the step of asking about his well-being and asked directly, "What did the Wolong County Chief encounter to end up in such a state? When and where did that traitor ambush you? How many troops did he have? "
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