"Retreat! Retreat now! "Liu Dai hesitated for a long time before finally making up his mind. The simple word "retreat" was an extremely difficult and helpless choice for an army in a war. Such a decision basically meant that a major change had occurred in the battle strategy.
This was especially so for Liu Dai, who had been plotting against Qiao Mao for a long time. Furthermore, conquering Qiao Mao was the most important part of his strategy for the entire Yan Province. Once Qiao Mao was successfully taken down, Liu Dai would gradually gain power in the entire Yan Province.
At that time, the only forces left in Yan Province that could threaten Liu Dai's position would be Northern Ji Prime Minister Bao Xin and Taishan Prefecture's Governor Ding Yuan. Northern Ji Prime Minister Bao Xin was loyal to the Han Court. Although his strength was not to be underestimated, Liu Dai was confident that he could win him over as long as he found a suitable reason.
The remaining governor of Taishan Prefecture, Ding Yuan, had only just arrived and was still in a state where he had yet to gain a firm foothold. Moreover, in Liu Dai's opinion, Taishan Prefecture was considered a remote place in the entire Yan Province. Whether it was population or territory, it was not the most important. Apart from the close relationship between Ding Yuan and Yang Rui, Liu Dai was not afraid that Ding Yuan could threaten his authority in Yan Province.
In fact, just as Qiao Mao had said, Liu Dai's appetite was actually very large. As the Yan Province's Provincial Governor, his consolidation of the forces in the province was only the first step. In fact, Liu Dai also had ambitions for Ji Province, Yu Province, Xu Province, and Qing Province. To a certain extent, Liu Dai even thought that he could represent the Han Dynasty!
After all, the Han Dynasty was already declining. Any force that had a little bit of strength would have some ambitions. Moreover, Liu Dai had the blood of the Han Dynasty. Thus, it was understandable that he was ambitious.
Liu Dai's ambition was not excessive. His current plan was also in place. However, they had suffered many setbacks when facing Qiao Mao. Before they could even attack Chang Yi City, they had already been beaten to a pulp and could not hold their ground. Thus, they had no choice but to retreat! For Liu Dai, who had always been arrogant and ambitious, this was a big blow to him.
However, this situation did not end there. Although Liu Dai chose to retreat overnight under the persuasion of several of his subordinates, Yang Rui and Qiao Mao were already prepared to give chase. As soon as they discovered that Liu Dai was retreating, they would immediately give chase.
Liu Dai's subordinates had also made some preparations to deal with the pursuers. They had arranged the soldiers according to their strength and their main forces. However, when faced with the pursuit of Yang Rui's cavalry and Qiao Yan's troops, they were extremely passive. In just two or three days, they had suffered heavy losses.
........................................................................................................................................................ Yang Rui's cavalry quickly changed the direction of their pursuit.
In the entire process, the two times that Liu Dai lost the most troops were when he was crossing the Ji River and the Yellow River. With the size and scale of Liu Dai's ships, it was already very difficult for him to transport the soldiers in a short period of time. It was inevitable that they would stay at Ji River and the south bank of the Yellow River for a long time. At the same time, the terrifying rain of fire struck twice in succession. Liu Dai's troops lost more than 30000 soldiers in one go!
If not for the fact that Yang Rui was concerned about Zhang Ning's safety and reduced the number of times he used the Heavenly Spirit Fire Rain, Liu Dai's side would have suffered even more losses. Even so, when Qiao Mao finally retreated to Puyang City, he had already lost more than 100,000 soldiers! Liu Dai's attack on Chang Yi City this time could be said to be a great defeat!
"This time, we were able to repel Liu Dai and cause him to suffer heavy losses. It can be said that we have greatly relied on Lord Blazing Sun! Please accept Qiao Mao's bow! "
When Qiao Mao led his troops to chase after Liu Dai's troops and finally met up with Yang Rui at the south bank of Ji River, he said gratefully.
Since Liu Dai's attack on Puyang City, Qiao Mao had used Yang Rui's strategy twice to successfully shift the area of influence and protect Chang Yi City. Now that Liu Dai had retreated to the north of Ji River with heavy casualties, it could be said that the entire area south of Ji River had fallen into Qiao Mao's hands. In a short period of time, Liu Dai was no longer a threat to Qiao Mao.
Moreover, throughout the entire process, Yang Rui had been running around to provide Qiao Mao with all kinds of information and actively deployed troops to assist in the defense of Changyi City. Naturally, Qiao Mao was well aware of the effect of Yang Rui's actions.
"Brother Yuanwei, you don't have to do this. You and I are close allies and should rely on each other. Now that I have helped you repel Liu Dai, I will definitely be of use to Brother Yuanwei in the future. Hahaha …"
"Of course! Of course! "
Yang Rui only briefly mentioned Qiao Mao's gratitude. After that, Yang Rui ordered Yang Rui to reorganize the troops and gather the soldiers. He also chatted with Qiao Mao for most of the morning, talking about the current situation in Yan Province. He also reminded Qiao Mao to pay attention to colluding with Ding Yuan and Bao Xin to keep Liu Dai in check. After that, he led all his cavalry troops to bid farewell to Qiao Mao and rushed towards Qingzhou's plains along Ji River.
Qiao Mao originally wanted to invite Yang Rui to Chang Yi City to stay for a while. However, there was still the huge threat of Yuan Shao in Qingzhou's plains and Ji Province. Under Yang Rui's refusal, Qiao Mao did not insist on the invitation. At the same time, Qiao Mao's plan to send reinforcements was also rejected by Yang Rui. It was not that Yang Rui was so strong that he did not need external help. However, Qiao Mao was able to sweep away the snow in front of his door and maintain the balance in Yan Province. This was enough to make Yang Rui feel at ease!
Currently, Cheng Yu was leading 100,000 soldiers in Pingzhou Prefecture. Yang Rui had also sent Wu Anguo, who was originally stationed in Dashan City, over there. He believed that Wu Anguo had already met up with Cheng Yu. In addition, Yang Rui's fleet and the 20,000 soldiers that were escorting the families of the NPC officials in Heyin Province had already arrived in Pingzhou Prefecture. If they only focused on defense for the time being, there was no need to worry about losing Pingzhou Prefecture.
Cheng Yu was originally good at defense. This was already demonstrated when the Yellow Turban Army surrounded Dong Ah County. Although Wu Anguo was not as good as Yuan Shao's subordinates, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, he should be able to play a significant role under Cheng Yu's command. These were the two main reasons why Yang Rui was more at ease with Pingzhou Prefecture.
Even so, Yang Rui still chose to head to Pingzhou Prefecture immediately after assisting Qiao Mao in repelling Liu Dai's army. Yuan Shao's strategy was not to be underestimated. Since the vassals came to seek justice, Yang Rui had a new understanding of Yuan Shao. Naturally, he did not dare to let his guard down.
Therefore, after Yang Rui arranged for Gao Shun and Zhang Liao to lead the cavalry out, he also rode the Flying Carpet to Pingzhou Prefecture. He wanted to reach Pingzhou Prefecture as soon as possible to understand the current situation. Of course, Zhang Ning was also riding the Flying Carpet with Yang Rui. Now that he had the synergy talisman, it was very convenient to bring Zhang Ning along.
Moreover, Zhang Ning's Heavenly Spirit Flaming Rain was extremely powerful when used together with the Flying Carpet. It had already become Yang Rui's new trump card. With Zhang Ning by his side, he could use this trump card at a crucial moment.
However, there was a problem soon. Now that they were only using the Flying Carpet to travel and not the Heavenly Spirit Flaming Rain, Yang Rui did not need to use the protective measures on his back and ankles. This made things difficult for Yang Rui and Zhang Ning.
"I will ride the Flying Carpet. Thou can stand behind me and hold my clothes tightly."
It was already daytime. Unlike when they used the Flying Carpet at night, Yang Rui noticed that Zhang Ning, who had always been calm, was actually a little hesitant. In this way, they avoided the awkwardness and the two quickly set off.
In order to avoid the ups and downs of the terrain and make full use of the Flying Carpet's speed, Yang Rui still chose to travel along the Yellow River. At this time, he had just resolved Liu Daizhen's action against Qiao Mao. Yang Rui's mood was also relaxed. With Zhang Ning's company, he did not feel lonely, so he paid attention to the scenery along the way.
The torrents on the Yellow River were surging. Naturally, it was interesting to fly across the sky. This made Zhang Ning, who had always been calm, very excited. Along the way, she talked with Yang Rui from time to time. In the end, she even sang softly, which was different from her usual attitude.
In the end, perhaps because Zhang Ning was a little tired, she did not follow Yang Rui's instructions to hold on to his clothes. Instead, she tied the ribbon on the cloud dress to Yang Rui's shoulder. If they were seen by others, they would definitely feel that it was a loss of propriety.
Although Yang Rui was sometimes a little slow, he was not someone who did not understand romantic feelings. Judging from the "elf girl" Zhang Ning's breathing when she sang softly and the way she "hung" on Yang Rui's shoulder, she should have some feelings for Yang Rui. However, Yang Rui had a knot in his heart about his ex-girlfriend — Xiao Nan. He rarely had such thoughts. Moreover, in Yang Rui's view, Zhang Ning was just an NPC!
Unknowingly, four to six hours had passed. Yang Rui drove the Flying Carpet to the vicinity of the Pingyuan Prefecture's administrative center. Based on what Yang Rui saw and heard when he entered the Pingyuan Prefecture, Yuan Shao should not have set Yang Rui's Pingyuan Prefecture as his primary target and sent troops to attack the Pingyuan Prefecture.
With this, Yang Rui was relieved. However, before entering the Pingyuan Prefecture's administrative center, Yang Rui first flew to the border between Pingyuan Prefecture and Bohai Prefecture to check on Yuan Shao's movements. After observing, Yang Rui once again confirmed Yuan Shao's intentions. Although Yuan Shao had stationed many troops at the border, he did not seem to be moving. His goal should be to restrain Yuan Shao, and his primary target was not the Pingyuan Prefecture!
After Yang Rui discovered a large-scale Yuan Shao camp at the border of Pingchang Prefecture, he stopped the Flying Carpet and swapped positions with Zhang Ning.
"My lord, are you going to attack Yuan Shao's camp?"
When Zhang Ning saw Yang Rui's posture of using the Flaming Rain to attack, she knew what he was going to do and asked.
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