The familiar road, the way home!
Luo Zhao looked gloomy and quiet on the horse.
He had come here in high spirits, with the ambition to make a great contribution to the Song Kingdom. He had come here with the spirit to ask who the heroes of the world belonged to!
He had successfully conquered the East Domain River, and all along the way, he had been like a hot knife through butter. Everything was within his expectations. However, everything had changed after Meng Shanming led the army to the east. His ambition had been thwarted again and again. Now, not only did he return without achieving anything, but his future was also clouded.
He knew that someone was waiting for him. The person who had never fought with him was waiting for him. Meng Shanming was waiting for him!
He had retreated not because he had received the order from the Song Kingdom.
He had realized something was wrong when he failed the first time. He had failed the second time. However, he did not lose his mind. He immediately realized that Yan Jing, which he thought was weak, had a strong determination to resist. The Song Kingdom had gathered a lot of manpower and resources to resist. They could not conquer it in a short time.
Two attacks. No, it should be three. At the beginning, there was a strong attack by the vanguard!
In the three attacks, 180,000 Song Nation soldiers were sacrificed in total.
Just as they were climbing the tall city walls of Yan Jing, 180,000 soldiers of the Song Kingdom fell. Their blood dyed every inch of the ground below the city walls!
With the manpower he had, he would be able to conquer it sooner or later!
However, he did not dare to waste any more time. First, he could not afford to waste more time. Second, he could not afford to waste more soldiers. If he really conquered it, he did not know how many of the three million soldiers of the Song Kingdom could survive. On the way back, someone was waiting for him. Meng Shanming was waiting for him!
At this point, he suddenly realized why Meng Shanming killed the 600,000 prisoners of war!
Apart from other reasons, Meng Shanming was purposely provoking the Song Kingdom and provoking them to take revenge. In other words, he was threatening the people of Yan Jing to resist with all their might. He wanted to force both sides to fight each other to the death so that the Song Kingdom's strength would be greatly reduced!
Meng Shanming used the lives of 600,000 soldiers to turn Yan Jing into bait to waste the time, food, and manpower of the Song Kingdom.
When a weakened Song army appeared in front of Meng Shanming, Luo Zhao shuddered at the thought of it!
That old fellow had gone mad. He did not care about his infamy, did not care about killing six hundred thousand captives, and did not care about the lives of everyone in Yan Capital. All he wanted was to defeat the Song army and protect Yan Jing.
Luo Zhao suddenly understood Meng Shanming's intention, so he didn't dare to fight anymore. He decisively ordered his soldiers to retreat!
Shang Chaozong's one hundred thousand cavalrymen also "escorted" the Song army away. Each of them had a few days' worth of rations on them, and they repeatedly went back and forth to replenish their supplies.
Unlike when they "escorted" the Song army to Yanjing, where they did not offend anyone, the Nanzhou Iron Cavalry now took the initiative to attack.
The one hundred thousand cavalry moved around the Song Nation's army like the wind. When they found an opportunity, they would attack. When the situation went awry, they would immediately retreat, not delaying the Song Nation.
Therefore, Luo Zhao was even more certain of Meng Shan Ming's intentions. The people of the Southern Continent were indeed preparing for his retreat.
At the same time, Shang Chaozong sent out orders to the various prefectures along the way to prevent people from disrupting the Song Nation's retreat path, doing their best to delay and exhaust the Song Nation's army.
When the terrain was favorable, the Nanzhou Iron Cavalry even launched a ferocious attack to tell the Song Nation's army that they were not just going to harass the Song Nation. They would be serious at any time.
Even though Nanzhou Ming knew the intentions of the Nanzhou Iron Cavalry, he had to be wary of the Song Nation's army retreating.
The occasional harassment was a headache for the Song Nation. The army of two to three million was like a long dragon retreating. It was impossible for them to retreat as a whole, and there were no wide paths for them to take. Thus, the Nanzhou Iron Cavalry occasionally attacked, passing through the Song Nation's army to the left and right, then retreating after fighting.
The Song Nation did not know where the other party would suddenly attack or when they would attack.
The other party was not greedy, either. They would kill hundreds or thousands of the Song Nation's army at once and then take a few more bites when the opportunity was right. Although the casualties each time were not high, the number of casualties would not be small. This was especially so for the Song Nation's army, which made the Song Nation's soldiers anxious. They could not even sleep soundly.
Two legs could not outrun four legs, especially when there were so many of them. You could not shake them off.
The harassment this time was unbearable. The Song Nation organized cavalry to chase after them. In the end, after the cavalry was lured away from the main group, the Nanzhou Iron Cavalry suddenly turned around and counterattacked. Almost all of the Song Nation's cavalry were killed. Only a few hundred cavalry managed to escape. They were not a match for the Nanzhou Iron Cavalry at all!
Additionally, the Shang Imperial Sect would often put on the pretense of attacking the grain convoys. As a result, many cultivators were gathered here to guard the grain convoys. In truth, the Shang Imperial Sect had never attacked the grain convoys even once. However, who knew when the Shang Imperial Sect would suddenly attack? Thus, the Shang Imperial Sect had no choice but to strengthen the defense.
In order to carry out this harassment mission, Great Zen Mountain had suffered greatly.
The Song Nation's army was not easy to deal with. If they angered the cultivators that followed the army and chased after them, Great Zen Mountain had to cover their retreat. The price they paid was not light!
To the one hundred thousand Nanzhou Iron Cavalry that slept in the open, it was a huge test to maintain the stamina of the warhorses for such a long journey!
"Governor, His Majesty's decree has arrived. He orders us to immediately stop attacking Yanjing. The army is to immediately retreat!" Wen You, who had taken the decree from the young general's hand and checked it, rode to Luo Zhao's side and passed the message.
Luo Zhao took the decree and checked it. He was silent and thought for a while.
He did not know why His Majesty suddenly gave this decree. He did not know if His Majesty had seen through Meng Shanming's intentions.
He had already sent a message to Song Jing and told them to retreat. Song Jing probably received the news not long after he sent out the decree.
He threw the decree to Su Yuanbai and the others to check. He still did not make a sound. He looked around. The Song Nation's morale was slightly low.
After such a long journey, they had paid a big price and returned empty-handed. It would be strange if their morale was good.
…
"His Majesty, the Song Nation army retreated. They really retreated."
Tian Yu walked quickly into the royal study and reported the news happily.
"They really retreated?" Shang Jianxiong, who was behind the table, maintained a doubtful expression. His eyes were red from working too hard, and there were dark circles under them. He looked extremely haggard.
These days, every day felt like a year.
Tong Mo, Shang Yongzhong, and Gao Jiancheng were not much better. They also looked extremely haggard. The royal study had specially prepared chairs for the three of them. The three of them were now sitting in the royal study and "chatting" with Shang Jianxiong. In the past, they did not have the privilege of being able to sit down and chat with the Emperor at any time.
There were also rooms prepared for the three of them at the side of the royal study. Eunuchs from the palace waited on them.
Tian Yu nodded excitedly and said, "It has been confirmed. It has been confirmed repeatedly. The Song Nation army is already four hundred kilometers away from the capital. They are already so far away. It should not be a trick. They should not be returning so easily. They should have retreated!"
Phew! Shang Jianxiong slowly stood up and let out a long breath. Then, he sat back down as though he was relieved of a heavy burden. He said excitedly, "They really retreated. My Yanjing soldiers sacrificed their lives to protect the foundation of our ancestors. Otherwise, how would I have the face to meet my ancestors?"
The three officials also heaved sighs of relief. However, Shang Yongzhong found it strange and asked, "Luo Zhao still has sufficient strength. He came all the way here and only attacked a few times before retreating. Why do I feel that something is wrong?"
Gao Jiancheng said hesitantly, "Meng Shanming led our army to pillage and pillage in the Song Nation. He even massacred cities. Did he put too much pressure on Luo Zhao and forced him to retreat?"
The few of them looked at each other and felt that it was possible.
Tong Mo suddenly asked, "Where is Shang Chaozong? Is he still following the Song Nation army? "
Tian Yu bowed slightly and said, "That's right. According to the scouts, Prince Yong did not hold back this time. He repeatedly harassed and attacked the Song Nation army along the way. He even fought the Song Nation army once!"
Tong Mo snorted coldly and said, "During the bitter battle to defend the city, they did not react when it was time to attack. When the Song Nation army was no longer in the mood to fight, they continued to put on an act. They deserve death!"
Gao Jiancheng and Shang Yongzhong exchanged looks. They both felt that Tong Mo's words did not distinguish right from wrong. Luo Zhao's three-million-strong army had gathered outside Yanjing City and had set up a siege formation. No matter how good Shang Chaozong's one-hundred-thousand-strong cavalry could fight, they did not dare to fight head-on. When the Song Nation's vanguard attacked the city, Shang Chaozong had fought and contributed.
However, when the two looked up and saw Shang Jianxiong's resentful expression, they knew that they would not argue with Tong Mo. They knew that Tong Mo hated King Ning's family to the bone.
"No matter what, we managed to defend Yanjing. It was all thanks to the soldiers' sacrifice!" Shang Jianxiong stood up again. The anxiety on his face had already disappeared. "I will not mistreat the soldiers and commoners who sacrificed their lives! Come up with a reward plan for the soldiers. The commoners … will be given money and food. Each person will be given one gold coin, and each person will be given ten days' worth of rations. The commoners who participated in defending the city will be given double the reward. Those who contributed in defending the city will be rewarded separately … "
As Gao Jiancheng listened to Tong Mo's incessant speech, he calculated in his heart. Apart from the food that they had plundered, the imperial court had hidden a huge sum of money. It was more than enough to deal with the emperor's reward for winning over the hearts of the people.
He had to admire Tong Mo for one thing. Every time the imperial court was in a tight spot, Tong Mo would always be able to resolve the imperial court's worries and get money and food. Gao Jiancheng had to admit that he was not as good as Tong Mo in this regard.
…
Meng Xuan, who was sitting cross-legged in the palace, opened his eyes. He had also received the same news as Shang Jianxiong.
"He said to defend for seven to eight days. Now, the Song army has retreated after only a few days. That Commander Meng is really good at predicting the situation of the war. He is indeed a famous general! It seems that his strategy of not going to Yanjing was right. "Meng Xuan stood up, walked to the railing, and sighed with his hands clasped behind his back.
The elder beside him said, "That's right! I am more and more confident in his grand strategy. "
Meng Xuan nodded. "Shang Chaozong has also started to torment the Song army. According to Meng Shanming's plan, he wants to cripple the main force of the Song army. It seems that this army will not be able to return to the Song Kingdom smoothly. Without supplies from the imperial court, it is really hard for them to fight like this. "
The station elder beside him nodded slightly.
The higher-ups of the three major sects knew about Meng Shanming's grand strategy. However, it was highly confidential. They had been hiding it from Shang Jianxiong and the others, and they could not tell them. The three major sects could not say that they were sacrificing Shang Jianxiong and the others to protect their own interests. Fortunately, Yanjing was saved!
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