Chapter 349: Breakout successfully, Li Xin, fighting to support fighting!

Chapter 349: Breakout successfully, Li Xin, fighting to support fighting!

At this moment, the night was covering the earth, and the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan led his elite troops, biting Gao Yao and his troops who were fleeing in front like a hungry wolf. However, as time passed, a trace of doubt and uneasiness gradually arose in the heart of the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan.

Although they tried their best to catch up, strangely, the distance between the two sides not only did not shorten with the passage of time, but became farther and farther. Yi Xiaochuan frowned, staring at the enemy figure that was getting farther and farther away in front of him, thinking to himself: "What is going on?"

Since it was late at night, it was pitch black and visibility was extremely low. In such an environment, even if he wanted to send some soldiers to the corresponding location in advance to intercept, it would be beyond his ability. After all, in such dim light, it would be difficult for these soldiers to accurately find the target location and successfully implement the interception plan. They might even get lost or encounter accidents.

On the other hand, the team led by Gao Yao seemed to be completely unaffected by the darkness. They rode all the way without stopping. The whole team maintained a tight formation and their steps were in unison, as if there was a pair of invisible eyes guiding them in the darkness. And what about the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan? Although the soldiers were equally brave and fearless, their overall speed was obviously limited due to factors such as obstructed vision and unfamiliarity with the road conditions.

This abnormal situation made the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan feel confused and puzzled. According to common sense, under such difficult conditions, the speed of the fleeing party should gradually slow down, while the pursuers behind should continue to close the distance with the advantage of latecomers. But now the facts are just the opposite. Gao Yao's troops can actually run faster and faster in the dark, which is really incredible.

After hesitating for a moment, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan rushed to the front of the team like an arrow from a bow. Even though he tried his best to look far away, with the help of the bright moonlight and the weak firelight, he still could not see any trace of Gao Yao's troops. The only sound he could hear was the sound of horses' hooves gradually fading away and ringing through the night sky, as if mercilessly mocking their futility.

If they continued to chase like this recklessly, within half an hour, even the faint sound of horse hooves would disappear completely in the vast night, and the Gaoyao troops would disappear like smoke without a trace. Thinking of this, although he was filled with resentment and resentment, Yi Xiaochuan also clearly realized that continuing to pursue them at this moment would have little effect.

After all, he wanted to kill Gao Yao, but Gao Yao had already disappeared. Even if he managed to catch up with him, he might have already hidden in some unknown corner, leaving them empty-handed. Moreover, after chasing him all the way, there were only about 7,000 soldiers left. Many soldiers lost their way in the dark sky or got separated from the main group due to the complicated roads.

If they continued to pursue Gao Yao, they might set up an insidious ambush after Gao Yao succeeded in getting rid of them, and suddenly attack them when the time was right. The consequences would be disastrous. In this way, they would not only fail to achieve the goal of annihilating Gao Yao's troops, but might also put themselves in an irretrievable danger.

After weighing the pros and cons, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, although reluctant, had to make a decisive decision and issue an order: "The entire army stops advancing!"

"Withdraw the troops and return to the camp!" At this moment, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan shouted loudly with a heavy face. His voice echoed in the empty battlefield, filled with deep helplessness and loss.

When they finally arrived at the location of the imperial army, Xia County had already been completely occupied by the imperial army. After hearing this news, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan was not surprised at all and led his men directly into Xia County. After entering the county, they also learned that the total number of people in the entire Xia County was less than 5,000, and most of these people were old and weak or young and ignorant children.

After the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan and his party arrived at the county government office and settled down, Li Xin hurried to the main hall. He saluted Yi Xiaochuan with a solemn look and began to report the current battle situation in detail: "General, most of the enemy troops successfully broke through the chaos and also took some innocent people with them. In addition..." At this point, Li Xin paused for a moment, as if he was a little embarrassed to speak.

Seeing this, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan frowned slightly and said loudly: "Old General, there is no need to hesitate at this moment, just say whatever you want to say!"

After hearing this, Li Xin took a deep breath and continued, "Well, the left wing camp was suddenly attacked by the southern border army. The enemy acted quickly and ruthlessly, not only burning half of our food and grass, but also quickly withdrawing." When Li Xin said this, his tone also revealed a strong sense of helplessness.

If it were Li Xin's style and strategic considerations, he would never rashly decide to pursue Gao Yao. Doing so is not only unnecessary, but may even bring many risks. However, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan not only continued to pursue, but even mobilized the left and right wings of the camp to launch a pursuit of Gao Yao together.

If not, how could the Southern Border Military District, with only 5,000 soldiers, successfully capture the Left Wing Camp with nearly 20,000 soldiers? Not to mention that they could successfully burn a large amount of enemy food and grass.

Now, due to this unexpected attack, half of the enemy's food and grass have been burned! This sudden incident undoubtedly casts a thick shadow on the subsequent battle. After all, food and grass are key materials for the army's march and combat. Once the supply is insufficient, it will become extremely difficult to continue to advance the war. It is estimated that it will take at least half a month for the next batch of food and grass to arrive on the battlefield.

The remaining food and grass are limited. If we choose to continue fighting the enemy, then these grains can only last for seven days at most. If we stop the military operations during this period, we may be able to survive by relying on the existing food and grass until new food and grass arrive at the front line, but in this case, the progress of the entire war will inevitably be delayed for at least half a month. This is undoubtedly an extremely unfavorable situation for the imperial army that is eager to win.

Before the expedition, after careful calculation and evaluation, it was found that the prepared food and grass could only sustain the army for five months at most. If the southern border could not be successfully conquered within these five months, there would be no need for the enemy to launch a counterattack, and the imperial army itself would collapse due to the shortage of food and grass. The offensive timing mentioned here did not start when the attack on Xia County was launched. In fact, the food and grass had been consumed as early as the day the army began to march.

Now more than a month and a half has passed. If we wait a little longer, the two-month deadline will be up in a flash. In these two months, we have only conquered one city. This progress is too slow.

Listening to what Li Xin said, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan couldn't help but frowned slightly, and he understood in his heart: It was obvious that Li Xin intended to put all the blame on himself for the failures in this series of battles. In fact, when the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan stepped into the city, he keenly noticed this subtle change from the words and deeds of other soldiers. Because of his series of decisions that were considered to be command errors, many soldiers in the army were dissatisfied with him and all kinds of complaints arose.

"Old General, I am indeed to blame for the defeat in this battle!" The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan deliberately added a hint of guilt in his voice, but there was a hint of murderous intent hidden in his eyes, but Li Xin did not notice it.

"I hope the old general can put aside the past grudges and give me some pointers on how we should deal with the situation now." At this time, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan deliberately lowered his status as the commander-in-chief of the three armies and began to ask Li Xin,

Hearing this, Li Xin stared at the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan in front of him and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He knew that this defeat was a big blow to the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, but at this critical moment, only decisive decision-making could turn the tide of the battle.

Li Xin answered without hesitation: "In my opinion, the most urgent task is to seize the time to advance and adopt the strategy of fighting to support the war!"

After that, a gleam of brilliance flashed in Li Xin's eyes, and he continued to explain: "Back then, when our Great Qin conquered the six countries, we often adopted this strategy. Seize the enemy's resources through war to replenish the food, weapons, soldiers, etc. needed by our army. In this way, we can not only reduce the burden on the country, but also enable the army to always maintain a strong combat effectiveness. And now we can also imitate the way of the past to fight to support the war. In this way, we can ensure the speed of advancement while plundering enough food to support the army's continued combat, and by the way wait for the food to arrive."

The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan listened to Li Xin's words quietly, his brows sometimes furrowed and sometimes relaxed, obviously thinking seriously about the pros and cons. After a while, he finally raised his head, pretending to be thoughtful, and slowly said: "Well... what the old general said is very right! Let's act according to your plan and order the whole army to march immediately!"

"Yes." Hearing that the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan had agreed to his idea, Li Xin finally smiled, then bowed and turned away.

However, Li Xin did not notice at this time that the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan's eyes were filled with murderous intent. For the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, bringing Li Xin with him was to make it easier to lead the troops in battle, and also to convince the public. If Meng Yi's identity was used against all the Northern Border Army, it would still be effective, but most of the troops this time were from the Imperial Guards, and Meng Yi's name was far less useful than Li Xin's.