Chapter 375: A small victory, but the battle situation is worrying!

Chapter 375: A small victory, but the battle situation is worrying!

Under the double blow of arrows and black gunpowder, the imperial army's attack was completely in trouble. Before they could really get close to the city wall, they had already suffered heavy losses and had to retreat in a panic. The army that had been brave and unstoppable now retreated quickly like a tide, leaving behind a mess and the groans of the wounded.

Gao Yao stood on the city wall, looking at the imperial army gradually going away, thinking about the reasons for the victory of this battle. In addition to the powerful weapon he used - black gunpowder, the defeat of the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan was also an important factor.

This is the negative effect of fighting generals! If you can win, it can greatly boost morale; on the contrary, once you lose, morale will plummet. In this fierce battle, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan was defeated. This result undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the imperial army. The originally brave soldiers seemed to have lost their spiritual support in an instant, and their inner beliefs began to waver. Faced with such a difficult and difficult situation, the disintegration of the army seemed to have become inevitable.

Gao Yao frowned, thought for a moment, and then shouted loudly: "Stop the attack, all soldiers must reorganize the troops immediately, and must seize the time to repair the city, and then rest and eat!" His voice was as loud and firm as a bell.

"Yes!" All the soldiers responded in unison.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers defending the city quickly took action and carried out the order in an orderly manner. Not only that, but even many kind-hearted people in the city came to help spontaneously. Some were busy making fires and cooking, preparing delicious meals for the exhausted soldiers; others were silently cleaning up the ruins and bloodstained relics on the battlefield.

Gao Yao knew very well that although this battle seemed to have been won, it was only a temporary advantage. After all, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan had not died in the battle, and given his character, he would not give up easily and abandon the great opportunity to continue the attack. Therefore, the most important thing at the moment was to let the soldiers take every opportunity to rest and recuperate in order to cope with the more intense and brutal battles to come.

On the other side, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan dragged his wounded body and returned to the camp with difficulty. As soon as he entered the tent, he immediately fell on the bed, and the military doctors rushed over. The treatment methods used by these military doctors were extremely ordinary, just a simple treatment of the wound, hemostasis and application of medicine.

Lying on the simple bed, enduring the pain and torture, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan's thoughts gradually became clear. At this moment, he finally realized that the real intention behind Gao Yao's obsession with fighting the general was not simply to delay time, but a carefully planned conspiracy - to create a perfect opportunity to put himself to death! Thinking of this, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan couldn't help but feel shocked and terrified.

Before this, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan had always felt that everything was under his control, including Gao Yao's so-called strategy. The Chixiao Sword, which should not have appeared in this era, unexpectedly became a deadly weapon in Gao Yao's hands; and the sudden surge of powerful strength also caught the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan off guard. Faced with this series of unimaginable changes, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan felt unprecedentedly at a loss.

In the past few thousand years of reincarnation, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan has accumulated full confidence with his own wisdom and courage. But now, under Gao Yao's step-by-step pressure, this confidence has gradually disintegrated and collapsed. He realized that the situation before him was far more complicated and dangerous than he expected.

At this time, his fighting power had been severely damaged, and the loss was extremely heavy. At present, the remaining fighting power was probably only 50% at most, and this was still the most optimistic estimate. What's worse, the injury on his shoulder was extremely serious. According to the current situation, he would never be able to fight again in the next half month. Even though Tianxing had a strong repair ability, the negative impact of directly breaking an arm this time was too great. It would take at least three months for this arm to fully recover. Even if he still had the strength to fight by then, the imperial army would probably have been on the verge of starvation.

However, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan knew very well that despite the unfavorable situation, he was not completely defeated at the moment. After all, he was still confident that he could take down Gao Yao in one fell swoop. Since he was no longer able to do it himself, he could only rely on his absolute advantage in military strength to completely eliminate Gao Yao.

Then, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan suddenly shouted: "Someone come!"

There was only the sound of hurried footsteps outside the tent. Then, a group of soldiers rushed into the tent. Most of these people were from the northern army. Since they always knew Meng Yi as a major general, when they heard the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan calling out, they naturally responded in unison: "Major General!"

"Someone, quickly convey my order. Let all the soldiers rest on the spot for an hour. After they have recuperated, they will immediately launch another siege. We must not give the enemy any chance to breathe!" At this moment, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan had a firm gaze and exuded a chilling aura. He had only one thought in his mind - to capture the city and win.

"Major General, the enemy's weapons that are like thunder are too powerful, and our soldiers are terrified of them. If we continue to attack the city by force now, I'm afraid..." The lieutenant general hesitated to speak, but the worry in his eyes was obvious.

The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan frowned slightly when he heard this, and was obviously dissatisfied with the general's advice. He turned to look at the general and said sternly: "Are you afraid of death? Although the morale of our army has been damaged due to my injury, the amount of black gunpowder in Gao Yao's hands must be limited. As long as we make a concerted effort and attack the city with all our strength, we will be able to capture it in one fell swoop before the enemy reinforcements arrive! This is a military order, and those who violate it will be severely punished!"

The lieutenant general was so frightened by the harsh rebuke from the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan that he trembled all over and quickly lowered his head and replied, "I obey your command!" Then he turned around and hurried away to convey the order to attack the city.

In fact, what the lieutenant said was not without reason. Mysterious Yi Xiaochuan also knew that a strong attack at this time might cause huge casualties, but he could no longer care about that. Now that he finally had such a great opportunity to defeat Gao Yao, he naturally did not want to let it go easily. Even if he paid a huge price, Gao Yao's growth rate was too terrifying. Now the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan did not know whether Gao Yao really could not beat him when he defeated him in Xia County, or whether he almost lost his life on purpose, just for this day.

At the same time, the entire southern region was in chaos. The flames of war were no longer confined to a specific location, but were raging everywhere. At the command of the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, the entire battle situation began to become turbulent like a stirred lake.

The army led by Wang Ben in Zhentuo area also launched a fierce battle with Cao Shen's troops according to the order. In this battle in Zhentuo area, the situation was obviously more favorable to the Southern Border Army. The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan sent Wang Ben to attack, just to distract the enemy's attention. Despite this, the unique topography of Zhentuo undoubtedly had a great impact on the court army. There are undulating mountains, gullies and rugged roads here, which brought many inconveniences to the march and combat of the court army.

But for the Southern Border Army, which had been stationed here for a long time and had long adapted to the environment, this complex terrain was like their natural ally, doubling their combat effectiveness. After several days of mutual attacks, the imperial army was ambushed frequently in various places, suffering heavy casualties, and the number of casualties had exceeded 5,000! In contrast, the Southern Border Army suffered much less losses, with the number of soldiers killed and wounded being less than 1,000.

Such a huge disparity in casualties made Wang Ben extremely angry and annoyed, and he wanted to find a good opportunity to fight Cao Shen head-on. Unfortunately, Cao Shen seemed to see through his mind and always turned a deaf ear to his challenge.

As a result, Wang Ben, who was marching into the Zhentuo area, was in a very embarrassing situation. If he divided his troops and attacked, he would most likely be defeated one by one by the enemy; but what if the army marched together? Because the terrain here is rugged, there are many mountains, and the roads are difficult to travel. Such a march would inevitably cause the army to be stretched and dispersed, thus creating an excellent ambush opportunity for the southern border army.

However, the reason why Wang Ben was awarded the title of a famous general in the late Qin and early Han dynasties must be that his own strength should not be underestimated. He knew that the current situation was quite tricky, so he decisively changed his strategy and tactics and resolutely chose another way of fighting - gathering elite troops, dividing them into three groups, and quickly surrounded Echeng with lightning speed.

The reason for this is that the Zhentuo area has a unique geographical environment: it is covered with dense forests, with lush, tall and strong trees, making mining extremely difficult and requiring inestimable manpower. In view of this situation, it is obviously not a wise move to build county towns everywhere.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Gao Yao decided to build three large-scale cities in the Zhentuo area and arrange them in a way that they could support each other. The three cities were named Echeng, Yuecheng, and Shucheng. Apart from these key locations, most other areas still maintained their original appearance, but the scope of the mountain stronghold was further expanded. The remaining forces were mainly focused on the issue of opening roads.