Chapter 663 Hope Reborn
Chapter 663 Hope Reborn
After Zhang Xutuo wiped out Li Zitong, he was promoted by the emperor to the ambassador of Henan Province to capture, depose and promote criminals, and his military strength was increased to 30,000. He immediately led 30,000 troops north to Jiyin County and launched a surprise attack on Meng Haigong's army. Meng Haigong was defeated in three battles and finally gathered more than 10,000 remnants to defend the city. At the same time, he urgently asked for help from Xu Yuanlang of Lu County and Zhai Rang of Dong County.
Previously, Duke Meng Hai captured Dongping County, the sphere of influence of the Wagang Army, and seriously offended the Wagang Army. So when Duke Meng Hai asked Wagang for help, he was unanimously opposed by the Wagang Army.
Li Mi rejected the opinions of the crowd and said, "Once Zhang Xutuo has destroyed Meng Haigong and Xu Yuanlang, he will definitely turn around and attack the Wagang Army. This is a typical case of defeating each one separately. If we rescue Meng Haigong now, we will not only gain the reputation of the world, but also join forces with other armies to deal with Zhang Xutuo. Why not do it? As for the previous grudges, they are worthless in the face of the general trend."
Zhai Rang listened to Li Mi's advice. He personally led an army of 30,000 and ordered Hao Xiaode to be his deputy general, and marched towards Jiyin County in a mighty manner.
Inside the big tent, Zhang Xutuo also received the news that the Wagang Army had come to rescue him, which made him overjoyed. He said to all the generals, "Besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements is indeed a good idea. It is not important to attack Meng Haigong or not, but attacking the Wagang Army is the top priority."
Zhang Xutuo led his troops to Jiyang County. At this time, he received information that the Wagang Army had appeared twenty miles away. Zhang Xutuo immediately ordered an ambush of 30,000 troops in the woods on both sides of the official road. At this time, he was already a hundred miles away from Jiyin County which he had attacked before. The Wagang Army would never think that he had set an ambush.
Sure enough, the Wagang Army was caught off guard and came slowly. The 30,000-strong army was stretched to 20 miles, which showed how careless the enemy was. They didn't even send scouts to explore the way.
Zhang Xutuo was overjoyed, and when the troops were halfway there, he shouted, "Shoot!"
Suddenly, the sound of arrows came, and the Wagang Army was caught off guard with arrows raining down. The soldiers were shot and fell to the ground in chaos. Zhai Rang was hit by three arrows in a row. He screamed and fell off his horse. His personal soldiers were so scared that they rescued Zhai Rang and fled to the rear army.
"Kill!"
Zhang Xutuo brandished his sword and shouted, and 30,000 soldiers shouted together: "Kill!"
The 30,000-strong army rushed out and attacked the Wagang Army in an overwhelming manner. The Wagang Army was defeated, and countless people were killed or surrendered. The Wagang Army was defeated miserably, and the 30,000-strong army lost more than 20,000 people. The leader Zhai Rang was also seriously injured and was sent back to the Wagang Village by his personal soldiers while lying in an ox cart.
Zhang Xutuo fought his way back to Jiyin County. When Meng Haigong heard that the Wagang Army had been defeated, he knew that he could not hold the city, so he opened the city and surrendered to Zhang Xutuo.
After Zhang Xutuo captured Jiyin County, he turned around and attacked Xu Yuanlang of Lu County without stopping. Xu Yuanlang knew he was no match for him, so he immediately abandoned Lu County and led his troops to retreat to Langya County.
Zhang Xutuo ignored Xu Yuanlang and led his troops northward and attacked Qi County. With the army's rapid advance, they occupied Tingshan County without any rest and defeated the two gangs of rebels led by Pei Changcai and Shi Zihe, who proclaimed themselves the left and right generals of Qi County. They annihilated 20,000 enemies, and Pei Changcai and Shi Zihe were both killed by the rebel army.
The news that the remaining 7,000 troops retreated back to Wagangzhai and that their leader Zhai Rang was seriously injured spread throughout Wagangzhai, causing an uproar among the entire army.
Everyone from top to bottom criticized Li Mi's suggestion to send troops, which resulted in the injury of the leader. For a time, Li Mi was under great pressure. Wherever he went, people pointed fingers at him behind his back, making him miserable.
That afternoon, Xu Shiji found Li Mi and said, "Chief, please ask the military advisor to come over!"
Li Mi quickly asked, "How is General Zhai doing now?"
Xu Shiji shook his head slightly and said, "The situation is not good. Among the three arrows that hit him, one was poisoned. The military doctor said that the poison has entered the lungs. General Zhai doesn't have much time left."
"Ah! What should I do?"
"This has nothing to do with the military advisor. The military advisor's strategy is correct, and I support it. It was mainly because the leader was careless in leading the troops and underestimated Zhang Xutuo, so he was ambushed."
As they were talking, they came to the back hall of Juyi Hall, where all the generals had gathered and surrounded Zhai Rang's bed.
Xu Shiji stepped forward and said, "Chief, the military advisor is here!"
"Ask him to come over!"
Zhai Rang's voice was low, his face was black, his breath was weak, and he was almost dying.
Zhai Rang held Li Mi's hand and said, "Military Advisor, can you tell us what to do next?" Li Mi said slowly, "The world is in chaos, and heroes are everywhere. But I think the key is to see the King of Jin in the south and where he goes north from. If he goes north from Xiangyang, we still have a chance to retreat to the Shandong Peninsula, but if his army goes north from the Huai River, we will be in danger. We must retreat north immediately to Liaodong, where we can still rule a region."
Zhai Rang nodded gently, "This is what the military advisor told me on the first day. I think it is right. Everyone, you must follow the military advisor's arrangements for the future."
Everyone disagreed. What are you talking about going to Liaodong?
At this time, Shan Xiongxin clasped his fists and said, "Excuse me, military advisor, how should we resolve the crisis at hand and deal with Zhang Xutuo?"
Shan Xiongxin was still relatively polite, but other generals, like Hao Xiaode, Zhai Hong and others, almost drew their swords and hacked Li Mi to death.
Li Mi remained calm and said, "Zhang Xutuo is not in a hurry to attack us now. He has gone directly to Qi County. It will take until January next year for him to wipe out the many small thieves in Shandong Peninsula. At this time, it depends on whether he attacks us or goes south to attack Du Fuwei. If he wants to attack us, we can hide our strength and show weakness to him. When he finally underestimates the enemy, that will be our victory."
Zhai Rang suddenly regained his spirits, as if he had regained some energy, and his eyes became bright. He shouted softly, "Everyone, listen to my last words!"
Everyone fell silent, and Zhai Rang said in a weak voice: "After I die, Xu Laosan will temporarily serve as deputy leader. Whoever kills Zhang Xutuo will be the new leader of Wagang!"
After saying this, Zhai Rang closed his eyes and died. The generals fell beside his bed and cried loudly, extremely sad.
Li Mi sighed inwardly. Dugutuo clearly asked Zhai Rang to give up the position of leader in the letter. Zhai Rang agreed verbally and said that he would announce it at the appropriate time.
But in the end he refused to follow the orders of the Dugu family. Now that Zhai Rang is dead, his connection with the Guanlong nobles has been cut off. It will be extremely difficult for him to become the leader of Wagang.
He has no real military power in his hands, and the so-called military advisor is just a vase decoration.
The generals buried Zhai Rang. According to Zhai Rang's will, Xu Shiji became the deputy leader. However, the Wagang Army selected heroes based on their strength. Xu Shiji set up a chief hall, with himself, Shan Xiongxin and Hao Xiaode as the chiefs. All matters, big or small, were decided by the three of them.
Li Mi was indeed a little disheartened. In the new power structure of the Wagang Army, there was no such position as military advisor. He was Zhai Rang's military advisor. After Zhai Rang's death, no one recognized him anymore.
He has no soldiers around him and doesn't even have a seat in Wagangzhai. What's the point of staying here?
Li Mi finally began to think about leaving.
At night, Li Mi began to pack his luggage in his room. Suddenly, someone behind him asked, "Sir, are you leaving?"
When Li Mi turned around, he saw Zhang Jue and Xiong Kuohai.
Li Mi smiled bitterly and said, "Obviously, everyone thinks that Chief Zhai's death is my fault. Although they are openly trying to get me out, leaving me on the bench is a sign that they want me to get out of here as soon as possible. Besides, someone wants to kill me, so I'd better hold on to my life and leave as soon as possible!"
The person who wanted to kill Li Mi was Zhai Hong, Zhai Rang's elder brother. He inherited part of Zhai Rang's military force and was now the fourth in command.
Zhang Jue stepped forward and said, "I have a thousand brothers under my command. How about I give these thousand soldiers to you, sir?"
Xiong Kuohai also laughed and said, "I also have a thousand soldiers. I will hand them over to you, sir!"
Li Mi was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"
At this time, Xu Shiji appeared at the door and said, "The military advisor is the soul of Wagang. If the military advisor leaves, Wagang will be finished. I will also give the military advisor a thousand troops. The military advisor will have three thousand troops in his hands. With the help of General Zhang and General Xiong, if we fight against Zhai Hong and seize his ten thousand troops, the military advisor will be the fourth leader of the Wagang Army. After killing Zhang Xutuo, I will ask him to abide by the leader's will and the military advisor will be the leader of Wagang."
A glimmer of hope gradually emerged in Li Mi's originally desperate heart.
(End of this chapter)