Chapter 732: 4 reinforcements

Chapter 732: 4 reinforcements

Chapter 732: Four Reinforcements
The withdrawal process was painful, mainly mentally.

On the donkey cart, Wang Mi was drowsy, and when he woke up occasionally, he sighed and groaned.

All he could hear were the whistling wind, the clatter of horse hooves, and the heavy breathing of his personal soldiers.

The sounds of fighting gradually faded away until they could no longer be heard.

In the end, there were loyal and brave people who risked their lives to cover his retreat, buying time for his escape, which made his kindness in the past worthwhile.

However, most of the people who stayed behind would never come back. The more such people died, the less they had. It took both money and time to train a loyal subordinate, and it was not easy.

Wang Mi couldn't help but shed two lines of tears.

He doesn't like to cry and seldom cries.

When people cry in troubled times, it is a sign of weakness and can bring great danger to themselves and their families.

But the blow was really too great!

He suddenly thought of Shi Le and felt a sense of sympathy.

Da Hu was also really miserable. After Fangtou City was built, he was targeted by Shao Xun, who launched a large-scale northern expedition for two consecutive years and completely drove his forces out of Hebei.

That’s not all. This year, they attacked Bingzhou and broke through the territory of the Great Hu, extinguishing the embers that he had finally managed to put out.

Da Hu fled westward to Pingyang with thousands of soldiers and civilians and was almost beheaded by the emperor.

What was the difference between him and Da Hu? In the battles of Minchi and Xiaoshan, he lost the elite troops that he had cultivated with years of hard work. Although there were still many soldiers in Shan County, there were no more than a thousand brave warriors. The rest had not shown their gratitude, were not skilled, and were hesitant. They were just peasant soldiers.

He no longer had the confidence to defend Shan County.

He just wanted to run, run westward, all the way back to Tongguan.

"Oh." Wang Mi sighed heavily and sat up on the donkey cart.

After he felt that the pain was no longer so severe, he turned his head and secretly counted the soldiers.

More than 2,000 infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and more than 400 personal soldiers, that's all.

We lost two-thirds of our troops in the First World War, how tragic!

The donkey cart moved forward slowly. Wang Mi withdrew his gaze and thought silently.

Is Pu Hong coming to Shan County soon? Will he steal the show?
Would the emperor take the opportunity to remove him from all his posts and take back Hongnong?
If the Jin army attacks all the way, should we defend? How should we defend?
If I flee back to Tongguan, what will the prince think? I can't flee too fast, or the prince might kill me as a warning to others. But I can't flee too slowly, or I'll be surrounded by the Jin army and I won't be able to leave.

The only way is to march westward with the defeated troops from Xihe, Pingyang and Hedong. Since the law does not hold them collectively responsible, they may be able to get away with it.

There are so many issues to consider!
On October 21st, just as Duan Mobo on the northern front arrived at the Xiongnu camp in Chihong, Wang Mi was finally defeated and retreated back to the territory of Shan County.

He stayed here for a day and gathered hundreds of defeated soldiers - but the number of his troops was slightly reduced because the palace soldiers came to pursue him again, so he had to leave some people behind to cover the rear and block them.

After running for dozens of miles and slowly calming down, Wang Mi didn't want to run anymore.

Two to three thousand people were sent from Shanxian County to provide support.

He decided to use the terrain of the earthen plateau to block the enemy, especially those places with mountain plateaus on both sides and the dark and deep Tianxian Post Road in the middle, where he could make some use of it.

I heard that Pu Hong has already advanced to the Qilijian area, so perhaps we can "trick" him over here.

They have never fought with Shao the thief before. They are like a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger. If they dare to fight and fight, they might achieve miraculous results.

In addition, he sent several groups of envoys to Pingyang in succession, with only one core request: to request reinforcements, the more the better.

******
On October 24, just as Wang Mi's first group of messengers arrived in Pingyang, King Liu Fu of Bohai had already sent three groups of messengers.

Liu Cong endured for a long time, and finally sighed: "Let Pingyang Ba lead his troops north to Lishi. Take 5,000 soldiers from Lishi and go north to Chihongling. If the Chihong flood cannot be defended, retreat to Chihongling. Explain it clearly to my son, I will allow him to retreat once for the last time. If he retreats again, he won't have to come back."

"Yes." The servant bowed and stepped back, going to pass on the order.

Liu Cong picked up the memorial from Quyang King Liu Xian requesting reinforcements, his face changing from gloomy to bright.

In fact, he was a little confused.

When the Shao bandits attacked Bingzhou, they actually fought a lot of tough battles because of the terrain, besieged many cities, and suffered heavy casualties. Now, even if they have enough manpower, they should not continue to attack strong cities.

Is it worth it to have tens of thousands of people die in battle for Bingzhou?
These were not tens of thousands of farmers, but peasant soldiers who had fought in the battlefield many times and had certain military experience.

Was the attack at Chenguan really so fierce?

He thought for a moment, looked at Wang Shen who was accompanying him, handed him the memorial, and asked, "What do you think?"

Wang Shen took a quick look and said, "Your Majesty, I think we still need to increase our troops. If we are short of manpower, we can just recruit the men from the fortresses."

Liu Cong was still undecided.

Wang Shen was referring to the Dingzhuang in Pingyang, which was under the strong control of the court. However, many people have been sent to Pubanjin to repair Zhongyu City, which was destroyed by the flood.

Since last year, as Guanzhong became increasingly important, the imperial court imitated the three cities of Heyang and built the east, middle and west cities at Pubanjin.

West City is located in Fengyi and East City is located in Hedong. The two cities were built as ferry crossings and face each other across the river.

Zhongxun City was built on the sandbar in the river, connecting the two cities in the east and west.

The Yellow River is not as big as the Yangtze River, and there are not as many places to cross the river.

Pubanjin is the most important ferry here because it can directly connect Guanxi and Guandong and bypass Tongguan.

There is Fengling Ferry to the south of Zhongtiao Mountain. After crossing the river from Hedong, you are still to the east of Tongguan and cannot bypass this pass.

There was a severe flood this year and the Puyangjinzhongyu City was severely damaged, so we have dispatched personnel to repair it.

As for the floating bridge, it is also being actively built, but the original permanent floating bridge was washed away, so the one being built now is a temporary floating bridge that can only be used for a few months.

The floating bridge was very important. Even though Liu Cong had already decided to live and die with Pingyang, for various reasons, he still ordered the construction of the floating bridge to be accelerated - he might not need it, but what about others?
"Transfer the Jie people stationed in Anyi to Wangwu and provide support at any time." Liu Cong thought for a long time and finally gave the order.

At this time, the four queens, left, center, right and top, came in together and brought him tea, snacks and even wine.

Liu Cong looked at the food box and wanted to ask why there was no Wu Shi San, but after thinking about it, he shut up.

I haven't touched it in a while, and I really wanted to do it, but when I saw the battle situation, I suddenly lost interest.

He pulled the Left Queen Wang and the Central Queen Xuan into his arms.

The former was fifteen years old, the latter was twenty years old, both were beautiful, and at this moment they tried their best to smile and looked at him with affectionate eyes.

Liu Cong started coughing violently.

Empress Dowager Fan sighed, walked forward and gently stroked her back.

Liu Cong’s first queen was Huyan, who was older and, in terms of seniority, his aunt, and had died.

The second empress, Zhang Huiguang, was his cousin, the great-niece of Empress Dowager Zhang and the daughter of General Zhang Shi, who assisted the Han Dynasty. She entered the palace with her sister Zhang Liguang, but she was not very good-looking, which annoyed Liu Cong.

Especially after comparing the two daughters (Liu E and Liu Ying) and four granddaughters of Taibao Liu Yin, I became even more annoyed with the Zhang sisters who liked to make trouble for ugly people.

Liu E was very virtuous and often advised Liu Cong.

Liu Ying was the most beautiful woman in Pingyang, had a good eloquence, was eloquent, and was well versed in political affairs.

Liu Cong once wanted to make Liu Ying the queen, but the queen mother strongly opposed it, so the matter was dropped and Liu Ying died soon after in unclear circumstances.

After Liu Ying died, Liu E did not live long and died soon after.

Later, Empress Dowager Zhang died of illness.

As expected, just two days later, Empress Zhang Huiguang died of "excessive grief."

Zhang Liguang lived a little longer, but soon died of depression.

In short, Congge's harem is really...

Fan was Zhang Huiguang's personal maid. She also had to choose a way to die, whether it was "death from worry and fear", "death from depression", or "accidentally catching a cold", she had to die anyway.

But she was so beautiful that Congge actually spared her and made her the queen.

Liu Cong is very satisfied with the current four queens.

At least she has a good appearance, a good figure, and some talents, which is his favorite type.

He didn't want to experience the nightmare that Zhang Huiguang and her sister had again - could an ugly person become a queen? This wasn't the Jin Dynasty.

Looking at his four queens, Liu Cong suddenly felt emotional. He gently stroked Wang's face and asked, "What would you do if something unexpected happened to me?"

Wang was young and a little confused at first. After she figured it out, her body couldn't stop shaking.

Xuan was a little older, but she couldn't speak either and just kept crying.

"And you——" Liu Cong looked at Fan and Liu and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Fan forced herself to calm down and said softly, "I only wish to follow Your Majesty."

Liu Cong felt very relieved, nodded with a smile, and then stared at Liu.

"Your Majesty..." Liu's face showed pleading.

Liu Cong was quite disappointed. She was far inferior to her two aunts, so he looked at her coldly and said, "Commit suicide."

Liu fell to the ground and fainted.

The eunuchs Wang Shen and Xuan Huai looked at each other and both felt a strong chill.

The emperor did not take the medicine, but he became even crazier than if he had taken it.

If the queen can die, will they not die? No, it may be more dangerous, because the ministers hate them more.

Liu Cong pushed Wang and Xuan to the ground and told them to get out like they were sweeping away garbage, leaving Empress Fan alone. He asked, "Do you think we should send more troops to Wang Mi?"

Fan was terrified. Liu Cong in front of her seemed like a ferocious beast, but she looked quite calm, even with a gentle smile, and said, "Your Majesty, Hongnong is not far away. If Shan County is conquered, the enemy army can cross the river in large numbers. If the pass on Zhongtiao Mountain is recaptured, Hedong and Pingyang will be in chaos."

Liu Cong nodded slowly.

The terrain of Bingzhou is not that simple.

Do you think that Shangdang has Taihang Mountain as a barrier, and Hedong County can only rely on the Yellow River to the south? No, there is also Zhongtiao Mountain.

This mountain has only a few passes to pass through, and it has been famous since ancient times. Many places are only wide enough for square tracks, so it is not that simple.

Bingzhou is actually a perfect terrain for separatism, and it is also a place where it is easier to preserve the population in troubled times - of course, except for internal fighting.

Fan felt that Hongnong was still too close, especially since there was Dayangjin Ferry (also called Taiyangjin) four miles northwest of Shan County. Once it was lost, the enemy army would swarm north and attack Zhongtiao Mountain directly, which was too dangerous.

"Then let's increase the troops." Liu Cong sighed and said, "Wang Mi is incompetent. He was defeated at Minchi and Xiaoshan. I heard that he was fighting fiercely with Shao's troops in the mountains and plateaus recently, but he is still retreating step by step. Without reinforcements, I don't think he will even be willing to defend Shan County. Well, send a message to Hedong to recruit 5,000 men from the fortress, and the Diqiang chieftain will also lead 5,000 soldiers to the south."

"Add 3,000 Qiang soldiers and 5,000 Chinese people to Lengquanshui." Liu Cong gave another order.

The bandit Shao attacked from four directions, and asked him for reinforcements everywhere, which was really annoying.

In fact, he didn't understand why the soldiers who were so vigorous five or six years ago were now so weak? Why did their fighting capacity drop so drastically? He really didn't understand.

No, perhaps he understood it vaguely in his heart, but he was just unwilling to accept it.

On October 28, Wang Mi was unable to hold out for long, as more than 10,000 government soldiers attacked Shan County directly, shocking Hedong.

(End of this chapter)