I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 216 Temporary Retreat
At the foot of the hill, to the north lies the Zhenxi Army camp.

Xiao Ruofeng, who was in charge of the camp, suppressed his anger and asked, "Have you found out?"

"Your Highness, it was Elder Li from Wushuang City and Elder Zhao from the Academy who took action first."

The person who answered was a young general wearing armor. His appearance could not be described as handsome, but only as heroic and handsome. Compared with the people in the Central Plains, his figure was very burly, giving people an overall very fierce feeling.

His name is Ye Xiaoying, the future General Beili.

When he heard that it was these two people, a hint of surprise flashed in Xiao Ruofeng's eyes.

Just as Wen Hujiu guessed, he had conducted background checks on all the Xiaoyao Tianjing masters who came with the army.

It is impossible for all of them to defect to Western Chu, so the only ones who can make them disregard military orders and take action on the battlefield are the high-ranking figures of Beili.

So the first person he thought of was King Qing, and of course he only thought of Xiao Xie.

After all, according to Bai Xiaotang's intelligence, Xiao Xie and Chu Zhao should be in collusion, but there is no substantial evidence.

However, the two people who took action now had no connection with King Qing, so it should be impossible for them to defect to him.

"Why did the two elders take action?"

"Elder Li from Wushuang City is seeking revenge. He has sneaked onto the battlefield several times, hoping to take advantage of the chaos to kill Queen Xichu and the Imperial Concubine. As for Elder Zhao from the academy..." Ye Xiaoying paused, and said uncertainly, "He has had contact with General Chen recently. He should be one of His Royal Highness Qing Wang's men."

The person who could make Ye Xiaoying say this must be Qing Wang.

"In recent years, my second brother has changed a lot, but he is conspiring with Chu Zhao, which is tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger!"

Xiao Ruofeng sighed in disappointment and continued to ask, "How is the war going?"

Ye Xiaoying thought for a moment and replied, "The battle in the rear is not going well. The Western Chu Blood Clothes Army is unexpectedly strong. However, we have a clear advantage in the battle of Langya City. We may be able to kill Chu Zhao. As long as Chu Zhao dies, Langya City will fall without a fight."

"Chu Zhao is not stupid. With his strength, he can retreat calmly." Xiao Ruofeng shook his head and sighed, "Xiaoying, what do you think of the soldiers guarding the city of Xichu?"

"This is the strongest army we have ever encountered. Their overall combat power is not inferior to ours and is much stronger than we imagined."

Ye Xiaoying followed Xiao Ruofeng to join the war a year ago. So far, they have only fought against Nan Jue’s army.

He was undefeated along the way, winning ten battles in a row. Otherwise, with Xiao Ruofeng's age, it would be impossible for him to become the commander-in-chief of the Zhenxi Army.

Judging from the previous battle with the Nanjue army, the Nanjue army and the Xichu army are not at the same level at all.

And when Ye Xiaoying said "we", he was not referring to the entire Zhenxi Army, but only the Langya Army.

The Langya Army, the direct force formed by Xiao Ruofeng, is definitely the strongest army in the Zhenxi Army.

Its combat capability is comparable to that of the famous Pofeng Army. The soldiers in the army are even more ferocious than those in the Pofeng Army. They are also the absolute main force attacking the east side of Langya City today.

However, such an army was stunned by the Longwu Army in the first battle this autumn. It was only after several consecutive fights that they gradually adapted to the battlefield rhythm of the Longwu Army and were able to fight back successfully.

To say that the Western Chu army on the opposite side is not inferior to them is actually an exaggeration. If one really takes into account the artillery and muskets of the Western Chu, the opponent's combat power is definitely above that of their Langya army.

Xiao Ruofeng nodded: "Yes, their overall combat power is not inferior to ours, but do you know what news Senior Brother Lei sent me?"

"How to say?"

"Western Chu has three large armies. The Longwu Army facing us is only the weakest army of Western Chu."

Ye Xiaoying was stunned for a moment, and asked, "The Marshal is not optimistic about our battle with Western Chu?"

Marshal, only the people of Langya Army called him that, everyone else called him the Ninth Prince, which shows that the entire Zhenxi Army did not completely obey him.

The entire army failed to work together. Xiao Ruofeng was actually quite pessimistic just about retaking Langya City, let alone going to war with the three armies of Western Chu.

In response to Ye Xiaoying's question, Xiao Ruofeng sighed silently and asked, "Do you think it's good?"

"This……"

To be honest, Ye Xiaoying was not optimistic either.

It is true that Beili can now mobilize a million troops, but Beili also needs to withdraw part of its troops to guard against Nanjue and Beiman. The actual number of troops that can be deployed to the battlefield of Xichu is only 500,000 to 600,000.

Just the 30,000 Blood-Clothed Army in their rear, which was affiliated with the Western Chu Expedition Western Army, was able to overwhelm the 100,000 troops that came to support them.

Not to mention that Western Chu also has nearly 200,000 Northern Expedition Army and the Shenwu Army that recovered the original Western Chu city.

Although it is not very clear how many troops Western Chu has now, it is at least around 400,000 or 500,000.

In terms of numbers, they are on par with Beili.

Looking at the combat effectiveness of the Western Chu army, it is obviously superior to their Northern Li army.

The tactics and methods used on the battlefield must also be superior to theirs.

It's strange to say, according to the intelligence from Bai Xiaotang, the generals of the three armies of Western Chu had obviously never learned the tactics of war, but their command abilities were stronger than each other. They showed the level of a generation of famous generals when they first went to the battlefield. They were obviously experienced in battles, but the problem was that they only fought with the Western Hu secretly a few times. Where did they train their abilities?
Ye Xiaoying really couldn't understand!
However, this is no longer important now. What is important is that Western Chu still has the advantages of artillery and muskets, and a war between the two countries is simply impossible.

In other words, Western Chu had to ensure a solid and stable rear and had been advancing slowly. Otherwise, the land west of Langya City would have all become the territory of Western Chu.

In a few years... or even just one or two years, it will not be a question of destroying Western Chu again, but a question of whether Beili will be destroyed by Western Chu.

Xiao Ruofeng smiled bitterly: "It seems that you are not optimistic either."

Ye Xiaoying was silent for a moment, then suggested, "Marshal, why don't we call off the troops?"

Xiao Ruofeng shook his head and said firmly: "No, we must fight today."

It is undeniable that the Xiaoyaotian realm masters sent by Xichu had a certain impact on today's siege, but it was not to the point of determining the outcome of the battle.

After all, not all masters in Xiaoyao Tianjing are Chu Zhao.

More importantly, he must use this battle to wear down Chu Zhao, or at least prevent Chu Zhao from recovering in a short period of time, otherwise it will be more difficult for them to recapture Langya City.

You know, Western Chu has reinforcements, but their Zhenxi Army has no reinforcements because their retreat was cut off by 30,000 Blood-Clothed Army.

At least, not in the short term.

Ye Xiaoying knew all this, but if the fight continued, their Langya Army would be crushed and frightened by Chu Zhao's sword alone.

Although soldiers can be recruited after their death, it is not so easy to reunite the scattered morale of the army.

Ye Xiaoying opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.

Soldiers have a duty to obey orders!
No matter how worried he was, he had to continue commanding the battle.

In Langya City, the situation is still very serious for Western Chu.

Again, although the masters of the Free and Easy Heaven Realm can influence the situation of the battle, they cannot control it, unless they are all like Chu Zhao, who can exert the strength of a Half-Step Divine Wandering at the peak of the Great Freedom Realm.

However, the momentum at this time is by no means comparable to before.

Zhao Fugui, who was directing the battle on the top of the city wall, was no longer confused or uneasy. He opened his eyes wide and shouted, "Beat the drums louder. Make sure the soldiers on the city wall can hear us. Although we are at a disadvantage, we must suppress the enemy in terms of momentum."

In fact, it was not necessary to do so, because the soldiers on the city walls saw their Majesty killing his way out of a large vacuum zone with his sword, which shocked everyone and boosted their morale to an unprecedented high.

The soldiers beating the drums were also inspired by Chu Zhao. After hearing Zhao Fugui's order, they took a deep breath and used all their strength to beat the drums like thunder, deafening. Even though their arms were numb, they gritted their teeth and persisted.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

The sounds of more than a dozen war drums spread in all directions, and for a moment they stood out from the deafening shouts of killing. The heavy sound reached the soldiers' ears, as if it struck in their hearts, shaking their spirits again.

Everyone was like crazy. They no longer dodged the arrows shot from outside the city. They braved the rain of arrows and blocked the outside of the city wall, suppressing the Beili soldiers who tried to attack the city.

By the time Zang Chengqi and other soldiers who had retreated first stepped onto the city wall for the second time, it was almost dusk. Looking around, the city wall was littered with corpses, leaving no space for them to stand.

Their comrades had been taking turns before, but they were still tirelessly killing the enemies while transporting the bodies of their companions into the city, waiting for the end of the war, burning the bodies and bringing the ashes back.

As for the bodies of the Beili soldiers who died on the city walls, they were used as battering rams and boulders, thrown out of the city one by one, in an attempt to knock down the Beili soldiers who had climbed up the city walls.

Don’t say it’s inhumane, this was the cruelty of the ancient battlefield.

"They are more miserable than we were before!"

Zang Chengqi was filled with emotion and of course a little surprised.

After all, according to common sense, the Beili soldiers they faced at the beginning were the most energetic and motivated, but the casualties of the soldiers who replaced them were much greater than theirs.

"Now is not the time to feel sentimental. It's our turn now. We can't let them make a fool of us."

"kill!"

"Kill these Beili bastards!"

……

……

Dusk has passed, night has fallen, and the sky is gradually getting darker.

By this point, the soldiers defending the east city wall had already been rotated twice. A rough calculation of the duration of this offensive and defensive battle was estimated to be about two hours.

To be fair, a duration of about two hours is very common in siege warfare, but its brutality is definitely the most brutal one in the past hundred years.

Chu Zhao did not go to the battlefield as soon as the war started, but he had been fighting for more than an hour. Even though he had rested during that time, he was exhausted at this moment.

Zhao Fugui, covered in blood, walked down to the city as if relieved. He came to Chu Zhao and shouted excitedly, "Your Majesty, the Beili army has retreated."

Chu Zhaoqiang cheered himself up and hummed. He was so tired that he didn't even want to say a word. He dragged his exhausted body and followed Zhao Fugui to the top of the city wall.

The soldiers who saw him saluted sideways, and almost all of them had a smile on their faces. The reason was naturally because the Beili army outside the city was slowly retreating.

After returning to the tower, Chu Zhao rested for a while before speaking: "Don't be careless. Beili may just be temporarily withdrawing for rest and reorganization. They may still come back. We must be prepared for a night battle."

"Night fight?"

The generals who had gathered were all stunned when they heard this. You know, countries rarely fight serious wars at night, unless they want to launch a surprise attack on the enemy. After all, the efficiency of night combat is too low, so low that both the enemy and us cannot accept it.

After thinking for a while, Zhao Fugui asked, "Your Majesty, could it be that the Blood Clothes Army has cut off the retreat of the Beili Zhenxi Army?"

I have to say, a man worthy of being the deputy commander, his brain works faster than others.

Chu Zhao looked at him with appreciation, nodded and said, "Yes, I think so too. This is the only way to explain why Xiao Ruofeng was so anxious and did not hesitate to send his entire army to attack the city, because he also knew that if they did not capture Langya City as soon as possible, then they would definitely lose this battle and there would be no possibility of victory. This battle would be a turning point in the war between them and us. "

The generals nodded, and Zhao Fugui asked, "Your Majesty, Beili has just been defeated, and morale must be low. Why don't we take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Beili's camp tonight?"

Hearing this, Chu Zhao remained silent.

To be honest, he was quite attracted by this suggestion, and the success rate was not low.

However, after thinking it over carefully, he shook his head and said, "We have no cavalry, but Beili has quite a few cavalry, and they have sentries along the way. If we rely on our infantry to launch a surprise attack alone, our chances of success are slim. Moreover, even if we succeed in the surprise attack, the soldiers we send out will probably not be able to return due to their pursuit. At most, we can trade one for one with Beili, but our soldiers are much more valuable than Beili people, so it's not worth it."

Zhao Fugui nodded, thought for a moment, and suggested, "How about letting Lord Wen lead the Wen family to poison them?"

Lord Wen, also known as Wen Hujiu, is now in charge of the medical and health department of Xichu and is temporarily transferred here to help.

Chu Zhao shook his head and did not explain the reason. He just said, "Wu... Zhao Fugui, tell the soldiers not to relax and beware of the Beili army returning. If they really retreat, immediately count the casualties. I want to know the exact losses."

"As ordered!"

Zhao Fugui bowed and led his people away.

Perhaps it was because the Longwu Army was too tough in this battle, causing the Beili Army to suffer heavy losses and urgently need to stabilize the morale of the army. As a result, although Xiao Ruofeng was eager to capture Langya City, he actually chose to retreat and did not return.

Seeing this, Zhao Fugui ordered the three generals guarding the city to order the soldiers at the level of colonel to count the casualties under their command, and then summarized the number and submitted it to Chu Zhao.

On November 23rd in the winter of the second year of Kaiyuan, 300,000 Beili troops besieged Langya City. 70,000 Longwu troops defended the city to the death, making it impossible for the Beili Zhenxi Army to capture the city after a long siege. The Zhenxi Army had no choice but to retreat temporarily.

In this battle, about 90,000 Beili soldiers were killed on the east, north and south walls of Langya City, while 16,393 soldiers of the Western Chu Army were killed.

About 70% of the enemy and our own losses occurred on the east side of the city wall.

As a result, the entire east wall was piled with corpses, and blood dyed the entire wall red.

"Sixteen thousand three hundred and ninety-three people... so many died in the battle?"

In the City Lord's Mansion, when Chu Zhao received the casualty report from Zhao Fugui, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest for a while.

You know, they only had 70,000 people, and this battle caused them to lose nearly one-third of their troops in one go.

A total of 16,393 lives were lost, definitely the highest number of casualties in all the wars of Western Chu.

Of course, they had never encountered a situation where 300,000 troops attacked at the same time before, and this time the Beili soldiers were the most ferocious army they had ever encountered. The Beili troops they had encountered before were far less fearless than today's army.

But no matter what, Chu Zhao still felt uncomfortable in his heart.

Yue Yao, who was sitting at the same table, saw that Chu Zhao was upset and felt distressed. She gently persuaded him, "You have done a good job. If you hadn't made arrangements in advance and risked your life to do it with all your strength, more people would have died."

Hearing this, Yin Luoxia also echoed, "Yes, if it weren't for you, Langya City might have been breached today. You have done what you could, and the casualties of the Longwu Army are not your fault."

Following what the two said, Zhao Fugui also said a few words of advice.

After all, in the absence of sufficient firepower support, if Chu Zhao had not made arrangements in advance and transferred many Xiaoyao Tianjing to influence the situation of the battle, and even killed the enemy with one sword each, their 70,000 Longwu troops would have been wiped out when facing an army of 300,000 attacking the city, and Langya City would have changed hands.

That was true, but even so, the death of nearly 20,000 people in battle was still like a huge rock pressing on his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"call……"

Chu Zhao let out a long breath and asked in a deep voice, "How is the morale of the army?"

"Overall, it's pretty good, except for the soldiers in the west of the city... their morale is a little low."

"Well, I'll go take a look."

(End of this chapter)