My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 16: Ji Ling was led down by his bad teammates

Under Chen Dao's strict control, the ambush troops under his command briefly resisted the urge to charge out immediately in the dim light of early morning, allowing Ji Ling's vanguard to pass the ambush area safely.

Chen Dao didn't know how long he could restrain himself. Perhaps in the next moment, a grassroots officer would not be able to bear the pressure, mistakenly thinking that he had been discovered, and would have to fight his way out.

The longer you can delay, the better. The more enemies you can entangle, the better.

Chen Dao's composure was not in vain.

Just at this moment, the noise in the southeast front was getting louder and louder, and more and more Liu Xun's defeated soldiers scattered in all directions, and quite a few of them chose to flee to Ji Ling's camp.

These defeated soldiers were inevitably caught by Ji Ling's troops. Ji Ling was shocked and angry, and quickly arrested some people to inquire about the situation.

Hearing the anger, Ji Ling couldn't help but whip the fleeing soldiers wildly with his whip:
"Useless, useless! The whole army was caught off guard in such a short time! Where are Chen Lan's cavalry? Aren't they on night patrol? Why didn't they find Guan Yu?"

So in a short while, the news that Liu Xun's camp collapsed and his life or death was unknown spread among Ji Ling's team of reinforcements who came in a hurry.

The morale of Ji Ling's army was also affected. Coupled with the setbacks in the past few days, and being suddenly woken up tonight and forced to march with an empty stomach, all these unfavorable factors added up, making Ji Ling secretly groan in his heart.

He knew that the combat effectiveness of his own troops was in great doubt. If Liu Xun could no longer be rescued, perhaps preserving the remaining manpower was the best option at this moment.

Just when he was in a dilemma, Chen Dao and Tian Yu on both sides finally couldn't suppress the impulse of their subordinates and could only attack together.

"kill!"

"Liu Xun is dead! The Lujiang army has been defeated! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Although Chen Dao and Tian Yu each had only more than 2,000 men, and the enemy had more than 10,000 men, Ji Ling was still killed by surprise.

"Liu Bei has an ambush!"

"We've fallen into a trap!"

Some Ji Ling soldiers retreated in panic before the battle even started. In the dim light, they couldn't see how many enemy troops rushed out from the woods beside the road, which intensified their panic.

Seeing the poor performance of his soldiers, Ji Ling could not help but get angry. He shouted at his soldiers to discipline them, and personally charged into the battle to boost their morale: "No chaos! Anyone who deserts the battlefield will be killed! How dare Liu Bei do this! Ji Ling is here, the thief general, come and get killed!"

Ji Ling was worthy of being the bravest general under Yuan Shu. He reacted very quickly and organized his personal guards to counterattack and fight with Chen Dao's troops.

Although the outer soldiers of Ji Ling's army were in chaos, his core troops were still inspired by the commander's personal example and their morale was stabilized.

Ji Ling shouted loudly and attacked fiercely, rushing forward and killing more than a dozen soldiers and two garrison commanders under Chen Dao. Finally, because his performance was too conspicuous, he encountered Chen Dao who came to intercept him.

Chen Dao is not well-known now, but Liu Bei saw that he had good martial arts, so he kept him by his side as a personal guard, and gave him a higher rank if he was sent out to lead troops, which is equivalent to the treatment of a military Sima.

Ji Ling had certainly never heard of the name of a newcomer like Chen Dao. The two sides immediately engaged in a bloody fight, both trying their best to fight to the death.

After more than ten moves, Ji Ling was secretly shocked: How could Liu Bei have such a skilled fighter besides Guan Yu and Zhang Fei? The opponent's strength was not inferior to his, but his martial arts and fighting experience were slightly insufficient, so he had the upper hand.

If this young man is allowed to gain experience in the future, I’m afraid it will be hard to say what will happen to him.

Even now, Ji Ling thought that he would not be able to defeat the opponent without fifty moves.

After Ji Ling and his trusted guards were entangled by Chen Dao and others, his remaining tens of thousands of troops were suddenly at a loss. Without the direct command of their commander, they could only fight on their own.

Morale, discipline, and the fear of being tricked, all of these factors have suppressed the combat efficiency of the troops again and again. They are like headless flies and cannot perform at all.

The two sides fought bloody battles for a while, and both suffered heavy casualties. However, the casualties of Ji Ling's army were at least two or three times that of Chen Dao and Tian Yu. Finally, another rumbling sound came from the southwest. Ji Ling did not dare to fight and tried his best to fend off Chen Dao. After a closer look, he was frightened: "Guan Yu? Coming so quickly?"

It turned out that with the first ray of sunlight in the morning, he finally saw clearly that it was Guan Yu's banner that was coming. It was obvious that the enemy had to completely defeat Liu Xun before they could withdraw to reinforce the second battlefield here.

Ji Ling yelled in frustration, knowing that any attempt to rescue Liu Xun was now meaningless. It would be better to preserve his own strength and stop the loss in time.

When working under a lord like Yuan Shu, preserving the strength of one's own troops is a very high priority.

Moreover, this battle was doomed to fail, and all the responsibilities for the defeat were destined to be borne by Liu Xun.
Even if he was defeated, the responsibility could not be held against him.

"Sound the retreat quickly! Get rid of the enemy before Guan Yu catches up!" Ji Ling finally made up his mind and gave the order sternly.

He knew that if he retreated immediately and broke contact with Chen Dao and Tian Yu, he would definitely be ambushed by the enemy and take advantage of them. But it would be easier to leave and the cost would be lower than waiting for Guan Yu to arrive on the battlefield.

So he simply abandoned part of the vanguard - or in other words, in the process of retreat when the vanguard became the rearguard and the rearguard became the vanguard, these abandoned troops automatically became the rearguard.

The remaining troops that were able to break away from contact retreated as quickly as possible.

He initially brought more than 10,000 people to reinforce Liu Xun. In the brief head-on battle with Chen Dao and Tian Yu, the casualties were less than a thousand. The losses were greater when people panicked and fled during the sneak attack.

During the current retreat phase, the losses continue to increase exponentially.

Chen Dao and Tian Yu held on tightly and chased him madly, not daring to slack off at all.

The rearguard troops, numbering at least two to three thousand people, were directly cut off and surrounded. They completely collapsed after only a delay of half a quarter of an hour. Those who were unable to escape all surrendered and were taken prisoner.

After Chen Dao and Tian Yu devoured his rear guard, they continued to chase and kill hundreds of people. After Guan Yu's cavalry rushed up, the pursuit feast reached its climax, and at least one or two thousand people were killed, although most of them fled in all directions.

Ji Ling ran all the way back to the camp and counted the troops. Of the 12,000 reinforcements he brought out, only 40% returned to the camp in an organized manner. It was truly tragic.

Of course, Ji Ling had fought in many battles, and he knew that the 60% was not the total loss. At least half of them might have just been scattered and would gradually return to the team in a few days. But even if this part was removed, at least 40% of his troops were lost.

"After seven or eight days of inaction, they were defeated so miserably this early in the morning. When did Liu Bei become so capable of commanding troops? Is this still the Liu Bei I defeated in Xuyi County?"

After Ji Ling counted the losses, he felt so heartbroken that his blood was dripping out.

He took a quick inventory and found that he had lost at least 5,000 soldiers today. If we count those who fled temporarily, that would be 7,000 to 8,000. In addition, he had lost more than 2,000 soldiers in the siege a few days ago. His total casualties along the way were already over 10,000.

In other words, of the 25,000 troops who first arrived in Huaiyin, only 15,000 are left now. In a few days, the deserters may gather again and the number may rise back to 17,000 or 18,000.

But the friendly Liu Xun troops on the southern front, looking at the current situation, are not completely annihilated, but at least completely broken. Even if there are survivors, it is impossible for them to gain a foothold, and they will definitely be kicked all the way back to Guangling County.

Therefore, if he did not retreat, he would have to face Liu Bei's entire force alone with only 15,000 men.

Before today, the total number of Yuan Shu's troops in the Huaiyin battlefield was three times that of Liu Bei's troops. Now it has dropped to one and a half times, and 60% of the total force has disappeared.

Should we continue to hold the camp firmly, stick to Liu Bei and wait for changes, or should we temporarily withdraw and attack the stronghold in Xuyi County?

Ji Ling was in a miserable dilemma.

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(End of this chapter)