Late Ming Dynasty: Starting with the overthrow of the county magistrate, a rebellion was launched to

"Commander-in-Chief," Zhang Yingyuan rode up after the battle between the two armies ended. The bloodstains on his armor were only half-dry. "All units have been regrouped. The casualties were extremely heavy. The soldiers are hungry and exhausted. Many have not had enough to eat for days. If we fight again... we will surely collapse."

Meng Ruhu also arrived soon after, and began to play the victim.

"Commander, although Zhang Xianzhong has retreated, he has not collapsed. His main force is still entrenched outside Jingzhou City, and the bandit general Ai Nengqi is still besieging the city. Our army is now unable to advance, unwilling to retreat, and we only have enough food for three days. General Zuo is seriously injured and bedridden, and the reinforcements from Sichuan will not arrive for at least ten days..."

Faced with a series of bad news from the two men, Yang Sichang simply nodded slightly and did not speak immediately.

The two men's meaning was clear: this battle was probably out of the question. After all, this army of 50,000 was the last capable field army the imperial court had, besides those of Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting.

Once they are completely wiped out here, no one in the Central Plains will be able to stop Li Zicheng, and no one in Huguang will be able to control Zhang Xianzhong. Then the Ming Dynasty will truly collapse.

Alas... the nation has come to this.

"Let's retreat first," Yang Sichang finally spoke, his voice hoarse and dry. "Retreat to Dangyang, guard the supply lines, settle the wounded, gather all usable food and supplies, and prioritize distributing them to the able-bodied soldiers."

"The commander is wise." Zhang Yingyuan and Meng Ruhu breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Yang Sichang had finally listened to their advice.

Thus, the Ming army, like a dragon bleeding profusely, slowly turned and retreated towards Dangyang. Just as when they arrived, dust filled the sky, only now their banners were tattered and their armor and weapons in disarray…

At the same time, in the pine forest ten miles outside Jingzhou City, the temporary camp of the Great Western Army was located.

Zhang Xianzhong sat awkwardly on a fallen tree trunk. His personal guards gritted their teeth as they pulled the arrow shaft from his left arm and then tied it with a strip of coarse hemp cloth. Zhang Xianzhong groaned, and the veins on his forehead bulged, but he didn't utter a sound of pain.

Because of the penetrating wound in his left arm, the slash to his chest, and the arrow wound to his side, there wasn't a single part of his body that was unscathed.

Meanwhile, Sun Kewang, Ai Nengqi, Liu Jinzhong, and Liu Wenxiu (who had just returned from Qizhou) stood with their heads bowed to the side. Everyone was watching them, and everyone was injured. The atmosphere was so oppressive that it was suffocating.

Of the original 25,000 main force soldiers, less than 7,000 are still standing.

Of the seven thousand veteran soldiers, only six out of ten survived.

All fifteen cannons were destroyed, and food and weaponry were almost completely exhausted. The refugee army... also suffered a major rout and escape.

This battle crippled half of the elite troops that Zhang Xianzhong had accumulated since entering Chu.

"Father..." Sun Kewang broke the silence first, his voice extremely low and hoarse, "Changban Slope can no longer be defended. Although Yang Sichang has retreated, his main force is still intact. Once they recover, they will definitely encircle us again. And our army now... can't even fight a decent field battle."

So Ai Nengqi immediately followed.

"I agree! The walls of Jingzhou are ridiculously thick, and that treacherous Prince Hui is stubbornly refusing to come out. Our army has been besieging it for half a month, suffering three thousand casualties with no progress. If this drags on any longer, once our supplies run out, the entire army will likely be trapped here and die!"

Liu Jinzhong said in a low voice, "The Ming army under He Renlong is holding the supply route tightly. Our cavalry has harassed us several times, suffering heavy casualties, but we haven't been able to seize any food. If we don't leave soon, we'll starve to death without the government troops even needing to fight us."

Liu Wenxiu was in better condition than the other generals. He had just returned from a great victory at Qizhou and should have been in high spirits, but seeing the battlefield at Changban and the remnants of his defeated army, his face couldn't help but turn somber.

"Father, since the situation in Jingzhou and Xiangyang has reached a stalemate, and Yang Sichang can afford to fight back while we cannot, we cannot simply throw ourselves into the fray..."

Zhang Xianzhong's face was gloomy, and he was filled with resentment, but he could not vent it on his adopted sons. So he slammed his hand hard on the scabbard beside him, which made a muffled "clang".

"Alas... According to you, Prince Hui, Zhu Changrun, is in Jingzhou City, possessing millions in gold and silver, two hundred thousand shi of grain, and tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land! He is the fattest piece of meat in the Zhu Ming dynasty! The city is about to fall... You all want me to spit out the meat that's already in my mouth?"

All the generals lowered their heads, not daring to respond.

They all understood their godfather's temperament.

The more desperate the situation, the more resolute we must be; the more critical the moment, the less we should retreat.

Perhaps this is his survival strategy, but now, is it really the right thing to do?

At this moment, Sun Kewang hardened his heart, gritted his teeth, and stepped forward again. "Father! The Battle of Changban has almost drained our army of blood! And the soldiers of the old camp are your brothers who have followed you for more than ten years, not refugees captured from the roadside! Can you bear to watch them all die at the foot of Changban?"

"Father!" Ai Nengqi knelt down as well. "If we can gather our defeated troops today and recover our strength, not only Jingzhou, but the entire Huguang region will be yours!"

"Father!"

"Father!"

The four generals knelt down in unison, their voices earnest and filled with sorrow.

Looking at his four adopted sons who had risked their lives with him, seeing their wounds and exhaustion from his orders, listening to the intermittent cries of the wounded soldiers outside the forest, and feeling the tearing pain in his left arm, how could Zhang Xianzhong possibly lose his temper again?

The fierce and ruthless spirit that Zhang Xianzhong possessed finally began to dissipate little by little...

"Never mind..."

Zhang Xianzhong slowly uttered these two words, so softly they were almost inaudible, yet they brought a sense of relief to everyone present.

"Pass on my command."

Zhang Xianzhong opened his eyes, his gaze still fierce, but now tinged with calm and sorrow. "Abandon Changbanpo. The entire army retreats to the Songlin stronghold on the outskirts of Jingzhou. Ai Nengqi, you continue the siege, cut off water and food supplies, and forbid anyone from leaving the city. Liu Wenxiu, you take men to gather the scattered refugees; bring back as many as you can. Sun Kewang, you are responsible for settling the wounded and gathering all the remaining grain and fodder; do not waste any."

"Father, what... what's the next step?" Liu Wenxiu couldn't help but ask.

"Hurry up!"

Zhang Xianzhong, unwilling and angry, uttered this word: "Yang Sichang is even less able to afford to waste time than I am. He is an official of the court, with too many places to defend and too many people to guard against. Moreover, when the battle report reaches the emperor, I don't believe Chongzhen will still trust him!"

The generals were somewhat relieved upon hearing this, and then unanimously agreed.

"Yes, sir!"

Having received orders to withdraw and reorganize, the remnants of the Great Western Army slowly retreated into the pine forest to hide and rest.

At Changbanpo, where corpses littered the ground, silence finally fell. Only the setting sun and the cold wind witnessed another bloody battle year after year.

That night, in Dangyang, at the Ming army's command tent.

After finishing his daily affairs, Yang Sichang dismissed all irrelevant people, leaving only his two trusted generals, Zhang Yingyuan and Meng Ruhu. He then ordered that no one be allowed to approach within a hundred paces of the tent.

After the arrangements were completed, a huge map of Huguang was spread out on Yang Sichang's desk. Then, he stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze shifting back and forth between Jingzhou, Xiangzhong, and Sichuan.

Zhang Yingyuan and Meng Ruhu stood with their hands at their sides, unaware of Yang Sichang's intentions.

"Two generals."

After a long silence, Yang Sichang finally spoke, his voice calm, "Tell me, in today's Battle of Changban, did we win or lose?"

Zhang Yingyuan was taken aback, then bowed.

"In terms of casualties, our army annihilated over 10,000 enemy soldiers and forced Zhang Xianzhong to retreat, which is a victory. In terms of losses, our army lost all its elite troops and was unable to fight again, which is... also a Pyrrhic victory."

However, even a tiger might have a different perspective.

"In my humble opinion, we have lost. We have not eliminated Zhang Xianzhong's core forces. He still occupies the outskirts of Jingzhou, still besieges Prince Hui, and remains a major threat to Huguang."

Yang Sichang clearly agreed with the assessment that Meng Ruhu was fierce, and nodded slightly at him.

"That's right. It was a Pyrrhic victory, but more importantly, it was a defeat."

Then Yang Sichang pointed to Jingxiang on the map.

"Our army numbers 50,000, but more than half have been lost. Zuo Liangyu is seriously wounded, and our supplies are running low. Meanwhile, the Sichuan army is thousands of miles away. Although Zhang Xianzhong has suffered even greater casualties, he still holds over 10,000 old troops and occupies the key Jingzhou-Xiangyang route. The current situation is very tense. Whoever moves first will die first."

"deadlock……"

Zhang Yingyuan frowned. "Commander... does the Commander intend for us to remain in Dangyang indefinitely, wearing Zhang Xianzhong down to his death?"

"Of course not." Yang Sichang shook his head. "If that were the case, Zhang Xianzhong would wear us down to death—the imperial court can't afford it, and neither can our Great Ming."

"Then, Commander-in-Chief, how should we break this deadlock?" Meng Ruhu asked immediately, then suddenly realized something and hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "Our army is truly incapable of launching another large-scale offensive. I hope the Commander-in-Chief will reconsider this idea."

Ignoring Meng Ruhu's misunderstanding, Yang Sichang slowly moved his finger south, finally landing heavily on the two characters Baoqing and Hengzhou.

"We can't count on Jingxiang here, but we still have Xiangzhong."

Zhang Yingyuan and Meng Ruhu were both taken aback, and exchanged a glance.

"Does the Commander-in-Chief mean... Zhang Da?"

"Exactly." Yang Sichang suddenly smiled, his tone even more certain. "Zhang Da has been in Baoqing Prefecture for quite some time now, he's practically a half-military governor, it's time to let him get some experience."

Zhang Yingyuan hesitated at this moment.

"Commander, Zhang Da has already been blocked in Hengzhou. He can't come. Besides, even if he could come... the higher-ups have said he'll obey orders but not summons..."

Meng Ruhu chimed in, "That's right. Besides, Zhang Da is too cunning. If he takes the opportunity to go north, it's to seize territory and become the second Zhang Xianzhong..."

Yang Sichang stopped laughing after hearing this and sighed again.

"The country has reached such a state; even if he harbors ill intentions, do we have any other choice?"

"Anyway, if Zhang Xianzhong isn't defeated, Huguang will surely fall; if Huguang falls, Jiangnan will be in chaos; if Jiangnan is in chaos, the Ming Dynasty will surely perish! Things have come to this, I can't worry about anything else now. I need a sharp knife!"

"As for whether this knife will backfire..." Yang Sichang's tone turned somber, and tears welled in his eyes. "Let's kill Zhang Xianzhong first, then talk about Zhang Da. In chaotic times, there's no such thing as having it all!"