It was only two hours later that Pei Renji finally decided to send young general Qin Yong to Xintai County to lead two thousand troops to strengthen Xintai County's defense.●⌒,

He then raised his troops overnight to retreat north. The camp did not lit the torch, and the camp tent and gate remained the same, but the troops quickly left the Beiying Gate and evacuated towards Xintai County.

"Master, should you tell Zhang Xuan about this?" Qin Qiong asked Pei In-ki in a low voice.

Bae In-ki was in a bad mood and just nodded silently, "Send someone to inform them."

"Abide by the order"

Qin Qiong immediately sent his personal soldiers to Fei County to deliver a letter to Zhang Xuan.

At this time, Pei Renji looked at the city wall in the distance, and he couldn't help but sigh. This southern expedition hastily retreated north in less than two days. How cowardly

Although the Sui army retreated silently in the most hidden way, their every move was completely controlled by Wang Bo on the city. From Pei Renji's release of Luo Zhenyu to the north, Wang Bo knew that his plan had been successful and Xintai County would definitely be captured by Luo Zhenyu.

Losing the logistics of food and grass, the Sui army had to retreat north in a hurry, but the Sui army retreated north in a large scale that night, which was beyond Wang Bo's expectations. He immediately realized that the Sui army's food and grass might only be supported for two or three days.

"King, let's pursue it." More than a dozen generals of the thief army were ready to fight.

Wang Bo's fox-like eyes stared coldly at the Sui Army camp in the distance, "Don't wait any longer."

He was a little worried that Pei Renji's hasty retreat to the north was a trick to lure troops, luring him to go north to pursue him. Once his army headed north, the city was empty, Zhang Xuan suddenly led his army to come. His lair would be in danger.

Wang Bo thought for a while and asked a lieutenant to say, "You can lead two hundred brothers to Fei County to monitor the movements of the Sui army in Fei County. If they also abandon the city and retreat north, immediately notify me with an eagle letter."

"Abide by the order"

The captain rushed down the city, and Wang Bo pondered for a moment and ordered his men to go to bed. He was so tired that he was almost tired that he had just left the house and wanted to have a good sleep.

But before dawn, Wang Bo was awakened by his personal soldiers.

"King, King Sun from Linyi sent an emergency eagle letter saying that Zhang Xuan also led his army to retreat north."

Wang Bo sat up all of a sudden, and he was extremely excited. It seemed that the Sui army had indeed retreated north. He urgently ordered: "Order the army to assemble immediately and the army headed north to pursue."

Zhang Xuan did retreat north urgently. He received an emergency letter from Yuchi Gong. A bandit army appeared in the area of ​​Dong'an County. They caught a spy from the thief, and Xintai County seemed to have been captured by the bandit army.

This news surprised Zhang Xuan very much. He knew very well what the fall of Xintai County meant to Pei Renji. If Pei Renji did not withdraw his troops immediately, once he was attacked by the bandit army, there would be serious consequences of the defeat of the entire army.

But Zhang Xuan was more concerned about the situation in Dong'an County. There were only 500 defenders in Dong'an County. Although there were still some surrendered troops, they might not be able to play any role. If Yuchi Gong could not defend Dong'an County, he could only withdraw from Yishui to Gaomi County.

What worries Zhang Xuan even more is that if the bandit army launches a large-scale attack on Beihai County, can the three thousand defenders who remain in Beihai County resist?

It was already five o'clock, and Zhang Xuan's army rested on a hill about fifty miles north of Fei County. Zhang Xuan sat on a big rock and stared at a map in front of him with all concentration. He did not light a torch, but used the moonlight to check their current seats.

"General"

Pei Xingyan appeared behind Zhang Xuan at some point. Seeing him worried, Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "Are you worried about your father's situation?"

Pei Xingyan nodded silently. He knew his father's weaknesses. He was too cautious in doing things, or was indecisive. He could not make any decisions immediately in many things and often missed opportunities, whether it was a fighter opportunity or an opportunity to escape. This made Pei Xingyan very worried about his father's situation.

Zhang Xuan waved his hand and asked him to sit down, and said to him with a smile: "The situation is very complicated now, and it is dark and I am clear. We don't know how many deployments the thief army has, but the thief army is very clear about our situation. I believe your father must be leading the army to retreat north at this time. It is very likely that Wang Bo's army is also chasing him. Of course, this is just my guess. Now my question is, what happened in Xintai County and how is the current situation in Dong'an County? If we can figure out these two issues, we can make a clear decision."

Pei Xingyan hesitated and whispered: "If Wang Bo pursues the head coach in a big way, can we turn around and raid Zhuanyu County and force Wang Bo to withdraw his troops?"

"Can't"

Fang Xuanling walked over and said solemnly: "If we go to attack Zhuanyu County, we may be surrounded by Wang Bo and Sun Xuanya, and then we will encounter a catastrophe."

Fang Xuanling said to Zhang Xuan again: "The so-called surprise soldiers are only produced under the premise of regular soldiers, and they must not be used alone. Now the general is retreating north, and we only have 5,000 troops. We have to face the tens of thousands of troops of Wang Bo and Sun Xuanya. The only choice is to retreat, and we must not fall into danger."

Zhang Xuan secretly exclaimed ashamed. In fact, he was considering whether to raid Zhuanyu County. Fortunately, Pei Xingyan told him his thoughts, and he did not expect Sun Xuanya's threat.

Pei Xingyan said ashamedly: "Sir, we cannot fall into danger."

He bowed to Zhang Xuan again, "Now we cannot depose the public with private matters. Please put the overall situation first, and the humble minister will fully support you."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment, then asked Fang Xuanling again: "Do you have any ideas about Fang Zongjun?"

Fang Xuanling picked up a few stones and placed them on the big stones. He placed two small stones in the northwest and the north. "This is Xintai County and Dong'an County. These two are the key to the reversal of this chess game. Judging from the current situation, it is obviously Wang Bo's counterattack, which has nothing to do with Sun Xuanya for the time being."

Although Zhang Xuan wanted to ask why it had nothing to do with Sun Xuanya, he did not interrupt Fang Xuanling's analysis in the end and listened to him continue.

Fang Xuanling continued: "If Wang Bo is saying that to force Pei Shuai to withdraw his troops, then it is enough for him to seize Xintai County. As long as Pei Shuai withdraws his troops, we can only withdraw our troops. This is inevitable, but the general has never thought about why Wang Bo continues to attack Dong'an County."

"Wang Bo wants to wipe us out in Langya County and then swallow up the entire seven counties of Qingzhou." Zhang Xuan immediately understood Fang Xuanling's thoughts.

He followed Fang Xuanling's thoughts and said, "Then the key to Wang Bo's game of chess is in Dong'an County, I'm right."

"The general's thinking is clear, and he is right."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "But I can return to Gaomi County from Yishui County. It is not realistic for Wang Bo to completely wipe out my army."

"But will the general go to Gaomi County?"

Zhang Xuan nodded. Fang Xuanling was right. Under normal circumstances, he could not go back to Gaomi County and would definitely go back to Beihai County. Wang Bo also saw this and sent his army to attack Dong'an County.

He thought for a moment and said to Pei Xingyan: "General Pei, you can lead 500 cavalry to march day and night to Dong'an County to rescue Yuchi, but you cannot advance when you get close to Dong'an County. Be careful of being ambushed by the thief generals."

"Abide by the orders of low duties"

Pei Xingyan turned around and trotted away. After a moment of hearing his shouts, the five hundred cavalry stood up one after another, gathered quickly, followed Pei Xingyan down the hill like a torrent, and rushed to the north.

Zhang Xuan stood on the hill and looked at Pei Xingyan leading the cavalry away. He pondered for a while and said to Fang Xuanling: "Why did Fang Zengjun just say that this counterattack was Wang Bo's deployment, and it had nothing to do with Sun Xuanya."

“Very simple”

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "As long as Meng Rang is here, Sun Xuanya will never cooperate tacitly with Wang Bo. Sun Xuanya will follow the trend, such as regaining Fei County, and then continuing to advance to Ju County, etc. If we raid Zhuanyu County, or the retreat route back to Beihai County is cut off, Sun Xuanya will also suppress the entire army and wipe out us in Langya County with Wang Bo, but this is just Sun Xuanya's instinct and has nothing to do with the cooperation between the two armies."

At this time, Zhang Xuan remembered something and hurriedly said, "I remember when I captured Yishui County, the chief general who guarded Yishui seemed to be Meng Rang's brother, and that army was also Meng Rang's remnant army. They occupied Yishui County. Did Meng Rang have the ambition to return to Gaomi?"

"The general is right. Meng Rang will never be willing to live under someone else's roof. Sun Xuanya is probably bringing a wolf into the house."

As the two were talking, an outer scout came from a distance and shouted: "General, General Qin has sent someone."

Zhang Xuan hurriedly ordered: "Take him up."

After a moment, a report soldier was led up by the soldiers. He walked up and knelt down on one knee and said, "Report to General Zhang, I am a general who is in charge of the order of General Qin."

After saying that, he handed a letter to Zhang Xuan. Zhang Xuan opened the letter. Through the faint moonlight, he could barely see what was written above, which was Qin Qiong explaining to him what happened in Xintai County.

Zhang Xuan was secretly surprised and hurriedly said to Fang Xuanling: "It was Wang Bo's general Luo Zhenyu's deceived surrender that caused Xintai County to fall. Shubao said that there were probably nearly 10,000 bandit soldiers in Xintai County."

Fang Xuanling also realized that the situation was serious. "General, if there were nearly 10,000 people, I think they would never be trapped in the city and would definitely attack. Attacking Dong'an County is one thing. I am worried that they will ambush Pei Shuai's army and attack Wang Bo's army from the front and back, so Pei Shuai's side will be in danger."

Zhang Xuan also realized the situation was serious, so he asked quickly: "Where has Pei Shuai's army gone now?"

The report soldier hurriedly said, "I don't know whether I know anything about it. I came to deliver the letter when the army retreated in the middle of the night. I went to Fei County first, but found that the general was not there and continued to chase northwards."
Chapter completed!