Linying County, the county is located in the west of Shaoling, and at the intersection of Rushui and Lishui, the camps are continuous for several miles, with tents one after another, and the imperial army ordered to go south to quell the chaos here. Countless smoke from the barracks rose in the twilight, and bonfires in the camp were reflected on the ground like stars in the sky.

In the big tent, the commander-in-chief and marching chief Pan Zihuang was talking to someone. The other party was Liu Ziang, the governor of Yingzhou who had just been defeated and retreated. This army led the army to attack Xuanhu for a long distance. He was about to succeed, but he unexpectedly had an encounter outside the city.

The opportunity was lost, and Liu Zi'ang had to retreat, with nearly 30% of the casualties, which was actually defeated.

Winning and defeat are common in military affairs. Although 30% of the casualties are almost wounded, Pan Zihuang did not blame Liu Zi'ang too much. At this moment, he was asking the other party about the situation around Xuanhu to determine how to fight next.

More than 20 days ago, the news of Xuanhu's loss reached Yecheng. Prime Minister Yuchi Dun immediately appointed Pan Zihuang as the chief marching officer, leading 20,000 infantry and cavalry to cross the Yellow River south, and attacking Xuanhu, which was captured by the enemy.

The infantry marching was slow, so Pan Zihuang led the cavalry to set out first. He originally wanted to join the Yuzhou army retreating from Fangcheng. As a result, the soldiers of the Yuzhou army were eager to fight, and the Yuzhou general manager Heba Fuen had to go south early.

As a result, the Yuzhou army was defeated outside Xuanhu City, and Heba Fuen was killed.

In this way, Pan Zihuang's troops became the only main force of the official army in the Yuzhou General Administration. Before the next batch of reinforcements arrived, there was no way to lose.

The place where Pan Zihuang's troops garrison was the boundary of Linying County under the jurisdiction of Yuzhou. Yecheng was 130 miles west of Shaoling, which guarded the eastern end of Yewan Road and was an important place to block the eastward advance of Jingzhou's army. Shaoling and Yecheng were just one east and one west to support each other, echoing each other.

The official army stationed in Shaoling just happened to restrain the enemy army in Xuanhu, so that they did not dare to move easily. When the surrounding prefectures and counties mobilized their troops, they could march together and march outside Xuanhu City.

This is Pan Zihuang's arrangement, but now Liu Zi'ang has to reveal the truth, he feels that he should re-examine the strength of Xuanhu's enemy army.

When Liu Zi'ang retreated, he claimed that he had encountered two thousand enemies and was defeated. As for whether there were really two thousand enemies, no one would investigate it, but Liu Zi'ang told Pan Zihuang the truth in private.

He was ambushed by less than a hundred people, but later reinforcements came from the city. Unknown to the number of troops, Liu Zi'ang led his troops to the north. Of course, it was too unpleasant to tell the truth, so it was said on the surface that he had encountered two thousand enemy troops.

Liu Zi'ang and Pan Zihuang had a friendship, and it had been a decades of friendship. They were both generals of Qi back then. Zhou State attacked Qi and defeated Jinyang. Seeing that the situation was over, they surrendered one after another.

Later, in the second year of Daxiang in Zhou State, the general manager of Xiangzhou, Yuchi Jiong, Duke of Shu State, supported the new king and raised an army to rebel against Yang. The old Qi generals who were under his jurisdiction responded one after another, and Pan and Liu were among them.

In just over ten years, the situation was unpredictable. When Qi, which was fighting between the east and west, the Zhou Kingdom successively embarked on the road of defeat. Most of the former Qi generals sighed and then stood firmly on the side of the Yuchi family.

Seeing that Yuwen was about to lose his days, no one was willing to follow him and be buried with him, just like everyone was unwilling to die with Gao more than ten years ago.

"The Prime Minister means that if there is a change, our army cannot linger here for too long, otherwise the enemy army in Xuanhu will have more time to strengthen the city defense. However, the situation in Xizhou and Guangzhou is not good. If this continues, the situation in Yuzhou will be corrupt and will affect the Huainan army."

"Brother Pan, since the enemy can succeed in stealing the city, I think there are many cavalrymen. Yuzhou is flat, so you must beware of the enemy's sneak attack."

"You mean the other party may send troops to attack here?"

"I have to be careful." Liu Zi'ang swept away his depressed attitude of tying himself up for guilt and made suggestions to his old friend: "Even the Yuwen family's troops, even if they were lucky enough to occupy Xuanhu, there was Tongbai Mountain in the south of the mountain and Dabie Mountain blocked it and could not stay in Yuzhou Chang..."

"If they want to stay in Xuanhu for a little longer, they have to defeat our army, which can lure officials from all over the world, strong men and women, and disrupt Yuzhou as much as possible, so that Jingzhou, Shannan can breathe."

"Our army stationed in Shaoling, with Yecheng in the west, Ruyang County in the east, and the boundary of Bozhou General Administration. If the first half of the month is slowed down, the Bozhou army will advance westward, and at the same time, our army will move south, how can they stop?"

"Not to mention the Yangzhou General Administration in the southeast of Guangzhou, I think it is already gathering troops. At that time, the three parties will march at the same time. Yuwen's family wants to defend Xuanhu is a dream."

"If they want to break the situation, they have to take the initiative and defeat our army before the Bozhou army and Yangzhou army arrive, and support the Jingzhou army to attack Yecheng in the east. This is the way to turn the situation around."

"So, our army must be wary of the opponent's sneak attack. It is only 130 miles from Xuanhu to Shaoling, and it is not impossible for the enemy cavalry to attack."

Liu Zi'ang was very clear, but Pan Zihuang had already been in charge. He was old and naturally knew that he should not be careless when setting up camp. This time, the southward movement was of great importance. Even though he did not plan to station in Shaoling for a long time at the beginning, the military camp had all the defense facilities.

The military camp is located on the north and south sides of Lishui, connected by a floating bridge in the middle. The camp on the south bank is the main camp, and the infantry going south has arrived at the camp, and Pan Zihuang's central army tent is also located here.

The south bank of Daying is adjacent to Lishui in the north, Shaoling in the east, Ru River flows south to the west, and wilderness in the south, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

There are many arrow towers inside the camp, and camp bars are erected outside, and deer antlers are also covered with digging trenches to divert water to protect the camp. Not to mention that there are also cavalry more than ten miles away to guard the enemy. Even if the enemy attacks from the front, they may not be able to easily succeed. If a small group of elite troops attack, it will be a moth to the flames.

Although such an arrangement was made, Pan Zihuang was not careless. What Liu Zi'ang said was indeed reasonable. We must be careful of the other party's desperate bets and jumped over the wall. We immediately ordered the strengthening of the troops on duty.

Liu Zi'ang left, Pan Zihuang paced back and forth in the tent, thinking about what to do next.

When he set out from Yecheng, Yuchi Dun's order was to help the Yuzhou army recover Xuanhu, and then recover Shenzhou or Guangzhou according to the situation. Heba Fuen's Yuzhou army was defeated so quickly, which was beyond everyone's expectations.

So the important task of recovering Xuanhu fell on Pan Zihuang's shoulders, and if he was defeated, the situation would become more and more deteriorating, so it would be better to be safe.

However, he thought so, but he didn't know what the Prime Minister would think. As a front-line general, Pan Zihuang had to consider how to win the battle without defeat, while Yuchi Dun had to consider the overall situation as the Prime Minister.

This time, Yuwen's sneak attack on Xuanhu was a successful siege of Wei and rescue Zhao. Not only did he lift the siege of Fangcheng, but he also burned the war into Yuzhou. Once the Jingzhou army captured Yecheng, let alone Luoyang was shocked, even the Yuchi Youqi army stationed in Huainan and Jiangbei must return immediately.

So even if Pan Zihuang wanted to take action steadily, Yuchi Dun would not give him too long. However, Pan Zihuang had a plan to delay the army, which was to send an envoy to Yecheng for instructions. This time, the time would be evenly released?

Anyone who fights with the right match and won by surprise. Pan Zihuang sent a surprise troops to attack Xuanhu, but unfortunately he failed. Then he had to attack head-on. He wanted to see what the legendary battle-hard King Yuwen Wen of Xiyang was like.
Chapter completed!