“I’ve already informed Cai Qiong. Judging by the time, he should arrive in Yunmeng City tomorrow.” Feng Jing pressed his finger on the location of Yunmeng City.

Chi Jianzhang found a chair, sat down, placed his helmet on his lap, and said, "Cai Qiong only has 20,000 men. They can retake Yunmeng City, but they won't be of much use in relieving the siege. General Feng, have you requested aid from the imperial court?"

Feng Jing looked at Chi Jianzhang with clear eyes and said, "I don't believe that the Prince and General Yuan were killed by Yang Taozhi, so what's the point of asking for help?"

Chi Jianzhang suggested, "Then let's ask Jiangyang County and Shangyang County for help. If they can gather 40,000 to 50,000 men to join forces with Cai Qiong, we can first take down Zhou Jinghuan, and then work together to resist the Yang family army."

Feng Jing said, "Deng Fugui and Li Lu are both scholars. Given the current state of the court and the fact that they haven't received any orders from the court, do you think they will come? Even if they do come, they will definitely drag their feet and drag us down."

Chi Jianzhang asked, "So what's your idea?"

Feng Jing countered, "How many casualties have the Zhennan Border Army suffered?"

"Seventy thousand casualties," Chi Jianzhang replied without hesitation.

Feng Jing sighed, drew a circle on the map with his finger, and said, "I calculated all the possibilities, and finally came to only one conclusion."

Everyone looked at Feng Jing and held their breath.

“Abandoning Yunjing City is the only way out for the Zhennan Border Army.”

Chi Jianzhang exclaimed in surprise, "Retreat?"

Huang Shi shouted, "How can this be?! If the Prince were here, he would never retreat!!"

Feng Jing said, "The prince is no longer here."

Huang Shi roared, "Old Feng! What are you trying to do? How can you do this to the Prince?"

Feng Jing rose and walked out from behind the military desk, saying calmly, "The dead are gone, the living remain. Whether I have lived up to the Prince's expectations is no longer important. I must live up to every soldier of the Zhennan Border Army, and I must live up to their families."

Feng Jing walked up to Huang Shi and said to the excited Huang Shi, "Old Huang, the prince and his two sons are gone, but his two grandsons are still alive. They are our hope."

Upon hearing this, Huang Shi was still furious, but he could no longer refute it. All the generals lowered their heads, their hearts filled with grief.

"There's something you don't know, because I was afraid it would affect morale, so I didn't tell you. Now that I want to retreat, it's alright to tell you."

Feng Jing walked around the main hall, saying as he went, "Right after the news of the prince's death came, the court immediately issued a transfer order to Du Yucheng to take over the prince's position. If it weren't for the sudden attack by Southern Zhou, Du Yucheng should have arrived by now."

"Du Yu Chengdu??" Huang Shi shouted, swinging his fist. "That's just a little brat!"

“Yes, he’s just a kid.” Feng Jing affirmed Huang Shi, then continued, “But the court would rather transfer him here than directly select people from among us old soldiers of the Zhennan Border Army. Isn’t the intention obvious?”

Chi Jianzhang interjected, "The imperial court wants to reclaim military power."

"Taking away military power is also a way of weakening military power. At this time, we are being attacked by the Southern Zhou army and our strength is being weakened. This is not a bad thing for the court."

Feng Jing patted Huang Shi on the shoulder and said, "Do you understand now? This is why I was certain the imperial court wouldn't send reinforcements. In that case, why should we be wasted in Yun Jing City? Preserving our strength as much as possible and keeping more brothers alive is what we should be doing."

Huang Shi looked at Chi Jianzhang and asked, "General Chi, is he right?"

Chi Jianzhang frowned, pondered for a while, and said, "The situation in Yun Jing City is indeed too dangerous. It's not that it can't be defended, but the final casualties will be huge."

Huang Shi then asked, "So you agree to retreat?"

Chi Jianzhang said, "General Feng is now the commander-in-chief, and I will obey military orders."

Huang Shi then looked at the generals, who all turned their faces away, clearly indicating their tacit approval of the retreat.

"Alas, without the Prince, the Zhennan Border Army has lost its fighting spirit!"

Huang Shi plopped down in a chair, waving his hand and saying, "Go ahead and leave, whatever! You're shameless, but I don't care about face either!"

Chi Jianzhang said, "General Feng, I have an idea. Since Cai Qiong can reach Yunmeng City tomorrow, we should retreat to the north gate tomorrow. Zhou Jinghuan only has 100,000 men, which is not enough to stop us. If we drive Zhou Jinghuan to the gates of Yunmeng City, Cai Qiong can still come out and fight. Even if we have to retreat, we should still tear off a piece of Southern Zhou!"

"I agree!" Huang Shi immediately stood up from his chair and shouted, "This battle was too frustrating; we should teach these bastards a lesson!"

Feng Jing paced around the hall, then stood before the military desk, staring at the map. He said, "Since we've decided to retreat, let's not linger in battle. If we can't change the course of the war, then taking this blow from Zhou Jinghuan is pointless. We're not tearing off a piece of Southern Zhou with our swords; we're tearing it off with the lives of our soldiers."

As he spoke, Feng Jing raised his head and said with a sigh, "My mind is made up. Tomorrow at dawn, the entire army will retreat from the west gate!"

...

After the Southern Zhou sent troops to Yunjing County, the Terentu, Abilie, and Jinran to the west of Dajing tacitly sent troops to Qinhuang County, while only the Dayue remained calm.

The number of troops sent by the three kingdoms of Te, Akin, and Jin was not large, totaling less than 100,000, but their purpose was only to plunder. Taking advantage of Wang Ren's suppression of the riot, they launched a large-scale invasion into the heart of Qinhuang County to plunder resources.

Compared to the riots, the calamity of the three kingdoms of Te Akin was more serious. Wang Ren mobilized troops from the three counties of Xinbei, leaving some to suppress the riots, and led 200,000 troops south to Qinhuang County to stop the three kingdoms' allied forces.

While Wang Ren was fighting against the allied forces of the three kingdoms, Yang Qingzhi had already joined forces with Zhou Jinghuan to attack Yunmeng City.

Cai Qiong, with only 20,000 men, actually held out in Yunmeng City for ten days!

Cai Qiong's arduous defense was like a bucket of cold water poured on the unstoppable advance of the Southern Zhou army, making them realize that they were not an invincible force. Although they had defeated the Zhennan Border Army, it was because the Zhennan Border Army no longer had Champion King, but it did not mean that Da Jing did not have talents as outstanding as Champion King.

Yang Qingzhi promptly adjusted his strategy and began to advance steadily. Yunmeng City had limited resources, and Cai Qiong could not outlast Yang Qingzhi, so she led her remaining troops to retreat north.

Yang Qingzhi pursued closely, fighting as he went. By the time Cai Qiong withdrew from Yunjing County and entered Tangping Pass, which was located at the border of Yunjing County and Jiangyang County, only 10,000 remnants remained.

Tangping Pass was naturally defensible, and Cai Qiong, together with 10,000 garrison troops at the pass, held off the Southern Zhou army.

Seeing that Tangping Pass could not be captured after a long siege, Yang Qingzhi and Zhou Jinghuan discussed stopping the attack. After fighting for more than two months, the Southern Zhou army also needed a rest.

Most importantly, Yang Qingzhi needs to properly consolidate the spoils of this victory.

The war in the south ended in a short time.

But for Da Jing, Yun Jing County was lost.