The breach of the camp became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

"Retreat! Retreat now!!"

Sun Sheng's shrill roar reached the ears of several messengers.

"Ding ding ding~!"

Soon, the sound of metal clanging rang out, and the 18,000 rebel soldiers responsible for defending the city hurriedly retreated. The remaining 30,000 soldiers who had been killed by the crossbows also quickened their pace of escape.

Sun Sheng glanced at the soldiers surrounded by the Han army formation, then turned and left. He knew that the soldiers were not going to get out.

When they left the village, they numbered 88,000; when they retreated, they numbered 48,000. It must be said that Sun Sheng was truly a rare and unfortunate victim.

On the other side, the rebel soldiers surrounded in the center of the army formation had been reduced to less than 20,000 by this time.

Nearly 30% casualties—any other team would have collapsed and scattered long ago, but they didn't, because they couldn't escape...

"I surrender!!"

One of the rebel soldiers saw the spear thrusting towards him, shouted, threw down his weapon, and knelt on the ground. The spearhead, gleaming with a cold light, suddenly stopped at his forehead.

"I surrender too, please don't kill me!!"

Upon seeing this, the surrounding rebel soldiers all chose to surrender.

After the battle ended, the 10,000 garrison troops of Yichun City came out to help clean up the battlefield.

Huangfu Guiju, accompanied by several personal guards, patrolled the battlefield.

Smelling the blood on the battlefield, Huangfu Gui actually showed a hint of enjoyment on his face. This was the first time he had won such a brilliant victory in all his years of military service.

"Report!!"

Just then, a scout came up to Huangfu Gui.

"Reporting to the general, the bandit leader Sun Sheng has fled southwest with his routed troops!"

Huangfu Gui glanced at the scene from afar, then turned to his personal guards and said, "Pass on my order: leave 10,000 troops to join the city's garrison in cleaning up the battlefield and guarding the prisoners. The rest of you, follow me!"

"yes!!"

Soon, Huangfu Gui mustered 17,000 men and chased after Sun Sheng, following the route he had taken.

"Your Majesty, where do we go next?"

As they fled, a minor leader caught up with Sun Sheng and asked him a question.

Without hesitation, Sun Sheng said, "Let's go to Changsha!"

Changsha?

The junior leader paused slightly, looking at Sun Sheng with some confusion. Shouldn't they be heading back to Kuaiji now? What's he doing in Changsha?

Sun Sheng glanced at his subordinates: "Now that Huang Zhong and his men are in Kuaiji, we can't go back."

"We have people in Changsha; once we get there, we can take it down in one fell swoop."

"Your Majesty is indeed formidable; you even had a follow-up plan!"

Upon hearing this, the junior leader couldn't help but start flattering him!

"Hmph, what backup plan? Those guys are just a bunch of opportunists. If they had responded earlier, we wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat today!"

Sun Sheng snorted coldly. When he first rose up in Kuaiji, he had contacted some powerful families in Yangzhou and Jingzhou, inviting them to join him in raising an army.

As a result, apart from the powerful clans of Kuaiji who responded, most others chose to wait and see, and were only willing to secretly provide supplies and intelligence.

If the rebels win, they will not be slaughtered; if the imperial court wins, they will not suffer much loss.

Sun Sheng originally envisioned that if all those people responded to him, he could seize control of Yangzhou and southern Jingzhou before the imperial army arrived, and then use the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to block the imperial army, before slowly nibbling away at Jiangnan.

As a result, it was precisely because these guys who tried to please everyone refused to put in the effort that they suffered a crushing defeat.

Upon hearing Sun Sheng's words, the junior officer couldn't help but ask curiously, "Since they didn't respond at the beginning, now that our army has been defeated, will they still respond?"

"Heh~, I have evidence of their communications, so they have no choice but to respond."

Previously, we were worried that pushing them too hard would provoke their resentment, but now that we're barely able to protect ourselves, what's there to be afraid of? At worst, we'll drag them down with us...

Sun Sheng sneered, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Now that he was in imminent danger, he naturally couldn't care less about anything else.

Subsequently, Sun Sheng ordered the army to speed up and head towards Changsha.

After Huangfu Guijun joined Xu Rong, he followed the rebel army at a leisurely pace.

Xu Rong leaned closer to Huangfu Gui and asked with a puzzled look, "General, now that the rebels have been defeated, why don't our army speed up the pursuit and wipe them out as soon as possible?"

Huangfu Gui smiled and said, "These rebels are still useful. Let them go where they belong!"

"Where should we go?"

Xu Rong was slightly taken aback, and couldn't help but recall the situation when Liu Kui rebelled. He then fell silent.

Seeing Xu Rong's seemingly enlightened expression, Huangfu Gui remained silent.

Drive the enemy into the barbarian lands...

Recalling the contents of the emperor's secret letter, Huangfu Gui couldn't help but admire the emperor's grand vision and strategic planning.

A day later, Sun Sheng led the remaining rebel army along a wide mountain road, making a difficult march toward Changsha.

By noon, the rebels were starving and exhausted, and they collapsed by the roadside, refusing to move any further.

Sun Sheng shaded his eyes with his hand and looked westward. At the end of his vision, a valley appeared faintly. Upon seeing this, a relaxed expression appeared on Sun Sheng's face.

“Tell the brothers that as long as we pass through that valley and travel another twenty miles, we will reach Changsha before sunset. There, we will have plenty of good wine and meat, and countless women to enjoy to our hearts’ content!”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The guards who were with Sun Sheng received their orders and left.

Upon hearing this, the rebel soldiers who had fallen to the ground were invigorated, and their strength returned somewhat.

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