Amid the roar of heavy rain, Yang Yanzong turned back to his own central army. With a clang, he drew out the sword from his waist and said, "Beat the drums, march forward with all your might!!!"

The sound of big cowhide drums being struck "dong dong dong" shook the entire Linyuan. Yang Jun let out a thunderous shout and rushed forward like a whirlwind in the heavy rain!

This is a great opportunity to make an advance.

Of course Yang Yanzong would not let it go.

Fortunately, Xu Wenkai was still with the imperial army. He didn't even bother to continue running towards Ji Yuanhao. He immediately turned his horse's head and shouted, "Quick, quick! Put up the imperial flag quickly!!"

With so many people present, the news of the emperor's death would certainly not spread quickly. Xu Wenkai saw that the situation was not good, so he made a prompt decision and immediately ordered people to raise the huge imperial flag: "How dare you, the people of Daqing, speak nonsense?!"

Xu Wenkai shouted loudly.

If the news of the emperor's death in battle spread, we would surely be defeated today, a great defeat, a crushing defeat. Fortunately, Xu Wenkai turned the tide. He quickly ordered his men to raise a huge imperial flag and quickly ordered the messenger to inform the three armies: This is a treacherous plot of the enemy to disrupt our military morale!

As the imperial flag was raised, the soldiers who had been frightened by the enemy's shouting finally felt at ease. Xu Wenkai managed to stabilize the morale of the army and tried his best to control the formation to meet the charging enemy. At this point, they could only advance and not retreat!

There were many capable generals in the imperial army. Everyone worked together and fought fiercely for a whole day. Although they suffered losses, they managed to hold their ground and did not suffer a major defeat. It was not until dark that they finally successfully sounded the retreat and returned to the camp.

It was an exhausting day, but after returning to the camp, Xu Wenkai did not even bother to change his wet armor and clothes. He hurriedly reminded the soldiers to be highly alert to night attacks and to keep them warm, then hurried to the emperor's tent.

There was already crying in the emperor's tent.

In addition to the brothers Ji Zimu and Ji Zizhi who were kneeling in the front, as well as a group of imperial attendants and guards, as well as many civil and military officials who had arrived earlier, Ji Yuanhao's body lay quietly in the imperial tent that had been temporarily arranged.

The ones who cried the most sadly were the brothers Ji Zili and Ji Ziying. One reason was the sudden loss of their father, but the more important reason was that this time it was all over. They were neither the legitimate nor the eldest, and their maternal family had no say at all at the moment. They had just been ambitious about winning favor and the throne, but they were hit with a bucket of cold water on their heads. They had no hope at all.

Xu Wenkai had a splitting headache. How could this happen? !

But now he is the only one who can make the decision, and he absolutely cannot give up. After kneeling down, he did not bother to talk nonsense, and quickly issued an order as the deputy commander, withdrawing the troops as quickly as possible and retreating to Linyin City as quickly as possible.

Linyin City is located on the northeast edge of Linyuan. It is the rear base of the imperial army and the first line of defense of Jiangling facing the southwest.

The news of the emperor's death can be concealed for a while, but not for long. It is foreseeable that there will be a period of chaos and low morale in the army. It is no longer appropriate to stay in Linyuan, and we must quickly retreat to the rear area with high walls and deep moats.

The imperial guards outside the tent were well aware of their severity, and even the emperor's tent did not dare to leave. They pretended to be calm and continued to guard outside, for fear that the news would leak out and cause panic, giving the enemy an opportunity to take advantage.

Xu Wenkai did not retreat directly like that. He made careful strategic deployment and advanced to retreat. He just happened to meet the raiding army sent by Yang Yanzong to cut off their retreat route. The two sides fought fiercely. Xu Wenkai fought and retreated, and finally successfully led his troops back to Linyin City.

It is very fortunate to have such a coach who can anticipate the enemy's moves and has experienced many battles. Faced with the fierce and brave enemy forces pursuing the victory, it is really impossible for ordinary people to withdraw the army intact so easily.

At this time, even ordinary soldiers realized that something was wrong, but once the gates of Linyin City were closed, most of the problems were temporarily isolated.

All the generals who knew about it breathed a sigh of relief.

…

However, Xu Wenkai was not one of the generals who breathed a sigh of relief.

The sad news of the emperor's death had already been sent back to Yangdu by a flying horse over 800 miles. Not to mention why Yangdu and the palace were crying, there was still a very important issue facing Xu Wenkai - the country cannot be without a king for a day!

After finally retreating smoothly into Linyin City, Xu Wenkai let out a long sigh. He was soaked from head to toe by the continuous spring rain. He had not been dry in the past few days. He was over forty years old, and the pain from his old wounds seemed to be seeping out from the cracks in his bones. He hurriedly inspected the city defense before returning to his room to get his clothes. As soon as he came out, he saw his second brother Xu Wenyuan pacing back and forth in the room waiting.

“Brother!”

As soon as he saw Xu Wenkai, Xu Wenyuan immediately came forward to greet him.

His face was faintly nervous and expectant. The two brothers knew what was going on without them saying anything. Xu Wenyuan paused before saying, "The Queen has already rushed to Linyin and will be here in two days."

It was a distance of one thousand li from Linyin to Yangdu, but it could be reached in a little over a day by traveling eight hundred li in an expedited manner. Upon hearing the news, Empress Xu was extremely anxious and left the palace to head south in person.

Empress Xu was, after all, the descendant of a military family. Although she grew up in luxury, she also had a skill that most noble ladies did not have, which was riding a horse. Although she didn't like riding anymore when she grew up, as she thought it was not elegant, she didn't care about that at the moment. After sending her son back to the Xu family, she boarded a boat and sailed downstream. Then she rode a fast horse and arrived in Linyin in less than five days.

"What is she doing here?!"

Xu Wenkai stared at Xu Wenyuan with sharp eyes.

Xu Wenyuan's mouth was dry and he said anxiously: "Brother!!"

"Don't even think about it!"

Xu Wenkai angrily shouted, "Guo Lai Changjun, what can a baby do? Do you want to be another Kun?!"

"Don't say that again!!"

Xu Wenkai quickly tidied his clothes, changing into a formal suit, and left on the spot. Xu Wenyuan wanted to chase him, but was stopped by his brothers. Xu Wulang and Xu Liulang held him tightly and said anxiously, "Second brother, have you forgotten the Xu family motto and our father's will?!"

Xu Wenyuan struggled a few times but couldn't get free. Xu Wenkai had already disappeared in the distance. He fell on the chair like a deflated ball. "...Why did you say that? Wasn't it for our Xu family?"

"Okay, second brother, listen to your elder brother."

"That's right..."

Let’s not talk about the Xu brothers, let’s talk about Xu Wenkai.

He walked quickly to the mourning hall, where there were bursts of weeping. After paying homage to the late emperor's body with great ceremony, Xu Wenkai stood up straight, brushed his skirt again, and knelt upright: "The country cannot be without a king for a day. Your Highness is the eldest and the heir, and you should inherit the ancestral temple and the throne!!"

Xu Wenkai spoke in a sonorous and powerful tone. There was a moment of silence below, and then there was a loud and clear voice: "...The country cannot be without a king for a day. Your Highness is the eldest son and the heir. Please inherit the throne of the ancestral temple!!"

Ji Zimu felt a surge of blood in his heart and he slowly stood up. The people in front of him, except Ji Zili and Ji Ziying who were looking at him in astonishment and unwillingness, all fell to the ground and kowtowed to him.

——It has not been long since Ji Yuanhao ascended the throne, and his sons have just grown up. The fight for the throne has just begun, and everyone is far from taking sides.

Ji Zimu is the eldest prince born to Queen Yuan. Now that Your Majesty has passed away, it is only natural for him to succeed to the throne.

There is no need to even return to Yangdu, as Ji Yuanhao will lead the army in person, and most of the imperial court will follow. Not only military generals but also important civil officials are here. They will be able to pay homage to the new emperor in front of the late emperor's spirit that very day.

Ji Zimu stood up slowly, and a group of civil and military officials led by Xu Wenkai, Feng Qin, Tang Xianzhou and Chen Yiqiu performed the ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows on the spot.

"The new king has taken the throne. Long live His Majesty—"

Ji Zimu stood on three steps, with the body of his father behind him. In front of him, besides the civil and military officials kneeling on the ground, there were also Ji Zili and Ji Ziying who had to follow him and perform the ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows. His blood boiled, he finally won!

Ji Zimu's lips moved, and he said in a hoarse voice: "Gentlemen, please stand up."

The final word.

With Xu Wenkai's unexpected yet reasonable support, the new emperor ascended the throne in front of the coffin, and his status was finalized!

…

After Ji Zimu ascends the throne on the battlefield, he will immediately take over the position of commander-in-chief and all military affairs.

Ji Zimu knew his own limitations and entrusted everything to Xu Wenkai without hesitation.

Xu Wenkai didn't say anything more and took a deep breath: "General, I obey your order!!"

The situation is now extremely urgent and the emperor and his ministers cannot afford to be pretentious. The news that the emperor was killed at the hands of Yang Yanzong can no longer be covered up. The whole army was in an uproar and their morale was boosted. How could Yang Yanzong let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

Yang Yanzong led his army to pursue the victory, and the imperial army retreated into Linyin City. Linyin City had high walls and deep moats, so Yang Yanzong did not attack head-on. Instead, he adopted a strategy of encirclement and strangulation from point to surface. On that day, he divided the army into seven routes, which encircled the enemy from both sides and attacked Fushan Pass, Hubo, Yinping, Luxian, Taiqiu, Zhangmen and Jinshui Ferry at night.

Yang Yanzong was a veteran of many battles and had a sharp eye like a wolf or a tiger. With these seven clicks, he immediately surrounded Linyin City.

All the support and supplies from the imperial court will be unable to pass through, and even the important water source of Linyin, the Yanshui River, will be cut off. Linyin is a big city, and the food stored in it is estimated to be enough to supply the army for several years, but the water supply is not enough. With hundreds of thousands of troops at once, the Linyin wells are simply unable to supply enough.

More importantly, once the imperial army is trapped and communication is cut off, this will definitely be a fatal crisis for the Daqing court that has just lost the late emperor!

——What if someone in Yangdu makes a stupid move, or Yang Yanzong has some derivative plan? You must know that the latter has been operating in Yangdu for many years, and he must still have a lot of insiders and spies in the court and the palace.

This forced Xu Wenkai to open the city and send troops to rescue at 7 o'clock!

But war is often like this sometimes. It's all about morale and fighting opportunities. If you lose one step, every step will be difficult. It will not be easy to make a comeback.

On the battlefield of Jiangling in late March, Xu Wenkai paid a very painful price, and only then was he able to protect the new emperor and lead his army to regain a firm foothold.

In the following month, Yang Yanzong captured three passes and twelve cities in Jiangling and occupied half of Jiangling from Linyuan to the northeast.

From Xu Wenkai onwards, a group of brave generals of the imperial court paid the price of blood and successfully recovered three of the seven points. They then protected the body of the late emperor and the new emperor and retreated to the Zhangqiu Jinshui line.

During this period, tens of thousands of elite soldiers and seven or eight brave generals were killed, and even Xu Liulang and Xu Wenqing were captured by the enemy during the siege.

Wulang and Liulang were in charge of the rear guard, which was a very critical but also the most dangerous position. Xu Wenkai handed it over to his own family members. Wulang and Liulang knelt down upon receiving the order: If Yang Jun wanted to cross the rear defense line, he would have to step over their dead bodies! !

In the end, the rear army was lost and was heavily besieged by Yang's army. If Xu Wenkai had come to the rescue at that time, he could have saved his younger brother, but he would have missed the opportunity to escort the emperor to the Zhangqiu Jinshui line and successfully deploy defenses.

Xu Wenkai shed tears on the spot, but gritted his teeth and said, "Retreat!!"

"We must reach Jinshui Ferry as quickly as possible before dark!!!"

He took one last look at the smoke and dust behind him, his eyes filled with tears, gritted his teeth, turned around and escorted the emperor away.

This is how we were able to successfully stabilize the Zhangqiu Jinshui line.

…

The fierce fighting in March came to a temporary end.

Yang Yanzong's central army was stationed on the south bank of the Jin River at this time. He captured half of Jiangling in one fell swoop.

The Jiangling here does not refer to Jiangling City, but to the Jiangling area, which is the ancient Jingzhou. The area of ​​ancient Jingzhou is roughly the same as that of the southwest. After a period of development, it has become very prosperous.

Yang's army was well-disciplined and in high spirits.

Yang Yanzong sighed. Xu Wenkai was indeed Xu Wenkai. He managed to keep his composure in the end. What a pity. It would be impossible for him to be so unstoppable again in the future.

The two sides entered a state of confrontation. In addition to Yang Yanzong quickly arranging defenses and dealing with matters concerning the new territory, there was another person who needed his personal instructions and attention.

Li Shengen came to ask in person: "Master, how do you deal with Xu Liulang?"

Xu Liulang was captured by Yang Yanzong himself. Li Shengen was also present at the time. After they were completely surrounded, he was handed over to the latter. Li Shengen did not hurt him, but only ordered his men to tie him up and keep him under guard.

Xu Liulang Xu Wenqing had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, a man of great courage. Although he was captured, he did not lose his spirit at all. When he was taken to the front, he spat loudly and shouted angrily: "You are rebelling against him, disloyal and unrighteous! Yang, if you want to kill me, just come! Frown your eyebrows and I will lose!"

Xu Wenqing was actually of the same age as Yang Yanzong. The two were only a few years apart in age and had fought side by side in the past, so they were considered acquaintances. But at this moment, Xu Liulang glared and cursed!

Yang Yanzong did not take it as an offense and only ordered: "Lock him up and keep him under strict guard."

He did not kill Xu Wenqing.

It is very worthy of praise. Even Xu Wenyuan from the Xu family can be said to be a good son of a good father. Although he had some small thoughts, he was never vague on the battlefield, and his military exploits were also won through real fighting. The Xu family can be said to be full of loyal heroes.

Xu Wenkai never shows favoritism. Since the war began, he has repeatedly sent his own people to the most difficult and dangerous positions.

This is true for General Xu and also for Xu Wenkai.

For the sake of General Xu and the Xu family's admirable family tradition, even though the two armies are now enemies, Yang Yanzong never intends to kill or humiliate Xu Liulang.

Yang Yanzong knew that it was impossible to persuade him to surrender, so he decided to lock him up. He would decide later how long he would be locked up.

…

Next, the two armies re-entered into a confrontation and fought repeatedly, but neither side could do anything to the other.

Yang Yanzong was unable to advance further, and the imperial court was unable to recover the areas he had conquered.

The two sides are in a stalemate, but this year may really be an extremely unlucky year for the Daqing court.

First the emperor died, then they were defeated and lost territory. They were planning to recapture the lost territory in one go, but bad news came from the northern border!

"Report! Urgent military report from Gaobian 800 miles away—"

"Report! Xiyang 800-li urgent military report--"

"Report, urgent military report from Changqu Pass 800 miles away—"

The exhausted messenger had run his horse to death, his lips were chapped, and his armor was covered in dried blood and black ash. He had come directly from the front line of defense!

"It's bad! The Northern Rong army of 600,000 is approaching our border, and they are divided into five routes and are approaching our five important towns of Gaobian, Xiyang, Zibei, Guyuan, and Changquguan! The garrison is seriously insufficient, and General Xu ordered me to report urgently for help--"

As mentioned before, Ji Yuanhao urgently withdrew troops from the Northern Army, the Eastern Army and various local camps when he was fighting against Yang Yanzong.

There is nothing wrong with this. After all, soldiers are maintained for a thousand days and deployed for a moment, so they can be deployed to wherever they are needed.

But for Beirong, who has already recovered, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Once the severe winter is over and the ground dries up in spring, the new Northern Rong King Yilingxie will personally lead his army south and head straight for Daqing’s northern border defense line!

The Northern Frontier has resisted for half a month, but due to the disparity in military strength, they can no longer hold on and are in urgent need of reinforcements! !

Otherwise, you will be defeated soon! !

…

It's really like a rainy day when the roof is leaking.

There was dead silence in the main hall for more than ten seconds, and then there was a buzzing noise.

Everyone looked panicked. What should they do with these wolves in front and tigers behind?

Transfer troops from Jiangnan? No, it's not possible. There's news that Ji Lin has appeared in the Jiangnan area and is ready to make some moves. We absolutely cannot move over there.

The only thing that can be withdrawn now is the 500,000 troops stationed in Jiangling by the imperial court.

But the problem is that the morale of Yang's army is high and the imperial court has just stabilized the defense line. Once a large number of troops are redeployed at this pass, it is very likely that the enemy will take the opportunity to break through. By then, they will be in a terrible situation of being attacked from both sides.

But the northern border must also be aided, otherwise once the country's borders are breached, the people will be slaughtered and invaded by foreign invaders, which will be the worst situation!

The civil officials and military officers talked to each other and managed to withdraw a total of 100,000 soldiers and horses from the Jiangnan and other local camps. Ji Zimu quickly issued an order, ordering them to march north overnight, but facing the 500,000-strong Northern Rong army, that was still not enough!

——At least another 150,000 troops are needed to be stable. It would be best if the Northern Army that is familiar with the Northern Rong can return.

Everyone quickly fell silent. There was nothing they could do.

"Xu Qing, what do you think we should do?!"

Ji Zimu had just ascended the throne, so he became anxious under the circumstances. Seeing that the small court meeting was fruitless, he immediately let everyone disperse.

He hurriedly called Xu Wenkai in and asked anxiously.

But what can Xu Wenkai do? No matter how good he is at fighting, he is not a god and cannot pluck hair and turn it into a soldier.

But the military situation is urgent!

Xu Wenkai frowned, and after thinking hard for a long time without any results, he finally made up his mind, gritted his teeth and knelt on one knee: "Your Majesty, please allow me to go into battle!"

"I wish to go to the enemy camp alone and have a talk with Yang Yanzong!"

Let Yang Yanzong agree to a truce and withdraw his troops!

Xu Wenkai was willing to take risks for this.

Ji Zimu frowned: "How sure are you?"

"Sixty percent."

Xu Wenkai said in a hoarse voice.

He was not sure whether Yang Yanzong would agree, but as a fellow Han Chinese, how could he bear to see the Hu horses breaking through the border, trampling on the beautiful land of the Han people, and killing his fellow citizens?

——Once the foreign invaders succeed in breaking through the pass, the disaster they bring to the Central Plains will be devastating.

Unlike now, those who participate in the war are soldiers.

Yang Yanzong also served at the border for many years to fight against foreign invaders.

Looking at Yang Yanzong's performance since the war began, although he replaced the military and political leaders every time he conquered a place, he maintained strict military discipline and never touched the civilians, mainly appeasing them.

Xu Wenkai was also very familiar with Yang Yanzong, and the two had fought side by side more than once.

He bet that the Yang Shenxing he knew had not changed his bottom line!