"This bridge is broken. Our army has no way to retreat. From now on, our army will only advance!"
Xia Yu was mourning the tragic death of Zhang Yu, and he also noticed the cowardice among the soldiers in the Jingnan Army.
"My fellow soldiers, follow me as I point my sword towards Kyoto, purge the imperial court, and quell the national crisis!"
Xia Yu followed the advice of Monk Daoyan and planned to attack Kyoto directly.
After the Jingnan Army crossed the Yangtze River, he ordered the retreat bridge to be burned and only allowed the entire Jingnan Army to carry enough food for one month.
After such an arrangement, everyone knew that the entire Jingnan Army had no way of retreat.
Only if the entire army makes a full effort to capture Kyoto can they get a chance to breathe.
If you don’t fight, you will die!
Only by fighting can we have a chance of survival!
"Pass on my order, no garrison will be left in any city captured by my army! We will head straight to Kyoto, purge the court of corrupt officials, and quell the national crisis! Avenge General Zhang!" Xia Yu said loudly.
"yes!"
"Go straight to Kyoto and avenge General Zhang!"
"Clear the emperor's side and pacify the country!"
"war!"
The entire Jingnan Army was filled with anger and no longer had any fear of fighting.
At this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew, and the tiles on the house were blown off one after another, making a loud noise.
Everyone was shocked.
At this time, Monk Daoyan strode out and said in a loud voice: "A true dragon soars into the sky, and wind and rain follow in Dingyou. When the tiles fall to the ground, heaven commands that the yellow tiles be replaced!"
This loud shout made all the soldiers in the army even more motivated.
......
At this time, outside the city of Kyoto, Xia Chongwen's imperial army had only 100,000 elite soldiers left.
For Xia Chongwen, these 100,000 elite soldiers are his last barrier. If Xia Yu can eat up these 100,000 elite soldiers in one breath, no one will be able to resist him anymore.
Xia Yu also didn't want Xia Chongwen to have any chance to breathe.
When the news reached Kyoto, Xia Chongwen urgently summoned all civil and military officials to the palace to discuss how to fight against the rebels.
Daxia Imperial Palace, Fengxian Hall.
The civil servants in the court were all passionate and angrily denounced Xia Yu's wolfish ambitions. They even accused him of going straight to Kyoto, which was clearly an attempt to usurp the throne.
The generals argued fiercely over who should be sent to resist Xia Yu.
After several days of discussion, the roof of Fengxian Hall was almost blown off by the officials, but there was still no result.
On this day, even Empress Dowager Lu, who was keen on attending court, claimed to be ill and did not attend court.
Xia Chongwen also held his forehead with his hand and sat on the dragon throne with an anxious look on his face.
"Your Majesty, there is no general in the court who can lead the troops." Qi Taishen frowned and said to Xia Chongwen.
"If no new generals are sent out, I'm afraid it won't take a few days for Xia Yu to break through the gates of Kyoto. By then..."
He looked up at Xia Chongwen sitting on the dragon throne, and thought to himself that it was about clearing the court and quelling the national crisis.
Even if Xia Yu conquered Kyoto, could Xia Chongwen still continue to be the emperor?
At this moment, Xia Chongwen's eyes were filled with fear and disbelief.
He can't figure it out!
It was clearly the imperial army that defeated Xia Yu and even killed one of his generals.
How come there was a sudden report that Xia Yu had crossed the Yangtze River and was now at the gates of Kyoto?
For a moment, Xia Chongwen didn't know what to say. He just stared blankly at the ministers in the hall with a dull look.
"My dear ministers...my dear ministers, do you have a good plan to deal with this?"
After a while, Xia Chongwen finally spoke.
"I think the best way now is to let Shen Yizhong lead the troops to resist Xia Yu's army, perhaps we can achieve a surprise victory!" Qi Tai knelt on his knees and said.
"Your Majesty, please appoint the Duke of Wei as the general and lead the army north to resist the rebels!" Another minister, Huang Zicheng, also seconded the proposal.
"Eunuch Wang."
"I am here."
"Draft an imperial decree to appoint the Duke of Wei as the General to Suppress the Rebellion, and to immediately lead his troops north to resist the Ning Wang rebels."
"yes."
"My lord, I obey the order!"
After the court session, Shen Yizhong returned to his Duke's Mansion.
He slowly walked back to the study and took out the sword that had not been used for a long time.
Only at this time did Xia Chongwen agree to let him lead the troops.
Shen Yizhong frowned and looked at the sword in his hand, with mixed feelings in his heart.
He originally thought that if Xia Chongwen had sent him troops earlier, he was confident that he would be able to defeat Xia Yu through strategy and tactics, and relying on his brotherly relationship with Shen Yuyao, he persuaded Xia Yu to surrender to the court.
If Xia Yu could really give up his path of rebellion, he would definitely be able to use his military achievements to ask the new emperor to pardon Shen Yuyao's death penalty.
At worst, if my sister and brother-in-law can't become princes or princesses, they can just live in his Duke of Wei's mansion and be a pair of rich and idle people.
He will definitely use his entire life and property to protect the safety of Shen Yuyao's family.
But the imperial court had already suffered heavy losses after several decisive battles with Xia Yu's army!
Shen Yizhong no longer had the same certainty in his heart.
Even if Xia Yu surrendered at this time, would Xia Chongwen still let their family go?
He was just feeling lucky because Xia Chongwen's distrust saved him from a showdown with Shen Yuyao.
Qi Tai also proposed that he lead the army to the north to quell the rebellion.
Xia Chongwen, it actually worked this time!
Thinking that he would soon have a life-and-death battle with his beloved little sister, Shen Yizhong couldn't help but have his eyes slightly red.
"Brother, do you really want to be my enemy?"
Shen Yizhong was thinking hard when he saw Shen Yixiao walking quickly into his study.
"Second brother! You're here."
Shen Yizhong said lightly, he knew that Shen Yixiao must have come to persuade him to stay away from home due to illness.
But now, it's too late to say anything.
The imperial edict has been issued, and he has accepted it. He has to fight this war even if he doesn't want to!
"Brother, you are confused!"
"If you send troops, whether we win or lose this battle, it will be a complete loss for my Shen family!"
"You... aren't you afraid that you will be ashamed to face your parents in the afterlife in the future?" Seeing his expression, Shen Yixiao guessed what he was thinking.
When Shen Yizhong received the imperial edict in the court today, Shen Yixiao was horrified, but because he was under the emperor's nose, he did not roar at him.
"Second brother! Be careful with your words!" Shen Yizhong said angrily.
"Those people in the court right now, besides talking big, are always clamoring to go north to quell the rebels," Shen Yixiao said with a look of pity. "But before they even get to the battlefield, Prince Ning's troops are already at the gates of Kyoto! I think this world belongs to his Xia family. Let them fight over it, so let them do whatever they want. Why did you, big brother, join in the fun and make my brothers and sisters in the Shen family enemies?"
Hearing this, Shen Yizhong was speechless for a moment.
Second brother was right. The throne that Xia Chongwen and Xia Yu, uncle and nephew, were fighting for originally belonged to their Xia family.
As long as there is no loss of life, isn't it all the same no matter who becomes the emperor?
Those princes who had not yet withdrawn their fiefdoms turned a blind eye.
But it’s too late to say anything now!
Could it be that Shen Yizhong could still disobey the order?
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