Retreat was not so easy, especially when Qu Duan went out of Fukouxing and joined Yue Fei's "cavalry" and followed closely behind. Helplessly, countless soldiers were abandoned, and many supplies were also scattered. Only a small number of families, valuables, and military supplies were saved... Fortunately, the soldiers could be replenished along the way, and Zhending still had some storage.
But after this was said, there was no response for a long time.
Wuzhu opened his eyes in surprise, only to find that Balisu, who was sitting diagonally opposite him and staring at the map with bloodshot eyes like Gao Qingyi, had just looked up and glanced at him: "This is the number. We have calculated it so many times along the way. Why does the King of Wei need to calculate it again?"
Wushu did not comment, but asked in return: "What was the Marshal thinking about just now?"
"I'm thinking about the Zhao Song emperor's advance." Balisu stroked the simple map in front of him and shook his head. "King Wei, do you think that the Zhao emperor's advance to Taiyuan before was as fast as the wind? Is it as slow as the forest when he marched from Taiyuan to Jingxing this time? Will he invade like a fire next time?"
Wuzhu was stunned for a moment, unable to refute for a moment, but soon he came to his senses and looked at Gao Qingyi again: "Gao Tongshi, let me ask you again, putting aside the issue of military strength, let's take a break now, is there anything important that needs to be dealt with in the army?"
"First, should Jingxing be defended?" Gao Qingyi answered without hesitation. "Second, where should we choose as the battlefield? These two are interrelated."
Wushu thought for a moment and asked, "Is that all?"
"There are many more." Gao Qingyi almost sneered. "For example, is Yanjing stable? Will a cavalry army march out of Duxing and attack Yanjing? Are the new soldiers of the Yanjing New Army usable? Who should be the commander? How many military supplies does Zhending Prefecture have? How many signed troops has Chen Wang (Eluguan) prepared for us in Zhending to assist? Our army has worked so hard, how many people have fallen behind? When can we gather together properly? If you think about it, there are things everywhere..."
"But none of them are urgent, nor are they the overall situation." Wushu sighed, and then he forced himself to look at the simple map. "Right now, regardless of everything, we have to decide whether Yelu Mawu should withdraw from Jingxing and join us, and then choose where to fight the decisive battle?"
"Retreat!"
Balisu suddenly spoke. "Jingxing is wide inside. Han Xin fought a battle with 100,000 men in the past and didn't think it was narrow... Ma Wu and his men are definitely not able to stop the Song army. It's better to withdraw and preserve our strength. Besides, you kept saying along the way that we must fight as soon as possible, as soon as possible, before Yue Fei catches up... Counting on layers of resistance to delay will be disadvantageous to us."
"Can we have a decisive battle inside Jingxing?" Wuzhu suddenly interrupted, apparently agreeing directly with the idea of letting Yelu Mawu retreat.
"After all, it's a channel terrain, not suitable for a cavalry brigade." Balisu shook his head in response.
Wuzhu looked at Gao Qingyi again, and Gao Qingyi also shook his head.
"So that's it." The fourth prince nodded first, then looked at the map and muttered to himself. "Today we have to find a good terrain to fight east of Jingxing and west of Zhending? Should we defend the Hutuo River or the Mianman River?"
"Is the King of Wei confused?" Balisu suddenly became impatient. "I've already said that we can't delay any longer... The sooner we fight the Song army, the more we can fight. If we delay until Yue Fei goes north to Hejian, we will be trapped from both sides, and the situation will only get worse! And if we want to fight the Song army quickly, what's the point of guarding these rivers? Letting them cross the rivers is the right thing to do!"
Wuzhu was suddenly startled and looked at the map again, but his gaze shifted to the area east of the Mianman River, which turned almost due north after entering the Hebei Plain.
At this time, Gao Qingyi also spoke slowly: "That being said, we cannot let the Song army cross the Hutuo River, because Zhending City is behind the Hutuo River. If the Song army tries to break into the city again, the whole army will be terrified and dare not fight. What if we just sit there and watch the Song army take Zhending?"
"We can't set up camp next to the Hutuo River either." Balisu added. "Otherwise, we will be in a desperate situation... Once... Once we are defeated, even though we are cavalry, we can't just scatter. We are in danger of being annihilated and surrounded."
After hearing this, Wuzhu finally smiled bitterly while touching the map: "In this case, we can only find a place between the east of Mianman River (north-south direction after leaving Jingxing) and the southwest of Hutuo River (northwest-southeast direction near Zhending), and then lead the Song army across the Mianman River to capture me... But there is only one county in this area, and it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of troops will almost fill it up."
"Get the deer!"
The next moment, after a brief pause, Balisu and Gao Qingyi, who had not even looked at the map, shouted out the name of the county almost at the same time.
"One hundred and twenty miles from here." Gao Qingyi added. "To our northwest."
"Huolu...what a good name."
At the Mianman River, which is only 150 miles away from Gaoyi, Zhaozhou, Zhao Jiu looked at the map and gave another evaluation of this place. "What a good name."
Han Shizhong was about to agree when Zhao Jiu suddenly looked up and asked again, "Look at the map, it's northeast of us...how far is it?"
"One hundred and twenty miles." Han Shizhong was slightly startled, then became serious. "It's just a Jingxing Passage and a Mianman River."
PS: Thanks to Master Yunzhuzhige for the second cuteness.
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