Chen Qingwan decisively said that now he could only continue to shrink his forces.
As long as we can hold Jingzhou City and wait for Zuo Wei to return to reinforce it, there is hope of resolving the crisis.
"Qiao'er, how long will the city's supplies last?"
Qiao'er's voice trembled: "At most a month!"
Chen Qingwan nodded, climbed the city wall, and surveyed the soldiers who were waiting in battle below with sharp eyes.
The wind whipped her black cloak, making it flutter like a black flag billowing in the wind.
Soon, Li Mu and Xia Shan Hu returned looking disheveled.
Li Mu knelt down with a thud:
"This humble servant is ashamed of failing Your Majesty's cultivation!"
In this battle, he not only failed to capture Zeng County, but also fell into an enemy ambush.
The losses were devastating; it was utterly humiliating.
Xia Shanhu also looked dejected. Since following Chen Qingwan to Jingzhou, he had never encountered such a setback.
He knelt on one knee and said in a deep voice:
"This humble servant is guilty, please punish me, Your Highness!"
Chen Qingwan looked at them, her tone eerily calm:
"I do intend to punish you."
Her voice was low.
"But before that, I must punish myself! To send out troops blindly without understanding the enemy's situation, only to find out when they were right under our noses! What were the Imperial Guard's scouts doing?"
After a suffocating silence, she suddenly drew her sword from her waist, the blade pointing straight at the ground with a crisp, resonant sound.
"But I don't blame them!"
Her voice was even colder, each word piercing the heart like an ice pick.
"The problem lies with me! The problem lies within our ranks! Wasn't the lesson from the Zhou family army enough? If we don't lose, who will?" "Have you forgotten who you are just because you bought weapons from Shannan Prefecture and won a few easy battles? Have you forgotten how we reclaimed this land inch by inch with our blood and lives?"
"Now that we've run out of weapons, does that mean we can't fight anymore?"
The crowd fell silent, each person feeling as if a huge rock was pressing down on their heart.
They had to admit that Her Majesty the Empress's words were like a resounding bell, awakening and enlightening them.
The Imperial Guards did indeed occupy two states, but this victory was not a complete success.
But it was like poison coated in sugar, slowly eroding their fighting spirit.
Those initial small forces were like clay chickens and earthenware dogs, utterly vulnerable.
Their defeat gave the Imperial Guards the illusion that the world was within their grasp.
However, with the destruction of these smaller forces, those remaining were all seasoned and powerful adversaries.
They were like tough bones, stuck in the throats of the Imperial Guards, making them feel as if they had a fishbone stuck in their throats.
Their past underestimation of their opponents and their past arrogance have now become sharp blades, turning against them.
They can no longer afford to underestimate the enemy and act rashly as they have before.
Otherwise, what awaits them is an abyss of no return.
Moreover, the enemy also possessed superior weapons from Shannan Prefecture.
Those weapons are more advanced and more deadly than their existing equipment.
On the battlefield, this was undoubtedly an asymmetrical contest.
It was like a sword hanging over their heads, ready to fall at any moment and cut them down.
Chen Qingwan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down:
"Pass down the order: martial law throughout the city. No one is allowed to leave the city without my permission. Li Mu, you reorganize the Imperial Guards and strengthen their training, especially in close combat. Stop relying on firearms all the time."
"Xia Shan Hu, you are in charge of the city's defense. You must ensure that Jingzhou is as solid as possible."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The two responded in unison.
Chen Qingwan rubbed her temples, feeling a wave of fatigue.
The days of running around and fighting had left her physically and mentally exhausted.
She looked up into the distance, her eyes filled with worry.
She wasn't sure if Jingzhou could be defended.
As night fell, a tense atmosphere enveloped the city of Jingzhou.
On the city wall, soldiers, weapons in hand, vigilantly watched the area outside the city.
Inside the city, people stayed indoors and the streets were deserted.
Seeing that Li Mu and Xia Shan Hu were still kneeling, Qiao'er moved closer to Chen Qingwan and whispered her advice:
"Your Majesty, given the current situation, let's deal with this matter first. How about... giving them a chance to redeem themselves?"
Chen Qingwan rubbed her throbbing temples and waved her hand:
"Get up, all of you. We'll settle this score later!"
She was seething with anger and gave him countless instructions before leaving Jingzhou.
It hasn't been long, and they've already beaten us up to our doorstep!
She recalled the military strategies Lu Yan had taught her, which were all quite ordinary principles.
But why were the soldiers of Shannan Prefecture able to repeatedly win with fewer troops and turn the tide of battle?
It's all because of their reckless and ruthless spirit!
Just then, dust billowed in the distance as the defeated soldiers fled back in disarray.
The group of men at the head of the group knelt down in front of Chen Qingwan with a thud, their faces contorted in grief.
"This humble servant is incompetent and failed to bring the brothers back. Please punish me, Your Highness!"
Chen Qingwan suppressed her anger and asked in a deep voice:
How many people are left?
One of them answered tremblingly:
"More than 800 cavalrymen were lost, and more than 3,000 infantrymen and other troops were lost..."
Chen Qingwan felt a sudden darkness before her eyes; nearly a quarter of her troops had vanished just like that!
She swayed, her face deathly pale, biting her lip so hard it almost bled.
Those vibrant faces, those brothers and sisters who once fought alongside her.
Now they've all turned into cold corpses... A sharp pain shot through my heart.
It felt as if someone was taking a blunt knife and slowly gouging out her heart.
Li Mu noticed Chen Qingwan's unusual behavior and quickly stepped forward:
"Your Majesty, you..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chen Qingwan fell straight backward.
At the critical moment, Qiao'er swiftly lunged forward.
He caught her in his arms, preventing her from falling to the ground.
Chaos erupted on the city wall. Xia Shanhu shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Great doctor! Someone come quick!"
Fortunately, the accompanying physician was nearby.
He quickly stepped forward to check her pulse and administered a few acupuncture needles before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
"His Majesty was simply overworked and stressed, which caused him to faint. He is not seriously ill."
The hearts of everyone who had been holding their breath finally settled down; the doctor's diagnosis was like a shot of adrenaline for them.
However, before they could fully relax, an ominous premonition enveloped everyone's hearts.
In the distance, thick smoke billowed, resembling a giant black python.
It churned in the sky, devouring the sunlight and bringing a suffocating sense of oppression.
The thick smoke is rising from the west, which is the direction from which the enemy is coming!
Immediately afterwards, the earth began to tremble, and the sound of horses' hooves grew clearer and more urgent as they approached.
Thousands of troops were galloping towards Jingzhou City, raising dust that blotted out the sky.
The entire earth was shrouded in a dim yellow light.
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