After two days of fierce fighting, Liu Kui's 200,000-strong army suffered heavy casualties, with fewer than 160,000 soldiers still capable of fighting, and morale was low.
Thus, Liu Kui's strategy of a swift victory completely failed.
What worries Liu Kui the most is that he still hasn't been able to find out any movement from Lu Zhi's army, and there has been no news from Yanzhou and Qingzhou either.
This dealt a heavy blow to Liu Kui, who was originally very ambitious.
That night, General Liu Kui summoned all the leaders to his tent to discuss their next move.
Liu Kui looked at the people in the tent and said in a deep voice, "Gaoyang is in imminent danger of being captured, and the morale of our soldiers is low. What should we do now?"
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances and remained silent.
These people were all from various aristocratic families. Although they were well-versed in literature, very few of them were proficient in military affairs.
They originally thought that with the brave warriors in everyone's homes and a large amount of money and food, they could sweep through and conquer cities and territories.
But now, through these two days of siege warfare, they have witnessed the true gap between them and regular armies.
Now that the army is blocked and cannot advance, if they retreat like this, Lu Zhi's Youzhou army can enter Jizhou without any hindrance.
Thinking of the Youzhou soldiers on the city walls who had fought like ten men each in the past two days, a sense of powerlessness rose in everyone's hearts.
If Lu Zhi's Youzhou army were to enter Jizhou, could these tens of thousands of men really hold them off?
At this moment, a sense of powerlessness and pessimism permeated the tent, making everyone feel suffocated.
Upon seeing this, the imposter Lu Qing stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Hejian is no longer a viable option, and Zhongshan and Changshan are also threatened by Huang Zhong and others!"
In my opinion, we should retreat to Xindu, forming a pincer movement with the garrisons of Julu and Weijun, and then focus on training our troops. Once the rebel armies of Yanzhou and Qingzhou have joined forces, we can then launch a large-scale attack on Zhao County!
At the same time, immediately send messengers to contact the Northern Wuhuan and the Eastern Xianbei, urging them to send troops quickly. Then, with an attack from both inside and outside, the great undertaking will be accomplished!
"Master Lu is right. Our army has sufficient supplies. If we cannot achieve a quick victory, then we should retreat!"
"Indeed, the rich lands of Ji, Yan, and Qing provinces are all in my hands. The longer this goes on, the more advantageous it will be for us. It is not too late to send troops when the army is fully formed!"
Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, everyone nodded in agreement.
"At this point, there's no other way!!"
Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Liu Kui had no choice but to agree to withdraw his troops.
After one night, Liu Kui ordered the entire army to retreat to Xindu, preparing to defend the city to the death.
News of Liu Kui's army's retreat quickly reached the ears of Lu Zhi, Zhang Huan, and others.
Not long after Liu Kui's army withdrew, Zhang Huan, who had been hiding in Yuanshi County, led the Bingzhou army to attack the northern counties of Julu Commandery.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhi, who was hiding in Chengle, led 30,000 Youzhou troops and 40,000 Hejian troops straight towards Liu Kui's stronghold, Nanpi.
Huang Zhong, Ma Teng, and Gongsun Du led their three battalions, Huangfeng, Liehuo, and Heifeng, out of Zhongshan and joined forces with the Gaoyang garrison to attack the northern counties of Anping.
The rebel army led by Liu Kui mostly gathered in Julu, Weijun, and Xindu, and only sent a small number of soldiers to defend the other counties.
In addition, the local people had been persecuted by scholars and powerful families in the past, and the people's hearts were lost. When they heard that the royal army was approaching the city, many righteous people came to the city to support the royal army before the defending rebels could make a move.
Therefore, Lu Zhi, Zhang Huan, Huang Zhong and others made rapid progress and encountered no obstacles along the way.
Within three days, more than twenty counties north of Julu and Anping fell into the hands of Zhang Huan, Huang Zhong, and others.
When Lu Zhi led his 70,000-strong army to Nanpi, they attacked the city for less than half a day. With the help of spies from the city's intelligence bureau, they successfully breached the city, and Liu Kui, along with the families of many scholars and powerful figures, all fell into Lu Zhi's hands.
After leaving 20,000 troops in Hejian to recover the counties of Bohai, Lu Zhi led the remaining 50,000 troops westward toward Xindu.
Zhang Huan assembled a total of 50,000 troops, including his Bingzhou army, Huang Zhong, Ma Teng, Gongsun Du, and the garrison of Gaoyang, and marched towards Julu.
Meanwhile, Yang Qiu and Wang Yue led 40,000 Jizhou troops and 5,000 Imperial Guards, together with 20,000 Luo troops from Hanoi, totaling 65,000 men, to the gates of Wei County.
At this point, all the rebel forces in Ji Province under Liu Kui's command were suppressed in Xindu, Julu, and Weijun, and the imperial army occupied all the routes to the north, east, and west.
When the news reached Xindu, panic immediately gripped the rebel army.
Looking at the map showing the positions of the enemy and their own forces, Liu Kui and the rebel leaders felt a chill run down their spines and their bodies go weak.
No one could have imagined that so many imperial troops would suddenly appear in Ji Province in just a few days. Now that their rear has been lost, they have no advantage whatsoever.
For a time, the hundreds of thousands of rebel troops trapped in Xindu, Julu, and Weijun became fish on a chopping block, at the mercy of others.
Inside Xindu City, Liu Kui gathered a group of rebel leaders in his tent to discuss countermeasures.
Liu Kui looked at the people in the tent with a gloomy expression: "Gentlemen, in just a few days, most of Anping and Julu counties have been lost, and the entire Bohai region has fallen into Lu Zhi's hands. Do any of you have any good strategies?"
One of them stood up and said, “Your Majesty, we have now lost all our advantages. Why not abandon the city and head south to join forces with the righteous armies of Yan and Qing provinces to defend Puyang together!”
"No!!"
The imposter Lu Qing hurriedly spoke up to stop him: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, if we abandon the city and head south, the entire territory of Ji Province will fall into the hands of the Han army. Then they will send troops south to take the opportunity to seize Qing Province. At that time, we will have no way out."
Moreover, with hundreds of thousands of troops trapped in Puyang, their food supplies would certainly not last long!
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