Chapter 46 "Anzhou will not be abandoned, I will defend it."...
A month ago, Wu Zizhuo secretly met with a foreigner in the military camp.
This alien brought the message from their leader, replying to Wu Zizhuo's previous message about wanting to form an alliance.
He was willing to form an alliance with Wu Zizhuo on the condition that, once the matter was accomplished, the five border cities would be ceded to them.
Wu Zizhuo agreed.
As a citizen of Liang, he agreed.
As long as he can conquer Anzhou, defeat Xie Linyuan, and reclaim the ten cities he occupied, what are the five cities here?
So be it.
What do ordinary people matter? If they die, they die.
If he could seize imperial power, the entire world would be his; what would five cities matter?
Xie Linyuan will definitely die at his hands.
They will definitely die at his hands.
He will be defeated by Wu Zizhuo.
Soon after, an urgent report was sent from the border and delivered to Anzhou overnight.
—
When Xie Linyuan received this urgent report, he was training his troops at the martial arts training ground. According to the plan, he would soon reorganize his army and launch a full-scale counterattack, heading straight for the capital.
But now, an urgent report has arrived from the border. It seems that the border tribes have received some inside information and know that the border forces are insufficient. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they have joined forces with the surrounding small countries to launch a surprise attack.
The general tried his best to hold the line, but the barbarian tribes refused to retreat. They joined forces with neighboring small states and their military strength had increased significantly. Without reinforcements, even if they could hold the line once, how could they hold it a second or third time?
Late at night, the study in the general's mansion was brightly lit. Qingshan, Chen Ling, and other generals under Xie Linyuan gathered here once again to discuss countermeasures.
The choice before us is actually quite obvious.
They could either send troops to reinforce the border, or stick to the plan, continue their offensive, capture the capital, and completely change the dynasty.
If troops are diverted to support the border, then they will be unable to advance further and will have to continue to garrison Anzhou.
However, Anzhou's terrain has never been suitable for defending a city. If the troops are divided up, Wu Zizhuo will take the opportunity to attack Anzhou, and how can it be defended?
But the border is not defended...
"General, if you ask me, those border tribes were all driven back to their hometowns by us last time, and they were severely weakened. It will take them several years to recover. How come they have joined forces with the surrounding small countries to launch a surprise attack on the border at this critical moment?"
Chen Ling clenched his fists. His face, now covered in a thin stubble, no longer showed any trace of his youthful innocence. Although he had matured considerably over the years, he was still furious when talking about these things, and he almost cracked the table with his fist.
"It must be that scoundrel Wu Zizhuo who tipped them off and colluded with the foreign tribes, allowing them to launch a large-scale attack while the border troops were weak, so that he could take advantage of the situation to attack Anzhou!"
"How utterly hateful!"
There was a moment of silence in the room.
Chen Ling is absolutely right.
At this time, no one else but Wu Zizhuo would be able to do this.
It wasn't that they weren't wary of Wu Zizhuo, nor that they weren't wary of the imperial court; it's just that they underestimated Wu Zizhuo.
They actually dared to collude with the border tribes, allowing others to attack the border they had guarded for so many years.
If the border is breached, the neighboring countries will take advantage of the situation to attack, and the entire Liang Kingdom will be conquered.
Even if the Liang Kingdom had not been conquered, the people of the border cities would certainly have been plundered and slaughtered.
The Yi tribes have long coveted several border cities. Now that Wu Zizhuo has reached a cooperation agreement with the Yi tribes, they will surely take this opportunity to make exorbitant demands, asking Wu Zizhuo to cede them to them.
Wu Zizhuo must have agreed, which is why the border states did as he wished, attacking the border just as Xie Linyuan was about to attack, putting him in a dilemma where he could be blamed at any moment.
Should we deploy troops or not? Should we defend Anzhou or not?
After a moment of silence in the room, Qingshan spoke up: "The border cannot be left undefended."
Everyone looked at him, but Qingshan looked at their general, Xie Linyuan.
Xie Linyuan, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit with a high ponytail, stood with his back to them. He was tall and strong, and the light and shadow divided him into two parts, half of his figure in the shadows and half in the light, making him seem unpredictable.
Qingshan glanced at their general, and remembering the days when they fought bloody battles on the border, he couldn't help but clench his fist.
"We've stood guard with the general for so long, each time facing death by a hair's breadth, losing so many brothers in the process, to hold the border and drive them back to their lair. How can we easily abandon our post?"
“If we fail to defend this border, what will all the blood we have shed and the brothers who have sacrificed over the years amount to? Besides, if the border is breached, those barbarian tribes will surely take their anger out on the people, looting and burning.”
"We have already established the border defense line; all we need to do is mobilize troops..."
"That scoundrel Wu Zizhuo is just waiting for us to mobilize our troops," Chen Ling retorted, her eyes bloodshot. "We've been lying in wait for so long, are we just going to keep enduring this?! As long as we march all the way to the capital, it will all be over!"
"We've been holding Anzhou for so long, and we've finally got this opportunity to attack the capital. We were absolutely certain of defeating Wu Zizhuo this time, but if they really send troops to the border, we won't be so sure of success!"
Both Qingshan and Chen Ling's points were valid, and the room fell silent once again.
We are now truly caught in a dilemma: how to choose between Anzhou and the border.
If you don't have enough troops, you'll have to abandon one.
“There’s another way…” After a moment of silence, Qingshan spoke up.
“Anzhou is not suitable for defense, but Cangzhou behind Anzhou is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Why don’t we abandon Anzhou and retreat to Cangzhou? Even if we have to send troops to the border, we can still hold Cangzhou and hold out until the border is stable before launching a full-scale attack.”
The method that Qingshan described was indeed a good approach for these generals.
As a result, many people responded.
"This is a good idea. Anzhou is not suitable for defense anyway. We should retreat to Cangzhou and wait for the border to be stabilized before launching a full-scale attack!"
"Yes, doesn't that solve the problem?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
...
This method is indeed very good and can resolve the current dilemma.
Xie Linyuan heard it too, but he did not express his approval.
After Qingshan spoke, he felt a chill and suddenly realized that he had overlooked a very important issue.
Before Chen Ling could even show any joy, she realized something was amiss.
They considered abandoning Anzhou and retreating to Cangzhou, which was the optimal solution for winning, but they overlooked what sacrifices would be made.
In their view, war always inevitably involves bloodshed and sacrifice.
Soldiers and common people alike.
If their general had thought of it before, he would have done so immediately upon receiving the urgent report from the border, even before Qingshan could think of it.
But now...
As if sensing something, Qingshan and Chen Ling both looked at their general, Xie Linyuan.
Xie Linyuan did indeed speak.
"If we retreat to Cangzhou, where will the people of Anzhou go?"
His voice came from the shadows, sharp and cold, like a sword that suddenly pierced the previous clamor, and the room fell into a deathly silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Xie Linyuan turned around and glanced at the generals in the room. His eyebrows were lowered, and his cold aura slowly turned into a suffocating pressure.
Qingshan's face was ashen.
He thought that his words had touched a nerve with their general, that the border would be abandoned, and perhaps he too…
But then Xie Linyuan said, "Send 80,000 troops to the border, with Qingshan in charge."
"If Anzhou does not abandon us, we will defend it."
"Are you willing to follow?"
The moment he finished speaking, a burst of enthusiastic shouts erupted from inside the room:
"We swear to follow the general to the death!"
"We swear to follow the general to the death!"
"We swear to follow the general to the death!"
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