Chapter 922 Cijian's Great Defeat
"What? Cijian suffered a crushing defeat?"
Now that they had returned to Qianqiu Palace, when Shang Ruyi finally heard Yuwen Ye recite the contents of the letter, although she was somewhat prepared, she still couldn't help but gasp and stare wide-eyed at Yuwen Ye: "Really defeated?"
Yuwen Ye lowered his head, scanned the few lines of text on the letter again, and then nodded.
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath.
These days, because everyone's attention is focused on the case at Tangquan Palace, the pursuit of the rebels at Wanggang Village, and the city-wide manhunt for the assassins, almost everything else has been neglected. However, there is still one thing on their minds: the war in which Prince Qi led his army eastward to Luoyang. News had come that he had already occupied Cijian.
Logically speaking, since that place is not far from Luoyang, if there were any battles, there should be immediate news. However, two months have passed without any word.
I only received a letter from Shen Tu Tai today.
Shang Ruyi asked in a low voice, "How did you lose?"
As he spoke, Yuwen Ye held the letter close to the candle flame on the table. The flame ignited a corner of the letter, and it immediately burst into flames. With a flick of his finger, Yuwen Ye turned the entire letter into a fireball, which burned instantly, leaving only ashes that drifted to the ground.
He said, “My third brother wants to concentrate his forces to attack Luoyang, but Shen Tu Tai and your brother disagree. They believe that if we send troops in this way, Luoyang’s defenses are strong and it will not be able to be captured in a short time. As soon as we reach a stalemate, the surrounding garrisons will immediately return to defend. At that time, his troops may be in danger of being attacked from both sides, or even from multiple sides.”
"indeed."
"Therefore, they strongly advised him to first defend Cijian and send troops to attack Huiluo Granary east of Luoyang. As long as he pretended to attack the Eastern Capital, the garrisons at the surrounding passes would definitely return to reinforce. At that time, he could simultaneously besiege the points and attack the reinforcements while cutting off the food supplies in Luoyang. Once the strength of the surrounding garrisons was depleted, the morale in Luoyang would also be unstable due to food shortages. He could then take this opportunity to attack Luoyang, achieving twice the result with half the effort."
Shang Ruyi's eyes widened: "That's a great idea! How come I didn't think of that?"
Yuwen Ye glared at her irritably: "Do you really think that just because you followed me on two military campaigns and made meritorious contributions in Fufeng, you know how to use troops?"
Shang Ruyi blinked her eyes guiltily.
To be honest, she did have some of those thoughts. After all, she had made real contributions in the battle of Fufeng and had indeed witnessed many battles. Even when discussing military strategy on paper, she was much more insightful than before.
But to her surprise, when faced with such a battle, her mind was still a complete mess regarding the garrison at the eight passes of Luoyang, and she didn't know what to do, while Shen Tu Tai and Shen Wu Zheng had already come up with a solution.
It seems that strategizing and deploying troops is not an easy task.
She carefully considered the approach proposed by Shen Tu Tai and Shen Wu Zheng, and recalled the location and troop distribution of the eight passes of Luoyang, as well as the location of Huiluo Granary—although this granary was not as large as Xingluo Granary and did not have as much storage, it was the closest granary to Luoyang. It was also the biggest reason why Liang Shide was able to defend Luoyang after Xingluo Granary was captured, Chu Yang marched south to Jiangdu, and the entire defense of Luoyang was almost completely empty.
Therefore, this method is feasible.
But since Cijian suffered a major defeat, it means—she looked up at Yuwen Ye: "Didn't the Prince of Qi listen to their advice?"
Yuwen Ye said, "Of course not. Not only did he not listen, he also wanted to imprison your brother on charges of disrupting the morale of the army. However, all the soldiers in the army pleaded for him, and Shen Tu Tai also protected him, so my third brother did not take any action."
Shang Ruyi breathed a long sigh of relief.
This is exactly what she feared. Now it seems that Yuwen Yuan's decision to use Shen Tu Tai and Shen Wu Zheng in this team was indeed a good move.
"The defeat at Cijian was—"
"My third brother is determined to attack Luoyang directly. Shen Tu Tai and Shen Wu Zheng tried to dissuade him but to no avail. So he insisted on leaving a group of men to guard Cijian. Firstly, this would block the reinforcements from attacking from the rear. Secondly, if the attack failed, there would be a place to retreat to."
"This is the best possible solution."
"Unfortunately, just as they predicted, before Third Brother's men even reached the walls of Luoyang, they were blocked by two reinforcements from Yique Pass and Dagu Pass. Although one of them quickly collapsed, before Third Brother could completely repel the reinforcements, the garrison in Luoyang came out and launched a surprise attack, resulting in a great defeat for him and his men."
Shang Ruyi asked nervously, "King Qi, are you alright?"
Yuwen Ye shook his head, a hint of coldness in his eyes, and said, "Just like before in Taiyuan, he ran very fast. Of the 50,000 troops he led, less than 2,000 escaped with him in the end."
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi felt a dull pain in her chest.
Of the 50,000 troops, less than 2,000 returned...
Such losses were almost a crushing defeat. Even disregarding the losses suffered by the imperial court, she had been on the battlefield and shared joys and sorrows with those soldiers. The thought that 50,000 living people, each a vibrant life, were sacrificed in such a seemingly worthless way was like a knife being cut into her heart.
No wonder Yuwen Ye's expression was so unpleasant after reading the letter, and he even retorted to her about the matter of commanding troops.
He wasn't indifferent to Yuwen Cheng's life or death, but beyond life and death, as a commander-in-chief, his responsibilities extended beyond the outcome of a single battle; they concerned the lives and deaths of so many people. Yuwen Cheng's defeat and rout this time, coupled with such severe casualties, was truly infuriating.
Seeing his ashen face, Shang Ruyi sighed and said softly, "Don't be angry. Now that things have come to this, we need to consider how to continue this battle."
Yuwen Ye glanced at her and shook his head: "It's not time yet."
"Um?"
These words startled Shang Ruyi, who looked at him in surprise: "What do you mean?"
Since Yuwen Cheng suffered a major defeat in this battle, shouldn't we consider either reinforcing our troops to continue attacking Luoyang, or changing commanders, or even simply retreating?
He said, "It's not that time yet, is there something else to do?"
Just as Shang Ruyi was wondering what to ask him, suddenly, a person rushed in from outside. Looking up, she saw it was Eunuch Yu. His expression was solemn with a hint of panic. After entering, he bowed to the two people and said, "Greetings, Prince Qin and Princess Qin. Your Highness, the Emperor orders you to go to Xuanzheng Hall to see him immediately."
Shang Ruyi's heart sank.
Yes, at this moment she finally understood—someone needs to take responsibility for this defeat!
Yuwen Cheng would never admit that the failure was his fault!
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