Chapter 643: Withdrawal
After a day of rest, the Centaurs led by Drogo were fully rested. After nightfall, according to Zhou Xu's instructions, they continued to harass the enemy camp endlessly, making it impossible for the enemy troops to rest in peace until dawn.
Over the next three days, just as Bai Tu had speculated in the previous discussion, the enemy siege forces launched a high-intensity siege on them for three consecutive days.
With the previous experience, the soldiers defending the city became more skilled in their overall response.
After three consecutive days of fighting, the opposing siege troops did not gain any advantage from them, and thanks to the defensive advantage brought by the city walls, their internal casualties were basically controlled within a hundred people after three days.
On the other hand, as the attacking party, the number of casualties increased exponentially. Even a rough estimate was that the number of soldiers killed in the battle was at least five or six hundred.
During this process, Long Zhantian, as the main general, had clearly realized that the opposing defense had too great an advantage, and their troops were insufficient. If they continued fighting, their losses would only continue to increase.
At the same time, starting from the first day, they have been harassed by the opposing Centaur cavalry after nightfall for four consecutive days. Not only is the morale of the siege troops low, but their condition is also getting worse and worse. If this continues, it will definitely not work.
There was no other choice. In order to get rid of the lingering Centaur cavalry, Long Zhantian could only frown and order a retreat.
Originally, they were thinking of retreating a hundred miles, thinking that they would be safe at such a long distance. The centaurs would not rush over to harass them overnight, right? But then they changed their minds...
[I have already retreated a hundred miles, so I might as well retreat directly to Blackrock City. There is not much distance to go anyway. Once I return to Blackrock City, I don’t need to worry about the harassment of the Centaurs, and the army can rest more thoroughly.]
With this thought in mind, Long Zhantian retreated completely, then gritted his teeth and wrote a letter to their king, reporting the latest battle situation on the front line.
Of course, he embellished the content appropriately, saying only that the enemy's defending troops were very tenacious and Huangsha City could not be easily captured, and finally requested military support.
Overall, I didn't lie.
During this period, the news of the enemy's siege troops' retreat was undoubtedly delivered to Zhou Xu at the first opportunity.
This was also within Zhou Xu's expectations.
"It's just right, we can take a good rest."
Although they did not suffer many casualties, the soldiers were indeed tired after days of fighting.
Adding the post-war work to the mix, the next three days passed in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, it is time to open the energy channel again.
What was different from the past was that this time, in addition to the 800 immigrants, they also needed to bring back the wounded soldiers who were so seriously injured that they had to retreat from the front line.
After a group of people were sent away, the food pressure in the city was much less. In addition, they had successfully repelled the enemy's siege troops in four consecutive battles before. This made the generals, including Zhou Xu, feel a lot more cheerful.
In comparison, Yan Sheng, who was far away in his own capital, was not in a very cheerful mood at the moment.
"waste!"
He had just received a letter from Long Zhantian via carrier pigeon, and after reading the contents, he became furious.
It is not difficult to see his arrogance from his previous actions of annexing the surrounding countries and proclaiming himself the First Emperor.
But what about now?
He was already very unhappy that Huangsha City was breached in one day.
Not only did his general fail to recapture Huangsha City, but he also led his large army back to Black Stone City in disgrace. How could Yan Sheng not be furious at this result?
During this process, the six ministers standing by, knowing how explosive their emperor's temper was, did not dare to even fart.
Until their majesty's voice sounded again.
"Go and tell the general to come and see me!"
Yan Sheng gave the order, and soon a burly man with a height of at least 1.8 meters, a handsome face, and a strong and sturdy appearance, wearing an official robe, walked in.
"Your Majesty, I am Jie Liancheng, here to see you!"
Seeing Liancheng coming in, Yan Sheng didn't waste any words and directly signaled the eunuch beside him to send the letter sent by carrier pigeon to the other party for review.
Xie Liancheng took it and looked at it, then immediately sneered.
"Long Zhantian is only capable of those two tricks. It would be better for me to lead the troops to retake Huangsha City."
From his words, it was clear that Xie Liancheng looked down upon Long Zhantian.
During this period, the six ministers standing nearby all maintained an attitude of "eyes on nose, nose on heart", pretending not to hear or see anything.
But Yan Sheng couldn't do that. His expression turned ugly.
Even though he had called Long Zhantian a waste before, no matter how useless he was, he was still one of the four Dragon Generals appointed by him personally. Seeing Liancheng mocking him like that, Yan Sheng was naturally unhappy.
But when I thought about how this guy has always been like this, and that he is indeed capable, I didn't say anything more.
"General, that's exactly what I want! And this time, I will lead the army in person!"
Upon hearing that Yan Sheng was going to lead the army in person, the six ministers who had previously had little presence finally made some movement.
“Your Majesty, you can’t do that!!”
While he was shouting, the six ministers all knelt down.
"Your Majesty, as the ruler of a country, how can you put yourself in danger? Just leave this matter to the general."
The voices of the six ministers rose and fell, responding one after another, which made Yan Sheng's head hurt.
Xie Liancheng, who was standing there, picked his ears in public, and then blew a mouthful of earwax towards the six ministers.
As for whether or not their Majesty would lead the army in person, he was definitely the most indifferent person present.
Yan Sheng saw this action and his eyes twitched slightly.
[Relying on his abilities, this guy is getting more and more arrogant! ]
Of course, he was just thinking about it in his mind.
Jie Liancheng had a special identity, and he was able to annex the surrounding countries one after another. The other party took great credit for this, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was so meritorious that he frightened the ruler.
This also made Yan Sheng feel a little suspicious of him.
If possible, he didn't want Jie Liancheng to lead the troops to fight, but the other three of the Four Dragon Generals were guarding the other three borders.
If they were transferred back to support Long Zhantian, it would not be a wise choice, whether considering the distance and time or the border garrison.
In this way, it became a mandatory condition for him to lead the army in person.
What is the key point here? The key point is that if he leads the army in person, the military power will be in his own hands!
On the contrary, if Jie Liancheng was allowed to lead the troops alone, and the other party held the military power, who knows what kind of things he would do?
"Shut up! I have made up my mind. There is no need to discuss this matter any further! Let's go down and prepare!"
(End of this chapter)
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