Chapter 319 No Way to Retreat
Xuan Qin's military action against Northern Chu began after the autumn harvest this year. By now, November, the two countries have been fighting for nearly three months.
As expected, the Northern Chu army was defeated and had already lost nearly half of Northern Chu.
Originally, although Xuan Qin's national strength was stronger than Northern Chu, it was not overwhelming. This was due to two key points: one was that the Xuan Qin cavalry could not be stopped, and the other was that the Xuan Qin monks could not win. Therefore, the Northern Chu army was no match for the Xuan Qin army.
Northern Chu originally had a very strong cavalry, enough to guard the Xuan Qin cavalry. However, that army was buried in the Hengduan Mountains.
Hundred thousand Tiance cavalry, the strongest cavalry of Northern Chu! Can hunt monsters and wolves in the dark! Buried under the catkins overnight.
If there were still Tiance cavalry, then even if Xuan Qin wanted to start a war against Northern Chu, it would have to think twice... at least it would not fight so quickly.
Now that the Tiance Army is gone, the Xuanqin Tiger and Wolf Cavalry, which is facing the Tiance Army, is like entering an uninhabited land.
The terrain of Northern Chu is the Hengduan Mountains in the southwest, which is a hilly area. Once you pass the Hengduan Mountains, it is a plain.
The plain stretches across half of Northern Chu.
At the beginning, Xuanqin took advantage of Northern Chu's untimely response and launched a strong attack regardless of losses, pushing the front line directly to the plain area. At this time, Northern Chu fought again, but because its cavalry was inferior to others, it could not fight Xuanqin on the plain at all. It was defeated and retreated all the way to Wuyi City.
Wuyi City is the end of the plain after the Hengduan Mountains.
This Wuyi City was built on the mountain, relying on another mountain range in Northern Chu, a mountain range that runs across the middle of Northern Chu, dividing Northern Chu into two parts.
Therefore, this Wuyi City is the gateway to this mountain range, and it is also the last line of defense of Northern Chu.
After all, after Wuyi City, there is flat land again, all the way to the capital of Northern Chu.
If Wuyi City cannot be defended, according to Xuan Qin's previous offensive, Bei Chu should declare its demise.
At this time, night fell, and in Wuyi City, in the wartime command post rebuilt from the city lord's mansion, Li Zhan, the general of Bei Chu, was discussing military affairs with his subordinates.
What they were discussing was the situation of Xuan Qin's siege during the day, and how to defend against Xuan Qin's next wave of offensive.
"It's going to snow soon..." someone said, "Once it snows, Xuan Qin will have to withdraw its troops. As long as we hold on until it snows, Bei Chu will be saved."
"Defend?" Someone said angrily, "What can we defend? They have cultivators in the sky and cavalry on the ground, and we are mortals... It's like an egg hitting a stone, or a mantis trying to stop a chariot!"
When he said there were cultivators in the sky, everyone in the room couldn't help but look gloomy. During the day, Xuan Qin attacked the city in an all-out manner, and almost all the cultivators in Bei Chu who could come to participate in the battle died in the battle... Including Jiang Xiaobai, the sword god of Bei Chu, and Mo Lao, the guest of the Li family. Bei Chu, there are no cultivators anymore.
When he mentioned the cavalry on the ground, everyone in the room couldn't help but look at the man at the end of the seat who lowered his head and said nothing... Li Shiwen, the best cavalry of Northern Chu died at his hands.
"This attack actually hurt Xuan Qin's vitality. They should reorganize a little and choose another day to fight." Someone analyzed, "Why don't we take this opportunity to preserve our strength and quietly transfer our living forces. Go to Wuling City behind the mountain, use geography to exchange time, and wait for the snow to fall."
When he said this, many people in the room were moved. They kept fighting and losing, and had already lost half of the country. These people had their bones broken. What they thought in their hearts was, what if they lost another city?
"That's wrong! We know it's going to snow, so Xuan Qin knows it too!" Someone put forward the opposite view, "If they fail to capture Wuyi City, the problem they face is that all their previous efforts will be in vain, and they will have to start all over again in the spring of next year. Based on this, I assert that they will organize another full-scale siege tomorrow or even tonight, and it will be absolutely crazy and will not stop until death!"
When he said this, some people were cautious, some were pale, some were afraid, and some were determined...
Someone said: "The war between countries is very costly. If you can't capture it once, how can you attack it again? If Xuan Qin can't be defeated this year, I don't think it will come again next year..."
The discussion below was heated, but General Li Zhan Li on the seat said nothing. Until it became more and more intense, more and more intense, and finally suddenly calmed down.
Li Zhan stood up, propped up the table with his hands, and scanned the people with his bloodshot eyes. He spoke softly and slowly:
"Since the invasion of Xuan Qin, we have been fighting and retreating all the way. We have lost more than 70 large cities, countless small cities, and most of Northern Chu; hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed and wounded, and the people were displaced, with countless casualties. We have retreated all the way here. You are all people who know military affairs. Once Wuyi City is broken, there will be plains behind, more people, and the capital Danyang..."
He paused, took a deep breath, looked around at everyone, and then said word by word, "As for this, there is no retreat! There is no retreat! It's just a fight to the death! The city is alive, the people are alive, the city is dead, and the people are dead!"
After saying this, everyone in the seat was awed, no one dared to speak, and no one even dared to breathe.
After a long time, Li Shiwen, who was sitting at the end of the table, stood up and said, his voice was hoarse because he had not spoken for too long: "Xuan Qin will definitely launch the final attack tonight. Please sit on the tower!"
Li Zhan looked at him indifferently, without any emotion, and replied: "Yes!"
Late at night, Li Shiwen, wearing silver armor and holding a silver steel gun, sat quietly on the parapet of the city wall, looking at the darkness outside.
His armor was damaged, with indelible black blood stains on it; his steel gun was damaged, with indelible blood stains and scratches on it.
The cold wind blew, and in the darkness outside the city, there were monsters that were ready to eat people. He had no expression on his face.
What was he waiting for? It seemed that he was waiting for Xuan Qin's attack, but it also seemed that he was... waiting to die.
He didn't wait for Xuan Qin's attack, but waited for his wife's dinner first.
Yuchi Zhen climbed up the tower with a lantern and a food box to find Li Shiwen. She stood on the city wall and looked up at Li Shiwen.
"I heard that the other side will attack again tonight..." she said, "You should eat something!"
Li Shiwen jumped off the women's wall and took the food box from Yuchi Zhen. He looked at this woman who had suffered with him, shivering in the cold wind on the city wall. He said, "It's cold up there, you go down first."
Yuchi Zhen could have not followed him and been a so-called hostage in Danyang, but she still followed him with her child... from Linxian City to Wuyi City.
After marrying him, his wife said that what she heard was that Li Shiwen was the youngest general in Northern Chu, a god of war who was invincible in every battle, and his army alone made Xuan Qin tremble with fear.
But she didn't expect that after marrying him, he had never won a single battle... He even forgot what victory felt like.
Yuchi Zhen obediently turned around and walked downstairs, but after a few steps, she suddenly turned back and looked at him seriously and said, "You said Xiao Ping'an went to find Shiyin... But I will always be with you, regardless of life or death."
Her voice was still soft and weak, and was blown to and fro by the cold wind. It seemed that it took a while for Li Shiwen to hear it.
When he heard it, Yuchi Zhen had already gone down the city wall. He was standing in the cold wind with a food box in his hand, tears streaming down his face.