Chapter 22 Retreat
That night, Liu Yuzhi began to mobilize the people in the city.
As the county magistrate, it can be said that he has changed a lot in Liucheng since he took office. Not only did he manage the county extremely well, he was also fair and honest.
He was particularly good at handling internal affairs. In just a few years, he turned this miserable place into a major grain-producing county, allowing many people to live and work in peace and contentment.
Therefore, he is very prestigious in Liucheng, and the local people also love him as a parent official very much.
Now the ghost army is besieging the city, and Liucheng is in danger. If the city is destroyed, the people here will be slaughtered and blood will flow like rivers. The people themselves are also very aware of this.
Therefore, under Liu Yuzhi's mobilization, many young people responded one after another in order to protect their parents, wives and children at home.
The next day, Helianbo once again led his army to the city, preparing for the last storm on Liucheng.
In his mind, if Liucheng can be defeated in today's battle, it would be the best. If it cannot be conquered for a long time, his side will have no choice but to retreat, because there will be no follow-up food and fodder.
At this moment, the gates of Liucheng were densely packed with soldiers, standing in rows with halberds, and the soldiers looked solemn.
Of course, there are many young men in the city who are pretending to be defenders. Peng Shuang's troops are no longer enough to set up such a formation.
Before Helianbo could attack, the gate of Liucheng suddenly opened, and immediately after, Peng Shuang rode out, followed by a large number of elite soldiers.
The two armies faced each other, and at the gate of the city, Peng Shuang tightened the reins, raised his sword, and shouted in a loud voice: "You little thieves! Who dares to come out and fight with me!"
He pulled the reins slightly, rode his horse, and walked back and forth under the city, shouting angrily and with great momentum.
At the same time, all the defenders on the city began to raise their halberds high and shout in unison to cheer them on.
This kind of momentum seemed to have tens of thousands of troops. When the deputy general of the ghost army saw this, he couldn't help but lightly hit the horse's belly. He came to He Lianbo's side and whispered:
"General, our general was beheaded by this man earlier, which shows that he is brave and must be a general of the Central Plains."
When Helianbo heard this, he did not answer the question. Instead, he looked at the defenders in the city who were waiting in full formation. Then he looked at Peng Shuang who took the initiative to open the city to call for formation. He frowned slightly and said:
"Liucheng's troops are so abundant. I didn't expect this. No wonder we were in a hard battle yesterday."
Hearing what he said, the deputy general couldn't help but twitch his lips: "General, considering its scale, if our army launches another forceful attack today, I'm afraid it will still be the same as yesterday, and the only dry food our army has left is not enough to support it."
"Please state your opinion." Helianbo glanced at the deputy general.
The deputy general said: "If we still fail to attack the city today, then we will be delayed in front of Liucheng for another day. If at this time, Lu Bolin's main army attacks the rear of our army and cuts off our army's retreat, then if we want to retreat by then,
There’s no way to retreat.”
"Well..." Helianbo also began to hesitate.
He also understood what the deputy general said. He originally thought that the defenders of Liucheng were out of strength and would be able to break the city today, but he did not expect that this would be the case.
Seeing that he was deep in thought, the deputy general also advised again: "The opponent has sufficient troops, high morale, and relies on the city's defense. I dare to ask the general, are you absolutely sure that Liucheng will be captured within two days?"
"This..." Helianbo's frown deepened.
"In this case, the general recommends that we withdraw our troops in case something changes." The deputy general said.
Helianbo looked at the city gate again and said, "But if we retreat like this, I will be unwilling to do so!"
The food and grass were destroyed, and the city gates in front of us could not be breached. If we continued, there was only a dead end.
This was what the lieutenant general was thinking, and he immediately said: "General, even if we attack again today, judging from the defense of Liucheng, our troops will only increase casualties, and we will delay here for another day. General, please don't hesitate! Retreat one day later."
, just give Lu Bolin one more day!"
He persuaded him several times, and as he spoke, he became more and more anxious. Helianbo weighed the pros and cons. After a while, he couldn't help but clenched his fist tightly, and then gritted his teeth and said: "Okay! Send the order, and the whole army will retreat northward lightly!"
"
"Yes! The general will go down and deliver the order right away!" The deputy general was overjoyed when he heard this.
Helianbo didn't know whether the defense of Liucheng was real or not, and thought that the defenders had enough troops. It would be futile to fight for another day. Most importantly, the destruction of food and grass made him worried that he would be trapped and die in front of Liucheng.
Liu Yuzhi seized on this mentality of his and successfully retreated the enemy by using the tactics of suspicion.
The ghost army came and retreated just as quickly. Seeing the ghost army receding like a tide, the people pretending to be soldiers in the city breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed their tense nerves.
The body that stood upright immediately softened.
At the city gate, seeing that the ghost army had retreated, Peng Shuang was about to turn his horse around and return to the city, but Liu Yuzhi leaned out half of his body from the city and said seriously: "General Peng is taking advantage of the situation to pursue us!"
Ah? Now that we have finally deceived the ghost army, we still have a mere two thousand troops to pursue?
When Peng Shuang heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Liu Yuzhi on the city. After thinking for a while, he said: "Okay! I will trust you again!"
As he spoke, he also pulled the reins, pointed the long knife forward in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Kill——"
He gave an order and led more than a thousand soldiers to pursue the ghost army in the direction of retreat. Not long after, the news also reached Helianbo. Hearing the words, the latter immediately said: "It seems that the strength of Liucheng's troops is far more than
These things are right not to stop here."
His lieutenant general also nodded in agreement: "Yes, if this were not the case, how would the enemy dare to pursue us?"
Helianbo said nothing more, but began to give orders: "Send the order, the crossbowmen shoot at the opponent's feet..."
Peng Shuang was not a fool, so he understood Liu Yuzhi's words of pretentious pursuit. After pretending to chase for a while, and encountering the opponent's crossbowman, he returned to Liucheng.
After returning to the city, he immediately found Liu Yuzhi and laughed loudly and said: "Master Liu, this strategy is indeed feasible. I deceived the ghost army without spending a single soldier. I admire you."
"Huh?" Liu Yuzhi waved his hand and said with a smile: "Just now, it was actually very risky, but my heart has been hanging on it."
As he spoke, he continued: "If the ghost army still has food and grass, they will not retreat. Judging from this, General Xiao must have succeeded."
"Well..." Peng Shuang also nodded. Before he could speak, Liu Yuzhi said again: "This battle was all due to the danger of General Xiao's troops. If not for this, Liucheng would have been difficult to defend, but I don't know what General Xiao is doing now.
Chapter completed!