As a rare talent in the Wu army, Pang Wanchun is indeed outstanding. Judging the current situation is only one aspect, but more importantly, he has the decisiveness to take on and let go. When he saw that Suzhou could no longer be taken in a short time, he immediately decided to withdraw his troops.

When the subsequent troops finally arrived, the first military order they received was to set off immediately and go south. Faced with such military orders, although many people in the Wu army found it difficult to accept, most of the soldiers were secretly happy. Without too much delay, they followed the order and retreated south as quickly as possible.

This head-on confrontation with the Shandong Army did a great blow to the elite Wu army. It was a huge loss of casualties and self-confidence. In the past, they thought they could easily defeat the corrupt and incompetent Song official army, but at this time, the entire army no longer had such thoughts, and many people even had some timid and fearfulness in their hearts. At this time, Pang Wanchun was able to give up Suzhou and stop fighting and return to the south, which was still very consistent with the wishes of the soldiers.

Of course, as the commander of the Wu army, Pang Wanchun considered something much longer than his subordinates. Giving up Suzhou will certainly have a significant blow to the whole country of Wu, but it is much better than being dragged to death here, and finally losing troops and losing generals will still not be able to take down the city. At the same time, he also had to prepare for the next battle, and he had to transfer all the troops and horses in the country to the important city to defend the city. The next battle between them and the Song Dynasty will probably become more intense and difficult.

His choice was undoubtedly extremely wise and timely, because just after the entire army retreated south for dozens of miles, the Shandong army, which had been guarding Changshu before, had already come from the rear. After being convinced that the Wu army did not set up an ambush along the road, the Shandong army was not slow to move, and only half a day later than the Wu army, who set out first, arrived at the city of Suzhou half a day later. When the soldiers saw the Song Dynasty flag flying at the top of the city and looked at the celebration scene on the city, they were not only relieved, but also full of admiration for Sun Tu.

"Secretary, this time my subordinates are really convinced by you and are impressed. We were thinking that there would be a fierce battle after we arrived in Suzhou, but unexpectedly, the anti-army was intimidated by your power and fled south directly!" After entering the city and seeing Sun Tu, Dong Ping and other subordinates couldn't help but exclaim.

"That was just a lucky draw, and it was also thanks to the unity of the whole city of Suzhou City, especially these gentry and merchants in the city. If they had not donated generously and encouraged the people's and the morale of the army, even if I had three heads and six arms, I would not be able to repel the 100,000 anti-army army." Sun Tu was in a very good mood. After a few humble words, he pulled the merchants out to meet his subordinates and others.

These merchants were also wise men. After seeing these Shandong generals, they naturally praised them for a long time. Then they spent a lot of money again and set up a mat in the city to entertain Shandong soldiers who came from afar, which won everyone's favor. I thought that the two sides might have had a possible unfamiliar grudge due to geographical customs and other reasons, but this time I disappeared.

Since the enemy has left, the city naturally has to celebrate with a good life. Sun Tu also knew that the soldiers had fought hard for the past few days, so he did not stop him. Anyway, the Wu army had retreated south, and Suzhou was absolutely safe at this time. As long as hundreds of people were sent to guard the city, the others could participate in this lively and sumptuous celebration banquet together.

The celebration banquet was drunk until the moon was getting deeper, and it was still continuing. However, Sun Tu, as the main general, could not have been indulging in pleasure. He quickly called Dong Ping to ask about the situation of the battle in Changshu: "How is it? Is the anti-military offensive strong afterwards? So what about our casualties? Also, I have never seen Peng Yongzhen today, where did he go?"

When he heard him ask about the past, Dong Ping's face completely disappeared, and he gave a detailed look of fear that the hard battle that happened in Changshu a few days ago: "In the past few days, the anti-army has been attacking my Changshu City at all costs. If the soldiers had not defended the city to death, they had finally settled down after several changes of hands. But our casualties were also extremely heavy. A rough estimate was that more than 5,000 soldiers died on the spot, and nearly 10,000 injured... As for Peng Yongzhen, he was already dead!" Speaking of this, his expression was a little complicated, both worried and angry.

"Well? What's going on?" Sun Tu saw that there must be something hidden in it, so he asked in a deep voice.

Dong Ping suppressed his voice and said, "In fact, if it weren't for him from the side, our army's casualties would not have been so serious. Just because he was greedy for life and feared death, and wanted to preserve the strength of the Huainan Army, he actually led his army to retreat when the anti-army attacked the north city, which led all the anti-army troops to enter the city.

"Fortunately, we were prepared early in the morning and hurriedly put the last reserve team into the defensive battle in the North City. We barely repelled the enemy, but the casualties also increased greatly. In this battle, Peng Yongzhen was killed in the chaos, and he really deserved to die!"

Sun Tu glanced at Dong Ping thoughtfully. There were still many problems and falsehoods in his statement. As the chief general of the Huainan Army, Peng Yongzhen could escape even if the city was really lost. But now he died in a daze in the war? I'm afraid he was attacked by his family from behind and died!

But even though he saw some problems, Sun Tu had no intention of exploring them. He had no good feelings for Peng Yongzhen. He was willing to be used by Zhu Jie before, and he was already Sun Tu's enemy when he was tampered with the winter clothes and quilts. Later, he had to cooperate with him due to the situation.

After learning about the hard battle in Changshu, Sun Tu was naturally even more annoyed by Peng Yongzhen. He only vented his anger when he learned that he was dead. Then, he thought of a key: "What about the Huainan Army under his command?"

"The Huainan Army has been temporarily under the control of low-level positions. It is precisely because of this that the North City has been able to defend and not break through."

"That is to say, the Huainan Army has now been incorporated into our Shandong Army!" A light flashed in Sun Tu's eyes. This time he went south, the Shandong Army suffered a lot of casualties, but if the Huainan Army could swallow the entire Huainan Army, even if their combat power was not too strong, it would be a big supplement to his family. As long as he stepped up the training, the strength of the Shandong Army would be improved in time.

Having made up his mind, he didn't ask any questions about the Huainan Army, but just said approvingly: "Your performance this time is very good. I think it won't take long to take me as the leader of the Shandong Army."

"The chief minister is praised, but his humble position is far from being too low." Dong Ping hurriedly said modestly, and then told the story of Song Jiang's previous disagreement with him: "I believe that if the chief minister was there, Song Gongming would never dare to make decisions without authorization."

"Oh, Song Jiang is still selfish after all, and he values ​​brotherly loyalty too much. But your performance is already very good. If you can withstand the pressure this time, you will make a lot of progress than before." Sun Tu nodded at him with satisfaction again.

Dong Ping was also happy and then asked, "I wonder what the governor's plan is next? Do we still have to continue going south?"

"We can't go south anymore, otherwise we will go deeper and suffer a great loss." Sun Tu had already made up his mind: "Our army has fought hard for a while, and not only has the huge casualties, but the soldiers are already exhausted. Since they have taken Suzhou, they should rest here and wait for the army behind to arrive, and then discuss how to go south to pacify the thieves."

"I understand the humble position."

"In addition, during his next stay in Suzhou, all you have to do is to make good friends with the merchants and gentry here. Also, you must not mess up the military discipline and do nothing to invade the people." Sun Tu ordered again solemnly, this is the key that he would emphasize whenever he went to the place. He did not want the Shandong army to be regarded as a disaster by the people.

"Yes, the humble official will definitely convey the meaning of the chief minister and will definitely strictly enforce military discipline."

The two discussed the following things to guard Suzhou until the sky was slightly brighter and they dispersed.

Before parting, Dong Ping thought of another point: "Secretary, this time we have conquered Changshu and Suzhou. I wonder what the reaction will be in Jinling. Will Zhu Xie force us to continue to move south? Will he lead his army to come again?"

"This is his place where he has been operating for many years. As long as he knows that Suzhou has fallen into my hands, he will definitely come in time. I will also wait for him here, and some things should be broken!" Sun Tu said casually, with a shocking murderous intent in his eyes flashing away.

Dong Ping keenly captured this point, his heart thumped, but he didn't say anything more. At least now everything is in control, and it's time to relax and enjoy this rare short-term peace.

Not only did he have such thoughts, but the tired Shandong army also fell asleep after this banquet. During this period, they had worked too hard and had never had a good sleep.

However, at this time, some people in the city felt uneasy. After seeing that the Shandong army had completely taken control of Suzhou, several merchants became a little nervous again.

"Brother Su, do you think General Sun is really good at speaking and even helps us get rid of Zhu Xie's biggest disaster?"

"Why, don't you believe it yet? Mr. Xie will lie to us?"

"But he is also an official in the court after all... Do you really dare to do this?"

"I have already inquired about it. Not only General Sun, but also the soldiers under their command hated Zhu Xie to the core!" Su Mao seemed quite calm, and then conveyed the news he had found out by taking the opportunity of toasting.

Speaking of which, all the generals in the Shandong army really wanted to eat their flesh and sleep with their skin, because everyone had already understood that their family would be trapped in Changshu Jedi, and they were all harmed by Zhu Xie!

Although the Wu army was abominable, Zhu Xie, who plotted against them, caused thousands of brothers to die in battle, was obviously more guilty. Now, as long as Sun Tu gave the order, they would dare to turn around and kill back to Jinling and chop off the bastard corrupt official on the spot!

It was not until after hearing this explanation that everyone felt more at ease, but at least before Zhu Xie was killed, they still did not dare to believe Sun Tu completely.
Chapter completed!