kingnovel Chapter 1181: The Dilemma of Angry Advance and Retreat
Chapter 1181: The Dilemma of Angry Advance and Retreat
"What, the news that my 50,000-man army was annihilated is true?"
A few days later, in Qin State, inside the Xianyang Palace.
After receiving the message from Brother Li Xingfei, Ying Zheng's face changed drastically. He was no longer as calm as before and suddenly stood up from the dragon throne.
The ministers in the hall were shocked when they heard this, and no one could believe that this was actually true.
Although the news of the annihilation of the Qin army's 50,000 troops had long been spread, they did not believe it.
Firstly, with Li Xing's leadership ability, it is impossible for him to lose 50,000 soldiers in the first battle.
Secondly, there was a gap in combat effectiveness between the Qin army and the Zhou army. Even if Zhou Min led only 50,000 troops to fight against 100,000 Zhou troops, he would not be completely wiped out.
But now, Li Xing came back in person to confirm the matter, which forced them to re-examine the matter.
For a moment, everyone at the scene was talking about it.
"I didn't expect that our army would lose half of its troops. This battle will be extremely disadvantageous to our army."
"Alas, if the rumors are true, then I'm afraid our army won't be able to continue fighting."
"General Zhao, why is this?"
"Master Liu, don't forget that most of the troops led by General Li Xing are cavalry. Do you expect the cavalry to attack the city?"
"This... What should we do? Should we withdraw our troops on our own initiative?"
"Retreat? No, this time our dynasty has made a big show of sending troops under the banner of revenge for Marquis Dingbian. If we retreat now after encountering setbacks, wouldn't it be laughed at if the news gets out?"
The civil and military officials in the hall began to quarrel.
The civil officials felt that continuing the battle would be fruitless, and that the loss of food and fodder would make it difficult for the cavalry to fight further.
Instead of continuing to deal with the Zhou army, it would be better to be sensible and withdraw voluntarily.
If the 50,000 cavalrymen wanted to retreat, even the 100,000 Zhou troops would not dare to pursue them.
Although it was a bit embarrassing, at least we preserved our military strength.
But the generals did not think so. They felt that after fighting to this extent, the hatred between them and the Zhou Dynasty was completely formed.
If they withdraw their troops at this point, not only will they lose face, but they will also be laughed at by the world.
It would be fine if they couldn’t defeat the Chu army, but now they can’t even defeat the Zhou army?
If this gets out, how will they still be able to stand in the world?
The civil officials and military generals had huge differences in opinion, and the two sides started arguing, completely ignoring the fact that this was the Imperial Palace.
Ying Zheng was looking at the messy hall, his eyes were stunned, his aura suddenly exploded, and he said in a cold voice:
"That's enough. Do you think this is a vegetable market?"
The emperor was furious, and all the ministers were shocked. They knelt down and shouted in unison: "We know our crimes, please forgive us, Your Majesty."
Ying Zheng glanced at everyone and snorted coldly: "Whether to fight or not is not up to you to decide."
Everyone remained silent, knowing that the emperor was angry, otherwise he would not have spoken such harsh words.
Ying Zheng seemed to know that his tone was a bit harsh. He paused and said, "This time, our 50,000-man army was annihilated. If we withdraw now, our dynasty will become a laughing stock of the world."
Once he said this, his intentions were revealed.
The faces of the civil officials suddenly became very ugly.
If Li Xing and Zhou Jun are still going to fight at this moment, they must solve the problem of food and grass.
But the problem is that Li Xing and others are now in the heartland of the Zhou Dynasty, separated by Feihe City.
If you want to transport the food over, you must capture Feihe City.
But now that Qin's 50,000 infantrymen have been destroyed, we can't send troops to support them at this time, right?
The generals were overjoyed when they heard this, and they all stood up and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, although I am nearly sixty years old, I am willing to lead a troop to support General Li Xing for the sake of our soldiers who died on the front lines."
"The general is also willing to go!"
"Your Majesty, although our army was defeated in this battle, our elite troops are still there. We only need to send a reinforcement force to avenge our grievances."
"Yes, although I haven't been on the battlefield for a long time, I am willing to lead the army this time to expand our territory!"
The Qin Dynasty had a vast territory, a large number of troops, and many generals.
Most of the generals were at the front lines, and only the older ones stayed in the court.
After the previous wars with the State of Chu, the State of Qin suffered heavy casualties.
In addition, other generals were also needed to guard the front lines to guard against the barbarians, so some generals in the court who had never been to the battlefield were also transferred out.
This also led to a very awkward situation in the Qin State at the moment, as all the generals were old veterans in their sixties.
Ying Zheng was looking at the general who had stepped forward on his own initiative, a look of displeasure appearing on his face.
Although he wanted to defeat Chu Ning very much, he was not stupid enough to let these veterans die.
This battle is extremely dangerous. If you are not careful, you will die on the battlefield.
But if no one is sent to support him, given Li Xing’s current condition, it would be difficult for him to survive, let alone counterattack.
The issue of food and fodder alone was enough to stump the Qin army!
Without food support, 50,000 soldiers and horses would starve to death.
Ying Zheng raised his eyebrows, turned to look at Zhang Yi, and asked, "Prime Minister Zhang, what do you think?"
Zhang Yi seemed to have been prepared. He stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, may I ask how many days it will take for General Li Xing to deliver his letter via carrier pigeon?"
"About two or three days."
Ying Zheng frowned and asked, "Why did Prime Minister Zhang suddenly ask about this?"
Zhang Yi sighed and said, "Your Majesty, if you were Chu Ning, facing General Li Xing's situation, would you immediately send troops to encircle and suppress him?"
"It's natural!"
Ying Zheng said with a cold face: "Don't give the opponent any chance to fight back. Killing them all is the kingly way on the battlefield."
"Prime Minister Zhang, why do you suddenly ask about this?"
All the civil and military officials present at the scene looked at Zhang Yi, not knowing what was going on.
Zhang Yi's expression became uglier and uglier. He said in a deep voice, "But from General Li Xing's letter, I only heard that the Zhou army was besieging Gaoshanpo and had no intention of attacking."
"If my prediction is correct, Chu Ning wants to surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements, so he is waiting for our army to send out troops."
"At the moment, our army is short of manpower in the country. If we want to transfer troops, we can only transfer troops from Maple Leaf City and also transfer troops from surrounding counties."
"By then, the Chu army in Maple Leaf City will surely take the opportunity to seize more cities of Wei State."
"And the combat effectiveness of our army's reinforcements is not strong. It will not be difficult for Chu Ning to lead the Zhou army to capture our army."
"Once he captures our reinforcements, he can turn around and destroy General Li Xing's 50,000 troops."
With every word he said, the faces of the people present turned a little darker.
After Zhang Yi finished speaking, some people were surprised, some were shocked, some were angry, and some were unwilling.
They knew that what Zhang Yi said was true.
With Chu Ning's cunningness, he is capable of doing such a thing.
Ying Zheng's face looked very ugly at this moment.
Now the problem lies before him.
If they send out troops to rescue, they will be surrounded and attacked by Chu Ning. Not only will Li Xing and others not be rescued, but more troops will be lost.
But if we don't send troops to support, are we going to sit back and watch Li Xing and others being surrounded and killed by Chu Ning?
Those are 50,000 elite Qin troops!