The turmoil on Tai'an Road lasted for four or five days. Every time Zhao Zhongtian went to rest somewhere, as soon as he settled down, the yellow-shirted troops chased after him as if they had eyes.

One chasing and the other escaping, the two sides were playing a cat and mouse game.

Since Zhao Zhongtian's men had not been able to gather a large force of troops, they had no choice but to retreat all the way.

The most dangerous time was when the rebels were only a few miles away from his base. Thanks to Ding Hui's counterattack, he was able to buy time to withdraw.

After retreating for a full seventy miles and losing two cities in a row, the officers and soldiers set up camp at the foot of a large mountain, completely getting rid of the rebels' pursuit.

While the army reorganized and gathered up the broken troops, military reports from the entire front also flowed into Zhao Zhongtian's hands. It can be said that bad news was flying everywhere.

"Stab it~prick it~"

Zhao Zhongtian in the big tent kept reading a letter of military seal, his face gradually darkened, and after a long time he slapped the table with his hand:

"Snapped!"

"Bastard! The entire front was attacked at the same time! We lost the city and the land! Even the food roads were cut off! What on earth did those leading generals do for food!

Even if the rebels arrive suddenly, you can still do it if you hold on for two days, right? It’s just rubbish!”

There were six or seven generals sitting scattered in the tent, all of them silent.

So many rebels appeared out of nowhere. They didn't have any information in advance, so there was nothing they could do about being caught off guard.

"Who can tell me why the rebels on Jiuchang Road came here! Asking for help, asking for help! It's all asking for help!

Where did I come from to send out so many reinforcements? Do you think I can spread the beans into an army?

If you lose the city, you should find a way to get it back! A ragtag group of refugees will leave you helpless!"

The bursts of angry curses almost overturned the commander's tent. This was the first time Zhao Zhongtian had been so angry since the expedition.

In just a few days, Zhao Zhongtian had already lost 20,000 troops, so how could he not get angry?

Except for Ding Hui, who was still relatively calm, the other generals did not dare to express their anger for fear of being outed by Zhao Zhongtian.

Looking at the furious Zhao Zhongtian, Ding Hui smiled bitterly and waved his hand. The other generals were immediately relieved and tiptoed out one by one.

As a third-rank Yangzhou general, he is undoubtedly the person with the highest status in the army after Zhao Zhongtian, and is also a confidant of the Zhao family, so everyone can still listen to his words.

"Sir, the matter has come to this. It is meaningless to hold the generals accountable. I hope you will calm down." Ding Hui cautiously consoled him:

"The army is newly defeated, and what the army needs is to boost morale. If the generals are punished arbitrarily, it may cause instability in the morale of the army."

Ding Hui also knew that there must be some generals who were passively preparing for war, and they should be punished. But it would not be possible to chop off the heads of so many generals, right? Then who would lead the troops?

"These trash! There are also hateful rebels!"

Zhao Zhongtian's face kept trembling as he suppressed the anger in his heart.

He didn't know how to stabilize the morale of the army, but he was really angry.

Ding Hui said in a solemn tone: "Sir, now our food route has been cut off, and the army's supplies are only enough to sustain the ten-day campaign. Tai'an Road can no longer stay.

We should retreat to Shouyan Road first, reorganize our armaments and replenish military supplies, and Xu Tu will fight again!"

Shouyan Road is located in the northeast of Tai'an Road. It has always been the rear supply area for Zhao Zhongtian's troops and is very important.

Zhao Zhongtian gritted his teeth and said: "It's really hateful. It took more than a month to create a good situation, but it was ruined in one day!"

In the past two months, Zhao Zhongtian has won a lot of battles. Although he is not as good as Fifth Heart Rou, he has achieved good results frequently and has made great progress all the way.

But the momentum of the attack suddenly came to an abrupt halt, and the city that had been fought so hard to conquer had to be given away.

Ding Hui once again persuaded him with sincerity:

"Sir, the loss of a city or a land is not important. Our army is still full of energy. We can retake these territories with a short rest!

As long as we keep the green hills, we won't be afraid of running out of firewood. If the rebels take advantage of our weakness in the rear and completely cut off our retreat, it will be really troublesome."

Under Ding Hui's remonstrances one after another, Zhao Zhongtian finally pinched his nose and admitted the fact of defeat, waved his hand angrily and said:

"Just do what you say. The armies will take turns to cover and retreat to prevent the rebels from taking advantage of the opportunity to make a sneak attack. Take away all the ordnance and we must not let them take advantage of it at all!"

"No!" Ding Hui nodded heavily.

…

Huoshi County

The ruins at the city gate have almost been cleared, a large amount of confiscated ordnance is piled outside the gate, and many flags of officers and soldiers are being burned by fire, creating billowing smoke.

A cavalry team was galloping in from a distance. There were thousands of people, and the leader was Huang Ji, the leader of the Tai'an Daoist Rebel Army.

The soldiers behind him all looked fierce, and one look at their momentum showed that they were an army capable of fighting.

These people were all bandits in the mountains before, all of them were meat on the hob. Now they are all Huang Ji's personal soldiers. It has to be said that he is very good at winning people's hearts.

There was a trace of depression on Huang Ji's face, and he seemed to be in a bad mood.

Especially when he saw the ordnance, armor, and flags piled at the city gate, he frowned.

It stands to reason that he should be happy that Huoshi County was recovered and avoided the bitter consequences of defeat, but things are not as simple as they appear on the surface.

Although most of the rebel armies in the south of the Yangtze River respected King Huai Chen Tiansheng as the leader of the rebel army and ostensibly obeyed Chen Tiansheng's orders, in reality they fought independently and each had their own territory.

This is called taking advantage of the situation! Only in this way will the officers and soldiers be afraid of their strength.

And this Tai'an Road was regarded by Huang Ji as his forbidden land, and no one could touch it.

But this time Chen Tiansheng suddenly sent troops into Tai'an Road and occupied several cities as soon as he arrived. What was he doing? Was he grabbing territory?

This is why Huang Ji is unhappy.

The cavalry slowly entered the city under the leadership of the soldiers. A large number of soldiers and horses were stationed on the streets of Huoshi County, and they were still carrying food, grass and baggage back and forth. Looking at the situation, they would not want to leave for a while.

Huang Ji's expression kept changing. If these people didn't leave, what would he do?

A guard commander next to him lowered his voice and said: "General, it seems that these people were placed here deliberately, I am afraid they are demonstrating against us."

Huang Ji cursed with a cold face: "Shut up and just watch honestly!"

How could Huang Ji not understand the other party's intentions?

In this way, Huang Ji was brought to the camp tent, where Ling Gong, Wu Zhiyong and others were waiting for him.

In the spacious tent, Ling Gong sat at the head of the table, writing something with a Zhuhao pen in his hand, while Wu Zhiyong and Wu Zhiyong looked at Huang Ji who walked into the tent with deep expressions.

As soon as he entered the military tent, Huang Ji felt uncomfortable all over, but he still forced a smile and said:

"I've met Mr. Ling and the two generals. Huang arrived a little late. I hope Mr. Ling won't blame him."
Chapter completed!