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The waving battle flags guided the entire army to advance. The long swords were unsheathed, and the blades reflected the dazzling sunlight, indicating the direction of the soldiers' attack.
Viewed from a high altitude, Xiqi's 80,000-strong army attacked. The huge infantry phalanxes were like huge squares, pushing out with majestic force, crushing and crushing the enemy until it was completely destroyed.
The whole army attacks.
The two sides first fight the generals, and then each sends a vanguard. This is all a test, in order to know oneself and the enemy, so that they can fight without danger.
But the repeated defeats in the battle forced Ji Chang to be determined to risk everything.
Because Xiqi’s biggest reliance at the moment is his determination to face death and his unstoppable morale, and he must never retreat!
Morale is indeed a wonderful factor in war. According to strict calculations, its importance is not as important as the strength of the military formation or the performance of the generals. However, in actual battles, morale can often create miracles.
An army with overwhelming momentum can defeat an army whose overall strength is completely superior to it, while an army with declining morale may be completely defeated by an army far weaker than it.
The current Xiqi is the former.
Clearly seeing the heavy casualties among their comrades on the battlefield ahead, the eyes of most of the soldiers were filled with flames, with a fear of burning everything.
As a result, the three armies advanced, and the overwhelming momentum was like a heavy hammer. Even if they were facing an indestructible iron wall, they would crush it completely with heavy blows again and again.
At the same time, the cavalry took a circuitous route, avoiding Jiacheng from both sides, and went around the rear flank of Su Hu's army.
Su Hu's eyes darkened and he thought to himself that it was not good.
He was not afraid, but there were several princes and nobles on the left and right who suddenly changed their colors and came forward to admonish: "General, Xiqi is going to hurt both sides, it's not worth it!"
Is it worth losing both sides?
Of course it’s worth it!
Xiqi is just a place, and the upper limit of strength is there. However, Su Hu has the support of the dynasty, and the money and food supply of major slave owners and small princes. Compared with his wealth alone, he exceeds Xiqi by more than one head.
With the same loss, Xiqi suffered a lot, but Dashang was just a piece of cake.
But the key is, who wants to lose?
Su Hu was only the nominal commander of this army, and its composition was very complex. The 50,000-strong royal army was basically under the command of Zhang Guifang, and the remaining 100,000 troops were composed of slave owners and minor nobles.
They formed an alliance in order to make the four princes retreat and restore the slave system to maintain their dominance.
But no one is willing to sacrifice on a large scale.
After all, the team is gone, even if there are slaves under him, they will still rebel.
The butt determines the head. The slave owner's idea is correct, but forming an army is undoubtedly a standard rabble.
Therefore, at this moment, when Xiqi put on the posture that you and I will die together, they obeyed their intention, and they also asked Su Hu to obey his intention too.
If Su Hu insists on having his own way, the Avengers may be in direct civil war.
Su Hu sighed and uttered one word: "Retreat!"
Jia Cheng changed its circular formation into the Great Wall, and slowly retreated to avoid its sharp edge.
Xiqi's army attacked several times and destroyed several armored vehicles, but they did not make any further progress. They moved slowly and retreated.
Ji Chang played a clever psychological tactic, a coward's game, and forced Su Hu's army back several miles.
The first battle is over.
Su Hu's army killed nearly 3,000 enemies and damaged hundreds. It could have been called a victory, but the use of armored vehicles, the trump card, exposed the internal discord. In a strategic sense, it was actually a complete defeat.
On the other hand, Xiqi, although its overall strength was not as good as that of Su Hu's army, had advanced the battle line several miles, its morale was even higher, and its internal stability had been restored. Even the senior official San Yisheng no longer mentioned the disbandment of the slave army.
…
…
Chaoge.
Early morning visit to Longde Hall.
Gu Cheng looked at the battle report in his hand and suddenly threw it out.
With a snap, the bamboo slips hit the ground, as if it hit the hearts of the ministers. Both civil and military groups were shocked and knelt down: "Your Majesty, forgive me!"
Gu Cheng asked: "Excuse me? What are you guilty of?"
The ministers did not dare to respond.
"When Su Hu asked for war, I did not want to start a war rashly. It was you who kept saying that he would win. Now the two armies have been fighting for more than a month, and they have fought dozens of times. Our army has not only been unable to win, but has retreated again and again, losing all face!
"
Gu Cheng looked down at the ministers: "These days, I always think about the reforms of the princes in the four towns, and I have to imitate them even if I have no choice but to imitate them!"
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"
As soon as this statement came out, the ministers had mixed reactions. The reformers were refreshed, while the conservatives cried as if their whole family had died.
Gu Cheng waited until they were out of breath from crying, then he said leisurely: "Then what do you think we should do?"
The crying suddenly stopped, and these ministers wanted to suggest that they should send Grand Master Wen and Huang Feihu to completely wipe out Xiqi with a thunderous force, or send an army of 200,000 to crush it with an absolute advantage.
However, they only dare to think about these words and dare not put them forward in practice, because they do not make sense.
Wen Zhong and Huang Feihu are the pillars of civil and military affairs. Once they are dispatched, it will be life and death with no room for change.
What's more, the Quanrong army has not been extinguished, and the surrendered ghosts in the north seem to be having troubles. Although the great merchants are prosperous, if all the troops are deployed against the princes of the four towns guarding the four directions, leading to the invasion of foreign enemies, who will bear the responsibility?
But it was absolutely impossible not to answer. Their eyes immediately looked at the two figures in front of them.
The head of the conservative wing is none other than Prime Minister Shang Yong and Yabi Gan.
Shang Rong represents the interests of the official class, and Bigan represents the provisions of the Yin-Shang ancestral system. Both of them firmly defended the ruling class.
At this moment, Shang Rong had to speak: "Your Majesty cultivates his virtues, loves his people, cherishes his finances, and respects his government orders. Although Yao and Shun were not like this, why bother to be obsessed with temporary success or failure? Although Su Hu suffered a temporary setback, he will definitely
Achieving final victory, Your Majesty, please wait for the good news!"
Gu Cheng's face sank: "I don't want to hear such nonsense. The army is fighting at Jinji Ridge, and the daily military expenditure is so huge. Do we have to wait until Su Hu wins, and the treasury is empty and the country is shaken, and then regret it?"
"
These words were extremely serious, and Shang Rong could only make the final preparations: "Your Majesty once said that many people will get help if they get good, but few will help if they don't. Now good people from all over the world are willing to provide their own military pay, so that the king's army will no longer have to worry about anything. I hope your majesty will
Yes!"
The conservatives perked up after hearing this.
The good people Shang Rong talks about are actually slave owners as everyone tacitly understands.
But what they didn't expect was that this time the slave owners were so determined to work together to supply the army with food and pay for the expedition!
In fact, before the army set out for the expedition, various slave owners and small princes had already contributed people. Among the 150,000 soldiers and horses, they provided 100,000. Now they simply contracted it directly.
So far in the war, the casualties are all under the command of the slave owners, and the supply of food and grass is the slave owner's top priority. When you need soldiers, you have soldiers, and when you need food, you have food. It can be called a one-stop service!
What kind of spirit is this?
This is the tap water spirit of bringing your own dry food!
Seeing that the other party had reached this level, the reformists who originally wanted to step forward shut their mouths. Gu Cheng also nodded and said: "In that case, I will wait and see!"
The conservative ministers were overjoyed: "Your Majesty is wise!"