After the meeting, Liu Xiu returned to his tent. As soon as he sat down, Liu Yan came.
Liu Yan was a little embarrassed to meet Liu Xiu in private. When he was in Jicheng, Liu Xiu once advised him not to invade Wancheng easily, but he didn't listen. As a result, before reaching Wancheng, the army was completely defeated, and almost all the troops were defeated. The army was destroyed.
He handed the Red Sky Sword in his hand to Liu Xiu and said, "Axiu, I picked up the sword you left behind on the battlefield."
Liu Xiu stretched out his hand, and just as he was about to take the sword, he retracted his hand, shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "Brother, you should use this sword left by the great ancestor in the future. I...I am not worthy to use it."
Liu Yuan and his three nieces died tragically in front of Liu Xiu's eyes, which was a huge blow to him. Liu Xiu felt that if he used the Scarlet Sky Sword again, he would be dishonoring the reputation of his ancestors.
Liu Yan sighed softly, put down the Red Sky Sword, sat next to Liu Xiu, and said meaningfully: "Axiu, Ayuan's death has nothing to do with you." This is to blame, and I can only blame you. On his head.
Liu Xiu bent his legs and lowered his head between his knees. Drops of water fell to the ground. He choked and said: "One step faster, even half a step faster, and I can save them all!"
Just a little bit! Just a little bit worse!
"I'm sorry for the second sister, I'm sorry for the child, and I'm even more sorry for the second brother-in-law!" A large area of the ground under Liu Xiu's head was soaked.
Liu Yan silently raised his hand, put his arm around Liu Xiu's shoulders, hugged her back, and said, "If you want to cry, just cry loudly. After tonight, don't cry again in the future."
After hearing this, Liu Xiu grabbed his eldest brother's clothes with both hands, buried his face in his clothes, and burst into tears.
At this time, Liu Xiu was not the second-in-command of Zhu Tiandu, nor was he a general who could command thousands of troops and charge into battle, he was just a child.
He could not and did not dare to show the grievances, grief, depression, and even despair in his heart in front of outsiders, but in front of his elder brother, he could release them without any worries.
The burly and majestic man in front of him is his pillar of support and his closest relative in the world.
Liu Yan hugged Liu Xiu, and his eye circles gradually turned red, but he did not shed a single tear after all.
He is the eldest son in the family. After his father passed away, he is the head of the family. He is the backbone of the family. His younger brothers and sisters can cry, but he cannot cry.
If there are tears, he has to swallow them in his stomach. If there is pain, he has to grit his teeth and hold on. No matter how big a failure or setback he encounters, he has to stand there like a mountain so that his younger brothers and sisters can rely on him.
Externally, he is General Zhutian, internally, he is the elder brother. The responsibilities he bears make him not qualified to cry.
I don't know how long it took, but Liu Xiu's crying gradually became quieter, and she fell asleep in a state of grief.
When Liu Yan stood up, he picked up Liu Xiu sideways, slowly put him on the bed, took off his shoes, and covered him with the quilt. He picked up the Chixiao Sword that he had put aside, and gently Place it gently on Liu Xiu's pillow.
He stood beside the bed for a long time, touched Liu Xiu's head, turned around and walked out.
As soon as he came out, he saw Liu Ji, Deng Feng, Deng Chen, Li Yi and others standing outside, all with anxious expressions on their faces.
Seeing Liu Yan finally coming out, everyone stepped forward. Just as he was about to speak, Liu Yan made a silent gesture, turned around and glanced at the tent behind him, and walked away.
After walking far enough, he asked expressionlessly: "What's the matter?"
"General, the spies reported that a capital army is marching towards Jiyang!"
"How many soldiers and horses are there?"
"The spies said there are about five thousand!" Liu Ying frowned and said, "General, the enemy is coming fiercely, and our army... is unable to defeat us in this battle, so our army should retreat now!"
Liu Ying is one of Liu's clan members. Like Liu Ji, they are both brave and capable generals, but their force is not as high as Liu Ji's, and their prestige is far less than that of Liu Ji.
Liu Yan asked: "How long does it take for the enemy to reach Jiyang?"
Li Yi responded: "If we march all night, the enemy will reach Jiyang early tomorrow morning!"
Liu Yan narrowed his eyes, turned his head and asked, "Weiqing, what do you think?"
Deng Chen's eyes were red, his brows were furrowed, and he said: "General, our army is in urgent need of a victory now!" To be precise, he is in urgent need of killing a few reckless soldiers and avenging the tragic deaths of his wife and children!
Liu Ji glared at Liu Ying and said in a deep voice: "General, I agree with Wei Qing's opinion! We cannot give in in this battle, we must fight, and we must win to revive the morale of our army!"
Deng Feng said: "If we want to fight, then we have to strengthen the city defense now!"
"No need!" Liu Yan said word by word: "If the reckless army is really on the road all night, then our army will leave the city to meet the enemy early tomorrow morning!"
Hearing this, Liu Ying was startled and said with a pale face: "General, the enemy army can number five thousand, and it is a well-equipped and brave capital army. We have only three thousand people, and most of them are Wounded soldiers, this battle...how to fight this battle?"
Liu Yan raised his hand, held the hilt of the sword under his ribs, and said: "In tomorrow's battle, any enemy we encounter will be killed without mercy! If any of our officers and soldiers escape from the battle, kill them! If they are afraid of the enemy, kill them! Anyone who refuses to save will be killed!"
His three consecutive kills made Liu Ying tremble and she didn't dare to say anything anymore.
Liu Yan is not a foolhardy man. He makes mistakes and sometimes lacks strategic vision, but that doesn't mean he can't fight. Liu Yan also has his own plans.
If the enemy army rushes to Jiyang overnight, they will definitely be exhausted by the time they arrive at Jiyang. This is an advantage for our side.
The enemy had only five thousand men, but they dared to march straight towards Jiyang. It was obvious that the enemy had become a arrogant army and believed that they could easily win against the remaining troops of their own. The proactive attack of our own could catch the enemy by surprise, attack them unprepared, and catch the enemy by surprise. , this is our second best.
After today's battle, our morale is low and there are many wounded soldiers. But one thing is that more or less the family members of the soldiers died tragically at the hands of the reckless soldiers. People like Deng Chen who only want to kill the enemy with their own hands. , there are many soldiers who avenge their families. When they go to the battlefield, see the reckless army, and meet the enemy, the morale of these soldiers can soar all of a sudden. This is the three excellences of their own side.
These three major advantages are what gives Liu Yan the courage to take the initiative. In addition, the current situation forces him to take the initiative.
Once they choose to retreat, the morale of the soldiers will become increasingly low. Next, they can only retreat again and again. The final result will be either internal mutiny or disintegration.
As Deng Chen and Liu Ji said, they urgently need a victory now to revive their morale.
At the same time, they also urgently need a victory to show the people of Nanyang that Zhu Tiandu's tribe is still alive and still has fighting power, so as to win the continued support of the people and attract more people to join the army.
Whether our side can regroup and make a comeback depends on this.
For these various reasons, Liu Yan chose what he thought was the most correct path, war! And it was not a defensive war, but a proactive one.
Early the next morning, spies from the Zhu Tiandu Department were like a revolving lantern, constantly entering and leaving the city, continuously transmitting the movements of the five thousand vanguard capital troops back to Jiyang.
These 5,000 capital troops really marched all night to arrive at Jiyang. Xiao Changan gathered for a battle. From the perspective of the capital troops, Zhu Tiandu's tribe had been completely defeated by them, and only a small group of defeated soldiers escaped. , there is nothing to worry about. Five thousand soldiers and horses are enough for the following pursuit battle, and no matter who leads it, they are sure to win.
This vanguard army of 5,000 men only wanted to reach Jiyang as soon as possible and kill all the remaining Zhutian Army in the city so that they could perform great feats and ask for rewards from the imperial court.
Therefore, there was no need for the general to mobilize, and the soldiers marched voluntarily through the night.
From their point of view, it seemed that as soon as their own army arrived at Jiyang and passed by, all the rebels in the city could be wiped out.
After the five thousand capital troops approached Jiyang, it stands to reason that they should have set up camp five miles away from the city. However, after the five thousand capital troops arrived five miles away from Jiyang, they had no intention of stopping their march and continued to move forward.
It was not until they were less than three miles away from Jiyang that the five thousand capital troops finally stopped advancing and set up camp.
Setting up camp less than three miles away is equivalent to putting the camp in the face of Zhu Tianjun.
With such a close distance, the defenders in the city can reach the camp in the blink of an eye as long as they attack the city. But looking at the posture of the capital army, they are not afraid of your Zhutian army coming out of the city to attack. Instead, they are afraid that you will not leave the city.
The attitude of the capital army undoubtedly greatly angered the Zhutian Army in the city. Liu Yan ordered his troops in the barracks to prepare for a battle out of the city. Before the troops were ordered, Liu Xiu and Liu Boji came to the school military field one after another.
Liu Xiu changed into clean clothes and also put on armor. It was obvious that he was preparing to go into battle with the army. Liu Yan frowned secretly and was about to speak to Liu Xiu. Liu Boji carried a large package and walked to the troops station. Go up and hand it to Liu Yan.
Liu Yan was startled and asked in confusion: "Boji, what is this?"
"Brother, open it and take a look!"
Liu Yan took the package in confusion and opened it. It turned out that there were four flags stacked inside.
He picked up the top flag, unfolded it, and took a closer look. There was a red bird totem embroidered on the flag, which looked like a phoenix. This was the Suzaku. Next to the Suzaku totem, there was also a big 'Han' embroidered on it. Character.
After looking at this big flag, Liu Yan put it aside and hurriedly took the second one. The second flag was embroidered with the Xuanwu totem. Similarly, there was still a big Chinese character embroidered next to the totem.
The third flag is embroidered with a green dragon, and the fourth flag is embroidered with a white tiger. Without exception, the totem is the embellishment, and the Chinese character in it is the core.
Liu Boji embroidered these four flags overnight and was inspired by Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu said that the reason why his side was defeated so miserably was because of insufficient cohesion.
Why is there a lack of cohesion? Although the Zhu Tiandu Department shouted slogans to restore the Han Dynasty, there was not a single Han flag among the troops. It was like hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat.
Based on this, Liu Boji specially called Xu Xiling and the female relatives of the army, and everyone embroidered the four Han army flags overnight.
After looking at the four big flags sent by his little sister, Liu Yan immediately understood what she meant. Without saying anything, he ordered four flagpoles to be prepared and hung up the four flags together.
As four flagpoles bearing the banners of the Han army were erected on the military point platform, the soldiers below finally saw what they were about.
There is a red bird in the front, a basalt in the back, a blue dragon on the left, and a white tiger on the right. The most eye-catching thing on each flag is the big Chinese character "Han".
People's originally gray faces suddenly glowed with brilliance, and no one knew who it was, who was the first to raise their arms and shout: "Big man——"
Immediately afterwards, more than three thousand soldiers in the audience shouted in unison, raising their arms and shouting: "Big Han! Big Han! Big Han——"
In the past, the Zhutian Army rarely called itself the Han Army, but from this day on, the Zhutian Army began to call itself the Han Army.
