After Lin Zejun gave the order, the faces of the principals present immediately changed.
The head of the Meng family was the first to ask: "Master Shaofu, what do you mean by this? The morale of the rebels is low now. As long as you lead the army to chase after them, they will be able to defeat the rebels. Why do you turn a blind eye to such a good opportunity?"
"Destroy the rebels? Good opportunity?" Lin Ze sneered and said, "I'm afraid you have lost your mind. There are still millions of rebels outside the city. Without the city wall as a support, are you not afraid of leaving without returning?"
As soon as Lin Ze said these words, the heads of the various families present were shocked, their faces showed a trace of unnaturalness, and they looked at each other.
But there were still some people who were unwilling to give in and murmured: "An army of one million people is nothing special. Why don't they just retreat in despair?"
Then someone echoed: "You can send a large army to give it a try. If something goes wrong, just pull back. If you don't dare to pursue, you are too cautious. Is it possible that the young master is afraid?"
Lin Ze looked around at the heads of each family and quickly discovered a problem. This time, the three Meng Xibai families unexpectedly remained silent, while the other families were somewhat ready to make a move.
After thinking for a while, Lin Ze guessed the reason. In the previous battle to defend the city, the three families of Meng Xibai contributed the most, so they also received the most military exploits. As a result, the three families' demand for military exploits was no longer as high as it was at the beginning.
urgent.
In comparison, the military exploits obtained by other families are somewhat insufficient, which is why they behave like this. Seeing that the rebels are about to run away, and want to gain more military exploits, how can they not be anxious to catch up?
However, Lin Ze showed a very determined attitude. Not only did he block the city gate with huge rocks, he also ordered Fang Xiandao disciples and 20,000 troops to guard the city gate. Anyone who came within a hundred meters would be killed without mercy.
Lin Ze dared to be sure that Zhou Shi had a backup plan for retreating this time. He even attacked the city three times at any cost, just to create an illusion and make him think that the rebels had to retreat.
Maybe they were retreating on the surface, but actually they were planning to lure the snake out of its hole, waiting for the Qin army to leave the city to pursue them, so as to take the opportunity to launch a desperate counterattack and turn defeat into victory.
As for the reactions of each family, if Lin Ze had not had other plans, he would have let them out to die.
The three Mengxi and Bai families remained silent, while the other families were overwhelmed with ambition and lack of strength. Faced with Lin Ze's attitude, they had no choice but to retreat.
…
On a hillside a hundred miles away from Hangu Pass, Zhou Shi stationed his horse and waited for two hours, but did not see the Qin army chasing him. He couldn't help but sigh slightly, and ordered the scouts to pay close attention to the movements of Hangu Pass, and led the army to formally
Return east.
For the next three days, the scouts responsible for monitoring Hangu Pass sent messages to Zhou Shi every hour. All the messages were the same: the gates of Hangu Pass were closed, and the Qin army showed no movement.
Now Zhou Shi had completely given up on ambushing the Qin army, and led the army towards Yangzhai City with peace of mind.
After receiving the antidote, the three military ministers Xiang Liang, Tian Rong, and Zhao Qichu's army followed Zhou Shi for three days. After confirming that the poison they had received was cured, Fang looked at Zhou Shi's army bitterly and parted ways with them.
But compared with the momentum when we arrived, we looked particularly depressed on the way back.
…
On the fourth day, Zhou Shi led an army of 500,000 to the banks of the Yi River. After crossing the river, the road back to Yangzhai from Hangu Pass was halfway done.
Even in the dry season, the deepest part of the Yi River is still ten meters deep. It is also the transition between winter and spring, and the climate is cold. It is obviously unrealistic to swim across it.
What's more, an army of more than 500,000 people can block the Yi River if it really swims.
Therefore, Zhou Shi ordered the entire army to stop and cut down trees to build a floating bridge for the army to cross the river.
Half an hour later, a pontoon bridge was built over the Yi River.
Zhou Shi began to direct the army to cross the river in an orderly manner. As time passed, the entire army slowly moved to the other side.
In an hour, twenty armies had crossed the Yi River. One of the soldiers walked across the pontoon bridge, looked at the river bank, and couldn't help but wonder: "The Yi River seems to be a little shallower this year."
As soon as he finished speaking, a rumbling sound suddenly sounded. Countless people looked in the direction of the source of the sound. They saw a meter-high river rushing upstream from the Yi River, like a flood discharge.
The rebels on the pontoon suddenly became confused and panicked. They pushed their companions and tried to escape.
However, there are people on both sides, how can you escape?
As soon as the river flooded, the pontoon bridge disappeared immediately. Thousands of soldiers on the bridge were also swept into the river. The entire army was cut in half by a river.
When Zhou Shi saw this scene, his whole heart fell to the bottom, and he had only one thought in his mind: It's over, he was ambushed by the Qin army.
The reality did not "disappoint" Zhou Shi. There was a sound of horse hoofbeats, and countless cavalry in black armor appeared in Zhou Shi's field of vision. Under the banner of "Han", they rushed towards the 200,000 rebels crossing the river.
.
This 200,000-strong army had already been dispersed due to crossing the river. How could it withstand the attack of 100,000 Qin troops?
Zhou Shi watched helplessly as the twenty-strong army on the other side of the river collapsed under the impact of one hundred thousand Qin troops, and then scattered in all directions, trying to escape.
But the Qin army, which had been prepared for a long time, could not let them escape so easily. They all subconsciously drove the rebels into the river.
The panicked rebels had no choice but to flee toward the middle of the river in order to save their lives.
However, with two hundred thousand troops crowded together in one place, how easy would it be to jump into a river?
The rebels who were in chaos could not control so much. They just ran away desperately. Some even pointed their swords at their companions. As a result, countless rebels were trampled to death.
Half an hour later, the other side of the river became a mess. The 200,000 rebels were completely wiped out. Even those who escaped with their lives were probably cast into a shadow and would never think about joining the army again.
Watching the Qin army march away, Zhou Shi was so emotional that he spit out a mouthful of blood.
After a while, Zhou Shifang gritted his teeth and ordered: "The entire army quickly moved south and crossed the river directly at a shallow place."
Three hundred thousand rebels, whose morale was extremely low, packed up their things and marched south along the Yiluo River, intending to find a shallow section of the river to cross.
After walking fifty kilometers south, the army suddenly stopped.
In front of them, there stood 200,000 Qin troops waiting for work.
Just listen to Zhou Shi shouting sadly: "Line up to meet the enemy."
However, before the rebels could react, 200,000 Qin troops swarmed in. Like a sharp knife, they stabbed into the rebels and stirred them to pieces.
No matter how Zhou Shi shouted or commanded, he could not prevent the collapse of the rebels.
In less than a quarter of an hour, many soldiers abandoned their helmets and fled in all directions.
Facing the almost endless Qin army, Zhou Shi's personal guards did not lose their fighting spirit and guarded him to break out.
At this moment, Zhou Shi's mind was a little broken, and he shouted in a hissing voice: "I won't leave, I will stay and fight the Qin army to the death."
The captain of the soldiers pulled Zhou Shi and persuaded him hard: "Commander, if you keep the green hills here, you won't be afraid of running out of firewood. Today's defeat is nothing. With your talents as a commander, you will definitely make a comeback. Commander, please don't talk lightly."
Give up."
Zhou Shi was indifferent and said: "A defeat is a defeat. I can only seek death on the battlefield in order to be worthy of the fallen soldiers."
The captain of the soldiers shouted: "Commander, wake up, if you don't escape, how can you avenge the dead soldiers? Who will take care of the families of the dead soldiers? If you die here, you will be sorry for everyone."
"
Zhou Shi suddenly came to his senses, glanced bitterly at the banner with the word "Han" held high by the Qin army, and secretly made up his mind: "Is there a general named Han? Just wait for me."
Immediately, he unleashed his peak sixth-grade martial arts cultivation, led his personal guards, and chose a direction to break through.
Xu Shizhou's martial arts was indeed extraordinary, and it actually allowed him to break through the siege and escape.
Zhou Shi's departure was a huge blow to the morale of the remaining rebels. In despair, many people began to drop their weapons and kneel down to surrender.
Han Xin accurately grasped the changes in the war situation and made people shout the slogan "Invest to avoid death".
An hour later, at a glance, there were no more standing rebels.
Han Xin said to the person next to him: "Light the smoke and inform the military advisor. The rebel army in Zhou City has been wiped out. The military advisor can make the next plan."