Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 303: Difficult to Control
"Du Tong!"

Batuer came in a panic, climbed up to the top of the city wall, and came to Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, and whispered, "Oh no, Zhang Jueming is dead."

Meng Tian, the state's guardian, stared out of the city for a moment, then slowly turned back: "How did he die?"

Atu'er's face was still in a state of panic: "We had already brought him out of the Fourth Meng'an Camp under the pretext of a military meeting, but halfway through, for some unknown reason, he suddenly attacked us and even tried to escape. We tried to stop him for a while, but then he failed in the dark..."

Meng Tian closed his eyes in pain.

As a veteran of the battlefield, how could he not hear that there was some untruth in Atuer's words?

Zhang Jueming had already voluntarily left the Fourth Meng'an, so why would he inexplicably attack Meng Tian's personal guards who were guarding the country?
And how could these guards kill him just then?
It was such a coincidence that it was indescribably strange.

But so what?

Regardless of the ins and outs, the current result is that Meng Tian's personal guards, led by Ba'atur, killed Zhang Jueming, the fourth Meng'an commander.

Now, how can the men of the Fourth Meng'an be used?
If we still have to be on guard against the fourth Meng'an, how can we save the ninth and tenth Meng'ans in the south of the city?

If troops need to be sent out to strangle the Fourth Meng'an, how can this small Yishui County be defended?
Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, slowly turned his head and looked at Ba'atul.

This personal guard shared the same honor and disgrace with him, and they rose from humble beginnings together. They had fought on the line between life and death many times. He would not harm him. The purpose of Atu'er's actions was very clear.

Sure enough, the next moment, Ba'atul stopped panicking and continued to move forward, saying, "General, the situation is critical now. The Fourth Meng'an is no longer available, and we only have less than a thousand soldiers. How can we resist the loyal thieves? Why not take this opportunity and ignore Wu Gusun Tan and Pei Manhui outside the city and go straight back to Baoyidu Mansion."

Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, sighed deeply and finally shook his head.

Ba'atur said anxiously, "Now we have the Ninth and Twelve Meng'an outside the city, and the Fourth Meng'an inside the city, which can contain the loyal thieves. If tomorrow comes, let's not talk about what will happen to the soldiers in the two villages, let's say the Fourth Meng'an sends people to look for their leader, what should we do?

It's fine to be perfunctory once or twice, but can you keep doing it forever? Won't chaos break out immediately?"

Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, was silent for a moment, then shook his head and replied, "Ba Tu'er, you don't understand. Of the scouts I just sent out of the city, not a single one has returned. This proves that there are loyal bandits lying in ambush outside the city. We are leaving the city now in the dark. If the loyal bandits make even the slightest threat, the morale of the army will be thrown into chaos. How can we command them properly then? It would be a disaster if a hundred people gathered by daybreak tomorrow."

Atu'er was surprised, but immediately happy. It seemed that the strategy was effective. He used the situation to directly involve Meng Tian in the country and made him give up his plan to hold on in this desperate situation.

To be honest, at this point, it was meaningless for the Wuxing Army to hold on to Yishui County. This was when only a few high-ranking officials such as Meng Tian knew that the navy had abandoned Shandong and headed south to the Song State. If the lower-level soldiers also knew that the navy had given up fighting against the Zhongyi Army, some of them might immediately surrender the city.

"Call Zhuo Tuo'an. We can't disperse our cavalry now." Meng Tian, the guardian of the state, made up his mind and said to Ba'atur, "Continue to send scouts to Zhushui Village and Nanzhu Village to pass on the message. Let the Ninth and Tenth Meng'an hold on to the end."

"Yes!" He bowed and turned away. It was as if a stone in his heart had fallen to the ground, and his steps became much lighter.

After receiving the order to prepare horses and weapons, the remnants of the Wuxing Army did not know whether to leave the city to fight the Zhongyi Army or to escape. In a mood mixed with fear and excitement, they packed up all their property.

However, contrary to expectations, or rather, to everyone's dismay, the battle between Zhushuizhuang and Nanzhuzhuang outside the city lasted only two hours before it completely subsided. Did the Loyalty Army withdraw?
Or were the Ninth and Tenth Meng'an completely wiped out and fled in all directions?

At the beginning, Meng Tian still had some hope for defending the country, because the Jin army had two thousand soldiers and was in a defensive position. Even if they were defeated, it would not be possible to defeat them in just two hours, right?
Even if they were defeated, there were two thousand soldiers and horses. Couldn't there be a single person who could escape and inform the commander of his army?

But as time went on, after both the military envoys and scouts disappeared and never returned, Meng Tian's determination to defend the country gradually sank.

The Loyal Army is still covering this battlefield, which doesn't look like a retreat.

When the dark clouds in the sky dispersed a little and the sky in the east began to lighten, Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, looked at the army pouring out of the mountain pass and finally confirmed a terrible fact.

The two thousand soldiers of the Wuxing Army were wiped out in last night's battle.

Moreover, it was a complete defeat, because the defeated troops did not even flee towards the county town. It was obvious that they had completely lost their courage and did not want to participate in the battle anymore, but just ran for their lives.

After realizing this and seeing the large army marching in formation from afar with a tendency to encircle Yishui County, not only Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, but even the usually calm Zhuo Tuoan could no longer sit still.

"General, now is the best and last chance." Zhuo Tuoan came before Meng Tian, the guardian of the state, and whispered, "If you want to fight, send out all your troops and charge for a while. If you want to escape, march out now with all your forces and head north to Yidu Prefecture."

Meng Tian, the state's guardian, had an ugly look on his face, because he saw another armored cavalry team of about a thousand men pouring out from the mountain pass, bypassing the two manors that had been hoisted with the flags of loyalty and righteousness, and rushing directly towards the county town.

Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, recognized clearly that the large flag with the word "Wei" written on it was the flag of Wei Sheng, the commander-in-chief of the loyal and righteous army.

That’s not all. Beside the big flag with the word “Wei”, there are several flags with names like “Tianxiong”, “Dongping” and “Tienping”, surrounding the big flag of loyalty and righteousness, like stars surrounding the moon.

It can be said that the flags of the main generals of the famous rebel army in Shandong have appeared under the county seat of Yishui.

"It's too late. The loyal bandits have too many cavalry. If we don't blunt their attack and simply flee, we'll be hunted down and killed." Meng Tian waved his hand and sighed again, "Pei Manhui and Wugu Suntan, how could these two not even hold out for a night?"

Atu'er's face looked extremely ugly.

It can be said that the rapid fall of Zhushuizhuang and Nanzhuzhuang shattered everyone's wishful thinking.

The Yishui County, which originally had obstacles in front of it, has now become a smooth road. The Yishui channel has also been opened. The navy of the Loyal Army can also send civilians to pull the boats on the shore, so as to go upstream and transport the already built siege equipment parts directly to the bottom of Yishui County.

Damn, if I had known this would be the result, I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to kill Zhang Jueming last night.

Now Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, has made up his mind to lead his troops to retreat, but the loyal army came too quickly and attacked too fiercely, so now he has to hold on for a while before retreating.

Atu'er was depressed, and in the end he could only sigh inwardly that the world is unpredictable.

(End of this chapter)