I am a commoner, but I will lead the empress to unify the world

"General, what did His Majesty's letter say?"

everyone asked.

Gong Yangge put down the letter with a complicated look in his eyes and sighed,

"Your Majesty has treated me well." He said that he had learned of this matter and personally wrote a letter to the King of Chu, severely condemning the Chu State's treacherous behavior.

Then he told me to fight with all my strength. They can be mean, but we cannot. We should not harm our neighbors, otherwise we will be inviting a wolf into the house. We should try our best to stop the Yan army north of the Yangtze River.

But he also said that if they really cannot do it, they can make their own decision and decide whether to fight or retreat.

Although we cannot betray our allies, the lives of our soldiers are still the most important. If we really can't fight anymore, it's up to me to decide whether to fight or retreat.

He was in the capital Yugui and could not get timely information about the situation on the battlefield. He gave me all the autonomy and let me make the decisions. He would never blame me.

Whether we win or lose, we have all done something.”

Hearing this, everyone sighed and marveled at the emperor's magnanimity and open-mindedness.

When you meet such a good emperor, of course you will repay him with your life.

"Then... Marshal, should we fight or retreat?"

Feng Hao asked.

Gong Yang Ge thought for a moment and said,

"Your Majesty's letter has given me confidence. Even if we retreat back to our country, we can still make the final decision.

In this case, I have decided..."

Everyone looked at Gong Yang Ge, waiting for his answer.

Gong Yang Ge's eyes flashed with brilliance and he said,

"war!"

Hearing this, everyone was very surprised.

But military orders are as strong as a mountain. If the commander orders to fight, then they will fight.

"Marshal, let's assemble our troops and set off now!"

"No!"

Gong Yang Ge raised his hand and said,

"Don't worry. Don't the Chu army look down on us? Don't they stab us in the back? This is a good opportunity to let them know that we, the Qian army, are their saviors.

When the Chu army was on the battlefield, they stabbed us in the back when they said they would. Now they are in trouble and ask us to help them, and we immediately go there. What have we become?

Are we, the Qian Army, dogs that the Chu Army can summon and dismiss at will?

We go to rescue them, this is a favor. Since we are giving them a favor, let this favor be greater, so that the Chu army can understand who is the master and who is the follower!

Our army is short of manpower. If we go forward now, we will most likely have to fight to the front line. The Chu army will not think we are very useful, but will only think that we are icing on the cake.

This is just icing on the cake, how can it be better than sending charcoal in the snow?"

Upon hearing this, all the generals smiled with sudden enlightenment.

Gong Yang Ge continued,

"I have studied the Yan army's tactics in detail. The Yan army prefers to fight quickly and decisively because they often fight in different places and travel long distances. In order to save time, they always want to finish the battle as quickly as possible.

The Yan army is forty miles away from Yecheng and will probably arrive before evening today. They will immediately launch a fierce attack on the Chu army.

The city gate posed no obstacle to the Yan army, and they could blow it open directly, followed by close combat, street fighting, and a melee in the military camp.

It was dark at night and the situation was chaotic. Even though the Yan army was strong, it could not exert much combat effectiveness. Even though the Chu army was weak, it could still exert some combat effectiveness in the melee. After all, this was not a legion battle, and the Yan army's excellent commander's command ability could not be exerted much.

The outcome of a night battle is usually decided in the early morning. At that time, the Chu army had fought all night and struggled to hold on, and the Yan army was also exhausted.

At that time, our army miraculously appeared behind the Chu army, gave them strong support, beat back the exhausted Yan army, and recaptured the city.

Then, we will lead the Chu army to retreat!"

Hearing this, everyone was a little confused.

"General, if we are going to fight, why retreat?"

"Hmm... You don't really think we can defeat the Yan army, do you?"

Gong Yang Ge was always clear-headed.

"I have never aimed to defeat the Yan army, and we cannot defeat the Yan army. As I said before, we should kill as many Yan army as possible and save our own army.

Whether it is a field battle between two cities or a sneak attack, an occasional victory in a battle cannot affect our army's disadvantage.

Even if the Yan army is tired, they can continue fighting after a day or two of rest. They are already at the gates of the city. Do we have to repeat the war tonight?

Our army should take the opportunity to lead the Chu army south, build a bridge over the Han River, fight and retreat at the same time, and block the Yan army north of the Han River to delay time.

After the Yan army crossed the Han River, we continued to fight and retreat, and finally crossed the Yangtze River.

This is my strategy, what do you think? "

Of course, everyone had no objection to his arrangement.

So they agreed that the army would set out at 3:00 AM the next morning and arrive in Yecheng in the early morning to assist the Chu army.

Gong Yang Ge had calculated everything, and his reasoning was very logical and rational, but he missed one thing.

That is the combat effectiveness and fighting will of the Chu army.

Can they really hold off until tomorrow morning?

……

On the Yan army side, Shen Changgong and Ma Ling set out with an army of more than 600,000.

Of the original army of more than 800,000, 100,000 were killed in the battle, leaving only 100,000, and only more than 600,000 could be deployed.

The Yan army marched southward, following the battlefields where they had fought before. By dusk, they had arrived two miles away from Yecheng.

Afterwards, the auxiliary troops set up camp and the main army set out to prepare for battle.

The Yan army was not very clear about the deployment of the Chu army and could only make a rough guess based on the situation of the military flags.

There are probably hundreds of thousands of troops in the military camps on both sides of the city, and there are at most 100,000 people in the small city of Yecheng.

It can be seen that the Chu army intends to defend this line of defense to the death.

Then, Shen Changgong arranged a battle plan.

The Pingnan Army and the Tianying Army, with less than 200,000 men, attacked the camp on the east side of the city, while the Shenfeng Army and the 50,000 Zhengnan Army attacked the camp on the west side of the city.

The Tianyu Army mainly attacks cities.

The Zhennan Army was the rear guard, and would immediately provide support wherever the attack was blocked.

Shen Changgong only gave the Yan army one evening and half a night, and they had to capture the Chu army's defense line and drive the Chu army out at midnight.

After the tactics were arranged, the three armies set out in three directions in a mighty force.

The Pingnan Army and the Tianying Army are both standard Yan Army units with decent combat effectiveness, and they have no problem attacking the east side.

Although the Southern Expedition Army had only 50,000 men, their Shenji Battalion had suffered no losses and was still fully staffed. Coupled with the Shenfeng Army of nearly 200,000 men, there was no problem in attacking the west side.

As for the Tianyu Army in the middle, it is the ace force, so naturally it has to fight the toughest battle, capture the city, and attack the Chu Army.

As the military order was issued, the three armies rushed in from outside the city and the camp, set up the artillery, and bombarded the enemy.

On the Tianyu Army's side, two cannons blew up the city gate, and the other artillery bombarded the city walls!