Chapter 221

"Bang!" Breaking several wine bowls in succession, Niu Fu was full of anger.

"How dare they?"

"Are they not afraid that I will wipe them all out?"

Niu Fu gasped, his face gloomy like clouds, almost dripping water.

In the camp, others saw the burning anger of Niu Fu and didn't dare to make a sound, quiet, leaving only each other's heartbeat and Niu Fu's gasping sound.

After a long time, Xu Rong said slowly: "General, those people cannot be moved. Once moved, we will be in trouble."

"What trouble?"

"Hmph! Could it be that they can still rebel?"

He looked at Xu Rong unhappily.

"General, I don't know if they will rebel, but General, you kill these officers, those Imperial Guards and local troops, they will inevitably feel insecure. If it's not good, there will be a camp riot."

"These days, General, you have always let them guard the camp and bear the attacks of the Xuzhou army. Their morale is low, and the daily damage makes them not only hate the Xuzhou army, but also secretly hate us in their hearts."

"General, we originally had conflicts with the Imperial Guard, but it was just that the Prime Minister's prestige suppressed them so they didn't dare to move. If they are really forced to a dead end, they will definitely fight to the death."

Xu Rong hurriedly persuaded. He had vaguely sensed the calculations of the Xuzhou army.

"Xuzhou troops, every day outside the gate, using long-range crossbows and catapults to attack, first to strike our morale, and second, isn't it using this point to trigger our internal strife?"

This is a conspiracy, and it cannot be solved at all.

The range of the Xuzhou troops' crossbows is very far, not worse than their archers, but the power of the crossbows is much greater than their bows.

Coupled with the fact that they didn't have many archers under their command, besides counterattacking for the first two days, they had no chance at all afterwards.

So they were always suppressed and beaten.

Even he couldn't change it. He could feel the atmosphere in the camp these days. The Xiliang army and the Imperial Guard and local troops were distinct, and those Imperial Guards secretly looked at the Xiliang army, and their eyes often flashed with fierce light.

This made him terrified.

Xu Rong knew that the Imperial Guard of the Divine Han court was very powerful, although because of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Imperial Guard suffered heavy losses.

But the foundation was still very strong.

Because the late emperor and the General-in-Chief died one after another, the Imperial Guard was leaderless, and coupled with the ministers in the court, the hearts were not unified, and the Imperial Guard was also divided.

It just so happened that the Prime Minister made a move at this time and suppressed the Imperial Guard in one fell swoop.

But the Imperial Guard was still very powerful.

If these Imperial Guards really wanted to resist, for the Xiliang army, it was absolutely not a good thing, especially for them now, it was truly a devastating disaster.

So he was also very anxious now.

Hearing that Niu Fu wanted to take down those officers of the Imperial Guard, that was adding fuel to the fire.

If it wasn't good, it would trigger a riot, and the consequences Xu Rong dared not imagine.

"Camp riot?"

Niu Fu, hearing this, was also cautious. He understood the horror of a camp riot. Once a camp riot occurred, even if their Xiliang army could suppress it, the losses caused would definitely be great.

If it was in normal times, it would be fine, but now there was a coalition of feudal lords outside the camp.

Niu Fu had to be cautious.

"Then what do you think we should do now?"

"Not letting them guard the camp, do you want us Xiliang army to guard it?" Niu Fu asked unhappily after a moment of silence.

The Xuzhou troops sent troops every day, relying on long-range attacks, which might not be fatal, but this kind of continuous bleeding was still not easy to bear.

Losing hundreds or thousands every day, with more and more wounded soldiers and lower and lower morale, this was not a small matter.

He couldn't let the Xiliang army suffer losses.

At this time, Niu Fu was very distressed. Xu Rong's explanation made him understand that their situation was not good now.

With strong enemies outside and differences inside, there was even a possibility of internal strife.

"General, I'm afraid our best countermeasure now is to retreat."

"Retreat?"

"Indeed, retreat. Relying on the city walls, our defense will be easier, and using the height of the city walls, our archers can exert some effect."

"Inside the city, people can be made to manufacture catapults, and we can also counterattack. And most importantly, with city walls, those people will no longer have the opportunity to have internal strife."

Xu Rong said seriously.

"General, the task the Prime Minister gave us is just to block those people and not let them reach Luoyang."

"We don't need to fight a field battle with them at all, nor do we need to defeat them. Just wait until the Prime Minister defeats the coalition's main force at Hulao Pass, and these Xuzhou troops will naturally retreat on their own."

"If at that time, there is the Prime Minister's support, it will be no problem for you to pursue."

Of course, Xu Rong only said the last sentence. After these days of fighting, he already knew that the Prefect of Donghai Commandery was absolutely not simple, and the army under his command was not weaker than their Xiliang army.

And marching and fighting had quite a lot of rules. It was not so simple to pursue the Xuzhou troops.

However, seeing Niu Fu's anger now, he had to say some good words to let his anger subside.

"Besides this, are there no other strategies?"

Niu Fu was still very unhappy in his heart. The previous battle was so refreshing, beating Zhang Yang and the others to collapse, but now they were reduced to retreating, he was very unwilling.

"Can we try to send a large army to bypass Heyang Jin and attack from their rear?"

"General, the Xuzhou large army has a full hundreds of thousands, and in the Henei land, we are not familiar with it. It is still very difficult to attack their rear."

Xu Rong shook his head. He had also thought about it, but this strategy was almost unworkable, because they were suppressed, so the opponent had more space, and they wanted to sneak attack from the rear, which was simply unrealistic.

"Then retreat!"

Looking at Xu Rong's firm eyes, Niu Fu understood that if they continued like this, it would be more and more unfavorable for them.

So he gritted his teeth and said with full unwillingness.

Xu Rong, hearing this, felt a sigh of relief in his heart. He was afraid that Niu Fu's self-esteem would persist, which would be bad.

"My Lord, it seems Niu Fu's large army is going to retreat."

"Then are we ready?"

"Give them a surprise when the time comes."

"My Lord, rest assured, our people have already gone over, but there are only five thousand people. Is it enough?"

Xi Zhicai was still a bit worried.

"Haha! This time, attacking from the front and back, those five thousand people are enough, and they are all cavalry, commanded by Zang Ba, no problem."

Su Fan was confident.

"However, Niu Fu wants to retreat, so the camp will inevitably leave elites to defend, and will definitely fight to the death!"

"A few days ago, didn't Zhang Yang and the others reorganize their troops and want to come up again?"

Xi Zhicai, hearing this, immediately reminded him, and Su Fan's eyes lit up.

"Haha! Zhicai, you reminded me in time."

The two smiled at each other.