Chapter 577: Northern Retreat

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Gurtu's face was deathly pale as he supported Mule Hongzhen and called out to him over and over.

But Mule Hongzhen only kept his eyes tightly shut.

Kerqin's hands trembled incessantly, and he said urgently, "Quickly stop the bleeding for the Great Khan and send him back to Jin City for treatment."

Mule Hongzhen was the faith of the Northern Di people; if he died, the Northern Di would once again become a scattered pile of sand and fall into civil war.

When that time came, facing the rising Yan Wang, they, the Northern Di people, would only be slaughtered.

Gurtu nodded repeatedly; he did not dare to pull out the blade inserted into Mule Hongzhen's abdomen, because this would lead to more blood loss.

Finding a cloth strip, he wrapped it several times along the edge of the blade and immediately ordered someone to find Tiemuta.

Tiemuta rushed over, and seeing his father seriously injured and unconscious, his eyes immediately turned blood-red.

"Bastards! I will kill them all!" Drawing his Curved Blade, Tiemuta was furious beyond measure.

Their Khan was sacred and incomparable; these Great Song dogs actually dared to wound him.

They must be made to pay the price in blood.

Gurtu stopped Tiemuta, "Now is not the time for impulse. The Khan is seriously injured and must be treated immediately. This battle cannot be fought any longer; we must retreat."

Not to mention that Mule Hongzhen was severely wounded, even in a head-on engagement, they had no certainty of steadily defeating the Yan King Army.

"But..." Tiemuta thought of the tunnels underground.

This was a plan his Great Khan had meticulously designed; if they retreated now, this plan would have no way to be implemented.

Hesitating for a moment, he said, "Send a team of Cavalry to escort the Khan back to Jin City. The battle here will continue, otherwise the Khan will not forgive us."

Just as he finished speaking, a team of Cavalry suddenly hurried over from the north.

Seeing the person at the very front, Tiemuta was startled, "Wulanba, why have you come?"

The current Wulanba was in a sorry state; his hair was disheveled, his clothes had several holes, and he was covered in blood and filth.

Flipping down from his Warhorse,

he did not answer Tiemuta, but instead threw himself toward Mule Hongzhen's side.

"Great Khan, Great Khan, what has happened to you?" Wulanba was shocked and pale.

Gurtu sighed and told Wulanba the whole story.

Upon hearing this, Wulanba said sternly, "Retreat immediately and return to the Khan Court!"

Tiemuta was already somewhat angry because Wulanba had ignored him, and he said furiously, "The Khan Court is so far away, how could the Great Khan endure such jolting? You only need to escort the Great Khan to Jin City; I will stay behind to continue attacking Ning City."

"Jin City..." Wulanba looked up at the sky and gave a bitter laugh, "Jin City has already been lost; where is there still a Jin City?"

"What!" Tiemuta, Gurtu, and the others wore expressions of disbelief.

"After the Great Khan transferred away fifty thousand troops, that very night, a force of Yan Wang troops attacked Jin City. This Jin City only had ten thousand or so men defending it, while the Yan Wang troops were at least twenty thousand strong. Knowing I could not defeat the enemy, I abandoned the city and fled to come here to see the Great Khan. I never expected that the Great Khan..."

Having said this, he looked at his father and wept bitterly.

"This is a disaster. Ning City has not yet been retaken, and now Jin City is also lost. If we continue to stay here and fight to the death, I fear that not only will we suffer heavy losses, but the Great Khan's body will also..." Gurtu said this much and dared not continue.

While they were in a dilemma, the Northern Di soldiers were constantly retreating under the pressure of the Prince's Personal Army.

And the Wangfu Army soldiers coming out of Ning City were also constantly advancing.

The soldiers to the north were also constantly retreating.

Caught in the middle, they were attacked from the front and rear, and their military formation was constantly being compressed.

Seeing this, Tiemuta's brows locked tightly.

If they kept fighting like this, I fear that by nightfall, the Yan Wang soldiers coming to support would be able to link up with the Yan Wang soldiers inside the city.

If that happened, the Yan Wang troops at Ning City would reach one hundred thousand.

Even if they snuck soldiers in through the tunnels, they would be unable to achieve the effect of a surprise attack.

After all, the gap in troop strength was shrinking.

Not to mention that they were equipped with muskets; even if it were just hand-to-hand combat, one hundred thousand men would be enough to give them a headache.

These were, after all, the Yan Wang's soldiers, not the Great Song Imperial Guards who would collapse at the first touch.

Most importantly, the number of soldiers that could be sent into the city through the tunnels was limited.

If not for this reinforcement, they could still have snuck in some soldiers and simultaneously attacked the city at night to draw out their forces and create chaos from within.

But now, everything had become fraught with difficulties.

Furthermore, the Great Khan was seriously injured, and his life hung in the balance.

Although the generals were exceptionally furious, they would certainly be filled with panic.

This would make their already exhausted fighting strength even lower.

What's more, Jin City had now also fallen into the hands of the Yan Wang.

They had completely become rootless duckweed and fallen into a passive position.

Thinking of this, he nodded to Wulanba, "Retreat immediately; withdraw to the Khan Court."

When he said this, his heart was practically bleeding.

By doing this, he was effectively handing over the Ningjin Dusi, which the Northern Di had occupied for over ten years, to the Yan Wang on a silver platter.

Wulanba guessed what his brother was thinking and said, "Do not worry. One day, we will return. As long as the Great Khan is alive, the roots of the Northern Di will not be severed."

Having said this, he said to Ivan behind him, "Ivan, the Great Khan is entrusted to you."

From the matter of the Smallpox, he had later learned that Ivan understood some medical skills.

Although these Missionaries were not very refined in their learning, they were very broad and knew a little bit of everything.

Ivan had been observing Mule Hongzhen's injury and said, "There should not be a major problem; this position is not very fatal. Send the Great Khan back to the camp immediately and let me handle it simply. However, he must receive good care afterward and cannot remain on the battlefield."

Tiemuta was overjoyed upon hearing this, becoming even more certain that this battle could not be fought any longer.

He needed to keep these troops to break out when they reached Jin City.

Yan Wang's troops launched a surprise attack on Jincheng; this is to cut off their retreat.

If the military strength is exhausted in this place, then it will truly be impossible to leave when the time comes.

Thinking of this, he said to Gurtu, "Send out the Cavalry to notify the Northern Di Viscount subjects in every county town to retreat to the North Territory."

Gurtu responded with an acknowledgment and turned to leave.

Over more than ten years, many Northern Di subjects had migrated to the Ningjin Dusi.

Now, they can only leave along with them.

Otherwise, what they will face is the slaughter of Yan Wang's troops.

"When you have them retreat to the North Territory, kill all the Dasong servants."

Before Gurtu had gone far, another sentence came from Tiemuta.

Hearing this, a cruel smile appeared at the corners of Gurtu's mouth.

What they cannot obtain, let it be destroyed!

Very quickly, a troop of Cavalry left the military formation and headed in all directions.

The Northern Di main army was also fighting while retreating at this time, turning toward the camp in the north.

After staying at the North City camp for only half an hour, the Northern Di main army fled toward the North Territory.

"General, this subordinate will go to pursue them now!"

In the Chariot Formation, Zhong Li requested orders from Mo Yu.

Mo Yu shook his head upon hearing this, although the Northern Di had retreated to the North Territory.

But they still retained a large number of Cavalry.

And the Chariot Formation moves very slowly, unable to provide assistance to Zhong Li.

Rashly letting them pursue would only result in losses of troops and officers.

Furthermore, when the Northern Di battles them, they might not be able to defeat them, but as for running, they also cannot catch up.

Rather than that, it is better to let Zhong Li do more important things.