Chapter 646: Reinforcements

"Split the troops?"

An Ziyang pinched his chin and remained silent.

After the old man finished speaking, he had already left; he still had to continue monitoring the Tumet tribe's movements to ensure this wasn't a big show put on by the Tatars.

In the hidden and narrow cave, Wang Hai and An Ziyang sat side by side, Gao Anyu leaned against the stone wall, Zhi Qing sat cross-legged on the ground, and beside them were Deng Baixuan and Liu Baiyun, who were channeling energy to heal their injuries. The white banner with Tang Lanzhou's name written on it was placed to the side, already stained half-red and half-white with blood.

The two groups of people on the Datong side had already merged.

The people present were the ones who had delayed half of the Tatar army until now.

After hearing the situation explained by the Beggar Gang old man, everyone present fell into silence, until after a few breaths, Wudang elder Zhi Sheng hesitated and spoke.

"Splitting the troops, isn't that a good thing? Why are you all so solemn?"

An Ziyang was still thinking, so Wang Hai took over the conversation.

"Not only is it not a good thing, but it is a terrible thing."

"We have captured many prisoners in the past few days, and we have almost figured out the Tatar situation. The reason we have been able to drag them until now is, first, because of the Fourth Sister's Gu insects, second, because of everyone's desperate fighting, and... the bloodiness of the frontier remnants awakened by Tang Gong with his life."

"But, in fact, neither of these two points is enough."

Wang Hai reached out and raised a finger.

"The internal fighting among the Tatars is the root cause."

"The Tumet tribe tacitly allowed or even secretly helped us spread Gu insects and charge into other tribes, Ibula was also secretly bleeding the Tumet tribe, and the foreign Heaven-Man experts belonged to different tribes, thus restraining each other. This is the root of our ability to do things; otherwise, with our manpower, it would be impossible to drag the main army."

"But now, they have realized this point."

"Taking the initiative to split the troops, no longer restraining each other, and the first to enter the pass will accept He Shang Zhangren's enfeoffment and ascend to the throne as emperor... This means they will start to fight for their lives. No matter which path we go to intercept, we will be attacked with everything they have."

"With our manpower, it is very difficult to survive."

Hearing this, Zhi Sheng looked troubled and asked again.

"What about the Gu insects?"

Wang Hai shook his head.

"Fourth Sister has confirmed that the Gu insects she spread among the Tatars have all died. The other party has mastered the method to remove the Gu insects, and this means is already useless. To continue delaying, we can only kill our way over... but our manpower is really too small."

Zhi Sheng pursed his lips.

Logically speaking, just relying on the few of them plus a group of routed soldiers and a gang of beggars, being able to delay half of the Tatar army for nearly half a month was already a stroke of luck, and they couldn't ask for more... but he was truly unwilling, unwilling to accept such a result.

So he looked up at An Ziyang with hope.

After a while, An Ziyang looked up and sighed long.

"There is no other way."

"Either leave, or gamble tonight and charge once."

"But the other party has likely already prepared a trap, just waiting for us to drill into it. If we go, it is estimated that it will be a situation of being surrounded and dying from exhaustion... which one do you want to choose?"

Zhi Sheng gritted his teeth suddenly.

"I want to charge once! My martial uncle's corpse is still in their hands!"

An Ziyang nodded and looked at Gao Anyu.

"What about you?"

Gao Anyu shook, opening his eyes in a daze.

"Ah? Me? Anything is fine... Uncle Li told me to listen to you two. You discuss it and tell me once you've decided."

Having said that, he closed his eyes again and wandered outside the world.

An Ziyang nodded and looked at Deng Baixuan and Liu Baiyun.

The two bowed in unison.

"Subordinates naturally listen to the orders of the two Commanders... but..."

An Ziyang waved his hand and sighed.

"I know you two don't want to leave."

"Tang Gong pressed his own life onto you two; if you don't put your own lives in, you won't feel at ease."

Deng Baixuan and Liu Baiyun lowered their heads without speaking, clearly acquiescing to An Ziyang's statement.

An Ziyang twisted his fingers, unable to make a decision.

Rationally speaking, he should override everyone's opinions at this moment and force everyone to leave.

The capital has fallen, Nanjing is in danger, He Shang Zhangren could arrive at any time, and the power that can be used right now is so limited that it really cannot be damaged any further. The Tatars have a 90% chance of waiting for them to deliver themselves to the door, meaning if they charge hard, their side has a 90% chance of being wiped out.

They should leave.

But... he must also consider human hearts.

Zhi Qing's corpse is still in the hands of the Tatars, so Zhi Sheng will not leave, and the Jianghu righteous people who have rushed to support them under the name of Wudang for the past half month will not leave either. The Beggar Gang and the routed soldiers are all holding on with a sense of blood and courage. If they leave, this sense of blood and courage traded with the lives of Tang Lanzhou and Lao Qifeng will also dissipate instantly.

Once this happens, the Tatars will enter the Central Plains, and He Shangzhangren will replenish the military strength. He will likely immediately crown a Tatar Emperor, and then wave his forces south, smashing through all the cities of the Great Shuo just as he smashed through Juyong Pass... By then, the hearts of the people will truly be beyond recovery.

And the people of the Central Plains will face a catastrophe—just like the previous dynasty.

"Tsk!"

An Ziyang sucked his teeth.

Why is it so difficult... how can he make this kind of decision!

Can he choose correctly!

His twisting fingers trembled involuntarily, but were suddenly grabbed.

An Ziyang looked up and saw Wang Hai grabbing his arm, saying in a deep voice.

"Brother An, let it be like this."

"You have already done enough; you don't need to think about doing more."

An Ziyang shook his head slowly.

When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up. Now that Li Miao is not here, he is that tall one, so he must hold it up... where is there any talk of enough or not enough!

An Ziyang closed his eyes.

In the chaos of his thoughts, he suddenly had an idea.

"If the Commander were here... how would he choose?"

"Heh... if the Commander were here, he would only uprightly crush these base barbarians."

"Speaking of which, the Commander must know the situation here and must be thinking of ways to rush back. I don't know what powerful means He Shang Zhangren has prepared to drag him for so long... but we have been able to fight for half a month for him, which is already—"

Suddenly, An Ziyang opened his eyes.

"No!"

"No, no!"

"Half a month, why have we been able to fight for half a month!"

"Why doesn't He Shang Zhangren come to kill us himself!" ===== CHAPTER 647 =====