hotmtlnovel Chapter 243 The natural dangers of the Yangtze River
Chapter 243 The natural dangers of the Yangtze River
You can’t trust anyone around you or anyone around you. You can’t trust anyone!
The same goes for the person next to you.
This is exactly the aloofness and coldness that an emperor should have.
Watching Zhang Mingbao walking away slowly step by step, Xia Chong suddenly realized that just now in the court, he had allowed Shen Yizhong to be the sole commander of the army, leading the court's last 100,000 troops to fight a decisive battle with Xia Yu.
But, what if...
What if Shen Yizhong had already betrayed me?
After all, Princess Ning, Shen Yuyao, is Shen Yi Zhong's most beloved little sister!
The more Xia Chongwen thought about it, the more frightened he became. He was busy calling out, "Eunuch Wang, Eunuch Wang!"
"Your Majesty, I am here!" Eunuch Wang waved the whisk in his hand and came to Xia Chongwen at the fastest speed.
"Eunuch Wang, quickly draft an edict," Xia Chongwen said after taking a breath, "Appoint Duke Cao Li Jiujiang as the right marshal of the army to suppress the rebellion, and assist Duke Wei Shen Yizhong in commanding the imperial army!"
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Wang couldn't help but look up at Xia Chongwen, and a hint of barely perceptible mockery flashed in his eyes.
"The minister obeys the order!"
Xia Chongwen still couldn't completely trust Shen Yizhong. After all, he couldn't even trust the person next to him, let alone Shen Yizhong, who was actually his brother-in-law and the commander of the enemy army.
The next day, when Shen Yizhong arrived at the army command camp, he learned that the emperor had appointed another commander overnight.
The army had two commanders in one day, which made Shen Yizhong laugh and cry.
If you don't trust him, why let him lead the army? If you let him lead the army, why don't you give him absolute command?
Today's weather is exactly the opposite of Shen Yizhong's mood at the moment.
He was cold from head to toe, yet the weather was scorching hot.
Shen Yizhong sat in the main seat in the tent, next to him was another commander, Li Jiujiang!
"General Shen, do you have any good strategies for the decisive battle with Prince Ning?" Li Jiujiang asked Shen Yizhong.
"The army is surrounded by Prince Ning. Our only option now is to concentrate all our superior forces and break out with all our might!" Shen Yizhong said with his eyes wide open and his brows furrowed.
"Generals, listen to my orders!" Li Jiujiang stood up, and Shen Yizhong also stood up.
"Then use three cannon shots as a signal and our army will break out with all their might!"
"As ordered!"
......
The sun is so hot that it's hard to open your eyes.
Xia Yu was standing under the shade of a tree at this time, looking from afar at the soldiers who had followed him all the way south from Yanjing.
They are all preparing for this decisive battle.
Standing next to Xia Yu was Xia Ping'an, and there was clearly more relief in his eyes as he looked at Xia Ping'an.
Xia Ping'an is the first son he and Shen Yuyao have, and Xia Yu is full of expectations for him.
In just three years, Xia Pingan has also grown extremely rapidly.
He not only has Xia Yu's decisiveness and bravery, but also Shen Yuyao's wit and strategy.
Xia Yu liked him more than any other child, even more than Xia Xiaoxian.
If Shen Yuyao had not insisted, Xia Yu would have wanted to give the title of Prince of Ning to Xia Ping'an long ago.
"Ping An," Xia Yu's eyes showed a rare kindness. He turned to Xia Ping An and said, "If you were the commander-in-chief, how do you think this battle should be fought?"
"This..." Xia Pingan showed a hesitant look on his face.
"You don't need to think too much, just speak frankly!" Xia Yu smiled faintly.
"Father, I think that the imperial army is in chaos right now. Our army should launch an attack as soon as possible to disrupt the rhythm of the imperial army. This will naturally achieve twice the result with half the effort!" Upon hearing this, Xia Pingan had no more scruples. He clasped his hands and spoke loudly.
"Ping'an is right. Then I will send you to lead the troops to fight the first battle. Are you willing?" Xia Yu said.
"I will not disgrace my father's order!"
"Good! Good! Good!" Xia Yu laughed loudly, "Then use the three cannon shots as a command and lead the troops to attack the imperial army!"
"I will obey my father's orders!"
There were three more cannon shots as the order, what a coincidence!
"boom!"
"boom!"
"boom!"
Sure enough, after three cannon shots, Xia Ping'an led his troops to attack the imperial army rapidly.
The imperial army's troops over there just thought it was an order to break out, and those soldiers who were not prepared became even more confused.
Unsurprisingly, these 100,000 elite soldiers were defeated by Xia Ping'an as if it was destined.
No one could have imagined that this decisive battle would be lost so quickly and so completely.
Imperial Palace, Fengxian Hall.
Xia Chongwen sat slumped on the dragon throne with his hands folded across his chest, his brows furrowed, his face full of complete disbelief.
"How could Xia Yu wipe out nearly 100,000 troops in one night?"
His almost whispered question made all the ministers in the hall look pale.
"Can any of you tell me why this is happening?"
"Your Majesty, this battle was too coincidental. Both our army and the enemy army used three cannon shots as a command, but we didn't expect the enemy army to issue an attack order first. Our soldiers thought it was an order to break out, and in a hurry, they were easily wiped out by the enemy army."
Qi Tai walked out of the row of ministers, clasped his hands, and reported to Xia Chongwen with a serious face.
"Then..." Xia Chongwen's eyes became distracted when he heard this, and he shook his head repeatedly, "Could it be that God is helping him?"
"Your Majesty, don't panic. We still have a natural barrier that we can use to our advantage!"
"Yangtze?"
"That's right! As long as the imperial court collects all the boats on the river bank, Xia Yu's army will not be able to cross the Yangtze River!" Qi Tai seemed to have been inspired by the plan he proposed, and even a smug smile appeared on his face.
"Yes! Lord Qi is right! Unless Xia Yu can grow wings!" Many ministers also stood up and expressed their agreement with Qi Tai's strategy.
"Your Majesty, if we can really use the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to hold back Xia Yu's army, we will still have a chance to get the vassal states from all over the country to come to Kyoto to defend the king! At that time, we will have another chance to compete with Xia Yu!" Even the old ministers who have always been cautious believed that this was the only chance to confront Xia Yu.
"After all, Xia Yu's army only brought one month's worth of food and fodder. If our army can hold him back, we will have a great chance of turning the tables. At the very least, we can negotiate with Xia Yu about dividing the river and ruling separately!"
"Dividing the river and governing it?"
Xia Chongwen was a little stunned.
"First, divide the river and control it, then make plans for other things." Qi Tai nodded and replied.
In fact, Xia Chongwen knew in his heart that in the current situation where the army was defeated like a mountain, dividing the river and governing it separately might be his best outcome.
"Prince!"
"The old slave is here."
"Draft an imperial decree to confiscate all boats along the Yangtze River. Anyone who provides boats for Xia Yu's army to cross the river will be charged with treason and his entire family will be executed!"