Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2227 Wang Shichong Surrenders to Han, Losing Qingnan Road Again

Although Dahong was a commander who was better at training troops, it did not mean that his ability to command troops was really bad.

His ability to command troops was only relatively inferior to his ability to train them.

But after all, his foundation as a peak Heavenly-level commander was already there.

Li Jing's army had mostly gathered in Guangyang Road, leaving only 100,000 troops for Guo Ziyi.

Moreover, a portion of the 100,000 troops would be stationed in various locations throughout the nine prefectures of Heyang.

Therefore, compared to Guo Ziyi, Dahong did not actually have a significant disadvantage in terms of military strength.

The only relative disadvantages for Guo Ziyi were his large cavalry force, which gave him tactical initiative, and the difference in morale between the two sides.

Under these circumstances, it's possible that Dahong could not defeat Guo Ziyi.

However, if the forces were concentrated to defend this prefecture, his abilities would be more than sufficient.

The root cause of Dahong's defeat can actually be traced back to the battlefield in Qingnan Province.

Da Hong defended the last of the ten counties of Heyang with 60,000 troops, thus securing the flank of the Qingnan Road battlefield.

However, isn't the battlefield in Qingnan Province also located behind Dahong?

These two are inherently interdependent. Changes on any battlefield will directly or indirectly affect the other battlefield.

Shi Le suffered a major defeat in Qingnan Road, and even he himself was implicated!

Yue Fei immediately ordered Tan Daoji and Huang Pao to lead 50,000 troops to outflank Da Hong's rear, so that they could cooperate with Guo Ziyi on the front to annihilate Da Hong's army within the Heyang Road.

However, as a commander at the peak of the Heavenly level, Dahong's military skills are clearly on point.

After receiving news of Shi Le's major defeat in Qingnan Road, he guessed that he was no longer safe here. If he continued to stay here, he would soon face an attack from all sides.

His 70,000-strong army will be trapped in a desperate situation.

Therefore, he had already made preparations to withdraw before Tan Daoji's troops arrived.

However, Guo Ziyi had a large number of soldiers and cavalry under his command.

Even though Li Jing took away a portion of the Flying Feather Legion's cavalry, the cavalry force he possessed was still far superior to that of Da Hong.

Previously, when Dahong was on the defensive, Guo Ziyi's cavalry might not have been able to do anything to him.

However, if Dahong wanted to escape, then Guo Ziyi's advantage of having a large number of cavalry could be fully utilized.

Therefore, this evacuation was clearly not an easy task for Dahong.

Dahong's initial strategy was to cut his losses and save his own forces, hoping to give up a portion of his troops in exchange for the survival of the majority.

However, Guo Ziyi simply wouldn't fall for his tricks. Every time Da Hong tried to cut off his own tail to survive, Guo Ziyi would send a small group of cavalry to entangle with them, holding off this part of the troops while waiting for the main infantry force to press up from the rear.

He, on the other hand, led a large number of cavalry to take a detour and pursue them.

Given the speed difference between cavalry and infantry, even if Guo Ziyi took a slightly longer route, he would still be able to regroup in time.

Therefore, despite three instances of being cut off from the rear, Da Hong lost tens of thousands of soldiers and several generals, including Gao Yan, Gao Wei, He Jin, and Zhang Nai, yet still failed to shake off Guo Ziyi. Left with no other option, Da Hong risked setting up an ambush, but Guo Ziyi and his strategist Xun You saw through it.

In a major battle, all the generals, including Meng Haigong, Xu Yuanlang, Tang Zhou, Liu Rukui, Gao Yin, and Li Laiheng, were killed in action. Of Da Hong's 60,000 troops, less than 20,000 managed to retreat with him to Yannan Road.

He had only been away from the front lines for such a short time, but in that very short period, the Great Yan had lost over 100,000 soldiers on two battlefields.

Upon receiving these two messages, even with his resolute will, Xuanyuan Huang nearly fainted from exhaustion.

However, although Xuanyuan Huang was already traveling at full speed, wanting to return to Qingnan Road as soon as possible.

However, even though he had rushed as fast as he could, something still happened just as he was about to reach Qingnan Road.

Wang Shichong surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and he even brought 20,000 troops and a county town with him!

Even though Wang Shichong had a long and distinguished career in the Great Yan Dynasty, he still contributed to its development.

But he is not the kind of person who would be loyal to others; his loyalty is only ever to himself.

Therefore, with the Great Yan Dynasty already in a precarious state, he naturally needed to plan for his future when the time was right.

Shi Le's crushing defeat solidified his last shred of confidence and shattered his last hope that the Great Yan could turn the tide.

In fact, to demonstrate his sincerity to Yue Fei and to convince Yue Fei that he genuinely wanted to surrender with two armies and a city, Wang Shichong even offered the heads of Zhang Liang, Li Gui, and Wang Bo as a pledge of allegiance.

Of these three, apart from Zhang Liang, Li Gui and Wang Bo were actually similar in nature to Wang Shichong; neither of them were extremely staunch loyalists.

However, Wang Shichong was clearly a step ahead of them.

However, Wang Shichong still decisively took their heads as a pledge of allegiance.

After all, the two of them still held some status within the Great Yan Dynasty, making them qualified to serve as a pledge of allegiance.

Wang Shichong felt absolutely no guilt about using their two heads as a basis for his own promotion.

The second line of defense of the Great Yan in Qingnan Road was itself built by relying on four county towns.

When Shi Le was defeated, a county town was captured by Yue Fei because the troops were weak.

Now, Wang Shichong has given away another one, making a total of four county towns, leaving them completely unable to support each other.

As a result, the chain reaction led to another crushing defeat for Feng Hou.

Fortunately, Feng Hou, being a divine strategist, still had some skill. In the end, she made a last-ditch effort, and after losing 20,000 troops, she and Da Hong led the last 70,000 defeated soldiers to completely withdraw from Qingnan Road.

Naturally, the second line of defense of the Great Yan Dynasty was also completely breached, and the entire Qingnan Road was about to fall into the control of the Great Han Dynasty. All that awaited was Yue Fei to take over the cities one by one.

The campaign against Yan began in May with two armies from the Han Dynasty, but in less than five months, it is now approaching October.

Of the four regions controlled by the Great Yan, only the East Sea Region, which served as its final stronghold, remained.

After several consecutive defeats, the 500,000-strong army of the Great Yan Dynasty has been reduced to less than 150,000 soldiers in the blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)