Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2335 Feng Yi receives orders to fight Xu Xiao, a million-strong army leaps over the Heavenly Gate

Given the scale of Tianmen Pass, once the necessary fuel materials are prepared, with just a simple setup and assuming it doesn't rain, it can burn for at least a few days.

Guanzhong was Zhao Kuangyin's hometown, and he was unfamiliar with the climate of other regions, so it was impossible for him to be unfamiliar with the climate of this region.

There is absolutely no possibility of torrential rain during this period.

Therefore, if this fire were to start, Zhao Kuangyin would be absolutely confident that he could hold off Xue Rengui and Li Jing east of Guanzhong for several days.

With these few days left, it would be impossible for Li Jing and Xue Rengui to catch up.

"Zhao Kuangyin, he really is quite generous!"

When Xue Rengui saw the raging fire that shot into the sky at Tianmen Pass, he couldn't help but admire Zhao Kuangyin's courage.

"It's just a matter of prolonging our lives for a few more days; the outcome is already decided!"

"Even if Zhao Kuangyin managed to save those 100,000 troops, it wouldn't fundamentally change the overall situation!" Li Jing said with a relaxed expression as he gazed at the raging fire that rose from the sky above Tianmen Pass.

Given the current situation, even if Zhao Kuangyin took away 100,000 troops, what use would it be?

It might even have brought forward the demise of the Song Dynasty, the only difference being that it might have caused more casualties for the Han Dynasty.

After all, if Zhao Kuangyin hadn't withdrawn from Tianmen Pass, he would most likely have continued to besiege the enemy without attacking, waiting for their supplies to run out.

In this situation, casualties are naturally reduced significantly, but it takes more time.

"The most urgent matter is whether we should send more troops to Dali?" Li Jing asked cautiously.

With Tianlang Pass still intact, the Dali Kingdom's territory was indeed a very important region for them.

After all, if Xu Xiao defeats Yue Zhongqi and the Dali Dynasty is taken over by the Dawu side, it would be equivalent to cutting off Bai Qi's escape route.

With their retreat cut off, Bai Qi's 100,000-strong army was destined to perish without a trace.

However, now that the fire at Tianmen Pass has burned for a few days and been extinguished, and the passage to Tianmen Pass has been opened, Bai Qi's logistics will no longer need to be transferred from the Dali Dynasty; they can be directly transported from Tianmen Pass.

As for Zhao Kuangyin, the reason he didn't defend Tianmen Pass to the death, but instead gambled on Xu Xiao conquering Dali and thus blocking Bai Qi's retreat, was because there was never any point in gambling on this path; there was simply no chance of winning.

If Zhao Kuangyin really wanted to gamble on Xu Xiao being able to take over the Dali Dynasty, even if it was just to support Bai Qi in blocking Tianmen Pass's retreat, Xue Rengui and Li Jing would have immediately reinforced the Dali Dynasty, thus helping Yue Zhongqi keep Xu Xiao out of the Dali Dynasty.

On the contrary, even if Xu Xiao defeats Yue Zhongqi and takes over the Dali Dynasty, he will not be able to block Bai Qi's retreat. At this time, they need to consider whether to continue to send more troops to the Dali Dynasty.

Although the fighting there hasn't been going on for long, judging from the battle reports that have come in so far, Yue Zhongqi is clearly no match for Xu Xiao.

If reinforcements are sent to Dali, a force of 100,000 troops would be basically needed to repel Xu Xiao head-on and cut off his plans to continue attacking Dali Dynasty territory.

Of course, given their current numerical advantage over the Song Dynasty, transferring 100,000 troops at this time, even if it has some impact, will not be significant.

At most, it would just mean spending another two months with the Song Dynasty. The real problem is, if reinforcements are needed on the Dali Kingdom's battlefield, who should be transferred to the Dali Kingdom's side?
"Now that we've already taken Dali, how can we give it up so easily?" Xue Rengui said resolutely.

The land of the Dali Kingdom was certainly valuable to the Han Dynasty, but it was far from being indispensable.

However, if they are short-staffed, then giving up is fine.

At this point, with ample military strength, and having already taken this land, there was no reason to give it up so easily.

"As for the selection of the troops..." At this point, Xue Rengui and Li Jing both looked down at Chang Yuchun and Feng Yi.

Xu Xiao is not someone to be trifled with, so the choice of commander for this army must be made carefully. There are only a handful of qualified individuals.

As for Li Jing and Xue Rengui's gazes, Chang Yuchun and Feng Yi, sitting below, acted as if they didn't see them at all, turning their heads away and pretending to have a conversation.

As the emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin had accomplished a great feat. With the gates of Guanzhong now open, it was a matter of who would claim the credit.

However, if they left the Guanzhong battlefield at this time and went to the Dali battlefield, they would completely miss out on this merit.

Furthermore, the situation on the Guanxi battlefield is a sure win, but the situation on the Dali battlefield is not so certain.

Therefore, under these circumstances, who would be willing to leave the Guanzhong battlefield and be transferred to the Dali battlefield at this time?
While they prioritize the overall situation, they will naturally fight for their own interests when necessary.

After all, when soldiers join the army and fight on the battlefield, who isn't aiming to achieve merit and establish a career?
As for Xue Rengui and Li Jing, it's impossible for them to go for the time being.

One of them was the commander general of the Central Imperial Guard, and the other was the general of the Barbarian Bear Legion. They were equal in rank.

It was only because Xue Rengui held a higher rank than Li Jing that, after the armies had joined forces, Li Jing was willing to step back and let Xue Rengui take the position of commander-in-chief.

At this point, Xue Rengui was naturally not qualified to send Li Jing, who was of equal rank to him, to the Dali battlefield.

Therefore, the candidate can only be either Feng Yi or Chang Yuchun.

"Gongsun, why don't you go and take a trip?" Xue Rengui's gaze kept moving between Feng Yi and Chang Yuchun, and finally settled on Feng Yi.

Even if 100,000 troops were indeed mobilized, combined with Yue Zhongqi's original 50,000 troops, they would still be evenly matched with Xu Xiao's forces. The outcome would remain uncertain.

Under these circumstances, Xue Rengui would prefer to send the relatively more cautious Feng Yi. Even if they couldn't win, they wouldn't suffer a crushing defeat. At worst, they wouldn't suffer a disastrous loss.

In contrast, Chang Yuchun was a typical offensive general.

If both were to suffer a defeat, Chang Yuchun's losses would be far greater than Feng Yi's.

Therefore, Xue Rengui made this choice because he was thinking about defeat before he was even considering victory.

"This humble general obeys!" Feng Yi could only smile bitterly to himself before reluctantly accepting the order.

Although Xue Rengui's position was only half a rank higher than his, a higher rank can have a huge impact!