The Prodigal Son

Three black flags!

Urgent military situation!

defeat!

problem occurs!

What a big deal!

Zong Bi suddenly stood up, his figure flashed rapidly, and he quickly blocked the middle of the street.

"Make way! Urgent military situation! Make way immediately..."

Upon seeing someone blocking the way, the messenger immediately roared menacingly, but his warhorse showed no sign of slowing down.

Anyone who dares to obstruct a messenger delivering urgent military intelligence deserves to be run over and killed.

Faced with the galloping warhorse, Zong Bi neither dodged nor avoided it, but simply raised his hand.

A powerful burst of true energy erupted, and the galloping warhorse seemed to be stopped by an unintentional force, its front legs suddenly lifting up and emitting a "neighing" sound.

The messenger on the warhorse struggled to control the horse, about to lash out, when he caught a glimpse of Zong Bi's face.

The messenger's face changed drastically. He immediately jumped off his horse, ran quickly to Zong Bi, knelt on one knee, and wailed with grief, "Reporting to General, the Ning people launched a surprise attack on our army today, and all the counties and fortresses at the front have fallen! General Zong led his remaining troops to retreat to Panshi Fortress, but was pursued and killed by a large group of enemy cavalry. He only managed to reach Panshi Fortress with a little over four hundred men..."

"What?"

Zong Bi's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot. He grabbed the messenger and growled menacingly, "Say that again?"

Facing Zong Bi's murderous gaze, the messenger was terrified and repeated tremblingly, "The Ning people launched a surprise attack on our army today..."

The messenger repeated what he had just said while taking the letter tube off his back and handing it to Zong Bi with trembling hands.

Zong Bi took the letter tube and suddenly exerted force, shattering the tube into pieces.

Zong Bi took out the urgent military intelligence document inside, opened it, and began to examine it with trembling hands.

The contents of the military report were similar to what the messenger had said.

However, it's much more detailed!

This military report was written by his son, Zongzhao.

"Shameless Ning traitor!"

Zong Bi roared in grief and indignation, turning to look at Zong Yuan and the others who were still in a daze: "Return to the manor! Order all the generals to come here immediately for a meeting!"

Filled with rage, Zong Bi quickly returned to the General's Mansion.

Back at his residence, Zongbi calmed down a bit.

The Ning people would never take the initiative to wage war against both the Great Yan and the Northern Qi at the same time!

Now, the situation is quite clear!

The war between Ning and Beiqi was a pretense; their real intention was to attack Yan!

No wonder no grain from Ningguo has come in!

The Ning people started planning long ago!

They were still engrossed in the pepper feast, completely unaware of the danger.

Zong Bi suppressed his anger and quickly wrote an urgent report, ordering it to be sent to Huyao by express courier.

When Zong Bi ordered someone to send away the urgent report, all the generals rushed over.

"What's going on? How dare the Ning people launch a sudden attack on Zhu County?"

"Didn't they send people to hold talks with His Highness the Crown Prince at the border before?"

"Can you still see yourself? We've been deceived by the Ning people! They never intended to live in harmony with us! They have no intention of destroying our Great Yan!"

"There were 20,000 troops in Zhu County! And only 400 or so retreated to Panshi Fortress?"

"Fight back! We must fight these damned Ning people back..."

The generals in the council hall were both panicked and furious.

too suddenly!

They hadn't expected that the 20,000 troops from Zhu County would be so easily defeated.

Failure is not terrible!

But Zongzhao's defeat was too humiliating!

Even if we had sent 20,000 pigs to defend the city, we wouldn't have suffered such a humiliating defeat!

If they are infected and can hold out for another day, reinforcements from Rock Fortress will arrive.

By then, the situation will be completely different.

Now that each prefecture has been breached, the gates of Wangzhou are now completely open to the people of Ning.

If the Ning people pass through the middle of Panshi Fortress, Changping will also be in danger!

Only when Zong Bi strode heavily into the council hall did everyone fall silent and bow in unison: "Greetings, General!"

Zong Bi simply nodded casually, walked to the sand table in the middle of the council hall, his sharp gaze quickly sweeping across the sand table, while pulling out the small flags representing each prefecture and its forward fortresses.

With the disappearance of the two flags, the once-complete defense system immediately revealed huge vulnerabilities.

The gap on the right has been opened.

Wangzhou Prefecture, Changping, and Panshibao were all exposed to the Ning Army's attack.

Especially in Changping, they definitely still have a large number of Ning troops on their front.

Ningguo will no longer receive any grain, and Changping is still brewing large quantities of wine, which must have consumed a lot of grain.

Even if Wang Sengyuan temporarily halts the Ning army's attack, he will soon face a food shortage.

If grain is transferred from Wangzhou Prefecture and Panshibao to support Changping, it will inevitably be attacked.

Although he still had 70,000 troops under his command, the situation was extremely passive.

Zong Bi let out a long sigh. "Tell me, fight or retreat?"

Many generals were taken aback by Zong Bi's words.

withdraw?

Is this something that could come out of Zongbi's mouth?

They still have 70,000 troops, why should they retreat?

"General, is it not the time to retreat yet?"

"That's right! Although we've lost county after county, our army still has the strength to fight. The outcome is still uncertain!"

"The loss of each prefecture was mainly due to the enemy's sudden surprise attack, which caught our army completely unprepared. Now that the Ning army's intentions have been exposed, our army has a strong chance of defeating them if we fight valiantly!"

"Although the Ning army seems to have the upper hand now, once the Northern Qi finds out that the Ning army has taken the initiative to fight our army, they will definitely launch a large-scale attack on Wuguan. At that time, the Ning army will be attacked from two or even three sides, and its strength will definitely be insufficient!"

"right……"

The generals took turns speaking.

Apart from a few people who were silently pondering, most people felt that there was absolutely no need to retreat now.

Listening to the generals' words, Zong Bi couldn't help but shake his head secretly.

If only it were as simple as they think.

He Cong stared at the sand table for a while, then raised his head with a solemn expression: "This humble general suggests that we immediately order Wang Sengyuan to lead his troops to retreat to Pengzhao. In this way, our army can form a defensive line with Panshi Fortress, Pengzhao, and Wangzhou Prefecture, stabilize the situation first, and then seek a counterattack!"

Why?

One general was puzzled. "We can easily form a defensive line with Panshi Fortress, Changping, and Wangzhou Prefecture. Once the garrison in Changping retreats, they will not only be pursued by the enemy forces in the front, but also attacked by enemy forces from one prefecture to another!"

"Why? I want to ask why too!" He Cong said with a dark face, "Tell me, since the enemy has already occupied Zhu County, why don't they join forces with the enemy in Qingshan County to attack Changping County from both sides?"

When He Cong asked this question, everyone was taken aback.

Yes!

The enemy could easily launch a pincer attack on Changping County!

But the enemy is not doing that now.

Why is that?

After a moment of contemplation, one of the generals tentatively asked, "Could it be that they're afraid of being attacked by our forces at Panshi Fortress while they're attacking Changping from both sides?"

"Panshi Fortress is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Shouldn't the fact that the troops of Panshi Fortress have taken the initiative to switch from defense to offense be exactly what the Ning army wants?" He Cong asked rhetorically.

"this……"

The general was speechless, his face showing deep confusion.

The other generals were equally baffled.

Seeing the blank stares of the crowd, Zong Bi sighed inwardly again and slowly said, "Let me tell you!"