Chapter 879

The battle against Feng was far from as easy as Chuan and Zhen had imagined. It seemed that once the armies of the two countries arrived, they could flatten Feng with just a few steps.

The weather in Feng was extremely cold and dry, which made the soldiers of Chuan and Zhen coalition extremely uncomfortable. The long journey not only made the soldiers exhausted, but also the logistics supply line was too long. They were repeatedly attacked by the Feng army, which made the Chuan and Zhen coalition's supplies and food very tight. In addition, Feng's military strength was much stronger than Chuan and Zhen had expected. Even if they were defeated and suffered heavy casualties, the army's fighting spirit was never lost. No matter how difficult and dangerous the environment was, the Feng army could still resist tenaciously.

All these factors greatly weakened Ren Fang's confidence, and he saw less and less hope in the battle to destroy Feng.

The 50,000 Zhen troops that captured Ningding were completely annihilated by the Feng army. Ren Fang did not send troops to fight for it again, nor did he continue to attack Jinyang. Instead, he was waiting. First, he waited for Jin Zhuo's troops to completely eliminate the Feng army in Gaochuan County, so that his side would no longer have any worries when attacking. Second, he waited for the arrival of the Huan army. Although the Huan army's fighting force was far less powerful than that of the Zhen army, it was an army of 400,000 people after all, and it was good to boost his momentum.

However, Ren Fang's two expectations were dashed.

First, Jin Zhuo's troops, with a morale of 200,000, entered Gaochuan County in a mighty manner, and then comprehensively pursued the whereabouts of the Feng army, eager to start a head-on decisive battle with the Feng army.

But Zuo Shuang knew that the enemy was strong and he was weak, so he did not give the enemy a chance to confront head-on. The mountainous and forested environment in Gaochuan County gave him a wide space for maneuvering. The Western Border Army ran around everywhere, sometimes in the east and sometimes in the west, making the proactive attacks of the Sichuan-Zhen coalition repeatedly fail.

Although Jin Zhuo's troops had an absolute advantage in terms of manpower and combat power, they were led by the Western Border Army and were in a passive situation. Jin Zhuo himself understood that running around to chase the enemy would make his soldiers more and more tired and their combat power would become weaker and weaker. How to catch the main force of the Feng Army was a brainstorm for Jin Zhuo.

Under a heavy reward, there must be a brave man. Finally, Jin Zhuo thought of offering a large reward. As long as the people of Feng Country were willing to provide the whereabouts of the Feng Army, as long as the information was accurate, the reward would be ten thousand taels.

Once this news came out, there were quite a few people from Feng Country who came to report the news, but there were many who reported false news and few who reported true news. For this massive amount of information, the Chuanzhen coalition was even more confused, as if the entire Gaochuan County was full of Feng Army.

Jin Zhuo had no good plan, so he had to march to capture Lishan City and order the entire army to stay there. After all, Lishan City was once the logistics base of the Chuanzhen coalition. In the case of not being able to find the trace of the Feng Army, capturing Lishan City first would not make him achieve nothing.

Lishan City was originally stockpiled with a large amount of supplies and food for the Chuanzhen and Zhen armies, but now it is empty, and even the people of Feng have fled, making it no different from a dead city.

On the second day after Jin Zhuo led his army into Lishan City, the food and grass transported from the main camp were attacked by a small group of Feng troops. A team of food carts was burned and looted. Upon hearing this, Jin Zhuo was furious and sent his general An Gong to lead 20,000 Chuan troops to hunt down the small group of Feng troops.

However, the 20,000 Chuan troops led by An Gong fell into the trap of the Western Border Army and were surrounded by more than 50,000 Western Border Army. The situation was precarious. An Gong's lieutenant fought desperately to break out of the siege and fled back to Lishan City to report to Jin Zhuo. It was related to the life and death of 20,000 brothers, Jin Zhuo did not dare to delay, and immediately led the main army out of the city to relieve An Gong.

But just as they left, the main force of the Western Border Army appeared near Lishan City and attacked the city at lightning speed. When Jin Zhuo led the army to the place where An Gong was trapped, the 50,000 Western Border Army that surrounded An Gong had disappeared without a trace. There was no time to carefully track down where the enemy army had gone, and Jin Zhuo hurried back.

The Chuanzhen coalition returned to Lishan City at the fastest speed, but still missed it. The main force of the Feng Army that had just captured Lishan City ran away again, but the supplies left by the Chuanzhen coalition in the city were looted, and most of the soldiers and generals who stayed behind were killed.

Jin Zhuo has fought all his life and fought for most of his life, but he has never encountered such a cunning opponent. The Feng Army's elusiveness made him feel that he had power but nowhere to use it. The 200,000 elite Chuanzhen coalition had no way to deal with the more than 100,000 Western Border Army whose combat effectiveness was not strong, and was completely pinned down by the opponent in Gaochuan County.

At this time, Zuo Shuang's flexible and changeable military command ability was fully utilized. It was in the battle of Gaochuan County that Zuo Shuang's name was remembered by the Chuanzhen coalition forces, and Zuo Shuang completely established his military status in Feng State.

Jin Zhuo's troops fought unfavorably in Gaochuan County, and the Huan army failed to enter the territory of Feng State.

When the Huan army passed through Mo State, it was intercepted by the Sanshui Army. The Sanshui Army had less than 100,000 troops, while the Huan Army had 400,000 troops. It stands to reason that the difference in the strength of the two sides was so great that the Huan Army could easily defeat the opponent, but after the two sides started fighting, the 400,000 Huan Army had no advantage on the battlefield and could only fight to the extent of being evenly matched with the Sanshui Army.

Just when the battle between the two sides was in a state of semi-stalemate and semi-confrontation, the Mo State suddenly intervened.

Without any warning, the Hu Ben Army of the Mo State suddenly joined the battle and launched an attack from the rear of the Huan Army. The three water troops were enough to make the Huan army difficult to resist. Now with the sneak attack of the Huben army, how could the Huan army still hold on? The two armies killed and defeated them. Although the casualties were not heavy, the 40-strong army was dispersed.

After suddenly sending troops to attack Huan’s army, Mo State explained that the reason why Mo Army attacked Huan Army was not to aid Feng State, nor to be enemies with the countries of the Fafeng Alliance, but because Huan Army had plundered and killed innocent Mo people when passing through Mo’s territory. At the same time, some evidence was listed.

As the saying goes, it is easy to find a pretext to accuse someone of a crime. Mo State insisted that Huan Army killed people and robbed property, and Huan Army could not explain it clearly.

Mo State changed its attitude of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight and directly participated in the war. First, the envoy Shangguan Yuanwu sent by Tang Yin had arrived in Zhenjiang and met with Mo Wang Shao Fang. He told Shao Fang about the current situation in detail and asked him to support Feng State. Second, the fact that Zhen Army had killed Mo people and used their corpses to create a plague had been widely spread in Mo State, making the Mo people hate Zhen Army to the bone, and by association, they also hated Sichuan Army. The voices of the Mo Kingdom supporting Feng were getting louder and louder, especially the military generals, who all believed that what the Zhen Army did in the Mo Kingdom was a great shame and humiliation for the Mo Kingdom. If justice could not be sought, how could the Mo Kingdom have the face to exist among the nations in the future?

Shao Fang had originally advocated joining the war, but it was only opposed by the ministers in the court. Now that he had the support of the military generals and the people of the country, he had no worries. Just as Shangguan Yuanwu came to ask for help again, Shao Fang took advantage of the situation and ordered the Huben Army to assist the Feng Army and attack the Huan Army in the Mo Kingdom.

The 400,000 Huan Army became the scapegoat of the Zhen Army and the target of the Mo Kingdom's venting. Under the pincer attack of the Sanshui Army and the Huben Army, the entire army was disintegrated and defeated.

In this battle, Liang Qi could be said to have seen the power of the Huben Army. When 100,000 cavalry launched an attack, it was really like a tidal wave. There was no need to fight. Just the momentum of 100,000 cavalry charging forward together was enough to deter any opponent.

Before Huan's army reached Feng State, it was beaten back to its homeland by the Sanshui Army and the Huben Army. Ren Fang, who had originally placed high hopes on it, was disappointed, and the thing he was most worried about happened. Mo State finally stood on the side of Feng State. With the support of Mo State, Feng State's military strength doubled, and the hope of winning was slim.

Li Cheng's troops were missing, the plan to encircle Jinyang failed, Jin Zhuo's battle in Gaochuan County was unsuccessful, 400,000 Huan troops returned home in defeat, and Mo State's aid to Feng State had surfaced. These successive blows made Ren Fang want to withdraw his troops.

However, even though Ren Fang was the commander of the entire army, he could not fight or retreat from the Battle of Feng whenever he wanted. To withdraw his troops, he had to get the approval of the princes of Chuan and Zhen. Ren Fang knew that the courts of the two countries thousands of miles away could not understand the tension of the war in front. The ministers would only simply look at the data of both sides, and in terms of data, his side did have an advantage. If he proposed to withdraw his troops, he might be accused of cowardice.

After careful consideration, Ren Fang wrote a private letter to Chuan Wang Xiao Xuan. In the letter, he did not mention the withdrawal of troops, but only explained in detail the difficulties currently encountered by his army, especially the supply problem, which had reached a very critical level.

His letter was transmitted to Shangjing, and soon he received a reply from Xiao Xuan.

Xiao Xuan did not give him clear instructions in the letter, but delegated him great authority, which fully demonstrated his trust in Ren Fang. Xiao Xuan's letter clearly stated that he should act according to circumstances and that he could make his own decisions on major and minor matters when he was away, without having to worry about the opinions of the monarch and the court.

Seeing Xiao Xuan's reply, Ren Fang was excited and overwhelmed, but also completely relieved.

The day after receiving Xiao Xuan's reply, Ren Fang sent an envoy to Jinyang to invite Tang Yin to come out of the city for a talk.

Ren Fang had made up his mind that even if he wanted to withdraw his troops, he had to negotiate to gain the greatest advantage from the Feng Kingdom.

The Chuanzhen coalition army came to the city of Jinyang with a white flag, and its followers shouted loudly to the city, first reporting their identities, and then asking to enter the city to see Feng Wang Tang Yin.

The Feng army soldiers on the city almost got angry when they heard this. Can you open your own city just by saying so? Can you meet your own king just by saying so? Some soldiers with evil tempers raised their bows and arrows and were about to shoot the envoys outside the city. Fortunately, the general guarding the city heard the news and arrived in time to stop the soldiers from shooting. He then sent someone back to the city to report the situation to the king.