Looking at a somewhat frightened general below helplessly, Liu Xinda sighed helplessly.

"It's not your fault, go down and get some rest." He waved his hand, "Go and collect this month's salary and send it to the sons." At present, it is still necessary to stabilize the morale of the army, and we must not mess up our own ways. ”

"The general is not guilty of Dorne!" The generals below were overjoyed, bowed deeply, turned around and hurried away.

Another county was lost.

And retreat without a fight.

In the past, Liu Xinda would definitely not let go of such a general, but now, what can he do? Anyway, this general also brought back more than 1,000 soldiers under him. Unlike some places, as soon as the Tang army arrived, they scattered as birds and beasts, not to mention soldiers, and even the generals fled without a trace.

From this point of view, the general who fled just now managed the army quite well, and he really deserves to be commended.

Since Tian Guofeng's rebellion, the form of the Liang army in the south has taken a sharp turn. Immediately after that, Liu Ruyan, the general of the Tang Army's right Qianniuwei, took the two Zhejiang provinces at lightning speed, annexed Xuanzhou, and recovered Huainan, and Ezhou had become a candle in the wind and was crumbling.

He was ordered to stick to Ezhou, but he did his best and obeyed the fate of heaven, except for sharing part of the pressure on the Central Plains battlefield and containing Liu Ruyan's main force of soldiers and horses, there was almost no other role.

Counterattack?

Dream on!

From the beginning of the large-scale contraction of the Liang army, the strategy of defending the Central Plains, defending Luoyang, holding Chang'an, and preparing to fight a protracted war with the Tang army to consume the Tang army, Ezhou was destined to be the first place to be sacrificed in this grand strategy. And Tang Jun will inevitably pull out this nail first.

So from that time on, Liu Xinda himself began to adjust his strategy, basically completely abandoning the rural areas of Ezhou, and only ordered his generals to stick to the cities one by one. Once attacked by the Tang army, he could make a decision at his discretion, either to fight or retreat, and to preserve his strength as the first priority.

The prefectures and counties below will definitely not be able to hold on. Shrinking the main forces back to Ezhou to hold on was Liu Xinda's only choice. Ezhou City as the former Eyue Festival to make Qian Feng where the line of the city, the city is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, last year when Zhu Youzhen attacked Ezhou City, it almost collapsed and sank into the sand.

Today's Ezhou City is rebuilt by Liu Xinda without sparing any effort, and under the reinforcement, it is better than in the past.

In the process of retreating, Liu Xinda gave his generals an order to clear the wall, rob everything, burn everything, all the grain, cloth, gold and silver treasures, and plunder and confiscate them. All the young and strong people were taken captive back to Ezhou City, leaving only the old and weak women and children, and abandoning them into the wilderness. They did not let go of the wells they could see, and threw all the animals they had killed into them, and they completely polluted them.

A series of utter sabotage operations did succeed in delaying the offensive of the Don Army. Everywhere they went, the Tang army had to clean up the mess and stabilize the place before they could continue to march forward.

And the price is that the reputation of the Liang army in the land of Eyue is completely ruined. Not only do the people in other parts of Eyue hate them to the core, but also in Ezhou City, those young people who have been taken captive, looking at their eyes, are also full of hatred. If there is a chance, they will definitely not let go of the opportunity to slash Liu Xinda.

But Liu Xinda doesn't care anymore.

Before the war arrived, these young men were all coolies, not enough to eat and clothe, but they also had to deal with extremely heavy manual labor, building cities, carrying materials for defending the city, and if they had a little skill, they went to make materials for defending the city. Those who die every day of weariness do not know what is ordinary. Many people suddenly fall down while doing their work and never get up again.

And in wartime, these people will become the first batch of death squads to fight, and they will be forced by the warlord to charge the Tang army, even if they can't kill a Tang army, it is good to consume the opponent's arrows.

These people, under the persecution of the army, toiled day after day, and could only get two steamed buns and a bowl of soup every day, and at night, it was essential to put heavy shackles on them to prevent them from making trouble.

In Liu Xinda's eyes, these people have long been dead one by one.

There is no need for mercy for those who are bound to die.

And now, Liu Xinda doesn't feel that he is qualified to pity anyone.

"Tee!" Looking at the man standing in front of him with a hat in his hand and dressed as a peasant, Liu Xinda almost didn't believe his eyes, and took a few steps forward.

In the Battle of Pinglu, in the end, Liu Xinda was able to retreat with the whole division, preserving most of the main force, thanks to the desperate resistance of Liu Santong after the break.

Of course, the final outcome was not unexpected by Liu Xinda, he escaped, but Liu Santong was besieged and finally captured by the Tang army.

Since then, there has been no news of Liu Santong, and Liu Xinda has always thought that Liu Santong has been beheaded by the Tang army, after all, Liu Santong's last resistance not only covered Liu Xinda's smooth retreat, but also caused a large number of casualties to the Tang army.

"General!" Liu Santong was also full of emotion and bowed.

Striding up to Liu Santong, holding the shoulders of both parties with both hands, Liu Xinda looked each other up and down, and nodded again and again: "Okay, it's good to come back, now is the time for me to employ people, if you can come back, you can share a lot for me." ”

Liu Santong said with a wry smile: "General, this time I came, but I came to persuade him to surrender." ”

"Huh?" Liu Xinda was stunned, the hands on the other party's shoulders slowly slid down, took two steps back, and looked at the other party: "You, now do things for Tang Jun?" ”

Liu Santong shook his head: "I haven't joined the army for a long time, and right now, I'm just an ordinary farmer." ”

Liu Xin Daha laughed, but pointed to the chair on the side, and said, "You have worked hard from afar, sit, sit down and say." ”

Liu Santong watched with some bitterness after Liu Xinda returned to his big case, although the other party did not pretend, but the demeanor between gestures already explained everything.

"I just finished my hard labor in the Don Army at the beginning of this year. In the words of the Tang people, I was released after completing my sentence. Liu Santong did not sit down, but stood in front of Liu Xinda and said: "People like me have two places to go, one is to go to the Western Regions to serve in the army, with my past experience, if I go to that place in the Western Regions, I can also get an officer to be an officer." Do you remember Liu Xiangchu? ”

Liu Xinda nodded.

"Remember, one of the captains under you back then seemed to be extremely brave in battle."

"The general has a good memory. He was captured with me, and their captains were the first to go to the Western Regions, and after I was released this year, I heard from the other party that Liu Xiangchu was now very good in the Western Regions, and in March this year, he performed well in the battle of Qiuzi, and he was promoted to the rank of Wupin Ranger General. ”

"Then why didn't you go?"

"General, I'm tired of it." Liu Santong lowered his head and said, "Especially after I returned to my hometown and found my family. ”

Hearing this, Liu Xinda's old face turned a little red, and he said ashamedly: "Three links, when I retreated, I originally took your family with me, but later encountered some accidents and were scattered by the chaotic army, are they still alive?" Great, I can put my mind at ease. ”

Liu Santong arched his hand at the other party: "In the troubled times, where can you be so thoughtful!" I don't blame the general. My family, on the other hand, is doing well. They were resettled in Jiaozhou, divided fifty acres of land, although it was hard, but also food and clothing did not worry, this year after I went back, I got another ten acres of land, adding up to sixty acres of land, enough to feed our family. ”

Liu Xinda closed his eyes slightly and said, "Since you are determined to be a farmer, what are you doing here with me?" Did the Tang people let you come? ”

Liu Santong shook his head: "No, I decided to go on this trip by myself, of course, I was able to get here smoothly, and it was indeed they who escorted me." ”

Liu Xinda nodded, Liu Santong said so, he didn't have him.

"General, you can't win." Liu Santong took two steps forward and said sincerely: "In the past six months or so, I have witnessed the administration of the Tang people in Shandong Province, that is, Pinglu in the past, and I finally understand why they are invincible and invincible. Compared with the Pinglu of our time, Pinglu is a big change. I finally understood why the people under their rule supported them so much. To tell you the truth, I've been a flat-headed ordinary person for more than half a year, and I really think they have done an excellent job. ”

Liu Xinda's eyes looked at him, a general who had been extremely relied on in the past.

"Whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world." Liu Santong sighed: "General, if the beam can't hold on, why should you go against the trend, it's better to push the boat down the river, first, so that more sons and daughters under your command can be preserved, and second, you, the general, will not end up in the end." ”

Liu Xinda shook his head slowly: "Three links, I don't have a choice." I'm old, I don't want to be at the end, and I still want to become a surrender general, people have faces, trees have bark, this bit of military integrity, I still want it. Second, my family members are now in Chang'an. If I fight to the death, even if I am defeated in the end, the Liu family will not also fall, even if the Tang people occupy Chang'an in the end, I will not deliberately embarrass my family, even if I am embarrassed, I will not kill them all! The incense can always continue, if I fall this time, the whole Liu clan will be killed immediately. ”

Liu Santong hung his head sadly.

It's a dead knot that can't be untied.

"Three links, you and I work together, it's hard to get this time, you still miss me. Don't say anything else, drink with me, and you can go! It is also a kind of happiness to go back and be a good farmer in this world, and to be able to cultivate the fields in peace. ”