After the decisive battle began, the Western Qin army first fired five rounds of arrows in a row, and when the two sides were about to contact and engage, Chu Ge suddenly ordered the whole army to retreat, releasing arrows while retreating, and striking with bows and arrows at the Great Food Army that was pursuing behind him.

The Great Food Army had already learned this tactic of the Western Qin Army, so after chasing for a distance, it immediately stopped the pursuit and prepared to retreat, but this battle had already been fought like this, how could it be said that it would be withdrawn? Chu Ge immediately led the army back to fight back, the soldiers of the Great Food Army were flustered, first were shot by several rounds of arrows and suffered heavy casualties, and then were rushed by the cavalry of the Western Qin Army, and were rushed to collapse on the spot, the Western Qin Army pursued all the way to the city of Valcha Pass before withdrawing and returning, killing more than 4,000 enemy soldiers in this battle, capturing more than 1,000 people, and including 2,000 heavy armored cavalry among the 4,000 people killed, it can be described as a complete victory, and finally washed away the shame of the last defeat.

After listening to the secretary's report on the results of the battle in the big tent, Chu Ge was overjoyed in his heart and laughed: "Hahaha?????? The heavy armored iron cavalry of the Great Food Army is nothing more than that, and in the face of our Western Qin light cavalry, they also have to kneel! ”

The generals laughed together: "Hahaha??????"

At this time, a lieutenant walked in and hugged his fists and reported: "General Qiyu, a messenger sent by the Great Food Varcha Pass said that he came to negotiate peace with our army on the order of the Caliph!" ”

"Peace talks?" Chu Ge was stunned for a moment, looked at the generals, and asked the captain: "You said that the big cannibals want peace talks?" ”

The lieutenant bowed his head and said, "Yes! ”

"Humph! They say peace talks, peace talks? It depends on whether we agree or not! No, you go and tell the messenger of the big cannibal, just say that we don't make peace, either they surrender voluntarily, or they will be beaten by us to surrender! Chu Ge was obviously still angry because of the defeat he had suffered a few days ago.

Liu Guangsheng, the overseer next to him, said loudly: "General Chu, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to do this, right?" It seems to be suspected of overstepping his authority! We don't know what the king thinks and what the court wants, if we drive away the messenger of the great cannibal without permission, who will bear the responsibility if the court investigates it at that time? ”

Chu Ge looked at Liu Guangsheng a little annoyed, this guy is really annoying, he is constrained everywhere, so that he can't fully display it, in fact, Liu Guangsheng's grade is 108,000 miles away from him, but this guy is his prison army, and he can't do anything with this guy.

Okay, Lao Tzu endure it, don't let Lao Tzu grab the handle, otherwise Lao Tzu will definitely kill you, a disgusting guy, Chu Ge thought viciously in his heart, and waved his hand to the captain: "Go and bring in the messenger of the big cannibal!" ”

"Yes, General!"

Chu Ge looked at Liu Guangsheng: "Lord Liu, the matter of entertaining the Great Food Envoy cannot be done by this general, and this is not within the scope of the General's authority, I think this matter should be handled by you, do it beautifully, lest the big cannibals of the family say that we don't understand etiquette!" ”

Liu Guangsheng didn't shirk either, got up and arched his hand and said, "The lower officials obey orders!" ”

Although the two countries were at war, and the armies of both sides were killed to death, in terms of the attitude towards the envoys, the Western Qin side still showed the demeanor of a great power. According to the diplomatic practice of this period, once the two countries go to war, there will basically be no diplomatic outreach, until one side is completely defeated, at this level of civilization, no one can guarantee that the other side will not be cut off in the process of envoys during the war, after all, this kind of thing happens often, no one wants to take on this kind of drudgery, who is not afraid of death will go.

Zhao Ziliang first received a letter of guilt written by Chu Ge in Yazd, and was sent a report of defeat together, after all, he has been in power for many years and has been fighting on the battlefield for a long time, and he will not hold the leading general accountable for a disadvantage in a war, this is a mind that a superior must have, as the saying goes, how can there be a reason not to wet your shoes when standing by the river? Not to mention wars? According to Chu Ge's detailed description in the battle report, at that time, even if he Zhao Ziliang personally commanded the troops, he was not necessarily pleased, so he did not express his unfavorable position on this battle at the first time.

After the war report was passed in the hands of the civil officials and military generals, some people immediately stood up and said that they would investigate the defeat of Chu Ge and demand that Chu Ge be severely punished, and the reason was very good, the loss of this war was the largest since the founding of the Western Qin Dynasty, and the casualties reached 4,000 people, of which hundreds were captured by the Great Food Army.

There is more than one person who asks to hold Chu Ge accountable for the defeat, Chu Ge is one of the top generals in the military platoon, and there are few people who can compare to him in terms of military power, which has been jealous of many people, plus his upright personality, he has offended many people in the court, and some people wish he was unlucky, now that the opportunity has come, how can these people not fall into the ground?

It was already the third day after receiving the report of defeat, and the next good news was also sent in the evening of the next day, Zhao Ziliang convened the ministers of civil and military affairs this time not to make a decision on the defeat, but at the end of the meeting, someone stood up and demanded that Chu Ge be severely punished, and one after another people came out to echo it, not only civil officials, but also several military generals. However, there are also many people who stand up and say that Chu Ge has lost and won one victory, and the merits and demerits can be offset by no further investigation, and there is no need to reward him, but this statement was quickly opposed by the gang of people who demanded severe punishment, and their reason was that the merits and demerits could not be offset.

Zhao Ziliang looked at these generals who stood up with the civilian officials and demanded that Chu Ge be severely punished, and knew that Chu Ge was only afraid that he would offend a lot of people not only in the civilian group, but also in the military, otherwise these generals would not stand up and wade into troubled waters.

"King, you must make a decision on this matter today, if the defeat of the generals can be unpunished, isn't it a disguised encouragement for the generals to be passive and sluggish, isn't it a disguised encouragement for the generals not to care about victory or defeat?"

"That's it! Defeated generals must be punished, so that all generals understand that when fighting, they must do everything possible to achieve victory! ”

"The minister seconded the proposal, the generals usually enjoy a respectful status far beyond ordinary officials, and their food, clothing, and glory and wealth are all given by the king and the court, and it is natural to die for the king and the court! Since they can be promoted and made rich if they win a battle, why should they not accept punishment if they lose a battle? How can there be such a truth in this world? ”

Zhao Ziliang coldly watched the Wenchen generals arguing, and he couldn't stand it after a long time, he was dizzy and upset by the noise, and immediately slapped the table and said coldly: "Enough!" ”

The ministers and generals were all startled, seeing Zhao Ziliang's ugly face, knowing that he was really angry, they suddenly shrank their necks and lowered their heads like quails drenched in the rain, and never said anything again.

Zhao Ziliang pointed at the two brothers Zhao Hu and Zhao Lei and asked, "Zhao Hu and Zhao Lei, are you willing to lose the battle?" ”

Zhao Hu and Zhao Lei both stood up and replied: "Back to the king (father), it is a shame to suffer defeat, how can we be willing to suffer defeat?" ”

Zhao Ziliang pointed to Nur, Zhang Ben, Erzhu Xianzhong and others and asked, "How many of you are?" Are you willing to lose? ”

Nuer and the others hurriedly said: "I don't want to, the ministers are not stupid!" ”

Zhao Ziliang pointed at Chen Qing and asked, "Chen Qing, you say, are you willing to lose the battle?" ”

Chen Qing replied honestly: "Of course Weichen is not willing to suffer defeat, this is not only a personal shame, but also a shame for the whole army, the consequences of eating a defeat will not only humiliate themselves, but also make the whole army suffer huge losses, and many soldiers will inevitably die!" A defeat can turn the entire strategy around and change, it may have a negative impact on the entire kingdom, the consequences are serious, and no one wants to lose unless they are people with abnormal brains! ”

"So do you think Chu Ge is a person with an abnormal brain?"

The ministers and generals looked at each other and shook their heads. Just kidding, if Chu Ge is a person with an abnormal brain, then wouldn't it mean that the king who appointed him as a general is also abnormal?

Zhao Ziliang looked at the ministers and generals and said, "You all know that as long as you are a general, if no one is willing to lose the battle, Chu Ge is willing to suffer the defeat?" You have all watched the defeat and have an intuitive understanding of the situation at that time, the civilian officials do not understand the military, don't you understand it either? You ask yourself, can you do better than Chu Ge in that situation? ”

The generals all lowered their heads, obviously acquiescing that they would not do better than Chu Ge in that situation.

Zhao Ziliang said again: "Of course, the battle report was written by Chu Ge, and this king will not listen to Chu Ge's words, so he sent someone to investigate this matter in detail, and after investigation, the war report written by Chu Ge is basically true." Chu Ge's defeat was not a major mistake in command, but restraint in the troops! We all know the power of the heavy armored iron cavalry, how can the light cavalry and ordinary infantry withstand the impact of the heavy armored iron cavalry? Chu Ge could have let the light cavalry retreat, using the mobility and flexibility of the light cavalry to maneuver with the heavy cavalry of the Great Food Army, but the infantry phalanx in the rear occupied the roundabout space of the light cavalry, so that he could not play the relevant tactics of the light cavalry, at the critical moment he thought of a thousand Mo Dao Army and ordered the mobilization of the Mo Dao Army in time to block the impact of the enemy's heavy armored cavalry, in the process he retreated in time to keep the morale of the army, to this extent is already to the best of his ability, Even if this king is on the scene, he may not be able to do better! It turns out that just yesterday's battle Chu Ge learned the lesson of defeat and won a big victory in one fell swoop! ”

"This king has long said that it is not easy for the imperial court to train a general, and it is even more difficult to cultivate a famous general, and the imperial court has spent countless resources and sacrificed many warriors to become a general with rich combat experience, how can he be held accountable for his temporary defeat in the war? You have time to read the history of the Roman Empire, which has never held defeated generals accountable, and whose national honor has lasted for more than a thousand years, and still exists! Is it necessary to remove a person who is responsible but has failed miserably, and who is tormented by shame, is it necessary to remove him from office or ask him for his guilt? Defeat is not terrible, it is terrible not to learn from defeat, we must be good at learning from defeating our opponents, we must never admit defeat, we must return the defeat to the opponent in the next battle! ”

Zhao Ziliang looked at everyone: "Chu Ge is not guilty, this king has ordered him to return to Yazd tomorrow, and you will go with this king to meet him tomorrow!" ”

"Meet him?" The ministers looked at each other.