Empire

After dawn, the officers and soldiers of the 9th Battalion of the Qinghe Army, sensing an unusual atmosphere, began to inquire about what had happened.

There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. Although Chen Ziang ordered a temporary blockade of the news, the news of the Qinghe Army's disastrous defeat in the provincial capital still spread secretly.

Panic spread among the soldiers like a plague, especially those whose families were in the provincial capital, who were even more anxious and worried about the safety of their families.

"The Marshal is dead, what are we still doing here? Let's break up and run for our lives."

"Yes, we can't stay here anymore. Once the Black Cavalry comes, we will all be doomed!"

"My family is in a camp outside the provincial capital, and I don't know what's happening to them."......

Although the military police under Li Lang were patrolling everywhere, the situation was in danger of getting out of control in the face of the excited soldiers.

"Anyone who dares to spread rumors will be killed without mercy!"

Li Lang, the military judge, personally led people to arrest some rumor makers, which barely deterred some soldiers.

���Brothers, my wife is also in the provincial capital, and I am also anxious, but if I go there alone now, I might not be able to rescue her, and I might even get myself into trouble."

"Yes, brothers, we must obey the orders of our superiors. Especially at this time, we must unite as one, otherwise we will be defeated one by one."

""Your Excellency will never stand by and watch someone die. We don't know the situation now, so we can't act rashly. Otherwise, what should we do if we encounter a large group of enemies?"

The officers of the 100-man and 1,000-man teams also explained earnestly, asking the soldiers to be patient and follow orders in all actions, which stabilized the morale of the army.

Chen Ziang, the highest officer of the 9th Battalion, also personally inspected various places. Although he was anxious, he forced himself to be calm and steady.

Seeing Chen Ziang so calm and steady, the soldiers felt a little more at ease.

At noon, the first wave of scouts returned, exhausted, and brought back the latest news.

"The provincial capital was breached by the Black Cavalry, and the commander-in-chief Zhang Dayuan and the deputy commander Xu Fu and more than 50,000 other brothers were captured."

As the first wave of scouts returned, more intelligence was soon placed on Chen Ziang's desk.

"The Black Cavalry has more than 100,000 men."

"The Qinghe Army had been completely defeated."

"The Qingyang Prefecture was breached by the Wang Chao Army, and the whereabouts of the deputy commander Chen Ru were unknown."

"The Black Cavalry took a detour to attack the provincial capital, but Qingyang Prefecture was still holding out."

"The 15th Battalion was completely wiped out"

"Deputy General Zhou He was killed in battle".....

The scouts got the news from the refugees and the defeated soldiers. All kinds of news were flying everywhere, which made Chen Ziang frown.

"What we can be sure of now is that the provincial capital was raided by the Dynasty's Black Cavalry, the whereabouts of the commander-in-chief and the deputy commander-in-chief are unknown, and they are likely to have met with an accident, and the troops were defeated. Other information needs further verification."

Faced with the chaotic news, Chen Ziang analyzed calmly, assessing and judging the situation in his mind.

"Sir, as far as we know, our Ninth Battalion is the only unit that has maintained its organization. For the safety of our brothers, we should immediately retreat to a safer place."

Facing the crisis, General Lin Yu felt that the Black Cavalry had appeared in the surrounding areas, and they had to move, otherwise they would inevitably be wiped out once they were discovered.

After all, the main force of the Qinghe Army had collapsed, and their troops were not enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

"Now the brothers' families are still alive or dead. If we want to withdraw, I'm afraid the brothers will not agree."

"If we don't retreat, we'll all be doomed."

"But where to retreat?"

"I think we should wait and see what happens before making any plans."

Faced with the chaotic situation, the officers of the 9th Battalion also had their own ideas and argued with each other.

"Brother Qiye, what do you think?"

Seeing the officers arguing, Chen Ziang turned his gaze to the Chief of Staff Li Qiye who was sitting on the Diaoyutai.

Li Qiye had just joined Chen Ziang's army, so he had been sitting aside in silence, fearing that he would make mistakes if he spoke too much.

Now that Chen Ziang had directly called his name, if Li Qiye wanted to play dumb again, he would be unworthy of Chen Ziang's trust in him.

"Sir, I think in this critical situation, this is an opportunity for you and the brothers of the Ninth Battalion." Li Qiye paused and said

"Opportunity?"

Chen Ziang did not expect Li Qiye to say what to do specifically, but instead said this inexplicably.

"Brother Qiye, please elaborate."

"As far as I know, although you and the brothers of the Ninth Battalion have made many military achievements, they have been suppressed everywhere because they offended the deputy commander Xu Fu. Others have been promoted and made money, but you have been sent to do trivial things such as collecting grain, which is what the baggage soldiers need to do."

After Li Qiye finished speaking, everyone agreed with him, but he was the deputy commander, and they could do nothing about it.

"Now the Marshal and the Deputy Marshal are missing, and all the troops have suffered heavy losses, but the Ninth Battalion is almost intact. If you can stand up in such a disastrous situation and turn the tide, then you will gain unparalleled prestige in the Qinghe Army."

"If the marshals were still alive, then by then, with your merits, although you would not be as good as the three marshals, you would still be below them and above ten thousand people."

"If the three commanders are killed, you will be the new commander of the Qinghe Army, and everyone here will be at least deputy commanders and lieutenant commanders."Li Qiye glanced at everyone and said with a smile.

After hearing the picture Li Qiye described, everyone's faces were uncertain, because they also found that it seemed to make some sense.

"Although this is true, we only have one battalion, and the Dynasty Army is strong, how can we be their opponent?" Deputy Battalion Commander Zhang Bao said worriedly

"You can't get a tiger cub without risking it."

Li Qiye continued,"Besides, we can gather the defeated soldiers to strengthen our strength. Even if we are not the opponent of the Dynasty Army, at that time, the sky will be high and the birds will fly freely, the sea will be wide and the fish will leap freely. What can the Dynasty Army do to us?"

After listening to Li Qiye's words, Chen Ziang also fell into thought.

If he raised his arms and called for action now, although it would be very risky, once he succeeded, the status and strength of him and the Ninth Battalion would be greatly improved.

They were originally on the edge of a knife, and danger was everywhere, but risks and opportunities coexisted. After careful consideration, Chen Ziang decided to seize this opportunity.

He used to rely on the Qinghe Army and wanted to enjoy the shade under the big tree, so he suffered a lot of grievances, but he had been tolerating it, because he didn't Wanting to be the first to stand out, he only wanted to develop his strength in secret.

Now the big tree is about to fall over. If he continues to hide under the big tree for safety, he might be crushed to death by the tree.

So he must make a choice now, that is, to change his mindset, either stay away from the big tree of Qinghe Army, or work hard to prop up the big tree.

Although the provincial capital was breached and the Marshal and others were missing, there were many soldiers and horses of Qinghe Army distributed in various regions. The Qinghe Army was leaderless, and now it lacked a leader.