Fenghou

Chapter 465 Mutiny
Cao Baozong did fall ill, but it was just a heart disease. He realized that he had been fooled and sent [-] troops in vain, which made him feel remorse, anger, worry, and fear.

The regret is that he shouldn't have trusted the intelligence of the Qinzhou spies. He still hasn't understood why he failed, but put the blame on the wrong information.

Anger is Chen Qing's insidious and cunning, setting a trap to let himself fall. If he knew that Chen Qing was in the city, he would never attack the city like this. Why didn't he know that Chen Qing was in Longxi County?Because the intelligence said that Chen Qing would lead the army to set off on the fifth day of February, so the intelligence was still wrong, and it was not his responsibility.

The worry is that he doesn't know how to retreat. He is very worried that the scene last year will repeat itself, and their entire army was wiped out halfway.

I was afraid that he was afraid that the emperor Li Qianshun would be angry and kill himself. If the whole army was wiped out again, how would he explain to the emperor when he went back?
It was this mentality of worrying about gains and losses, coupled with the huge pressure of failure, that Cao Baozong couldn't bear it mentally, and he simply fell down and pretended to be sick.

The big tent was very quiet. Cao Baozong was lying on the bed with a pale face, his eyes were sunken and lifeless, and his lips were bloodless.

The soldiers put wax on his face, the effect was very good, at least Tuoba Chengqing was fooled into thinking that he was really seriously ill.

Tuoba Chengqing sat beside him, took out a joint letter and said: "Everyone knows that the general is ill and unable to make a decision, so our five generals in charge of the army had a temporary discussion and reached a consensus to withdraw the troops. Let's take a look at this plan. Can the general agree?"

This is actually five people forcing the palace. If Cao Baozong refuses to accept their plan, then they will take some extraordinary measures. Cao Baozong may be seriously ill and die tonight.

The Xixia Army has always only recognized strength. Children from aristocratic families like Cao Baozong have no foundation in the army, no confidant generals and direct troops. No major general will tolerate him anymore.

Cao Baozong just has no actual combat experience and is easy to talk about wars on paper, but he is not stupid, and he is extremely smart, otherwise the emperor Li Qianshun would not be deceived by his rhetoric and sent him to be the chief general.

Cao Baozong immediately understood what the other party meant, and these generals had already left him alone and made their own decisions.

He was secretly vigilant in his heart, and asked quietly: "Tell me about the plan?"

"Everyone has unanimously decided that the army will withdraw to Lintao Prefecture and occupy Didao County, or return to Lanzhou from Lintao Prefecture."

Cao Baozong was stunned, and immediately asked anxiously: "Leaving from Lintao, what about the military cities in the north?"

Tuoba Chengqing remained silent and did not answer his questioning.

Cao Baozong stayed for a while, then sighed, "What about the luggage?"

"The luggage is also carried together, but the siege weapons do not need to be carried, which will drag us down."

Cao Baozong pretended to be very weak and said: "I'm very sick and can't make a decision anymore, you just make a decision, don't tell me any more!"

"Understood, the general will take good care of his illness, and we will send troops to escort the general."

Tuoba Chengqing turned and left.

When the opponent walked away, Cao Baozong struggled to sit up and yelled, "This is a mutiny! I want to sue the emperor. It was the bastards' obedience and violation that made the soldiers unwilling to attack the city with all their strength, which led to the defeat."

Cao Baozong's mind suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He finally found the real reason for the defeat. It was not wrong for him to send [-] troops to attack the city, but his generals secretly disobeyed his orders and made the soldiers refuse to work hard. It was too late to take it down, which led to heavy casualties in the end.

Aware of this, Cao Baozong immediately said to several soldiers: "Pack up your things, we will leave as soon as it gets dark."

Cao Baozong knew well that if an old fox like Xia Lian was going to launch a mutiny, how could he allow himself to go to the court to sue him for his crimes? He would definitely let himself die unexpectedly, so that he could legally seize military power.

At two o'clock at night, the army was very quiet, and there was no move to withdraw troops.

Tuoba Chengqing was a little anxious, and quickly found Xia Lian, the commander of the army, "General Xia, didn't you agree to withdraw the army tonight? It's already three o'clock now, why is there no sign of withdrawing at all?"

Xia Lian said coldly: "The matter has not been dealt with properly. For example, there are no military orders or military symbols. How can I order the withdrawal of troops?"

"But Cao Baozong has personally promised that we will make our own decisions."

Xia Lian sneered, as if mocking Tuoba Chengqing's naivety.

"These high-ranking officials from aristocratic families who come from the court may not know how to fight, but the intrigues in the court are all masters. If he doesn't have a bit of skill, can he be a general? Can the emperor trust him and appoint him as the chief general?"

"The general meant to say."

"I mean, he will definitely blame us for the defeat."

"No way! He insisted on going his own way, and even the monk Dongyan turned his back on him. How can he still put the blame on us?"

Seeing that Tuoba Chengqing still didn't understand, Xia Lian was a little annoyed, so he simply said frankly: "Without the emperor's will, we negotiated the withdrawal of the army without authorization, which is a rebellion. The Cao family has no power in the army, but the court has power It's very big, once he complains to the emperor, you and I can't bear it, and he will definitely say that it was us who secretly hindered him, which led to his defeat."

Only then did Tuoba Chengqing realize the seriousness of the problem, and he quickly asked, "What does the general mean?"

"I have two options, either listen to him, go where he says to go? It is his responsibility that the army dies in the end, but we all have to watch our subordinates and soldiers die. My own life is in danger."

Tuoba Chengqing shook his head, "It's come to this point, it's impossible to turn back, general just say it straight!"

Xia Lian said coldly: "That's my second plan. Cao Baozong unfortunately passed away tonight."

Tuoba Chengqing nodded slowly, he understood that they would not be able to implement their plan if they did not remove the stumbling block Cao Baozong.

At this moment, a soldier rushed to report, "Report to the commanding army, to the deputy commander, there is news from the big tent of the Chinese army that the general is missing!"

"what!"

Xia Lian's face changed drastically, he grabbed the sword and rushed out of the tent, Tuoba Chengqing stomped his feet angrily, and ran out after him.

In front of the big tent of the Chinese army, many soldiers were surrounded, talking in whispers.

Xia Lian strode over and shouted sharply: "Whatever you are doing, you all go back to your tent!"

Xia Lian's prestige was extremely high, and the soldiers did not dare to disobey the order, so they left one after another.

The person who discovered Cao Baozong's disappearance was a military doctor. He came to see Cao Baozong's doctor. He found that there was no one in the big tent, and none of the more than a hundred soldiers had disappeared, and his things had been packed away.

"When did you find out that no one was missing?" Xia Lian asked.

The military doctor hurriedly said: "The humble job has just been discovered."

Xia Lian immediately ordered: "Get me all the generals on duty at the four camp gates!"

Several soldiers rushed away.

Tuoba Chengqing asked the military doctor again: "Is the general sick?"

"Xiaozhi feels that his pulse is stable, it should be just a heart disease."

"But his complexion is so bad, is it just pretending?"

"Humble posts don't dare to talk nonsense."

"Say!" Xia Lian shouted sharply.

Then the military doctor stammered, "Maybe he had something painted on his face, which makes it easy for people to think he is sick."

"This bastard!"

Xia Lian clenched his fists, he should have killed him first, but he smelled it, he was even smarter than a rabbit.

At this time, the general on duty of the Northern Army Camp was brought up to salute and said: "General Qi, today a group of the general's personal soldiers rode out of the barracks. Dare to stop."

Needless to say, Cao Baozong must have been among them, Xia Lian asked anxiously, "When did it happen?"

"It's just getting dark!"

Three hours have passed, and it is definitely impossible to catch up now.

Xia Lian was upset for a while. He knew that Cao Baozong was trying to shirk his responsibility. Now he would definitely accuse himself of mutiny in front of the emperor, which led to his disastrous defeat in Longxi County. Extremely passive.

Tuoba Chengqing whispered: "There are Song Army scouts on the periphery, so he may not be able to escape."

Xia Lian nodded, he could only place his hopes on this, he sighed and said, "For the time being, wait and observe for two days!"

(End of this chapter)