dognovel Chapter 232: The Two Armies Fight
Chapter 232: The Two Armies Fight
Ning Yi really had the urge to reorganize the entire world and conquer it all over again.
But if that happens, the city will be devastated, and it will take a long time to rebuild it and restore its prosperity.
And how many years would it take? Ning Yi himself didn't know.
It seems that if you want to ascend the throne, you need to take it slowly.
Ning Yi rested at the base for a few days. After he had initially resolved the problem with Fang's army, he handed over everything else to Zeng Zhizhong.
The imperial edict from the palace urged him to send troops quickly and destroy the traitor King Huai as soon as possible.
Ning Yi’s reply was that the troops of the Beijing camp were not fit for duty and that they needed to slowly deal with King Huai.
Finally, after the base was sorted out, they returned to the army, and the army continued to advance westward.
King Huai had already led his army for hundreds of miles.
King Huai's capital city was not captured, and now the army has become a defeated one with only tens of thousands of soldiers left.
Many state capitals along the way closed their city gates, and no one dared to open them at will.
Of course, King Huai also conquered several cities along the way, but in order to reach the capital as quickly as possible, he had to give up the not-so-important provincial capitals.
But on the way back, it was the same as before, constantly forcing people from all over the place.
Looking at the devastation everywhere along the way, Ning Yi frowned. This King Huai was truly a disaster.
Wherever they go, they make trouble. No wonder they were able to gather an army of hundreds of thousands so quickly. It's like a snowball.
The reason why he hesitated was, firstly, that he did not want to confront King Huai head-on now, and secondly, that he wanted to buy time for the Second Army.
The Second Army has been preparing for several days and is now finally starting to take real action.
What’s interesting is that except for the 10,000 soldiers and horses that stayed in Jizhou Prefecture, the rest followed Prince Ji to Prince Huai’s Palace to make a fortune.
As a result, the vassal soldiers of Prince Huai's Mansion were also tough. The two sides fought for several days, but Prince Ji failed to capture Huaizhou Prefecture.
It's useless for this fat guy to get angry.
He watched King Huai's capital suffer a disastrous defeat, and then led the hundreds of thousands of troops he had brought along along the way to attack.
The fat man had to give up Huaizhou Prefecture first and lead his 40,000 elite troops and 10,000 cavalry to prepare for a decisive battle with King Huai.
First, drive King Huai away, and then clean up King Huai's palace.
The fat Prince Ji is rich. He is one of the most powerful vassal kings and is supported by several noble families. The vassal king's soldiers are very powerful.
The aristocratic families supported several princes simply because they were worried that the imperial court would cause trouble for them, confiscate their property and exterminate their clans, thus killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Therefore, the several vassal kings they supported were their trump cards, preventing the imperial court from arbitrarily touching them.
Just like the Dongfang family, supporting Ning Yi has the same intention, but the Dongfang family also supports several vassal kings in private, and they wish they could produce more soldiers.
King Huai is now very anxious. There are tens of thousands of King Ji's troops blocking him in front, and there is a damn brat leading 50,000 elite troops chasing after him from behind.
He was almost trapped in the middle.
Others suggested to him that he should give up Huaizhou Prefecture and go south to other places, where there is still hope.
But King Huai did not give up. What a joke! His old nest was in Huaizhou, and his wives, concubines, and children were all in Huaizhou. If he ran away, he would really become a stray dog.
Moreover, many elite troops have families in Huaizhou, so how could they be willing to leave Huaizhou easily?
Prince Ji, with his big belly and dressed in a python robe, looked down at the generals below with a majestic look: "This old fellow Prince Huai has actually come before me."
"Who among you is willing to kill him for me?"
A general immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, give me 20,000 soldiers and 10,000 cavalry, and I will take King Huai's head immediately."
They spoke with great enthusiasm, and they were very close to King Huai.
Naturally, they all knew each other's background. King Huai was a waste. He had 30,000 elite troops under his command, 10,000 of whom were stationed in Huaizhou Prefecture. They could only defend and dared not to come out. Although it was difficult to take it down, they did not dare to leave the city for a decisive battle.
As for King Huai who came running, he seemed to have a lot of troops, but most of them were empty.
Didn’t you see the battle in the capital, where the Beijing troops were almost destroyed by a bunch of useless people?
Prince Ji nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, go and deal with Prince Huai, but don't kill him. I still have to give an explanation to the man in the capital."
Anyway, it was not a big problem for him to kill King Huai, but asking the emperor for Huaizhou and exchanging King Huai for it, wasn't that fair and just?
Someone advised, "Your Highness, don't be careless. Prince Huai is followed by 50,000 soldiers from the capital. Be careful they might take advantage of the situation."
"Them?" Prince Ji's small, fat eyes were filled with serious contempt. "Without the Imperial Guards' help, they're just a bunch of trash."
"Didn't you see that he just followed King Huai and ate dirt all the way? Besides bullying the useless rioters that King Huai had recruited, what else can he be capable of? Don't bother with him."
Not only did Prince Ji think so, even Prince Huai thought so. Without the Imperial Guards, the Beijing Camp's combat effectiveness was indeed not very good.
If he hadn't thought that King Huai was anxiously worried about Huaizhou Prefecture, he would have wanted to fight these 50,000 soldiers from the Beijing camp.
King Huai was still very confident in his elite troops, and he also had a group of strong men. Even if they were exhausted, they would be enough to wear them out.
Soon, the army of King Ji and the army of King Huai were fighting fiercely in the open wilderness less than eighty miles away from Huaizhou.
Although King Huai did not understand military affairs, he knew that there was strength in numbers.
Groups of young men were driven forward by his troops, howling and crying. It was indeed a torment to King Ji's 20,000 elite troops by these endless waves of young men.
Of course, they were also beaten to pieces by a flank charge by King Ji's tens of thousands of cavalrymen.
They are just a group of young men with no experience and no organization.
How could they be a match for the large and mighty cavalry?
But when the cavalry drove them away, they encountered King Huai's elite troops who were ready for battle. The cavalry were unwilling to engage in a head-on confrontation, so King Ji ordered them not to attack and to let the infantry deal with them.
Prince Ji also felt sorry for his cavalry. Cavalry was really too valuable, and one was more valuable than several infantrymen.
However, as soon as the king's 20,000 elite troops arrived, they were confronted by a group of able-bodied men, and the two sides ended up in a stalemate.
But King Ji was so angry that he vomited blood. The damn King Huai was so shameless that he brought so many able-bodied men as cannon fodder.
Moreover, among the able-bodied men, hundreds of them are led by a trusted leader of King Huai. Now King Huai is becoming more and more skilled in using cannon fodder as a weapon.
After fighting a few battles, this group of cannon fodders will probably gain experience and become veterans.
King Huai's method of expanding the army and training soldiers with little capital is truly admirable and very suitable for troubled times.
At night, Prince Ji was so angry that he cursed the generals, saying, "If you can't even deal with a group of cannon fodder, what's the use of you?"
Prince Ji could not swallow this humiliation, so he prepared for a second attack and mobilized all his troops.
It doesn't matter even if we lose some cavalry. At most, we can spend some silver to replenish them later. But this damn King Huai must be destroyed.