To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

“Yes!”

All the generals responded in unison, obeying the command.@@novelbin@@

Thus, without having engaged in battle, Lu Yuan led his troops back to the city, after which more than ten thousand cavalry were released.

In groups of a thousand per team and a hundred per unit, they dispersed within dozens of miles around the Ning Army camp, tightly monitoring and blocking all possible retreat paths of their opponent.

Naturally, this move by the Chu army also caught the attention of the Ning Army.

…

In the Ning Army Camp.

Shen Qiu felt somewhat annoyed upon receiving news of the Chu army’s invitation to battle and subsequent withdrawal to the city. Before his mood could settle, a rush of horse hooves outside the camp stirred up countless disturbances.

When he sent someone to investigate the matter, soldiers rushed in to report before he could even get clear information.

They simply stated that the Chu army had widely scattered their cavalry and were now blocking all major routes outside the camp, seemingly intent on trapping them completely inside.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiu’s eyebrows twitched slightly, sensing a conspiracy on the part of the Chu people, which caused some unease in his heart.

He quickly summoned all the generals in the camp to inquire among them, seeking to discern the Chu army’s purpose.

However, after discussing, the generals found themselves without sufficient clues and unclear on the Chu people’s intentions, leaving them all puzzled.

Thus, after consideration, they could only suggest reinforcing the camp’s defenses to prevent any surprise attacks from the Chu and dispatching scouts to the surrounding areas in an attempt to capture some Chu cavalry and thereby uncover their plans.

This was merely the most basic response, entirely a passive strategy, naturally dissatisfying to Shen Qiu.

But other than this prudent suggestion, he had no better method.

In the army, there were different opinions.

For instance, Marquis Wuan Bai Yian had not yet abandoned his extremely conservative strategy.

After hearing of the Chu army’s strange movements, he quickly lost his composure and requested an audience with Shen Qiu, expressing that the Chu people had been calm for months, but now this sudden change must signify a major conspiracy.

Now that they were blockading the area, it was surely to conceal some information. If they continued to stay in this location, once the Chu army’s preparations were complete, the entire army could be trapped in a deathly situation.

Therefore, for the safety of the army, they should take advantage of the moment before the Chu army’s arrangements were set and their plans just initiated and immediately lead the army to retreat back to Yuzhang.

After all, Ning had already failed to capture Jiangxia, and the plan for Shen Qiu’s forces to launch a surprise attack on the Chu army’s hinterland had also become an illusion due to the defeat on the Lingnan battlefield.

Ning Country could gain no further advantage over Chu State.

Given this, it made no sense to keep forces on the front lines, depleting money and provisions, merely wasting national strength.

This not only undermined the country’s foundation but also brought the risk of collapse to the army; such risks could no longer be taken.

Retreating the army back to Jiangdong as soon as possible to preserve the current strength, then integrating all resources to prepare for a long war with the Chu people was the most cautious and sensible strategy at present.

However, Bai Yian’s words did not persuade Shen Qiu; instead, they drew dissatisfaction from him and the other ministers.

What conspiracy by the Chu army, what withdrawal to the homeland?

Warfare has always been about employing every possible stratagem, sparing no approach, with the primary goal of eliminating the opponent.

Moreover, as the saying from ancient times goes, in military strife and dangerous battles, where is there no peril on the battlefield?

And at this very moment, the situation with Chu was at a standoff, whether Lingnan can be held, whether the northern banks of the river can be held, whether Ning can repel the enemy from its borders, whether Yangzhou’s hegemony can be maintained, all hinged on the current situation.

Bai Yian spoke lightly.

The army would give up everything and retreat to fortify Jiangdong.

But could the northern bank, Lingnan, the tranquility of Jiangdong, and the hegemony of Yangzhou, all these factors, truly be so easily forsaken?

If everything was abandoned, would Ning still be Ning?

Could Jinling still regard itself as the seat of the Heavenly Son?

The matter was far too important; Bai Yian approached the issue from a purely war perspective, which might seem very wise, appearing as if he were the only sober person in a crowd of drunkards.

But war has never been just about war.

Behind war, there are factors such as economics, politics, and public sentiment influencing it…

Sometimes, in the face of a great war, you can’t just consider the war itself, it won’t do.

You have to look at the whole picture, from the whole country, from the perspective of the whole world.

From such a grand perspective, many choices and decisions that seem foolish to everyone may actually be influenced by many other factors.

At this point, Shen Qiu and his peers were influenced by the many factors behind the war, and they could not possibly speak of retreating as easily as Bai Yian, who only considered the pros and cons of war.

Thus, in the eyes of Bai Yian, at the time of a country’s crisis, the court was full of incompetent emperors and officials.

Did these inept rulers and ministers not realize that their actions could weaken national power and even lead to the destruction of Ning Country?

Not at all.

They also knew that their choices were foolish and passive.

But if they did not choose this way, Ning might not perish, but they themselves would certainly perish first.

The simplest one:

This time, Ning Country deployed 600,000 troops, mobilized two vassal states and one ally state, with united forces nearing one million – a momentum in Jiangnan that is said to be unparalleled in 300 years, and the entire Nine Provinces watched with great interest.

After such a battle, if Ning Country suddenly retreated and admitted defeat, abandoning three allied countries, relinquishing one commandery north of the river, and with tens of thousands of soldiers dead or injured, having spent innumerable money and grain…

Who would bear the responsibility for this defeat?

The commander of the united army for this war, Heavenly Son of Ning Country, Shen Qiu?

Or the many generals and officers in the camp, and the high ministers and officials?

Or you, Marquis Wuan, Bai Yian?

The responsibility for this defeat is so great that even Shen Qiu, as the emperor, dared not take it squarely on his shoulders.

Because he couldn’t bear it.

If he admitted it, then facing the crime of defeat, facing the fault of tens of thousands of dead and wounded soldiers, facing the anger and resistance of the army, facing the roaring public sentiment of those who went bankrupt or even lost their families due to the war, and facing the loss of considerable interests of the local gentry and aristocratic families due to the defeat…

The fury of these countless groups would be so overwhelming that even as the Heavenly Son, he wouldn’t be able to withstand it, as it would burn him to ashes.

One must realize.

The Jinling regime has never been the domain of a single family, but is instead elected by the aristocratic families and rotated among various clans.

Initially, when the Xiao Family was in power, they lost half of the territory and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, compromising the interests of too many power classes, which led to universal anger and their dismissal.

Now, Shen Qiu’s family is in power, and if, as Bai Yian said, they similarly lose the northern commandery and the vassal states in Lingnan, it’s almost like losing half a country.

The loss of soldiers would also number in the tens of thousands, similarly harming many people’s interests.

The lesson from the past is just over a decade ago.

The Xiao Family is now on the fringes of the six clans and subjected to hostility and scorn by all.

The outcome of the predecessor is well remembered; even Shen Qiu, bold as he may be, wouldn’t dare to risk repeating their fate.

Similarly,

with the consequences of a failed war being so serious, none of the generals, ministers, and officials wanted to bear the incalculable loss of benefits after the defeat or the heavy burdens that would inevitably arise when the Chu State came to attack.

With the lessons of Yue Country’s failure still in sight, they naturally did not support retreating.

Therefore, under the resistance of the monarch and his ministers, Shen Qiu’s proposal was, not unexpectedly, rejected.

Faced with Lu Yuan’s blockade, the Ning Army only conservatively sent out reconnaissance, responding passively.

Completely losing the only chance to take back Luo Kou Du when Chu’s army had just captured it and was not yet firmly established.

In a critical moment of decision, Ning Country took another wrong path.