Looking at a somewhat panicked general below helplessly, Liu Xinda sighed helplessly.

"This is not your fault. Go and have a good rest." He waved his hand, "Go and receive the monthly salary and send it to the men. At present, we should focus on stabilizing the morale of the army and must not be confused."

"Generals and Generals are not guilty of Duon!" The general below was overjoyed, bowed deeply, turned around and walked away quickly.

Another county was lost.

And he retreated without fighting.

In the past, Liu Xinda would definitely not let such a general go, but what can he do now? At least this general brought back more than a thousand soldiers under his command. Unlike in some places, when the Tang army arrived, they scattered as birds and beasts. Not to mention soldiers, even the generals fled without a trace.

From this perspective, the general who fled just now was quite good at managing his army, and it is really worthy of commendation.

Since Tian Guofeng rebelled, the Liang army's form in the south has taken a sharp turn. Immediately afterwards, Liu Ruyan, the general of the right Qianniu Guard of the Tang army, captured Liangzhe with lightning speed, annexed Xuanzhou, and recovered Huainan. Ezhou has become a candle in the wind and is shaking.

He was ordered to stick to Ezhou, but he was just doing his best and leaving the will of heaven. He had almost no other effect except to share some of the pressure on the battlefield of the Central Plains and restrain Liu Ruyan's main troops.

Counterattack?

Dream!

Since the Liang army began to shrink on a large scale, and made a strategy of defending the Central Plains, defending Luoyang, defending Chang'an, and preparing to fight a protracted battle with the Tang army to consume the Tang army, Ezhou was destined to be the first place to be sacrificed in this grand strategy. And the Tang army would inevitably pull out this nail first.

So from that time on, Liu Xinda himself began to adjust his strategy, basically completely abandoning the rural areas of Ezhou, and only ordered his generals to stick to the city. Once he encountered an attack from the Tang army, he could make a decision at his discretion, either fighting or retreating, and preserving his strength was the top priority.

The prefectures and counties below will definitely not be able to defend. Retracting the main forces back to Ezhou to defend was Liu Xinda's only choice. As the headquarters of Qian Feng, the former governor of Eyue Jiedu, Ezhou City, was located. The city was dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Last year, when Zhu Youzhen attacked Ezhou City, he almost failed.

Today, Ezhou City has been continuously renovated and reinforced by Liu Xinda, and is even better than before.

During the retreat, Liu Xinda issued an order to clear the fields to his generals, robbing everything, burning everything, and plundering all the food, cloth, gold, silver and treasures. All the young and strong men were plundered and confiscated. All the young and strong men were plundered and confiscated back to Ezhou City, leaving only the elderly, weak, women and children, and abandoning these people into the wilderness. Even the wells they could see were not spared, and they all threw things like killed animals into it and completely polluted them.

A series of actions of complete destruction did indeed successfully delay the Tang army's offensive behavior. Every time arriving at a place, the Tang army must first clean up the mess and stabilize the place before continuing to march forward.

The price was that Liang's reputation in the Eyue land was completely destroyed. Not only did the people in other places in Eyue hate them to the core, but the young and strong people in Ezhou City were also full of hatred when they looked at them. If they had the chance, they would definitely not miss the opportunity to cut off Liu Xinda.

But Liu Xinda no longer cared.

Before the war arrived, these young and strong people were just coolies, not having enough food or clothing, but they had to deal with extremely heavy physical labor, build cities, carry materials for defending the city, and have some skills to make materials for defending the city. People who die of fatigue every day do not know Fanfan. Many people suddenly fall down while doing work and never get up again.

When wartime, these people will become the first suicide squads to fight. Under the pressure of the supervision team, they will charge against the Tang army. Even if they cannot kill a Tang army, it is better to consume the opponent's hand-maeya.

Under the pressure of the army, these people worked day after day, and could only get the treatment of two steamed buns and one bowl of soup every day. At night, it was essential to put heavy feet on them to prevent them from making trouble.

In Liu Xinda's eyes, these people have long been dead.

There is no need for mercy to those who are bound to die.

And now, Liu Xinda doesn't feel that he is qualified to pity anyone.

"Santong!" Looking at the man standing in front of him holding a hat and dressed in a farmer, Liu Xinda almost didn't believe his eyes and took a few steps forward. Isn't it the most useful general Liu Santong, who was the most brave general under his command?

In the Battle of Pinglu, Liu Xinda was able to retreat with all his troops and preserved most of the main forces, thanks to Liu Santong's desperate resistance, who was cut off the rear.

Of course, the final outcome was not beyond Liu Xinda's expectations. He escaped, but Liu Santong was besieged and was eventually captured by the Tang army.

Since then, there has been no news about Liu Santong. Liu Xinda has always thought that Liu Santong had been slashed by the Tang army. After all, Liu Santong's final resistance not only covered Liu Xinda's smooth retreat, but also caused a large number of casualties to the Tang army.

"General!" Liu Santong was also filled with emotion and bowed.

He strode to Liu Santong and held both sides of the shoulders with both hands. Liu Xinda looked at the other party up and down, nodding repeatedly: "Okay, it's good to come back. Now it's the time when I use people. If you can come back, you can share a lot of the burden for me."

Liu Santong smiled bitterly and said, "General, this time I came here, but I came to persuade me to surrender."

"Hmm?" Liu Xinda was stunned, and the hand that was placed on the other party's shoulders slowly slid down, took two steps back, and looked at the other party: "You, do things for Tang Jun now?"

Liu Santong shook his head: "I have not joined the army for a long time. Now, I am just an ordinary farmer."

Liu Xindaha laughed, but pointed to the chair on the side and said, "It's been a long time since you came here. Sit down and say."

Liu Santong looked at Liu Xinda with some bitterness after returning to his major case. Although the other party did not act arrogantly, his every move and gesture had already explained everything.

"I just finished hard labor in the Tang army at the beginning of this year. In the words of the Tang people, I was released from prison." Liu Santong did not sit down, but stood in front of Liu Xinda and said: "A person like me has two places to go. One is to join the army in the Western Regions. Based on my past experience, when I went to the Western Regions, I could also get an officer. Do you still remember Liu Xiangchu?"

Liu Xinda nodded.

"I remember, one of your lieutenants at that time seemed to be extremely lucky in combat."

"The general has a good memory. He was captured with me. Their lieutenants were the first to go to the Western Regions. After I was released this year, I heard from the other party that Liu Xiangchu is doing well in the Western Regions. In March this year, he performed outstandingly in the battle against Kucha and has been promoted to the fifth-rank Ranger General."

"Then why didn't you go?"

"General, I'm tired of it." Liu Santong lowered his head and said, "Especially when I returned to my hometown and found my family."

When Liu Xinda heard this, his face turned red and said ashamed: "Santong, when I retreated, I originally took your family with me, but later I encountered some changes and were dispersed by the chaotic army. Are they still alive? That's great, so I let go of my mind."

Liu Santong bowed to the other party: "How can I take care of this thoroughly in the troubled times? I don't mean to blame the general. My family is doing well. They were settled in Jiaozhou and divided up fifty acres of land. Although they worked hard, they didn't have to worry about food and clothing. After I went back this year, I got another ten acres of land, which combined together sixty acres of land, which was enough to support our family."

Liu Xinda closed his eyes slightly and said, "Since he is determined to be a farmer, what are you doing here? Did Tangren ask you to come?"

Liu Santong shook his head: "No, I decided to take this trip myself. Of course, I was escorted here smoothly, because they were indeed escorted by me."

Liu Xinda nodded. Liu Santong said this, but he didn't want him to be there.

"General, you can't win." Liu Santong took two steps forward and said sincerely: "In the past six months, I have witnessed the Tang people's governance in Shandong Province, that is, Pinglu in the past. I finally understand why they are invincible and defeated. Pinglu is now a big change compared to Pinglu at that time. I finally understand why the people under their rule support them so much. To be honest, I have been a plain-headed commoner for more than half a year, and I really think they have done a great job."

Liu Xinda looked at himself, the general who had relied heavily on the past with a little bit of a slight look.

"Those who win the hearts of the people will win the world." Liu Santong sighed: "General, if you can't stand the beam, why should you go against the trend? It's better to go with the flow. First, you can save more men under your command. Second, you, General, will not end up losing your fate."

Liu Xinda slowly shook his head: "Santong, I have no choice. I am old and don't want to come to an end. I will become a surrendered general. People have good faces and barks. I still want this kind of military integrity. Secondly, my family and tribe are all in Chang'an now. If I fight to the death, even if I eventually lose, the Liu family will not be destroyed. Even if the Tang people occupy Chang'an in the end, they will not deliberately make things difficult for my family. Even if they are in a difficult situation, they will not kill them all! Incense can always continue. If I surrender, the entire Liu family will immediately be killed."

Liu Santong lowered his head sadly.

This is a dead knot, and there is no way to untie it.
Chapter completed!