Invincible Iron Army 47, Lack of Food Book Flag

  The Xiongnu Khan took stock of the losses in his army, and this night raid had resulted in more than 20,000 deaths among the Xiongnu troops. What made the Xiongnu Khan even angrier was that Wang An had almost burned down all the tents. The Xiongnu Khan let out a furious roar: "Wang An, where do you expect me to spend the night? In this freezing winter, are you going to make my army sleep in the open?"

  The leader of the demolition team, Wang An, is now overjoyed. It seems that the Xiongnu's desire for compensation is impossible. Wang An thought to himself: "This time the spoils of war are quite rich", and more importantly, it has dealt a blow to the Xiongnu's morale. The news of Wang An's victory spread quickly within the city of Yucheng, giving this besieged city a boost of confidence. People ran around telling each other, many residents even set off firecrackers to celebrate this victory. The whole city was as lively as during the New Year celebrations.

  The Xiongnu Chanyu saw the wooden sign left by Wang An, and suddenly felt a surge of anger in his heart. He quickly ordered his soldiers to burn the sign, thinking: "Wang An's military tactics are unpredictable, making it impossible for us to defend against him. Last time he left a sign saying he would attack again, and indeed he did. This time he left another sign, probably planning to attack again. I won't stay here any longer. This raid not only caused heavy losses to my army but also almost made the great Xiongnu Chanyu flee in his underwear. If it happens once, who knows if it will happen again? I might even lose my life. I won't be responsible for attacking this place anymore; from now on, let that unlucky Left Wise King take care of it."

  Wang An's army was once again warmly welcomed by the residents in the city, and they were constantly being comforted. Many people even ran to the military camp in the south of the city to find their companions. Even the Ji Institute sent a free invitation to Wang An's army.

  Wang An looked at the invitation and suddenly burst out laughing. Liu Jiao Jiao, who was standing next to him, looked at him with anger and said, "Wang An, don't think you can fool me! You're laughing because of this invitation, aren't you?"

  Wang An quickly replied, "Liu Jiao Jiao, don't misunderstand me. I'm not laughing at you. This has nothing to do with you."

  But Liu Jiao Jiao became even angrier and said, "I'm not as good as those prostitutes, am I? You're saying that you saw the invitation from Ji Institute and drooled all over it, but when you see me, you have no reaction at all! Tell me, which one of us is better?"

  Wang An hastily replied, "Of course, you are better than some of those prostitutes."

  But Liu Jiao Jiao became even more furious and said, "You're saying that some prostitutes are better than me?!"

  Wang An quickly corrected himself, "No, no, I meant to say that some prostitutes are not as good as you."

  Liu Jiao Jiao's anger only intensified, and she said, "So you're still saying that there are some prostitutes who are better than me?"

  Wang An hastily revised his statement again, "I mean to say that you are better than all of those prostitutes!"

  Wang An let out a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "Finally, I've passed the test."

  But Liu Jiao Jiao was still fuming and said, "You're comparing me, a dignified military commander, to prostitutes! What's going through your mind? Do you think I'm just like those prostitutes? Or have you only seen prostitutes before, which is why you're making this comparison? Or do you think that prostitutes are the best?"

  Wang An was left speechless, thinking to himself, "Women can be really scary when they don't listen to reason."

  Although Liu Jiao Jiao found it difficult to accept Wang An's words, she still admired him deeply in her heart.

  Yu Xian Wang knew that the south city was under attack, and suddenly felt a chill of fear. He thought to himself, "My choice back then was correct, otherwise I would be the one sleeping out there tonight. Now only those two goods are left to guard it."

  The Xiongnu Chanyu issued an order, summoning the Right Wise King and Left Wise King of the Xiongnu to hold a meeting together. After receiving the notification, the Left Wise King said: "That Chanyu has suffered losses this time, probably wants to shed some blood to rescue his troops, for the sake of the Xiongnu, I can only reluctantly help him out."

  Wang An exhausted all his skills to calm down Liu Jiao Jiao, who was on the verge of a violent outburst. He felt more tired than when he had won against the Xiongnu. He couldn't help but sigh: "It's hard to deal with women and petty people." As soon as Liu Jiao Jiao heard this, she was about to erupt again: "Wang An, what are you talking about? Say it again!" Wang An said: "Don't be in a hurry, getting angry will hurt your body. If you become a mother tiger, it won't look good." As soon as Liu Jiao Jiao heard this, she erupted and questioned Wang An: "Who is the mother tiger?"

  The chanyu said: "The army of the Great Jin's southern city has been heavily defeated by us, suffering heavy casualties, and is now hiding in the city, not daring to come out and fight." The Right Wise King and Left Wise King looked up at the sky, thinking to themselves: "This trick, we often use it to deceive our subordinates. Chanyu, you are an old fox, let's not play this game with each other. You suffered a huge loss in this battle, those Xiongnu troops outside have almost become refugees. If they go out begging now, they won't even need to disguise themselves, and the effect will definitely be good." It's truly heartbreaking to see and hear about it.

  The Xiongnu Chanyu said: "The Jin army has suffered a heavy blow, and it is unlikely that they will attack again. Our army must undertake more urgent and difficult tasks, so I plan to let the Right Wise King take charge of the assault here. What do you think?" The Left Wise King immediately expressed his agreement, saying: "The Right Wise King has talent, experience, and energy, and he can definitely handle the defense task well." The Right Wise King thought to himself: "Don't set me up to be killed alone."

  The Right Wise King said: "We cannot shirk from undertaking the assault task here. However, in our previous battle, we dealt a heavy blow to the Jin army's southern city garrison. When they hear my name, they are afraid." Upon hearing this, the Xiongnu Chanyu and Left Wise King both looked down on him in their hearts, thinking: "Don't you feel ashamed? Do you believe what you're saying?"

  The Right Wise King ignored the disdain of the Left Wise King and Chanyu, continuing to say: "They know that I am here, so it is unlikely that they will attack. In order to lure the Jin army into attacking, I think the Left Wise King is more suitable for this task." The Left Wise King was about to decline when the Chanyu said: "This matter is settled then. From now on, let the Left Wise King defend here. Left Wise King, you must take on the heavy responsibility and not disappoint us."

  The Right Wise King said: "The Left Wise King has talent, experience, and energy, and he can definitely handle the defense task well." The Left Wise King thought to himself, wanting to cry: "You are all ganging up to bully me. This is a hot potato that no one wants to touch. Which general who came here was not defeated by Wang An? You want to harm me, but I won't let you off easily."

  The soldiers who followed Wang An to the attack were all rejoicing in their own choices and luck, thinking that being a hero felt great. Just look at how others looked at you with admiration.

  Left Xian Wang reluctantly took over the task of attacking Nancheng, and he hastily arranged for a night watch to be set up to prevent the Great Jin army from launching a surprise attack at night. He withdrew his troops several hundred meters back and ordered them to take turns resting at night, with about 20,000 soldiers on standby at all times. This vanguard had to wear armor, saddle up their horses, and hold bows and arrows in hand, ready to strike at the slightest movement.

  Left Xian Wang estimated that the Great Jin army defending Nancheng was only a little over 10,000 men, and if they couldn't even withstand his own 10,000 cavalrymen in a field battle, then with their 20,000-strong force, as long as they could delay for a while, the tens of thousands of Xiongnu troops would follow up and crush Wang An's army.

  After making these arrangements, Left Xian Wang was also feeling satisfied. Right Xian Wang and the Chanyu were also impressed when they heard about Left Xian Wang's plans, saying: "Left Xian Wang is truly a talented general, his arrangements are impeccable, if we had known he would be so capable, we wouldn't have let him go defend that place. If he defeats Wang An's surprise attack, won't we lose face?"

  A wise man from the Xiongnu walked around Left Xian Wang's camp and said to the Chanyu and Left Xian Wang: "Although this arrangement seems perfect, it's not necessarily foolproof. We still need to be prepared, otherwise, Left Xian Wang will also be defeated by Wang An and forced to flee at night." The Chanyu was furious when he heard this, feeling that his own mistakes were being exposed, and ordered the soldiers: "Take him out and give him 10 lashes... no, 20 lashes!" The guards dragged away the wise man.

  The wise man shouted: "Chanyu, even the Great Jin knows about your nighttime flight, why won't you let me speak? You know that your stubborn and self-willed personality will bring disaster to the Xiongnu." The Chanyu was furious: "Add 20 more lashes!" The wise man shouted again: "Chanyu..." but the guards stopped him, saying: "Don't say any more, or you'll be beaten again." The Chanyu hastily called out to the guards and asked: "What do you want to say to me?" The wise man, having learned his lesson, said to the Chanyu: "I have nothing to say to you." The Chanyu was furious and said: "Add 20 more lashes, and hit him harder!"

  The Xiongnu, having failed to capture the city of Luoyang, abandoned their plan to take it by storm and prepared for a long siege, hoping to starve the city into submission. Liu Jiao, however, was unimpressed, saying: "We have ample food supplies in the city, and even if we were to wait another two months, we would not run out of grain." The two sides had a rare period of calm, but it was clear that once the snow melted, the ice armor outside the city would disappear, and the war would become a fierce clash of strength.

  Du Lin found Liu Jiao and said to her: "The grain in the East City is not much, it can only be used for about ten days. We must make sufficient preparations." Liu Jiao was shocked and said: "Isn't your grain a lot? It can support three months, now there are only two months left, and soon there will be no more grain." Du Lin said: "Our grain has all been sold to Wang An." Liu Jiao said: "Nonsense! Do you think I don't know anything? The grain you sold to Wang An is not the military rations I issued, but rather the grain transported back from the Tongzhou granary. Do you think I don't know?" Du Lin looked down in embarrassment, he didn't dare tell Liu Jiao that his military rations had been secretly resold by the quartermaster. At this time, Wang Xueli also came to Liu Jiao's mansion and said to her: "The grain of our army is also not much, at most enough for five days." Liu Jiao suddenly became anxious and said: "How can you also be short of grain?"

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