Chapter 204 The Battle For Morale (1/2)

On top of the city wall in Dengzhou.

Zhu Wen was very upset now and he sighed three times in succession. Staring at the flags of the official troops on the official road, he suddenly felt isolated.

Dengzhou was an ominous place. The city's defense was now mostly repaired, but Zhu Wen didn't feel the least bit secure. He felt as though he has been trapped and caged by the city beneath him. There were covetous official troops in all surrounding states and counties and none of them was friendly.

Zhu Zhen was defeated. The five thousand elite cavalries were unable to defeat the three thousand new soldiers. Over half of them were killed and they ended up retreating in panic. Zhu Wen was very unhappy. The soldiers who guarded the city watched the elite cavalries retreating in panic. It was an extremely bad sign and a big blow to their morale.

The civilians who were drafted in the city had been looking at them with a different expression and even with suspicion the last two days. After the troops occupied Dengzhou, they built up an image of valor in the minds of the people in Dengzhou, but that was obviously crumbling.

This was not a good sign. If the official troops attacked the city and the situation was unfavorable, the rich and the civilians in the city would take the lead to revolt, and they would not be able to hold the city anymore.

Zhu Wen knew that Zhu Zhen's defeat had triggered a series of negative reactions, but he had no way to eliminate this effect for a while. His scout found out that Li Ye had over a hundred thousand soldiers and horses under his command and that the Pinglu Army had fine armor.

The newly defeated Dengzhou Army was in mortal danger.

However, though Zhu Wen wanted to behead him, he still couldn't blame Zhu Zhen. Even Wujizi was dead, so what could Zhu Zhen do? In the final a.n.a.lysis, this defeat was not Zhu Zhen's fault. Li Ye was the Grand Prince of the empire with an exalted status and highly regarded by Li Yan, so Zhu Wen couldn't imagine that such a person would follow the vanguard of the elite cavalries to fight in the battlefield. He acted recklessly and didn't take himself seriously.

Undeniably, no one expected such a thing, neither did Zhu Wen. That's why Zhu Zhen was defeated. But even if Zhu Wen thought of it, there was nothing he could do. Even Wujizi, who was the master in the Spiritual Master Realm, was defeated by Li Ye. Li Ye was just at Level 9 of Qi-refining, but how could he be so strong?

Prince An certainly lived up to his name. He didn't do things the conventional way. Much less can his cultivation be figured out the conventional way.

”I'm not an ordinary person. I emerged from the gra.s.sroots and became famous in the b.l.o.o.d.y battlefield. I'm a true man, but why did I suffer repeated losses this time?”

Heaving another long sigh, Zhu Wen suddenly realized he needed to stop this pessimistic mood, a great taboo of a general. As the chief commander, he must always keep the morale high, or the battle would be lost even without a fight.

When realized this, Zhu Wen hastily coughed a few times, straightened up, and regained his spirit.

”Pang Shigu!” Zhu Wen waved to a junior colonel. ”Go. You take people to gather the rich in the city together. Bring them into custody and make sure that they don't do anything out of the ordinary!”

Pang Shigu was a dark-skinned man. He looked dull and rigid, but at the same time, he was full of vigor and valor. He cupped his fist and said, ”Yes, Sir!”

If the official troops attacked the city, Zhu Wen had to prevent the rich in the city from collaborating with them or causing chaos. Things like these often happen. Although Zhu Wen was unwilling to admit it, the people supported the Tang Empire more than the Qi Empire.

The torrent of official troops gathered before Dengzhou was forming an endless sea of armor. Zhu Wen's expression became gloomy and he shouted again, ”Huo Cun!”

A valiant general responded with his fist cupped, ”General Zhu, may I help you?”

Zhu Wen looked Huo Cun up and down. Huo Cun was a brave man, but it was a pity that he wasn't his trusted general. He followed Huang Chao before. This time when Zhu Wen led the troops to attack Dengzhou, Huang Chao sent Huo Cun to help, but in fact, he was Huang Chao's spy. After all, Zhu Wen led the troops to fight outside, so Huang Chao would definitely send someone to spy on him.

Zhu Wen had no hard feelings towards Huo Cun, but he didn't like him either. He said, ”The troops of Tang Empire will encamp later. You lead your troops to give them head-on blows to strengthen our prestige before they settle down!”

The defending troops in Dengzhou just experienced Zhu Zhen's defeat. Now the official troops besieged the city in force. They were great in strength and impetus and high in morale. The soldiers on top of the city wall in Dengzhou showed fear and had low morale as they saw the official troops. If Zhu Wen wanted to hold the city, he had to raise the troops' morale with a victory, otherwise Zhu Wen would lose before the defending battle.

Huo Cun agreed to it with cupped fist as he heard Zhu Wen's order. Zhu Wen was right, but Huo Cun was not optimistic. There were more than a hundred thousand troops outside the city, so no one would be optimistic when they went out to challenge. If he won, it would be good and it would boost the troops' morale. But if he lost, he didn't know whether he could come back or not.

However, Huo Cun also knew that he was going out of the city not to fight against over a hundred thousand official troops, but to make a mess in their weak section while they were not well defended. Dash out, make a quick and decisive attack, and then retreat. He needn't pay attention to the result. It would be great if he could kill over a hundred people.

The key to this battle was to show that our elites had no fear and were able to advance or retreat freely when facing over a hundred thousand troops. This was a battle for morale, not a life-and-death battle.