No Surrendered Soldiers

Bang! Wu Qunlie slammed a fist onto the table and gritted his teeth. "Grand Commander, your judgment is clear. We will immediately carry out your strategy. Send word to Liao Nanqing and Xu Laiping at once—abandon the Hukou defense line immediately and withdraw at once. Join up with our main army!"

Having wavered only moments before, he finally made his final decision.

"Yes!" The messenger accepted the order and sprinted away.

Wu Qunlie waved the generals over to the map and pointed from north to south along the river defenses. "As the Grand Commander intends, we will abandon the river defenses entirely—but we cannot simply let go everywhere at once. If we do, the enemy forces crossing the river in the center will cut off our troops moving south. Starting from the north, withdraw in stages. The army will gather as it heads south, concentrate its forces, and strike Zhang Hu and Xu Jingyue's troops once they have crossed the river. If the battle goes well, so be it. If it does not, immediately follow the Grand Commander's plan—feint and strike, real and illusory, tangling with them until they have no chance to resupply, and wear the Yan army to death within Song Kingdom territory!"

"Heh heh!" In the temporary central command tent, Zhang Hu sneered upon receiving the report that Guo Xianfu had successfully seized the grain. Then he gave the order, "Send word to Xu Jingyue at once. Cross the river and attack immediately. No delays!"

A Golden Wings descended into the military camp on the opposite bank. Xu Jingyue soon emerged from his tent, and with a single order from him, hundreds of thousands of troops sprang into motion and began crossing the river at once!

"My lord, Xu Jingyue's forces have begun crossing