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Chapter 1128: Chapter 456 Abandon the City and Flee Chapter 1128: Chapter 456 Abandon the City and Flee Leling, the Imperial Palace.

“Your Majesty, terrible news, Sheqiu City has fallen!”

Accompanied by cries of alarm, a message from the southwest spread rapidly, plunging the entire palace into fear.

Within the great hall, court officials who had rushed over upon receiving the news now stood with grave expressions, their eyes betraying irrepressible terror.

Sitting at the head, Emperor Xu turned somewhat pale, “My ministers, the Chu people have broken through Sheqiu City, and now an army of a million is marching towards us, heading straight for Leling City.

The prefectures and counties they passed through had already had their defenders called away, leaving them utterly defenseless and unable to stop the Chu forces.

With the Chu army nearly upon us, what should we do?

Everyone, please propose a solution.”

The ministers, hearing what Emperor Xu said, were also filled with panic.

No one had expected that, despite having sent an additional three hundred thousand soldiers to Sheqiu City, it would fall so quickly, not even holding out for an additional month.

Could the Chu army really be as unstoppable as the rumors suggested?

Otherwise, how could a large city, guarded by five hundred thousand soldiers and two Inborn, fall so quickly?

Was the Chu army too powerful,

or were the city’s defending generals so incompetent?

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But no matter what everyone thought, no matter how much they complained or cursed the two Xu Country Innates guarding the city,

the fact that the city fell was already established, and the imminent arrival of the Chu army loomed like Mount Tai.

Without overcoming this difficulty, no one present would have a good outcome.

Perhaps by tomorrow, they would become a nation’s lost souls, reduced to prisoners at the feet of the Chu people.

No one wanted to accept that outcome.

Yet, as they looked at each other for ways to halt the Chu army, they were at a loss for ideas.

“Your Majesty.”

At this time, Military Department Assistant Zhao Guangfeng stood up, bowed, and reported, “Currently, Wuyan City in Le’an Prefecture has dispatched one million two hundred thousand soldiers and six Inborn, who are currently engaged with the main Chu forces in Chu territory.

The battle is fierce on both sides, leaving no opportunity to spare attention elsewhere.

The southern and southeastern fronts previously dispatched one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers and three Inborn each, and after months of fierce fighting with the Chu army, both have suffered significant losses and lack the strength to assist elsewhere.

Therefore, within the entire Leling County, aside from the few thousand imperial guards in the city, there are no other troops available for deployment.

In Xu State itself, an emergency levy has called up another five hundred thousand soldiers, but the order has just been given, and the troops are still assembling.

To form up the army and mobilize it southward would take at least a month at the earliest.

And for the Chu army to reach Leling City would only take a matter of ten days.

To call up troops from our homeland is already too late.”

Having stated the facts, Zhao Guangfeng paused for a moment before speaking with difficulty, “Therefore, I believe, in our current situation, it is impossible to stop the Chu army.

To preserve the Xu dynasty and ensure Your Majesty’s safety, I ask Your Majesty to lead the court officials north on a hunting expedition, returning to our old capital, Yan City.

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Xu State’s homeland still has hundreds of thousands of troops, with Iron Forest Duke stationed there, and with the natural defense of the great river and the approach of winter’s heavy snows, it should be enough to hold off the Chu army at Henan.

Your Majesty, please preserve your valuable life so we may engage in a decisive battle with the Chu people another day.”

With these last words, Zhao Guangfeng knelt on the ground, pleading mournfully.

Seeing this, the senior officials beside him couldn’t help but weep in sorrow.

Of course, there were also those with staunch personalities who, faced with Zhao Guangfeng’s suggestion of abandoning the capital and fleeing, glared at him angrily, considering him a traitor who would sell out his country.

“Moving the capital north for a hunting expedition…”

Emperor Xu, looking down at his subjects’ various expressions, also felt a rise of sorrow and unwillingness as he asked, “Is there truly no other way?

What about Yuzhou?

Haven’t the four states of Tang Xu, Zheng, and Jin just reached a reconciliation, and couldn’t they soon form an alliance to send troops to our rescue?”

Prime Minister Chen Xun’an, who had been closely monitoring this foreign affair in the Cabinet, then stepped forward to reply, “Your Majesty, although our envoys have facilitated the resolution between the four states, they have only just ceased hostilities.

Their enmity from previous years runs deep, and it is not so easy for them to reconcile and join hands hastily.

Moreover, the number of troops each country dispatches, the organization of food and fodder, the planning of strategies, the routes to the battlefield…

All these matters require careful preparation and planning, making it difficult to immediately send troops to assist our nation.

Even if they do come to our aid, they are likely to send only small detachments of several tens of thousands or at most a hundred thousand soldiers, which against the Chu army’s million-strong force would be of little help.

Moreover, with prefectures like Qingping and Jiaodong standing between Yuzhou and Leling City, breaking through the Chu army’s layered blockades to arrive here would be no easy task.

If we were to wait for these allies to take effect, it would not be possible this autumn.

I fear we would have to wait until next year to see any results.”

Although when the decision was made to send envoys to the four states of Yuzhou, everyone within Xu State was filled with confidence, describing the strategy as a godly plan to save the nation, this was just to deceive those at the bottom.

Those of us in high positions who wield the power of an entire nation, who doesn’t understand that things are never so simple and easy?

Facilitating the alliance of the four states might indeed bring a formidable opponent to Chu State, relieving us of great pressure.

But to suggest it’s some sort of Divine Medicine that can immediately alleviate the pressure and threats from the Chu army is wishful thinking.

If the Chu forces were so easily dealt with, then the once-dominant states like Liang, Wei, and Zhao wouldn’t have been successively conquered.

So although we held some hope for the success of this diplomatic mission, we never truly considered it a panacea, nor did we place all our hopes upon it.