Everyone's faces changed drastically at the same time, and the joy just now was swept away, replaced by fear and anxiety.

"This...what should I do?" Zou Henian's face was ashamed, and even his voice was trembling.

The others were not much better. Zhao Hongcan forced himself to calm down, but his slightly trembling hands showed extreme horror in his heart.

Lan Li's Battle at the Dragon Gate was indeed good at the beginning, and he almost won the battle for a while. Unfortunately, Lan Li lacked enough troops and failed to do his best. In the end, Yang Xu's reinforcements arrived to stabilize the left wing, which made Lan Li's previous efforts was wasted.

The battle lasted for a whole day, and the sky was dark and the two sides suffered a lot of losses. The next day, Lan Li decisively withdrew his troops and left one to cut off the rear. The main force reorganized the army and fought again. Who would have thought that the soldiers and brave soldiers brought out were simply unbearable to the battle. When they fought again, the soldiers and brave soldiers broke up and retaliated against the formation. Yang Xu's Ming army took this opportunity to attack the Qing army, and the Qing army was defeated.

After hearing the causes and consequences, Guan Yuanzhong couldn't help but look at Zhao Hongcan, and he couldn't help but blame Zhao Hongcan for his previous decision, if he could listen to Lan Li's advice to transfer the elite green camp to him, how could he be defeated in this battle? Maybe Lan Li had already wiped out the Ming army's partial division in the east at this time and returned to the army successfully.

In fact, Zhao Hongcan also secretly regretted it, but as the governor, he could not admit his mistake. He could only pretend that he didn't know anything and asked about Lan Li's injuries.

Lan Li's injuries are actually not serious. If it is put ten or twenty years ago, it is nothing. You should know that Lan Li was a fierce man who was still able to hold a knife and slash with a broken belly on the battlefield. But now Lan Li is old, and he is anxious after his defeat, so he can no longer get up.

Lan Li was defeated and the main force suffered heavy losses, which caused Guangzhou’s defense to lose one general and another. Today, although Guangzhou still has a lot of troops, Lan Li was seriously injured and no longer had a good general who could guard one side. What should we do?

On the afternoon of the same day, the seriously injured Lan Li was carried back to Guangzhou City. Governor Zhao Hongcan and others visited him in person. When they saw Zhao Hongcan, Lan Li did not blame the other party. Instead, he asked for punishment for his defeat. This made Zhao Hongcan feel ashamed and held Lan Li's hand and burst into tears.

"Now, please teach me about Guangdong."

"There is no need to be a good general. Lan is about to talk about this." Lan Li reluctantly sat up, his face turned gray and he lost his usual spirit. He looked like an ordinary old man who was seriously ill.

"In this battle, Lan has a heavy trust from the coach..."

"No need to say that Lan Shuai is all me... Alas!" Zhao Hongcan sighed in shame.

Lan Li continued: "In the battle of Longmen, Lan returned to defeat, but Yang Xu's troops suffered a lot of losses. In Lan's opinion, although this battle has not been done, the rebels in the east have been unable to advance west at least for a short time. Now Lan has three strategies: upper, middle and lower..."

"Lan Shuai!" Hearing this, Zhao Hongcan's eyes lit up and he couldn't wait to say.

"Please ask the general to quickly dispatch troops and take advantage of the opportunity after the war between Yang Xu and his troops, and attack Longmen again. As long as they fight steadily, they will be able to completely annihilate their troops. Once their troops are annihilated, our army will return to Guangzhou to fight against Xin'an and fight against Xin'an. Guangdong still has the potential to do..."

Zhao Hongcan didn't expect that Lan Li's best strategy would advance eastward and attack Longmen, concentrating its forces to annihilate Yang Xu's troops first. When he heard this strategy, Zhao Hongcan, who looked expectant, couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. If it were the previous one, Zhao Hongcan would agree, and he did the same, but because he considered that Guangzhou Defense failed to transfer all the elite to Lan Li.

But now, even Lan Li was defeated, which was enough to show that the rebels in the east were so powerful that once the troops stationed in Guangzhou were pulled out, if they were defeated, there would be no troops to defend in Guangzhou. How could Zhao Hongcan agree to such a risky move?

"So... what's the case with Zhongce?" Zhao Hongcan asked after thinking about it.

When Lan Li heard Zhao Hongcan's question, he sighed inwardly. Although he knew that Zhao Hongcan was unlikely to accept the best strategy, he had to try this situation now. Yes, Lan Li was defeated, but the Ming army suffered a lot of losses. The battle between the two armies was fierce, and the Ming army won, but it was also damaged. Now the Ming army in Xin'an has not yet learned about the battle at Longmen. Xin'an's Ming army will not react in a short time. This is a great opportunity for the Qing army in Guangzhou to launch another attack on Longmen.

With the troops stationed in Guangzhou, there is no need to be too many, only 30,000 elite troops, which is enough to completely defeat Yang Xu's troops and turn the situation around. Unfortunately, Zhao Hongcan did not adopt this strategy, but instead asked him about Zhongshou, which disappointed Lan Li.

But then again, if Zhao Hongcan had the ability to know the soldiers, he would not have made such a decision at the beginning. The reason why Lan Li was defeated was ultimately because Zhao Hongcan looked forward and failed to hand over all the elites to his hands.

"The Zhongst is to take the initiative to give up Guangzhou, strengthen the walls and clear the fields, withdraw the entire army into Guangxi, rely on the mountains of Guangxi for defense, and ask the court for help at the same time, and wait patiently for the opportunity to counterattack. Once the opportunity comes, our army can initiate the two units of Guangxi and Hunan at the same time to recover the entire province of Guangdong..."

"This..." Zhao Hongcan looked embarrassed and didn't speak for a long time. Zhao Hongcan was different from Nian Gengyao. He did not have the courage and ruthlessness of Nian Gengyao. In addition, Zhao Hongcan was indecisive and lacked decisiveness. He could not make up his mind to give up Guangzhou's defenses and throw away Guangdong and retreat to Guangxi.

The Qing Dynasty stipulated that officials in various places were responsible for their territory, especially if they were in the high position of governor. If they did this, what would the court view him? If Kangxi blamed him, Zhao Hongcan would not be able to bear this responsibility at all.

"What's the worst way?"

In a dilemma, Zhao Hongcan asked. When he heard him ask, Lan Li's heart was even more impressed. He didn't use both the best and the best, and Lan Li had no choice.

"Build fortifications and defend Guangzhou to the end. The longer the battle, the better. If the battle in the north goes well, the imperial army will destroy a rebel in Henan and then go south. Guangdong may be successful at that time." Lan Li said this, but although these words are said this, no one knows whether they can be done in the end.

This bad strategy gave almost all the initiative to the Ming army and the court. Once the situation did not change as he thought, the result in Guangzhou could be imagined. This is also because Lan Li was unwilling to say it. In his opinion, it is best not to choose this bad strategy, because once it is chosen, there will be no way out in the whole of Guangdong.

Who would have thought that Zhao Hongcan chose this bad strategy. He was originally a lieutenant, and Lan Li's strategy was exactly what he liked. In addition, the court sent a military newspaper before, and the battle between the imperial army in Henan and Sichuan was smooth, so it was a matter of time before that Zhu Jiancai and other troops were destroyed.

Once Henan recovers and Sichuan is pacified, the main force of the Qing army can be drawn out. Whether it is crossing south to attack the Ming Dynasty or directly entering Guangdong from Hunan, the siege of Guangdong may be resolved.

In addition, Guangzhou is a big city, Zhao Hongcan has been working hard on city defense these days. In his opinion, with Guangzhou's defense and the tens of thousands of troops in his hands, it should be no problem to defend Guangzhou for several months. As long as he firmly sticks to it, the situation will definitely change.

It is precisely because of this that Zhao Hongcan finally chose the worst strategy and continued to defend Guangzhou. At the same time, Zhao Hongcan couldn't afford to be seriously injured because Lan Li asked Lan Li who could be fully responsible for Guangzhou's defense.

Zhao Hongcan is not a fool for this. In terms of military positions, Lan Li is the most suitable candidate, but now Lan Li can no longer command the Guangzhou defense war, so the next step should be Guangzhou General Guan Yuanzhong. In terms of the friendship between the two sides, Guan Yuanzhong and Zhao Hongcan are quite good, but Zhao Hongcan knows that Guan Yuanzhong cannot take the lead. It is precisely because of this that Zhao Hongcan asks this.

Lan Li didn't speak for a moment. This candidate was not easy to choose. He couldn't suppress his status when he was low. He had a high status and could not do it if he had no ability. After thinking about it, Lan Li finally remembered someone and immediately said, "Master General Liu Xing, look at Gaozhou Town General?"

"Liu Xing?" Zhao Hongcan thought for a while and said, "General Liu's reputation is mediocre. He has never heard of any great achievements. He is the main focus... I'm afraid it's inappropriate?"

Lan Li reluctantly smiled and said, "Although General Liu has a mediocre reputation, he is a steady person, never takes risks in wars, and has rich experience in leading troops. The so-called warriors have no great achievements. If you need to make a surprise plan, General Liu will definitely not be suitable, but if you put defense first, General Liu is a more suitable person."

"This..." Zhao Hongcan hesitated again. He knew that Liu Xing was not very prominent at all. Although he was old, he was not very famous in the army. Moreover, his personality was not likable, he was relatively taciturn, and he got along very ordinary with his superiors and colleagues. To be honest, Zhao Hongcan really couldn't see any ability.

"If the general believes in me, please use Liu Xing. He wants to defend Guangzhou. Liu Xing is the most suitable candidate!" Seeing Zhao Hongcan hesitating, Lan Li was even more anxious. As he said, Liu Xing is a steady man. Although he has no great achievements in war, he has never missed it. Otherwise, he would not have been promoted to the position of general step by step.

Since Zhao Hongcan chose the worst strategy and was ready to defend Guangzhou, this candidate is extremely important. The battle in Guangzhou is imminent, and Lan Li cannot command it, so he can only use Liu Xing. If Liu Xing is not used, Lan Li will not be relieved to replace other people.

Seeing that Lan Li highly recommended it, Zhao Hongcan finally let go of his mouth after hesitating. Lan Li had to give him face. Zhao Hongcan decided to invite Liu Xing to meet him first. If it is feasible, it would be fine to use Liu Xing as the general to preside over Guangzhou defense.

Seeing this, Lan Li didn't have much to say, so he could only nod and nodded in agreement. Then the two exchanged views on Guangzhou defense. After a while, seeing Lan Li's face showing fatigue, Zhao Hongcan stood up and asked Lan Li to cultivate well. After going out, he would invite someone to ask someone to find a famous doctor in Guangzhou to treat Lan Li with good health. Lan Li must be recovered as soon as possible. Then he rushed back to the governor and asked someone to come to Liu Xing.
Chapter completed!