The arrogance of Dodo and Abatai as well as their underestimation and wariness of Di Chen was the second reason that caused the current situation.
If Dodo had listened to Di Chen, he would not have faced such a situation.
Of course, there were not so many ifs in the world.
On the 8th day of the Battle Map, when Dodo led his forces and arrived outside of Jianye, and what they faced was a well-prepared steel city.
Without the restraints of the people who wanted to surrender, Ouyang Shuo could go all out.
Looking at the small number of soldiers defending on the city walls, Dodo felt relaxed. He started to set up camp outside of the city to await the Hongyi cannons before starting the siege.
They would use the cannons to open the path before leading troops to charge into the city.
Dodo had used such a tactic numerous times, and he did not even need to think about it.
When Li Jing who stood on the city wall saw that, he did not even turn his head and directly ordered, "Order all the troops to stick to the plan."
"Yes general!"
A day passed just like that.
Dodo's forces camped at the east outskirts and Abatai's at the north. As the sun set, and the last few rays of sunlight shone on the grass outside, smoke bellowed from the camp.
The Qing Army had started to cook their meals.
Commander tent.
Dodo sat at the leader spot in the tent and ordered the generals over for a final meeting. Based on their location, the cannons would arrive tomorrow at the quickest.
A general laughed, "I heard that they had an internal conflict inside two days ago. They're really seeking death."
"Haha, these Han Chinese can only fight amongst themselves."
The Manchu generals did not bother to hide their disdain and displeasure toward the Han people. The successive battle victories had started to get to their head. Although Dodo did not say anything because of his position, his silent acceptance showed his thoughts.
"We still must give it our best." Dodo looked around before saying, "If nothing goes wrong, this is the final battle to destroy South Ming. If we win, I'll naturally seek rewards for all of you in front of his majesty."
"Yes prince!"
All of them looked on passionately.
Since the battle's start, the Qing Imperial Court had taken out huge rewards and titles for the warriors who had done well. Apart from giving titles, they awarded plenty of jewels and land.
After pillaging a big part of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Imperial Court was really rich now.
Not to mention common items like gold and jewelry, but in terms of just titles alone, they gave out the most around this time than throughout the entire Qing Dynasty.
One had to say that attacking South Ming was the largest contribution one could make, which was why all the generals were really fervent.
At this very moment, soldiers carried out plates of delicious food, full barbecued lamb, and even barrels of wine. The generals who had not smelled the scent of wine in a long time drooled. Just smelling the scent made them drunk.
"What a scent!"
Dodo raised his wine glass and smiled, "Tomorrow is the final battle, so today is an exception. We will drink wine to show our happiness. I hope that all of you will go all out to kill the enemy tomorrow!"
Dodo had a strong grasp of their hearts. In just a few sentences, he made their blood boil and made them yearn to go up immediately to kill the enemy.
Due to the wine, the atmosphere in the room was really warm.
Just as the feast entered its peak, killing sounds spread out from outside of the tent.
"What happened?"
Dodo was really alert. Even during the noisy feast, he could still catch the weird noises from afar. Hearing his words, the tent immediately quietened down.
"General, general, it's not good!"
What a coincidence, just as Dodo asked, a soldier charged in.
"What happened? Why are you so anxious?"
As expected from an experienced general like Dodo, he did not panic and was really calm. At such a time, as the main general, you had to be calm or the entire army would be unsettled.
With a 'Shua!', everyone turned to that soldier, causing the soldier's face to turn ashen white, "General, the enemy suddenly left the city and have already charged into our camp."
'Huadang!'
Who knows whose wine glass it was that dropped to the ground and broke into pieces.
Li Jing was really Li Jing, always coming out with surprises.
After learning that the Qing army that came down south was only 150 thousand strong, and the enemy player army had stayed in Yangzhou, Li Jing compared the two sides. He immediately gave up on the traditional defense method and decided to strike out.
With the 40 thousand Guards Legion Corps troops, the three thousand Divine Martial Guards as well as the 50 thousand South Ming troops, Li Jing had confidence to settle it in one battle. He did not have to defend.
To confuse the enemy, Li Jing purposely only arranged a few soldiers to roam around the city walls.
As expected, Dodo fell for his trap. He had dropped his guard and even held a feast for his generals to warm them up for the battle tomorrow. Li Jing did not even need to wait till the next day.
If it were during the night time, with Dodo's carefulness, he would have definitely arranged patrols and remained on guard. However, Li Jing chose dusk when the Qing army would be at their most relaxed state.
"Kill!"
Xu Chu led the three thousand Divine Martial Guards as the vanguard and quickly charged through the enemy camp.
30 thousand Great Xia guards troops followed behind them into the Qing camp and started a slaughter. Further behind were the 40 thousand South Ming troops whose hearts palpitated as they moved forward, unable to believe what was happening.
In their memory, they had never attacked the Qing army before.
Although that was the case, the South Ming soldiers did not dare to run away. First, the power play that Ouyang Shuo made was still clear in their memory, and it made them really fearful.
More importantly, behind them there were still 10 thousand guards. Li Jing's arrangement of troops was really sublime.
"Kill!"
The Great Xia Guards Legion Corps at the front swept the Qing camp with an unstoppable aura. Everywhere they passed, the Qing army had no way to fight back and were trampled.
The South Ming army was actually winning.
Looking at the strength of the Great Xia guard troops and at such a scene, the hidden killing intent within the South Ming soldiers was drawn out. It was like they had an added courage buff as they gained courage.
In each and every one of their hearts hid a tiger.
The South Ming army was not born weak or born as cowards. With Liu Liangzuo and other such generals, they obviously would not be able to rise up.
The current situation was different. Just by changing one commander, under the influence of the Great Xia Guards Legion Corps, it was like the entire army was revived, giving out endless amounts of energy.
When Li Jing who stood on the city wall saw that, he finally let out a smile.