Ouyang Lixing was surprised.

He would send troops only because of Chen Zena's threats. It can be said that he did so reluctantly.

Of course, when he agreed to send troops, he did not say anything to death, but only said that he could send troops to pursue him. If he found that Zheng Yuanyun's troops exceeded the intelligence range, he would retreat without hesitation.

If Chen Ze forced him to attack, then Ouyang Lixing would risk everything to fight Chen Ze in a lose-lose situation, and he would not force a head-on fight with Zheng Yuanyun.

Although in that case, his own Fengqi Province would be seriously injured, but it would not be to the point of being directly torn apart, but Chen Ze was already on the verge of life and death, so it was self-evident who would be more injured.

Having said that, Ouyang Lixing was actually just pretending. How could he believe that Chen Ze would seriously let Zheng Yuanyun dare to defend Juhe City while maintaining this state?

If Zheng Yuanyun really wanted to stop in Iihe City, unless the reinforcements that were deliberately transferred were returned to Zheng Yuanyun, then Zheng Yuanyun would be able to stay in Iihe City only after receiving additional troops.

But the intelligence showed that Zheng Yuanyun's forces at hand had not changed. Apart from the remnants that had retreated from Tianyuan City, there were really only the four cities in front, plus the forces recovered from Juhe City.

A total of six hundred thousand.

And Ouyang Lixing brought two million people with him. Even if he had Juhe City as his defense, wouldn't he be able to capture it?

Although Ouyang Lixing did not want to fight, it did not hinder his judgment of the situation.

If he said that with only 600,000 troops, he wanted to defend the two million siege army under his command, Zheng Yuanyun was probably underestimating him.

So, to fight or not to fight?

Ouyang Lixing frowned. To be honest, if there was a slight discrepancy in the number of troops reported by the spies, he could use this to rebuff Chen Ze, and then turn around and leave without mercy.

However, this force was on the table, and according to reports from spies, what Zheng Yuanyun was doing at the moment was to urgently strengthen the city defense in Iihe City. No matter how you looked at it, he looked like he wanted to hold on.

Why don't you fight this?

Ouyang Lixing naturally had a keen eye for combat power. He knew that as long as he captured Zheng Yuanyun in Juhe City and annihilated his 600,000 troops, he could march straight in and regain the lost ground until he captured Xilong City.

From Juhe City, he has the ability to fight all the way to Xilong City. As for the three main cities further back, Ketan, Ter, and Xili, he said that he cannot take them back for the time being, but it will not hinder the province of Nantes.

Turn danger into safety.

Even if Chen Ze had another evil move, once he had the upper hand in troops and the city, Ouyang Lixing couldn't think of any other strategies for Chen Ze to come back.

Or maybe Chen Ze didn't have that idea from the beginning, but just wanted to get rid of Zheng Yuanyun so that he could be freed?

Or maybe Chen Ze's appetite is not that big, and occupying the three major cities in Nantes is actually enough?

Think about it, he is just a small co-leader. For him, being able to steadily conquer the three major cities is a huge achievement. Zheng Yuanyun's failure cannot be blamed no matter how strange it is.

On Chen Ze's head.

In this case, despite the overall defeat in the battle, Chen Ze's situation was actually not bad, and he could even be rewarded by the Qingyang Empire.

After all, these three main cities are already a huge gain. Furthermore, these three cities did not exist before. It was the Zhu Yan Empire that took advantage of the Qingyang Empire and expanded out from Xilong City to occupy them by force.

of three cities.

From this point of view, even if these three main cities can no longer be recovered, the most they can do is return what was previously occupied by the Qingyang Empire.

The worst result is that the two sides offset each other and no longer owe each other any more.

The Zhu Yan Empire, which is currently suffering from internal and external troubles, will naturally have no more thoughts. As for the Qingyang Empire, to be honest, Ouyang Lixing does not think that the situation will be any better than that of the Zhu Yan Empire.

Especially after the news that Zheng Yuanyun's expeditionary force was destroyed spreads out, the Qingyang Empire will also be in the same situation as the Zhu Yan Empire. At that time, what they care about is not the gains and losses of one city or one place, but the entire battle front.

Will it collapse because of this?

In that case, even taking advantage of it and taking back the three major cities, the Qingyang Empire should be satisfied.

So, why does Chen Ze have to inherit Zheng Yuanyun's legacy and swallow up the entire province of Nantes?

Zheng Yuanyun is a general, and the military exploits he needs to make further progress are huge. Using the entire province of Nantes as his stepping stone is probably just enough.

But for Chen Ze, even if he only won one city, the rewards he could get from the Qingyang Empire were already huge rewards beyond his own military rank. Why did he need to rack his brains?

As for what Chen Ze said about 500,000 elite soldiers heading towards Dongping City.

Once Zheng Yuanyun was defeated, the army that did not know whether it was true or false would definitely not appear in Dongping City, and his Fengqi Province would also be in peace.

After understanding this, Ouyang Lixing's heart that had no fighting spirit suddenly became alive again.

In any case, Zheng Yuanyun is the commander-in-chief of a province. If he can destroy the enemy here, the morale of the enemy will be huge. The direct consequence of this is that the Qingyang Empire will no longer continue to attack Nantes.

Instead of increasing troops in the province in the hope of taking over the entire province, they chose a conservative strategy of quitting as soon as they were ready, and first stabilizing the three main cities they had obtained.

In other words, Ouyang Lixing completed his mission, single-handedly saved the province of Nantes from water and fire, and even solved the urgent need of the Zhu Yan Empire.

A big victory here will change the situation on the entire continent, that's for sure.

As the saying goes, a single move affects the whole body. The improvement of the situation here will bring a lot of blood to the Zhu Yan Empire, and Ouyang Lixing, who plays a key role in this, will also become a great contributor to the empire.

No matter how you look at it, this is beneficial and harmless.

Ouyang Lixing breathed a sigh of relief.

He had thought too much before and always wanted to use Zheng Yuanyun, a chess piece that was no longer a big threat, to restrict Chen Ze. But in fact, he was the one who benefited the most from Chen Ze's operation.

When he thought of this, Ouyang Lixing could even see the helpless expression on Chen Ze's face. This man had countless plans and was making wedding clothes for others, but the one who benefited didn't appreciate it.

"Go down with the order and make preparations to attack Iai City."

Having figured it out, Ouyang Lixing returned to his usual indifference, but the cruel smile that occasionally flashed across his expression clearly revealed his thoughts.
Chapter completed!