Hou Ye's palm heart is a black lotus

Chapter 782 A Letter from My Elder Sister! (Third Update)

After Ye Yunfeng returned to the southwest with the Prince of Yannan, he quickly led three thousand soldiers to Duzhou to garrison.

From morning till night, besides drills, they strengthen defenses in all aspects.

Ye Yunfeng stood on high ground, surveying his surroundings, taking everything in, and pondering repeatedly where the defenses were weak and whether there were any ways to improve them.

"There are no small matters when it comes to border defense," Ye Yunfeng said. "Although Duzhou is not as important as Longcheng and Xiacheng, it is still a fortress and cannot be taken lightly. Moreover, the Nanhu just suffered a defeat not long ago, and they may still have some ulterior motives. We should be careful."

The soldiers hesitated. "The Nanhu suffered a crushing defeat at Longcheng and only managed to negotiate peace by paying a heavy price. They probably won't dare to come back anytime soon, will they?"

Ye Yunfeng looked at the distant mountains and forests, which resembled a giant beast crouching in the dead of night.

He narrowed his eyes. "That's not necessarily true. Things can change in an instant on the battlefield. You can't be too trusting, and you certainly can't underestimate your enemy."

The soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment.

One of them laughed and said, "What you say is true, sir! However, those Southern Hu 'bandits' suffered a great loss at our hands, sir. I doubt they would dare to invade again, no matter how bold they were!"

"that is!"

"My lord is brave and skilled in battle; how could those people possibly be a match for him?"

Ye Yunfeng turned around and glanced at the group.

"It seems none of you listened to what I just said?"

The group of people immediately lowered their heads and said, "We wouldn't dare!"

Although Ye Yunfeng was young, he was brave and resourceful and made great contributions, which they all admired.

Seeing his seriousness, they all put aside their own thoughts and dared not slack off.

"I'll go check again to make sure there are no mistakes!"

Ye Yunfeng then said, "Go."

"Yes!"

Ye Yunfeng didn't return to his tent until the bright moon hung high in the sky and then hid behind dark clouds.

He had been lying down for a short while when he suddenly opened his eyes!
In the darkness, all was silent, and there was nothing unusual about it.

Ye Yunfeng sensed something was wrong and quickly got up.

The soldier who shared a room with him heard his commotion and asked in a daze, "What's wrong?"

Before Ye Yunfeng could speak, he suddenly heard shouts from outside.

"Enemy attack!"

Ye Yunfeng quickly arrived at the door and saw fireworks suddenly explode in the sky in the distance!

not good!

He immediately shouted, "Assemble! Prepare to engage the enemy!"

The soldiers, who were still asleep, were now fully awake!
"What's going on?! Why is there a sudden enemy night attack?!"

"I do not know!"

"We just arrived and this happened right away; we've probably been being watched for a while!"

Ye Yunfeng ran at top speed and quickly climbed the city wall.

"grown ups!"

The garrison troops immediately reported this.
"The enemy was extremely cunning. They wrapped their horses' hooves in strips of cloth and sneaked out of our city, intending to launch a surprise attack. Fortunately, we had already scattered caltrops on the ground, which startled their horses and caused them to make noise, which is how we noticed them."

Many soldiers secretly felt fortunate; if Ye Yunfeng hadn't insisted, they would have suffered a great loss tonight!

"But who exactly are these people? How dare they be so audacious?!"

"Who else could be coming from this direction besides the Nanhu?"

"But—how dare they!?"

Everyone was shocked.

The South and the North have just paid a huge price for peace between the two sides, so why would they provoke trouble at this time?

Ye Yunfeng remained silent, gazing into the distance.

The enemy's sudden exposure disrupted the plan, so they decided to stop concealing themselves. A man sat high on his horse, his voice sharp and ruthless.

"kill!"

"kill--!"

Shouts erupted, and killing intent soared to the heavens!
The soldiers defending the city were all startled by the commotion.

"This...this number of people...I'm afraid it's no less than ten thousand!"

Has the King of Nanhu really gone mad?

"Sir, what should we do now?" the soldier asked anxiously. "The enemy outnumbers us, and this battle will be difficult! Moreover, we have only just arrived here, and the city's food supplies will not last long. Should we send a letter to Lord Feng requesting reinforcements?"

Ye Yunfeng pondered for a moment before making a quick decision.

"Send a message immediately: the Southern Hu are leading an army to attack! Tell them to be extremely careful! Although they outnumber us, Duzhou is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so we may still have a chance of winning—we must finish this quickly!"

Ye Yunfeng's mind was extremely clear.
"Archers, climb the battlements! Ready!"

"All troops, prepare for battle! Fight to the bitter end!"

……

Stones rolled down, sparks flew everywhere.

People kept trying to climb the ladders on the city wall, only to be killed time and time again.

Arrows flew in a hail of bullets, and the thick stench of blood permeated the entire battlefield.

After a night of fierce fighting, the enemy finally sounded the retreat.

However, they merely retreated and rested temporarily, showing no real intention to withdraw their troops.

As the faint morning light fell, the area outside the city was a dark mass of corpses, a scene of utter devastation.

A huge flag bearing the character "南" (Nan, meaning south) fluttered in the wind!
—Indeed, the Southern Hu sent troops!

The city's defenders, who had held out all night, were also exhausted. Under Ye Yunfeng's command, a new batch of soldiers was quickly dispatched.

"The enemy suffered heavy casualties, but their numbers are too large. If they continue to attack us, it will be difficult to deal with them."

"The letter has been sent out, and Lord Feng and the others should receive it soon."

"What are these Southern Hu people thinking? They're actually serious? Don't they realize that once a conflict is started, we have the Yan Nan King's 100,000-strong army behind us! They're no match for us! They'll only face certain death!"

The soldiers argued endlessly, but Ye Yunfeng remained silent.

He also stayed on the city wall all night.

But he wasn't sleepy at all; he was just staring at the sand table with an unusually serious expression.

Finally, someone couldn't help but ask, "Sir, what do you think?"

Ye Yunfeng pointed.

"Duzhou is in a special location, facing the border of the Southern Hu, separated by only one mountain range. Although it is not far from Xiacheng and Longcheng, the terrain is rugged. Apart from Lord Feng who can lead his troops directly from Xiacheng, all other reinforcements must cross the river, or they will have to go around the mountains, which is very troublesome."

Everyone was stunned and looked at each other.

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up, sir? The Southern Hu's forces are weaker than ours; such actions are nothing but courting death."

Ye Yunfeng retorted, "In this world, is there really anyone so reckless as to disregard the consequences, even at the cost of the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers?"

Everyone fell silent.

"To be honest, the Southern Hu's actions are indeed strange. So... what does Your Excellency mean?"

Before Ye Yunfeng could speak, he suddenly heard a howl of an eagle outside.

Suddenly, Ye Yunfeng thought of something and quickly went outside, where he saw a black eagle flapping its wings and flying towards him!

He was overjoyed—it was his sister's eagle!
But then he realized something was wrong.
Sister wouldn't easily send the black eagle unless it was a critical moment.

And now...

Ye Yunfeng whistled, and the dark shadow immediately swooped down and landed steadily on Ye Yunfeng's arm.

Ye Yunfeng removed the copper ring from the eagle's leg and took out the slip of paper inside.

Upon seeing the words clearly, his pupils suddenly contracted!
"not good!"