Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 261 Raid
Lu Nianqing and General Li led the reinforcements to quickly take control of the battlefield and pursued the fleeing Xilin border troops all the way west.

Lu Jing was extremely anxious. He gently placed his fingers on Su Qingwan's pulse, feeling the faint beat. His heart was filled with worry, and he dared not move her even slightly. He immediately ordered the military doctor to carry her away for treatment.

Both General Xiao Ning and Zhang Huaining were seriously wounded. Zhang Huaining's injuries were too severe to continue fighting, while General Xiao Ning, despite his pain, continued to fight bravely alongside Lu Nianqing. Zhang Huaining, despite his own serious injuries, still managed to dedicate himself to rescuing the wounded.

Su Qingwan was quickly carried into Huainan City. Lu Jing had no intention of lingering in the Prince's residence. He knew Su Qingwan's injuries were severe; if she couldn't be saved, she might not even have a chance to recover. If she miraculously survived, it could only be said that she was incredibly lucky. "Do everything you can to save the princess. If you can't, you'll be held responsible!"

Lu Jing hastily left those words behind, then rushed out the door, leaped onto his horse, and quickly left the city to return to the battlefield.

Lu Jing, along with Li An and the Imperial Guards, were on their way back to the capital when they saw beacon fires burning in Huainan City from afar. He was startled, knowing that this meant a border war had broken out, and this was the first time in Huainan City's history that smoke signals had been lit.

During the reign of the King of Huainan, Huainan City was only attacked once, and even then, no signal for reinforcements was sent. Now, Huainan City has not yet built its own powerful army, possessing only a light cavalry force transferred from the southwest. Xilin and Dayuan have just completed peace talks; how could a mutiny suddenly occur?

Neither he nor Su Qingwan had anticipated that Xilin would launch such a brazen attack on Huainan. Lu Jing did not immediately return to reinforce the city, but instead headed straight for Zhongzhou. He knew that Zhongzhou must have also seen the beacon fires; these fires were relayed from city to city, and towns along the route that saw the fires had to light the nearest beacon tower. Therefore, Lu Jing rode at breakneck speed towards Zhongzhou, his journey marked by the blazing flames of war.

Before Lu Jing entered the city, the prefect of Zhongzhou had already seen the smoke signals and knew they came from the direction of Huainan. However, he did not know that Lu Jing had been to Huainan, and the capital's attitude towards Huainan was still unclear. He was unsure whether to send troops to rescue them.

The prefect hesitated greatly, but General Li did not waver at all. He immediately selected a force of 20,000 men, composed of light cavalry and infantry, to rush to the aid of Huainan City. General Li understood that if Huainan fell, the Xilin border army could advance unimpeded into Dayuan territory, leaving no defensible terrain. In recent years, the battlefront had been mainly focused on the southwest, and many people had overlooked the potential threat posed by Xilin to Huainan.

The prefect of Zhongzhou, however, seemed hesitant and advised, "Huainan City doesn't yet have its own army. The princess has only recently returned to Huainan, and the city has at most five thousand soldiers, while the Xilin border army has seventy or eighty thousand. They wouldn't even need to deploy their main force to easily attack the city. Now the smoke signals have reached Zhongzhou. Going to its aid at this time would probably be futile. By the time you leave Zhongzhou, the Xilin army might have already breached Huainan City. It would be better to strengthen Zhongzhou's defenses and actively prepare for war. Besides, we are going to war now without any preparation, and we don't know what the princess intends."

"My lord, the people of Huainan are also the people of Dayuan. The princess has not yet had time to assemble an army and is in dire need of Zhongzhou's aid. If we stand idly by and the Xilin army breaks through Huainan, what will happen to those defenseless civilians? Will we just let them be slaughtered? There are hundreds of thousands of people in Huainan, all living beings. How can we not save them!" General Li was emotional and his words were earnest.

The prefect remained hesitant and still considered sending someone to the capital to request an order.

Seeing this, General Li sneered in anger, thinking that with this back and forth, the Xilin army would be marching all the way to Zhongzhou.

Fortunately, Lu Jing arrived in time!
General Li quickly mustered his troops and joined Lu Jing in battle. Lu Jing knew the situation in Huainan was critical; the infantry and supply train would inevitably be slow, while the light cavalry needed to reach Huainan immediately—speed was of the essence in war. General Li originally only intended to take two thousand light cavalry, but Lu Jing decisively ordered all five thousand light cavalry from Zhongzhou to be brought. Each soldier carried rations and water, and they galloped towards Huainan without stopping for a moment. The infantry and supply train followed, but their speed was far slower than that of the light cavalry. Midway, they encountered Lu Nianqing, who was also heading to Huainan. After the two armies joined forces, they continued their journey towards Huainan without any delay.

At this time, the main force of the army was still behind and had not yet arrived.

Light cavalry excels at surprise attacks. While not their main force against the Xilin border army, the original force of several thousand soldiers and bandits in Huainan City had suffered more than half their losses in the fierce battle, leaving them with little fighting strength. Lu Jing worried that the Xilin army would launch a counterattack.

In fact, his worries were somewhat unnecessary. Although General Li and Lu Nianqing only brought five thousand men, and General Xiao Ning had only one thousand soldiers left, the Xilin border army, after General Zhuge's death and seeing Lu Nianqing who looked remarkably like the Prince of Huainan, mistook him for the prince's reincarnation and were terrified. They were constantly being charged by the cavalry from Zhongzhou, their formation was thrown into chaos, and they fought and retreated.

Coupled with the burning of their supplies, morale had already plummeted, and they were utterly routed. Several thousand cavalry pursued them relentlessly, driving the Xilin border army to the banks of the Lanning River, successfully expelling them from the Dayuan border. The cavalrymen cheered and celebrated their hard-won victory on the border.

As dawn broke, the cavalry had already achieved a decisive victory. General Zhuge's ambition to breach the gates of Huainan was completely thwarted, and instead, he encountered a fierce counterattack from the cavalry.

General Li, being a cautious man, suggested waiting for the main force to arrive before taking further action, since they only had a few thousand men at the moment.

Lu Nianqing shook his head, his expression cold and stern, and said in a deep voice, "In military campaigns, momentum is key. Right now, our morale is high, while the Xilin army is suffering a series of defeats. We must not give them a chance to regroup. We will divide our forces into three routes, with myself, General Xiao Ning, and General Li each leading one army. I will lead the front, and the two generals will be on the flanks, forming a pincer movement. I will strike directly at the Xilin border army's camp and drive them back to the other side of the Lanning River."

General Li hesitated slightly after hearing this.

General Xiao Ning was the first to respond, and Zhang San also expressed his agreement. Huainan suffered heavy casualties in this battle, with more than half of their brothers killed and nearly half of their bandits also wiped out. They were burning with rage and yearning for revenge.

Lu Jing had already informed General Li that Lu Nianqing was the future Prince of Huainan, and that his words were equivalent to Su Qingwan's orders. General Li gritted his teeth and finally agreed.

The cavalry quickly split into three groups. Lu Nianqing led two thousand cavalrymen, facing the morning light, like a sharp dagger, charging straight toward the Xilin border army's camp.