A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Zhang Chong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the opposing side only had 5 elite cavalry.

Although Zhang Huai led a large number of elite troops south, he still left 5 elite troops in Yunzhou, including 2 elite cavalry.

Now they are defending the city, and the opposing force consists of only 5 elite troops, who are no match for them at all.

He might even be able to annihilate this army of 5, achieve great military exploits, and solidify his position as heir apparent.

If his father, Zhang Huai, were to conquer Luoyang and establish a new kingdom, he would become the crown prince and the heir to the empire. Naturally, he would need to achieve some military merits to promote his own people and consolidate his position in order to keep those arrogant and fierce generals in check.

"Huang Yi, do you have a plan to help me annihilate this army of 50,000?"

"Young master, the master has instructed us to prioritize stability and not to act rashly. We only need to defend Yunzhou City."

"If we rashly leave the city, it would be fine if we win, but if we lose, I fear we may lose Yunzhou."

After hearing this, the other generals nodded in agreement and also tried to dissuade Zhang Chong.

"Young master, the enemy on the other side is the elite force of the imperial court stationed in the most bitterly cold place. They are stationed in the far north wilderness all year round, and their combat strength is superior to that of my Yunzhou army. They should not be underestimated."

Seeing that everyone was trying to stop him, Zhang Chong had no choice but to give up this tempting idea.

"In that case, the defense of Yunzhou City will be entrusted to the general."

Zhang Chong spoke to Zheng Hu, the veteran general his father had left him.

"Rest assured, young master, with the defenses of Yunzhou City, these 5 troops will not be able to break through."

Zheng Hu patted his chest and assured them that as the defenders, they naturally had an advantage, and their troop strength was about the same as the enemy's. Under normal circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for them to be attacked.

If it weren't for the concern that leaving the city would lead to an ambush and weaken Yunzhou City's defenses, he would actually have liked Zhang Chong's suggestion quite a bit.

However, the strict order Zhang Huai gave him before leaving was to defend the city and not to leave the city to fight without authorization, which forced him to give up this tempting idea.

"I have a feeling that something is wrong."

Huang Yi was raised and taught by his father from a young age, and through this exposure, he developed a remarkable understanding of strategy.

He clearly sensed that something was wrong.

"The imperial border commanders aren't fools; how could they possibly send only 5 elite cavalry to attack Yunzhou City?"

"The purpose of these 50,000 cavalry must be to prevent us from leaving the city and to tie down the main army remaining in Yunzhou City. They must have another army preparing to attack other important locations in Yunzhou."

"Zhenbei City!"

Several people said in unison.

Zhenbei City was a military stronghold established in Yunzhou when the Wei family occupied the northern desert region during their northern expedition. It was an important place for the Wei family to store grain and troops for their subsequent northern expeditions.

Later, after the northern grasslands were pacified, in order to facilitate development and weaken the power of the local military governor of Yunzhou, the imperial court moved the prefecture of Yunzhou to another location.

However, Zhenbei City still exists and remains a major town in Yunzhou, second only to the prefectural capital.

It contained a large amount of assets, military supplies, and grain from Yunzhou, making it extremely important to Yunzhou.

Currently, more than half of the weapons and armor in Yunzhou are made there. If Zhenbei City is lost, Yunzhou will almost be crippled.

Even Zhang Huai could not accept this loss.

"Before my father left, he also left a large number of troops to guard Zhenbei City, so there will be no trouble."

As a key town in Yunzhou, Zhang Huai would naturally not weaken the defenses of Zhenbei City.

In addition to the army that marched south, Zhang Huai deployed 3 troops in Yunzhou City and Zhenbei City respectively.

As the front line at the time, Zhenbei City had an extremely complete defense system, and its height and thickness were even greater than those of Yunzhou City.

With 30,000 elite troops, Zhang Huai believed that even an army of 200,000 would not be able to take Zhenbei City.

Not to mention that Yunzhou City is also on the side, forming a pincer movement. If they want to attack Zhenbei City, they have to worry about being attacked from both sides by Yunzhou City. The imperial court's border troops also need to guard the north to prevent foreign attacks, so they simply cannot spare too many troops to go south.

Therefore, Zhang Huai was extremely confident in the defenses of the north, which allowed him to focus all his efforts on heading south to attack Luoyang.

"Young master, just in case, we should send some scouts towards Zhenbei City first."

Huang Yi offered his suggestion.

Zhang Chong nodded and immediately ordered scouts to be dispatched to inquire about news from Zhenbei City.

Before their scouts could bring back the news, a message arrived first from Zhenbei City.

A 5-strong imperial army appeared outside Zhenbei City, stationed 10 kilometers away.

Zhang Chong and Huang Yi exchanged a glance. Just as they had expected, the imperial army was stationed outside Zhenbei City and Yunzhou City respectively, preventing them from supporting each other.

However, after the imperial court divided its troops, it was unable to capture the city due to insufficient manpower.

What was the significance of the imperial army marching south?

We can't just be stationed here to scare them, can we?

There's no need for that!

"What do you think the imperial court's conspiracy is?"

Zhang Chong and Huang Yi stared at each other, knowing that the court's actions were definitely intentional, but what exactly that intention was was another matter.

"Could it be that they intend to besiege the stronghold and ambush reinforcements?"

"The imperial court is attacking Zhenbeiguan and wants us to send troops to aid them, so they can annihilate the reinforcements?"

Huang Yi offered a guess, but it was somewhat far-fetched, and even he himself didn't believe it.

"Unless the imperial court is confident that it can take Yunzhou City or Zhenbei Pass with these troops alone."

After refuting his own guess, Huang Yi gave another, more likely answer.

"impossible."

"Yunzhou City and Zhenbei Pass have 5 and 3 elite troops respectively. The city walls are high and thick, and the water and food supplies inside are plentiful. If the imperial court only has this many troops, it is absolutely impossible to break through them."

Zhang Ce resolutely blocked the railway.

"Normally that's true, but what if it's an abnormal situation? For example, what if there are rebels or inside agents?"

Throughout history, how many cities have been breached by direct confrontation? And how many have fallen due to internal problems?

"This is especially true of those world-renowned fortified cities and important towns."

After listening to Huang Yi's explanation, Zhang Ce pondered for a moment. If that were really the case, then there would indeed be danger.

But Yunzhou City is where he is, and the general leading the troops is an old general who has followed his father for a long time. Zheng Hu has been with his father since the beginning of his rebellion, so there is absolutely no way there could be a problem.

The one guarding Zhenbei City was his own uncle, Zhang Wu. Even for the sake of profit, Zhang Wu would never betray him, not to mention the blood ties and the laws of the world.

A person who can betray even his own brother can never gain the trust of anyone else.

"General Zheng and General Zhang would certainly not betray us, but what about their deputies and trusted confidants?"