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

Indeed, both Huang Yi and Zhang Chong knew the principle of acting in secrecy.

Therefore, very few people could know the news in advance, or rather, only a handful.

"No, we can still get the message out even after we officially issue the order by using special means."

Huang Yi shook his head again, denying his guess.

Zhang Chong slumped into a chair and sighed, "What can we do? We can't just let this person keep exposing our purpose."

"Why don't we turn the tables and deliberately leak different false intelligence to reduce suspicion, while also outmaneuvering the enemy?"

Huang Yi's eyes lit up as he came up with another great idea.

Zhang Chong clenched his fist angrily, gritted his teeth, and discussed with Huang Yi how to find out the traitor.

On the other side, Li Guangbi sneezed and rubbed his nose. Who was thinking about him?

Zheng Hu lived up to Zhang Huai's trust, managing to defend the entire city flawlessly with his 3-strong army.

Most importantly, he is not susceptible to any schemes; he simply holds his ground and will not leave the city no matter how you try to tempt him.

Even with Li Guangbi's abilities, he didn't have a good solution for this kind of stubbornness.

After all, they were all people of the Tang Dynasty, and he couldn't possibly resort to methods that were too contrary to the natural order.

So he simply used this war as a training ground, sending some inexperienced generals to lead troops to attack cities and hone their skills.

……

Not long after, the imperial court received a battle report from Yunzhou City that there were unusual movements in the northern states, making it impossible to mobilize too many troops to march south.

Although they annihilated 2 elite cavalry from Yunzhou, the Yunzhou army held firm in their defense of Yunzhou City and Zhenbei City, adopting a scorched-earth policy, making it difficult to capture these two cities in a short period of time.

I was hoping to get some good news from the north, but instead I received bad news.

Unable to capture Zhenbei City and Yunzhou City quickly, they had no choice but to confront the rebels head-on.

"An army of 80,000!"

"An army of 80,000!"

"Where did Zhang Huai get 8 troops?!"

"Including the troops at the front lines, Zhang Huai, as a mere military governor, commands nearly 30 men!"

"How does he manage to support so many people?"

"Why hasn't the imperial court noticed anything? Is this still the Tang Dynasty? This is a force of 30 men! Feeding and sustenance for them is no small matter. How could there be absolutely no movement?"

Li Heng was furious. It was one thing for a military governor to have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops, but to have an additional hundred thousand hidden away was a scale that could only be achieved by exhausting the resources of an entire prefecture.

But what does 300,000 mean?

It would take several states to support an army of 30!

They would not easily hide the fact that they wanted to support such a large army from the imperial court!

How did his father manage to have such a weak grip on the court? How could a military governor with such limited power even exist?!

Thinking of this, Li Heng developed deep doubts about the abilities of his deceased father, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji.

Could it be that the glorious Kaiyuan era, which his father relied on for his honor, was entirely due to his own ministers and was full of empty promises?

Oh ocean, are you all water?

The ministers in the court looked at each other in disbelief. They had never expected that after Zhang Huai sent so many troops south, he would still be able to leave so many people behind to guard the homeland.

According to their estimates, after Zhang Huai's troops went south, he should only have a mere 20,000 to 30,000 men left, which was far from enough to defend the two fortified cities of Yunzhong and Zhenbei.

Even with foreign interference, the border troops couldn't spare many men, but they still had more than enough to capture the two fortified cities guarded by only 20,000 to 30,000 men.

But now, unexpectedly, Zhang Huai has left a full 8 troops at home! These 8 troops are stationed in two fortified cities, and with the city defenses of the two cities, even the imperial army would find it difficult to break through.

"Send word to Geshu Han, ask him what kind of support he needs? The rebels must be annihilated at Liyang!"

"If it's possible, give him whatever support he needs!"

Li Heng closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths to calm the surging anger in his heart, and then spoke.

Li Yang, Ge Shuhan looked at the imperial decree that had been delivered to him, his eyes shining brightly.

The imperial court has invested heavily in him this time, and he absolutely cannot let the court down.

Geshu Han sent several letters to Li Heng, expressing his confidence that he could annihilate the entire rebel army once the imperial reinforcements arrived.

On the other side of Liyang, as Zhang Huai continued to advance, his arrogance grew, and his inner flaws began to surface, making it difficult even for Huang Ce to offer him advice.

He also began to become autocratic and stubborn.

This character flaw became increasingly apparent after he successfully and completely took control of the coalition forces.

Even when other feudal lords opposed him, he would drag them out and beat them to death on the spot.

It should be noted that his relationship with these feudal lords was not one of true superior and subordinate; rather, they were in a cooperative relationship.

However, Zhang Huai now completely regards the other regional military governors as his subordinates, or even thorns in his side.

He treated the allied forces as his private property, believing that these military governors were all people who coveted the power in his hands.

Huang Ce tried to persuade Zhang Huai many times, but Zhang Huai wouldn't listen. Instead, Huang Ce angered Zhang Huai and was alienated by him.

Huang Ce was also somewhat disheartened, and he began to reflect on whether his initial choice was a good idea.

Zhang Huai was indeed not a wise ruler.

Perhaps no help is needed on this path. Only those who rise from the bottom, like him, can wholeheartedly fight for the common people and avoid losing themselves under the weight of immense power.

Zhang Huai now makes it impossible for Huang Ce to see any chance of victory. Perhaps he needs to plan for the future of the Huang family as soon as possible. He has received Zhang Huai's kindness and will naturally repay him with his life.

But the Huang family must not be buried with the Zhang family, and the future Huang family must not follow the foolish Zhang family.

Thinking of this, Huang Ce made up his mind, and a person dressed entirely in black appeared in the tent.

Huang Ce wrote a personal letter, handed it to the man in black, and gave him a few instructions. After receiving the instructions, the man in black turned around and disappeared into the tent.

He lost this time, but he believed that his Huang family would produce another outstanding person who could completely destroy the Tang Dynasty, destroy those powerful clans and aristocratic families, and give ordinary people a chance to rise up.

The image of the person who had once guided him flashed through Huang Ce's mind. Although he had disappointed him, he believed that with that person by his side, his wish would eventually come true.