The Prodigal Son

Yiling.

Seeing Shen Tu Hong and Yin Ye return in defeat, and after learning the details of their loss, Huang Dengxing's face suddenly turned ashen, but he didn't lash out. He simply asked in a deep voice, "What were the enemy's casualties?"

Shen Tu Hong glanced cautiously at Huang Dengxing and said somewhat uncertainly, "The situation was urgent at the time, and I'm not entirely sure how many enemies our army killed, but I estimate it was... less than a thousand..."

Upon hearing the news of the casualties, Huang Dengxing finally couldn't hold back any longer and roared, "Useless trash! What use are you to me?"

Of their twelve thousand elite cavalry, only half returned!

The enemy suffered fewer than a thousand casualties!

They were sent to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, but instead of the enemy being severely damaged, they themselves were severely damaged by the enemy!

What use is there in keeping such waste?

Seeing Huang Dengxing's anger, Shentu Hong immediately felt guilty and hurriedly explained, "General, it's not that I'm incompetent. I had already sensed something was wrong and originally wanted to hold back, but I couldn't resist General Yin's repeated persuasion..."

Shen Tu Hong kept defending himself, which enraged Yin Ye. "General Shen Tu, we must speak with conscience! Yes, I suggested a full-scale attack, but I didn't tell you to recklessly charge forward! It was clearly your own carelessness and underestimation of the enemy that led to this..."

"fart!"

Shen Tu Hong suddenly looked up, his eyes blazing as he glared at Yin Ye: "I underestimated the enemy? I'll go ask the soldiers in the army, how did I underestimate the enemy? I repeatedly sent people to scout out whether the enemy had any ambushes, I..."

Shen Tu Hong was roaring menacingly at Yin Ye when he suddenly felt a gust of wind rushing towards him.

Bang!

Shen Tu Hong's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, performing a difficult 720-degree spin in the air before crashing heavily to the ground, shattering several of the blue bricks.

"puff……"

Shen Tu Hong spat out a mouthful of blood, but didn't dare to utter a sound. Ignoring his injuries, he struggled to his feet and came to Huang Dengxing with a heart full of fear, saying, "This humble general knows his crime."

Yin Ye was also quite frightened by Huang Dengxing's move, and quickly lowered his head to admit his mistake: "This humble general knows his crime, please punish me, General!"

Bang!

Huang Dengxing kicked Yin Ye to the ground again, roaring with a livid face, "You two get out of here and think carefully about where you went wrong! If you don't figure it out before dawn, I'll help you figure it out!"

"yes!"

The two dared not say more and quickly retreated in fear and trepidation.

Watching the two figures walk away, Huang Dengxing couldn't help but slam his fist on the table in front of him in anger.

With a cracking sound, a fine table was reduced to dust.

"General, please calm down."

Ji Lianhuan quickly advised, "With Ning Huang holding the line, and the two generals worried that the enemy is deliberately delaying to buy time for their troops to be sent out to wipe out our reinforcements, there are bound to be some oversights..."

"Even you know why I'm so angry?"

Huang Dengxing interrupted Ji Lianhuan, his face extremely grim.

Ji Lianhuan paused slightly, pondered for a moment, then let out a long sigh and said softly, "General Shentu and his men failed to inflict heavy losses on the enemy. A large force of elite enemy cavalry successfully penetrated our rear, and our rear is now in grave danger! If the enemy holds Dongyuan, we will become an isolated army! In such a critical moment, we should unite as one, but they are still fighting amongst themselves, shirking responsibility. They really deserve to be taught a lesson..."

Hearing Ji Lianhuan's words, Huang Dengxing's expression softened.

Yes!

Their defeat, a result of falling into a trap, and their failure to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, had already put him in a very bad mood.

Instead of reflecting on their actions, these two people shirked their responsibilities in front of him!

How could he not be furious?

After taking a few deep breaths, Huang Dengxing asked in a low voice, "What do you think we should do now?"

Ji Lianhuan did not answer directly, but asked with concern, "Does the Grand General wish to request His Majesty to send the main force to retake Dongyuan?"

"Don't you think it shouldn't be like this?"

Huang Dengxing frowned, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Although Dongyuan has not yet fallen into enemy hands, it is only a matter of time before it does, given the current situation.

Once Dongyuan falls into enemy hands, they will be left isolated!

Taking back Dongyuan should be a must, right?

"It should definitely be the case."

Ji Lianhuan said solemnly, "But General, don't forget, the enemy's commander is Qin Yu!"

"The General should now realize that this Qin Yu is no ordinary person!"

"If we can understand the importance of Dongyuan, he certainly can too!"

"While we must retake Dongyuan, we must also be wary of Qin Yu using Dongyuan as bait to gradually erode our army..."

Let alone Qin Yu, anyone with even a little military knowledge can see the importance of Dongyuan.

Given Qin Yu's cunning, he wouldn't possibly leave such a big bait unused!

Moreover, Qin Yu commands an elite cavalry force!

Once their main force advances towards Dongyuan, they are likely to be ambushed by Qin Yu's cavalry!

Anyway, if it were Qin Yu instead, he would definitely do the same thing!

Huang Dengxing stood with his hands behind his back, his eyebrows almost furrowed together. "What you say makes a lot of sense, but we absolutely cannot let the enemy occupy Dongyuan indefinitely!"

"The General is right."

Ji Lianhuan nodded in agreement. "However, our army currently has ample supplies and nearly 50,000 troops. The enemy's small force won't be able to wipe us out so easily! My suggestion is that in retaking Dongyuan, we should prioritize stability over haste! The more hasty we are, the easier it will be for Qin Yu to find an opportunity! Just like General Shentu and his men in today's battle..."

As he spoke, Ji Lianhuan began to analyze the situation for Huang Dengxing.

Currently, Dongyuan only has one thousand county soldiers.

There were no troops or personnel around who could provide timely support to Dongyuan.

The fall of Dongyuan was inevitable the moment Shentu Hong and his men were defeated!

And they still have enough food supplies to last for four months!

Therefore, they had ample time for Yu Wu to send troops to retake Dongyuan!

We must assemble a large army and retake Dongyuan in one fell swoop!

Instead of people from all directions converging on Dongyuan.

In that case, the forces attacking Dongyuan will inevitably be defeated one by one!

Listening to Ji Lianhuan's analysis, Huang Dengxing gently shook his head, "What you said makes sense, but you forgot a key person!"

"Who?"

Ji Lianhuan inquired.

"Yu Jing!"

A cold glint flashed in Huang Dengxing's eyes. "Yu Jing is the Crown Prince! If we allow him to use the Crown Prince's name to recruit soldiers in Dongyuan, they will quickly grow stronger and undermine our morale!"

He was certain that Yu Jing and Qin Yu were together.

Even though Yu Wu has ascended the throne, Yu Jing's influence should not be underestimated.

If we don't eliminate them as soon as possible, the situation could very well spiral out of control!

Ji Lianhuan's heart skipped a beat. "The General is right, I did forget that! But to eliminate them quickly right now, I'm afraid..."

Ji Lianhuan didn't say anything more.

But Huang Dengxing understood what he meant.

It is indeed quite difficult to quickly eliminate Qin Yu and Yu Jing!

But it's not impossible!

The State of Chu has already sent 30,000 troops to support them!

We can provide another 20,000!

Huang Dengxing pondered to himself, then slowly walked to the front of the map...