The Prodigal Son

Shouchong is nearly ninety li away from Litang.

Shouchong was not a bustling city, but its location was quite important.

Shouchong can also be considered a garrison town of Xuanzhou Prefecture.

Once Shouchong falls, it will be tantamount to opening the gates of Xuanzhou Prefecture to the outside world.

After Yan Mu and Jin Tai's troops joined forces, they led their troops on a rapid march to Shouchong.

They had already received news that Qin Yu was leading his troops to attack Xuanzhou, and they had to take up residence in Shouchong before Qin Yu attacked.

"Report! Enemy general Qin Yu captured Litang yesterday at noon, and all three thousand defenders of Litang were slaughtered! Currently, Qin Yu is leading his troops to rest and reorganize in Litang..."

Halfway there, Yan Mu received news from Litang.

Upon hearing the news brought back by the scouts, Yan Mu and Jin Tai showed little emotion; in fact, they were somewhat pleasantly surprised.

This result is not surprising.

With only three thousand defenders, Litang had no chance of stopping Qin Yu's more than ten thousand elite cavalry.

Moreover, according to the information from Huang Dengxing, Ning Huang, the number one expert in Da Ning, is in Qin Yu's army.

If Qin Yu couldn't conquer Litang under these circumstances, he would be utterly incompetent.

Yan Mu ordered his men to hold Litang at all costs in order to slightly delay Qin Yu's advance and buy them more time.

Now, after Qin Yu occupied Litang, he did not immediately launch a surprise attack on the undefended areas around Litang, but instead rested and reorganized in Litang.

This is exactly what they wanted!

After a brief moment of thought, Yan Mu swiftly issued the order: "Pass down the order: the entire army must speed up and take up position at Shouchong before nightfall! Also, send more scouts towards Litang; report any unusual movements by the enemy immediately!"

"yes!"

The messenger quickly obeyed and left.

Under Yan Mu's orders, the army's marching speed increased considerably.

Jin Tai, following Yan Mu, asked with a smile, "Does Your Excellency think the enemy will withdraw from Litang?"

"They'll probably withdraw."

Yan Mu didn't rule out any possibility of a decisive victory, and continued his analysis: "Yu Jing's true elite forces are the elite cavalry led by Qin Yu. Now that Qin Yu has led his troops to attack them, it's basically impossible for him to hold Dongyuan with the remaining rabble!"

Of the 50,000 troops attacking from the direction of Yuyang, 30,000 were elite Chu soldiers!

The remaining 20,000 troops of the Min Kingdom, although not elite, were far superior in combat strength to the rabble under Yu Jing's command.

If Yu Jing can hold this position, then he deserves to be called a famous general!

If Dongyuan falls into crisis, Qin Yu will inevitably lead his troops back to its aid.

Otherwise, once they recapture Dongyuan, they can trap and beat Qin Yu's troops!

"That's what I think too!"

Jin Tai nodded in agreement. "However, I've heard that Qin Yu is cunning and treacherous, so we still need to be careful."

"Um!"

Yan Mu nodded, but cursed Huang Dengxing in his heart.

What a load of bull!

Bullshit master!

Most of the elite troops of the Min Kingdom are in his hands!

In this way, he also ordered Qin Yu to lead his troops from Yiling to their undefended rear.

Fortunately, they had 30,000 elite troops from the Chu Kingdom as reinforcements; otherwise, Yuzhou, Xuanzhou, Miaozhou and other places would have fallen into chaos.

As dusk approached, Yan Mu's troops, who had been marching at breakneck speed, finally managed to enter Shouchong.

Only then did Yan Mu and Jin Tai finally breathe a sigh of relief.

For the next two days, Yan Mu ordered his men to keep a close watch on the situation in the Litang direction.

Qin Yu's troops didn't make any moves, but people from all around Shouchong were fleeing to Shouchong, and the people of Litang were all driven out of Litang.

The homeless people could only run to Shou Chong, who had amassed an army of 30,000, hoping to seek the protection of these troops.

As Yan Mu on the city wall watched the people fleeing towards Shouchong with their families, his face turned ashen.

"Sir, should we let these people into the city?"

Jin Tai frowned and looked at Yan Mu, "Among these people, there are probably quite a few spies sent by Qin Yu!"

Moreover, so many people fleeing in their direction would severely obstruct the vision of their scouts.

"They're more than just spies!"

Yan Mu's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he said in a deep voice, "In my opinion, that scoundrel Qin Yu wants to use these civilians to deplete our military rations, thereby dragging us down..."

As expected, they looted all the grain in the cities along their route to Dongyuan!

As they marched further east, they were unable to obtain supplies from the cities along the way.

If Qin Yu uses these civilians to deplete their military rations, they will be unable to advance further into Dongyuan!

"No wonder that scoundrel Qin Yu stopped attacking after capturing Litang; so that's what he was planning!"

Jin Tai suddenly realized what was happening, and while cursing Qin Yu for being despicable and shameless, he asked Yan Mu with a headache, "So what do we do now?"

A ruthless glint flashed in Yan Mu's eyes. He gritted his teeth and ordered, "Send someone to tell the people that there are disaster relief efforts in Xuanzhou Prefecture, and tell them to head towards Xuanzhou Prefecture!"

"this……"

Kim Tae's expression changed, and he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

There's no one providing disaster relief in Xuanzhou Prefecture!

Moreover, most of these people did not carry much food, and very few of them could even make it to Xuanzhou Prefecture!

"Get it done right away!"

Yan Mu shouted sternly.

Jin Tai hesitated for a moment, then steeled himself and walked down the city wall, cursing Qin Yu in his heart.

That despicable and shameless scoundrel!

So young, yet so vicious!

"Achoo..."

Qin Yu, who was in Litang, sneezed unexpectedly, completely unaware that his good deed had been misunderstood.

"I guess Qingyi and Xu Wan miss you."

"Nan Que'er, who was beside me, joked."

"Just say 'Qingyi,' don't bring Xu Wan into it!"

Qin Yu raised his hand and slapped Nan Que'er's pert buttocks, then stared at the map in front of him, secretly wondering how Zeng Guan's investigation was going.

"Thirteenth Young Master, Lord Zeng is back!"

Said Cao Cao, Cao Cao.

Just as Qin Yu was thinking, Qi Dachui came in to report.

Upon hearing this, Qin Yu immediately stood up. "Quickly, please invite them in!"

Soon, Zeng Guan strode in.

"How is it?"

Upon seeing Zeng Guan, Qin Yu immediately asked him questions.

"The enemy forces from the direction of Yuyang are less than fifty li from Dongyuan!"

Zeng Guan said in a deep voice, "The Chu Kingdom's 10,000 elite cavalrymen have already entered Lu'an, southeast of Dongyuan, yesterday, cutting off our route to quickly reinforce Dongyuan! If we want to reinforce now, we either have to conquer Lu'an, or we'll have to take a long detour."

Upon hearing Zeng Guan's words, Qin Yu immediately laughed heartily: "Is there really such a good thing?"

They were always going to take a roundabout route!

They had over ten thousand cavalrymen; they couldn't possibly hide.

There aren't many good places around for them to hide.

Moreover, the enemy's scouts would certainly be paying close attention to their movements.

To sneak around to the vicinity of Changxi Plain, a route that Yan Mu's troops must take, the only option is to make a large detour, leading the enemy to mistakenly believe that they are going to take a long detour to attack the enemy forces in the direction of Yuyang.

Are you sure you can do it?

Zeng Guan asked with great interest.

"Any plan is subject to change before it succeeds!"

Qin Yu glared at him and shouted, "Guards! Beat the drums and gather the generals!"

At this point, discussing whether or not we are confident is pointless!

Whether it will succeed or not, you'll only know by trying!