The Prodigal Son

The next day at noon, Yan Mu, who was in Shouchong, was still eating when a scout rushed over to report.

"The enemy forces in Litang withdrew at dawn and set Litang ablaze! According to our tracking, the enemy forces should have headed south towards Yuzhou!"

Upon hearing the scout's report, Yan Mu immediately put down his chopsticks and ordered someone to bring him a map.

Qin Yu's withdrawal from Litang was exactly what he had expected.

It's obvious that Dongyuan is in crisis, and Qin Yu is leading his troops back to its aid.

Jin Tai's finger traced lightly across the map, quickly giving his assessment: "Qin Yu has headed south, undoubtedly intending to flank Liang Jingzhe's 50,000-strong army and relieve the siege of Dongyuan! His arson of the city is also to prevent us from obtaining any supplies in Litang, thus slowing our advance towards Dongyuan..."

"Definitely!"

Yan Mu nodded in agreement. "That scoundrel is truly vicious; he'll stop at nothing to slow down our march!"

They drove the people away to deplete their military rations and set fire to the city.

despicable!

mean!

"So when do we advance?"

Kim Tae inquired.

"Mobilize the troops immediately and depart in half an hour!"

Yan Mu clenched his fist. "Also, send someone to inform Liang Jingzhe of Qin Yu's troops' movements, and tell Liang Jingzhe to be on guard!"

Qin Yu, after all, had tens of thousands of cavalrymen under his command.

If the cavalry circled around to Liang Jingzhe's rear and he wasn't on guard, he would most likely suffer a loss.

"yes!"

Kim Tae-hyun didn't even finish his meal before rushing off to muster his troops.

Yan Mu sat down again, ate the rest of the rice in his bowl hastily, and quickly went out.

Half an hour later, Yan Mu and Jin Tai led an army of 30,000 men and left Shouchong in a grand procession.

That night, just as Yan Mu's troops had set up camp, the scouts brought back news again.

It has been confirmed that Qin Yu's troops have headed south of Yuzhou.

In addition, the scouts brought back another important message.

Liang Jingzhe dispatched 5,000 elite cavalry to Lu'an, cutting off Qin Yu's hope of returning to Dongyuan via the shortest route from the southwest.

Upon receiving this unexpected news, Yan Mu and Jin Tai both smiled.

"No wonder Qin Yu led his troops south; he had no choice but to do so!"

Jin Tai looked at Yan Mu with a big smile.

Yan Mu nodded and smiled, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes. "No matter how despicable Qin Yu is, as long as our 30,000 troops quickly enter Yuzhou and deal with Yu Jing of Dongyuan, he'll be a sitting duck!"

"What you say is absolutely right, sir!"

Jin Tai laughed heartily, "Actually, if Qin Yu and Liang Jingzhe fight to the death, it might not be a bad thing! That way, when we arrive, the credit for conquering Dongyuan will probably fall on our shoulders!"

"good!"

Yan Mu nodded and smiled, "However, I don't want Qin Yu, that despicable bastard, to die at Liang Jingzhe's hands! I want to catch that little beast myself and skin him alive!"

Although Qin Yu's wicked scheme failed, it will certainly cause them some trouble.

They didn't provide military rations to help the fleeing refugees, and instead tricked them into going to Xuanzhou Prefecture. Many of the refugees will surely starve to death on the way.

If this gets out, it will definitely damage his reputation.

If things escalate, Yu Wu, under pressure, might punish himself to appease the people.

He'll remember this debt!

But he will make Qin Yu pay for it soon!

Silent all night.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Yan Mu's troops broke camp again.

By the afternoon, they had finally arrived at Changxi Plain.

Changxiyuan has a wide-open terrain and is named after a winding stream.

During the brief rest, Yan Mu had his horse led downstream to be fed water, and he squatted by the stream to wash his face in the cool water.

"Sir, please have something to eat first!"

Jin Tai walked over and handed the dry noodle cake with sauce to Yan Mu.

"Um."

Yan Mu took the flatbread, ate a few bites, then took out his water pouch, drank a couple of mouthfuls of water, and swallowed the dry flatbread. A look of reminiscence appeared on his face: "You don't know, do you? A few years ago, His Majesty and I bathed in this stream..."

"Is that so?"

Kim Tae feigned surprise, then looked very interested.

"At that time, His Majesty had just been enfeoffed in Xuanzhou. I led troops to escort His Majesty to his fiefdom. When we passed by here, it was the height of summer. His Majesty saw this long stream and decided to cool off in it..."

While eating his dry rations, Yan Mu told Jin Tai about their past.

Although Jin Tai wasn't very interested, he listened attentively in order to provide Yan Mu with emotional support, and a smile would occasionally appear on his face.

Just as Yan Mu was getting into the conversation, a sound like thunder suddenly came to his ears.

At first, Yan Mu didn't think anything of it.

But as the sound grew louder, Yan Mu couldn't help but subconsciously look up at the sky.

However, the sun was shining brightly in the sky, and there was no sign of thunderstorms.

"Thump thump..."

A rapid sound of horses' hooves approached from afar.

A messenger galloped up on horseback, and before he even arrived, his panicked voice reached Yan Mu's ears: "Lord Yan, something terrible has happened! A large force of cavalry is charging this way!"

"What's the panic!"

Yan Mu glared at the messenger with annoyance. "It should be Lu An's cavalry arriving to join us!"

"No...that's not it!"

The messenger's face turned deathly pale, and even his tone changed. "It's...it's enemy cavalry! Black flags, Ning cavalry!"

"What?!"

Yan Mu's expression changed drastically, and he roared murderously, "What are the scouts good for? They didn't even know the enemy cavalry was attacking?"

"Sir, let's not worry about that for now!"

Jin Tai suddenly stood up and grabbed Yan Mu's arm. "Let's organize our defenses quickly! Judging from the sound, the enemy cavalry is very close! It'll be too late if we're any later!"

"Drag the entire scout team out and behead them!"

Yan Mu's eyes were bloodshot as he roared and issued incoherent orders: "Order all units! Immediately form ranks to meet the enemy! Push all the supply wagons and baggage wagons to the front and build a defensive line! Archers, take your positions! Spearmen, form ranks! Hurry! All of you, hurry..."

Yan Mu forced himself to calm down and quickly issued the order.

However, looking at the soldiers who were still clueless and standing by the stream, and then at the surrounding terrain, Yan Mu felt a chill in his heart.

The terrain here is so open!

This is perfect for a large-scale cavalry raid!

The enemy deliberately chose this place to launch their attack!

wrong!

If Qin Yu really went to the southern part of Yuzhou, there's no way he would have come back so quickly!

A roundabout way!

Two words suddenly appeared in Yan Mu's mind.

At this moment, Yan Mu finally understood that all of Qin Yu's previous actions were a smokescreen!

After Qin Yu entered the southern part of Yuzhou, he must have made a great detour and attacked from the east!

Yan Mu understood everything, but it was already too late.

As Yan Mu hurriedly climbed onto his warhorse, the dark mass of cavalry in the distance loomed over like a black cloud.

"Form ranks to meet the enemy! Form ranks!"

Yan Mu spurred his horse and galloped wildly, roaring at the top of his lungs.

Faced with the sudden appearance of a large cavalry force, all the soldiers panicked.

Shouts and the sounds of clashing weapons mingled together, creating complete chaos.

Some people were so frightened that they trembled all over and stood there unable to move.

Some people fled in panic, leaving their weapons on the ground.

Some people tried to find their own group, but were pushed and shoved by the chaotic crowd and were unable to regroup.

Looking at the soldiers in such disarray, Yan Mu felt even more desperate.

After struggling to calm himself, Yan Mu steeled his resolve and roared through gritted teeth at his personal guard commander, "Du Kui, I'll lead some men to draw the enemy's attention away from their experts! You lead your men straight to the enemy's command post and kill that scoundrel Qin Yu!"

He knew very well that despite having an army of 30,000, they had no chance of winning under these circumstances.

The only chance is to kill the enemy's commander!

Although he also knew that the possibility was extremely slim.

But given the current situation, we have no choice but to fight to the death.

Du Kui's expression changed. "Sir, this..."

"Shut up!"

Yan Mu, his eyes bloodshot, interrupted Du Kui: "This is our only hope! Otherwise, we will be completely wiped out!"