The Prodigal Son

Dongyuan.

Starting yesterday, Liang Jingzhe ordered his men to launch a major attack on the city.

According to Liang Jingzhe's plan, they should have broken through Dongyuan yesterday.

In his eyes, the garrison of Dongyuan was nothing more than a ragtag bunch hastily assembled by Yu Jing, and could not possibly stop their elite troops.

However, the resistance from the Dongyuan garrison was far more intense than he had imagined.

Over two days, they launched several attacks, but all were repelled by the Dongyuan garrison.

This result was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face to him.

Liang Jingzhe stood on a high point outside the city, observing the battle from afar, feeling inexplicably irritated.

Just then, Song Ling rushed over with an urgent military report, "My lord, an urgent report has arrived from Qixia Pass!"

Qixia Pass?

Liang Jingzhe's heart skipped a beat.

Could something have happened at Qixia Pass?

Filled with unease, Liang Jingzhe quickly took the urgent military report and opened it.

Upon seeing the contents of the urgent military report, Liang Jingzhe frowned but also breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't exactly good news, but it wasn't the bad news he was hoping for either.

Even so, Liang Jingzhe's complexion was still not very good.

"Useless thing!"

General Liang Jingzhe urgently reported to Song Ling, "The enemy is practically under his nose, and he just stands by and watches! What use is such a good-for-nothing!"

After quickly skimming through the contents of General Song Ling's urgent report, he immediately understood that Liang Jingzhe was scolding Sheng Qiao.

Song Ling looked up at the angry Liang Jingzhe with a puzzled expression. "General Xiong's handling of this matter shouldn't be a big problem, right?"

"no problem?"

Liang Jingzhe's expression grew even more grim. "The Sanli Bridge is only two zhang wide, yet Qin Yu's troops number over ten thousand! How long do you think it will take for all ten thousand cavalry to cross the river?"

"It will probably take about an hour in total."

Song Ling realized what was going on, "Lord Marquis is thinking that if General Xiong seizes the opportunity and launches an attack while most of the enemy troops have crossed the river, even if they can't wipe out too many enemy troops, they can still dampen Qin Yu's arrogance..."

Sheng Qiao only thought that Qin Yu had already led his troops across the river by the time they caught up, but he overlooked the time it would take for Qin Yu's troops to cross the river.

The bridge is only so wide!

It would indeed take a considerable amount of time for tens of thousands of cavalry to cross the river in an orderly manner!

This was something that even the inexperienced Sheng Qiao didn't immediately grasp, let alone him.

"Oh, right!"

Liang Jingzhe's expression improved slightly. "Since Qin Yu led his troops into Yuzhou, he has won one victory after another. Now, in just over a day, he has captured thirteen cities in Miaozhou. If we don't give Qin Yu a blow, it will not only embolden his troops, but also cause the people of Min Kingdom to completely side with Yu Jing..."

Qin Yu was very clever, you could even say he was cunning!

In a day and a half, they captured thirteen cities in Miaozhou, killing only the officials and soldiers in the cities, but not harming the common people in the slightest!

Nobody cares how weak Miaozhou's defense is.

Everyone only thinks about how powerful Qin Yu is who came to help Yu Jing, and how useless Yu Wu and his men are.

With the officials and soldiers killed, all factions in Miaozhou would inevitably support Yu Jing.

Sheng Qiao knew that Qin Yu was going to attack Wuzhou, but he still held back his troops.

If this gets out, people will think that Sheng Qiao is afraid of Qin Yu!

This will also make people's hearts lean towards Yu Jing even faster!

After hearing Liang Jingzhe's words, Song Ling suddenly realized what was going on.

So that's why he scolded Sheng Qiao.

"General Xiong's lack of experience, coupled with being bound by the Marquis's orders, makes his decision to remain inactive understandable."

Song Ling spoke up for Sheng Qiao again.

"That's utter nonsense, but there are extenuating circumstances!"

Liang Jingzhe grew increasingly angry: "A general in the field is not bound by the emperor's orders! If he can't even seize opportunities in battle, he'll be nothing more than a city-defending general for the rest of his life!"

He still had relatively high expectations for Sheng Qiao.

But Sheng Qiao's performance disappointed him.

Thinking about Qin Yu's performance, and then thinking about Sheng Qiao's performance, he suddenly realized that his nephew was nothing!

"No matter what, it's good that nothing happened at Qixia Pass."

After offering some words of comfort, Song Ling continued, "Qin Yu is adept at intrigue and treachery. As long as he knows that Yu Wu has borrowed another 20,000 troops from our Great Chu, he certainly won't launch a direct attack on Yuwang Pass! I estimate that Qin Yu will try every means to turn Wuzhou and Xingzhou into the next Miaozhou..."

If Qin Yu really succeeds, they'll be in big trouble.

By then, they won't just be fighting the army, but millions of Min people!

"This is also what I'm worried about!"

Liang Jingzhe's expression was grave: "Therefore, we must take Dongyuan as soon as possible! Once Yu Jing is dead, Qin Yu's plan will fail!"

"really!"

Song Ling nodded in agreement, then asked worriedly, "What about Wuzhou and Xingzhou? Aren't they going to be left alone?"

"We definitely need to regulate it!"

Without hesitation, Liang Jingzhe said, "If we continue to let Qin Yu cause trouble like this, it won't be long before fires break out all over the Min Kingdom..."

He doesn't want to get involved!

We can't ignore this!

Otherwise, even if they conquer Dongyuan and kill Yu Jing, Yu Wu will not be able to secure his throne.

After pondering silently for a while, Liang Jingzhe smiled slightly. "Qin Yu is very clever, but he also made a fatal mistake!"

"What's wrong?"

Song Ling inquired.

"He didn't destroy Sanli Bridge!"

Liang Jingzhe smiled, "If he destroys Sanli Bridge, Sheng Qiao's troops will have no way to cross the river! In that case, he can use the advantage of his cavalry to constantly maneuver and penetrate, and even if Deng Pu leads his troops to surround him, it will be difficult for him to find an opportunity to trap him."

"That's right!"

Song Ling suddenly realized, and a smile appeared on his face. "It seems that the Marquis intends to send General Xiong to lead the troops into battle?"

"It's not like we're going to war!"

Liang Jingzhe chuckled, "All he needs to do is cooperate with Deng Pu's 20,000 troops to force Qin Yu's forces to Xingzhou and trap them there..."

Xingzhou has a long and narrow shape.

If they can successfully trap Qin Yu's troops in Xingzhou, and once the 20,000 troops borrowed by Yu Wu arrive, they can gradually compress Qin Yu's living space and devour his troops bit by bit!

He refused to believe that with 50,000 troops blocking Qin Yu in Xingzhou, Qin Yu could sprout wings and fly out!

"Your Excellency is wise!"

Song Ling seized the opportunity to flatter him.

"It was all out of necessity!"

Liang Jingzhe chuckled, then glanced at the distant battlefield. After a moment's thought, he quickly ordered, "Sound the retreat!"

"withdraw troops?"

Song Ling's eyelids twitched. "You're not going to fight anymore?"

"Cease fire for today! All units will rest for another day tomorrow!"

A ruthless glint flashed across Liang Jingzhe's face. "Starting the day after tomorrow, attack day and night without stopping! I want to see just how tough the shell of this Eastern Plains tortoise really is!"

He wanted to give the defenders of Dongyuan no chance to catch their breath!

He refused to believe that with his 40,000 men, he couldn't defeat this rabble from Dongyuan!