The Prodigal Son

That night, Qin Yu led his troops to spend the night in a valley.

Qin Yu did indeed lead his troops into Yuzhou, and he was indeed advancing in the direction of the enemy forces that had retreated from Dongyuan.

However, Qin Yu no longer had any intention of annihilating this enemy force.

As long as they can capture Yuwang Pass, the troops of both Min and Chu will eventually be meat on their chopping board!

Of course, if enemy troops run into his line of fire, he wouldn't mind taking some enemy men with him, as long as he could ensure that his own casualties were not too great.

Although it was late at night, Qin Yu and several key generals were still awake.

The group gathered together and, by the dim firelight, discussed what would happen tomorrow.

"If nothing unexpected happens, we'll encounter the enemy forces retreating from Dongyuan tomorrow! Although we won't engage them directly, we can't let them get too comfortable!"

Qin Yu pointed to the map in front of him and said in a deep voice, "My idea is that we should first launch a feint attack on this enemy force. If we can gain an advantage, great; if not, at least we can put some pressure on them! After that, we'll circle back to Shigong Mountain along this route..."

We should have news about whether their plan has succeeded in three or four days at most.

This amount of time is enough for them to circle back to the vicinity of Shigong Mountain!

Once the plan is confirmed to be successful, they can immediately return to Wuzhou, avoiding engagement with the enemy as much as possible, and using the advantage of their cavalry to quickly rush towards Yuwang Pass!

If the plan fails, they will have no choice but to hold onto Sanliqiao.

"This roundabout route should be fine, but if our plan fails, we could very well be stuck in Wuzhou..."

"Yes, if the Chu Kingdom goes crazy and sends tens of thousands more troops to surround and intercept us, it will probably be difficult to fight them later."

"If Senior Ning were here, I reckon he alone could keep the enemy army from having any peace..."

"You wish! Is Sanli Bridge more important than those defeated soldiers ahead?"

Han Chong and the other two also started talking all at once.

Actually, it's not terrible for a plan to fail.

What I fear most is that the State of Chu might go mad!

Once all their troops march to Wuzhou again, the enemy will definitely focus their defenses on the north bank of Sanliqiao after receiving the news.

Therefore, it's unlikely they'll be able to come back and fight back.

With such a small force facing encirclement and suppression by a large Chu army, their living space will inevitably be gradually compressed.

Their concerns were also Qin Yu's concerns.

However, once the arrow is released, there's no turning back!

Now that things have come to this, there's only one way to go: all or nothing!

"Man proposes, God disposes!"

Qin Yu chuckled, feigning nonchalance, "If it really comes to that, we can simply weave in and out of the enemy's ranks!"

"Anyway, we're cavalry; the enemy definitely can't outrun us!"

"I heard my grandfather tell a story about a legendary figure who, facing an enemy force ten times his size, managed to weave in and out of their encirclement and pursuit, completely outmaneuvering them..."

As Qin Yu spoke, he began to tell them his own adaptation of the story of "Crossing the Chishui River Four Times".

Qin Yu spoke with great enthusiasm, and the others listened with rapt attention, even attracting the attention of Qin Xiong and the others who were on night watch.

Qin Yu was giving his subordinates confidence, and also giving himself confidence.

To say that he wasn't worried at all in the face of such uncertainty would be a lie!

But he is the commander!

If he doesn't have confidence, how can the people below him have confidence?

While Qin Yu was telling them stories in a vivid and engaging way, Huang Dengxing led his remaining troops to rest near a small river.

"Cough cough..."

Huang Dengxing gulped down a mouthful of water, but choked and coughed uncontrollably, even vomiting water mixed with blood.

Seeing this, Li Hu quickly patted Huang Dengxing's back and looked at him with concern, "General, are you alright?"

"He won't die."

Huang Dengxing wiped his mouth haphazardly and asked again, "Has the Ning army caught up yet?"

Although he survived the battle with Zhao Po, he suffered severe injuries.

To maintain morale, he has been holding on all this way.

"no."

Li Hu shook his head, "General, don't worry. We need to rest, and so does the Ning army! General, please focus on healing your wounds!"

Can you focus on healing?

Huang Dengxing smiled bitterly to himself.

He wanted to focus on healing, but how could he possibly do so?

Despite having a numerical advantage, they suffered a defeat in the battle outside Yiling City due to low morale.

Then, Ning Jun pursued them all the way, shouting to his soldiers that the Yan army had broken in from Guanzhou.

This news further dampened their already low morale.

Along the way, some of their men died, and others fled.

Now, he only has a little over 20,000 soldiers left.

Moreover, the morale of these 20,000-plus troops is extremely low.

He was genuinely worried that if the Ning army caught up and launched another fierce attack, their morale would completely collapse.

Just as Huang Dengxing was frowning in worry, Shen Tu Hong hurriedly ran over with a person.

Upon seeing who it was, Huang Dengxing's eyelids twitched.

Damn!

Could something have happened to Yu Yang?

At the same time, the person arrived in front of Huang Dengxing, panting heavily.

Seeing the disheveled yellow light, the person who came over couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

After regaining his senses, the messenger quickly took out a letter and respectfully presented it to Huang Dengxing: "His Majesty sent me to deliver a letter to the General!"

send!

This is not an imperial edict!

Huang Dengxing felt a little more at ease, and immediately took the letter, opened it, and began to examine it by the dim firelight.

However, when he saw the contents of the letter, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Tell him to ignore his men and hurry back to Yuyang?

Has he lost his mind?

Their morale is already very low!

If he leaves at this time, their morale is likely to collapse completely!

It's even quite possible that some generals will lead their troops in defection!

Just to deal with Liang Jingzhe, is he going to bury all 20,000 troops?

However, Huang Dengxing was also very clear about Yu Wu's current situation.

Yu Wu urgently needs me to go back and help him stabilize the situation.

Otherwise, once Yu Wu crossed the Yangtze River to the south, he would inevitably become a puppet of the Chu state.

He didn't even have the chance to cross the river to the south!

Now that they have suffered successive defeats on the battlefield, the people in the court are bound to be unsettled, and some are certainly already plotting something.

Without his suppression, a palace coup could happen at any time!

Caught between a yellow light and a dilemma, I kept thinking, trying to come up with a solution that would satisfy both sides.

After a long silence, Huang Dengxing raised his head and ordered the messenger in a deep voice, "Go back and tell His Majesty that once I lead my troops to Dongyuan, I will return to Yuyang as quickly as possible!"

For now, this is the only option!

Once they reach Dongyuan, they can rest briefly before speeding up their pace to join the troops retreating from Dongyuan.

Although they were all remnants of defeated troops, the two forces combined still numbered 50,000!

The enemy would have to think twice before moving those 40,000 to 50,000 troops!

"this……"

The visitor looked troubled. "His Majesty says the situation in Yuyang is very dire. He requests the General's permission..."

"I don't want to repeat myself!"

Huang Dengxing coldly interrupted the visitor, "The situation in Yuyang is not optimistic, but do you think the situation here is optimistic?"

Meeting the cold, sharp gaze of the man in the yellow light, the newcomer opened his mouth slightly, daring not to say another word...