The Prodigal Son

Early in the morning, Qin Yu led his troops out.

Around noon, the scouts spotted the enemy troops retreating towards Yuyang.

Moreover, they were in a relatively open area.

Upon receiving this news, Qin Yu was overjoyed and immediately summoned Xiong Quhu, ordering, "Take your men and immediately maneuver eastward to feign an attack on the enemy's rear! Remember what I said last night: seize any advantage you can, and if you can't, put pressure on the enemy!"

"Okay!"

Xiong Quhu laughed loudly and immediately went to muster his troops.

After Xiong Quhu led his troops away, Qin Yu immediately led the remaining troops forward, pretending to launch a frontal assault on the enemy.

Upon learning that a large cavalry force was advancing on them, Song Ling immediately ordered his army to halt their advance and engage in defensive formation on the spot.

Before long, Qin Yu led his troops to the front of Song Ling's troops.

However, Qin Yu did not attack. Instead, he led Qi Dachui and a few personal guards forward and had Qi Dachui shout to the enemy from a distance of about 100 zhang.

"Listen up, you bandits! I am Qin Yu! Those damned Yan Mu, Deng Pu, and Sheng Qiao have all been defeated by me..."

"Um, Thirteenth Young Master, what's next again?"

"The 500,000 shi of military rations supplied by the State of Chu have also been burned by me. You are now at your wits' end..."

"Supported by the State of Chu..."

Qi Dachui's memory wasn't very good, and he couldn't remember Qin Yu's words for a while, so he could only ask and shout.

Qi Dachui has a very loud voice.

Even from a distance of a hundred feet, Song Ling and the generals around him could clearly hear Qi Dachui's words.

A cold glint flashed in Song Ling's eyes; he wished he could shoot Qin Yu dead with an arrow.

He knew that Qin Yu was trying to disrupt their morale, or even hoped that they would mutiny.

That scoundrel!

All they know are these conspiracies and tricks!

Song Ling clenched his fists and growled at his personal guards, "Shout to me: If you have the guts, charge into battle! Otherwise, go home and suckle!"

"yes!"

The guards received the order and immediately shouted out Song Ling's words at the top of their lungs.

"I will retreat five li to give you half a day to consider your options. If you do not surrender before nightfall, do not blame me for being merciless!"

This time, it wasn't just Qi Dachui's voice.

And the sounds of thousands of riders behind them rose up together.

Their morale was at its peak; the voices of several thousand people, when combined, sounded as loud as those of tens of thousands.

This time, not only Song Ling and his men heard it, but the soldiers in formation also heard it very clearly.

After shouting more than ten times in a row, Qin Yu immediately led his troops to retreat.

Song Ling watched helplessly as Qin Yu retreated, daring neither to pursue nor to order his soldiers to lift their defenses.

In contrast, Qin Yu seemed quite relaxed.

After retreating to a shady spot a few miles behind, Qin Yu ordered his soldiers to dismount, eat dry rations, and rest, and also to take the horses to graze on some grass.

Soon, half an hour passed.

Although Song Ling's scouts spotted Qin Yu and his group resting from afar, Song Ling still dared not lower his guard.

Seeing the soldiers gradually showing signs of exhaustion, the general beside him couldn't help but worry and whispered a reminder: "General, this can't go on! The weather is hot now, and if this continues, our soldiers will soon be physically and mentally exhausted..."

Although it's already September, the sun is still quite scorching.

They have now formed a defensive formation, but maintaining a high level of alert in such weather is a test for both the soldiers' physical and mental well-being.

Moreover, not all of these 20,000-plus troops were Chu soldiers.

Many of them are from Minjun!

In order to reduce their own casualties, when they launched a fierce attack on Dongyuan, they always sent Min's army to charge into battle.

This led to great dissatisfaction among many soldiers of the Min Kingdom.

He worried that once morale fell below that critical point, Min Jun might defect in the face of battle!

"I know!"

Song Ling replied curtly, frowning, "Let's wait and see! I'm worried Qin Yu might have some other schemes up his sleeve!"

Although this was his first encounter with Qin Yu, he knew that Qin Yu was a cunning and treacherous person.

Before we know what tricks Qin Yu is up to, it's best not to act rashly!

"Report..."

Just as Song Ling was pondering this, a messenger arrived from the rear: "General, an unspecified number of cavalry has outflanked our rear, intending to launch a surprise attack!"

"Quantity unknown?"

Song Ling's face fell. "You don't even know roughly how many enemy troops are in the rear?"

The messenger's eyes darted around as he hurriedly replied, "The enemy's passage leaves behind billowing dust, making it impossible to see their numbers. Judging from the movements, however, the enemy must number quite a few..."

"Let's explore again!"

Song Ling gritted his teeth and growled, "Order the rear guard to maintain a high state of alert! We must not give the enemy any opportunity to take advantage!"

"yes!"

The messenger quickly obeyed and left.

"You scoundrel! You despicable, shameless scoundrel!"

Song Ling clenched his fists and cursed through gritted teeth.

He could roughly guess what was going on with the rear guard.

It is estimated that the enemy tied tree branches to the horses' tails, which created the scene of billowing dust.

He guessed that the cavalry force was probably not large and was likely a feint attack.

But right now, he doesn't dare to gamble!

If things don't turn out the way he expects, if the enemy manages to break through the rear and break in, his 20,000-plus men, whose morale is low, will quickly collapse.

At that time, they will likely follow in the footsteps of Dempsey's troops!

Song Ling pondered quietly, glancing at the sun overhead every now and then.

Simply staying in one place and deploying defenses is definitely not a solution!

After a long silence, Song Ling, his face dark, gave the order: "Order all units to form ranks and advance steadily forward. No one is allowed to leave the battle formation!"

Instead of exhausting ourselves, we should keep moving forward!

The enemy must either attack or retreat!

If this drags on, by nightfall when the enemy launches a night attack, their soldiers will probably be too exhausted to resist.

About ten miles further ahead, there would be a place where the terrain would be advantageous to them.

If the enemy does not attack, they should try to get to the vicinity before dark and deploy their defenses based on the terrain.

At the same time, Qin Yu also received a message from the scouts in the rear.

A small group of cavalry caught up with them from behind!

Qin Yu frowned.

At this point, who would still come to their death?

Or perhaps, they just wanted to create a threat to them, so that they wouldn't dare to launch a full-scale attack on the enemy forces retreating from Dongyuan.

Yes, that should be it!

As expected, as long as they pursue, the cavalry behind them will inevitably retreat!

No!

They still have to make a large detour; they don't have that much time to waste with this cavalry!

Qin Yu lowered his head, quietly pondering a solution.

A moment later, a smile flashed across Qin Yu's face, and he immediately called Zeng Guan over: "Boss Zeng, take Da Chui and a few experts, and ambush the cavalry behind!"

"what?"

Zeng Guan's face turned green. "I said, I have no grudge against you, kid, right? You want my life, but you don't have to risk your sledgehammer, do you?"

Let them and Qi Dachui take a few men to ambush the cavalry in the rear?

no……

Did they consider them masters?

It's not what you think.

Qin Yu quickly explained with a smile, "It's just about sneaking close, killing a few people, and then retreating! Remember, you must find a way to bring back the enemy's corpses, preferably without damaging their armor!"

"That's more like it!"

Zeng Guan was finally relieved.

Taking a few skilled fighters to sneakily take out a few cavalrymen shouldn't be a problem!