The Prodigal Son

Which two options?

Tu Hui asked, panting heavily.

"First, send several skilled warriors to Sanli Bridge as quickly as possible and destroy it! Meanwhile, His Majesty and the court officials will cross the Qujiang River in small boats!"

This is the simplest and most direct way!

Once the Sanli Bridge is destroyed, even if Qin Yu returns to fight, it will be of no use.

Their troops stationed on the south bank of the Qujiang River will be completely isolated!

In fact, he had thought of this move long ago.

But he still held a sliver of hope for Song Ling's side, and did not want to abandon those more than 10,000 Chu soldiers.

However, a mutiny completely extinguished his hopes.

All he wants now is to cut off the heads of all the enemy soldiers on the other side of the river and build a mound of heads!

"No!"

Tu Hui's face darkened, and he refused without hesitation, "If we dare to destroy Sanli Bridge, the soldiers in the army will immediately mutini!"

With the destruction of Sanli Bridge, the hope of crossing the river to the south was completely extinguished!

It would be a miracle if the soldiers in the army didn't mutini!

Moreover, they did not bring any troops across the Qujiang River. Once they crossed the Qujiang River, Yu Wu would most likely become a puppet of the Chu state!

If things go wrong, I might not even be able to save my life!

Tu Hui's opposition did not surprise Liang Jingzhe in any way.

It all seemed to be within his expectations.

After a brief silence, Liang Jingzhe spoke again, "Then there's only one last option left!"

"If Qin Yu attacks from Yuzhou, he will inevitably cross Shigong Mountain! Deploying 5,000 troops near Shigong Mountain and preparing defenses in advance might be enough to hold them off for a while!"

"If Qin Yu comes around from Miaozhou, as long as their main force dares to cross the Qujiang River, the five thousand men from Shigong Mountain, and even all the troops under your command, will be pressed to the north end of Sanliqiao, completely cutting off Qin Yu's retreat!"

"And I, the Marquis, will lead the last 20,000 troops of my Great Chu to fight to the death against that treacherous Qin Yu, and strive to kill him..."

This is a crisis for him, but also an opportunity!

As long as Qin Yu's escape route is cut off, he can slowly fight Qin Yu!

Kill Qin Yu and avenge the Chu soldiers who died at his hands!

This also nipped Ningguo's potential in the bud!

Qin Yu is already so formidable. If he is allowed to grow for a few more years, he will surely become the leader of the Ning Army in the future!

Hearing Liang Jingzhe's words, Tu Hui couldn't help but think seriously.

It wasn't just Liang Jingzhe who wanted to kill Qin Yu; who among them didn't want to kill Qin Yu?

If Qin Yu hadn't led his troops into their rear, their situation would never have become so dire!

Only by killing Qin Yu could they vent their anger.

"Then it's your decision!"

Tu Hui clenched his fist tightly. "I will send someone to Yuyang tonight to report this matter to His Majesty!"

"Alright! Then I'll lead my men across the Qujiang River in small boats tonight and join our forces!"

Liang Jingzhe slowly stood up, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. "Since things have come to this, let's put aside all our worries and fight with all our might!"

If he could kill Qin Yu and his cavalry, even if he died in battle, he would die a worthy death!

He wanted to see if this Qin Yu really had three heads and six arms!

Their grand plan was almost entirely ruined by this thief single-handedly!

He will not rest in peace until this traitor is killed!

That night, Liang Jingzhe crossed the Qujiang River in a small boat with only a few personal guards.

Tu Hui also sent someone to Yuyang overnight to seek Yu Wu's opinion.

After much deliberation, Yu Wu finally agreed to Liang Jingjingzhe's suggestion.

Early in the morning, Tu Hui drew 5,000 men from the only 8,000 troops at Qixia Pass and marched towards Shigong Mountain.

Fearing a mutiny among the soldiers, Tu Hui personally led the troops.

That afternoon, they arrived at Shigong Mountain and set up camp in the narrow strip of land between Shigong Mountain and Qixia Mountain.

While the soldiers were setting up camp, Tu Hui led his men up Shigong Mountain to enjoy the view.

The autumn scenery was beautiful, but Tu Hui, who was in a bad mood, had no interest in appreciating it.

After observing for a while, Tu Hui summoned a messenger: "Pass down the order to send two thousand men to the mountain to cut down trees and collect firewood. Pile it up a hundred feet away from our camp, the more the better..."

After surveying the surrounding terrain and making defensive arrangements, Tu Hui returned to the main camp, anxiously awaiting news from the scouts.

He sent out a large number of spies to Yuzhou and Miaozhou early in the morning.

Whether Qin Yu returned from Yuzhou or resorted to his old tricks, taking a long detour from Miaozhou, we should know by noon tomorrow.

In the best-case scenario, Qin Yu would march to Hezhou and join forces with the main Ning army to attack the troops retreating from Yiling.

He knew that if this happened, the troops withdrawing from Yiling would be completely annihilated.

But at this moment, their sacrifice was worthwhile!

Night gradually fell.

Tu Hui knew that Qin Yu would not be able to kill them all today, so he ordered his men to cook cattle and slaughter sheep to appease the restless soldiers.

That night, the guards brought a roasted leg of lamb to Tu Hui's tent, but Tu Hui had no appetite and his mind was filled with random thoughts.

Tu Hui neither ate nor slept all night.

Even with his eyes tightly closed, his mind couldn't stop.

The unprecedented pressure was almost suffocating Tu Hui.

"Report..."

At dawn, a long, drawn-out sound made Tu Hui sit up abruptly.

Seeing the scout being led in by his personal guards, Tu Hui's heart sank to the bottom.

He clearly remembered that this spy was one of the spies he had sent to Miaozhou!

Did Liang Jingzhe guess right after all?

The scout cautiously observed Tu Hui, whose face was extremely pale, and panted, "Reporting to General, the Qin traitor is leading a large force of cavalry, attacking from Miaozhou..."

As the scout's voice faded, Tu Hui's last glimmer of hope was shattered.

No miracle!

Now, we only have one last chance!

After taking a few deep breaths, Tu Hui gritted his teeth and growled, "Pass down the order: the army is ready to march at any time!"

"Move...set off?"

The guard stared at Tu Hui in astonishment. "General, where...are we going?"

"Where to?"

Tu Hui glared fiercely at his personal guards and roared, "Where else can we go but Sanliqiao?"

"Are we going to Sanliqiao again?"

The guards looked bewildered, seriously suspecting that Tu Hui had lost his mind from anger.

They couldn't catch up with Qin Yu's cavalry, so what were they doing at Sanliqiao?

Tu Hui, too lazy to explain to his personal guards, roared angrily, "Go and relay the order!"

……

"drive!"

"drive……"

Five thousand cavalrymen crossed Miaozhou, galloping across the vast land, heading straight for Sanliqiao.

They had barely left Miaozhou when a messenger, who had been waiting there for a long time, came to report.

Two days ago, the Chu army at Yuwang Pass made its move.

Upon receiving this news, Qin Yu was overjoyed and immediately ordered his army to speed up their journey to Sanliqiao.

As they approached Sanli Bridge, Han Chong quickly rode up to Qin Yu and excitedly reported, "General Qin, scouts have come to report that Sanli Bridge is undefended!"

"Undefended?"

Qin Yu looked at Han Chong in surprise, "There's no one here?"

"There really isn't a single person here."

Han Chong laughed heartily, "If we send too few enemy troops, it won't be enough for Senior Ning to kill alone! If we want to send more, they'll need that many troops!"

News of the mutiny among the enemy troops who withdrew from Dongyuan must have already reached Yuyang.

Yu Wu is probably scared to death right now!

At this time, the enemy will definitely be focused on defending Qixia Pass and not giving them a chance to break through it!

Who the hell cares about Sanliqiao anymore!

"Very good!"

Qin Yu laughed heartily, "Order the entire army to proceed at full speed to Sanliqiao! Upon arrival at Sanliqiao, Pei Xiao's troops will cross the river first, while Xiong Quhu and Han Chong's troops will immediately deploy for defense..."

As long as there's no one defending!

That way they won't have to fight each other.

It seems that the Min and Chu armies are seriously short of troops!

Otherwise, the enemy would have sent troops to defend the northern end of Sanliqiao.

Whether it succeeds or not depends on this final push!

Under Qin Yu's orders, five thousand cavalrymen quickly headed towards Sanli Bridge...