The Prodigal Son

Qin Yu executed the order first and reported it later.

They had already made their decision and begun their march towards Wangzhou Prefecture when he, as the commander of a detachment, sent someone to deliver the message to Qin Fumeng.

Just as Qin Fumeng was personally leading his army to approach Panshi Fortress, Qin Yu sent a messenger with news at breakneck speed.

"You beast! This beast!"

Upon receiving the news, Qin Fumeng immediately went berserk.

Yuan Ji was also shocked by Qin Yu's audacity. Regaining his composure, he quickly said, "Duke of Wei, immediately send someone to order Marquis Qin to withdraw!"

"Get out of here my ass!"

Qin Fumeng puffed out his beard, glared, and cursed, "Didn't you see that this bastard sent me the message in his capacity as the commander of a detachment?"

Yuan Ji's face twitched slightly, and he was speechless for a moment.

Yes!

Qin Yu was not only the vanguard in the campaign against Yan, but also the marshal of a detachment!

The detachment marshal was half a rank lower than Qin Fumeng, the second-route marshal.

However, Qin Yu has the authority to lead an army and fight independently!

Unless he is willing, no one in the army can order him around except for Grand Marshal Xue Chengdao!

Qin Yu, in his capacity as the commander of a detachment, sent the message, clearly telling Qin Fumeng not to retreat, and that even if he were ordered to retreat, he would not obey!

"Someone come here!"

Qin Fu, panting heavily, roared menacingly, "Order Liang Hongqiao to immediately lead her cavalry, each man carrying thirty catties of dry rations and beans, towards Wangzhou Prefecture!"

"Tell Liang Hongqiao that if Qin Yu's troops are blocked, immediately find a way to rendezvous with them!"

"If Qin Yu's troops have already crossed Wangzhou Prefecture, immediately lead them to retreat to Zhu County!"

After giving the order, Qin Fumeng was so angry that he kicked a stone by the roadside.

This audacious beast!

I'll be driven crazy by him sooner or later!

After panting heavily for a while, Qin Fumeng's old face strangely revealed a smile again, seeing Yuan Ji's bewildered expression.

"Duke of Wei, calm down..."

Yuan Ji thought Qin Fumeng was confused from anger, so he quickly tried to comfort him.

"Alright, alright!"

Qin Fu shook his hand violently, his smile widening. "If it were me, I would have done the same! Truly worthy of being a member of the Qin family!"

Although risky, this is indeed the most effective method.

If Zong Bi were to intercept him, he would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

If Zong Bi hadn't stopped them, they could have launched a surprise attack on Xing before their troops collapsed from hunger.

"what?"

Yuan Ji was dumbfounded.

He was furious just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, he's praising her again.

Qin Fumeng noticed his confusion and explained, "What I find impressive is that this beast is reckless! He only thinks about charging forward without considering his own safety..."

He asked Liang Hongqiao to deliver grain and beans over, which would be his backup plan.

Tens of thousands of kilograms of dry food and beans can at least help them last another day!

Don't underestimate this day; it's extremely important.

If they can hold out for just one more day, Dong Heshang will be able to lead his troops to break through.

The strategy was correct!

But this kind of play, which leaves no way out for oneself, is problematic!

Hearing Qin Fumeng's words, Yuan Ji couldn't help but admire him secretly.

That's the Qin family's only son!

If it were someone else, they would definitely try every means to get Qin Yu to come back.

At the same time, Qin Yu, who was advancing towards Wangzhou Prefecture, also received a message from people in the direction of Pengzhao.

A feint!

Zong Bi was indeed feinting!

That large army began its retreat towards Wangzhou Prefecture this morning!

Upon learning this news, Qin Yu became even more determined to attack Shangxing.

If Zong Bi intended to deliberately create the illusion that Wangzhou Prefecture's military strength was weak and set a trap for them, then this force should not have withdrawn to Wangzhou Prefecture, but should have stationed itself in Tushi City, ready to cut off their retreat at any time.

After a brief moment of thought, Qin Yu immediately summoned Yuan Dingguo: "I will first lead men to conduct reconnaissance near Wangzhou Prefecture. When you lead the main force to within about twenty li of Wangzhou Prefecture, stop immediately, find a place for the horses to graze, and feed them the last of their bean fodder. The soldiers should also take this opportunity to rest and eat some dry rations to replenish their strength!"

"You're going to investigate personally?"

Yuan Dingguo frowned slightly. "How about I take some men to investigate?"

"Alright! Don't worry about me! Just focus on your own business!"

Qin Yu waved his hand and then instructed, "You can deliberately spread out your troops a bit, making the enemy think we've eaten and drunk our fill and will retreat, or you can lure them out of the city to pursue us..."

Yuan Dingguo had no choice but to agree.

After giving instructions to Yuan Dingguo, Qin Yu immediately followed Gui San, Gui Si, and Ning Huang towards Wangzhou Prefecture.

To avoid attracting attention, they did not ride horses and instead wore civilian clothes over their armor.

Although none of them were on horseback, all four were highly skilled and extremely fast.

Along the way, one could see displaced people everywhere.

Some people sat blankly by the roadside, some buried their heads and wept, and many more walked forward like zombies, probably not even knowing where they were going.

Looking at these displaced people, Qin Yu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

They were ruthless, but Zong Bi was even more ruthless!

Around noon, they reached a high point near Wangzhou Prefecture.

Qin Yu took out his telescope and surveyed the area around Wangzhou Prefecture from his vantage point.

The area around Wangzhou Prefecture has a relatively open view.

In the farmland outside the city, many people can still be seen rushing to harvest grain.

It's clear that Zong Bi doesn't want to leave them a single grain of rice!

However, on their only route to Wangzhou Prefecture, there was a stretch of rolling hills.

Almost all the larger trees on the hill have been cut down, leaving only some low shrubs and weeds.

These hills are not connected; there are gaps between them.

Most of these hills run east-west, like scars rising up on the earth.

Counting north from Nan, there are exactly five hills.

These are what the people of Yan refer to as the first to fifth ridges.

With so many people, trying to sneak past silently is just wishful thinking.

Moreover, the gaps between these hills are not particularly wide. If Zong Bi sends troops to defend each gap in the hills, it will be quite troublesome for them to break through.

The key issue is that large armies are easily cut off!

"Um?"

Just as Qin Yu raised his telescope to scan the surroundings, he suddenly noticed a group of soldiers transporting goods to a small mountain near Wangzhou Prefecture.

He was too far away to see what it was.

But you can vaguely see that they look like jars and pots.

These soldiers couldn't possibly be there to deliver water to the people who were rushing to harvest grain, could they?

As he was thinking, Qin Yu suddenly realized something.

Kerosene!

Most likely it's kerosene or something similar!

There are still stalks of harvested grain left over in the hills!

Fire attack!

Zong Bi must already know that a large force of cavalry is heading towards Wangzhou Prefecture. Could it be that he guessed that they were going to launch a surprise attack on Shangxing?

That's amazing?

Qin Yu was secretly surprised and continued to observe.

He quickly confirmed his guess.

Zong Bi did indeed intend to use fire!

Moreover, they did not seal every gap with kerosene.

A lot of the kerosene was sent to the gaps near their side.

This is to use fire to cut off the retreat route of the troops rushing towards Wangzhou Prefecture!

Then occupy advantageous terrain and trap them between the hills to strangle them!

Qin Yu's lips curled up, and he chuckled inwardly.

This Zong Bi is quite something!

However, he certainly didn't know that he had been watching everything they did!

The more focused Zong Bi is on this side, the weaker the defense will become in the back!

If they can get through, they've basically won!

Qin Yu silently observed the enemy's deployment, planning the route for the surprise attack...