The Prodigal Son

The battlefield is always full of all sorts of unexpected events.

Qin Yu and Yan Wujiu achieved a "win-win" situation in a bizarre way.

However, Qin Yu was completely unaware of this.

He had just ordered Gui San and Gui Si to take fifty men from his personal guards to go ahead and intercept any messengers Yan Wujiu might send outside Wulin City when scouts from the rear came to report.

"Are you sure no Yan troops are catching up?"

Upon receiving the message from the scout captain, Qin Yu and Yuan Dingguo were both incredulous.

Their plan went so smoothly it was almost unbelievable!

The Yan army didn't even give a symbolic pursuit?

Was Yan Wujiu simply throwing caution to the wind, or was he blinded by rage?

But Yan Wujiu couldn't possibly be unaware of the consequences of the fall of Wulin!

Even if he can't stop it, shouldn't he at least take some remedial measures?

At the very least, we should send troops to block their rear to prevent them from launching a counterattack.

"There really isn't!"

The scout captain answered confidently, "According to our reconnaissance, the cavalry bearing Yan Wujiu's banner has infiltrated behind General Dong's forces!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Yu suddenly realized what was going on.

It seems Yan Wujiu is going to vent his anger on Dong Heshang's troops!

Enraged, Yan Wujiu launched a pursuit and interception of Dong Heshang's troops, putting Dong Heshang in some danger!

Yuan Dingguo pondered for a moment, then nudged Qin Yu lightly with his elbow, a smile appearing on his face: "Commander Qin, Yan Wujiu seems to look down on us a bit!"

"Yeah, that's a bit disrespectful!"

Qin Yu nodded in deep agreement, a knowing smile appearing on his face.

"What are you two talking about?"

Nan Que'er looked at the two of them with confusion.

He could understand the literal meaning of what the two were saying.

But judging from the "smirks" on their faces, it felt like they were implying something more.

Qin Yu explained with a smile, "We just rushed over; we didn't run too far!"

"Yan Wujiu should leave a portion of cavalry to cover the Yan army advancing towards Shimanzi Slope, to prevent that exhausted force from being ambushed!"

"But now, Yan Wujiu is directly venting his anger on Dong Heshang's troops!"

"Perhaps we can launch a surprise attack!"

Their original plan was to first launch a feint attack on the exhausted army to mobilize the Flying Fang Cavalry, then make a feint attack on the Yan army coming from the direction of Tiger's Mouth.

Once Yan Wujiu sends the Flying Fang Cavalry to block their retreat, and then sends the exhausted army to block them, they will turn around and break through the exhausted army to rush straight to Wulin.

As it turned out, Yan Wujiu's arrangements were completely different from what they had expected.

Now, Yan Wujiu is leading his men to deal with Dong Heshang's troops.

Without the cover of Yan Wujiu's several thousand cavalry, that exhausted army would be nothing more than their meal!

He didn't know if Yan Wujiu was blinded by rage or if he was convinced that they were only focused on rushing towards Wulin, ignoring the possibility that they might launch a counterattack.

"You're going to fight your way back?"

Nan Que'er stared at the two of them in astonishment.

Those two are crazy!

Why not launch a surprise attack on Ulin instead of turning around and launching a counterattack?

If it gets blocked, wouldn't all our previous efforts be wasted?

"right!"

Qin Yu nodded. "If they launch a counterattack now, they can not only severely damage the enemy, but also relieve pressure on Dong Heshang's troops!"

"It could also increase stress."

Yuan Dingguo grinned mischievously, "If we launch a surprise attack on that exhausted army, Yan Wujiu will probably be even angrier and will vent all his anger on General Dong's troops."

After a brief moment of thought, Qin Yu firmly stated, "Whether it increases or decreases the pressure, there's no reason not to take advantage of something that's offered to us!"

"I'll lead Pei Xiao and Han Chong's troops to launch a surprise attack on that exhausted army!"

"Yuan Dingguo, you lead the remaining troops to guard our rear and prepare for reinforcements!"

A weary army—why not fight them while they're exhausted!

Let's burn some more grain and fodder while we're at it!

If we don't fight, we'll be doing ourselves a disservice!

Yuan Dingguo pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "This humble general will lead the troops in a surprise attack!"

"With Senior Ning by Qin Shuai's side, even if Yan Wujiu arrives in time to block our retreat, you can still hold them off!"

"While we want to take this piece of meat, the main task is to launch a surprise attack on Ulin. We must ensure that after we ambush that exhausted army, we can still advance on Ulin!"

You can eat meat, but you shouldn't break your teeth.

Qin Yu pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright! You will lead the raid! I will have men keep a close watch on your left rear. When you retreat, you must retreat! Anyone who dares to linger will be executed!"

"yes!"

Yuan Dingguo accepted the order.

Once an agreement was reached, the army immediately changed direction.

After advancing about ten miles to the rear, they immediately split into two groups.

"Quick, keep up!"

"Stop fucking playing dead!"

"Get up, get up now!"

At this moment, a large group of Yan troops were marching towards Yuchan from Xiaxing.

Commander Sima Jin repeatedly ordered his men to urge the army to speed up their retreat towards Yuchan.

Previously, because the advance towards Shimanzi Slope was too slow and he dawdled along the way, Prince Su was already very dissatisfied with him.

If you keep dawdling, you'll probably lose your head.

It's all because of those damned Ning people!

Along the way, their centurions and thousand-generals suffered heavy casualties.

Several unlucky individuals were appointed as generals one day, only to be assassinated the next.

In this situation, all the middle and lower-ranking generals became hesitant and timid, resulting in their marching speed being extremely slow.

According to the previous plan, they should have arrived at Shimanzipo the day before yesterday.

As a result, due to their dawdling, they failed to arrive at Shimanzipo in time, giving Ning's army the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Wulin.

It's obvious that Prince Su is now trying to single out a few people to make an example of.

He doesn't want to be that chicken!

"Report..."

Just as Sima Jin was cursing the Ning people in his heart, a scout suddenly galloped up from the front, shouting, "General, a large force of Ning cavalry is charging towards us!"

"What?"

Sima Jin's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly asked, "How many troops does the Ning army have, and how far are they from here?"

The scout replied慌张地, "I don't know the exact number of troops, but I estimate at least tens of thousands! They should be less than fifteen li away from us!"

Tens of thousands of cavalry!

Sima Jin inwardly groaned, and roared in a panic, "Send down the order! Immediately form a defensive formation! Quickly request reinforcements from Prince Su!"

Damn it!

Do these crazy Ning people want to die?

They are a weary army!

Being ambushed by Ning's cavalry at this moment was absolutely fatal!

As soon as Sima Jin gave the order, the exhausted Yan army quickly took up their positions and began to defend.

However, because many of the lower-ranking generals were newly appointed, the soldiers did not know their generals and the generals did not know their soldiers. In addition, they were exhausted from their rapid march, and the whole process was extremely chaotic.

"Thump thump..."

While they were still frantically trying to form ranks, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves was already approaching.

As the sound of approaching hooves grew louder, the scene became even more chaotic.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!"

"Quickly, form ranks!"

"Don't crowd together! Leave a strangulation passage in the middle!"

"Where are you running to? Get ahead..."

The Yan army was thrown into chaos, and its generals tried their best to stabilize the situation, but to no avail.

All the soldiers were huddled together in a chaotic mess, everyone wanting to run to the middle, afraid of being the first to die if they were in the front.

While the Yan army was in a state of panic, Yuan Dingguo had already led his troops to attack.

Seeing the Yan army in complete disarray, Yuan Dingguo was overjoyed.

"kill!"

With a roar from Yuan Dingguo, the Ning army charged towards the Yan army with howls...