The Prodigal Son

As dawn broke, the raging fire that had consumed the military camp all night finally began to slowly die down.

Yuan Dingguo and Han Chong also repelled the reinforcements that came from Wulin City. The reinforcements collapsed after leaving behind a pile of corpses.

Yuan Dingguo and his men pursued the enemy and killed over a thousand more.

Knowing that the situation was hopeless, Si Rong ordered his men to set the city on fire and then led his remaining troops to abandon the city and flee.

Yuan Dingguo and his men captured Wulin City with almost no effort, and they were busy fighting the fire all night long. Even now, the fire in Wulin City has not been completely extinguished.

"Commander Qin, the battle results are in."

Pei Xiao, his eyes bloodshot, found Qin Yu and excitedly said, "In this battle, our army killed four thousand enemies and captured more than eight thousand. Some Ning soldiers escaped on the river defense boats. We only managed to rescue eight river defense boats..."

On their side, more than 200 people were killed in battle, and more than 300 others were forced to withdraw from the fight due to injuries.

It was a resounding victory, which is extremely rare.

The only regret is that they only managed to save the grain in three granaries.

The total grain in the granary was only about two thousand shi (a unit of dry measure).

According to the surrendered soldiers, there were originally nearly 10,000 shi of grain stored here!

It was Li Yichun who, after realizing that the situation was hopeless, ordered his men to set fire to the granaries and ships.

"It's alright, as long as we can salvage some of the stored grain! Yuan Dingguo and his men should still be able to retain some! Pass down the order to immediately set up cooking stations and prepare a meal so the brothers can have their fill!"

Qin Yu smiled nonchalantly, his voice a little hoarse, though his heart was bleeding.

Of the 10,000 shi of grain, 80% was burned!

Under normal circumstances, most of the food supplies for the garrison here should be stored in Wulin City.

Hopefully, Yuan Dingguo and his men can preserve more grain!

Don't be fooled by their current abundance of food; once they conquer the Yan state, the amount of food they will need will be enormous.

It's a lie to say I'm not upset that so much grain was burned to ashes.

After Pei Xiao left, Qin Yu had someone take him to see Li Yichun's body.

Although many soldiers hated Li Yichun to the core, no one touched Li Yichun's body because of Qin Yu's orders.

Li Yichun looked the same when he committed suicide, and he still looks the same now.

After a night, Li Yichun's body had gone cold.

Li Yichun's body fell to the ground, heading towards the direction of the Yan Kingdom's capital.

"That bastard killed thirty or forty of our brothers!"

Xiong Quhu, following closely beside Qin Yu, said bitterly, "General Qin, why don't we tear him apart with five horses!"

They only lost a little over two hundred people in total, but Li Yichun alone killed thirty or forty of them. It would be a lie to say they didn't hate him.

"Divide my ass!"

Qin Yu glared at Xiong Quhu. "Although this man is an enemy general, he is loyal, brave, and resolute, preferring death to surrender. He's a true hero! Find a good place and give him a proper burial!"

What's the point of tearing someone apart when they're already dead?

Giving him a proper burial might at least win back the hearts of the surrendered soldiers.

"oh."

Although Xiong Quhu was somewhat reluctant, he still accepted the order.

Just as he finished giving instructions, another soldier reported that a large number of ships flying the Ning Army flag had appeared on the river, including many fishing boats.

"It must be Xue Lie leading his troops!"

Qin Yu turned to look at Nan Que'er, "Let's go, let's go to the riverbank!"

Nan Que'er smiled and said, "Xue Lie missed this battle, and he'll probably complain about you a lot."

"If he leads his troops here, are we afraid there won't be any battles to fight?"

Qin Yu laughed heartily, followed by another bout of coughing.

Seeing this, Nan Que'er quickly handed over the water pouch she was carrying.

Qin Yu took the water bag and gulped down several mouthfuls, only then did his throat feel a little better.

Upon arriving at the riverside water fortress, smoke was still rising from the numerous burned boats.

The entire water fortress was in a mess, with eight intact river defense boats moored on the other side of the fortress.

These river defense ships were very different from the Daning warships that Qin Yu had seen in the Raojin Navy.

It was much smaller overall, looking like a slightly larger merchant ship.

Looking up into the distance, one can see a large number of boats sailing towards this direction on the river.

Qin Yu took the telescope and looked over; the Great Ning Army flag and the "Xue" general's flag on the ship were exceptionally conspicuous.

Among those large ships, a large number of smaller ships were also being protected.

It's obviously a fishing boat that was temporarily requisitioned.

"It must be Xue Lie!"

Qin Yu handed the telescope to Nan Que'er.

Nan Que'er took the telescope and looked at it, then said with a smile, "He came quite quickly! Could he be hiding in the camp on the other side?"

"You know what, it's actually quite possible."

Qin Yu nodded and smiled.

He had heard from Xue Chengdao that Xue Lie had already volunteered for battle.

Xue Lie certainly didn't want to miss a major battle like the war to destroy Yan.

They waited by the river for about 15 minutes before Xue Lie's boat finally docked at the water fortress.

Before the boat had even come to a complete stop, Xue Lie jumped off impatiently and headed straight for Qin Yu.

"This humble general, Xue Lie, greets Commander Qin!"

Xue Lie bowed respectfully.

Qin Yu looked at Xue Lie with a dark expression, "This isn't fun at all."

"No, no!"

Xue Lie shook his head repeatedly, "General Qin is indeed a general, but I am but a commoner! I should pay my respects!"

Even a detachment marshal is handsome!

Moreover, Qin Yu's military rank in the imperial court was also higher than his.

According to custom, one should indeed perform the ceremony.

Qin Yu waved his hand, "No, no, let's keep it casual, cough cough..."

Hearing Qin Yu cough, Xue Lie couldn't help but ask with concern, "What happened to you? Are you injured?"

"uh-huh……"

Qin Yu coughed twice more, his voice hoarse, and said, "It's all because of the fire last night! Li Yichun ordered people to burn the ships and granaries. My throat was practically burning from shouting, but I still couldn't salvage much grain..."

"No wonder!"

Xue Lie smiled knowingly, patted his chest, and said, "Then you should rest well. Leave the rest of the battle to me!"

Qin Yu smirked and shook his head, saying, "There's not much fighting going on for now."

"what?"

Xue Lie was taken aback. "Aren't you going to attack Wulin City?"

Late last night, the sent-out patrol boats made contact with Qin Yu's men.

They also learned from the soldiers that Qin Yu had gone straight for the Linjiang military camp and had not attacked Wulin.

He was still thinking about leading his troops to attack Wulin City as soon as possible!

Qin Yu grinned and said in a hoarse voice, "Si Rong sent troops to support the military camp here, but they were defeated by our people and then set fire to the city. He then led his remaining troops to abandon the city and flee."

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, Xue Lie's face twitched violently.

"I……"

Xue Lie felt an urge to curse.

idiot!

Si Rong is a complete idiot!

They dared to leave the city to provide support without even figuring out what Qin Yu and his group were up to?

Seeing Xue Lie's astonished expression, Qin Yu couldn't help but burst into laughter: "You guys get your troops ready first! There are plenty of battles to come, don't worry about not having any to fight!"

Xue Lie nodded helplessly, feeling extremely frustrated.

Screw him!

They prepared overnight, but still missed it!

"I really need to go and rest. I'll leave things here to you!"

As Qin Yu spoke, he began to yawn again.

They really need to rest for a few days.

The people were alright, but two days of long-distance travel had taken a toll on the warhorses.

After resting and recuperating, it will be time to prepare for the next big battle.

"no problem!"

Xue Lie readily agreed, then pulled Qin Yu aside, "This humble general came on Commander Qin's orders, right?"

Qin Yu was slightly taken aback, then laughed and nodded.

He took the blame!