The Prodigal Son

After finishing their business, Xue Chengdao then asked Qin Yu to come with him for a walk.

It was at this time that Xue Chengdao told Qin Yu that he had received definite news that the Yan Kingdom had ceded all the land north of the Panjiang River in exchange for the Northern Qi's military assistance.

Bei Qi appointed Military Minister Xiao Yanguang as commander and dispatched 100,000 troops to Yan to assist in the battle!

Among them, there are 50,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry!

When he received the news, the 100,000-strong army of Beiqi had already arrived in Yunzhou, Yan State.

The 20,000 troops in Yanzhou were partly there to guard against the rebel armies of Beiqi and Yan.

"marauders?"

Qin Yu's eyes lit up. "A rebellion has broken out in the Yan Kingdom?"

"Isn't this inevitable?"

Xue Chengdao smiled dismissively, "I received news yesterday that rebellions have broken out in Linzhou, Shengzhou, Danzhou, and Liaozhou of Yan State. Among them, the rebellion in Shengzhou is the largest, and it is said that the rebel army has already amassed 100,000 troops..."

The front lines suffered repeated defeats, and the rear was short of money and food.

It was perfectly normal for a rebellion to break out in the Yan state.

However, Xue Chengdao did not believe the news that the rebels had 100,000 troops at all.

The so-called army of 100,000 was at most just tens of thousands of rebels.

They could be easily defeated by any two or three thousand armored soldiers.

Another purpose of stationing troops in Yanzhou Prefecture was to control the surrendered Yan soldiers in the Yanzhou navy.

If Da Ning wants to control the land and people of Yan, he will definitely need a lot of grain.

Transporting goods by land is too labor-intensive and inefficient.

He has already reported to Zhao Luan, ordering the Min navy to purchase grain directly from Chu and transport it by sea to Yanzhou.

Therefore, they can now choose not to occupy the other states east of Qiyun Mountain.

Let the rebels wear each other down first, so that it will be easier for them to recruit other rebels and govern various regions later.

But they had to hold onto Yanzhou.

Currently, their attack is still directed towards Huzhou.

However, Huzhou has amassed a large number of troops, and almost all of Yan's current army is stationed in Huzhou and Huyao.

More than 70,000 troops were amassed around Jianmu, the gateway to Huzhou.

Although the Yan army's morale was low, they did not intend to launch a full-scale attack on Jianmu.

They are secretly sending people to contact Suhe Baoyin, hoping to win him over.

If Suhe Baoyin is willing to surrender, they can take Huzhou, Cuizhou, and Yuanzhou without bloodshed.

"We should definitely try to win over Suhe Baoyin."

Qin Yu nodded in agreement, "This humble general has heard that Suhe Baoyin and Beiqi are sworn enemies. Yan ceded territory to Beiqi, and Suhe Baoyin is likely resentful!"

They are indeed very greedy!

But they can certainly try to be greedy now!

"more than!"

Xue Chengdao smiled and asked, "Do you know why the Northern Qi troops haven't yet entered Huzhou?"

"I know a little about it."

Qin Yu smiled and said, "I heard that Xiao Yanguang has demanded that all the troops of Yan obey his orders, but Yan seems to disagree. The two sides are probably still negotiating this matter."

He learned about this from the surrendered generals under Yan Wujiu's command.

"It's not that the Yan state disagrees, it's that Suhe Baoyin disagrees!"

Xue Chengdao said with a smile, "Now, Suhe Baoyin is guarding the important place of Huzhou. If he doesn't agree, the Yan court won't dare to act recklessly, otherwise he will surrender at any time."

Moreover, 20,000 of the 40,000 troops at Huguan Pass were Suhe Baoyin's men.

If Suhe Baoyin is angered, he might even launch a direct attack on Huyao.

Suhe Baoyin's suggestion was that he lead his troops to defend Huzhou, while allowing the Northern Qi troops to attack Yanzhou and Pangzhou from the Xiazhou and Shengzhou line.

"So, you're giving me half a month to rest and reorganize my troops and be ready to support Yanzhou at any time, right?"

A look of realization flashed across Qin Yu's face.

"right!"

Xue Chengdao laughed heartily, "You've been fighting for so long, it's time for you to take a break!"

"hehe……"

Qin Yu rolled his eyes at him.

Did he want them to rest and recuperate?

They clearly wanted to conjure up 50,000 elite soldiers for him!

That's enough, that's enough!

Since we're here to rest and recuperate, let's take this opportunity to prepare our troops!

In my previous life, I was also a model youth raised under the red flag, so it's not like I'm incapable of doing the work of a political cadre.

Afterwards, Xue Chengdao asked him about the specific details of the battle with Yan Wujiu.

After patiently listening to the details Qin Yu recounted, Xue Chengdao slowly said, "Your overall setup is fine, but if you optimize it further, the casualties might be less."

"How to optimize it?"

Qin Yu humbly sought advice.

Xue Chengdao replied, "Send one or two thousand elite cavalry to outflank and launch a surprise attack from your right flank! First, cut through the Yan army's infantry..."

Because the infantry of the Yan army did not have the same high morale as the Flying Tiger Cavalry.

Once the infantry is quickly overrun, the chaos among the infantry will cause chaos among the Flying Riders, which will also affect their morale.

Of course, these one or two thousand elite cavalrymen might also be wiped out by the Yan army's infantry.

Moreover, this was contingent on the central army being able to withstand the frontal assault of the Flying Cavalry.

If the central army is unable to stop the Flying Cavalry due to insufficient troops, then doing this is tantamount to courting death.

Therefore, he only dared to say that the casualties might be smaller.

This was exactly what Yan Wujiu was thinking, which is why he ordered Hu Damao to lead his troops to outflank them from their left flank.

Fortunately, Pei Xiao fought desperately to defend the left flank.

If their left flank had been breached, allowing Hu Damou to lead his troops in a surprise attack on Xue Lie's infantry, then Yan Wujiu would have been the victor in that previous battle.

"Thank you very much, Commander Xue. I've learned a lot!"

Qin Yu bowed in thanks.

Indeed, if he had followed Xue Chengdao's plan, Yan Wujiu's troops would likely have been defeated more quickly, and their casualties would have been less.

Ultimately, I just lacked experience in actual combat!

"Whether you can be taught or not is just a matter of experience."

Xue Chengdao smiled and said, "Your arrangements are on the safe side, so there's not much of a problem with them!"

"Besides, how old are you? To fight like this against Yan Wujiu, who has extensive combat experience, is already quite impressive!"

"No matter what, winning is all that matters!"

"The battlefield has always been a place where victory or defeat determines heroism..."

As the two were talking, Xue Lie, who had been making arrangements, finally came over.

Upon seeing Xue Lie, Xue Chengdao's face suddenly fell.

Xue Lie inwardly cursed his bad luck and quickly stepped forward: "This humble general Xue Lie greets Commander Xue and Commander Qin!"

As soon as Xue Lie bent down, Xue Chengdao kicked him.

"Bang!"

Xue Lie was kicked backwards, but he still managed to finish the bow before straightening up.

Despite being kicked back a few steps, he was actually perfectly fine.

He deliberately let himself be kicked away.

Xue Chengdao roared, "How dare you, Xue Lie! Without military orders, who gave you the authority to mobilize troops without authorization?"

"General Xue, please calm down. In fact, this humble general ordered Xue Lie to lead his troops across the Yi River to provide support."

Qin Yu knew it was time for him to take the blame.

"You think your little tricks can fool this old man?"

Xue Chengdao replied irritably, then waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and attend to your business. I'll have a good talk with this beast!"

Qin Yu: "Commander Xue, really..."

"Get lost!"

Xue Chengdao interrupted Qin Yu directly.

Helpless, Qin Yu secretly gave Xue Lie a helpless look before taking his leave.

Only after Qin Yu left did Xue Chengdao glare at Xue Lie with a dark expression, "Do you know why I beat you up?"

Xue Lie smiled ingratiatingly, "Does a father need a reason to beat his son?"

Bang!

Xue Chengdao kicked Xue Lie again, berating him, "You're over forty years old, don't you have a brain? You mobilized troops without authorization, and you didn't even bother to report it afterwards? What are you trying to do? Are you planning a rebellion?"

His troops were not part of the campaign against Yan, and he had mobilized them without authorization. Qin Yu could help him cover it up.

They can come up with many reasons.

For example, when supplies at the front lines are running low, or when emergency reinforcements are needed.

A general who is in charge of a region can mobilize troops without authorization, but afterwards he can't even give a basic report explaining the situation. No one can explain this to him!

To put it mildly, this is an act of contempt for the imperial court and the emperor!

To put it bluntly, this is suspected of being treason!

Encountering a suspicious emperor, this one incident alone was enough to cost them both their lives!

Hearing Xue Chengdao's words, Xue Lie broke out in a cold sweat and quickly lowered his head to admit his mistake: "Father, I was wrong! I've been busy since I led my troops across the Yi River and forgot about this..."

"If you can forget something like this, what kind of soldier are you?"

Xue Chengdao, his face cold, said sternly, "Remember this: generals who don't understand politics don't live long!"

"Son, I've got it."

Xue Lie nodded emphatically, "I'll immediately draft a report and send it to the imperial court!"

"By the time you replenish it, the daylily will be cold!"

Xue Chengdao glared at him irritably, "After learning that you led your troops across the Yi River, I immediately wrote a report and sent it to the court!"

Xue Lie breathed a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Father."

Xue Chengdao said sternly, "If anything similar happens again, I won't hesitate to kill my own family for the greater good! So you won't bring harm to your entire family!"

"Um."

Xue Lie nodded repeatedly...