The Prodigal Son

"Thirteenth Young Master, General Yuan has sent someone to deliver intelligence on the enemy forces."

At night, Qin Yu was woken up in his tent.

Qin Xiong brought a messenger.

After saluting, the messenger reported: "Reporting to Commander Qin, our troops will be stationed in Xuegu County, Linzhou by noon tomorrow. We have received news that Yelü Shu, the vanguard general of Beiqi, is leading 20,000 cavalry towards Shengzhou..."

As Xue Chengdao had predicted, Bei Qi indeed intended to seize Shengzhou.

Qin Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, "How far is the enemy army from Shengzhou?"

The messenger replied, "When General Yuan received the message, the enemy army had already entered Shengzhou and was less than 150 li from the prefecture!"

So close?

Taking into account the time it took to send the message, it is estimated that Yelü Shu's troops had already entered Shengzhou Prefecture.

As for those rebels in Shengzhou, as long as they dared to resist, they were simply being given military credits to Yelü Shu.

There's no chance to seize Shengzhou!

Qin Yu smiled helplessly and immediately ordered, "Order Yuan Dingguo to proceed with the original plan to garrison Xuegu County, establish defenses there, and closely monitor enemy movements!"

That's it!

Since there's no chance anymore, there's no need to force it.

Let's take over Linzhou first!

See you next year!

Alternatively, they could wait until their main force enters Xuegu County before seeking an opportunity to seize Shengzhou.

In any case, we'll fight if we have the chance, but there's no need to fight to the death with the enemy when it's freezing cold and there's no need to do so.

A few days later, Qin Yu and his group entered Linzhou without any problems.

After leaving 10,000 troops to garrison Linzhou Prefecture and appointing Zhu Songlan as the temporary governor of Linzhou, Qin Yu led the remaining 20,000 troops with a large amount of grain to Xuegu County.

Upon learning that Qin had encountered Da, Yuan Dingguo and Liang Hongqiao came to greet him.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the two, Qin Yu inquired about the situation in Shengzhou.

Liang Hongqiao replied, "According to the information we received, Yelü Shu surrendered 10,000 rebel troops from Shengzhou without losing a single soldier. Currently, Yelü Shu has abandoned the forward city of Haidong and is personally leading a large army to garrison Shengzhou Prefecture..."

The rebel army of Yan is far too weak!

That's just a bunch of rabble!

Faced with Yelü Shu's Northern Qi cavalry, they surrendered immediately.

It is said that the rebel army in Shengzhou actually numbered between 20,000 and 30,000.

However, Yelü Shu only accepted the surrender of about 10,000 people and ordered his men to do everything possible to plunder grain and fodder.

As a result, they didn't manage to plunder much grain or supplies, but instead made Shengzhou even more chaotic.

It is said that Shengzhou is now littered with corpses of the starving, and people who have frozen or starved to death can be seen everywhere.

They had previously heard that Yelü Shu was arrogant and thought that he would lead his troops to Haidong City, which is located at the junction of Lin, Sheng and Dan prefectures.

Unexpectedly, Yelü Shu was so conservative that he only stationed himself in Shengzhou Prefecture.

Thus, he essentially gave up 20% of the land in Shengzhou.

Yelü Shu's actions significantly reduced their hopes of seizing Shengzhou.

They judged that Yelü Shu's failure to seize Haidong City was likely due to the problem of food supplies.

"Definitely!"

Qin Yu stated confidently, "We escorted grain from Yanzhou into Linzhou ahead of time, yet Yelü Shu still managed to secure Shengzhou first! Yelü Shu certainly didn't bring much grain!"

Yelü Shu could at most carry enough provisions for 20,000 cavalry to last for about ten days!

If he were to advance to Haidong City, the Northern Qi army's supply lines would be extended, giving them an opportunity to attack those lines.

"Should we try to make use of this?"

Yuan Dingguo asked, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

Qin Yu smiled and glanced at Yuan Dingguo, then replied, "Let's find out what's going on in Yelü Shu's rear first!"

"If their supply convoy is still quite far from Shengzhou, we could look for an opportunity!"

"Furthermore, since Yelü Shu isn't seizing Haidong City, we will!"

The grain transport team that Yelü Shu sent from the rear should have started from Yunzhou, passed through Xiazhou, and entered Shengzhou.

It will likely take much longer than when they escorted grain from Yanzhou into Shengzhou.

Based on their previous marching speed when escorting the two types of grass, it is estimated that it will take Yelü Shu's rear supply convoy at least ten days to reach Shengzhou Prefecture.

If severe weather occurs, this time could be significantly extended.

"Is Commander Qin trying to give Yelü Shu a chance to steal our supplies?"

Yuan Dingguo immediately guessed Qin Yu's intention to advance his troops towards Haidong City.

"I have that idea."

Qin Yu nodded and smiled, "If Yelü Shu doesn't move, we'll occupy Haidong City and further shorten the distance of our attack!"

In any case, whatever choice Yelü Shu makes will not harm them.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Dingguo excitedly replied, "Then shall I go and muster the troops?"

"Don't worry yet!"

Qin Yu waved his hand and said, "Anyway, if we advance towards Haidong City, your unit will have to go with the grain transport team! Find a few people familiar with the terrain to take us to check out the surrounding area."

"This humble general has already personally led men to investigate."

Liang Hong smiled and continued, "We previously thought that Yelü Shu would lead his troops to quickly seize Haidong City and enter Xuegu County. After that, I immediately led people to investigate the surrounding terrain."

"That would be great!"

Qin Yu was overjoyed and immediately beckoned to the two men, "Come on, let's go inside and discuss this in detail!"

"yes!"

Led by the two men, Qin Yu arrived at Yuan Dingguo's tent.

Inside the tent, a huge sand table stood out prominently.

It's obvious at a glance that this sand table was recently made.

Correspondingly, there is also a map.

Without Qin Yu needing to give any instructions, Liang Hongqiao, who had personally led a team to survey the terrain, began explaining things to Qin Yu using the sand table and map.

It is about ninety li from Xuegu County to Haidong City.

Apart from a few scattered villages, there is only one small county town called Shangyuan with a population of less than 30,000 between the two places.

If Yelü Shu wanted to seize their supplies, he could either attack them head-on from the direction of Shengzhou Prefecture, or he could advance along the dense forest at the foot of Qiyun Mountain and then rush straight to Shangyuan, attacking them from behind.

Alternatively, they may have entered Danzhou in advance and gone into hiding.

After they passed Shangyuan County, they suddenly launched an attack from their right flank.

In her opinion, although the dense forest at the foot of Qiyun Mountain was good for concealing traces, the mountain was rugged and uneven, and there were trees broken by the heavy snow everywhere, which was not suitable for marching, especially for a large number of cavalry!

In a direct confrontation, the outcome remains uncertain.

Yelü Shu probably didn't have absolute confidence that he could defeat the Wudang Flying Army head-on.

Therefore, he felt that if Yelü Shu really had a plan, the most likely scenario was that he would take advantage of the cavalry's high mobility to enter Danzhou in advance and hide, and then launch a surprise attack from the right flank.

Qin Yu stared at the sand table for a while, then asked Liang Hongqiao, "Have you sent anyone into the mountains to investigate?"

Liang Hongqiao nodded. "Based on our current reconnaissance, there are no suitable passages in the mountains for a large-scale cavalry advance! If they want to cross the mountains to plunder our supplies, even if a large army could get here, it wouldn't be enough time..."

However, that forest was too large.

It's impossible for their people to investigate every single place.

There may be hidden passages, but they just don't know about them yet.

"Although the possibility is relatively small, we still need to be cautious!"

Qin Yu stroked his chin, pondering, "Sometimes, the more impossible something seems, the more likely it is to change!"