In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Upon receiving the news, the imposter Yuwen Qin Jiang Laowu did not hesitate for a moment and immediately reported it to Shen An.

Shen An sat at home, watching the snowmelt water continuously flowing down from the eaves.

He stood up and said, "The time has indeed come, Jiang Laowu. Go back and write a letter to Yuwen Qin, telling him that I am preparing to march south in seven days and that he should meet me at the Mermaid Cliff in the Nanling Mountains!"

"yes!"

After sending Jiang Laowu away, Shen An called over Hei Laoliu and Mr. Mingyue and asked them to inform the spies they had planted around Li Huaiyi that he was going to cooperate with Yuwen Qin to deal with Yuwen Bingyu, and that Yuwen Qin might take the opportunity to split his forces into two groups.

He will feign cooperation with him to deal with Yuwen Bingyu, while simultaneously launching a surprise attack on Qingyang City.

Remind Li Huaiyi that this is a great opportunity to launch a sneak attack on Yuwen Qin, so don't miss it!

"My lord, what if Li Huaiyi tries to ambush us?" Blackie asked.

"He doesn't have the guts. Besides, Yuwen Qin might also come to launch a sneak attack. He doesn't want to run into two opponents at once. For him, it would be much more profitable to take advantage of Yuwen Qin's weakness and launch a sneak attack on him," Shen An said.

One day later.

Yuwen Qin received the message.

He summoned Zhang Chi: "I will personally go to Yangbei Prefecture and have them contain Li Huaiyi. You stay here and make the necessary troop deployments; this must be completed within three days!"

"yes!"

Zhang Chi's spirits lifted; the great battle he had planned was about to begin.

He wanted to utterly defeat Shen An and make everyone in the four southeastern prefectures understand that he was the number one young talent among the younger generation.

Those who rely on the wealth left behind by the Prince of Zhennan are not worthy of competing with him.

They will all eventually fall into his trap.

Two days later, Li Huaiyi also received news that Shen An and Yuwen Qin were cooperating to attack Lingnan Prefecture.

His previous failure had made him miserable for almost two months.

Not only did he suffer a loss at Shen An's hands, but he was also ambushed by Yuwen Qin.

He really wanted to save face.

But having suffered a loss last time, he dared not act rashly and immediately summoned Cui Tianhe.

What's your opinion on this matter?

"In my opinion, this is definitely a golden opportunity. Yuwen Qin is cooperating with Shen An on the surface, but he is definitely plotting to launch a sneak attack on Qingyang City. If he sends troops to both sides, his interior will be vulnerable. If we can capture the prefecture where he is located, we can seize the opportunity."

Then you will directly possess two prefectures, and with a strong and well-equipped army, unifying the four prefectures in the southeast will only be a matter of time!

Li Huaiyi was clearly swayed by those words.

"Damn it, you're right. I'd be such a fool to miss this opportunity!"

"My lord, urgent report!"

"What is it?"

"Yang Beifu's army has suddenly arrived at the border!"

"Old Yan, what's the meaning of that bastard's massive army pressing in at this time?"

Li Huaiyi was furious: "This guy is trying to cut off my livelihood!"

"Governor, don't worry! Old Yan must have received benefits from Yuwen Qin. He's just pretending to have a large army pressing in, forcing us to transfer our troops to Qiangbei County."

Therefore, we only need to deliberately claim that we will send 100,000 troops, but in reality only send 10,000.

"Wouldn't that fool Yuwen Qin? Wouldn't it be even easier for us to launch a surprise attack on Yuwen Qin's prefecture?" Cui Tianhe calculated.

"No, no!" Li Huaiyi shook his head like a rattle-drum: "That Yuwen Qin is cunning and scheming, and he has a strategist named Zhang Chi under his command. They have planted countless spies in our army. Last time we were ambushed, it must have been because of that spy who betrayed us. We still haven't caught that spy."

Therefore, as long as we make a feint, he will find out the real situation through his undercover agents.

"We can't miss this opportunity! We might as well not have another one!"

"Let me think about it, let me think about it..."

The night before, when they were supposed to meet up with Yuwen Qin's army.

Under the cover of darkness, Shen An led his men to complete the final step of his explosive trap on the ground beneath the city gate, setting the fuse for the explosive canisters buried inside.

In this way, his people can control the detonation time at any time.

He designed the fuse to be extremely concealed. He dug a deep hole under the city wall, and the fuse was connected to an explosive canister buried underground. When it was detonated, he only needed to hide inside to ensure his safety.

After doing all this, Shen An called his trusted confidant over.

Their total strength has now reached 2,500 men.

Shen An left only 5,000 men to guard the city, while the remaining 20,000 men were to follow him to Nanling Prefecture.

Although Yuwen Qin and Yuwen Bingyu wanted to deal with him together, according to the information brought by Wei Min'er, they planned to wait until their troops were at the gates of Nanling Prefecture before Yuwen Qin's men would suddenly attack his men!

Shen An naturally wouldn't wait until that time, foolishly waiting for the two of them to attack him alone.

He had long ago ordered his men to set a trap twenty miles south of the Mermaid Cliff in the Nanling Mountains.

Once they reach the trap, he will strike first before Yuwen Qin's men can even make a move, giving Yuwen Qin and Yuwen Bingyu no chance to regroup their forces!

In order to annihilate the enemy's forces as much as possible, Shen An chose to lead 20,000 men.

As for Yuwen Qin's men attacking Qingyang City, let's see if Yuwen Qin still has the guts to continue the attack after detonating his explosive trap!

Even if he had the guts, it wouldn't be something he could just break through at will!

After making the specific arrangements, Shen An dismissed his trusted men, and then Dugu Meng said, "I will help you defend the city with Liao Bing and Xiao Qi. You can go with peace of mind!"

"I feel much more at ease knowing that you said that!" Shen An said with a smile.

Although Dugu Meng had never personally fought in a battle, she could sometimes offer solutions that they couldn't even imagine.

If Liao Bing and Xiao Qi act impulsively, she does have a way to calm them down.

"Shen An, you must come back safely!" Dugu Meng said, holding her jade-like hand tightly.

Although Shen An had a plan, plans can sometimes change, and there were still risks involved.

He couldn't be sure if he would come back alive.

But this is a chaotic world where life and death are at stake!

He has to go! He has to take the plunge!

He didn't give Dugu Meng a definite answer; he simply said, "Try your best. I haven't had enough of the food you've cooked!"

After saying this, Shen An did not turn around; he went to the military camp wearing his armor.

Dugu Meng did not follow. She held back her tears until Shen An's figure disappeared around the corner before she looked away.

As soon as it was light!

Shen An, along with Wang Junfeng and Zhao Long, led 20,000 city garrison soldiers on their first voluntary expedition.

One day later.

Shen An and Yuwen Qin's army met at Mermaid Cliff.

They dispatched 50,000 troops this time, but reported 80,000 to the outside world.

Leading the group was Yuwen Tianhou, Yuwen Qin's top general!

This man was only in his early twenties. Unlike other generals, he was not broad-shouldered and burly, but rather thin and frail. If he weren't wearing armor, one would mistake him for a pale-faced scholar.

"Lord Shen, you are a man of exceptional talent and ability; truly a young hero!" Yuwen Tianhou praised.

"Yuwen, you flatter me. I've heard of your exploits. You once single-handedly charged into a ten-thousand-strong army seven times, and no ordinary person could harm you in the slightest. You are truly a heroic young man!" Shen An smiled and changed the subject: "Are you leading the team alone this time? I heard that your prefecture has a strategist named Zhang Chi. Where is he?"

"Mr. Zhang is a strategist, not suited for military campaigns, which is why he did not come."

"Oh, alright then, let's set off and get to Nanling Prefecture as soon as possible so we can catch them off guard!" Shen An said with a smile.

"good!"

The two harbored their own ulterior motives. One planned to launch a sneak attack fifty miles later, while the other planned to join forces with Yuwen Bingyu to annihilate them once they reached the city of Nanling Prefecture.

Meanwhile, the real Yuwen Qin and Zhang Chi were leading 50,000 men, only five miles away from Qingyang City.

Having learned from Yuwen Bingyu's experience, they were extremely cautious.

Fortunately, the snow had cleared, so they were almost unharmed and safely passed through one trap after another.

"This Shen An is truly foolish. Others have already been fooled, yet he still wants to use these pitfalls to stop the enemy. Little does he know that so many traps are also affecting the future development of Qingyang County." Zhang Chi's words were full of disdain for Shen An.

Although Yuwen Qin disliked overly confident people, Zhang Chi certainly had the right to be confident.

The two held almost identical views.

"Once we take Qingyang City today, we'll change everything there. We're still five miles from our destination, everyone give it your all!"

The five-mile journey was quickly completed.

When I saw the sparse guards on the city wall of Qingyang.

Yuwen Qin's lips curled up slightly: "According to that imposter, Shen An led 20,000 men to Nanling Prefecture this time, but now there are only 5,000 left here, so the difficulty of conquering it has not decreased significantly!"

However, the toughest weapon to crack is still on the city walls.

Zhang Chi also looked at the repeating ballistae on the city wall and chuckled, "We already have a way to counter them, so there's nothing to be afraid of. It just takes some time."

"Time is money!" Yuwen Qin stroked his chin, no longer wanting to wait a moment longer: "Is the vanguard ready?"