After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

It was the hour of Xu (7-9 PM).

The bandits on the mountain have been causing trouble for nearly two hours since this afternoon.

Military reports came one after another.

The bandits made five or six incursions to the west, each time attacking the outposts. When the cavalry approached, they would rush up the mountain. Only after Huang Zhongcai withdrew 1,500 guards from the mountain and filled the outposts did the bandits' momentum diminish.

They could only come down and throw torches at the outpost, but were forced back by the outpost's arrows and returned to the mountain, where they continued to burn the mountains along the way.

After several attempts, Huang Zhongcai felt much more at ease!

Regardless, he kept the gang of thieves trapped in the western mountains.

However, the bandits moved in and out of the western region in unpredictable ways, causing the cavalry to constantly travel between different points.

To alleviate the cavalry's fatigue, Huang Zhongcai ordered more cavalry to take turns patrolling the west, and specifically instructed them to rest behind some outposts, so that as soon as the bandits broke through the outposts, they would be met with a fierce attack.

period.

Huang Zhongcai also used a trick, ordering several outposts to feign defeat and the cavalry not to attack for the time being, leading a large group of bandits to flee from the west. After they had fled for several miles, the cavalry finally moved out, cutting off their retreat back to Miaofeng Mountain.

Next came the encirclement and attack.

But it's a pity.

These bandits were terrified of death. Even after the outpost was defeated, they simply shouted and burned it down, picked up some weapons and arrows, and retreated back to Miaofeng Mountain.

This made him quite annoyed.

The intelligence coming from the search team on the mountain was also somewhat strange.

They followed the black smoke and often came across a large fire. Fortunately, the terrain where the fire started was relatively safe, so although it caused a large fire, it was still easy to control. They cut down the surrounding trees and piled them up to prevent the fire from getting bigger.

They didn't encounter thieves often; the arsonists would run away as soon as they saw them.

With fire and smoke, and now that night has fallen, it's becoming increasingly difficult to shoot arrows accurately.

These peasant thieves were fast on the mountain and didn't wear armor, so the bandits were hard to catch and difficult to surround.

Huang Zhongcai had also wondered many times what these thieves were doing all this time.

A strategy to wear down the enemy?

Thinking that they had stormed the outpost several times but had not escaped, my unit would assume that they would not escape.

Finally, on one occasion, most of them charged out, and my unit couldn't catch up.

Huang Zhongcai slammed his fist on the table, sneering inwardly:

"That's a gross underestimation of Mr. Huang!"

Moreover, with such a fierce charge, the bandits would inevitably exhaust themselves. By the time they reached the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), or even the hour of Zi (11 PM-1 AM), they would have already worn themselves out.

He only needed to surround the western mountains, send out search teams to search the mountains, and extinguish the fire as much as possible.

Then let the cavalry, or at least a portion of them, rest and regroup. Two hundred cavalry would be enough to wait at the foot of the western mountain and completely annihilate the bandits!

But right now.

The words that came from the kneeling messenger, whose face was ashen and whose eyes were bloodshot, made the newly appointed Governor-General Huang turn deathly pale and speechless.

Did the thieves break through from the east?

Ortai, whose fear surpassed even that of Huang Zhongcai, stood up, his eyes wide, and said in a cold voice:

"They broke through from the east? What do you mean by breaking through from the east?!"

The messenger trembled, fearing the wrath of his superior, and reported nervously:

"Reporting, Lord Reply... This is from Lord Jige, who is guarding the east. He has already sent cavalry to pursue them, but the lord previously ordered the cavalry from the east to be sent to the west, so Commander Jige has less than two hundred cavalry under his command for patrolling the east..."

Huang Zhongcai clenched his fists immediately, startled!

"A feint to the east while attacking in the west!"

"Those scoundrels... they're using a feint!"

Sweat beaded on Huang Zhongcai's forehead.

Han Chang frowned and looked at Ortai and Huang Zhongcai:

"Huang Zhongcai withdrew 1,500 men from the mountain. The mountain defense line was insufficient. Perhaps the bandits took advantage of this gap and split into two groups. One group set fire to the mountain in the west as a feigned attack, while the other group secretly bypassed the mountain defense line and broke out in the east."

Huang Zhongcai's mouth suddenly went dry.

Ortai shook his head and said:

"Governor Huang's arrangements were correct. If we don't withdraw our men to fill the outposts, the bandits might break through from the west."

Huang Zhongcai glanced gratefully at the Minister of War.

"As Constable Jige said,"

The messenger then said:

"The bandits suddenly attacked from the east, and according to the brothers who survived at that outpost, as well as the cavalrymen who were chasing them, the bandits had a cavalry reinforcement!"

"Reinforcements?"

Ortai stepped forward and said in an unfriendly tone:

"Where did they get their reinforcements? Or cavalry?"

Ortai was imposing and majestic.

The messenger, startled, swallowed hard and quickly said:

"This, this is what Lord Jige reported. He said there were about thirty or forty riders. The bandits were powerful, and several hundred of them rushed out. At the same time, they took down one of Lord Jige's outposts in the east, and the thirty or forty riders came from the east under the cover of night."

"When my cavalrymen patrolling that area heard the whistle, they immediately gave chase, but there were only twenty riders on both the north and south sides. The enemy had bows, and the hundreds of men who came out had no less than fifty suits of armor of different styles, which must have been captured from various places."

"Our cavalry did not force their way in, but quickly sent messengers for help, while we were keeping an eye on that group. Our cavalry saw that their thirty or forty riders dismounted and were replaced by another group of people who mounted their horses..."

"Another group? Mount them?"

Ortai stared wide-eyed.

"Yes, sir!" the messenger reported. "Lord Jige said that the group should be the Southern Dynasty people you mentioned before. They haven't shaved their heads... The few dozen cavalrymen ran away, but hundreds of bandits stayed behind, using bows, crossbows, and chevaux-de-frise to drive away our cavalry... Lord Jige sent someone to report and request reinforcements!"

Huang Zhongcai immediately issued a military order:

"Send five hundred cavalry from the western garrison, no, send all the resting cavalry to the east immediately to pursue those few hundred men!"

The messenger immediately responded and left to carry out the order.

The atmosphere inside the camp tensed up in an instant.

Thump! Ortai sat down, slapped the armrest of the chair, and said with a livid face:

"What a thief!"

His pupils contracted and dilated, then contracted again.

"How dare you resort to such a trick!"

Han Changyi frowned, somewhat surprised that things had suddenly taken an unexpected turn.

Ortai gritted his teeth:

"Your Highness, the one commanding the bandits must be Xiang Qi. Perhaps Xiang Qi and Su Lang are each on one side, with Xiang Qi leading the main force from the east, leaving Su Lang to cover the rear on the west. But this isn't to hold off the enemy; it's a strategy to wear them down and disrupt our plans..."

Han Changyi nodded, but didn't say anything more.

Xiang Qi?

Su Lang?

Of course not these two.

He silently dismissed the other person's guess.

Because those two didn't come.

"Xu Xiyin? Or Shen Shou?"

Han Chang narrowed his eyes, picked up the teacup, took a sip, and pursed his lips almost imperceptibly. Heh, that's quite a skill.

Huang Zhongcai exhaled a breath from his lungs, his forehead covered in sweat, and said with a mixture of shame and determination:

"Rest assured, Your Excellency, and Prince Duan, now that our forces know that most of the bandits are in the east, and Jige has already caught up with them, our cavalry in the west will be able to surround and annihilate them once they catch up."

Ortai didn't speak, but instead placed his hands on his knees with a gloomy expression.

I waited anxiously for about fifteen minutes.

"Report!"

Another urgent message arrived from a messenger.