Chapter Thirty-Nine: Great Shock

  Twenty li south of Xinye City, Jingzhou military camp.

  The Chinese military headquarters.

  "Yidu, according to the scout's report, Yan Liang that fellow has left more than 7,000 people to guard XinYe, it seems he had been prepared for us early on."

  Cai Man's tone was somewhat worried.

  Kuai Yue sneered, "The more troops with the surname Yan that are left in Xinye, the fewer will be used to resist Cao Hong's army. As long as he is defeated by Cao Hong, Xinye will definitely fall into great chaos, and even if many troops are left behind, what use will they be?"

  Cai Man slightly nodded in agreement with Kuai Yue's analysis, and a determined look appeared on his face again.

  "De Gai doesn't have to worry, we'll just drink some small wine, eat some small dishes, and wait for the fishermen's benefit."

  Kuai Yue smiled and said, as he personally poured a cup of wine for Cai Mao.

  The atmosphere in the room was relaxed, with the two chatting casually over wine, looking very confident.

  After a few cups of wine, the curtain was lifted and a man rushed in, dusty and windblown. It was none other than Yi Jie, who had just returned from his mission to Xin Ye.

  "Bo Ji is back, how was this trip?" Qu Yue asked while drinking wine without looking at Yi Ju.

  Yi Jing's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he said lightly: "The matter that General Jia has entrusted to me, I have already informed Xu Ziyuan. Xu Ziyuan expressed his gratitude for your kindness, General Cao Hong will handle it himself, no need for our Jingzhou army to intervene."

  "As expected, Xu You was indeed afraid." Kuai Yue's face showed a look of satisfaction.

  Cai Mao said beside him, "Since Xu You said we don't need to provide assistance, what should we do now?"

  "It has come to this, no matter what Xu Shu says, we will station our army here and see what he can do." Kuai Yue's tone was arrogant, not putting his opponent in his eyes.

  "Cai Mao nodded in agreement."

  Seeing the two of them with a determined look on their faces, Yijue couldn't help but feel worried.

  After a moment of hesitation, he couldn't help but say: "General Yan's military tactics are like those of the gods, and Xu Ziyuan is extremely strategic. I think we should not underestimate them."

  Upon hearing these words, Kuai Yue burst out laughing loudly.

  Amidst the laughter, there was no attempt to conceal the sarcastic tone.

  "Kuai Bie Jia, I don't know what's so funny about what this official said?"

  Yi Ju was displeased with Dao, and Kuai Yue's haughty attitude as a high-ranking noble made him very uncomfortable.

  Kuai Yue sneered, "Last time I indeed lost to Yan Liang, but that was also due to Wen Ping's fault. After all, Yan Liang is just a warrior abandoned by Lord Yuan. As for Xu You, although he has strategies, in this situation of being besieged from both inside and outside, how can he turn the tide? I'm laughing because you, Bo Zhou, don't understand the situation."

  Cai Mao also said, "What you say is reasonable, Boji. You really overestimate that Yan Liang too much. He's just a low-born martial artist, nothing to be afraid of."

  There's nothing more to say about Japanese books.

  Facing these two arrogant and proud scions of the Jin clan, Yi Jue knew he had no right to speak out, and apart from hanging his head in shame, there seemed to be no other choice.

  Just then, a young servant rushed into the tent.

  "General Xia, General Cai, urgent report from the rear. Deng Ai's camp has been defeated by Yan Liang, our stored military rations have all been burned to ashes, and General Zhang has been captured by Yan Liang."

  This string of bad news was like a thunderbolt on a clear day, instantly stunning Cao and Kuai into stiffness.

  "What did you say? Say it again!" Cai Mao couldn't believe his ears, and he grabbed the little schoolmaster, shouting in shock.

  That little school repeated the intelligence war with trepidation, and it was only then that Kuai Cai and others were convinced that their ears had not misheard.

  "How is this possible? Yan Liang was clearly fighting Cao Hong in the north of Xin Ye, how could he suddenly appear behind us?"

  Cai Man's terrified muttering, a face full of shock and incredulity.

  Kuai Yue was also shocked and didn't know what to say.

  Even Yi Jie, who had a certain degree of respect for Yan Liang, was also shocked at this moment and didn't know how Yan Liang did it.

  Just then, a scout from the north brought back the latest intelligence:

  Cao Jun suffered a great defeat and Cao Hong was captured alive by Yan Liang.

  This second piece of news hit them like a sledgehammer, heavily striking their hearts.

  "It was only after defeating Cao Hong that we could take the mountain roads and small paths with our cavalry, infiltrating deep into the Han River region, that we could launch a surprise attack on Deng Ai's grain camp." Yan Liang suddenly realized.

  Kuai Yue's face turned pale with shock, and he stammered: "Cao Hong's several thousand troops, how could they be defeated, and so quickly, how is this possible, how is this possible..."

  Jing Xiang's chief strategist was already like this, let alone Cai Mao, who was shocked and uneasy, unable to utter a single word.

  "This subordinate has said before that Yan Liang's military strategy is not divine and should not be underestimated. Now that the grain and grass have been cleaned up, the morale of the army will soon become unstable. In this subordinate's opinion, it would be best to withdraw back to Xiangyang as soon as possible before the morale collapses."

  Yi was the first to regain his composure. His words "I told you so" were clearly laced with sarcasm.

  At this time, Kuai Yue also had no choice but to remain silent, knowing that Yi Jie's words were sarcastic, yet having nothing to say in his defense.

  The military rations were burned, which is the most feared thing in the army. Let alone he only had 20,000 soldiers under his command, even if he had 100,000 brave troops, they would collapse without a fight, not to mention Yan Liang taking action.

  Helpless, Kuai Yue could only hatefully say: "Yan Liang this scoundrel can be dealt with later, De Kui, quickly issue the order to withdraw the army and return south."

  Kuai Yue was at a loss, Cai Mao had no choice, and at this point, there was no time to think twice, so he hastily ordered the entire army to break camp and head south immediately.

  "General, you said that Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, if they knew the news of Deng Ai's grain being burned, what kind of expression would they have."

  Wen Ping laughed as he galloped along on horseback.

  "What's with that expression? It's just a bitter face." Yan Liang said disapprovingly.

  "What's with that bitter face...?" Wen Ping muttered to himself, looking perplexed.

  Yan Liang hesitated for a moment, coughed dryly several times, and raised his whip, saying: "Alright, it's here. The whole army will stop advancing."

  The order was passed down and five hundred weary cavalrymen halted their steps.

  Wen Ping looked around the surrounding terrain, and on both sides of the main road were vast open spaces. The ground was extremely open, and nearby, there were only a few small hills that could be used for ambushes.

  Wen Ping hesitated and said, "General, the terrain here is not treacherous enough, it doesn't seem suitable for an ambush. There are a few narrow passes twenty miles ahead, should we..."

  Before he could finish speaking, Yan Liang shook his head.

  "The troops marched back and forth for hundreds of miles, fighting three battles in a row. Even if they could set up an ambush, it's not certain that they could defeat the enemy army of 200,000."

  Wen looked back and saw that the soldiers were all exhausted to the point of near collapse, their physical strength had been overdrawn for a long time. In this state, it was indeed not suitable to continue fighting.

  "But if we set an ambush here, our chances of winning will be even smaller." Wen Ping's face showed a worried expression.

  Yan Liang's mouth curled up in a sly smile as he countered, "Who says I want to fight against Cai Mao and Kuai Yue?"

  Wen Ping's expression became increasingly bewildered, completely unable to fathom Yan Liang's intentions.

  Yan Liang's gaze had already turned to the dense forest on the mountain, and he said loudly: "Quickly bring in the hundreds of flags carried by the army into the forest, arrange them more densely, just listen for the war drum to start, and then let General Lang come out."

  Upon hearing these words, Wen Pin suddenly felt enlightened, and his eyes shone with surprise and admiration.

  ————

  There is still one more watch at night, around 10 o'clock.