March Out 3

Manor had closed its doors to visitors, so they had not even seen the Southern Duke or his heir son. Only a few days ago, Ye Zhen secretly returned to the Ye household once and only said that the Sou...134. Departure (3)

Ten miles outside Xinyang City, several hundred thousand soldiers from Xi Ling were eyeing the city in the distance with a predatory gaze. That city was more attractive and significant than an ordinary border fortress. There were countless provisions and military supplies there, as well as the prosperity of Northwest’s largest city. It would become their first real step towards conquering Great Chu.

In the main tent of the army headquarters, Prince Regent of Nan who was nearly fifty sat behind a desk. He held an edict that his subordinates had just presented to him and read it for a while before suddenly bursting out laughing.

The generals below exchanged puzzled glances; they couldn’t figure out what made their prince so happy.

After he finished laughing, he shouted loudly, "Mo Liufang! You have come to this today! If you still have the chance or see that your Prince Ding王府 is in such a predicament now, would you regret it!"

The generals exchanged glances and one of them stepped forward to ask, “Prince Regent, do we have any good news”

Prince Regent of Nan casually passed the edict over and smiled at everyone, saying, "The Prince Ding王府 is truly without successors; a woman is actually in charge of military affairs!" The generals who had seen the edict also wore an unusual expression and said, “Commander-in-chief Marquis Nan and Inspector Consort Prince Ding What does Eastern Chu mean by this"

Prince Regent of Nan snorted and said, "It’s不得已而已. I’ve heard a bit about Marquis Nan; he usually remains neutral and doesn’t get involved in worldly affairs. It would be fine if he were just an army commander, but leading the Mo Army is beyond his capabilities. Furthermore, it’s not easy to take command of the Mo Army."

"Could it be that the Mo Army is now under the control of Consort Prince Ding" a general asked in surprise.

Prince Regent of Nan nodded and said with some thoughtfulness, "Indeed. Although Mo Xiyaoyao is far away in Northern Rong and can’t return in time, no one from the Prince Ding王府 can lead an army to fight after him, so now military command has fallen into the hands of a girl who’s barely sixteen or seventeen." The generals under his tent became excited; they exchanged whispers for a moment before someone stepped forward and said, "In that case, Prince Regent, we should take this opportunity to deal with the Mo Army. It will prevent them from regrouping with Prince Ding and causing us trouble in our eastern campaign against Eastern Chu!"

Prince Regent of Nan narrowed his eyes slightly and stroked his empty left sleeve absent-mindedly with his right hand. "Although I wish to have a showdown with Mo Xiyaoyao, but… as a military commander, one cannot engage in personal vendettas. This time is truly Heaven’s best opportunity for us. If we can destroy this army, the Prince Ding王府 will no longer pose any threat!"

"We will follow your orders, Your Highness!" everyone responded in unison; the idea of eliminating the Prince Ding王府 stirred up an inner excitement in each person.

Prince Regent of Nan nodded approvingly. "Very good. Accelerate our attack on Xinyang and capture it within three days! Then head to Jiangxia to wipe out the Mo Army!"

"As you command!"

"My Lady, there's a letter from the second day," said Zhuo Jing as he entered the tent of the Moxia army camp where Ye Li was having a meeting with Nan Hou and others. Ye Li did not even look up when she heard him and simply said in a cool tone, "Have it translated for me." Zhuo Jing nodded and went to translate the letter at the writing desk in one corner of the tent. Ye Li continued discussing with Nan Hou, saying, "We still need at least seven days before we can reach Jiangxia. I'm afraid that accelerating our march is difficult as you mentioned, Your Excellency."

Nan Hou frowned and said, "Why The Moxia army usually moves quickly; I remember that the fastest time they moved was several hundred miles a day..."

Ye Li shook her head and replied, "Your Excellency, those were small contingents. With our nearly 300,000-strong army, compressing what should have been a ten-day journey into five days is unrealistic. Do you think that after such an arduous march, the soldiers will still be able to fight upon reaching the border Even if they could, I doubt Xi Ling would give us time for rest and recuperation; we'd likely face fierce battles immediately upon arriving in Jiangxia." Nan Hou sighed heavily and said, "I understand what my Lady means, but I am deeply concerned about Xingyang..." Ye Li shook her head and whispered, "Xingyang will not hold. With Your Excellency's ability, how many days do you think the city could withstand a siege by Prince of Zhen Nan"

Nan Hou thought for a moment before saying, "As long as there are sufficient supplies in Xingyang, I could probably defend it for a month."

Ye Li said, "General Leng could hold out for half a month. My lord, do you know which day of our journey we're on Even if we had wings to fly with, we still wouldn't be able to reach Xingyang in time. Furthermore, Xingyang isn't lacking everything; it's lacking water!"

The faces of those present changed slightly at this news. Although a lack of food could perhaps be endured for some time, the absence of water was critical and there would be no way around it. And to make matters worse, Xingyang was located in northwestern territory with scarce natural resources; besieged by Xi Ling forces, its water shortage was inevitable.

"Even if we march as fast as possible, Prince Zhen Nan will certainly still be waiting for us in Jiangxia," Ye Li sighed.

Mu Yang frowned and asked, "What if Jiangxia is also breached"

Lü Jinxian raised his sword-like eyebrows and said, "Prince Mu, you may rest assured. Even though General Yuan Pei only commands a few thousand men in Jiangxia, the terrain there is vastly different from the flatlands of Xingyang; holding out for ten to twenty days would be no problem at all. Should Prince Zhen Nan indeed bring his main force against us, as long as Jiangxia still has even one soldier left standing, Xi Ling troops will not be able to advance a single step!" Upon hearing this, the faces of both Nan Hou and Mu Yang reddened slightly; Moxia forces had guarded the border for over a hundred years without ever allowing enemy armies to enter Great Chu's territory. Yet today, because Emperor ordered the Moxia army idle due to fear of the Dingwang Mansion, in less than a month since war broke out, Xi Ling troops had already captured several cities and advanced hundreds of miles deeper into their territory.

Nan Hou nodded and said, "It's good that the Duchess is aware of the situation."

Ye Li smiled faintly and said, "I know Lord Hou is concerned about the war. Please rest assured, General Sun Yan has dispatched Black Cloud Cavalry to rush towards Jiangxia ahead of us."

"Duchess." Over there, Zhuo Jing had already translated the letter and walked over to hand it to Ye Li. Ye Li lowered her head and read for a long while before frowning and handing the letter to Nan Hou, saying, "What do you think about this, Lord Hou And what do the other generals think"

Nan Hou glanced at it with some surprise, looking over at Zhuo Jing who was standing beside Ye Li with an indifferent expression. He frowned and said, "Prince of Nanyang has suddenly sped up his offensive pace. Could he be trying to take Jiangxia before we arrive No! Duchess, something must have gone wrong!" Lu Jinxian and Feng Zhirao noticed Nan Hou's change in demeanor and quickly took the letter to read it too. The more they read, the deeper their frowns became. Prince of Nanyang was sending troops to fiercely attack Xinyang while simultaneously deploying forces through a different route. Even the southern army, which was not far from them, had dispatched a force heading north...

"Duchess..." Feng Zhirao frowned.

Nan Hou said in a solemn voice, "Prince of Nanyang is launching fierce attacks on Xinyang while simultaneously deploying troops through different routes. He might be trying to cut off Commander Yuan's retreat route."

Ye Li furrowed her brows deeply and after a moment said, "Get the map over here." At this time, it was evident how inconvenient inadequate information could be. No matter what analysis they came up with, they couldn't immediately pass it to the commanders on the frontline; all they could do was hope that those at the front had also figured out their opponent's intentions and would take necessary countermeasures. Fortunately, such a disadvantage often worked both ways.

Zhuo Jing turned around and retrieved a folded paper from his belongings, slowly unfolding it to reveal intricate lines indicating mountains, rivers, and terrain of Chu Kingdom's borders from south to north. Ye Li picked up the brush on her desk and marked the movement routes of the various forces under Western Capital as mentioned in the letter. She frowned and looked up, asking, "Have we received detailed maps of Northwest yet" Zhuo Jing turned around and pulled out another document saying, "It arrived this morning; I was just about to show it to you." Ye Li cleared her desk and spread out the map while saying, "What's the point in showing me I've never been there. Lord Hou, General Lu, please take a look."

The others had already grown curious about the maps on the table when they heard what Ye Li said. They immediately gathered around her. There were two similar-sized maps laid out on the table. One was obviously of Chu Kingdom's western border regions in its entirety while the other, though more detailed, only covered Northwest. It was a specific map that none of them had seen before; Lu Jinxian praised it saying, "Great stuff! I've been serving at the northwest frontier since I turned twenty but even after nearly two decades, I can't claim to know as much as what's depicted on this map." Nan Hou nodded and pointed at the map, saying, "General Lu is right. Back in my days, I made a few trips to Northwest myself; the Duchess has drawn... quite detailed maps."

Ye Li smiled contentedly. How could it be detailed enough This batch of newly trained personnel had been sent out entirely, and with the original maps at hand, if they still couldn't get a good grasp of those in the northwest, then it would have all been for nothing.

Ye Li stared at the two maps for a long time before picking up her pen to draw heavily on a certain spot on one of them. In a deep voice she ordered, "Immediately issue orders to the troops south of us; those near Xiling's southern army should all be concentrated to the west and intercept Xiling’s divided forces!"

Zhuo Jing nodded in response, and Ye Li raised her eyebrows as she thought for a moment before smiling faintly. She then bent down to take out a piece of paper where she wrote a line of characters that she handed over to Zhuo Jing and asked, "Where is Qin Feng"

Zhuo Jing bowed his head in thought and replied, "He's near Lingguan Pass; he should already be preparing to come north to meet up with us." Ye Li looked down at the location of Lingguan Pass and said, "Tell him not to return; give this to him. It’s our next plan."

Zhuo Jing took the note without even looking at it and left directly.

"Is Your Excellency planning something" Mu Yang raised his eyebrows and asked.

Ye Li smiled faintly, "It's not really a plan; just some preliminary arrangements to be prepared for any eventuality."

Mu Yang saw that she did not intend to explain further, so he merely shot her a complex glance without delving deeper. The Black Family Army had followed the orders of the Prince Ding王府 for over a hundred years, and in recent years they had little affection for the emperor. As someone Mu Yang placed within the army, his status was naturally awkward since he came from an imperial confidant's family; fortunately, Mu Yang himself was quite tactful.

Nan Hou looked at Ye Li then at Mu Yang as if oblivious to the undercurrents between them. Stroking his beard with a smile, he said, "It’s good that Your Excellency has plans. We are currently hundreds of miles away and can do nothing about it; our priority should be getting there quickly to support." Both Ye Li and Mu Yang nodded in agreement. Nan Hou then smiled and continued discussing for a while before rising to take his leave and return to rest in his own tent. With the departure of Nan Hou, even if Mu Yang wanted to stay behind to listen to others’ reports, he had no choice but to bid farewell and leave.with Xiling and Nan Zhao as well as Li Prince causing trouble simultaneously, His Highness only has more than fifty thousand troops at his disposal, making it impossible to handle three fronts at once...