Chapter 97 - Doubts

If Baizhan’s army were to march west, its first stop would be Anyong. Therefore, almost all the residents in the city had fled with their possessions, leaving behind only an army of five thousand city guards, who spent their days in dread.

So, when the City Lord, Yuan Zijin, got the news that the Eastern Expedition Army was approaching, he quickly brought all his men and waited at the city gate. At the first sight of the army, everyone cheered and applauded while breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

With this army of eight hundred thousand troops, it would be extremely difficult for Baizhan to capture Anyong. And when the troops arrived, all the defenses and the command of the city were handed over to the army, so the City Guards and the City Lord no longer had to bear any responsibility.

When the army reached outside the city, every soldier was in high morale and grinning from ear to ear. This sight struck Yuan Zijin as being very strange. Normally, the faces of soldiers who were about to go to the front lines were grave, but why were these soldiers smiling so happily?

‘The Central Army is indeed extraordinary, with its soldiers behaving completely differently from other armies,’ the City Lord thought.

Chen Dasheng was in a pleasant mood, as he had made a lot of money along the way. In the later part of their journey, all the officers and soldiers got so addicted to the act that they visited every city they came across, regardless of whether they were part of Qin Yang’s faction. Nevertheless, they maintained very strict discipline, as they only went for the City Lord Mansion and left immediately after getting what they wanted, never causing any trouble to the common people.

After glancing at the military deployment order showed to him, Yuan Zijin finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Please follow me into the city!”

The city was empty, with all its people having fled. Although it was still not enough to accommodate an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers, it could fit about four to five hundred thousand men. The rest of the troops would strike camps outside the city.

The high-ranking officers, including Chen Dasheng, took the City Lord Mansion as their temporary quarters. But before they settled in, a meeting was called between all the officers and Yuan Zijin to analyze the current situation.

Yunxiao attended the meeting as well, accompanied by Jia Rong and Ji Meng. It was the first time he walked out of his tent after he was wounded. Although he was not brimming with energy, he had a healthy color on his face, and it seemed that his injuries were completely healed.

The eyelids of Chen Dasheng and several others twitched as they were shocked once again. ‘A nine-stars warrior!’

But, when they thought of the man behind him, they quickly came back to their senses. With such a mighty expert guiding him, it was not something strange for Yunxiao to break through so fast.

“Are you well, Yunxiao?” Yunshang was the first to stand up and ask with a look of concern on her face. “Go back and continue to regulate your breath if you haven’t fully recovered. There’s nothing you can help with here anyway.”

There was a funny look in the eyes of Xiao Qingwang and a few others as they smiled and remained silent.

Yunxiao was taken aback, and then he laughed. “As the chief logistics officer and the commander of the student army, how could I not attend the meeting? Although I have not fully recovered, I’m not far from that.”

Yunshang patted him kindly on the shoulder and said in a soft voice, “Don’t work too hard. Your health matters the most.”

Her thinking was simple, that since Yunxiao was that man’s disciple, she would do her best to protect and care for him while that man was away. But, her words made Yunxiao break out in a cold sweat and be at a complete loss. He stared in horror at her and thought, ‘Does she know who I am? But that’s impossible! No one would believe me even if I told them myself, let alone pure speculation!’

While everyone tried to cover their grins with their hands, Chen Dasheng called out, “Yunxiao, come over here and join us!”

Relieved, Yunxiao hurried over and sat down beside him.

Yuan Zijin was slightly surprised that such a young boy was also a military officer. But, he knew many nobles in the court were fond of sending their heirs to the army. These young men did not have to do anything in the military, and when they were discharged, they would be conferred with noble titles.

At Chen Dasheng’s signal, the City Lord began to explain the current situation.

“The army of Baizhan has surrounded and trapped Kunjin for twenty-seven days, and no news ever came out of the city. Although they have not moved westward, they have occupied three towns ahead of Anyong. I am worried that once Kunjin falls, they will march for Anyong immediately.”

“The towns are Fengshan, Feifeng, and Yangsan. The scouts I sent had discovered that each town is stationed with about twenty thousand men. As we can’t break through these three towns, we know nothing about the front. The exact number of soldiers in Baizhan’s army is still unknown, but according to my estimation, they should be numbered at eight hundred thousand.”

Everyone was lost in thoughts after listening to him.

“They haven’t captured the city after trapping it for almost a month, and yet they are still here. It seems to me that they intend to starve the men inside,” said Chen Dasheng. “But, here’s the biggest question: we have been on our way for half a month, and they should have already received the news and taken countermeasures. But so far, there has been no action at all. In other words, they are not afraid that we will attack them, or even wipe them out together with our men in the city.”

Han Qianfang said, “Yes, this doesn’t make sense at all. If I were the enemy general and received the news that an army is marching at me, under the condition that I only have an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers, I would have ordered an attack of the city and tried my best to capture it as soon as possible, or marched west to occupy a favorable terrain. Or maybe, I would fall back to Baizhan. But so far, we see none of that…They just sit there and wait. This is really strange.”

“Tell us what you think, Huang Hong.” Chen Dasheng pointed the man out.

Everyone turned and rested their eyes on the commander while Huang Hong was slightly nervous. After all, he was still in a rather embarrassing position now. But, he managed to recover himself quickly. “I’ve secretly observed the army of Baizhan when they marched through Whitehead. Yes, they numbered about eight hundred thousand, and no more than a million. As for whether they sent more troops after the Golden Lion Army fell back, I do not know. But, when we were retreating, they did not occupy the town. They just marched through it. So, I guess they don’t have any reinforcements, and there should be about eight hundred thousand men trapping Kunjin right now.”

Chen Dasheng nodded, approving of Huang Hong’s wits. “If they really have only eight hundred thousand men, then what is their intention?” he said, puzzled. “Do they really just want to lure us out here, so Prince Qin Yang can do whatever he has planned in the capital?”

Xiao Qingwang said, “It might have been possible a month ago, but Qin Yang’s forces have basically fallen apart now. Even if he makes some big moves in the capital, he would not be able to change anything. Therefore, this reason doesn’t hold water.”

“It’s really puzzling. It seems that we need to send someone to break through the blockade of the three towns and find out the situation over there.”

Chen Dasheng’s eyes moved from one person to another, then an idea suddenly came to him. “What’s your views on this, Yunxiao?” He no longer dared to underestimate this young junior.

Yunxiao smiled. “I know nothing about marching and warring, but I felt strange about the three options Uncle Han said our enemy has. Maybe they are just waiting for us to arrive so that they can destroy us together with the men in the city?”

All the generals had strange expressions on their faces, and some almost burst into laughter. Chen Dasheng shook his head and said with a wry smile, “It seems you really don’t know about wars. They are trapped between us now, and their number is smaller than ours. Even if they are greater in number, they would not be able to run when they are being attacked from both ends. They would only do what you said if their troops are a few times more than us.”

Yunxiao frowned and said coldly, “My lord has only taken the quantity into consideration, but what about the quality? What if they are eight hundred thousand warriors?”

“Eight hundred thousand warriors? I can’t believe you can come out with that!” Han Qianfang laughed. “Your two thousand student troops are a rare exception in the military, if truth be told.”

Xiao Qingwang arched an eyebrow and said, “What he means is that we need to consider high-end warriors.”

Yunxiao gave him a look and chuckled. “Exactly. In the eyes of common people, an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers is an extremely powerful force, but not in the eyes of martial warriors. Xiao Qingwang alone can already fight a hundred thousand soldiers like these. If there is a Martial Grandmaster in the enemy army, he alone can destroy an army of a million troops.”

Everyone fell silent. Although they did not think the enemy had a Martial Grandmaster, the situation would become difficult to handle if there were just a few Martial Kings or Martial Lords.

“This is just one of the possible situations, and in fact, it is not likely to happen,” Yunxiao laughed. “Because if it is true, they would have long captured Kunjin. Actually, I think there is only one possibility, that is, Baizhan’s purpose is not to attack the city or occupy a territory.”

That gave Chen Dasheng a pause. His eyes lit up in a moment later, and he cried out, “What Yunxiao said is reasonable! Baizhan has sent such a great army into our state, but what is their ultimate purpose if they are not here to attack a city or occupy a territory? The most important thing for us now is to find out their ultimate purpose! Is Ding Bai here?”

“Yes, my lord!” A military officer quickly stepped out of the ranks.

“Pick three hundred best soldiers and find me all the intelligence about Baizhan. Report back at once when you get anything!”

“Understood!” Ding Bai took the order and left immediately.

Chen Dasheng gave another order, “Yuan Zijin, you will lead the City Guards to take care of food, accommodation, and logistics for the army. The rest of you will return to your temporary quarters and wait for orders. We will discuss again when Ding Bai brings back any intelligence.”

After the meeting, everyone found a place to stay at temporarily. With the city emptied, they could choose any houses they liked. Yunxiao had already asked Ji Meng to occupy a mansion of a big family, which was large enough for the few of them.

When he arrived at the mansion, Yunxiao felt somewhat awkward. He turned and said, “I’ve arrived, Teacher Luo. You don’t have to send me into the mansion.”

Yunshang studied the mansion as she pushed a lock of hair away from her cheek and said lightly, “I haven’t found a place to stay. I think I’ll just stay here, since this place is large enough.”

“Ah?” Yunxiao was taken aback. “I don’t think this is a good idea…The mansion is fully occupied, not enough for…”

At that moment, Meng Wu walked out of the mansion and heard their conversation. “It’s alright, Young Master Yun! Teacher Luo can stay with me,” she said happily. “I have a very large bed in my room.”

Yunxiao gave her a fierce look and said angrily, “Oh, you have a large bed? Do you want me to squeeze in with you? It happens that I don’t have a place to stay either!”