Battle of Pacifying Youzhou (I)

Those who remained in Hanshan City were Sledgehammer and Teng Xiong. With a great battle about to begin, it was essential to secure the rear and prevent any opportunists from taking advantage of the situation.

Teng Xiong was a local, and his Divine Fist Sect was renowned throughout Hanshan Prefecture. With the addition of Sledgehammer and two others at the Peak Ascension Realm, as well as the various factions in Hanshan Prefecture mobilized by Prefect Zhou He, even if the Blood Lotus Sect wanted to make a name for itself, it would have to think twice.

On the summit of Cold Mountain, 40,000 You Province Border Army and 10,000 prefectural troops were stationed, forming a combined 50,000-strong garrison of Hanshan Prefecture, ready for battle. After passing through layers of protection, Chu Xuanao and his party arrived at the military tent atop Cold Mountain.

As Chu Xuanao dismounted from the enormous Ironback Cang Bear, a middle-aged man in black armor quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said...

"Nie Mingfei, the military advisor of the Youzhou Grand Camp and current commander of the 50,000-strong garrison of Hanshan Prefecture, greets Your Prince."

Nie Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief at the arrival of the Prince of Qin of Qin. He had also received a message that the Great Feng had already dispatched troops and would arrive soon.

Although Hanshan Prefecture has the natural barrier of Cold Mountain, Nie Mingfei still attaches great importance to it. Military campaigns cannot tolerate the slightest carelessness or any underestimation of its importance. If Cold Mountain were to fall into Nie Mingfei's hands...

He couldn't bear this responsibility, and he would have let down his comrades.

Now that the Prince of Qin has arrived, Nie Mingfei felt somewhat pleased as he looked at the group of people behind Chu Xuanao. This was no Prince without any followers.

With 20,000 troops and 3,000 elite personal guards from Hanshan Prefecture, and his forces being numerous and powerful, his presence greatly reduced the pressure on him.

Yes, the 20,000-strong army, since the Prince of Qin arrived at his fiefdom, the entire Hanshan Prefecture, including the army, has been the King of Prince of Qin's private property.

Even though they were originally the army of Hanshan Prefecture, now even if General Qian Shan of You Province came, he couldn't mobilize them; they are now all this Prince's private army.

Chu Xuanao said calmly.

"Alright, let's go into the tent. Twenty thousand garrison troops and three thousand personal guards will arrive shortly."

Upon hearing this, Nie Mingfei smiled and quickly followed the others.

After entering the tent, Chu Xuanao sat in the main seat and chatted with everyone until all the attendants arrived and everyone took their seats before Chu Xuanao began the conversation.

"The Great Feng has already dispatched troops, and they may arrive tomorrow. What are your thoughts, everyone?"

Chu Xuanao's gaze was mainly fixed on Guang Xing, Mo Pan, Nie Mingfei, and several military officers who were with Nie Mingfei.

None of the men under his command, whether it was Li Xunhuan and Ghost Servant, or his Maternal Grandfather and the Bai Family, were suited to lead troops in battle.

They're alright at fighting, but when it comes to actual warfare, all I can do is shake my head.

Nie Mingfei was the first to speak. After exchanging glances with several generals from You Province, Nie Mingfei quickly spoke.

"Your Prince, Hanshan Prefecture is protected by the natural barrier of Cold Mountain. Even if the Great Feng forces outnumber us, there is no need to worry. This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We only need to hold Cold Mountain."

When the Prince of Qin spoke, Nie Mingfei had a rough idea of what he wanted to do.

The young Prince of Qin was eager to establish meritorious service.

He could only explain the situation directly; he was genuinely scared!

This isn't the Tiandu City; even if this guy gets into trouble, His Majesty will bail him out.

The battlefield is no joke. If this person comes up with some novel idea at this time, or if something happens, or if Hanshan Prefecture falls, Nie Mingfei will not be able to explain it, and no one in You Province will be able to bear the responsibility of explaining it.

"Your Prince, yes, Cold Mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack; we can simply hold our ground."

"Your Prince, the treacherous Cold Mountain is our advantage; holding it is absolutely no problem. Why should we give up our advantage?"

After Nie Mingfei spoke, two more generals spoke in succession.

This victory was won, and no matter what, the credit goes to the Prince of Qin of Qin. In fact, the greatest credit for Hanshan Prefecture must, and can only, belong to the Prince of Qin of Qin.

They didn't expect the Prince of Qin to exert too much effort, just to keep him from causing trouble.

After hearing what the others said, Chu Xuanao spoke directly.

"Alright, since you're all in such a hurry to say all this, you should have guessed what I'm trying to do!"

I do intend to send troops. That's right. We can't just wait for the Great Feng to invade. We need to find a way to deal with them and then support Zhenyou City, which is the main battlefield.

"And this isn't just my opinion, Qiuyue."

Qiuyue, who was standing next to Chu Xuanao, opened a box and placed it in front of him. She picked up a secret letter and a token inside. Chu Xuanao flicked his right hand, and the two items flew towards Nie Mingfei like arrows.

Then he said with a relaxed expression.

"Take a good look at this! Check the handwriting, the seal, and the token for any problems. Then we can discuss whether or not to listen to me and send troops."

Upon receiving the token and the secret letter, Nie Mingfei's eyes narrowed in shock. As the commander of the central army in Youzhou Grand Camp, he knew at a glance that this was indeed a token from the Marquis of the Shenying Marquis Manor. The character "Ying" was engraved on it, indicating that it was the old Marquis's personal token.

How could the Prince of Qin have the Marquis's token? The Marquis didn't tell him when he came!

After reading the secret letter, Nie Mingfei's expression was somewhat complicated. The letter conveyed only one message: obey the Prince of Qin's orders and act according to the King of Prince of Qin's wishes. He did not doubt the authenticity of these documents; they could not be forged.

The token, the handwriting, the seal, and even the coded messages in the letter were all correct; he simply couldn't understand why the old Marquis would be plotting against this Prince of Qin.

After Nie Mingfei handed the token and secret letter to the other generals for inspection, the military tent seemed to fall into a state of stillness. In the end, it was Nie Mingfei who spoke first, breaking the eerie silence.

"Nie Mingfei is willing to obey Your Prince's order, but I wonder what Your Prince and the old Marquis's plans are?"

Chu Xuanao up straight, his eyes sharp, and met Nie Mingfei's gaze with a resolute look, speaking with unwavering conviction.

"After Cold Mountain, we will fight the Great Feng on the plains. Once the battle begins, we will hold the enemy at bay, and reinforcements will arrive quickly."

Nie Mingfei asked with some confusion.

"Your Highness, do we have reinforcements?"

"Support? "Nie Mingfei was a little confused. They had come to provide support, but there was more support coming from behind?

The Marquis didn't tell him anything!

Chu Xuanao did not answer, but simply said...

"Gentlemen, let's get moving! Go down the mountain immediately. As soon as the fighting starts, reinforcements will arrive in no time. This is something that I and Wang Hanying have agreed upon."

"The sooner we resolve this matter here, the more strength we'll have in Zhenyou City. Otherwise, with hundreds of thousands of troops here, Zhenyou City will be in greater danger."

"Yes, sir."

In the dead of night, the more than 70,000 troops of Hanshan Prefecture descended from Cold Mountain like wild beasts unleashed from their cages. Abandoning the advantage of this natural stronghold, they chose to assemble and array themselves on the Xuanshan Plain for a direct battle.

By the morning of the second day, on another part of the plain, hundreds of thousands of troops, like a devastating torrent of steel, marched toward Cold Mountain with overwhelming force.

At the foot of Cold Mountain, an army of over 70,000 was deployed.

"Reporting to General Nie, the Fengtian Army is less than thirty li away from our army, and their numbers should be around 150,000."

With a solemn expression, Nie Mingfei, sitting in the central command post, surrounded by Guang Xing, Mo Pan, and Menban, spoke in a loud and clear tone.

"The entire army is on high alert."

Then Nie Mingfei glanced at the sedan chair on Tie Beicangxiong's back not far behind. Bai Yi, Bai Wangye, the Bai Family's men, Ghost Servant and others were all guarding the area. He turned around and stared at the Menban and asked.

"Mr. Yue, has His Your Highness said when reinforcements will arrive?"

Yue Shan looked into the distance and said in a deep voice.

"The reinforcements have already arrived. As soon as we start fighting here, His Your Highness will give the signal, and the reinforcements will arrive immediately."

Nie Mingfei nodded and looked into the distance. It seemed as if dust was rising, indicating that a massive army was about to arrive, with swords and spears clashing and war about to break out.