"This incompetent general deserves ten thousand deaths!"
Inside the Han army's central command tent, a disheveled, bedraggled general in rumpled armor dropped to his knees with a clatter, sweating with shame as he pleaded guilty.
This general had led one hundred thousand men in pursuit of the enemy. Upon chasing them into a valley, the mountains suddenly collapsed, and rolling boulders cut off both their advance and retreat. The vanguard was ambushed, while the rear troops rushed to rescue them, only to discover that the Song army had surrounded the point to strike the reinforcements. As the army suffered a crushing defeat and withdrew, they encountered another ambush lying in wait along their retreat route.
Caught between advance and retreat, they suffered defeat after defeat. Of the hundred thousand troops, nearly the entire army had been wiped out; only several thousand had escaped back. This general had nearly lost his life as well, surviving only because cultivators had fought desperately to save him.
Everyone in the tent wore grave expressions. Since the war between Han and Song had begun, this was the first time the Han army had suffered such a tremendous loss.
After staring at the kneeling man for a while, Jin Jue let out a long sigh. "The blame for this defeat does not lie with you. I was the one who underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. Go rest."
"Thank you, Marshal, for sparing my life." The general knocked his head against the ground in tearful gratitude, then rose, wiped away his tears, and left.
Jin Jue turned and walked to the map. After pondering for a moment, he said, "This arrangement—to lure in the enemy, strike the reinforcements, ambush the retreat route, and combine it all with a smokescreen—was executed at an extraordinarily tight rhythm. The