After issuing orders to the officials of Ning'an County, Fang Yun followed the proper procedures and reported to the prefect of Qingwu, the governor of Mi Prefecture, the Grand Secretariat, and the Sacred Academy.
Afterward, countless people mobilized.
Cai He, the prefect of Qingwu Prefecture, replied first. He would personally lead Qingwu Prefecture's troops and some of its scholars into Ning'an City.
Sai Zhixue, the governor of Mi Prefecture, Yu Xingshu, its military commander, and Hu Yu, the head of its prefectural academy, then sent letters to every scholar in Mi Prefecture ranked Provincial Graduate or above, ordering or inviting them to hurry to Ning'an County with all possible speed. The stated reason was that the prefecture's three senior officials would be discussing resistance against the barbarians there.
At the same time, Yu Xingshu ordered all chariot troops from every prefecture and county under Mi Prefecture to head to Ning'an County.
Not a word in these orders mentioned joining forces against the Northern Sea Dragon Palace.
The three senior officials of Mi Prefecture contacted the Eagle-Soaring Army, but its general, Lan Xungu, gave no response.
Zhang Poyue, general of the Dingyuan Army, then sent a letter. Under the pretext of inspecting Mi Prefecture's defenses, he led a hundred thousand soldiers of the Dingyuan Army out of camp. The entire army marched south!
Under the pretext of investigating demon barbarian movements, the Northwestern Army dispatched fifty thousand troops to Ning'an City.
Under the pretext of supporting the Dingyuan Army's defenses, the Northeastern Army sent thirty thousand troops south.
The excuses of the Northwestern and Northeastern Armies were barely plausible, but Zhang Poyue's reason for marching south made no sense whatsoever. Only the Eagle-Soaring Army and Mi Prefecture's Prefectural Army had the authority to inspect Mi Prefecture, and Ning'an County lay entirely