"What? The vanguard suffered heavy losses in the empty Pingyang County? Burned by fire? Only three thousand people escaped?"
"Bastard! What was Zu Qiang doing? Facing an empty city, didn't he have people search thoroughly before entering?"
In the central tent of the Chen Kingdom's main army, General Chen Anmi angrily smashed the teacup in his hand to the ground.
Leading ten thousand men as the vanguard, and still getting burned down in an empty city, how incompetent was Zu Qiang?
The joy Chen Anmi felt from his previous victory over the Yunyue Kingdom's General of the East vanished completely.
The messenger, kneeling on the ground and not daring to look up, said tremblingly, "General Zu Qiang sent his deputy to search Pingyang County thoroughly. It is said that there were no large piles of firewood or fuel."
"No large piles of firewood and fuel were found? Then how did the entire city catch fire?"
Chen Anmi frowned, pondered for a long time, but could not figure it out.
Unless, that deputy was a spy, and he didn't search at all and just lied.
But that didn't make sense either. He himself died there. If he were a spy, there would be no need to silence him at that time.
"General, this matter is quite strange. We don't know the reason here at all. Why don't we go to Pingyang County and turn it upside down? We will naturally know."
On the right, an old general cupped his hands and offered a suggestion.
"So be it. Order the three armies to accelerate their march to Pingyang County."
"Yes!"
The Chen Kingdom's main army, only a day behind the vanguard, soon arrived at the scorched Pingyang County.
Standing outside the city, one could see the tragic scene within through the city gate: black dust, charcoal, charred corpses everywhere, and collapsed houses.
Looking at the miserable sight, Chen Anmi suppressed his anger and shouted, "Send five thousand men in to search every corner thoroughly and find the cause of the fire."
"Yes."
Chen Anmi then ordered, "The army will camp here. Double the scouts and send them out in all directions. Keep an eye on the surroundings."
"Yes!"
"General, are you guarding against an enemy attack?"
After the messenger left, the old general inquired.
"That's right." Chen Anmi nodded and said gravely, "Their General of the East has already died at our hands. There is essentially no one capable left in the entire eastern frontier of the Yunyue Kingdom."
"Logically, they should be in a state of disarray, but this situation doesn't look like there's no one in command. Instead, the new commander seems even more troublesome than the General of the East. It's best to be careful."
"Excellent."
The old general nodded, very pleased.
Although Chen Anmi was appointed the main general for this campaign against the Yunyue Kingdom due to his connections, his abilities were still quite strong.
It was just that he was too young, only in his early twenties.
He thought that after defeating the enemy's famous general, he would become arrogant and complacent, but unexpectedly, he remained so cautious. The Chen Kingdom's military was indeed in good hands.
Five thousand men searching a city burned to ruins could not be fast.
After a full day, Chen Anmi finally discovered the reason.
"They actually dug a hole in the cellar of a wealthy merchant's courtyard and hid hundreds of fully armed soldiers. No wonder Zu Qiang's incompetent deputy couldn't find them."
"Moreover, the city burned so fiercely and quickly without any fire starters. It turns out that oil was smeared on the houses beforehand."
"This is too insidious."
Upon learning the reason, Chen Anmi gritted his teeth, but he had to admire the person who came up with this plan; it was truly brilliant.
Grease was smeared inside and outside the houses, on the roof beams, in the firewood rooms, kitchens, and toilets a day or two in advance. By the time Zu Qiang and his men arrived, the smell had long since dissipated.
After being soaked with grease, these wooden materials would not be easily ignited by the sun, even with the roof covering them.
When needed, a small spark would be enough to cause a rapid and intense fire that was very difficult to extinguish.
At the same time, these places where the grease was smeared were usually areas with strong odors, so any slight abnormality would be overlooked.
If he were in Zu Qiang's position, he would have fallen for it nine times out of ten.
"General, it seems that the new commander of the Yunyue Kingdom's eastern frontier cannot be underestimated! I wonder who it is and what their next move will be."
The old general said with some concern.
"Hmph, it's just playing tricks and having a bit of cleverness. In the face of our Chen Kingdom's grand momentum, they can't stir up any big waves."
Below, a burly middle-aged general said dismissively and with great confidence, "As long as the general gives me thirty thousand men, I will immediately lead them to flatten Dongyang County, a strategically important place in the Yunyue Kingdom's eastern frontier."
"General Ma Su, it's better to refrain from boasting."
The old general reprimanded him and asked with a frown, "General, what should we do next?"
"Old General, although Ma Su's words are arrogant, there is some truth to them. No matter what schemes they have waiting for us, it will ultimately be difficult to reverse the huge disparity in numbers."
Chen Anmi took a deep breath and said, "Although we lost twenty thousand men when we defeated the Yunyue Kingdom's General of the East, plus the current seven thousand, the casualties are barely one to one."
"But we still have a massive twelve thousand men, while they have at most about fifty thousand, including the young and strong."
"They are no match for us in the open field. We just need to push the front line forward step by step and crush them with our overwhelming momentum."
"Of course, for the next county, Anzhi County, we should still be more careful, so as not to repeat the same mistake this time."
The old general nodded in agreement, "Indeed. Then let's crush them."
In reality, if the Yunyue Kingdom was determined to defend the city and not engage in open battle, they would have no other options.
What happened in Pingyang County reached Anzhi County in less than half a day.
Gao Le, who was busy preparing defensive equipment in the county, burst into laughter upon receiving the news.
"Good, good! I didn't expect Duke Chu to have such a strategy, to silently eliminate ten thousand enemy troops. It's truly brilliant!"
"Yes, I didn't expect Duke Chu to be so outstanding in strategy, in addition to his skill in training troops. If it were us, we would probably foolishly charge in and be roasted like suckling pigs."
"Hahaha, of course. Where do you think Duke Chu came from? It was the imperial palace! Being skilled in strategy is the most basic thing, isn't it?"
"Tsk, other eunuchs don't have this ability. The supervisors from the palace in the past just pretended to know what they didn't know and gave stupid orders, hindering progress."
"Hush, be careful, be careful!"
"Alright, all of you shut up."
Gao Le quickly interrupted his subordinates as they were saying more and more outrageous things.
Looking into the distance, Gao Le silently wished for Chu Chen's personal actions to succeed and to turn the tide of the battle.