Chapter 1 The Military Camp

In the military camp, the soldiers of Shengle City were training under the leadership of Liang Cheng, while General Zheng sat on the sentry tower, dozing in the sun.

Despite being on the battlefield, General Zheng exuded the peaceful aura of a lazy old farmer in the fields.

The other three soldiers on the sentry tower were incredibly excited to have the opportunity to be so close to General Zheng. They stood rigidly, backs straight, eyes wide, scanning the surroundings. They were more vigilant than usual, keeping watch over the situation to protect their beloved General Zheng.

In fact,

General Zheng was already regretting it. Why did his family have to leave two devils to watch the house? What a waste!

He should have brought Si Niang (Fourth Wife) with him on the expedition.

Across the Wangjiang River, both the Chu army and the wild men had begun a series of movements. The freezing of the Wangjiang forced them to make some preparations.

Clearly, the Wild Man King and Qu Tiannan, the Pillar of the State of Chu, had not abandoned their vigilance against the Yan iron cavalry despite their previous victory, especially since they had lost the natural barrier of the Wangjiang River and naval support.

Over in Yingdu, the First Prince had begun to make adjustments and arrangements since his defeat: redeploying the defense line, receiving the auxiliary soldiers of Cheng, reorganizing the small court of Cheng, and storing grain.

At the very least, one thing was certain: even if this battle was won, it would probably take the people of Cheng two years to recover.

Many refugee groups had already emerged. In this situation, many people were choosing to vote with their feet, starting to migrate westward, and because of the Si Tu family's defection, local officials didn't dare to stop them.

Shengle City, which had always been short of labor, had recently taken in many refugees, gaining a lot of advantages.

Of course, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was like overdrafting Cheng's potential in advance, making it easier for the Yan to rule Cheng after the war.

However, the prerequisite was after the war.

If this battle couldn't be won or continued to stalemate, then all previous plans would fall through.

The winter sun was warm and comforting. Zheng Fan slightly opened his eyes, then slowly closed them again.

At this moment, he really had nothing else to do but sleep.

Just then, a sentry arrow sounded, and a soldier next to Zheng Fan knelt down and reported:

"General, foreign cavalry is approaching!"

"Mm."

Zheng Fan nodded, not taking it to heart. Although his military camp was relatively independent, it wasn't completely isolated from Yingdu. From time to time, the two sides would exchange messengers and information.

Of course, the communication was limited to that. When the First Prince first led his army on the Eastern Expedition, Zheng Fan and Chen Yang, military heads of the "Jingnan Army faction," could completely ignore him. Now that the First Prince had been defeated, his prestige had plummeted.

But soon, the three knights arrived below the camp and shouted:

"General Zheng Fan of Shengle City, receive the military order of the Jingnan Marquis!"

………

The Shengle Army, which had been stationed northwest of Yingdu City for a long time, finally broke camp and moved out. Zheng Fan, accompanied by A Ming and more than ten armored soldiers, went to Yingdu in accordance with the military order of the Jingnan Marquis.

It was a coincidence that they met Chen Yang, who was also leading a group of guards, on the way.

Zheng Fan's general rank was still lower than Chen Yang's, but Zheng Fan's relationship with the Jingnan Marquis was different. So, while Chen Yang wouldn't put on airs in front of Zheng Fan, he wouldn't go out of his way to be friendly either. However, both sides felt comfortable with this kind of relationship.

The two teams merged, and the two leaders didn't speak, but smiled at each other, and then continued towards Yingdu.

The Jingnan Marquis had arrived.

In fact, he was late. How many troops outside Yingdu City had been waiting for him?

But he was also fast. The fast here meant that there was no warning.

But in any case, he had arrived, and the war could continue.

For so many years, it was the first time the Yan had suffered such a big setback in a foreign war. It was time to get back at the enemy.

More than ten miles from Yingdu, Zheng Fan and Chen Yang saw a Jingnan Army team ahead. There weren't many people, only about a hundred, but one person and one beast stood out so clearly.

The size of the pixiu (mythical wild beast) was much larger than ordinary warhorses, coupled with the gilded armor, it was hard not to notice.

This team should be the vanguard personally led by the Marquis. In addition, 30,000 Jingnan troops were on their way and would arrive in about a day.

This was what Zheng Fan had asked the messenger. It wasn't a big deal for Zheng Fan to ask these things. The messenger didn't hide anything and directly told him the size of the army.

Yes, the Jingnan Marquis only brought 30,000 Jingnan troops to reinforce.

In fact, the Jingnan Army in Jin was far more than that. Before the Three Kingdoms War, the Jingnan Army had a scale of 50,000 regular troops and 50,000 reserve soldiers in the rear camp.

During the Three Kingdoms War, the Jingnan Army, like the Zhenbei Army, suffered heavy losses. However, after the war, the Jingnan Army's replenishment speed was also extremely fast. In Liang Cheng's words, the Jingnan Army had a small number of regular troops at the beginning, so the Jingnan Marquis was very meticulous, and the individual quality of the soldiers was very high, somewhat similar to Germany from after World War I to before World War II, treating soldiers as reserve officers to be trained. Therefore, before World War II, they could quickly start a troop-building mode.

Roughly estimated, the Jingnan Army in Jin should have reached a scale of about 150,000. This didn't include the Jin auxiliary army attached to the Jingnan Army. Strictly speaking, Zheng Fan's troops weren't counted in the Jingnan Army's regular army system because he had many Jin soldiers under his command, so they were more like "auxiliary troops."

Originally, everyone thought that if the Jingnan Marquis came, he would have to transfer at least 70,000 to 80,000 Jingnan troops, not only to make up for the losses of the Yan army's eastern expeditionary army's left flank, but also to exceed the quality and combat power of the eastern expeditionary army before the start of the war.

But the Jingnan Marquis only brought 30,000. One could understand that there were too many places in Jin that needed to be defended and suppressed. The Nanmen Pass line had to be defended, the Litian City area had to be guarded, and even because of Li Bao's death, part of the defense zone originally belonging to Quhe City had to be taken over by the Jingnan Army.

But these were all reasons. If he really wanted to bring them, 70,000 to 80,000 was definitely not a problem. If he went all out, 100,000 Jingnan troops plus 50,000 to 60,000 Jin auxiliary troops wouldn't be a problem either.

So, this was probably why famous generals were famous. Throughout the Jingnan Marquis's command of troops in battle, all his victories were achieved with fewer troops than the enemy, which made them all the more valuable.

The team ahead seemed to have noticed them and stopped, as if waiting for them.

Zheng Fan and Chen Yang rode out side by side, came to the front and rear of the team, and dismounted together:

"This humble general Zheng Fan, greets the Marquis!"

"This humble general Chen Yang, greets the Marquis!"

"Rise."

"Thank you, Marquis!"

"Thank you, Marquis!"

After getting up, Zheng Fan had a chance to observe Tian Wujing, and found that Tian Wujing's gaze wasn't on him at all.

In the past, Tian Wujing would probably chat with him for a few words, but not this time.

The Jingnan Marquis exuded an aura of isolation and indifference.

The head of white hair made Zheng Fan feel a little heartache.

The team began to move forward again and soon arrived at Yingdu City.

The officials and people of Yingdu City, from the nobles to the commoners, had swarmed out of the city to welcome this war-renowned Yan Marquis.

In fact,

there was an embarrassing matter,

that was, the specific imperial decree hadn't arrived in Yingdu.

According to the court's procedure, the Jingnan Marquis should first receive the decree and make preparations, which would take time. Then, the Grand Eunuch who was to announce the decree to the Jingnan Marquis would go to Yingdu and issue the next imperial decree.

This second imperial decree included the First Prince's demotion and punishment, from the commander of the Eastern Expedition Army to a vanguard battalion officer. Then, there would be a series of personnel changes. At the same time, the Si Tu family had to be informed that the Yan had changed the person in charge of this war and that the Si Tu family had to do a good job in logistics and auxiliary work.

But the first two eunuchs failed to announce the decree and died directly.

Eunuch Huang succeeded in announcing the decree, but after the Jingnan Marquis said "Understood," he didn't stop at all and didn't make any preparations at all. After issuing an order to mobilize three ten-thousand cavalry, he led a team of personal soldiers directly to the east.

So, the imperial decree for Yingdu was still on Eunuch Huang, and Eunuch Huang was still working hard to hurry on his way. How could they run faster than the Jingnan Marquis?

Some imperial decrees couldn't be issued in advance. For example, before the Jingnan Marquis received the imperial decree, the arrangements for the First Prince couldn't be changed, because the court also knew that although the First Prince had been defeated, there had to be a person in charge in Yingdu with sufficient status and position to control the situation. The new boss couldn't be removed before he came up, leaving the front-line troops without even a nominal commander. Wouldn't that be a joke?

However, the situation at this time didn't have any waves because of an imperial decree.

When the Jingnan Marquis and his party appeared outside Yingdu City,

Si Tu Yu led a group of family officials and officials from the palace to kneel and greet him on the main road outside the city gate,

shouting:

"Little Prince greets the Jingnan Marquis!"

"We ministers greet the Jingnan Marquis!"

It seemed absurd for a prince to kneel and salute a marquis.

But whether it was the surrounding Yan army or the Cheng army, or the surrounding civil and military officials, or the civilians on the periphery, no one felt that there was anything wrong or inappropriate.

Indeed, if Si Tu Lei hadn't died, he wouldn't have needed to kneel.

But now, Si Tu Lei had been dead for who knows how long, and the new head of the Si Tu family was this young boy, who lacked prestige.

Moreover, the North and South Marquises of Yan, to be honest, the titles sounded like marquises, but what was the difference between their actual status and a prince?

And a prince who held military power!

At the same time, the current background was that the Yan army had lost the battle, and the Chu and wild men on the east bank of the Wangjiang River could advance west at any time. It was a time of panic, which further highlighted the importance of the Jingnan Marquis.

"Li Fusheng, commander of the Zhenbei Army, greets the Jingnan Marquis!"

Li Fusheng also knelt down to Tian Wujing.

The First Prince silently took out the Son of Heaven's sword from his waist, took it off, and placed his commander's seal talisman on the ground in front of him. He took two steps back and knelt down:

"Ji Wujiang, greets the Marquis!"

No imperial decree,

no army,

just himself, with some personal guards,

without even saying a word,

had taken over this Yingdu City, the entire Yan Eastern Expeditionary Army, and the Cheng army.

This was,

what prestige!

Tian Wujing came down from the pixiu,

and slowly approached the crowd,

the armor making a dull "swishing" sound as it rubbed together.

He walked to the front of the First Prince, to the former commander of the Eastern Expeditionary Army who had taken the initiative to hand over the seal.

He said:

"Rise."

"Thank you, Marquis!"

"Thank you, Marquis!"

Si Tu Yu and other Cheng officials stood up, and Li Fusheng and other generals also stood up.

The First Prince hesitated for a moment, and was about to stand up as well.

But a boot stepped on Ji Wujiang's shoulder.

"Bang!"

The First Prince was kicked to the ground.

For a moment,

the whole place was silent.

The one who kicked him was naturally the Jingnan Marquis, and the one who was kicked was the eldest son of the Yan Emperor. Moreover, it was in full view of everyone.

Tian Wujing was the First Prince's "uncle."

Although not by blood,

according to the rules of the time, the relatives of the legitimate mother would naturally have a knock-on effect on the sons of concubines.

Tian Wujing's older sister was the empress, so he was naturally the uncle of all the princes.

But even if one didn't look at the status of the uncle as an elder, or the status of the Jingnan Marquis,

purely looking at the strength of both sides,

it was almost impossible for the First Prince to resist Tian Wujing.

This was a Marquis who could defeat the Sword Saint!

The First Prince, who had been kicked to the ground, didn't bother to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and didn't bother to regulate the internal injuries caused by the surge of his Qi. He immediately knelt down again in front of Tian Wujing.

"Left Army, Middle Army, Right Army, three armies, three components, who taught you to fight like this!"

Ji Wujiang's body trembled upon hearing this, and he immediately pressed his forehead to the ground and shouted loudly:

"Wujiang was wrong!"

In the Left Army, if there had been even 10,000 Zhenbei troops, the tragedy of the great defeat that day, where tens of thousands of people drowned, wouldn't have happened.

Because if there are a few wolves in a group of sheep, they will naturally follow the order of the wolves. Not only in terms of discipline after crossing the river, but if there had been a Zhenbei army at that time, it could have completely helped the coalition of the military heads of the Left Army to resist the first wave of wild men's attacks.

At the very least,

the battle would have been a field battle between the two sides outside the camp. Regardless of winning or losing,

it wouldn't have been reduced to being compressed into the river like ducks!

"Bang!"

Tian Wujing kicked the First Prince, who was kneeling on the ground admitting his mistake, again.

The First Prince was kicked over again,

but soon, he endured the pain again and knelt down again in front of the Jingnan Marquis.

"Wujiang was wrong!"

"You are the commander in front, and His Majesty has never led troops in battle outside in his life. Some things, His Majesty doesn't understand, don't you understand?

Are you a general leading troops outside, or a clay statue standing in the court!"

The division of the three armies was decided by the Yan Emperor.

It was also the Yan Emperor's policy to gather the military heads in the Yan territory and hand them over to the First Prince to hone on the battlefield, which was correct, and it was also a way to centralize power.

The problem was that when the three armies set out, there were three armies, and when fighting, there were still three armies. The First Prince only rectified the Left Army, but didn't dismantle and integrate it.

One should know that when the Jingnan Marquis and the Zhenbei Marquis entered Nanmen Pass to open Jin, the Zhenbei Army and the Jingnan Army didn't have you attacking mine and I attacking yours. Instead, the Zhenbei Marquis completely handed over command and allowed the Jingnan Marquis to allocate and distribute them uniformly.

The two大佬 (big shots) and the two trump cards were like this before the war, what were you, that you dared to play like this?

The last one who played like this was Qian, where various troops came in droves, and as a result, 60,000 Zhenbei troops directly killed them to the capital.

Of course, when the sentence "His Majesty doesn't know, don't you know" was said,

the hearts of many people present jumped subconsciously.

Perhaps only the Jingnan Marquis dared to say such rebellious words.

The Prince of Cheng and the head of the Si Tu family, Si Tu Yu, this young boy, watched the Jingnan Marquis kick the First Prince one kick after another, and was so scared that he was about to cry. He almost knelt down again.

It wasn't that this child was too timid. No matter what, he was Si Tu Lei's son, and he wouldn't be so unbearable, but his feelings were different from others. Others saw the Jingnan Marquis kicking the First Prince and felt the horror of the Jingnan Marquis's status and the unusual relationship between the Jingnan Marquis and the Yan Emperor and the Zhenbei Marquis.

And Si Tu Yu, from his standpoint, felt Tian Wujing's contempt for imperial power and bloodline.

And bloodline was the fundamental reason why Si Tu Yu could stand in this place today. Otherwise, what military merits did you have, what contributions did you have, what talents did you have, that you could sit in this position?

The First Prince was kicked over again and again, and knelt back again and again, not daring to resist in the slightest, and not even daring to have the slightest anger on his face.

It was only natural for elders to teach their juniors.

Zheng Fan, who was watching this scene from behind, thought to himself that it seemed that the Jingnan Marquis had a tradition of disciplining princes…

The maternal families of the princes had been destroyed in two families, and although the Third Prince was abolished by himself, it was still completed under Tian Wujing's instructions.

Of the six adult princes of Yan, the Jingnan Marquis had already taken care of three, and this one today was the fourth.

"Knowing that the Chu navy appeared, you still forcibly crossed the river to attack Yupan City. You thought you were putting yourself in a desperate situation to survive, but you just didn't want to lose. Because you didn't want to lose, you buried a commander and killed 5,000 Zhenbei elites!

What are you, that just because you are named Ji, they have to die in vain for your stupidity?"

With the appearance of the Chu navy, the probability of Chu sending infantry was also very high.

"Wujiang was wrong!"

The First Prince was just constantly admitting his mistake loudly.

"Don't think that just because you didn't commit suicide and you are still alive, you feel that you have suffered a great grievance;

As a general, defeat means incompetence, no other reason!"

"Yes, Wujiang knows his mistake."

At this time, A Ming, who was standing behind Zheng Fan, leaned over and whispered: "Master, isn't this going too far?"

In front of everyone, directly treating the First Prince like this, tsk tsk.

Zheng Fan shook his head slightly,

and whispered in response:

"No, he's willing to, being kicked and beaten, he can also unload the burden."