Within Yunjing County.

Tuo Tiewuhua, familiar with the terrain, led the vanguard at the front, while Xiao Luofeng was in the center.

At Zhao Cheng's request, the Southern Expeditionary Army marched at a very fast pace.

The closer you get to Yunmeng City, the more civilians flee north to escape the war. In the bitter cold, you can even see frozen corpses on the road.

Riding on his warhorse, Xiao Luofeng frowned and sighed, "Compared to the prosperity of Changsui City, this place is like another world."

Gan Lang, standing beside him, said, "Once a war breaks out, it is the common people who suffer. Yun Jing County suffered a great disaster last year, and it has not yet recovered before it becomes a battlefield again. The people dare not stay here anymore, and the population of Yun Jing County will only decrease in the future."

When will the world be unified?

Xiao Luofeng looked at the pedestrians heading north and said, "Unless the world is unified, there will always be war in the East."

Gan Lang said earnestly, "I believe in General Xiao, and I believe even more in the Great General. Sooner or later, you will recover Xijing, Nanzhou, and Houcang, and unify the world!"

Xiao Luofeng asked, "You trust me that much?"

"This is also my ideal, and I would be willing to die for it!"

"The war hasn't even started yet, and you're already talking about death and other bad luck."

"I'm just saying, I'm not afraid of that."

As the two were talking, a lone rider came galloping up from ahead and said, "Commander, we have discovered remnants of the Zhennan Border Army ahead. The Deputy Commander sent me to ask you whether we should incorporate them into our forces?"

"oh?"

Xiao Luofeng thought for a moment and said, "Take me there to take a look."

A while later, Xiao Luofeng arrived at the front line and looked at a group of disheveled soldiers.

How many of them are there?

"More than six thousand people."

Tuo Tiewu Hua replied, "According to them, there are tens of thousands more behind them."

Xiao Luofeng rode his horse around them for a while, then returned and asked, "Is it reliable?"

Tuo Tiewuhua nodded and said, "I recognize a few of the officers inside. They are veterans of the Zhennan Border Army, but these soldiers were all recruited by the General for Feng Jing. The veteran soldiers all ran away with Feng Jing, and these new soldiers were scattered and don't know where to go."

"I see. Are they willing to be incorporated into the Southern Expeditionary Army?"

“I spoke with their officers and they agreed.”

"Okay, then you can make the arrangements."

Tuo Tiewuhua moved closer to Xiao Luofeng and lowered his voice, saying, "Commander, I have an idea."

"you say."

"According to them, the Zhennan Border Army suffered a terrible defeat, with countless people killed in battle. Feng Jing only took tens of thousands of men with him. They said there were still tens of thousands more behind, but I estimate that the number is far more than that."

Xiao Luofeng understood what Tuo Tiewuhua meant and said, "You want to find them all and recruit them?"

"right!"

"But this would delay the marching speed ordered by the General."

"Commander, keep the pace and continue marching. I'll take a hundred men to find them. I won't go to places that are too far away. I'll meet up with you outside Yunmeng City as soon as possible."

Xiao Luofeng looked around and said, "With so few people, it will be troublesome if you run into the Southern Zhou army. Let Gan Lang follow you."

Tuo Tiewuhua laughed, patted his chest, and said, "Commander, have you forgotten? I am also a top expert. As long as I am not surrounded by the Southern Zhou army, even if I encounter them, they will not be able to catch me."

Xiao Luofeng thought about it and agreed. If they hadn't fought in the water, Gan Lang wouldn't have been a match for Tuo Tie Wu Hua.

After Yuan Zhang and his son were killed, Tuo Tiewuhua managed to escape from Jing Palace, making it indeed not easy to capture him.

Xiao Luofeng immediately made a decision, saying, "Don't waste too much time. Even with only 150,000 men, we can still fight. Remember, our goal is to drive Yang Qingzhi back to Nan Zhou, not to find the Zhennan Border Army."

"Understood! I'll search along the way, and find as much as I can!"

Several days later, Xiao Luofeng stopped ten miles outside Yunmeng City. After seeing the Yang family army's banner on the city wall, he found a place with a water source to set up camp.

Xiao Luofeng did not attack the city, and the Yang family army did not react either.

Two days later, the black flower was removed and returned.

And it brought Xiao Luofeng a huge surprise.

Along with the Wuhua soldiers who were removed from their posts, more than 50,000 remnants of the Zhennan Border Army also returned!

The number of troops in the Southern Expeditionary Army has reached 200,000. However, the situation is different from when Feng Jing faced the Yang Family Army. Back then, Feng Jing was defending the city, while Xiao Luofeng is now attacking it.

But when there were only 150,000 people, Xiao Luofeng was confident. Now that there are 200,000, Xiao Luofeng is even more confident.

"General Tuo Tie, you have already made a great contribution before the war even begins!"

Xiao Luofeng praised the black flower that had been removed from its sheath.

Tuo Tiewuhua said, "This is all thanks to the help of the refugees. They told me where our brothers were after they saw them."

Xiao Luofeng said, "Now that our forces are complete, we must act quickly and win back the face that Feng Jing has lost! Tomorrow, we will attack the city!"

Tuo Tiewu asked, "No movement from the other side these past two days?"

Xiao Luofeng said, "There isn't even anyone coming to provoke us! Yang Qingzhi has only recently occupied Yunmeng City, so he should be consolidating his defenses."

Tuo Tiewu walked to the sand table and said, "Commander, come here, I'll explain the terrain around Yunmeng City to you."

The next morning.

As Xiao Luofeng was preparing to attack the city, the gates of Yunmeng City opened wide, and the Yang family army came out in an orderly manner and lined up below the city walls. At a glance, there were tens of thousands of them.

Li Yunqing, wielding a long spear, challenged the troops in front of the army.

"Yuan Zhang is dead, Zhao Huan is old, and your Great Jing has no more commanders! Who's over there? Come and die!"

"Oh, no, there's no Great Jing anymore. You're just a small country called Dongjing, which lost half its territory!!"

"Looks like we at Southern Weekly won't even need to lift a finger; you'll all be finished! Hahahaha!!!"

Among the Southern Expeditionary Army, Xiao Luofeng looked puzzled and asked, "What's going on? It's clearly more advantageous to defend the city, so why are they coming out to challenge us?"

"Something's definitely up to no good when things seem unusual." Gan Lang gazed at the Yang family army formation and asked, "What tricks are they playing?"

Fan Dao casually remarked, "Maybe it's because they won the battle and no longer take us seriously."

Tuo Tiewu said, "The view here is wide open, making it impossible to set up an ambush. They really can't pull off any tricks. Perhaps they just want to test our fighting strength. If they defeat us outside the city, our morale will surely drop, making the siege even more difficult. Yang Qingzhi is a man who likes to take risks, and this is indeed his style of fighting. He uses the most risky methods to obtain the greatest benefits."

Xiao Luofeng said, "The Yang family army that entered Yun Jing has 100,000 men, but the other side only sent out 60,000 to 70,000 at most. Yang Qingzhi is too confident."

Fan Dao volunteered, "Commander, send me as the vanguard, I'll go and meet him!"

“If he wants to play, I’ll play with him. But…”

A confident smile appeared on Xiao Luofeng's face as he said, "If Yang Qingzhi dares to underestimate me, I'll give him a big surprise."