At this point, Relic seemed to remember something, and turned to look at the marching route of Qiuliju and the others, his expression changing.

Finally, the relic's gaze fell on a circled spot on the map, which was the very place where Huangfu Song and the others were currently stationed.

Previously, the relics and the others had repeatedly fought over that place, but neither could prevail over the other, so they all chose to retreat and give up the place.

Meanwhile, Han Qing, who was frowning and deep in thought, also looked at the map, his gaze settling on the place that Huangfu Song had once finalized.

Just then, the scout hurried into the tent and reported to Sheri on the movements of Nanlou and Qiuliju.

"What did you say? They really set up camp there?"

Upon learning that Qiuliju and his men had set up camp, Sheli was immediately alarmed.

"Oh no!! We've fallen into a trap! They intend to hold out there and wage a protracted war against us!"

Han Qing immediately understood Huangfu Song's intention, and his face turned extremely ugly.

Han Qing's exclamation startled the relic awake.

No wonder Huangfu Song retreated so cleanly; no wonder Qiuliju and Nanlou advanced instead of retreating; no wonder they were able to transport grain and fodder.

The Han army has indeed withdrawn. Qiu Liju and Nanlou are not playing any trick of retreating to advance; they intend to completely occupy the area.

It turned out that they intended to use this to mislead us, and take the opportunity to set up camp at that strategic location, thereby cutting off our future southward route.

"Utterly despicable!! That cunning Huangfu Song!"

Relic couldn't help but curse aloud, realizing that despite all his calculations, he had still fallen into Huangfu Song's trap.

"Alas, I truly regret not heeding Mr. Li's advice back then!!"

Thinking back to the time when he didn't adopt Li Ru's plan, Sheli couldn't help but sigh, looking full of regret, while looking at Li Ru with anticipation.

Li Ru stood expressionless behind Han Qing, head bowed, seemingly oblivious to what the relic had just said, and remained silent.

"I don't know who Mr. Li is..."

"Lord Sheli, it is all my fault for being incompetent and falling into Huangfu Song's treacherous scheme. I beg you to punish me!"

Despite Li Ru's appearance, the Relic was not angry. He opened his mouth slightly, about to ask how to deal with the situation, when Han Qing, seeing this, realized something was wrong. Before the Relic could speak, he quickly stepped forward, apologized to the Relic, and appeared extremely apprehensive.

"Mr. Han, there's no need to blame yourself! This matter is not your fault; it's just that Huangfu Song was too cunning!"

Despite Han Qing's sudden interruption, Sheli showed no displeasure and instead offered Han Qing words of comfort.

Han Qing bowed deeply to the relic with a grateful expression, "Thank you for your mercy, Lord Relic!"

Han Qing immediately said, "Lord Sheli, I think it would be best to send troops as soon as possible. We should take advantage of their arrival and their unstable foothold to defeat them in one fell swoop!"

Upon hearing this, Relic glanced at Li Ru, but saw that Li Ru remained standing there without saying a word or objecting. In Relic's opinion, this matter should be feasible.

"Mr. Han is right, we absolutely cannot let them occupy that place!"

Sheli no longer hesitated. Once they occupied that place, if he wanted to go south again in the future, he would either have to take a detour of a thousand miles to attack Liaodong, or he would have to cross the territory of the Xianbei and Xiongnu to attack Bingzhou. Neither of these two routes was very realistic.

Soon, Shari summoned the leaders of his various divisions to his tent for a meeting.

"Everyone!!"

With a solemn expression, Sheli looked at everyone and said in a deep voice, "According to reports, Nanlou, Qiuliju and their ilk have joined forces with 5,000 troops, carrying a large amount of grain and supplies, and have begun to set up camp at that pass 50 miles southeast of us!"

"What?! How dare they set up camp right under our noses?!"

"That's a strategic location; we absolutely cannot let them take it!"

"Yes, once that's gone, they'll be able to attack or defend at will, while we'll have no choice but to retreat!"

"These traitors are too treacherous! They're planning to help the Han army and cut off our future survival!"

We must defeat them as soon as possible!

Upon hearing the information about the relic, the crowd immediately began to discuss it amongst themselves. These chieftains also understood the importance of that place. If it were cut off, how could they continue to raid southwards? How could they survive?

"Please, Lord Relic, give the order to immediately send troops to crush them. We must not let them succeed!"

"Yes! Please give the order, Lord Relic!"

As a result, all the leaders clamored to send troops, eager to attack Qiuliju and his people.

Relic stood up and said loudly, "Good! Everyone, hurry back and prepare. We will depart in half an hour. This time, we must completely annihilate these traitors!"

"We obey your command!!"

At Relic's command, the leaders of each tribe hurriedly left the main tent and began to summon their subordinates.

After all the chieftains had left, Li Ru stepped forward and said, "Lord Sheli, I believe that to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, it would be best to leave some troops behind in the camp! This is to prevent them from launching a surprise attack on our camp!"

"Mr. Li is right... It's still necessary to leave a way out."

After thinking for a moment, Shari sent someone to fetch his son, Shefu.

Relic looked at his son and instructed him, "You take five hundred men and be responsible for guarding this place. Be careful not to let anyone take advantage of the situation!"

Shefu nodded emphatically, "Father, please rest assured, I will guard this place strictly and never give the enemy any opportunity to take advantage!"

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!