"Commanding from the center?"

Upon hearing Huangfu Song's words, Liu Hong immediately became displeased. With everything arranged, what was there left to command?

This is the last time I've personally led an expedition, and now I'm being told to hide in the rear? How can this be allowed?

Then Liu Hong looked at Huangfu Song with a solemn expression and said in a deep voice:

"Yizhen, with the entire Han Dynasty and the whole army watching me personally lead this expedition, wouldn't it damage my prestige and be a blow to the morale of our troops if I were to cower in Xuantu?"

"Your Majesty, with you leading the army into battle, our morale is already at its peak. It is truly inappropriate for you to personally go to the battlefield..."

Huangfu Song firmly shook his head in refusal to accept the emperor's wish to accompany him on his military mission.

Liu Hong smiled and said, "I won't be fighting on the front lines. With so many loyal and brave soldiers protecting me, there won't be any accidents."

Furthermore, Yizhen ordered Gongwei to carry my imperial banner in a tactic to lure the enemy. What if the Goguryeo people discover that I am not in the army? Wouldn't that be dangerous?

"But Your Majesty..."

"No buts."

Before Huangfu Song could say anything more, Liu Hong interrupted him and continued, "I also know that whether this battle can end as soon as possible depends on whether we can annihilate the 50,000 main force of Goguryeo."

"The bait, if it's not enticing enough, how can you expect the fish to bite?" Yi Zhen said, "Isn't that right? I have the Imperial Guards, Dian Wei, Wen Tai, Ben Chu, and the Imperial Guard trainees protecting me. Nothing will happen."

"Very well, but Your Majesty must absolutely not appear on the front lines. If anything goes wrong, I will die a thousand deaths to atone for my sins."

Seeing that the emperor was determined to do so, and thinking of the fierce men in the Imperial Guard, Huangfu Song, although not much worried about the emperor's safety, still earnestly put forward his request.

"Alright, I will only observe the battle from the central army and will never appear on the front lines."

Seeing that Huangfu Song had agreed, Liu Hong readily nodded and agreed to Huangfu Song's request.

Soon, drums sounded loudly in the camp, and all the officers gathered their soldiers together and began to march out of the camp one by one, according to Huangfu Song's instructions.

Liu Hong also rode in the emperor's yellow canopy carriage in a high-profile manner, accompanied by his personal guards, Xi Zhicai and others, and followed Zhu Jun towards Buyeo.

As each army set off, medical teams, engineering teams, and logistics teams followed closely behind in two separate groups.

Gongsun Yu, the governor of Xuantu Commandery, also sent messengers to the governors of various commanderies in Youzhou to begin conscripting laborers, clerks, and wealthy merchants to prepare for road construction and the development of the Northeast.

On January 8th, three days after the army set out, Xu Rong led 10,000 vanguard troops into the territory of Goguryeo.

When they reached a fork in the road, Xu Rong took out a marching map and began to plan his route.

This map comes from the Detective Agency. It clearly marks all the routes from Xuantu to Sifang City, as well as the villages and towns and populations along the way.

The road here splits into three, and according to the map, all three roads lead to the City of Four Directions.

The path on the left is through mountains and forests, a route the Goguryeo people typically used only for hunting, gathering medicinal herbs, or mining.

The middle road could barely be considered an official road. It was relatively flat and had many villages and towns along the way. It was the fastest and shortest route to Sifang City.

The path on the right is a narrow, rather rugged one, and the longest.

After some deliberation, Xu Rong chose the main road in the middle.

After determining the marching route, Xu Rong sent someone to inform Ma Teng and the others in the rear, and then led his men onto the road leading to Sifang City.

As they walked, Xu Rong's lieutenant approached and asked with a puzzled look, "General, although this main road is the shortest, there are many villages and towns along the way. The march will definitely be leaked. What if Sifang City is prepared? Wouldn't we be too passive?"

Xu Rong chuckled lightly: "Heh~, that's exactly what we want. If they're not prepared, we'll be in an even more passive position."

"this....."

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant was even more bewildered.

Xu Rong explained with a smile: "Our army is here to destroy the country. If we want to completely destroy Goguryeo, the first priority is to eliminate all their resistance forces."

If any oversight occurs and their soldiers escape into the mountains, our army will face endless harassment in the future. This would be extremely detrimental to our forces in the long run.

The lieutenant suddenly realized: "General, do you mean we should gather all of Goguryeo's troops at Sifang City and then annihilate them in one battle?"

"That's right. According to intelligence, the one left behind in Sifang City is the brother of the Queen of Goguryeo. This man is greedy and cowardly. Once he learns of our army's movements, he will definitely spare no effort to send all his forces to Sifang City."

Xu Rong smiled and nodded, looking at the end of the road ahead, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

The Yuyang auxiliary battalion led by Xu Rong was composed of the able-bodied men who survived Han Hui and Woju. They were extremely familiar with the geography and terrain of the area and moved very quickly.

The army marched for three days and had advanced nearly two hundred miles. Xu Rong did not pay any attention to the villages and towns along the way or the scouts who came to gather information.

As the sun set, Xu Rong led his army to the vicinity of a village.

Arriving at a hillside, Xu Rong frowned as he looked at the thick smoke rising from the village ahead.

"Order the army to surround that village and set up camp there to rest tonight."

"promise!!"

With Xu Rong's order, a vanguard of 10,000 soldiers quickly moved forward and surrounded the small village. The villagers, looking panicked, were led by the soldiers to the center of the village.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!