Chapter 243 The Cavalry is Surrounded

Chen Zhennan grabbed Chen Zexu's reins and stared straight at him.

Chen Zexu frowned slightly and asked in a cold voice, "Chen Zhennan, what do you mean? We've been marching here all night, and we still haven't heard from the Prince. You want me to stay? That doesn't make sense."

Chen Zhennan, on the other hand, was like an unshakable mountain, with a calm yet sharp gaze.

“No, if our location is exposed, the entire plan will fail. Elena may have just been testing the waters last night. If her 250,000-strong army returns to camp, the Serga River will become the burial ground for you soldiers!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Zexu frowned, his emotions like ignited gunpowder, ready to explode at any moment.

“I, Chen Zexu, am a subordinate of the Prince of Zhenbei. You, Chen Zhennan, have no right to give orders to my actions!”

His words carried a hint of disdain, telling Chen Zhennan without reservation that his authority was utterly insignificant in his eyes.

After saying that, Chen Zexu turned around and was about to ride away, his movements revealing a resolute determination, as if no force could stop him from moving forward.

Seeing this, Yan Shiyu could no longer suppress his anger and stepped forward to grab the reins.

Chen Zexu ignored Yan Shiyu, and with a gentle nudge of his legs against the horse's belly, the warhorse began to stride forward.

However, to Chen Zexu's surprise, Yan Shiyu was incredibly strong. The warhorse couldn't break free and almost fell to the ground, coming to a complete stop.

Chen Zexu suddenly turned his head, frowning and glaring at Yan Shiyu.

"What do you mean? If you don't let go, don't blame me for being impolite."

As he spoke, Chen Zexu reached for the sword at his waist, clearly preparing to make a move.

Chen Zhennan frowned slightly, took a step back, and patted Yan Shiyu on the shoulder.

"Do not use lethal force."

Chen Zhennan's words immediately ignited Chen Zexu's anger. Chen Zhennan saying such things to his face was simply disrespectful to him, a battle-hardened general.

Looking at Yan Shiyu again, he curled up the corners of his mouth, his face full of disdain, which made Chen Zexu even angrier.

"Let go, or don't blame me for being merciless with my sword."

Chen Zexu's voice was extremely cold, but Yan Shiyu remained indifferent.

"Chen Zexu, you can make the first move. If you can kill me, the Commander-in-Chief will definitely not blame you. But today I'm going to teach you what it means to respect hierarchy. Disobeying orders is unacceptable!"

Chen Zexu took a deep breath. Just from Yan Shiyu's move just now, he could tell that Yan Shiyu was a master.

"If that's the case, then don't blame me for being impolite!"

With that, Chen Zexu flicked his wrist, and the longsword was instantly drawn from its sheath with a "hum".

In Chen Zexu's eyes, even if the King of Heaven himself came, he couldn't compare to Ai Zijun.

With his longsword drawn, Chen Zexu thrust it toward Yan Shiyu's chest without hesitation. The speed of his thrust surprised even Chen Zhennan, who hadn't expected that he really intended to kill Yan Shiyu.

Just as the sword tip was less than three centimeters from Yan Shiyu's chest, Chen Zexu's movements were suddenly and forcefully stopped.

Yan Shiyu stood still, gripping a long sword in his hand, the tip of which rested steadily on the guard of Chen Zexu's sword hilt.

Chen Zexu was startled by what he saw. He hadn't seen how Yan Shiyu had made his move, and yet it was so precise.

Yan Shiyu smiled slightly, "Chen Zexu, you lost. Perhaps you are good at leading troops into battle, but when it comes to one-on-one combat, I have never met an opponent."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhennan subconsciously nodded. What Yan Shiyu said was true; even if he tried his best, he was no match for Yan Shiyu.

Chen Zexu stood awkwardly on his horse, realizing he had intended to kill, while the other man was just laughing and joking. He hadn't expected to lose in just one move.

Yan Shiyu felt the force in Chen Zexu's hand gradually weaken, and sheathed his sword with a backhand motion.

"Chen Zexu, remember this: within the Great Yan territory, only the Grand Marshal is supreme. I have no objection to your loyalty to the Prince of Zhenbei, but you only have this one chance to show disrespect to the Grand Marshal."

Chen Zexu narrowed his eyes. Although he was very dissatisfied, he chose to swallow his anger in the face of absolute strength.

Sheathing his sword, Chen Zexu was just about to order the army to advance into the mountains when he suddenly noticed a large, dark army not far to the north. It was easy to tell at a glance that there were tens of thousands of soldiers.

Chen Zhennan also spotted the large army coming from the north. Looking up, he saw that the leader of the army was a group of cavalry.

"That's not right. I gave Ai Zijun three routes. The cavalry should have had a separate route. Why are they with the infantry?"

Chen Zhennan frowned slightly, sensing something was amiss. If it was Ai Zijun who had arrived, it meant that Ai Zijun had not followed his plan.

"Shiyu, have the brothers on guard and send someone to check what's going on."

Yan Shiyu grunted in agreement, turned around, and quickly ran into the woods. A short while later, two team members rode out on horseback and headed towards the troops to the north.

Chen Zexu also hurriedly ordered his men to get ready and be prepared for battle at any time.

After waiting for a while, the brothers sent out by the special forces returned and hurriedly came to Chen Zhennan's side.

"General, they are our own men, and the one leading the troops is the Prince of Zhenbei!"

The team members were very excited. Ai Zijun arrived safely and without any incident or loss along the way.

But Chen Zhennan felt somewhat depressed because he noticed that Ai Zijun's troops were getting closer and closer, but the number of cavalry was quite unusual.

"Did Ai Zijun bring ten thousand cavalry?"

The team member thought for a moment and slowly shook his head: "Ai Zijun didn't say, but judging from the scale, it's definitely not ten thousand."

Upon hearing his subordinates report that Ai Zijun had brought less than 10,000 cavalry, Chen Zhennan's brows furrowed, and a sense of unease suddenly welled up in his heart.

"Did Ai Zijun encounter Elena's ambush? And lose some of her cavalry?" Chen Zhennan muttered to himself, guessing.

After waiting for a while at the edge of the woods, Ai Zijun finally arrived with his cavalry and infantry.

Chen Zhennan hurriedly stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Ai Zijun, as if trying to find the answer on his face.

"Ai Zijun, what happened on the road? Why are there so few cavalry?" Chen Zhennan asked impatiently.

Ai Zijun dismounted and hurriedly explained, "It's alright. I sent Han Meng with 5,000 cavalry to pursue Elena's cavalry, to prevent them from going too deep into Kurokawa."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhennan's eyes widened in disbelief, and he asked, "Why not proceed according to plan?"

A hint of helplessness flashed in Ai Zijun's eyes as she explained again, "The battlefield is ever-changing. I was worried that my army would be surrounded by those cavalry, so I had no choice but to send half of my cavalry to follow."

With a sigh, Chen Zhennan and Chen Sheng pondered, "I'm afraid your five thousand cavalrymen are going to be wiped out. They've already been surrounded by the main force."