Chapter 228 Returning to the City
After resting for most of the day, Lin Changning, along with Lu Shan and Wan Jin, quickly reorganized the army. After half a day of rest and applying medicinal herbs, most of the soldiers were fine.
After tallying the battle achievements, Lin Changning sat on Mo Yun's back and walked at the front, followed by a long line of people.
Lin Changning was still covered in mud, and the long line looked like an army of mud figures, which looked strange from a distance.
Old Han, leading five hundred cavalry, watched the group from afar. The banners indicated they were soldiers from Taiyuan, but upon closer inspection, they didn't quite look like them.
Last night, Commander Qi and his wife Commander Qin waited until midnight but Brother Lin did not return with his men, so they guessed that Brother Lin might have been ambushed on the way.
Perhaps he was stuck on the road with the Tartars and couldn't get away, so he directly ordered Old Han to send 500 cavalry to provide support in the middle of the night.
Old Han was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, half-asleep and forced into bed. He was exposed to the wind for half the night before slowly waking up.
After traveling for most of the day without any unusual events along the way, Old Han, fearing for Lin Changning's safety, rode his horse and led five hundred cavalrymen frantically toward Yongzhou City.
Finally, in the afternoon, I saw their flags from Taiyuan, but this group of people looked strange no matter how I looked at them.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a group of mud figures.
Old Han was completely baffled. He didn't know whether to go up and greet them or to observe from a distance without being able to confirm their identities.
For a moment, I couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
"Send two people to investigate that person's background, just in case it's Dazi disguised as one of our people."
The four scouts obeyed the order and quickly approached Changning's direction. Lin Changning watched the four scouts slowly approaching with some vigilance.
Upon seeing the armor worn by the four scouts, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had just thought that the Tartars had sent more men, and now there was no more Wild Bee Forest for her to use as a trap.
Yesterday's victory was largely due to favorable timing and location.
When the four scouts approached, they were slightly surprised to see Lin Changning covered in dust. After their initial surprise, they stepped forward and bowed to Lin Changning.
"Greetings, Commander of a Thousand Households."
Lin Changning was somewhat surprised and puzzled as to why he would encounter a scout from Taiyuan here. He frowned and asked.
"What are you doing here? Has something changed in Datong City?"
The scout leading the group respectfully replied, "Reporting to Commander Han, there has been no change in Datong City. Last night, the commander ordered Commander Han to bring five hundred cavalry to provide support."
Lin Changning nodded, his expression becoming somewhat serious: "Where is Lao Han?"
The scouts exchanged glances and bowed to Lin Changning, saying, "The commander is lying in ambush not far ahead."
Lin Changning: ...
"Go and let Lao Han and the others come out."
After receiving the order, the scout quickly returned and summoned Lao Han and his men who were lying in ambush.
Old Han scratched his head and came out, looking completely bewildered, and asked the scout, "You mean those mud figures are Brother Lin and his group???"
The scout nodded: "Yes, Commander Lin, that group in front, um, the mud figures, that's Commander Lin and his men, and the last ones following behind are the people who were brought back."
Old Han stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Let's go, let's go greet them!"
After saying that, he led his team and ran towards Lin Changning's direction.
Five hundred men galloped over on horseback. Lin Changning smiled and waved to Old Han, who was leading the group.
Old Han reined in his horse and stopped beside Lin Changning. After looking him up and down, he suddenly burst into laughter.
"Brother Lin, did you fall into a mud pit? Hahaha, you're covered in mud!!"
Lin Changning shrugged and smiled at Lao Han: "Last night, the Tartars launched a surprise attack, killing all 1,200 of them."
Old Han stared wide-eyed and looked behind Lin Changning. The group that left had hardly lost any members, except for being a bit dirty.
If 1,200 were wiped out, at least half of them should have been killed; how could so many still be left?
Old Han patted Lin Changning on the shoulder: "Brother, I know you're capable, but annihilating 1,200 Tartars, tsk."
Lin Changning smiled but said nothing. Wan Jin, with swollen eyelids, walked forward happily, threw the package in his hand to Lao Han, and said with one eye so wide that it could not be seen through the slit, "The battle merit statistics are all here, Commander Han. We really annihilated 1,200 Tartars."
Lu Shan, with a bump on his eyebrow, replied, "The Tartars' ears, and the head of their leader, are on the back. Commander Han can go and take a look."
Looking at the group of people, who were in a sorry state but had high morale, Lao Han silently thought to himself that they had probably really wiped out the Tartars.
Old Han stared at Wan Jin and Lu Shan's faces and asked, "What's with the bumps on your bodies and faces?"
Wan Jin and Lu Shan exchanged a glance, snorted, and turned their heads away.
Although they won big last night, they all got bitten on the face.
It's a bit embarrassing.
Lin Changning chuckled and said, "There's a wild bee forest behind us. Yesterday, we smeared mud on our bodies beforehand, then lured the people into the wild bee forest, knocked down the beehives, and the Tartars panicked and were then surrounded. The bees in this forest are very poisonous, and many Tartars were stung to death."
Old Han looked at Lin Changning with a strange expression, wondering how Lin's brain worked. He found it odd that a normal person would think of using bees to set up an ambush.
Those bees aren't human, and they don't obey commands. They have people fill the mud pit with mud beforehand, then lure people into the forest and knock down the beehive.
Is this something a normal person could come up with?
Seeing Lao Han's increasingly strange gaze, Lin Changning touched his face and couldn't help but ask, "Is there something on my face, Brother Han? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Old Han stared at Lin Changning's face and clicked his tongue a few times: "Brother Lin, you are truly cunning. Who in their right mind would think of using bees as a trap?"
Lin Changning: ...
Is "cunning and scheming" a compliment? No, it's not a compliment at all!
Lin Changning felt a bit of a sore throat: "It's because we've been pushed to a certain point. It's not easy to defend the valley, so the Tartars might not be able to get in. But in the forest, we saw a lot of wasps and bee nests when we came here. They might not know about them, so we thought of luring people in."
Old Han patted his chest: "Thank goodness you're all alright. Last night, when I didn't see you return, I guessed that the Tartars had set up an ambush on the road. They woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to lead troops to support you."
Lin Changning sighed: "The Tartars caught up very quickly. If it weren't for the help from Fenglin yesterday, you would probably only be collecting our corpses today."
Old Han looked at Lin Changning with some guilt: "There has been some trouble in the city these past two days, otherwise the commander would have sent me to provide reinforcements the day before yesterday!"
Lin Changning asked curiously, "Is there trouble in the city? What happened?"
Old Han's face instantly darkened: "What else could it be? It's that guy up there. A new person has arrived in Datong, sent by the one from above."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
