Li Lin and his group did not march quickly.
Because of their unfamiliarity with the roads, it took them more than thirty days to barely reach the Han River.
After arriving at the Han River, something even more unbelievable happened.
Rumors spread from the lower reaches of the Han River that rebel forces from Chu were about to sail upstream, causing most of the local fishermen to leave the area early on.
This left them no time to find a boat to go downstream.
They had to rest for more than half a month, felled trees and built enough boats for three thousand people, and went downstream, encountering several big storms along the way.
Hastily built ships are simply not strong enough to withstand attacks.
In particular, many of the ships carrying warhorses were capsized.
This resulted in a large number of warhorses being killed or wounded.
After crossing the Han River and arriving in Chen County, Li Lin discovered on the map that Dazexiang was not as he had imagined; it was not too far from the Chu region.
It is located directly above the Huai River.
Moreover, it is close to the states of Qi, Zhao, Wei, Yan, and Han. It can be said that the reason for choosing this place to launch an uprising is because of its convenient transportation, and it is also a place that the powers of the six states could reach quickly in the past.
"Han Xin, have you counted them correctly? How many warhorses do we have left?"
"There are less than 400 horses left. Currently, only 371 warhorses are available, and some are too badly injured."
"Alas, most of these thousand cavalrymen have been lost. When I arrived, I was still debating whether to adopt a flanking maneuver or a blitzkrieg. Now it seems that God has made the choice for me, and I don't need to consider either one."
Li Lin shook his head with a wry smile.
He had not imagined that the Han River would be so difficult to traverse during the Qin Dynasty.
No wonder that in ancient times, traveling abroad as a merchant, whether by water or sea, was fraught with peril.
It seems that ships of this era were not very good.
"Master, the Chu region is mostly hilly, which makes it difficult for us to utilize our cavalry advantage. Moreover, the people of Chu speak a language that is quite different from ours, and we don't know the way. What should we do next?"
"It's alright, let's meet with the Prefect of Chen County first and see if we can get his support."
While the two were talking.
The Prefect of Chen Commandery approached with his men with great respect.
"You must be the current Prime Minister, Lord Li Lin?"
"Who are you?"
Li Lin did not recognize the old man in front of him, but seeing the entourage behind him and the many acts of bringing food to reward the troops, he could roughly guess his identity.
This person must be the governor of Chen Commandery or a local official of a lower rank than the governor.
"It's normal that you don't recognize me. I only went to court to report on my duties at the beginning of this year. At that time, you weren't even in court yet."
"That's true. Are you the governor of Chen Commandery?"
"In response to Your Excellency, I am Yu Miao, the Prefect of Chen Commandery."
"Yu Miao?"
Li Lin tried hard to search his memory for information about this person, but it seemed that there was no famous person in the Qin Dynasty with the surname Yu.
"Haha, Your Excellency, please don't be surprised. Although I am the Prefect of Chen Commandery, I am from the same hometown as Your Excellency."
"oh?"
Li Lin's eyes widened; it was truly a case of two people from the same hometown meeting and their eyes welling up with tears.
"Are you also from Weili?"
"That's right. Your father served as the prefect of Nanjun a few years ago. Later, when I was transferred to a post outside the capital, it was thanks to your father's recommendation that I became the prefect of Chenjun."
"So that's how it is."
Li Lin nodded; he knew this.
His adoptive father held a high-ranking official position in his early years and was very capable; otherwise, the Li family would not have become so large.
As for the cheap guy...
His most glorious moment was before the defeat of the State of Chu. After the defeat, he could only serve as the deputy of Wang Ben and his son Wang Li in attacking the State of Qi.
Then he was sidelined until Li Lin came along, and he was able to rise through the ranks to become the Imperial Censor in a daze.
"By the way, how many tens of thousands of troops did the Prime Minister bring with him to quell the rebellion in Chu this time?"
"This... is a military secret, and I can't disclose it!"
Li Lin did not want to reveal the size of his army.
Moreover, what if this kind and approachable old man standing in front of him was from the same hometown as him? What if he had some connection with King Huai of Chu, Xiong Xin?
Wouldn't that just be digging your own grave?
"Your Excellency, you must be very careful! The rebel army in Chu is powerful, and it seems to have nearly 300,000 men under their control. They have conquered most of the area below the Huai River, and now my Chen County is also in grave danger!"
"No problem, with me here, what is there to fear? This time, I have brought my main force of 100,000 troops from Guanzhong and 200,000 troops from the Great Wall Army. There is also another army on its way to Longxi to provide reinforcements, totaling 400,000 men. No matter how powerful the rebels are, I can remain calm and composed."
"That's wonderful! My heart can finally be at ease!"
Yu Miao was overjoyed and immediately led her entourage to reward the three armies stationed outside the city with food.
"Your Excellency, why do I feel there aren't at least 100,000 people here?"
"Alas, I came here with three thousand men to support Chen County first. I was afraid that if the rebels captured Chen County by the Han River, the main army would be blocked and killed by the enemy on the banks of the Han River."
"I see!"
After listening to Li Lin's words, he finally felt relieved.
They returned to the city with peace of mind.
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