Chapter 3297: All in vain?
At this moment, Bayin came over and said to Arslan, "Your Majesty."
Arslan then turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"
Bayin's face was gloomy, and even the scorching sun above, which was baking the wasteland to the point of burning oil, could not add any light to his face. He walked over and said in a deep voice: "The scouts reported that the army from the Handong Guard has left the city."
"oh?"
Arslan was originally still worried about the child, but when he heard this, he immediately forgot about the child.
His eyes were sharp and his expression suddenly became calm.
"How many?"
"We have discovered at least 70,000 troops so far."
"Seventy thousand?"
"Yes, and there are dispatches in the military camp in the city, and there must be more later."
Arslan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Judging from the two previous battles with Handongwei which were neither painful nor itchy, just like someone scratching an itch with the tip of a knife, he thought that Zhu Feng would be so perfunctory with him this time, but unexpectedly, he moved very quickly this time.
Bayin said, "Your Majesty, it seems that they are losing their patience. This is a perfect opportunity to kill them all without leaving a single one alive. Moreover, the Emperor of Yan is still here and seems to want to personally command this battle. If we can capture him—"
Just thinking about it made him feel so excited that he couldn't help it.
Everyone knew that the former King of Yan, now the Emperor of Yan, had been fighting with their Dian Kingdom for so many years, and the two sides had long had a deep hatred. Even the national teacher who was once a powerful figure in Dian Kingdom and was almost second to none, had been planning for him and designed to completely break up between Arslan and Monk. In the previous battle of White Tiger City, both sides suffered such a great loss that they had long wanted to skin Zhu Feng alive.
If this time I could——
A cold light as sharp as a knife blade also flashed in Arslan's eyes.
However, he was not carried away by this impulse and hatred. Instead, he calmed down a bit. After thinking for a while, he said, "But, isn't he being too compliant with our wishes this time?"
"Um?"
Bayin didn't understand and frowned, "What do you mean?"
Wulihan's voice echoed from the side: "That Zhu Feng has always been cunning. In the previous two small battles, he was timid and coy like a woman. But this time, when we mobilized a large army, he immediately mobilized his troops, and at such a fast speed. It's unlike his previous two behaviors. I feel something is wrong."
Bayin immediately said, "What's wrong with this? The battle has come this far. If he doesn't mobilize his troops to confront us, is he waiting for us to break into Handongwei?"
“…”
"If you ask me, don't think too much, just go straight to them!"
Arslan glanced at him, then turned to look at Wulihan: "What do you think?"
Wulihan saluted him and said, "Your Majesty, we must fight, but this is a major battle—we have mobilized all our troops, and we must not take it lightly."
Bayin said impatiently, "You're too cautious, like a woman. If you don't fight to your heart's content, what's the point of fighting?"
Both of them were deputy generals of Arslan, and neither of them could win the argument, so Wulihan didn't say much to him. He just said, "Your Majesty, we still have to make preparations for both situations."
Arslan thought for a while and said, "Go tell the people of the Eastern Chaga tribe to leave the camp."
Upon hearing this, both Ulihan and Bayin were stunned.
Arslan said, "Let them bypass from the left and right wings, find a place to hide first, and hold their troops still for the time being."
Wulihan asked, "What does the king mean?"
Arslan said, "Zhu Feng's actions are unusual, so we can't be too careless. We must at least keep a backup plan. If something unexpected happens on the battlefield, we'll have a chance to recover."
Wulihan immediately said, "That's right. I'll give the order right away."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Although it wasn't their troops that were being mobilized, Bayin was still a little impatient with Arslan's cautious approach and said, "Your Majesty, you are too cautious."
Arslan said calmly, "There's a saying in the Central Plains: 'Better safe than sorry.' Although we don't have a sea or river in our Neng Kingdom and don't know how to sail, it's the same as riding a horse: it's always better to be careful."
As he spoke, he looked at Bayin's somewhat impatient expression and tried his best to appease him: "Anyway, this time it all depends on you, Left Commander."
When Bayin heard this, he immediately became proud again.
He believed that he had been lying dormant for so many years because he had not been valued by Monk, which had led to the final division of the Kingdom of Dan. Now that he finally had a war to fight, he was naturally extremely excited and couldn't wait to go to the battlefield and kill to his heart's content, so as to re-establish his prestige in the army. So he said, "Don't worry, my king, just wait for the news of my victory."
After saying that, he swung his arms and walked forward excitedly.
After a while, news came that he had left the camp with his men.
Immediately, the troops of the Eastern Chagali tribe also left the military camp and went to the left and right sides. Arslan stood at the gate of the camp, watching the dust rising around him and covering most of the sun above his head, and his eyes gradually became gloomy.
Regardless of whether Bayin was impulsive or not, he was not wrong about one thing.
This battle is indeed related to their future. If they cannot take advantage of this opportunity to completely defeat Zhu Feng, he has a premonition that even the White Tiger City that he has painstakingly built for many years may be wasted.
All in vain?
After these four words popped up in his mind, he was immediately stunned. He didn't know why he suddenly thought of this word that only people in the Central Plains would say. You know, in their country of Neng, especially in this wasteland in the northwest, it never rains all year round, so there are almost no words about water in their language. He didn't know why he suddenly thought of this.
He shook his head and turned back to the barracks.
While Bayin and Ulihan were leading their troops, the other large group was also advancing at a fairly fast pace. The imperial guards had followed Zhu Feng on several tours to the northwest, and although they were not familiar with the terrain here, they were used to running in the wilderness. They just felt a little uneasy when they saw the imperial concubine wearing a veil and riding horses with everyone else under the scorching sun.
In this respect, this imperial concubine is not "expensive" at all.
Even the old uncle of the emperor was a little surprised. He rode up to her side and saw her constantly reaching into her veil to wipe her sweat without even complaining about the hardship. He said, "I didn't expect that the imperial concubine could endure so much hardship."
Nan Yan turned her head and glanced at him, then just smiled and said, “My concubine has never been one who is as delicate and noble as a man.”
As she spoke, her eyes looked around sharply through the gauze hanging around the veil.
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