The group, each lost in their own thoughts, moved slowly along the road. Suddenly, dust billowed up from both the front and back of the procession. Yun Zhe squinted, looked around, and then realized that the first to arrive were actually the people who had been chasing after them. It was none other than Charles.
"My lord, my lord, the Belvedere army is assembling its cavalry. General, please return and discuss how to handle this." Charles slid off his horse, knelt on one knee, and said anxiously.
Yun Zhe remained unmoved on horseback. After a while, Charles, who had been looking down, couldn't help but feel a little angry. He looked up and saw Yun Zhe riding on horseback, gazing into the distance, as if he was thinking about something.
"Your Excellency, time is of the essence, you!"
"Shut up, can't you see Yun Zhe is thinking?" It was unusual for Akdina to speak up and stop Charles from speaking.
Charles was filled with mixed emotions, but he finally suppressed his anger and waited for Yun Zhe's reply. At this moment, he noticed that there was obvious dust rising from the earthen slope behind Yun Zhe, and he could already faintly hear the sound of horses' hooves.
"Could it be that Belvaldo's cavalry has already advanced here?!" Upon this thought, Charles immediately considered retreating. He didn't want to die here with this unfortunate Aruru. If he ran now, he might be able to escape when the enemy surrounded him.
He glanced at Yun Zhe, who remained silent and lost in thought, then, having made up his mind, he turned and mounted his horse without looking back, preparing to lead everyone away. But Yun Zhe spoke.
Five thousand cavalry
Charles was taken aback, instinctively turning his horse around. "Five thousand cavalry?" What did that mean? Did it mean five thousand cavalry could break the deadlock? Or did it mean the enemy had actually only mobilized five thousand cavalry? No, according to the scouts, the enemy had mobilized no fewer than ten thousand this time.
Yun Zhe didn't explain, but simply turned his horse around and stared at the hill. Soon, a flag appeared on the hill, its blue and green colors being his own flag.
Charles, who was planning to quietly escape with his soldiers, suddenly heard the cheers of Yun Zhe's soldiers. He paused for a moment, then stopped his retreat.
Four or five hundred people surged out of the hill in an instant, rushing towards Yun Zhe. The sheer number of them surprised Yun Zhe.
The two leading figures were none other than Blazer and Cyrus. Seeing Yun Zhe fully recovered, they breathed a sigh of relief. Smiling, they approached Yun Zhe, about to speak, when they saw Charles riding in circles on his horse. Understanding the unspoken message, they immediately fell silent.
"You've all come?" Yun Zhe asked curiously.
Cyrus and Blaze exchanged glances, and finally Cyrus spoke up, "Sir, we were supposed to come earlier, but just before we were about to set off, a large number of soldiers poured into our camp. They were all soldiers who got separated yesterday, more than a hundred of them. We were delayed for a while. These soldiers said that there were many Belvaldo scouts nearby. We discussed it and decided not to split up any more troops, so we abandoned the camp and came to find you, sir."
Yun Zhe nodded. "Your decision is correct. Only by joining the main force can we have any hope." Then Yun Zhe glanced at Akdina beside him and immediately understood how she had gotten the two of them to prepare the army.
“Let’s go, let’s meet up with General Tedler.” Yun Zhe looked at Charles and said in a low voice.
Charles was overjoyed and immediately ordered his men to scout out the situation. Then he rode up to Yun Zhe and asked curiously, "Sir, what did you mean by 'five thousand cavalry' just now?"
Yun Zhe glanced at Charles, and seeing that he truly didn't know, he couldn't help but sigh. "It was that group of Belvedere cavalry this morning. The movement of those five thousand cavalrymen wasn't a military mobilization, but a test."
"A test?" Charles scratched his helmet with his riding crop, even more puzzled.
“You know about the situation in Belvaldo, but Belvaldo doesn’t know much about you. Are these 6,000 men the vanguard, or all of them? The other side doesn’t have time for a more detailed investigation; they can only use a roughly equal force to conduct a test.”
Charles nodded, seemingly understanding, then noticed that Cyrus, Blazer, and Morrison had all gathered around him. The woman in black, however, walked alone at a distance on one side of the cavalry, showing no intention of joining the commotion.
"Sir, I still don't understand why we sent a similar force to test this. What are we testing?" Blaze asked curiously.
"Test your reaction to them. If you were an advance force with tens of thousands of men behind you, what would you do facing such a cavalry unit?"
The group looked at each other and all felt that they probably wouldn't achieve anything.
"Let me put it another way. For example, right now, you are General Tedler's vanguard, and you suddenly discover a force of three hundred cavalry moving right under your noses. How would you react?"
"Send someone to keep an eye on them?" Morrison asked tentatively.
"Bite it directly?" Blaze thought for a moment.
“We definitely have to fight. If we win, we’ll make a fortune; if we lose, we won’t be afraid.” Cyrus finished speaking and instantly understood Yun Zhe’s meaning. He glanced at Charles beside him, whose expression was solemn; clearly, he also realized where the problem lay.
“That’s right. If there are people behind you, you’ll naturally react, whether by sending troops to scout or launching a preemptive strike. But if you only have four or five hundred men and are facing three hundred, you probably won’t do anything. Half a day has passed without any reaction to their actions. If it’s not underestimation, it’s cowardice.”
The generals exchanged glances. A blush of shame had already crept onto Charles's face.
"What's worse is that you didn't react when the opponent moved, but you did react when they organized an attack. If Belvedere's attack was a confirmation of your reaction this morning, then your reaction gave the opponent a reason to confirm that they were starting an attack."
Charles froze on the spot. He recalled General Tedler's numerous reactions after learning of the scouts' information: increasing scout strength, preparing everyone for battle, and even sending someone to call back... call back Yun Zhe. Unless the other side was blind, this tense reaction was enough to say a lot.
"We need to speed things up and get to the camp before General Tedler makes a third mistake, or this will be our final resting place."
Suddenly, Yun Zhe seemed to have thought of something. He abandoned his previous leisurely demeanor, spurred his horse, and began to gallop towards the Tedler military camp.
Charles remained rooted to the spot until the group had gone nearly halfway before he reacted and spurred his horse to catch up.
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