In the Eastern Yue camp, when Su Yuntian heard that Liangmen Pass had been decisively defeated by Southern Shu, he angrily swept all the weapon racks on both sides of the tent to the ground. The clanging of metal against the ground frightened the soldiers so much that they dared not breathe.
He wore a narrow-sleeved, gold-embroidered dragon robe, which made him look very sharp.
"My great general of Dongyue and his 20,000 most elite soldiers were tricked by a woman. The war hadn't even really started yet, and my great general of Dongyue had already died and Liangmen Pass had been lost."
Su Yuntian roared at the generals present, "Tell me! Are we, the people of Dongyue, inferior to those of Nanshu?! Is this war even worth continuing?!"
How could you possibly know that for years I have endured humiliation and hardship in the court, seeking only to one day let the world know just how incompetent that纨绔子弟 (spoiled brat) Su Yi is! I will make Dongyue dominate the world under my rule, Su Yuntian!
In fact, the Dongyue generals present knew perfectly well that launching a war against Nanshu at this time was an incredibly foolish move.
Although Southern Shu had not experienced war for decades, this did not mean that its soldiers were all incompetent. Moreover, Southern Shu possessed abundant military resources, far surpassing Eastern Yue in both supplies and manpower.
Although this was ostensibly a joint attack on Southern Shu by the Eastern Yue and Northern Qi forces, Northern Qi only dispatched 50,000 Northern Qi soldiers to serve Eastern Yue, neglecting all other expenses and provisions. These 50,000 Northern Qi soldiers still had to be supported by Eastern Yue.
Originally, Dongyue had the grain from Liangcheng as a backup, but now that Liangcheng has fallen, the Dongyue court and people are destitute. Where would they find surplus grain to supply the army? Without food and supplies, how could they fight this war? The outcome was hard to predict.
The generals in the tent all understood this principle well, so how could Su Yuntian not know it? It's just that he was unwilling to admit that he was inferior to Su Yi.
"Speak up!" Su Yuntian roared at the generals in the tent like an angry lion, "I've been supporting a bunch of good-for-nothings, and they're completely useless when it matters!"
For a moment, the tent was completely silent. All the generals lowered their heads and exchanged glances, signaling each other to step forward and persuade Su Yuntian.
After a brief silence, a lieutenant, forcing a smile, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that advancing into Southern Shu at this time is not a wise strategy. Moreover, Liang City has fallen. Without the supplies from Liang City, unless our army can conquer Southern Shu within half a month, the consequences of a supply shortage would be unimaginable."
"Is it unthinkable?" Su Yuntian looked coldly at the trembling deputy general and asked, "Do you mean that Dongyue will starve to death on the way to attack Nanshu before we even fight it?"
"How dare I!" The deputy general, seeing Su Yuntian's gloomy face, instantly collapsed to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly and begging for mercy. "Your Majesty, spare my life! My idea is to conserve our strength for now, and after the military supply problem is solved, we can catch Southern Shu off guard!"
"Do you really think that Southern Shu will generously give me time to resolve the issue of military supplies, and then willingly hand over Southern Shu to me?" Su Yuntian looked around at the kneeling generals and questioned, "Do you also think so?" The generals prostrated themselves on the ground, repeatedly saying that they dared not, and remained silent as if trembling with fear.
"Very good!" Su Yuntian nodded, seemingly quite satisfied with the answer. "It seems that this is merely the opinion of such an incompetent person!"
"Guards!" Su Yuntian shouted, "Drag these useless bastards out and skin them alive! Proclaim to the soldiers that if anyone dares to be cowardly and utter words that sow discord, their fate will be the same as his!"
Upon hearing this, the lieutenant was struck dumb, collapsed to the ground, and could not even kneel properly, trembling as he shouted.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I beg you to spare my life!" Before he could finish speaking, he was dragged out of the tent by two soldiers.
Outside the tent, the deputy general's screams faded into the distance, the sound utterly miserable, until they disappeared completely. Yet, the fear lingered in the hearts of the generals inside Su Yuntian's tent.
Su Yuntian spent a long time looking at the sand table! At this time, it was only a day's journey to Liangcheng. He knew that the shortage of food was always a major hidden danger. The words of the deputy general just now also reminded him that if he could conquer Nanshu within half a month, then food and silver would not be a problem.
Su Yuntian suddenly turned around, narrowed his eyes, looked at the group of generals kneeling on the ground, and shouted, "Release my ten thousand elite troops! I will make Su Yi and the entire Southern Shu pay the price!"
"Your Majesty, we obey!"
The mountain air was shrouded in morning mist. Autumn was drawing to a close, and the woods were densely packed with people, their hair and eyelashes covered with dew, and their clothes frosted over.
Su Yi leaned against Mu Jin every now and then, and because of his frequent movements, there were always rustling sounds of withered leaves being crushed.
Mu Jin endured it all! "Can you fucking stop touching me all the time? And what, do you have lice? You're the only one moving around like that, it's driving me crazy!" Mu Jin scolded Su Yi.
Su Yi laughed and said, "It's just that the morning dew is too cold. I only feel it when I'm closer to A Jin."
Mu Jin was speechless: "If you feel cold, you should go back to the city. This is not a place for you in the first place."
“How can that be?” Su Yi retorted, “I can’t expect Ah Jin to conquer this empire all by myself.”
Mu Jin knew she couldn't win an argument with Su Yi, so she didn't bother arguing with him. "Then go over there for a moment. You've been sitting next to me the whole time, it's annoying!"
"Alright!" Su Yi said, moving half an inch to the side. This half inch was worse than not moving at all. Although Su Yi was no longer on her body, their clothes were still intertwined, so close that they could even smell each other's breath.
Mu Jin rolled her eyes at Su Yi, annoyed, and moved away. Su Yi, however, moved closer to her again. Just as Mu Jin was about to slap Su Yi, he grabbed her wrist.
His expression suddenly turned serious. He put his index finger to his lips, signaling Mu Jin to be quiet. Mu Jin was startled, then realized what he meant and leaned in to listen. The rolling sound of horses' hooves grew closer and closer.
Mu Jin's eyes lit up, and she whispered to Su Yi, "Finally, it's happening."
Su Yi smiled slightly at Mu Jin, a smile as cunning as a fox: "Just as we expected, Su Yuntian couldn't hold back and led his troops to Liangcheng overnight."
"Judging from the volume, there are at least ten thousand people," Mu Jin said, frowning.
After breaching Liangmen Pass yesterday, they surveyed the surrounding terrain and, knowing that Su Yuntian was not a patient man, led 5,000 elite troops to ambush the Dongyue army in the valley overnight.
Su Yi smiled and said, "Don't worry, we're on the mountain and they're in the valley. Although we outnumber them, once they enter the valley, we'll block both ends and trap them there. Then we can surround and attack them."
"I wonder if Su Yuntian will be among them this time," Mu Jin muttered to herself.
Su Yi scoffed, "I also hope he's among them, but this is only ten thousand people. They're probably just the vanguard, here to clear the roadblocks. Su Yuntian's main army is probably coming from not far away."
Mu Jin frowned and asked, "So, should we fight, or not?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
