Chapter 100

（Thank you, 20272027, and Brother Xingye for your generous support. I'm in a meeting in Nanjing and can only maintain regular updates. I can't add more updates to express my gratitude...）

Seeing that Zhou Jun, Shen Kun, and the others had no fatal injuries, and that Chen Hai, though covered in blood, was still in good spirits, Zhao Ruhui secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, at this moment, seeing them in such a state, he was speechless and scolded:

"You scoundrels, you actually dared to snatch chestnuts from the fire!"

He took out two bottles of healing elixirs from his chest and threw them over. Then, he had Ding Shuang and other surrendered military officers with less severe injuries accompany him to the city wall to arrange the defenses, to prevent any reinforcements from the Hechuan Ridge from suddenly attacking.

Seeing that the Wuwei Army had higher-ranking officers come out and accept their surrender, and even directly and without suspicion employ them, Ding Shuang and the others finally felt at ease. They began to gather the scattered civilian militia, restore order in the city, and supervise the surrendered soldiers and the southern fleeing clans.

The city was no longer in such chaos, and the weapons had been mostly confiscated. Soon, Zhang Huayu and Li Xianghai, accompanied by dozens of guards, arrived at the southern city tower to inspect the situation.

They had not encountered much resistance on their way and had almost taken Chishan City without a fight. However, seeing the bloodstains on the southern city tower, the scattered arrows and broken blades on the ground, and the piles of corpses, it was not hard to imagine how dangerous and fierce it had been for Chen Hai and his men to hold the southern city gate for a whole day with such a small force.

"Excellent! You have all earned the greatest merit in this battle!"

Although Zhang Huayu was very jealous of Chen Lie having such a nephew, he still had to praise him greatly on the surface. What else could he do?

This battle greatly enhanced Chen Lie's prestige among the eastern troops. Who would have thought that Chen Lie had such a talented, daring, and capable nephew who could devise and execute such a brilliant strategy?

And this nephew, who was considered a waste by the outside world, was only raised and employed by Chen Lie, who even overcame objections to include him in the Chen family genealogy and adopt him as a "direct son." Although this battle seemed unrelated to Chen Lie himself, it demonstrated his ability to recognize and use talent, which was the most important quality of a commander.

Zhang Huayu felt bitter inside. He then dispatched several teams of elite cavalry to break through the southern city gate and hunt down the fleeing soldiers from the two flanks, trying to maximize the battle's results.

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At this moment, as the vanguard commander of the southern expeditionary force, Duke Qin Mu, the Yulong Camp's Chief General, Dong Shou, personally led three thousand elite cavalry to rout a small group of fleeing soldiers and appeared at the northwest corner of Chishan County, at the Guniu Ridge.

Several spiritual birds had scouted in the afternoon and detected a large number of fleeing soldiers and southern fleeing clans lingering in Chishan County. Dong Shou led three thousand elite cavalry into Guniu Ridge, preparing to directly attack Chishan City.

Considering that the Hechuan Army might send a small, elite force from Hechuan Ridge to attack their vanguard troops after the pursuit, to boost the morale of the Hechuan Army after the collapse of the northern defense line, besides Dong Shou, a Dao Dan realm powerhouse and the Chief General of the Yulong Camp, leading three thousand elite cavalry, Dong Ning and over two hundred Inner Gate disciples of the Upper Seven Peaks and other officials also accompanied this elite cavalry unit, ensuring that this three-thousand-strong force was the sharpest and hardest spearhead of the Wuwei Army. Other troops were mainly responsible for hunting down the fleeing soldiers and occupying the cities and strongholds within a two to three hundred li range to the north.

At this moment, a small cavalry unit galloped out of Chishan City, waving the distinctive command flag of the Yulong Camp.

A dozen cavalrymen galloped wildly and shouted loudly to identify themselves: "Liyulong Camp's Eastern Wing Provisional Cavalry, Chief Scout Officer Li Yulin, reports that our unit has captured Chishan City and taken over 15,000 fleeing soldiers and southern fleeing clan members as prisoners. Please, Chief General Dong Shou, inspect!"

Dong Shou, riding a black fox beast, was taken aback when he saw these dozen cavalrymen galloping out of Chishan City to report the victory. He asked the surrounding generals, "When did that scoundrel Chen Lie send troops ahead of us?"

Dong Ning, riding a green-horned beast and following her father Dong Shou, thought about Chen Hai, who was the nephew of the Deputy Chief General of the Yulong Camp and Lord Zhaoyang Pavilion, Chen Lie. Chen Hai had suddenly come out of seclusion for training two months ago and was reportedly assigned to the Eastern Wing of the Yulong Camp. She didn't know if he was in Chishan City.

Because she was afraid others would mock her with old stories, Dong Ning never mentioned being "bullied" at Qiyun Ridge to her father and family. But at this moment, she was also curious whether Chen Hai had successfully opened the Linghai Secret Palace in the past two months and whether he would reveal the secret of the sword that shattered the Six Jia Secret Shield in the scripture hall when they met again.

At this moment, a dozen elite cavalrymen from the flanks intercepted the newcomers, verified their seals, and then brought one of them to their presence.

Dong Ning recognized the man as Li Yulin, also an Inner Gate disciple of the Upper Seven Peaks and currently serving in the Eastern Wing of the Yulong Camp.

"I recognize you, you are Li Xianghai's nephew," Dong Shou looked at Li Yulin with interest. Among the tens of thousands of elite troops in the Yulong Camp, only twenty-odd had reached the Mingqiao realm. Dong Shou was naturally familiar with Li Xianghai and recognized Li Yulin as an outstanding young member of the Li family. He leaned forward and asked, "I and the Grand Chief General's office ordered Chen Lie to protect the flank, not to pursue and rout the enemy. How did you end up here?"

Li Yulin replied, "Reporting to Lord Dong, the Eastern Wing troops strictly followed the Grand Chief General's orders to protect the flank. However, to prevent enemy ambushes, the Deputy Chief General and the other generals decided to form a cavalry unit to expand the reconnaissance range of the flank. Ultimately, we found and routed the main force of the enemy's fleeing soldiers in Chishan City."

Dong Shou did not believe Li Yulin's explanation. He thought to himself that if Chen Lie's main force of three thousand elite troops was still holding the northern side of Yanchuan Prefecture, how could the Eastern Wing's reconnaissance cavalry patrol five hundred li to the south?

And why were there so many fleeing soldiers and southern fleeing clans lingering in Chishan City, allowing Chen Lie's cavalry to successfully capture them?

Dong Shou and the other generals could not understand what had happened, but since they had won the battle, they could not blame Chen Lie for sending the reconnaissance cavalry too far ahead and capturing over ten thousand prisoners before them.

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Initially, the Wuwei Army only planned to advance to the Chishan City line or slightly further south into the mountains, without intending to risk a direct offensive against the Hechuan Ridge, which the Hechuan Army had operated for two to three hundred years, two to three hundred li away.

Since the Eastern Wing's reconnaissance cavalry had already occupied Chishan City, and the main infantry force would take another two to three days to advance here, Dong Shou decided to lead his troops into Chishan City. He was also very curious about how the Eastern Wing's reconnaissance cavalry managed to capture over 14,000 prisoners so precisely.

After all, after breaking through Yanchuan Prefecture, he personally led the most elite three thousand Dao Yamen troops and pursued the fleeing soldiers for a day and a night, killing and capturing only a little over ten thousand.

Dong Shou suspected that Li Yulin and the others might have exaggerated their achievements.

This was normal, and those in high positions should not be too demanding. After the battle, the camp would send people to verify and check the reported achievements, and would not accept everything reported.

At this moment, in Chishan City, the ordinary civilians who had fled had been sorted and temporarily detained in the western part of the city, awaiting further processing and return to their homes. The fleeing soldiers, the southern fleeing clan members, and their private guards were concentrated and detained in the northeast corner of the northern part of the city, directly under the supervision of the Eastern Wing's reconnaissance cavalry.

Dong Shou, accompanied by the other generals, climbed to the northern city tower and looked down at the dense crowd below. Although all the weapons had been confiscated, there was not a single old, weak, or female person among them, indicating that even if the reported achievements were somewhat exaggerated, they were still very significant.

This battle did not aim to completely crush and annihilate the Hechuan Army, as time was short, and the Dong family faced serious threats to the west and north, preventing them from using troops in the south for a long time.

Moreover, the Imperial Heavenly Pivot Academy would not stand idly by, and the Buzang Army to the south of the Hechuan Army would not remain passive while the Wuwei Army annexed the Yanchuan Prefecture. The fundamental goal of this battle was to weaken the Hechuan Army and strengthen the Wuwei Army as much as possible.

At this moment, whether it was effectively destroying the Hechuan Army's combat forces or capturing a large number of prisoners, the significance was extremely important, and even more so in the long term.

"Good! Good!" Seeing this, Dong Shou praised repeatedly and did not care that the Eastern Wing's reconnaissance cavalry had advanced five hundred li to the south, somewhat disobeying his and the Grand Chief General's orders. He invited Zhang Huayu, Li Xianghai, and Zhao Ruhui to come forward and asked, "Tell me, how did you achieve such a remarkable feat? Don't try to fool me by saying these people were so foolish that they forgot to continue fleeing south after reaching Chishan City and just waited for you to capture them!"

"I dare not deceive Lord Dong..."

Although Zhao Ruhui was not the main commander, he was the most senior, and Zhang Huayu did not want to praise Chen Lie's nephew's achievements reluctantly, so he let Zhao Ruhui come forward to recount everything that happened in Chishan City.

It sounded simple, but Chen Hai, initially a patrol officer under Li Xianghai, had been ordered to infiltrate the enemy territory to gather intelligence before the battle. After the battle broke out, the enemy sent a large number of reconnaissance cavalry to the southern slopes of Yulong Mountain, and Chen Hai, unable to return to the camp, chose to continue searching for opportunities deeper into the Chishan area. Later, Chen Hai led his troops to disguise themselves as Hechuan Army messengers and enter Chishan City, secretly controlling the families of the city's defending officers as hostages. Under the pretext of defending the city and awaiting reinforcements, he managed to keep a large number of fleeing soldiers and clan members in Chishan City until Zhang Huayu, Li Xianghai, and Zhao Ruhui arrived with reinforcements...

The whole process sounded rather plain, but Dong Shou and the other generals, all experienced and battle-hardened, could easily imagine the dangers involved. One mistake could have led to total failure.

After listening to Zhao Ruhui, the generals who entered Chishan City with Dong Shou still felt a chill. Even they, as Mingqiao realm experts, would not dare to use such a risky strategy with just a hundred elite troops, let alone Chen Hai, a low-ranking officer who had just entered the Biling realm.

Everyone knew that the one who dared to use such a strategy relied not on high cultivation but on the astonishing courage and the ability to control the situation, which was terrifying even to think about.

"When did Chen Lie have such a bold and daring nephew? How come I didn't know?" Dong Shou clapped and laughed, asking.

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