Chapter 90

(Regarding the additional chapter from last night and this one, they are to repay the debt)

Xiaoming and his companions had made their decision and were determined to advance further into the enemy's territory. Just as they were about to set out under the cover of night, they heard a faint sound of something breaking through the air.

Xiaoming looked up and saw a dark figure swiftly crossing the night sky from the northern mountain peak.

It was a small and graceful spirit bird. Its sharp eyes quickly spotted Xiaoming and his companions standing on the mountain ridge, and it let out a shrill cry, like nails scraping across glass.

Under the moonlight, this was a green crane spirit bird with black feathers, extending its scaly claws that shimmered with a metallic luster, and it landed directly on Xiaoming's shoulder.

This was a spirit crane used for emergency communication in the army. It was less than a foot in size and not particularly fierce, but its sense of smell was extremely acute, even surpassing the olfactory abilities of peak Mingqiao realm cultivators. Its flying speed was also very fast. The Wuwei Army used these spirit cranes primarily for emergency communication, which was highly efficient.

However, the number of spirit cranes was very limited. In Li Xianghai's camp, there were only two spirit cranes on standby, and they would not be used lightly unless it was an emergency.

Zhou Jun, Wu Meng, Zhao Shan, and Shen Kun exchanged glances. At this moment, the spirit crane had flown over from the direction of the Nantianmen Fort, with a thin metal tube bound to its scaly claws, containing a sealed letter. It must be that Li Xianghai was ordering them to return and make other arrangements.

"We set out now!" Xiaoming took the metal tube from the spirit crane's claws but did not open it to read the letter. He then mounted his green sly horse and led the way, galloping over the mountains and through the snow-covered grasslands to the south.

"Shouldn't we at least take a look at Uncle Li's letter?" Zhou Jun rode up beside Xiaoming, asking somewhat uneasily.

"At this moment, we need to move quickly. The enemy might be lurking nearby, and we need to hide our tracks. How can we light a torch to read the letter?" Xiaoming said, "We can read it once we enter the Yanchuan Prefecture."

Zhou Jun looked up at the bright moonlight, chuckled, and said no more. By the time they entered the Yanchuan Prefecture, even if the letter ordered them to return to the main camp, they could claim that they had already infiltrated the enemy territory and that returning would expose their movements.

However, only Xiaoming would dare to do such a thing, unafraid of reprimand.

After the Iron Wall Mountain had been struck five times by towering swords, the night sky returned to its original state of overcast clouds. An hour later, Xiaoming led his troops out of the Yulong Mountain through a narrow path and entered the sparse forest and grasslands north of the Yanchuan Prefecture. The night sky, as dark as ink, was now falling with heavy snow.

At this moment, Xiaoming opened the letter brought by the spirit crane. As expected, it was an order from Li Xianghai for them to return to the main camp and await further instructions, with a new battle plan.

Xiaoming leaned against the horse's back and hastily wrote a reply, explaining that they had already infiltrated the enemy territory and that returning now would easily expose their movements. They could only continue to advance deeper into the enemy's territory and carry out the original plan to reconnoiter the enemy's situation.

Xiaoming rolled the letter into a thin strip, inserted it into the metal tube, and tied it back to the spirit crane's claws, then released it to fly back to the Nantianmen Fort in the north.

The southern slope of the Yulong Mountain had a dry climate, unsuitable for farming. Due to the ongoing conflict, most of the population had been evacuated. After the autumn of the 71st year of the Yitian Emperor, the drought on both sides of the Yulong Mountain had eased, and the abandoned fields were now overgrown with dense weeds and shrubs, which helped Xiaoming and his companions hide their movements.

With two hours until dawn and the snow showing no signs of stopping, Xiaoming and his companions needed to reach a mountain range about a hundred miles to the south before daybreak, where the deep valleys and dense forests would provide good cover to avoid detection by the Hexiong Army scouts.

They planned to stay there for a day and then continue south under the cover of night, possibly bypassing the Hexiong Army's defensive line to the south.

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The Nantianmen Fort was about 200 miles from the southern edge of the Yulong Mountain. The rugged terrain made it difficult for large armies to pass, but the spirit crane could fly over the mountains and deliver messages in just half an hour. It brought Xiaoming's reply to the Nantianmen Fort.

Chen Lie had already arrived at the Nantianmen Fort and set up the main camp for the eastern wing of the army. He ordered all the commanders and officers from the eastern wing of the Yulong Mountain, including those from the Huanglongyuan Dao Academy at the level of chief and above, to report to him at the Nantianmen Fort.

At this moment, the main tent was already filled with over a dozen Mingqiao realm cultivators.

It was only then that Li Xianghai and the others learned of the full plan of the Grand Protector General's office. They were shocked to learn that the Wuwei Divine Marquis Dong Liang would personally lead the main force to the south to conquer the Lanchuan Prefecture, aiming to break through the Hexiong Army's northern defensive line in one fell swoop.

Li Hu walked in and handed Chen Lie the reply from Xiaoming.

Li Xianghai read the hastily written letter and was at a loss, seeing that Chen Lie was reading the urgent golden sword edict from the Iron Wall Mountain. He then handed the letter to Chen Zhang.

"What? Chen Hai has already infiltrated the enemy territory and can only continue forward?"

The tent was brightly lit, and the generals were gathered. Chen Zhang, after reading the letter from Li Xianghai, asked angrily.

Chen Zhang was not questioning the higher-ranking military officer Li Xianghai, but was upset that Chen Hai had acted on his own without following orders.

"The spirit crane did indeed fly back from within the Yanchuan Prefecture. If Chen Hai and his troops return, there is a risk of exposure," Li Xianghai explained. He couldn't say that he was unable to recall Chen Hai's troops.

Before tonight, he had sent two teams to reconnoiter the enemy situation in the Yanchuan Prefecture. One team was already on the way back, while Chen Hai's team had decided to continue with the original plan.

Chen Zhang clearly wouldn't accept Li Xianghai's defense of Chen Hai. The Hexiong Army's attention was focused on the Heyang Valley. Even if Chen Hai's team was exposed in the northern part of the Yanchuan Prefecture, the Hexiong Army, which was in chaos, wouldn't easily send troops to intercept a small reconnaissance team.

Chen Zhang couldn't fathom what Chen Hai was up to. Even if continuing to infiltrate the enemy territory was more dangerous, Chen Hai, as the "eldest son" of his adoptive father, should have returned to assist with military affairs. Chen Zhang was extremely displeased and worried that Chen Hai's actions might affect his adoptive father's authority over the entire army.

Hearing Chen Zhang's somewhat intense words, Chen Lie looked up.

Li Xianghai asked, "Should I personally go and bring them back?"

He wasn't blaming Chen Hai for disobeying orders but was concerned about the unpredictable situation to the south. If anything happened to Chen Hai, he would have a hard time explaining it to Chen Lie.

"The battle is about to begin. Who has time to deal with those unruly boys?" Chen Lie frowned. Although he was also worried about Chen Hai's continued infiltration being too risky, he wouldn't send a general to retrieve Chen Hai at this moment.

"This guy is really a headache!" Chen Qing said with disgust.

With the battle imminent, not only Zhao Ruhui, Zhang Huaiyu, and others had to be present to follow Chen Lie's orders, but also over a thousand Dao Academy disciples aged 15 and above were under the command of various instructors, integrated into the personal guards and escort camps of the generals.

Including the nearly 200 young disciples from the Medicine Garden, the Dao Academy had nearly 400 disciples, as well as Chen Qing and other chief and executive officers, directly integrated into Chen Lie's escort camp.

Chen Qing and Su Zilin were also present, awaiting orders.

Chen Qing acknowledged that Chen Hai had some talent in training troops and military affairs, but precisely because of this, he felt that Chen Hai should have returned immediately to assist his father with military affairs. Instead, he was so任性, leading over 60 people to continue infiltrating the enemy territory.

Chen Hai, who was mainly under Li Xianghai's command, had a vague idea of what Chen Hai was up to, but he couldn't say it directly.

At this moment, Su Yuan, who was sitting beside Chen Lie and organizing documents, looked up and said, "If the young marquis is alone in the enemy territory, returning now would indeed expose his movements. At this critical moment, it's not advisable to send someone to retrieve him, but we could send a spirit crane to maintain communication. If he encounters any danger or a favorable opportunity, he can send a message immediately."

There were not many spirit cranes used for communication in the army. Chen Lie could only mobilize about seven or eight in the Nantianmen Fort. Sending one would not be a big problem and would be better than sending a high-level expert like Li Xianghai.

Li Xianghai looked at Su Yuan, pondering his words. He thought Su Yuan had guessed that Chen Hai was infiltrating the enemy territory to capture a favorable opportunity, which was why he suggested this to Chen Lie.

Thinking about this, Li Xianghai paused for a moment and then suggested to Chen Lie, "After the Grand Protector General ordered our 30,000 elite troops to advance beyond the Yulong Mountain, we occupied the southern foothills to protect the main force's flank. However, the battlefield is unpredictable. We should draw troops from the generals' escort camps to form an elite cavalry unit that can move quickly and capture favorable opportunities..."

The eastern wing of the Yulong Mountain had about 30,000 to 40,000 troops, mainly infantry, with a small number of mobile cavalry scattered among the generals' escort camps and patrol camps. These elite troops were the core of the eastern wing and were the private armies of the generals, and no one was willing to give them up.

However, when Li Xianghai said this, the eyes of the gathered generals all lit up, and no one opposed it. Instead, they looked at Chen Lie with great anticipation.

No one was foolish. After the Grand Protector General announced the full plan, they knew that in the first half of the battle, they wouldn't even get a taste of the action.

They had already resigned themselves to this, but listening to Li Xianghai and Su Yuan, the clever ones quickly caught on.

Chen Hai, that unruly boy, not following orders to return to the main camp, was clearly trying to get ahead of the Hexiong Army's defensive line to capture a favorable opportunity.

If they now handed over their private armies to form an elite cavalry unit of 2,000 to 3,000 men, and Chen Hai reported any significant enemy movements, the 2,000 elite cavalry could travel 700 to 800 miles in a day and night to pursue and annihilate the enemy. This would be their only way to earn military merit in the first half of the battle.

Moreover, a 2,000 to 3,000-man elite cavalry unit could be considered a reconnaissance force. As long as Chen Lie and the generals, along with the 30,000 main infantry, remained in the southern foothills, they would be following orders...

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