Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 40 Yan Yong
Once the number of soldiers in an army reaches more than a thousand, the marching speed will slow down significantly. The marching speed of cavalry is about 100 to 150 miles a day. When infantry and light soldiers march quickly, the speed can reach 50 to 70 miles. Under normal circumstances, it is only about 30 miles.

In addition, the army's baggage and equipment must also be considered. If it is a heavy infantry march, it is considered good if it can cover 20 miles a day.

Wucheng is about 140 miles away from Haiyan. At the marching speed of Yan Yi's troops, it will take four or five days to walk there.

However, the purpose of his trip was not Haiyan, but to launch a surprise attack on Qian Gonglei. He would reach the target area in a day or two.

After the army left the city, Yan Yi, with the assistance of Fan Yan and others, quickly divided his troops into several teams and marched according to the training formation.

The most elite cavalry were quickly dispatched and spread out within a radius of twenty miles around the army, with the task of investigating the enemy situation and terrain.

Since the army's marching route is close to Qian Tong's sphere of influence, they need to be on guard against sneak attacks from Qian Tong's army at all times.

Topographic reconnaissance includes continuous and uninterrupted exploration of dense forests, hills, bridges, supply points, water sources, etc. along the way.

The second group of cavalry was divided into two teams. Eighty personal guards continued to protect Yan Yi closely, while the remaining one hundred cavalrymen cleared the way for the subsequent troops in the area three or four miles ahead.

The subsequent troops were divided into three parts: the vanguard infantry, the rearguard infantry, and the baggage train protected in the middle.

Marching is a very boring thing, and the weight of leather armor and personal weapons can easily increase fatigue. After the army had marched for half a day, many soldiers began to show signs of fatigue on their faces.

Yan Yi rode on his horse with an upright posture, trying hard to maintain the dignity of a commander.

Because the Ming Guang armor was quite heavy, he had already changed into a set of light rhinoceros leather armor.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the rear infantry ranks, and an angry voice could be heard shouting faintly: "I know how to run, why are you hitting me? Do you know who I am?"

Yan Yi gently pulled the reins, turned his horse's head, and rode towards the noisy place. He saw a handsome young man about twenty years old with delicate skin and tender flesh pushing a soldier beside him in frustration.

The young man was wearing the leather armor of an ordinary soldier. His face was sickly pale and he looked like he had indulged in excessive sexual activities. He was Yan Yong, Yan Yu's biological son.

Yan Yu had three sons, all of whom served in the army. Yan Yong was promoted to Sima of a separate department, commanding 600 soldiers under Yan Yu. He was a person who could decide the life and death of many people just by stomping his feet in Wucheng.

But now, he was like a stray dog ​​in distress, being closely watched and driven away by more than a dozen fierce soldiers with cold eyes.

Yan Yi has issued an order that if this person dares to escape, he will be killed on the spot!

The cause of the incident was very simple. Xu Ying had already investigated the incident of Yan Yi falling off the horse and found out that it was Yan Yong who tampered with the horse with the intention of murdering Yan Yi.

This incident involved a wide range of people. More than ten close followers of Yan Yong had all been imprisoned and investigated, and only one person named Wang Yu escaped.

Wang Yu claimed to be Wang Lang's confidant, and it was this person who instigated Yan Yong to take the risk and attempt to murder Yan Yi. The horse that day was also found by Wang Yu for Yan Yong.

Yan Yi certainly knew that things would never be that simple. Wang Lang had been the prefect of Kuaiji for less than a year, and all his energy was focused on internal affairs such as encouraging agriculture, education, and maintaining public security. He had no time for external affairs. Moreover, Wang Lang was well versed in Confucian classics and was a famous scholar with many works. He attached great importance to his reputation. Unless he was mentally ill, he would not send someone to assassinate him.

Yan Baihu and Xu Ying also held the same view. The murderer must be someone else.

But Yan Yong was a fool who was manipulated by others. He didn't even know Wang Yu's true identity, but was bewitched by him and couldn't wait to do such a shameful thing as murdering his relatives.

After the truth was revealed, Yan Yu was speechless. He was no longer worried about Yan Yong's life, but about how Yan Baihu would treat him. In a panic, he tied up Yan Yong and sent him to Yan Baihu at night, where he kowtowed and apologized.

But the feeling of sending one's own son out to be killed is really unpleasant. It is no wonder that Yan Yu's face was so ugly when facing Yan Yi.

Yan Baihu took his family's reputation into consideration and Yan Yu's pleading into his heart, so he did not make the matter public. Instead, he took advantage of Yan Yi's expedition and ordered his men to escort Yan Yong to Yan Yi, intending to give Yan Yong a decent death in the name of death in battle.

At the same time, he asked Pei Ji to select twenty death warriors, led by his deputy Yin Li, and transferred them to Yan Yi's command to protect Yan Yi at all times.

"Brother Yi, these people are too brutal. I just walked a little slower and they whipped me."

Seeing Yan Yi coming, Yan Yong was like a mouse seeing a cat, with a flattering look on his face and crying and complaining.

At this time, Yan Yong still held on to a glimmer of hope for survival, thinking that Yan Baihu would only demote him to a military slave out of consideration for his father's feelings.

Yan Yi said coldly, "If you dare to cause trouble again and disrupt the march, I will immediately take your head as a sacrifice!"

After saying this, he ignored Yan Yong, whose face turned pale in an instant, and rode away.

Just as the Yan army was marching towards Haiyan, Qian Tong and Wan Bing were sitting opposite each other in the flower hall of the mansion.

Qian Tong personally roasted a small piece of tea cake over the fire, then crushed it and placed it in a porcelain cup. He added boiling water and let it steep for a while before pouring the tea into the teacup. He added a little scallion and ginger, then smiled at Wan Bing and said, "Wenyuan, this is the Yangcun tea I specially ordered to be purchased from Shifang Mountain. Come and try it."

Shifang Mountain is located in Guanghan County, Yizhou. The Yangcun tea produced in the south of the mountain is one of the eight famous teas of Bashu, and is quite popular among scholars. Qian Tong also often drinks tea to show off his elegance. However, he likes to add green onions and ginger when drinking tea. This was originally a way of drinking tea to sober up, but it has become his daily habit.

In addition to Yizhou, Jingchu is also an important tea-producing area, and more and more scholars in the south are drinking tea.

Wan Bing didn't like adding scallions and ginger to his tea, but after taking the teacup from Qian Tong and carefully savoring it, he feigned enjoyment and praised, "It's a rich, mellow, and sweet tea. It's truly a good tea! I wonder if the Marshal would be so kind as to give some to one of my subordinates?"

Qian Tong smiled when he heard this. What he liked most was that his hobbies could be recognized by others and then they could be regarded as close friends. If the other party did not like it, he would immediately feel disgusted.

Wan Bing was appreciated by Qian Tong half because he catered to his tastes.

After the two men drank tea for a while, Qian Tong began to talk business. "Wenyuan, the scouts just reported that Yan Yi's troops seem to have deviated from the marching route of the other troops, and they are gradually losing their head and tail. In your opinion, should our army take advantage of this opportunity to launch a surprise attack? Yan Yi is Yan Baihu's only son. If we can capture him and use him to threaten Yan Baihu, we will definitely gain a lot of money. If we kill him, it will inevitably cause unrest within the Yan family. What do you think, Wenyuan?"

Wan Bing was slightly stunned, gently put down the teacup in his hand, twirled his beard with his fingers, and fell into thought.

(End of this chapter)