Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 45: The Army Departs
"Idiot! Does falling off a horse necessarily kill someone?"

Yan Yi's simple words stunned Yan Yong, who kept begging for mercy.

Then, like a trapped animal in hysterics, he shook his head frantically and cursed, "Wang Yu, that bastard! It's all because of this bastard! It's this bastard who ruined me!"

Not to mention that he had already confessed everything he knew, even if he hadn't confessed, others could easily guess what he was thinking.

Once Yan Yi is killed and Yan Baihu is left without an heir, the heir of the Yan family can naturally only be chosen from Yan Yu's lineage. And Yan Yong, with Yan Yu's favor, has the greatest chance of taking the throne.

Yan Yi was not interested in the thoughts of a dying man. What he was concerned about was the assassination method used by the murderer behind the scenes.

If one deliberately intends to kill a person, it is undoubtedly not a safe idea to tamper with the horse.

Given the original owner's level of trust in Yan Yong at the time, the other party could have used a safer method to assassinate him.

In other words, the real murderer did not care about whether he could kill Yan Yi. Their real purpose was probably to cause turmoil within the Yan family.

Yan Baihu and Yan Yu are the absolute core figures of the Yan family. Regardless of whether Yan Yong can kill Yan Yi or not, it will cause chaos within the Yan family.

Based on this motive, the scope of speculation about the murderer is much smaller.

The only four people Yan Yi could think of at the moment were Qian Tong, Zou Ta, Wu Jing, and Yuan Shu.

Wang Yu has already escaped, and it is currently impossible to confirm who is behind this plot.

Since that’s the case, let’s try to cut them off one by one!
Yuan Shu's power was too great for him to defeat at the moment, but Qian Tong, Zou Ta and others were within the reach of his sword, and their survival would be known in a matter of months.

As for Wu Jing, when he loses power, a few assassins will be able to take his life.

Many thoughts flashed through Yan Yi's mind.

His silence and the murderous intent on his face woke Yan Yong from his hysterical shouting. He looked timidly at the man in front of him who could decide his life and death.

Yan Yi suddenly approached Yan Yong and stared into his eyes. His gaze was as cold as ice, as if it could pierce through people's hearts and make them shudder. "Tell me the truth, is your father involved in this? As long as you tell the truth, I can spare your life."

He was taller than Yan Yong. When he approached, the shadow cast by his body enveloped Yan Yong. His eyes looked down at him from top to bottom, frightening Yan Yong to death.

Yan Yong felt as if he were being stared at by a wild beast, and trembled as he said, "My father doesn't know about this."

Yan Yi looked at him carefully and felt that he did not seem to be lying, so he withdrew his gaze, turned around and left.

When he passed by Yin Li, he ordered: "Leave his body intact and send it back to Wucheng."

Yan Yong's collapsed cry was heard behind him, and disappeared in the sound of thunder and rain.

After leaving the tent, Yan Yi went straight to the military tent for meetings. Fan Yan, Xu Sheng, Chen Gan, Zhao Cuo and other generals were already wearing armor and waiting inside the tent.

Yan Yi smiled and asked, "Has the departure time been decided?"

"March on a rainy night, even at a forced march, will be slow. After discussion, I and the others feel it's safer to depart at 11:00 p.m." Fan Yan spoke on behalf of the other generals, "Young Master, please make the final decision."

Yan Yi usually didn't get involved in these details. He nodded and said, "Since we've already discussed it, let's set off at 10:00!"

Huh!
The generals respectfully accepted the order and left the tents one by one, each going to make preparations. At dusk, the camp started cooking. The amount of rice served was 30% more than usual, and there was also a lot of dried meat. In addition, each soldier was given a portion of dry food.

Yan Yi wore a bamboo hat and visited each tent to comfort the soldiers.

With the war approaching, it is very important to boost morale. A unit of 1,500 people is an independent individual with different life experiences and ideas. How to unite these independent individuals into a whole and work together with determination to accomplish a task is the basic ability that the commander needs to possess.

Enforce strict military discipline, strengthen training, treat soldiers well, offer generous rewards, appoint talented generals to lead each unit, and convey the commander's will to every soldier.
Yan Yi was doing all these things, but he was still worried and went to each village in person to make the final mobilization.

The targets of mobilization were mainly four hundred sons of wealthy and powerful families and four hundred soldiers from Danyang.

The former are mostly people who have practiced martial arts since childhood, are proficient in military affairs, and have read some books. They already have all the conditions to become an elite soldier. What they lack is only the experience of fighting on the battlefield and strict discipline.

The latter is physically strong, able to endure hardships, and has a fierceness unique to Danyang soldiers. Although they lack training, they are very convinced of Yan Yi and have high morale.

After the mobilization, more than half an hour had passed.

At the hour of Xu, the entire army was fully assembled, standing solemnly to the south of Cen Ming Mountain like a wild beast about to be released from a cage.

Raindrops fell on the bamboo hats, then fell down along the edges of the hats, splashing crystal water droplets on the ground.

Lightning occasionally streaks across the sky, illuminating faces that are either excited, nervous, or serious.

Yan Yi stood on a hillside, holding his sword in his right hand, glanced at the neat and solemn queue, and nodded to Fan Yan beside him.

Fan Yan strode to the front of the army and shouted in a low voice, "Move out!"

Just as Yan Yi's troops were taking advantage of the rainy night to advance silently towards Qian Gonglei, Si Qing, who was far away in Yuncheng, was gently opening a wooden door covered with green mold and looking out through the crack.

Outside the door was a muddy ground. The rain formed a silver screen, falling from the sky and washing away the messy footprints on the muddy ground.

There was silence all around. Through the heavy rain, one could see a section of a city wall five or six meters high standing a hundred steps away. Occasionally, a few hazy figures would walk across the wall.

There was an arrow tower on the city wall, but there was no one in the tower at this time.

Si Qing observed for a while, then gently closed the door and went back into the house.

This is a very small house, only about six or seven steps long and wide. The ground is an uneven mud ground covered with tattered mats, and it is surrounded by rough walls made of rammed earth. When lightning occasionally flashes across the sky, you can see black marks of smoke on the walls.

Above our heads was a simple roof made of wooden boards and straw, which could not completely block the rain, and water droplets dripped through the cracks from time to time.

There were four other people in the room, all of them were burly men wearing dirty and torn linen clothes.

Seeing Si Qing turn around, one of the men asked softly, "Mr. Si, what's the situation outside?"

Si Qing's eyes flickered in the night, and he lowered his voice and said, "There are far fewer defenders on the city wall than usual, and no one is seen on the watchtower."

The man said nervously, "I wonder if the young master will attack the city tonight. Lord Si, do you want to gather everyone first?"

Si Qing thought for a moment and said slowly, "There's no rush now. Let's wait an hour and then notify everyone separately. Tell everyone not to sleep tonight."

(End of this chapter)