The prince loves me like his life, but I force him to rebel

Gu Nianzhi put away her hairpin and quickly ran to Liu Huan who was setting up the tent.

"Commander Liu, are you ready?"

"I will naturally take care of what Brother Gu arranges."

Liu Huan looked around and quietly brought Gu Nianzhi to the military supply depot, where a set of light cavalry equipment was placed next to it.

"This is already the smallest size, but it may still be a little too big for you, Brother Gu."

"That's all right. I'll follow at the end of the team."

"If you ask me, the prince didn't ask you to go with him when he went to war. It would be better for you to wait quietly in the rear. There are only 1,000 light cavalry. If there is any unexpected incident, it will be very dangerous."

"Although I am only a general affairs official, I also want to fight the enemy in person. My parents and brothers died at the hands of bandits. I wish I could skin them alive, but the prince won't let me go with him, so I can only resort to this last resort."

Gu Nianzhi changed his clothes as quickly as possible and put on his armor and helmet.

"As for the horses, go to the horse team and find a man named Zhang Kai. I have already made an agreement with him."

"Thank you, Commander Liu. I will treat you to a drink after we return to Beijing in triumph!"

"I've made a note of it. Go quickly, or you'll be late."

Gu Nianzhi came to the cavalry and, following Liu Huan's instructions, found Zhang Kai, led out a horse, then flew to the door and rushed to the assembly point.

One thousand people.

It doesn't sound like a lot, but when they are gathered together it is really a huge crowd.

Gu Nianzhi pushed his helmet down as far as possible to cover as much of his face as possible, and then followed the large group forward.

With fast horses and light cavalry, the advance troops soon arrived at the southern gate of Lunan.

Hatulig, the defender of Lunan, came to the city gate in person.

He rode on his horse, looked around, and said with a bit of disdain: "It is now known to all that Dasheng sent 100,000 soldiers to support our Qiangyi. How come they only have this few troops? They want fame but don't want to send troops. Are they playing with us?"

Lin Heng was very dissatisfied with this tone and immediately shouted loudly.

"Hatulig, you failed to defend the city, but you are so arrogant. The King of Qiangyi tried his best to persuade the Emperor of Dasheng to mobilize troops to help you. Does he know that you have such an attitude now?"

"It's not that I failed to defend the city, but the coalition forces of the three countries are too fierce. Even if your Dasheng reinforcements come to the battlefield, they may not be able to win." Hatulig rode slowly on his horse, "You have at most a thousand here, and there are 80,000 troops stationed outside the north gate of Lunan City. With your strength of a thousand, it's like hitting a rock with an egg."

"That's right. It's hard to win when you're fighting a thousand against a thousand, let alone one against a hundred."

Ursu, the deputy general beside Hatulig, couldn't help but say a few words.

The two men were not weird people. It was just that the pressure of defending the city was too great, and there had been no reinforcements from Qiangyi. The two men had been holding on until now and were exhausted.

After finally waiting for the "100,000 troops of Da Sheng" that Qiangyi City had mentioned to come to their rescue, they only saw a thousand or so people. Their hopes were suddenly dashed, and they were naturally full of resentment.

The opening words were full of sarcasm, and the relationship between the two sides did not seem like that of friendly forces, but rather like hostility.

"If Qiang Yi has this attitude towards Da Sheng's reinforcements, we can return home at any time." Sima Yao finally spoke: "Not only the 1,000 light cavalry standing here will return home, but also the 100,000 troops stationed on the outskirts of the city. Hatulig, are you sure you don't want Da Sheng to help?"

When Hatulig heard that another 100,000 troops were stationed outside the city, he was delighted and his attitude changed drastically.

"Who are you, Excellency? What's your name?"

"This is the third brother of the current Emperor Dasheng, Prince Yao." Lin Heng introduced.

"Your Majesty?"

Hatulig had indeed heard that Dasheng would send a prince to lead the army in place of the emperor. He thought that the prince was just hiding behind the army for fame, but he did not expect that the commander of the advance army in front of him was actually the prince himself.

Hatulig and his deputy general Ursu looked at each other, then they dismounted from their horses and half-knelt on the ground.

"I was blind and didn't recognize the real master. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

"Generals, your words are too polite. On the battlefield, there is no such thing as a prince or not. Please stand up."

Hatulig and Ursu stood up and led a thousand light cavalry into the city.

Gu Nianzhi was almost at the end of the team. As far as he could see, there were almost no shops open and almost no people walking on the street.

There were a few clinics that were still open, packed with people, and even some injured soldiers sitting on the side of the road.

Gu Nianzhi squatted beside the clinic and asked a soldier softly.

"Brother, where have all the people in this city gone?"

"When the war started, everyone fled everywhere. Now, only the elderly, the weak, women and children are left, hiding in their rooms and not daring to come out. According to the general's instructions, once the three-nation coalition forces come, all the people in Tulu City will be soldiers. From the eighty-year-old old woman to the eight-year-old child, everyone must be armed and go into battle. There is no way to retreat."

Gu Nianzhi felt sad.

No matter in which dynasty or era, whenever a war breaks out, the ordinary people are always the ones who suffer the most.

Following the main force, Gu Nianzhi continued to move forward.

Finally, the order came and everyone rested on the spot, waiting for the order.

Like everyone else, Gu Nianzhi led the horses and passed the small portions of grass on their backs to the horses' mouths so that they could replenish their energy.

"Do you feel that this general from Lunan seems to be on guard against us?"

"That's right, I thought seeing us was like seeing our savior, but who knew it would be like this now."

“It always feels weird.”

"We have come a long way, without even taking a break, and now we are standing here in a daze. Should we continue to fight this war?"

As they fed the horses, everyone couldn't help but chatter.

Gu Nianzhi also felt that today's situation was not quite the same as he had imagined.

It seemed that the two generals in Lunan were not only wary and hostile to the light cavalry, but also seemed dissatisfied with Qiangyi City.

Could it be that internal strife has already broken out in Qiangyi?

Facing a powerful enemy, if the Qiang people were to fall apart internally again, they would be in real danger.

As reinforcements, Da Sheng's army was in a delicate position.

Gu Nianzhi couldn't help but worry about Sima Yao.

Before the real battle started, people began to attack each other due to lack of trust in each other.

Lunan was not originally a border county town. There was a city to the north of Lunan called Shazhou.

Although this place is under the jurisdiction of Qiangyi State, it is inhabited by peddlers and merchants from all directions. Before this, the four countries were relatively peaceful and this city was extremely prosperous. There were all kinds of inns, restaurants, pubs, and shops, and the owners were overwhelmed by the coming and going of guests.

But in recent years, the four countries have been at odds with each other, and Qiangyi has strengthened its control over this area, strictly prohibiting foreigners from staying here for a long time. As a result, Shazhou has gradually declined from a prosperous city.

"This Shazhou is not a place suitable for farming. In the past, people came and went and could do business. Now, people can't stay."

"The King of Qiangyi felt that it was not cost-effective to station a large number of troops in such a place, so he sent some of the remaining soldiers to garrison there. Therefore, when the coalition forces of the three countries attacked, they had no resistance at all."

"When Shazhou was broken, the King of Qiangyi realized that the enemy was serious this time, and he quickly deployed defenses in Lunan, but it was too late."

"The enemy has used Shazhou as their base and has been stationed there for a long time. I'm afraid this battle won't be over in a short time."

A group of people were sitting on the street, and someone was telling the story of Shazhou and Lunan in Qiangyi Kingdom with great excitement.

The person who said this was a centurion, who was also the leader of Gu Nianzhi's team. Gu Nianzhi approached and asked curiously.

"Brother, how can you know so much?"

The man glanced at Gu Nianzhi and began to tell a long story.