I have been a county magistrate for ten years. My subordinates insist on giving me a yellow robe.

Qingzhu shook his head and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"I'm really starting to get suspicious. Even if a small Taiping County were to resort to some schemes and tricks, how could they possibly defeat our 200,000-strong army?"

"but……"

As soon as Qingzhu finished speaking, the scene of his confrontation with Duanmu Yuanchen emerged in his mind.

There was no problem using human flesh as military rations at the time. At that time, tens of thousands of people had contracted strange diseases. When it was later discovered, it turned out that Jiang Yuan had made military rations from the corpses they had piled up upstream of the river, and deliberately let them steal them away.

After learning the truth, hundreds of thousands of soldiers immediately became paranoid. There was meat, but no one dared to eat it.

Only after thousands of pigs were slaughtered and cooked in public in front of hundreds of thousands of soldiers did the matter come to an end.

But even so, from that time until now, there has been a taboo in the army's food and fodder: it must absolutely not be made into minced meat pellets, otherwise the soldiers would rather not eat it.

That was at that time. Now they have chased this guy all the way to his lair. Who knows what sinister tricks are waiting for them.

At this time, Ning Fei, who spoke at the front, was walking at the forefront of the team with more than a hundred soldiers. Unknowingly, they had advanced several miles.

"Hmm, it's exactly the same as the last time I came here." Ning Fei muttered to himself. Just as he was about to look up, he suddenly heard a scream from behind him.

"General! There's a trap on the ground, and someone has fallen into it!"

"What?" Ning Fei exclaimed in surprise, and then rode his horse forward. A few dozen meters behind him, a hole the size of a water tank appeared in front of him. The unlucky guy who fell into it had been pierced by a sharp spike.

Ning Fei took a look at the hole. It didn't look like a hole dug by a hunter. Besides, it was impossible for a hunter to dig a hole in the middle of a mountain road. It was obviously Jiang Yuan's work.

"Haha! I have a 200,000-man army as my vanguard, and another 200,000-man border troops behind me. Jiang Yuan, you're just digging such a small hole. Do you really think you can stop me?"

"Can you guys bury him? The team continues to move forward!"

If one person dies among 200,000 people, it's not even a drop in the bucket.

However, before the team had walked a few hundred meters, Ning Fei turned his head again and heard a scream behind him again. When he arrived, as expected, there was the same cave and the same spikes.

Ning Fei was a little uneasy. One person's death was a small matter. There was no war without casualties.

He didn't care at all if he lost a few thousand soldiers out of an army of 200,000.

But the situation is different now. This guy died with thousands of people watching him, and his death was inexplicable.

Someone died inexplicably while walking on the road. Once this panic spreads, I'm afraid that among the 200,000 people, no one will dare to move forward.

The unknown is the scariest thing.

"What a cunning guy." Ning Fei said in a low voice, then looked at the cave entrance again. After a moment, he smiled disapprovingly.

"Look carefully, the soil used at the entrances of the two traps is red. As long as you don't step on the red soil, nothing will happen."

"Pass on my military order: No one should walk on the red dirt!"

After giving the order, Ning Fei began to lead his troops forward again, but before he had gone far, he heard another scream behind him. Ning Fei quickly turned his horse around and rushed over.

"What's going on? Didn't I tell you not to step on the red dirt?"

Several soldiers looked at each other, and one of them bravely said, "General, he didn't step on the red soil..."

Ning Fei was stunned for a few seconds, then looked at the ground.

In front of the red soil, there is a hole the size of a water tank and the same sharp spikes.

"This damn Jiang Yuan actually played this trick on me!" Ning Fei said gritting his teeth.

"General Ning, why did the team stop three times? What happened?"

As Qingzhu's voice came, Ning Fei's eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, this kind of brain-stimulating work should be left to Qingzhu.

Soon, Qingzhu smiled and waved his feather fan, "General Ning, it's easy. We just need to send more than a hundred slow horses ahead to find the trap. It will be easy."

(A slow-running horse, usually used to pull carts and loads, also known as a carriage horse)

Ning Fei exhaled: "The military advisor is really smart. Did you hear that? Hurry up and do as the military advisor tells you."

Soon, more than a hundred slow horses took the lead and walked in front.

However, after walking dozens of miles, Ning Fei's expression became increasingly grim: "Did that damn Jiang Yuan only set the first three traps?"

These three simple earth pits not only frightened the soldiers behind them, but also wasted so much of their time. This is simply abominable!

Gradually, as the team continued to move forward, a valley appeared in front of them. Ning Fei glanced at it but didn't take it seriously.

Although the area above the valley was suitable for an ambush, his scouts were not idle and would have reported it long ago if there was an ambush.

Before they knew it, the vanguard troops led by Ning Fei had already penetrated deep into the valley.

At this moment, a carriage full of soldiers passed by from behind, and suddenly a crisp sound was heard where the wheels passed.

Click!

boom!

After a loud bang, seven or eight bodies fell down in the explosion range.

"What's going on?" Ning Fei was the first to rush over after hearing the noise.

"I don't know, General. This land suddenly exploded." Several soldiers who escaped by chance stammered.

Ning Fei felt incredible. How could the land explode? How could this be possible?

A moment later, Qingzhu came to Ning Fei with a frown.

"General Ning, I'm afraid this isn't normal."

Ning Fei couldn't help but roll his eyes. The ground exploded directly. It would be strange if this could be normal.

"General Ning, what I mean is that Jiang Yuan might have tampered with this land as well." Qingzhu added again.

Ning Fei saw this and immediately waved his hand: "Dig up this piece of soil and see what's going on."

Soon, several soldiers carrying shovels began digging on the spot.

Ning Fei wanted to get closer to watch, but for some reason, Qingzhu suddenly reached out and pulled him. Ning Fei subconsciously took two steps back and looked at Qingzhu.

"Military advisor, you..."

boom!

At the moment of the explosion, Ning Fei's eyes narrowed and he pulled Qingzhu back dozens of meters like lightning.

In the field, several soldiers who had just been digging in the soil were now lying on the ground, dying.

Ning Fei couldn't help but narrow his eyes: "Okay, Jiang Yuan, you're good!"

"General, there is no need to dig anymore. We just need to add a piece of wood behind the horses in front to eliminate these traps." Qingzhu sighed and spoke again.

"Number one on the list of bad morals, the reputation is well-deserved."

Ning Fei nodded with a dark face: "Do as the military advisor says."

Things turned out just as Qingzhu had expected. The team walked for more than ten miles and, apart from the loss of some slow horses, there were no other casualties.

Ning Fei breathed a sigh of relief. "You are such a good fellow, Jiang Yuan! Do you really think you can make my 200,000-man army retreat with such a petty trick? That's ridiculous!"

Qingzhu on the side sighed deeply. Although this method was safe, the team's progress was slowed down.

After a whole day's work, we only walked thirty miles.

"General Ning, it's getting dark, we should set up camp quickly." Qingzhu reminded.

Ning Fei nodded and ordered the scouts in front to find a suitable place to set up camp. First, it had to be close to a water source, second, not close to the woods, and third, not on a slope. After marching for many years, Ning Fei was very clear about this.

Half an hour later, the group finally found a relatively flat place and set up camp.

As the team finished their dinner, the army gradually began to quiet down.

Before they knew it, the sky had darkened. A few miles away from Ning Fei's base camp, several sneaky figures appeared on the tree branches.

"Brother Gou, it's a bit far, how about we get closer?"

Ergou immediately slapped the guy behind him on the head: "Don't even come close!"

"Don't you see the place they chose? There's no cover except here. If you get close, you'll be dead."

Ergou said as he took out a large Kongming lantern from behind him, lit it carefully, and then hung a small glass bottle the size of a fist behind it.

"Is the wind direction normal? Don't let our mountain burn down."

"Don't worry, Brother Gou, the wind direction is stable!"

"Alright! Let him out!"

After lighting the Kongming lanterns, Ergou decisively jumped off the tree branch, and the two people behind him did the same. At the same time, dozens of Kongming lanterns began to slowly move towards Ning Fei's base camp.

At this time, in Ning Fei’s base tent, five people were sitting at a table.

"Zhao Shun, Song Mingxuan, Ding Ziyan, what do you think?"

The three of them exchanged glances, and Zhao Shun spoke cautiously, "General, I think we can send a small force to lead the way. That way, even if something unexpected happens, it won't be seen by the main army, and won't shake their morale."

Ning Fei nodded in appreciation and said, "That's right. Zhao Shun, you will lead the three thousand troops to open the way ahead. Or follow the military advisor's plan and use slow horses to test the front. However, in order to prevent the army from slowing down tomorrow, you will probably have to set out tonight."

"Don't worry, General. I'll go right away!" Zhao Shun said, saluted, turned around and walked out of the tent.

"What about you? Do you have any opinions?" Ning Fei spoke again. These three people were his old subordinates who had followed him for many years. They were brave and good at fighting, and they were both courageous and resourceful. He still attached great importance to the ideas of these three people.

Ding Ziyan thought for a long time, and finally pointed at the map and said, "General, I think it is necessary to transfer our 200,000 border troops here."

"Although we also led an army of 200,000, to be honest, these guys' combat effectiveness is too weak, far inferior to our border troops."

"You!" Ning Fei smiled and shook his head: "Do you think all armies should be like our border troops?"

"I think you have such high standards that you look down on these people. Although their fighting capacity is not as good as that of the border troops, they are still considered good soldiers in Daduan. Stop complaining to me."

"If you want your army to be combat-ready, then you must train diligently. Without two hundred thousand border troops, how can Jiang Jiu and Jiang Yunze possibly hold down these southern states?"

Ding Ziyan sighed helplessly.

On the other side, Song Mingxuan pointed at the map and said, "General, look here..."

However, before Song Mingxuan could finish his words, a loud noise suddenly arose around him.

"Go out and take a look!" Ning Fei turned around, pulled out his spear from the weapon rack, and walked out with a gloomy face.

"Could it be possible that these guys dare to attack at night?"