Black Fairy, the master is a female ghost

Three hundred miles north of Zhongzhou City.

The 200,000-strong army, carrying food and supplies, was exhausted after marching for a day.

It was already dark at this time, and General Bu ordered them to rest on the spot and continue the march tomorrow morning.

The soldiers were setting up camp when suddenly a magical weapon flashed in the southern sky.

A soldier noticed and hurriedly asked, "Who is coming?"

Above the sky, it was Lu Xunhuan who was coming.

He headed north in the hope of encountering reinforcements as soon as possible.

The closer the reinforcements are to Zhongzhou City, the more timely they will arrive.

But he flew north for three hundred miles before he met the army that was preparing to rest there.

He paused in mid-air and replied, "Lu Xunhuan, the garrison commander of Zhongzhou City, has come seeking reinforcements. Please allow me to descend to meet the Eighteenth Prince."

A soldier hurriedly reported the situation to General Bu.

"General, someone claiming to be Lu Xunhuan from the Zhongzhou Garrison Army is requesting to see the Eighteenth Prince."

Beside them, Princess Sixteen said, "Let him come, he's one of us."

General Bu stopped the soldiers and said, "Wait, beware of a trap. If you want to come, tie them up first."

About a cup of tea later, Lu Xunhuan was tied up by the soldiers and pushed into General Bu's tent.

When the Sixteenth Princess saw him, she said to General Bu, "It's really Lu Xunhuan."

She ordered the soldiers, "Untie them quickly."

After the soldiers untied them, Lu Xunhuan saluted and said, "Prince, Princess, General, Zhongzhou City is in imminent danger. Reinforcements must march south overnight without delay."

General Bu said, "Go back and tell Cao Gui that we will be there if we hold on for three days."

Lu Xunhuan shook his head. "I estimate that the Nanliang vanguard has already reached the outskirts of Zhongzhou City. Three days is not enough. Everyone, don't rest tonight. The army must march south immediately."

General Bu pondered and said, "I have an army of 200,000 men, and we have brought with us a great deal of food and supplies. How can we march so quickly? Go back and tell Cao Gui to mobilize all the people in the city to hold out for three days."

Lu Xun Huan said, "General, you may not know that Zhao Yi has led 30,000 soldiers from Zhongzhou City out of the city to set up a defense line and try to stop the enemy outside the city. If he can't stop them and suffers heavy losses, Zhongzhou City will be left with no soldiers to defend."

"What?" General Bu stood up and said, "Map of Zhongzhou City."

A captain hurriedly handed over a topographic map of Zhongzhou City.

General Bu opened the map, looked at the south of Zhongzhou City, and cursed, "Fool, the south of Zhongzhou City is flat. Is Zhao Yi looking for death? Why doesn't he just defend the city?"

Lu Xun Huan said, "I have advised Zhao Yi, but he refused to listen. General, this is urgent. Please order the army to abandon their baggage and travel light."

General Bu thought for a moment and said, "We didn't anticipate the enemy's arrival so quickly. This was our first mistake."

He rolled up the map and said, "My second mistake. I didn't expect the people guarding Zhongzhou City were all good-for-nothings."

But he turned his gaze towards Lu Xunhuan and said, "If the enemy has already reached Zhongzhou City, even if we abandon our baggage, will it still be too late? We still have three hundred miles to go, and the soldiers won't be able to reach it even if they run themselves to death."

He made a decisive move, "Prince, Princess, I will lead the cavalry to Zhongzhou City overnight. I hope we can arrive in time, and your army will follow. But please do not abandon the food and supplies. If Zhongzhou City falls into enemy hands, we will need those siege weapons to retake Zhongzhou."

After speaking to the prince and princess, he turned to Lu Xunhuan, "I heard that you are a cultivator, so you should have some abilities. The prince and princess's safety is in your hands. Please make sure to protect them well."

After saying this, he strode out of the tent, summoned his cavalry, and marched quickly south.

After General Bu left, Prince Eighteen asked, "What should we do?"

Princess Sixteen turned her gaze towards Lu Xunhuan: "Lu Xunhuan, you speak, we will listen to you."

Lu Xun Huan said, "Since the princess trusts me, I will do my best. Do you have a map of Huilong Town?"

The captain next to him answered, "Yes."

After the captain brought the map, Lu Xunhuan unfolded it and asked, "Are there any reinforcements?"

Princess Sixteen said, "We are the first batch of reinforcements. There is also a second batch of reinforcements led by Wei Ying, approximately 100,000 people. According to reports, they are 300 miles behind us."

Lu Xunhuan glanced at the map and said, "This place is 300 miles from Zhongzhou City and 200 miles from Huilong Town. Have the army abandon their baggage and set out overnight to reach the north of Huilong Town as quickly as possible."

The Eighteenth Prince said, "The General just said that we are not allowed to abandon the baggage."

Li Xunhuan pointed at the map and said, "The area around Huilong Town is full of mountains and valleys, making it ideal for ambushes. If the enemy breaks through Zhongzhou City, they will undoubtedly advance further north. We should take advantage of Huilong Town's terrain to ambush the enemy and annihilate their remaining forces first."

Princess Sixteen nodded: "Okay, but do we really have to abandon the baggage?"

Lu Xunhuan said, "Leave a few hundred soldiers to guard and wait for Wei Ying, and let Wei Ying's army take the baggage."

He looked at the map for a moment and said, "This is the only way. Inform the entire army: everyone should bring three days' worth of rations. Infantrymen should bring shields and swords, archers should bring bows and arrows, and all other heavy objects should be discarded."

The Eighteenth Prince asked, "Where's the armor?"

Lu Xun Huan said, "Leave it here for the rear troops to take. We will travel light."

The Eighteenth Prince hesitated and said, "Lu Xunhuan, is this possible? The soldiers don't even have armor. If they encounter the enemy, they will be at a great disadvantage."

Lu Xun Huan said, "I won't let them fight the enemy head-on. Give the order, Prince."

The Eighteenth Prince was still a little hesitant and looked at the Sixteenth Princess: "Sixteenth Sister..."

Princess Sixteen said, "Let's listen to Lu Xunhuan. If Zhongzhou City isn't taken, we'll march lightly and try to get into the city in time. If Zhongzhou City falls into enemy hands, we'll ambush them in the Huilong Town area."

The Eighteenth Prince then gave the order: "Inform the entire army: Leave 500 soldiers to guard this place. The rest of the soldiers, abandon the baggage, take off the armor, and march lightly southward at a rapid pace."

Here, General Bu was marching south rapidly with 20,000 cavalrymen.

Lu Xunhuan joined forces with the prince and princess, led the remaining generals and 180,000 troops, set out overnight, and marched quickly with light equipment.

In the south of Zhongzhou City, the vanguard troops of Southern Liang were fighting fiercely with the 30,000 garrison troops.

The vanguard troops of Southern Liang were all cavalry.

The defense line arranged by Zhao Yi was in vain and did not play much of a role. The enemy's swift cavalry bypassed the defense line from the left and right. The defenders of Zhongzhou were soon caught in the unfavorable situation of being attacked from three sides by the enemy.

The cavalry's iron hooves galloped around outside the south city gate, hacking and killing, and the defenders were quickly defeated.

After suffering heavy casualties, the soldiers panicked and retreated in a hurry.

On the city wall, Sima Cao saw that his troops were defeated and wanted to retreat back into the city, so he hurriedly opened the city gate.

But the enemy cavalry followed the fleeing soldiers and also wanted to enter the city.

He hurriedly ordered: "Don't open the fire, don't open the fire, there are enemy troops."

Outside the city, 30,000 soldiers were killed and fled in all directions, but in Zhongzhou City, the few guards on the city wall did not even have the courage to open the city gate for them.

After fighting for several hours, by late night, almost all of the 30,000 soldiers were wiped out.

Only a small number of soldiers, holding hollow platycodon in their mouths, dived along the river outside the city where they usually trained and escaped the enemy's pursuit.

After a few miles, everyone quietly came ashore, and someone asked, "Master Fan, where are we going?"

Fan Tong asked, "How many brothers are there?"

A soldier replied, "There are only about 200 of us."

Fan Tong sighed deeply and felt so sad that he wanted to cry.

He looked up at the stars and said, "Where else can we go except to the north to seek reinforcements? Let's go."

In Zhongzhou City, after the soldiers who were blocking the enemy outside the city were annihilated, the enemy's follow-up troops arrived soon and formed a large formation at the south gate.

Under the light of torches, enemy soldiers were busy setting up catapults, and more soldiers in the rear were coming and going to transport supplies.

Sima Cao looked at it for a while and sighed secretly. How can we defend the city without soldiers?

Only then did he realize that what Lu Xunhuan said made sense. The enemy was numerous and we were few, so if we held the city firmly, we might be able to hold out longer and avoid being wiped out so quickly.

According to the report, Zhao Yi, Li Duwei, Qin Duwei and others have all died in the chaos.

What a heavy loss.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Zhongzhou were wiped out in just a few hours.

But he couldn't even escape because he was Sima and his duty was to defend the city. He could only live and die with Zhongzhou City.

He called a soldier and ordered, "Hurry and inform the prefect to leave the city before the enemy closes in. Also, inform the proprietress of the Ruting Inn to follow the prefect."

At this time, outside the north gate, there was the sound of horse hooves. General Bu had arrived with his cavalry.

A soldier immediately reported to Sima Cao: "Sir Sima, reinforcements have arrived."

When Cao Sima heard this, he was overjoyed: "Quick, let them in."