With a million soldiers, the empress begged me not to rebel

Liu Wen cried out, "Your Majesty, please spare my life! This old minister has been wronged!"

The sound gradually faded away, leaving only the roar echoing in the hall and the crisp sound of porcelain shards.

King Beixiang took a deep breath and tried to calm his anger.

The defeat is already decided, and there is no point in assigning responsibility.

The most urgent task is to find another good general, send troops again, and avenge the previous humiliation.

"Where is Zhao Xuan?" King Beixiang asked in a deep voice.

The young general in armor and with a dashing figure stepped out and knelt on one knee.

"The general is here!"

Zhao Xuan is a newly promoted young general of Beixiang State.

Known for his bravery and resourcefulness.

"General Zhao," King Beixiang said in a softer tone.

"I have ordered you to be the commander-in-chief of the three armies in this attack on Shannan Prefecture. Do you have the confidence?"

"I hereby pledge my life to you, if you fail to conquer Shannan Prefecture, I will bring you my head!"

Zhao Xuan's tone was firm and resounding.

"Good!" King Beixiang was overjoyed.

"I'm waiting for your good news!"

After Zhao Xuan received the order and retreated, he immediately summoned all the generals.

Discuss the strategy for attacking Shannan Prefecture.

"Generals," Zhao Xuan pointed to the Ghost Crying Gorge on the map.

"The last time our army suffered a crushing defeat was because we stormed Ghost Crying Gorge and fell into Lu Yan's ambush."

"Ghost Crying Gorge is a dangerous place, easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it's not advisable to attack by force."

"So what does General Zhao mean?"

a general asked.

"Go around the Devil's Crying Gorge."

"We will not attack Ghost Crying Gorge, but will instead take a detour to attack other cities in Shannan Prefecture."

"Shannan Prefecture is remote and has long supply lines. We will cut off their supply lines and force Lu Yan to leave the city to fight."

"When the time comes, we will have a decisive battle on the plains and wipe out Lu Yan's troops in one fell swoop!"

All the generals nodded in agreement, expressing their approval of Zhao Xuan's strategy.

"Okay! It's settled!" Zhao Xuan slammed the table.

"Pass the order down, the entire army will rest for three days, and then march to Shannan Prefecture three days later!"

……

In Shannan Prefecture, Lu Yan was practicing martial arts with Li Kui in the backyard.

Ever since Li Kui followed Ye Xiao.

His martial arts skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and now he can exchange a few moves with Lu Yan.

"Xiao Kui, you've practiced the 'Monkey Stealing Peaches' move quite well, but it's a little slow."

Lu Yan said with a smile while dodging Li Kui's attack.

"Sir, this move is not called 'Monkey Stealing Peaches', it's called 'Spiritual Monkey Extending Claws'!"

Li Kui corrected him, but his offensive didn't slow down at all.

"Okay, okay, the monkey extends its claws, the monkey extends its claws."

Lu Yan said with a smile.

"But if you use this trick on the battlefield, you'll probably be shot into a hedgehog by arrows before you even touch the enemy."

"Sir, please stop making fun of me."

Li Kui scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

"I haven't been on the battlefield yet."

"Don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to go to the battlefield and make achievements in the future."

Lu Yan patted Li Kui on the shoulder.

"Don't embarrass me when the time comes."

"My lord, just wait and see!"

Li Kui patted his chest and promised.

Just then, Night Owl ran in hurriedly.

"My lord, this is bad! The Beixiang army is attacking again!"

When Lu Yan heard this, his face darkened.

These stupid dogs are really haunting us!

"How many people are there?" Lu Yan asked.

"According to spies, the Northern Xiang Kingdom has dispatched a 100,000-man army, led by Zhao Xuan, and they are heading towards our Shannan Prefecture!"

"One hundred thousand troops..." Lu Yan repeated the number with a playful smile on his face.

"This Beixiang Kingdom really thinks highly of me. Last time, 50,000 wasn't enough, but this time, they doubled it."

"Sir, this Zhao Xuan is not an easy character to deal with."

Night Owl said.

"He is a newly promoted young general of the Northern Xiang Kingdom, renowned for his bravery, skill in battle, and resourcefulness."

"It is said that he once defeated a larger force with a smaller one..."

Ye Xiao was introducing Zhao Xuan's great achievements, but was interrupted impatiently by Lu Yan.

"Alright, alright, Night Owl, when did you become so fussy?"

"If the enemy comes, I will stop him with my army; if the water comes, I will block it with earth. Even if it's a hundred thousand pigs, I will kill them all without leaving a single piece of armor!"

A cold light flashed in Lu Yan's eyes. It seemed that he had to have some fun with these people this time...

After saying that, Lu Yan stood up, stretched, and said to Li Kui:

"Xiao Kui, let's go, gather all the generals, let's hold a battle meeting!"

In the conference room, Lu Fei, Zhang Xun, Han Sheng and other generals had been waiting for a long time.

"Everyone, those bastards from Beixiang Kingdom are here again, this time with a full 100,000 troops!"

Lu Yan got straight to the point, with a hint of teasing in his tone.

"One hundred thousand!"

All the generals took a deep breath. This was not a small number.

Li Kui, who was listening at the side, was so anxious that he rubbed his hands and said:

"Sir, let me take my brothers to meet him!"

"During the last battle at Ghost Crying Gorge, I haven't even gone into battle yet!"

Lu Yan glanced at him sideways and scolded him with a smile:

"You kid only know how to fight and kill. Can you use your brain? With an army of 100,000, how many of them are you going to take to die?"

Li Kui scratched his head and chuckled:

"Then... sir, what do you say we should do?"

Lu Yan stood up and walked to the hanging map. His eyes swept across the terrain of Shannan Prefecture and finally landed on the Ghost Crying Gorge.

"Zhao Xuan, this kid, is a little clever, but not much."

"We suffered a loss at Devil's Cry Gorge last time, so we definitely won't attack head-on this time."

"Sir, what do you mean..." Lu Fei asked tentatively.

"In my opinion, this guy will most likely bypass Devil's Cry Gorge and attack other cities, cutting off our supply lines and forcing us to leave the city for a decisive battle."

Han Sheng said worriedly: “Sir, what if Zhao Xuan doesn’t fall into the trap?”

"Didn't fall into the trap?" Lu Yan raised his eyebrows.

"That's even better! I'm worried about not finding a chance to wipe them out!"

"When the time comes, we'll attack them from both sides, Ghost Crying Gorge and Black Wind Ridge, leaving them with no way back!"

"Your Excellency is wise!" The generals praised in unison.

"Since this kid wants to play, let's have some fun with him."

A hint of cunning flashed in Lu Yan's eyes.

"Pass the order down. The defenders of Ghost Crying Gorge are to feign retreat to lure the enemy deeper."

"Also, tell the brothers, this time we're only taking money, no prisoners!"

"No prisoners?" The generals were a little confused.

Lu Yan smiled mysteriously and said:

"My soldiers are so valuable. It's so expensive to keep prisoners!"

"Tell the brothers, I'll only take 20% of the spoils captured this time, and the rest will belong to them!"

Lu Yan paused and said:

"And taking no prisoners doesn't mean letting them go, it means recruiting them!"

"Also, spread the word that if you join our Shannan Prefecture army, you'll get a generous salary!"

"I can eat meat and drink wine every meal, and I also have a beautiful wife!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals' eyes lit up and they cheered.

This condition is so tempting!

The next day, Lu Yan trained his troops while arranging for Night Owl's dark forces to spread the news.

Widely publicize the generous treatment of the Shannan Prefecture troops.