The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

He Chao nodded. It was true that Wang Zongyuan could do anything, but it was true that he would not lie.

Although Wang Zongyuan became a bandit due to his family's decline, he came from a family of poetry, literature and etiquette. He would rather lose the battle than the enemy, and he still had the spirit of a scholar.

He Chao was now even more excited. This multinational war was truly a once-in-a-century event. If he could participate, it would be worth it even if he died.

He Chao looked at Wang Zongyuan with his burning, frightening gaze and said, "Old Wang, we are brothers, right?"

"Are you senile? What are you talking about?" Wang Zongyuan faced He Chao's burning gaze calmly, without any panic.

We all came from the same trench, experienced life and death, and are the same kind of people. Who doesn't understand each other?

Wang Zongyuan knew exactly what He Chao was thinking at this moment.

"Old He, don't worry, our Old Wang is not the kind of person who doesn't care about brotherhood."

"As long as the eldest lady sets a date, I will even sacrifice my old face to plead for you and Lao Tong."

"More than twenty years ago, my brothers and I all fought alongside the Marquis against the Western Rong people. We lived and died together."

"More than 20 years ago, the Marquis led us to fight, and more than 20 years later, the eldest lady led us to fight."

"We had brothers back then, and we must have brothers now."

"Brothers, we live and die together. This time, we must defeat those damned Xirong and destroy their country no matter what."

Since the founding of Yunli, the Western Rong people have invaded almost every year, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of atrocities against the Yunli people.

The Xirong people are the collective enemy of the Yunli people. Is there any family in Yunli whose men have not died in the fight against the invasion of the Xirong people?

The answer is no. Even Emperor Gaozu and the sons of the previous emperor died on the battlefield fighting against the invasion of the Western Rong, let alone ordinary people?

These old guys may not take part in fighting others, but they must fight the Xirong people, even if it means losing their lives.

This is an obsession ingrained in the bones of these people. While they are alive today, if they do not see the demise of the Western Rong nation, they will not be able to close their eyes and will not be at peace.

"Okay." He Chao's voice was choked with sobs, and he forced back the tears that were about to burst out of his eyes.

"Okay, let's first figure out how to deal with these bastards on the mountain."

Wang Zongyuan patted He Chao's shoulder, pretending not to see the tears in He Chao's eyes.

He Chao pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, let's not set fire to the mountain yet. I will lead a team of elite soldiers to the mountain first."

"First, we'll mobilize them. If they refuse to surrender, we'll fight them. Finally, as a last resort, we'll set fire to the mountain."

The key to fighting a war is to know yourself and your enemy, but now they know nothing except that the mountain in front of them is an iron mine and there are troops stationed on it.

They didn't even know how many people were there, so it would be really risky to rush forward in this situation.

Wang Zongyuan remained silent for a long while before he spoke: "How about this, Old He, you stay here, I'll take the others up."

"If the situation up there is too complicated, I'll send you a signal and you can bring your troops up to provide support."

Wang Zongyuan and He Chao both wanted to leave safety and security to the other party and then take risks themselves.

"Old Wang, don't argue with me. We have more experience in mountain warfare than you."

"Back then, I was able to defeat the Northern Qiang people without leaving a single piece of armor behind. That was all thanks to my real skills."

He Chao was not bragging when he said this. The Northern Qiang people had lived between the Helan Mountains and the Qilian Mountains for generations.

When the two countries went to war, the Northern Qiang people relied on their mountainous advantage to cause the Marquis of Zhenbei to suffer a lot.

Later, the Marquis of Zhenbei issued an order to train a group of soldiers who were good at mountain warfare. He Chao was the commander of this group of soldiers at that time.

So when it comes to fighting mountain warfare, He Chao is naturally the first choice, otherwise Tong Tai would not have strongly recommended He Chao to help Wang Zongyuan in the first place.

"Old He, we know you're good at mountain warfare, but this time the situation is different."

"The soldiers on this mountain were all trained by that little bastard Liu Hu. They still have feelings for him. I plan to bring Liu Hu up with me."

"We'll attack the heart first this time. If that doesn't work, then we can fight head-on."

When Wang Zongyuan said this, there was actually a lot of gambling involved.

Although these soldiers were all led by Liu Hu, people's hearts will change, and it is unreliable to rely solely on the previous brotherhood.

Wang Zongyuan has made preparations for both scenarios. If he can win over the enemy's heart, he will do so. This will minimize casualties to the greatest extent, which is the most ideal result.

But we cannot help but prepare for the worst. Those soldiers have been brought here for almost half a year.

A lot can change in these six months.

If the psychological warfare plan fails, then the only option is to start fighting. How many people will die at that time is not something Wang Zongyuan can decide.

"Liu Hu? Which Liu Hu?" He Chao looked at Wang Zongyuan blankly and asked.

"Who else could it be? The Liu Hu you know."

"Liu Cheng is such a foolish old man. It's bad enough that he can't judge people well, but he even harmed his son before he died. He turned a good child into what he is now."

When mentioning Liu Hu, Wang Zongyuan couldn't help but shake his head. He still felt sorry for Liu Hu from the bottom of his heart.

"What on earth happened? Didn't Liu Hu disappear a few years ago? Why is he here again now?"

Wang Zongyuan's words made He Chao even more confused. When Liu Hu disappeared, they spent a lot of effort looking for him.

Unfortunately, they didn’t find him in the end. The person they couldn’t find suddenly appeared here. How could this not make people confused?

"That's a long story. Shen Pingzhi's father saved Liu Cheng's life, so Liu Cheng has been loyal to Shen Pingzhi's family his entire life."

"Even though Shen Pingzhi was driven out, it didn't change Liu Cheng's blind loyalty."

"Liu Hu wasn't missing back then. He was called over by the dying Liu Cheng to lead Shen Pingzhi's private army."

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, Shen Pingzhi is dead."

When Wang Zongyuan talked about Shen Pingzhi's death, he did not feel any sadness, and even felt a little relieved.

After all, Shen Pingzhi is really not a good person. Killing one of these troublemakers can save many people from suffering.

"Death is a good thing." Compared to the fact that Liu Hu trained private soldiers for Shen Pingzhi, the fact that Shen Pingzhi died attracted more attention from He Chao.

"Yes, it's a good thing. If he hadn't died, the Second Young Master wouldn't have discovered that he has so many private soldiers in Wuya Mountain."

"The Second Young Master and I went to Wuya Mountain to investigate the private soldiers, and that's how we discovered the Pingzhou Iron Mine."

"Shen Pingzhi did evil all his life, but he did some good things after his death. It can be said that he died a worthy death."

This is probably the only thing Shen Pingzhi has done that can be remembered.

He Chao was originally curious about how Shen Tingzhi discovered that there was an iron mine in Pingzhou, which was so far away from Shangjing. He also wondered why he chose this time to use this matter to attack Qian Wanhe.

Although Qian Wanhe must be eliminated sooner or later, the timing is obviously not right now.

Although the Queen is now the regent, her foundation in the court is not yet solid, and she has not yet developed her own power.

Moreover, the prince is young and has just been enthroned. If Qian Wanhe is touched at this time, it may very well cause a riot.

Starting a riot at this time will not benefit either the Queen or the Crown Prince.

Their second young master is such an intelligent person that he would never make such a low-level mistake at this time.

Now that the mystery was solved, He Chao couldn't help but sigh in his heart, it really seemed like even God was helping the young lady.

It seems that Yunli will really become powerful again under the hands of the eldest lady.

When Liu Hu was carried up, He Chao was shocked again.

He had no way of connecting the thin, almost unrecognizable man in front of him with the strong, cheerful and high-spirited Liu Hu in his impression.

"Let's go." Seeing Liu Hu coming, Wang Zongyuan didn't want to waste any more time. He wanted to solve the problem here as soon as possible. He still had to go back to help Shen Tingzhi.

"Wait." He Chao stopped Wang Zongyuan who was about to leave, and turned to his deputy general and said, "Lin Jiang, you stay here for me. I will go up the mountain with General Wang."

"Old He, you." Wang Zongyuan looked at He Chao. It was not that he did not trust He Chao's arrangement, but this battle was of great importance, and one of them had to stay behind to take charge of the overall situation.

"Don't worry, my deputy general is as capable as I am. If we encounter an emergency, he knows what to do."

He Chao knew very well what the soldiers he brought with him were capable of and what they could do.

Seeing He Chao say this, Wang Zongyuan said nothing more. He waved his hand and said, "Let's go."

This small team of 100 people, led by Wang Zongyuan and He Chao, marched up the mountain in a mighty manner.

Not long after they went up the mountain, they encountered a patrol team. This patrol team was somewhat amateur and unprofessional, and was quickly subdued by these professional soldiers.

Not only that, they also obtained a lot of useful information from the captured people.

This iron mine was not strictly guarded because the Qian family was too confident and they trusted their family's influence in Pingzhou too much.

They felt that as long as Pingzhou was in their hands, no one would dare to touch the Qian family's belongings.

In addition to this reason, there is another reason. Although the Qian family is arrogant, they also know that the iron mine matter is no trivial matter. If they send heavy troops to guard it, it will inevitably attract people's attention.

Once someone pays attention to you, the news will inevitably leak out, causing unnecessary trouble.

However, this did provide convenience for Wang Zongyuan and others, saving them a lot of trouble.

After a brief discussion, Wang Zongyuan and He Chao decided to replace the patrol team with their own people and take the opportunity to seek opportunities to gather intelligence.

"Wait, I have something to say." Liu Hu stopped the soldier who had changed his clothes and was about to leave.

"Speak." Wang Zongyuan is now in a highly nervous state. Any action beyond his plan will make him more nervous.

"I have a close confidant named Li Qing, and he was also brought here."

"If we can find him, things will be much easier."

Liu Hu looked at Wang Zongyuan and expressed his thoughts. He absolutely believed in Li Qing's loyalty.

Wang Zongyuan did not refute Liu Hu's words. In the military camp, this kind of trust can only be experienced by oneself and cannot be described, but it is often this kind of trust that is the most trustworthy and reliable.

The idea is good, but it is not easy to find a stranger in a place where they are completely unfamiliar with it. It is even harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

Seeing Wang Zongyuan's hesitation, Liu Hu continued, "This Li Qing is actually very easy to find. He has a large purple birthmark on the left side of his face."

"Because he's my right-hand man, he won't be driven into the mines like ordinary soldiers."

Knowing these characteristics, things become easier. Now they can't let go of anyone who can help them.

"Find a way to find this Li Qing." Wang Zongyuan gave the order, thought for a moment and said, "I'll go with you."

"Old He, don't argue with me this time. I'll go and you stay."

"Okay, you go, I'll stay." This time He Chao did not argue with Wang Zongyuan. What they needed most now was to work together to achieve the results they wanted.

Wang Zongyuan didn't say anything else and just left with his men.

It is not known whether to say that Wang Zongyuan and his team were lucky or unlucky. Not long after they walked forward, they encountered another patrol team.

Wang Zongyuan gripped the sword at his waist tightly, ready for battle.

This time, they were accompanied by the captain of the original patrol team.

At this time, a dagger was pressed against his waist, and when the two patrol teams met, he was pushed out.

"Luo Laosan, you're being lazy again, aren't you? You've been patrolling for most of the day, and yet we still bump into each other. You're really good at playing it safe."

When the person opposite saw Luo Laosan, he couldn't help but make sarcastic remarks.

Luo Laosan, with a dagger pointed at his waist, was so nervous that he was sweating all over, but he had to pretend to be no different from usual, which was really difficult for him.

"Why did you eat shit before you came out today?" Luo Laosan rolled his eyes at him. "Which eye of yours saw me being sneaky?"

"I've already patrolled the entire mountain with my men. You're the one I'm used to seeing being sneaky and cunning, right?"

"What are you talking about?" The other party also had a bad temper and was ready to fight if he disagreed with something.