The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

When Qin Qingmin raised his question, the court officials were surprised by his ruthlessness.

At the same time, he was even more puzzled as to why Chen Nan did not send the 300,000 prisoners back to the capital.

The Empress Dowager noticed the reactions and confusion on the faces of the court officials.

The Empress Dowager, who had been smiling, suddenly turned dark-faced.

"What? Are you questioning the choices made by General Hong and General Chen?"

"You should know that these two not only solved the problem of the 300,000-strong army on the Northern Wei border in a short time, but also took back Lecheng in a single day!"

"If any of you can confidently say that you would do the same, I will immediately order General Hong and General Chen to return and take your place!"

The Empress Dowager's words silenced everyone.

The group of people never expected that an empress dowager from Northern Wei would be so biased towards Chen Nan, who came from Daqian.

However, the Empress Dowager's sharp words caused all the court officials to lower their heads.

Her favoritism towards Chen Nan, however, gave rise to a different kind of thought in everyone's minds.

At this moment, Chen Nan had just returned to Lecheng.

Under Hong Ze's arrangement, all the accompanying doctors in the army gathered on the south city wall.

The moment Chen Nan carried Hongming back to Lecheng, all the doctors surrounded him and began to examine Hongming.

Meanwhile, inside the Great Qian tent, Jiang Zhe and two others sat together, with a detailed map of Lecheng and Suzhou laid out in front of them.

Before long, Lin Qiao spoke up: "General, Hongze has already appeared in Lecheng, which means that Suzhou's defense is seriously inadequate. Why don't we launch a surprise attack on Suzhou?"

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Man's expression changed drastically, while Jiang Zhe's face showed a strange expression.

The two men stared intently at Lin Qiao, the former trying to figure out if he even had a brain.

They are currently surrounded, and instead of thinking about how to escape, they dare to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's city.

Jiang Zhe, on the other hand, looked curious, his lips twitching and slowly turning upwards.

Seeing this, Zhou Man knew that Jiang Zhe had been persuaded.

Meanwhile, in Lecheng, after a doctor's examination, Hongming was found to have no major health problems.

It only takes a few days of rest to fully recover.

Hongming also publicly announced that during her few days of rest, military power would be fully handed over to Chen Nan.

After settling Hongming in, Chen Nan stared expressionlessly toward the south gate and said coldly, "Let's discuss matters in the main tent!"

Inside the main tent, Chen Nan sat in the head seat. Hong Ze, Hong Yao, and Wu Xu could tell from his dark complexion that Wang Dong's matter would not be easily resolved.

The three waited silently, the air thick with tension. They glanced at each other every now and then, but none of them dared to utter the first word.

After a long while, Chen Nan glanced at the three of them, slowly took out a topographic map, pointed at the map, and spoke softly.

"This is Wang Dong's army of 100,000. Wang Dong has brought 100,000 troops, 10,000 cavalry, and three deputy generals with him on this expedition."

"They set up camp ten miles outside the south gate, with scouts patrolling and night guards."

"At midnight tonight, Hongze will lead 50,000 rear troops to guard Lecheng."

"I personally led 20,000 cavalry to charge from the front, while Hongyao and Wuxu each led 30,000 infantry to flank from the side."

After speaking, Chen Nan glanced at the group again, his voice unusually cold: "Did you understand?"

Hongyao and Wuxu didn't have much say, but they knew that as commanders, they should guard the army.

They had no choice but to turn to Hongze for help.

Hongze naturally knew that a general would never appear on the front lines unless absolutely necessary.

He gave a wry smile: "General, shall we... perhaps discuss this further?"

Upon hearing this, he was met with Chen Nan's murderous glare.

Chen Nan threw the commander's token that Hong Ming had personally handed him onto the table, and then threw his deputy commander's token on the same table.

"I'm saying, do you understand?"

The three paused for a moment, then nodded quickly, indicating that they understood.

A disdainful smile appeared on Chen Nan's lips: "Since you understand, then go and carry it out."

At this moment, none of the three dared to look at Chen Nan, as if he were the powerful and influential commander-in-chief.

What they need is not rebuttal, but the diligent execution of every military order.

After leaving the main tent, the three of them went to a corner.

Hongyao spoke first: "General Ze, why didn't you continue to try to dissuade him just now?"

Hongze rolled his eyes at him and retorted, "Didn't you see the commander's expression and the imposing aura he exuded just now?"

"If I dare to say another word, he'll drag me out and chop me up, you believe me?"

His words made the two of them feel a chill run down their spines.

Neither of them expected that Chen Nan, who usually seemed gentle, would have such an imposing side.

Then, Wu Xu asked, "General Ze, we only have 80,000 troops in total. While the Western Shu army is resting, we may win, but we may not be able to annihilate them all, right?"

"If you can see the problem, do you think the Commander-in-Chief can't see it?" Hongze explained helplessly.

He then instructed, "Alright, the military order has been given; we just need to carry it out."

The two then dispelled their doubts and returned to their respective camps to rest.

Time passed quickly, and midnight arrived soon.

Just as midnight struck, the south gate of Lecheng opened, and it was roughly visible in the darkness.

The first person to emerge from the south gate rode a white warhorse and held a silver spear.

Behind him followed an uncountable, dark army.

At the Daqian camp, Jiang Zhe looked at Lin Qiao in front of him and asked with a smile, "General Lin, is everything ready?"

Lin Qiao chuckled: "General, everything is ready. Zhou Man didn't even notify us."

As they spoke, their laughter grew even more unrestrained.

"The time is almost up. Taking Sucheng will not only allow us to exchange cities with Chen Nan, but also solve the problem of food for our army."

"This is clearly a win-win situation. I just can't understand why Zhou Man can't think outside the box!"

Jiang Zhe was directing the army while grumbling.

Before long, the 250,000-strong army of the Great Qian Dynasty was fully prepared and ready to go.

Before setting off, Jiang Zhe looked at the massive army in front of him, and his anger rose once again.

He shouted loudly, "Brothers, haven't you had a full meal for days?"

Upon hearing this, most of the soldiers below rubbed their emaciated bellies.

Even more surprisingly, they started licking their lips.

Jiang Zhe continued, "Brothers, I have already sent people to find out that there is an abundance of grain in Suzhou."

Upon hearing that Sucheng actually had food, the soldiers below became even more frenzied, howling that they wanted to follow Jiang Zhe to attack Sucheng.

"Most importantly, there aren't many soldiers garrisoning Suzhou at all!"

Jiang Zhe dropped another bombshell.

Three consecutive rounds of dialogue boosted the morale and fighting spirit of their own troops to the highest level.

Once he felt it was about time, Jiang Zhe chuckled and said, "Brothers, Suzhou is just ahead. Follow me, your commander, and we'll take Suzhou!"