Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Xiao Ce stepped out of the tent, and at that moment, snowflakes began to fall on the vast grassland.

Xiao Ce, clad in armor, stretched out his hand, and a snowflake landed on it.

Then it slowly melts.

Xiao Ce glanced at the bustling tribe and said to Zhang Yunqing, "This marks the official start of winter."

Zhang Yunqing bowed: "Your Highness, today is the 'snowfall day' on the grassland, which means that winter has officially begun in the Turkic Kingdom, and we must prepare for winter. There will be more snowy days in the future."

Xiao Ce nodded and said to Zhang Yunqing, "Then you should all be ready."

Zhang Yunqing cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, everything is ready."

As he spoke, Zhang Yunqing added with a smile, "Your Highness, it's not exactly something we prepared ourselves. All the tribes have already prepared their winter supplies! We have plenty of winter provisions now! Your Highness, please contact us if you need any supplies! Even if we go hungry, we will provide them to you!"

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Of course I won't stand on ceremony with you! Take care."

As he spoke, he mounted the 'Iron Egg' that Xiao Jiu had brought over.

After mounting Tie Dan, Xiao Ce waved his hand and shouted, "All troops, attack!"

As he spoke, Yan Jia's ghost cavalry, dressed in camouflage uniforms and with their faces painted with camouflage paint, followed closely behind.

Wei Wuji rode a horse and led a force of 30,000 cavalrymen to follow.

Xiao Ce still placed this cavalry unit under the command of the Turks. One reason was that the region was in dire need of rebuilding and required a large army.

Secondly, he already has a considerable army, and it would be too much of a burden to rely on the four prefectures of Mobei to support them all.

Finally, if you want to train cavalry, this vast grassland is more suitable.

Xiao Ce was riding his horse.

Yan Jia, standing beside him, asked, "Your Highness, should we send scouts to investigate?"

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "No need to rush... We are still four days away from Yanbei City, or five days if we are slow. By then, they will definitely have all gone... If we send scouts, it would only alert them if they discover them!"

After hearing Xiao Ce's words, Yan Jia cupped his hands in agreement.

...

Everything went pretty much as Xiao Ce had predicted.

Three days later, in the Turkic camp.

He Lu summoned his entire army, which had already formed ranks.

"My lords, warriors of the Turks! You have made me your leader this time, and I will show you the might of the warriors of Helu!"

"All the tribes' siege forces are in the first wave, and our Helu tribe is leading the charge."

"Secondly, there are mounted archers providing cover from behind."

"The second echelon consists of heavy cavalry charging forward, followed by various types of cavalry entering the city to fight. They are protected by shield-bearing cavalry."

...

He Lu spoke with great enthusiasm, spittle flying everywhere.

"My brave Turkic warriors, we suffered such a crushing defeat before because our intelligence was flawed. Now, I will only lead you forward to slaughter all the scum of the Xiao Kingdom, those worthless two-legged sheep!"

When He Lu was mobilizing, he kept talking sarcasticly to Ashina.

Moreover, Ashina and his group were always at the very end of the line.

The people of the Ashina tribe were filled with righteous indignation!

Ashina said, "Alright, what are you all so upset about... He who laughs last laughs best! I'm telling you right now, with Helu's personality, there will be times when he can't laugh anymore."

"Father Khan, what if... If he conquers it smoothly all the way, the most difficult place is actually Yanbei City. After breaking through Yanbei City, the road will be unobstructed..." Mos Ashina asked worriedly.

Ashina waved his hand with a smile: "Don't worry. Master Qianlong said that we couldn't conquer Xiao Kingdom without his help. This means that Helu can't conquer it without our help either..."

While the Ashina tribe was whispering amongst themselves, the Turkic army set off.

Under He Lu's command, they launched an orderly attack, sending out their entire force and leaving no one behind in the camp.

...

On the city walls of Yanbei, there were the captured Turks who were left behind.

They were leaning against the city wall at this moment.

Thanks to the medicine left by Han Da, their injuries have mostly healed.

These days, they just eat and sleep here, and rest here when they sleep.

"Do you think they've attacked yet?"

"Sooner or later. I'm getting so bored I could fart."

"It'll be soon. But this incident really shows that those Turkic leaders are all talk and no action... but when it comes to a real fight, they're no match for them."

"That's right. In fact, over the years, our Turkic cavalry has been spoiled by those surrenderers from the northern deserts. We Turkic cavalry think we're very fierce, but in recent years, we haven't really fought a war in the true sense..."

“That’s right. Now the King of the Northern Desert is leading a formidable army, and I have a feeling they are no match for him. What do you all think?”

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'? Damn it... that bastard Ashina treated us like animals. We risked our lives for him, and he wanted to kill us. So I went and killed the Xiao people. Besides, I've heard a lot about their Northern Desert King. This Northern Desert King is very powerful. Maybe things will be good if we follow him."

The group nodded in approval.

Just as these people were chatting idly, a Turk shouted, "People are coming...people are coming...this time they're serious!"

As they spoke, they all poked their heads out from the battlements.

Immediately afterwards, he poked his head out onto the battlements and looked out.

All they could see was a dark mass.

"Judging from their posture, they really have come out in full force."

What should we do now?

"Are you all stupid? You still want to fight them? Didn't General Han Da tell us before he left that we should hide in the tunnels they dug?"

"withdraw?"

The group said, "Let's all prepare to retreat, and then go and prepare seven days' worth of food and water!"

As they spoke, the people on the city wall gradually descended.

After a while.

He Lu led his army to a place a few miles outside Yanbei City.

On the walls of Yanbei, helmets were visible, but no one was in sight.

The city gates of Yanbei City were wide open, and there were a few people sweeping the floor there.

Now there isn't even a sweeper left.

The city was eerily quiet, like a dead city.

He Lu looked around for a while, then asked Ashina, who was standing to the side, "Ashina, do you think this is an empty city?"

Ashina said to Helu, "That's right, I've always felt it was an empty city from the beginning until now."

After hearing this, He Lu's disdainful expression deepened: "Didn't you come here to investigate before? If it's an empty city, why didn't you come and occupy it?"

Ashina said to Helu, "Aren't you the current commander-in-chief? Everything has to be done your way... My word doesn't count!"

Ashina said that simply to save face...

After all, now we're just going with the flow and following He Lu's lead.

That means he was really wrong before.

He was gambling; what if it really was an empty city? Then it would prove He Lu wrong for letting the Northern Desert army escape, and the blame would ultimately fall on him, since he had been saying all along that the city might be deserted.

After all, the four powerful clans' prefectural governors kept writing to him, telling him about the retreat route of the Northern Desert Army.

At first, Ashina didn't quite believe it, but over time, he became more and more skeptical.

He said that, but he was worried. He wasn't sure if Yanbei City was actually a ghost town.

Helu smiled at Ashina and said, "You'll soon find out that all your rubbish intelligence is completely inaccurate. The four prefectures of Mobei have already changed. Ashina, your old methods won't work at all. Now, to deal with these scumbags of the Xiao Kingdom, we'll crush them with our hooves!"

"My warriors, charge! Now that they've opened the city gates, intending to ambush us from inside, it saves us a lot of trouble..."

"Assault team, seize the high ground first upon entering the city..."

He Lu directed the operation for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, and then immediately shouted for an attack.

The entire group, in a large and highly vigilant manner, rushed forward...

At this moment, two people were standing on a small, high earthen slope.

One of these two people was Xiao Ce, and the other was Yan Jia.

"Your Highness, what if they enter the city and find it to be an empty city?"

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "They will definitely be furious and send a large army to chase after us! They will leave behind a small force, or even no garrison. After all, their homeland is right behind us, and they will never expect that their stronghold has been raided!"

Yan Jia laughed and said, "Your Highness, I am truly impressed!"