The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

The three slid down the mound, where Zhu Yao was struggling to control the four horses below, preventing them from neighing.

"Brother Chengye, how's it going up there?"

Zhu Yao handed the reins to Li Chengye, Liu Ye, and Han Sanhu respectively, and asked them questions.

A Mongolian dappled horse with a long mane and mottled coat snorted excitedly when it saw Li Chengye.

The horse was found at Zhao Shouren's house. Master Qin said it had good teeth and was seven feet tall at the shoulder, making it suitable as a warhorse. However, it was used to pull carts all the way out of the village.

Yesterday, after listening to Liu Ye's advice to form a horse team, it became Li Chengye's mount.

"At this rate, they probably won't reach Yijun today," Li Chengye replied.

Zhu Yao was somewhat discouraged after hearing this.

"These government troops, with the word 'government' in their names, really do seem like daughters of high-ranking officials, walking so slowly."

Han Sanhu, standing next to him, nodded in deep agreement.

After yesterday's military conference, everyone in Yijun City was eager to teach these government troops a lesson, but they waited and waited and the troops never came.

It wasn't until the cavalry scouts reported that the government troops had traveled ten miles past Kuquanpu and then set up camp.

Everyone had no choice but to return to their respective camps.

This morning, Li Chengye wanted to see the real situation, so he volunteered to do the investigation.

He led Liu Ye and his men on a long detour through the ravines of northern Shaanxi to observe the flank of the government troops.

But what they saw was similar to what Wang Erma's scouts had seen.

Upon seeing this, Li Chengye couldn't help but think of a possibility: Could it be that the government troops knew that Wang Er was gathering a large force in Yijun and was waiting in full battle, so they deliberately slowed down their pace to discourage them?

Li Chengye told Liu Ye about this idea.

Liu Ye pondered for a moment, first nodding, then shaking his head.

"General Li, even if the government troops' cavalry reach the walls of Yijun City, they won't know that Chief Wang is waiting for them. Why would they deliberately slow down their march?"

"I think they seem to be waiting for someone."

These words suddenly enlightened Li Chengye:

"You mean this group of government troops is only a part of the army, and there may be a large contingent of government troops that have not yet arrived to join them, so this group of government troops is moving slowly because they are waiting for friendly forces."

"Possibly." Liu Ye nodded.

"Let's go back to Yijun and tell Wang Er about this."

The four men mounted their horses and galloped towards Yijun City.

When they arrived at Yijun City, Wang Er was standing on the south gate, gazing into the distance.

Li Chengye told Wang Er what he had discovered, and Wang Er frowned as he listened.

He also thought that what Li Chengye said was not impossible, but where was the main force of the government troops?

So he ordered his cavalry to expand the search area, making sure they could search within 30 li outside Yijun City.

In the afternoon, the various cavalry squads returned to report that they had not found any other government troops.

Just as Wang Er was wondering if Li Chengye's analysis was wrong, Zhang Shixiong's garrison troops began to appear in the sight of the people on the city wall.

The garrison troops, who had been somewhat sluggish, began to move more quickly upon seeing Yijun City.

Zhang Shixiong saw that there were two or three bandit soldiers behind each battlement on the city wall of Yijun. Although they were flustered by his presence, they remained at their posts. He knew that the internal strife among the bandits had long since ended.

"Men, set up camp. That's all for today."

The soldiers responded in unison, then untied the vehicles and pulled out tents, deer antlers, and other such items.

Wang Er had originally decided to go out of the city to meet the attack and catch the government army off guard, but Zhong Huaidao and others advised him to stay with his back to the city wall the next day and wait for the government army to attack.

Wang Er agreed.

But the reason wasn't that he had to fight with his back to the wall, but rather that many of his men suffered from nymphalopia.

Night blindness, a disease of the poor, causes the person to lose their sight as soon as it gets dark.

The government troops only arrived at Yijun's border in the afternoon. If they were to launch a preemptive attack, it would probably be dark by the time they had assembled their troops and reached the government troops' lines.

How can we fight a war like this?

Let's leave it at that and let these government troops rest for the night.

Li Chengye had been keeping an eye on the government troops ever since they arrived at the city of Yijun.

Although the garrison troops looked sluggish on the march, apart from six or seven hundred soldiers who looked capable, the rest were mostly old and weak, giving them a somewhat unkempt appearance.

But these people set up camp in an orderly manner.

First, they drew the boundary line, placed deer antlers, then dug trenches. The excavated soil was piled up inside the trenches to form a low earthen wall. Then, every thirty meters or so along the outer edge of the camp, they placed a large pile of firewood.

As darkness fell, the campfire was lit, illuminating the area outside the camp.

Moreover, throughout the entire construction of the camp, there were always about three hundred people wearing armor and carrying weapons on guard.

It's hard to say about the quality of the troops, but the leader is definitely a veteran who acts with great discipline.

That evening, Wang Er convened another military meeting, declaring that the entire army would be mobilized early the next morning to annihilate the government troops.

Li Chengye had no objection to this, since everyone had already agreed to it yesterday.

Wang Er simply instructed him to stay in the city and prepare for the next mission.

This puzzled him a little.

"What's so hard to understand?" Master Qin tapped his pipe. "If he wins, all the spoils from the government troops will naturally belong to him; if he loses, do you think he'll even return to Yijun City?"

Qin Ye's analysis made Li Chengye nod in agreement.

"So we're just going to wait like this?"

Yang Chongwang, who was listening nearby, was somewhat indignant: "If they win, it won't affect us at all, but if they lose, we'll be the ones taking the fall for them in the city."

Looking at Yang Chongwang's indignant face, Li Chengye remained silent for a moment, then smiled.

"Brother Yang, Master Qin, Wang Er's arrangement is actually a good thing."

"Good news?" Yang Chongwang's eyes widened.

"He told us to stay behind because he doesn't trust us, he's afraid we'll steal the credit, and he's also afraid we'll stab him in the back." Li Chengye's tone was unusually calm. "But on the other hand, he took his most trusted veterans and capable leaders out of the city, so for the time being...aren't we the ones in charge here?"

Qin Ye paused in his smoking, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

"You mean...?"

"Of course I hope Wang Er can win, but judging from the way the garrison troops are encamped, the commander of the thousand men doesn't seem like an incompetent general. Although Wang Er has a lot of men, only a few hundred in the old camp can truly be united. The rest, like Black Scorpion, all have their own agendas and may not be reliable in crucial moments. Luo Dai is a capable fighter, but Wang Er may not feel comfortable using him."

He paused, then said, "There are too many variables in this battle."

"So what do we do now?" Yang Chongwang asked.

"Tomorrow, as soon as Wang Er leaves the city, Master Qin, you should take your men and gather all the livestock in the city, harness them to carts, and load them with whatever you can carry. Also, Brother Yang, didn't you find a batch of unused muskets in the armory? Take them all, and make sure you get all the gunpowder."

"As long as we are prepared, we have nothing to fear from any unexpected events."

Li Chengye made careful arrangements, and Yang Chongwang had no objections. However, Master Qin began to have some doubts.

"Chengye, what do you think would happen if Wang Er won and saw us doing this...?"

"That's alright. We'll just say we're going to help him because we can't break through his defenses. If Wang Er is a smart man, he'll see through it but won't say anything, and will find a way to settle things privately. We'll talk about it then."