To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 869: Chapter 369: The Fall of Ning Camp_2

“I obey the command.”

Cui Hao stepped out, received the order token, and immediately called the leading generals of the first five camps to go out and prepare.

The other Central Army generals, seeing this, also excused themselves one after another and went back to their own camps to gather their soldiers.

Bai Yian looked at the retreating figures of his many subordinates quietly nodding to himself.

The Central Army of the Ning had fifty thousand men, divided into twenty camps, each with two thousand five hundred soldiers.

These troops were all personally trained by Bai Yian, and their officers at all levels had been handpicked by him.

...

He was confident in his subordinates whom he had personally trained and believed that these reliable men would not let him down.

“All units of the rear camp, heed my command!”

Having arranged the Central Army, Bai Yian issued orders to the last group.

“We await your command.”

In the hall, only a few of the rear camp’s leading officers remained standing.

“You are to return to your camps immediately, organize all supplies, prepare food and fodder, and make arrangements for the transport of the wounded. Once I lead the Central Army out, your rear camp will follow behind to ensure the secure supply for our main force,”

instructed Bai Yian.

“Yes!”

The rear camp officers replied respectfully as they accepted the command.

The rear camp of the Ning Army had twenty thousand men, divided into four camps.

The first was the Wounded Soldiers Camp with over three thousand men, all of whom were convalescing and had no combat capability, being merely a burden.

The second was the Train Guard Camp with eight thousand men, responsible for the safeguarding of the army’s food and fodder, weapons, medicines, and various other supplies.

The third was the Cooks Camp with over a thousand men, dedicated to preparing meals for the hundred thousand strong army.

The fourth was the Auxiliary Soldiers Camp with over seven thousand men, in charge of handling miscellaneous duties, logistics, and running errands for the main force.

While numerous, these four camps’ combat strength was low.

They were called soldiers but in quality only matched that of prefectures and counties soldiers, not fit for significant use. Thus, Bai Yian had no intention of using them in tough battles; all that was required was to ensure the logistics for the main army.

The rear camp’s officers also left swiftly.

“I hope I can successfully break through this time and retreat safely to Yuzhang with the army.”

Standing alone in the vast council hall with all the ministers dispersed and Shen Qiu already taken away to see the royal physician, Bai Yian stood still, reviewing all the orders he had just given, eventually letting out a breath and sighing quietly.

Facing the crisis of being surrounded by the Chu army with cut off retreat paths at Yuzhang, the pressure in Bai Yian’s heart was far from light, as it seemed on the surface.

With tens of thousands of enemies about to strike, and himself trapped in a tight siege with shortages of food and fodder and supplies, the situation had escalated to extremely dangerous levels.

A little mistake could lead to the collapse of the great army and the ruin of the country and family.

Carrying heavy responsibilities, Bai Yian naturally trembled with caution, not daring to slack off at all.

“The Chu army is rampant and difficult to control; they’ve already swept through Jiangnan. But I swear by the name of my ancestor, the Wuan Marquis, as long as I’m here, the Chu bandits will never dream of destroying our country or extinguishing Jiangdong.”

After meditating briefly and calming his mind, Bai Yian opened his eyes, muttered to himself, and firmed his resolve.

He then stepped out of the hall and rushed toward the drill ground.

The military order had been given, and the Central Army vanguard led by Cui Hao had already departed from the camp for a while.

The rest of the Central Army units had also consumed the meals prepared by the rear camp and were now assembled and ready. It was time for him to depart.

The journey ahead was fraught with danger, but he was determined to smooth over the fierce enemies and succeed upon arrival.

Bai Yian was on his way.

At the same time, the entire Ning Army Jiangxia main camp of one hundred thousand men in the front, middle, and rear camps was moving quickly at his command.

—————–

The movements of the Ning Army were soon noticed by Lu Yuan, who had been keeping watch from outside.

After all, the deployment of one hundred thousand men was a significant operation, making an enormous amount of noise that was impossible to conceal.

Moreover, Lu Yuan had previously spread tens of thousands of cavalry soldiers as spies around the Ning Army camp. Any slight abnormality from the Ning Army could not escape the scrutiny of these tens of thousands of eyes.

“The Ning people have received news, realizing something is amiss behind them, recognizing their precarious situation, and wanting to escape,” deduced Lu Yuan.

With reports from various scouting cavalry units not requiring much intelligence, Lu Yuan understood the Ning Army’s intentions.

Given the current situation of the Ning Army, if Shen Qiu’s brain was not impaired, he would realize that breaking out with his army and fleeing were his only ways of life.

Although aware of the Ning Army’s desire to escape, Lu Yuan was not overly worried.

By now, he had deployed his forces. The Ning Army led by Shen Qiu was surrounded on all four sides: front, back, south, and north, by strong forces, effectively sealing off the Ning people’s escape routes completely.

Now that Shen Qiu realized something was wrong and wanted to escape for his life,

But Lu Yuan’s ‘slay the dragon’ strategy was already in place; could this trapped dragon simply walk away?

While there were examples from past to present of dragons rising to the heavens from desperate straits and seeking survival,

Shen Qiu was certainly not the protagonist of those stories.

The hundred thousand strong Ning Army, this large dragon, was firmly in Lu Yuan’s grasp.

“Order all units to march out of the city immediately. I will personally take to the field and fiercely attack the Ning Army Camp. I want to break the camp today,”

Lu Yuan immediately summoned the generals within the city and issued the order to go into battle.

After the generals left to prepare, he issued several more military orders in succession.

Order the cavalry units near the Ning Army to immediately abandon the Ning Army camp, assemble into teams, and turn to harass the Ning forces escaping eastward; to slow their pace and buy time for the approaching armies from all around.

Order the troops under Han Hua at Luo Kou Du to head south from the ferry crossing and intercept the Ning Army on their retreat at the main routes, and try to block the enemy.

If it’s difficult to stop them, follow them along the way, harassing them and waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

Order the troops under Sun Siwen on the southern front to abandon their approach to Jiangxia and reverse direction, heading straight for the border of Yuzhang Prefecture in Ning Country at Yongxing and Ruichang, to establish a defensive line there and block the Ning Army from returning to their homeland.

Regarding Huang Xuan’s route, Lu Yuan communicated with his avatars to understand that these troops had just arrived at the south of Nanchang City in Yuzhang Prefecture.