My Cultivation Starting from Archery

"Fled?"

Gong Yu furrowed his brows, "Haven't they just set up camp in the past few days? They've just stabilized and now they're withdrawing. Could it be that someone leaked information to them? No, that's not right. Even we didn't know in advance, so it wouldn't have been possible."

"It must have been Tong Xiaochu who realized something."

Zhong Wuxin said gravely, "As the saying goes, 'It's never too late to mend the fold after the sheep have been lost.'

"This is not the doing of young Master Tong."

The situation went unexpectedly, but Han Xiang was neither annoyed nor angry. Instead, his eyes sparkled with excitement: "The real player has finally arrived."

"A player?"

Zhong Wuxin asked, "Immortal Master, are you suggesting Chen Sansi? Has he come?"

"Impossible."

Gong Yu stated confidently, "According to the information we've received, the Sheng court is worried that Chen Sansi's meritorious service might overshadow the ruler. They haven't employed him this time. Currently, most of the Beiliang Army has been dispatched to the eastern front, yet Chen Sansi and his Hongze Camp are still stationed within Liangzhou."

"You know,"

Han Xiang looked in the direction of the distant fires, his tone as if he controlled everything, "when a powerful player finds an exquisite game waiting for him, he will sit down no matter what. Especially when he sees a mediocrity currently occupying the position."

"Immortal Master, it's good news that Chen Sansi isn't coming," Zhong Wuxin hurriedly stated. "The urgent task right now is for us to pursue our victories. Immortal Master, please give your orders."

"This time."

Han Xiang, with hands behind his back and strolling leisurely, said, "Although the young Master Tong was abruptly awakened by Chen Sansi's reminder and promptly withdrew most of his troops, they didn't have time to remove their supplies and provisions.

"In their hasty retreat, they will definitely try to set up an ambush to obstruct the pursuing forces, and the location of the ambush will be at Yellow Wind Ridge on Jingxing Road.

"Zhong Wuxin, you lead the light cavalry to skirt around to the rear of Yellow Wind Ridge and attack from the east as soon as you see the fire.

"After this.

"General Tong has been defeated twice in a row.

"Tong Xiaochu will certainly be desperate to stabilize the situation. Hence, he will retreat another two hundred li to the east, trying to regroup at Lishi Prefecture fortified by a moat. The city's defender Yue Biao has a son, a top-grade Wood Spirit Root, whom I have already taken as a disciple. Yue Biao's hesitation in defecting to us was because he thought General Tong would prevail. Now that he has seen Tong Xiaochu beaten, he will definitely defect immediately."

"Lishi Prefecture is impenetrable.

"Tong Xiaochu will then have to turn to the nearby Shanhua Prefecture.

"But by this point, having been defeated three times, young Master Tong is certainly out of his wits. Zhong Wuxin, you merely need to take a detachment to take a shortcut and appear fifty li outside Shanhua Prefecture, boldly flying the flag of Da Xu. He will be utterly terrified and continue to flee along the roads."

"All the way to Cloud Top Prefecture, where they will barely hold on with additional reinforcements and natural defenses."

"By then."

"He will have retreated a thousand li, losing a hundred thousand troops."

As he spoke,

he predicted everything that would happen in the next two months, as if the opponent would definitely act according to his plan.

"Yes, I'll go arrange it now."

Zhong Wuxin did not dare question him, and even if he did, it would be useless. He could only follow the instructions to the letter.

...

Jingxing Road.

Two days ago.

Two hundred thousand General Tong's troops began their retreat, a massive formation that from a distance appeared endless, spanning from heaven to earth.

Qu Yuanxiang, sitting on horseback, tossed aside liquor found by the soldiers and started cursing.

Wang Jun, meanwhile, occasionally flew up high to scout, watching to see if Nan Xu had dispatched cultivators to pursue them.

"General Tong."

Teng Le looked back at the wildfire that had burned for two days and nights without stopping and was still spreading. With a shiver, he said, "Fortunate are we that you ordered the retreat a day earlier. Otherwise, the eight hundred li of continuous camps and two hundred thousand troops might have all turned to ash. I just don't know why General Tong suddenly changed his mind?"

"This—"

Tong Xiaochu pretended to be calm and said, "That night, while watching the candle flame, a flash of insight led me to guess that the enemy might employ a fire attack, thus I ordered the retreat."

"Thank goodness General Tong reacts swiftly, thwarting the 'Soldier Immortal's' schemes. It seems this so-called 'Soldier Immortal' is nothing much after all!"

Teng Le inquired further, "General Tong, what should we do next?"

"First, we pull back, find a place to regroup and resupply,"

Tong Xiaochu ordered, "Also, I'm sure that the Soldier Immortal Han Xiang will try to capitalize on his victory, so send a detachment to Yellow Wind Ridge to set an ambush. We're bound to reap some gains!"

"Yes!"

Teng Le received the order and left.

"..."

Tong Xiaochu secretly wiped the cold sweat from his palms on the horse's mane.

That Han Xiang, using the intense heat of the Heavenly Phenomenon, had feigned retreat as an advance, step by step luring them to the Yiling Region, forcing them to encamp in the wilderness. Then he created the false impression of a shrinking turtle, making them underestimate the enemy.

If it weren't for a letter from Chen Sansi,

he feared...

he and his two hundred thousand troops would have all been buried in Yiling!

Commanding large armies in battle

is truly not an easy task.

Only now

did Tong Xiaochu truly understand what the phrase "incompetence of a general costs the lives of countless subordinates" really meant. As a Commander, any minor mistake could cost innumerable lives of his subordinates.

This pressure,

was like a mountain!

Luckily, having escaped the great fire of Yiling, there would be no large-scale collapse for the time being, and he could settle down to properly contend with that Soldier Immortal Han Xiang.

Twenty days later.

Capital City.

Zhongjue Hall.

"Report—"

"Urgent report—"