“Brothers, withdraw and return to the city!”
Cleaning up the battlefield with thousands of Tuman soldiers would take some effort.
Fortunately, these were the elite of the Tuman faction, well-equipped.
The Death Camp suffered significant losses in this battle, shrinking from a force of seven hundred to three hundred.
However, under Ye Chen’s leadership, they achieved a great victory. Not a single person in the army voiced any complaints.
Ye Chen returned to Yunzhou City with the remaining three hundred soldiers from the Death Camp, the elite equipment of the Tuman faction, and several dozen fine warhorses.
The officer who had previously assigned Ye Chen was dumbfounded. He had never imagined that this Seventh Prince could be so formidable.
The Tuman faction had not invaded for a long time, but their past encounters with the Great Chu soldiers were always disastrous, with a ratio of one enemy soldier to two Chu soldiers. Never before had there been a situation like today’s!
Ye Chen, leading seven hundred Death Camp soldiers against a thousand Tuman troops, had annihilated the enemy with only four hundred men!
Any general of the Great Chu would probably not dare to claim such a feat!
In the main general’s tent, the deputy general rushed in with excitement and reported to An Lushui, “General, a great victory! A great victory!”
An Lushui, who was in the middle of writing a letter, stopped and looked at the deputy general in disbelief.
“A great victory?”
The deputy general continued, “Yes, the Seventh Prince led seven hundred men against a thousand Tuman soldiers and achieved a total victory at the cost of only four hundred men!”
“What?!”
An Lushui stood up in shock and asked again, “What about the Seventh Prince?”
Hearing An Lushui ask about Ye Chen, the deputy general was even more pleased and slightly proud as he said, “The Seventh Prince was incredibly brave. He broke through the Tuman encirclement alone and even killed the Tuman general Hadogul, avenging you, General!”
When An Lushui heard that Ye Chen had killed Hadogul, his face flushed with anger.
“Hmph!”
An Lushui snorted coldly, then broke his brush in frustration. The deputy general, noticing the general’s displeasure, slowly exited the tent.
Three years ago, when An Lushui first arrived in Yunzhou, he had faced Hadogul directly. Unfortunately, he was outmatched and lost his horse, barely escaping with his life.
That battle was considered a foundational event for An Lushui’s defense of Yunzhou. The entire Yunzhou garrison had paid close attention, but An Lushui had suffered a crushing defeat, severely damaging his reputation in the army.
As a result, An Lushui did not fully control the Yunzhou garrison.
Now, with Ye Chen killing Hadogul under heavy encirclement, it was a direct slap in An Lushui’s face.
An Lushui immediately returned to his desk and burned the original letter.
On the burning letter, the words “Ye Chen,” “Death Camp,” and “great battle” were faintly visible.
With a troubled heart, An Lushui rewrote the letter.
Meanwhile, Ye Chen returned to the Death Camp. Despite the heavy losses, the local losses were even greater, and the Death Camp was filled with laughter and joy.
Generals from the vanguard camp, middle camp, and rear camp all came to celebrate Ye Chen’s victory.
“The Seventh Prince is unparalleled in bravery. Truly worthy of being a prince of the Great Chu!”
“His Highness the Seventh Prince is a dragon son, shining wherever he goes!”
“General Ye Chen, congratulations on your first great victory!”
…
Even the officer who had initially assigned Ye Chen and the deputy general came to congratulate him.
The military personnel were straightforward, and after several rounds of drinks, Ye Chen asked the deputy general about the commander of Yunzhou City.
“Deputy General Guo, I would like to know more about the commander of Yunzhou City.”
The deputy general, named Guo Chengyun, a native of Yunzhou who had been serving as the deputy general for ten years, responded, “Your Highness, the commander An Lushui was appointed by the court three years ago. At that time…”
After hearing Guo Chengyun’s account of An Lushui’s actions over the past three years, Ye Chen could only nod and then left alone.
Ye Chen pondered for a long time but could not find a reason for An Lushui’s hostility towards him.
If An Lushui were a smart person, that would indeed be the case. Despite his initial defeat, he had managed to defend Yunzhou without letting the Tartars breach the city.
But why did he have such hostility towards this prince?
Ye Chen was puzzled.
In his previous life, he had been weak for twenty years, without any real allies or enemies in the court. Why was An Lushui targeting him?
【System detected the host’s outstanding achievements and trouble from the issue, enabling query function】
The system reminded Ye Chen that he could now access the new function.
An Lushui was the commander of Yunzhou City, and Ye Chen had to follow his orders both publicly and privately.
Ye Chen’s future fate was in An Lushui’s hands.
But Ye Chen did not like such an uncertain fate.
If there was a misunderstanding with An Lushui, it needed to be resolved as soon as possible. If there was a deeper issue, plans needed to be made early.
“Query An Lushui’s background.”
【Querying An Lushui’s background will cost 500 points】
Ye Chen looked at his current 2000 points and decided to proceed with the query.
【Name: An Lushui
Age: 45
Attributes: Strength 6, Root Bone 5, Agility 3
Background: Served as the commander of the palace guards in Yucheng Palace in his youth, appointed as deputy general of Cangzhou garrison at thirty, and promoted to commander of Yunzhou garrison at forty-two by Minister Liu】
Ye Chen realized after reading An Lushui’s background.
Yucheng Palace was the residence of the Third Prince, and Minister Liu was the elder brother of the Third Prince’s mother, the Concubine Liu, who was also the Minister of War!
Ye Chen’s eyes narrowed, revealing a trace of killing intent: “So it turns out that my dear Third Brother wants to put me to death. In that case, I will not hold back!”
Ye Chen had never been someone who suffered losses without retaliation. From the moment An Lushui arranged for him to be in the Death Camp, he felt something was off.
Now that the relationship between the two was clear, Ye Chen would start preparing!
In the center of the Death Camp, a large bonfire was burning, and everyone, whether soldiers or generals, was celebrating the victory.
When Ye Chen arrived, everyone looked at him, and he spoke, “In this battle, we have captured fifty Tuman warhorses.”
Several generals’ eyes lit up at the mention of warhorses. The horses from the grasslands were different from those of the Great Chu!
Ye Chen noticed their reactions and thought to himself that he had secured their favor.
“Among them, there are six fine horses. Besides myself, I intend to distribute them to four of the generals and Deputy General Guo.”
After Ye Chen’s announcement, the four generals were overjoyed and clasped their fists in thanks, “Thank you, Your Highness!”
Deputy General Guo was also sincerely grateful and could only nod in acceptance of Ye Chen’s gift.
“Old Huang, take the generals to pick the horses.”
After giving the order, Old Huang took the generals away.
The soldiers of the Death Camp, following Ye Chen’s instructions, returned to their tents to rest.
After today’s fierce battle and subsequent celebration, many soldiers were already falling asleep as the camp dispersed.
Ye Chen’s gift of warhorses to the generals was also a preparation for future actions.
As for now…
Ye Chen smiled slightly. It was time to check the rewards from the system for this battle!
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