Chapter 395

A sentry stood leaning against a thick tree trunk, gazing out toward the front.

The view here was excellent, and the weather was fine; from this spot, one could see far ahead.

Suddenly, he straightened his body, and his expression grew tense.

He saw dust and smoke rising in the distance, which usually signaled cavalry passing by.

Indeed, after a while, black dots could be faintly seen appearing.

Due to the distance, it was impossible to make out what these black dots were.

But based on experience, it could be basically confirmed that cavalry was approaching.

A large unit of cavalry arriving at such a time was most likely imperial troops!

"Come quickly, there is cavalry ahead!" the sentry in the tree shouted.

Several nearby sentries who were resting immediately climbed to higher ground to look forward.

Soon, the black dots drew closer and closer.

At this moment, it was clear that what was coming was cavalry, and judging by the color of their clothes, they were official forces!

"Quick, return and report to the Grand General!"

The sentry squad leader shouted immediately.

On a small hilltop, General Meng Tian was resting in a large tent.

When he received word that imperial cavalry had appeared at the foot of the mountain, he was immediately startled.

Only a few days ago, the final ultimatum had just been issued; why had the imperial government sent troops so quickly?

In a state of shock and anger, General Meng Tian summoned Feng Qiji and the others and told them that the imperial government had dispatched an army.

"Since they have sent cavalry, infantry units will follow behind."

"This shows they have rejected our proposal and are prepared to fight us to the death!"

General Meng Tian said.

"Do they really dare to come? Then we will fight out and kill all the people of Great Qin!" Wei Pao shouted with red eyes.

"There is no other way; we must proceed according to the worst-case scenario!"

"If we cannot live well, then Young Master Ying Su must not live well either!"

The crowd was filled with indignation, all expressing their determination to fight Young Master Ying Su to the bitter end.

After the voices of the crowd subsided somewhat, Feng Qiji said, "General Meng, you must make a decision."

General Meng Tian frowned and remained silent.

After Feng Qiji urged him several times, General Meng Tian finally spoke: "Let us wait and see first."

"Wait and see? Their cavalry is already charging; if we do not make a decision now, it will be too late!" Feng Qiji grew anxious.

"Huashan is so steep that cavalry cannot be effective. They will not attack; their goal is to seize advantageous terrain and then confront us at Huashan."

"So there is no danger for now; we still have time to deliberate."

General Meng Tian said.

Hearing him say this, the others finally realized the situation.

Yes, cavalry is suited for plains; in mountain warfare, cavalry is practically useless.

Therefore, even if the imperial government intends to launch an attack, it will be carried out by the infantry behind them.

And since this mountain has complex terrain that is easy to defend but hard to attack, the imperial government will not easily launch an offensive.

On the contrary, they actually hope the imperial government attacks immediately, so they can rely on the advantageous terrain to inflict heavy losses on the enemy.

"If they do not attack, then what exactly do they intend to do?" Young Master Lu asked.

"What I fear is that they will station themselves outside, which will put us in a difficult position," General Meng Tian said.

"This mountain is so large; can they really block us in?" Young Master Lu did not believe it.

General Meng Tian said nothing more.

His expression was solemn, and his heart was filled with immense worry.

Now he regretted retreating to defend Huashan.

If fighting a normal opponent, retreating to defend Huashan would have been a very correct decision.

But the problem is that the opponent is Young Master Ying Su, the entire Great Qin!

The area surrounding Huashan is all territory of Great Qin; if Young Master Ying Su wished, he could summon troops from various places to completely encircle the entire Huashan!

Of course, if Young Master Ying Su did this, it would consume a very large portion of Great Qin's national strength.

But given Young Master Ying Su's ruthlessness, such a thing was truly possible.

In that case, their army of nearly a million would be sacrificed at Huashan!

Seeing that General Meng Tian remained silent, the others began to discuss among themselves.

The majority opinion was to launch an immediate counterattack while the imperial troops had just arrived and were not yet firmly established, then break out from the front.

But General Meng Tian shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this and did not agree with such a plan.

He believed the risk of doing so was too great.

If things went wrong, the entire army could be wiped out.

Just as the crowd was discussing strategies, scouts from the front continuously reported back news.

The two main roads leading away from Huashan had already been blocked by imperial troops.

At this moment, Feng Qiji gave General Meng Tian a glance, then rose and walked toward the rear courtyard.

After a while, General Meng Tian also came to the rear courtyard.

"General Meng, is the current situation very difficult?" Feng Qiji asked directly.

"I will not hide it from you; it is extremely difficult now!" General Meng Tian sighed.

"But a few days ago you said we could at least shatter our jade together; why is there no way now?" Feng Qiji asked.

"Shattering the jade is only used to threaten Ying Su; this approach brings us not the slightest benefit."

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"Now that the threat has not worked, we must think of other countermeasures."

General Meng Tian said.

"General, from the very beginning you never truly intended to shatter the jade?" Feng Qiji asked.

"Then do you truly want to shatter the jade?" General Meng Tian countered.

Feng Qiji heard this and fell silent.

If good days could be lived, who would want to perish together with the enemy?

Let alone that perishing together is impossible; it can only inflict a certain blow upon Ying Su.

"If you want to shatter the jade, it is simple: we all rush out and kill anyone we see until we are all killed!"

"But now with a massive army pressing at the border, I fear we cannot rush out; we can only fight the imperial troops head-on."

General Meng Tian said.

"Cannot we avoid them and leave from elsewhere?" Feng Qiji asked again.

"If it were only us leaving, it could be done, but what about the nearly one million strong army?"

"With so many people, as soon as they move, the imperial troops will discover us immediately; at that time we can only fight them head-on."

General Meng Tian said.

"Think of a way; we cannot simply do nothing, can we?" Feng Qiji said.

"Let me think... First, have them disperse; such matters cannot be thought up in a short while." General Meng Tian said.

Feng Qiji sighed, shook his head, and returned alone to the main tent.

Seeing him and General Meng Tian leave but him return alone, everyone asked where General Meng Tian had gone.

"General Meng wishes to be alone to quiet his mind; only then is it conducive to devising a countermeasure." Feng Qiji explained.

"What is there to think about? We simply leave Huashan immediately as previously agreed, then avoid Li Yuanba and attack other places!"

"I don't believe it; can Li Yuanba alone trap our thousands of soldiers?"

Wei Pao said.

"But they have not only Li Yuanba." Feng Qiji said.

"Their total strength is less than ours; why should we fear them?" another person said.

"But Li Yuanba alone is worth hundreds of thousands of soldiers!" Feng Qiji added.

"What use is one man? Did Wei Pao not say that Li Yuanba alone cannot trap so many of us?" someone asked.

"He cannot trap us, but as long as he stands on the road, must we not voluntarily present ourselves at his door? There are only two main roads leaving here, and we do not know where Li Yuanba is." Feng Qiji said.