Chapter 151

Afterward, Su Xuan immediately summoned his civil and military officials to discuss and formulate a battle plan.

And immediately sent Gao Shun to Deng County to replace Xia Xia Houlan, who was on rotation, to take control of the Deng County county soldiers.

Of course, Xia Xia Houlan was also in Deng County at this time as Gao Shun's deputy general, guarding the city together.

"Very good!"

Su Xuan nodded with satisfaction upon hearing this.

This was the first time since the establishment of his main army and the General Staff that he had truly formulated a combat plan and mobilized troops for war.

So far, everything was very much to his satisfaction.

"However, this Zhao Ci is truly a madman. To actually dare to raise an army in rebellion against the Han, and to attack Nanyang of all places—where does he get the confidence that he can succeed?"

"Did he not consider his retreat route?"

Tian Feng asked, looking quite puzzled.

"Haha!"

Su Xuan chuckled upon hearing this. "Tian Yuanhao, the reason you think this way is because you do not understand Zhao Ci as a person, nor do you understand the grudge between him and Qin Jie!"

"Oh?"

Tian Feng became interested and couldn't help but ask, "I would like to hear the details!"

Xun You and Cheng Yu also turned their gazes toward Su Xuan.

In truth, they did not know much about Zhao Ci either.

Su Xuan then recounted the history of Zhao Ci during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the subsequent rewards, and the misunderstanding between Zhao Ci and Qin Jie.

"Ever since then, Zhao Ci has harbored a grudge against Qin Jie."

"All these years, he has been diligently training his troops and preparing, all for the sake of revenge!"

"This time, perhaps he saw rebellions erupting everywhere and felt that the great chaos of the Han had arrived, thinking his opportunity had come?"

"Combined with the fact that his mind is indeed not quite right, that is why he raised his army, I suppose?"

One could only say that Zhao Ci had a bit of petty cunning, but not much.

"Ha? So that is how it is?"

Xun You and the others were enlightened, but felt more speechless than anything else.

"What was Zhao Ci thinking? Was the matter of the rewards something Qin Jie could influence or control?"

"Did he not understand Qin Jie's influence after working with him for so many years?"

Cheng Yu said, looking speechless.

To encounter such a lunatic, one could only say Qin Jie was unlucky.

"Clearly, he did not understand it at all!"

Xun You shook his head. "People! Once they harbor a prejudice, they easily go to extremes!"

"Zhao Ci is clearly such a person."

Tian Feng also said, speechless. "To be promoted from a Commandant to the Jiangxia Commandant—that was clearly a major promotion. What else was he dissatisfied with?"

"Is the Jiangxia Commandant position really that bad?"

He completely failed to understand Zhao Ci's line of thinking.

"Hehe!"

Su Xuan teased with a smile, "Perhaps Zhao Ci liked Qin Jie and didn't want to be separated from him, and it was a case of love turning into hate?"

"Eww..."

Upon hearing this, Xun You and the others looked at Su Xuan with expressions of disgust and retorted:

"My lord! That line of thinking is unacceptable!"

"Your mind is corrupted by such thoughts!"

"I can no longer look at the matter of Zhao Ci and Qin Jie in a normal light!"

Whenever they thought about it, their minds couldn't help but veer in that direction.

Immediately, they all looked at Su Xuan with gloomy expressions. "My lord! Please refrain from making such jokes in the future! It is too sickening!"

"Haha!"

Seeing the depressed expressions of the three, Su Xuan couldn't help but look up and laugh, waving his hand. "Fine! I shall not make such jokes in the future!"

One day later,

In the Luoyang imperial palace, the Son of Heaven, Liu Hong, having received Su Xuan's memorial a day prior, received another urgent report from the south of Nanyang.

Upon learning that Zhao Ci had broken through Wancheng and beheaded the Prefect Qin Jie, he flew into a rage: "Presumptuous! Damnable! They truly deserve to die! How dare this Zhao Ci? How dare he do such a thing?"

"Has he forgotten that it was I who promoted and appointed him as the Jiangxia Commandant?"

"By what right does he dare to rebel against me?"

"Kill him! I want him killed!"

"And that Qin Jie is also a piece of trash. As the Nanyang Prefect, he couldn't even stop a mere Zhao Ci."

"He even let him break through Wancheng. A total piece of trash! Why was I so blind as to favor him and appoint him as the Nanyang Prefect?"

"If he weren't already dead, I would have killed him myself."

Liu Hong smashed things around the palace in his rage, then ordered Zhang Rang: "Draft an imperial decree for me immediately, ordering the General of the South, Su Xuan, to immediately dispatch troops to Nanyang and, at the fastest speed possible, retake Wancheng and exterminate that Zhao Ci."

"As you command!"

Zhang Rang immediately accepted the order.

At the same time, he was speechless in his heart.

Zhao Ci was indeed a lunatic.

You are a dignified Commandant, and one promoted by His Majesty at that—how could you be so foolish as to rebel against the Han?

The key is that you actually succeeded in taking Wancheng.

Should one say you are formidable, or that Qin Jie is a piece of trash?

That very day, the imperial decree was rushed to Nanjun.

One day later, Su Xuan received the Son of Heaven's decree.

He immediately ordered the main army to set out, crossing the Han River at the first opportunity, preparing to strike toward Wancheng.

"Report!"

At this moment, the Secret Guard sent an urgent report: "My lord! The rebel Zhao Ci has left 10, 00 troops to guard Wancheng, while he himself has led 40, 00 troops to strike toward Dengxian;"

"Oh?"

Su Xuan was slightly stunned upon hearing this news, then smiled lightly. "It seems this fellow still does not trust me. He intends to take Dengxian first, capture my parents, and then use them to threaten me or defeat me, I suppose!"

As he said this, a cold glint flashed in Su Xuan's eyes. He said coldly, "Tsk tsk! Quite an idea!" "Unfortunately, he is too arrogant!"

No one could use his parents to threaten him.

"Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun! Zhang He, Zhang Liao! Taishi Ci!"

Su Xuan immediately called out his generals.

"The general is here!"

"I order you five to lead your respective 6, 00 Black Armor troops and 3, 00 Brave Cavalry battalions, and at the fastest speed possible, bypass Dengxian and Xinye, and set an ambush at a suitable location between Xinye and Yuyang;"

"Once Zhao Ci's army arrives, you are to immediately launch a surprise attack, crush Zhao Ci's army, and capture or kill Zhao Ci. Do not fail!"

"As you command!"

Huang Zhong and the other four immediately accepted the order.

Guided by the Secret Guard, they took two days' worth of dry rations and set out at top speed toward Xinye.

"Old Dian Wei! Zhou Cang! Xun You!"

"The general is here!"

Old Dian Wei and Zhou Cang immediately stepped forward.

"I order you two to lead your 6, 00 Black Tortoise Battalion soldiers, with Xun You as the accompanying military strategist, to bypass Dengxian at top speed and rush to Xinye. Take Xinye by surprise at the fastest speed possible;"

"And temporarily blockade the four gates of Xinye. Do not let any news leak out, do you understand?"

"I will personally lead 800 Personal Guard soldiers to bypass Xinye and block the northern main road of Xinye. I will absolutely not let any rebel troops have the chance to send a message."

"As you command!"

Old Dian Wei, Zhou Cang, and Xun You accepted the order with excitement.

Although their credit might not be as great as Huang Zhong's, it would not be bad either.

The key was that no one was competing with them for credit here!

Immediately, Old Dian Wei and the others quickly reorganized their troops, abandoning various heavy supplies and siege equipment, taking only their plate armor and simple scaling ladders, and set out quickly in a forced march.

Su Xuan then turned to look at Tian Feng. "Tian Yuanhao! I need you to immediately go to Dengxian to convey an order to Gao Shun, commanding him to detach 500 county soldiers to Xia Xia Houlan to guard Dengxian;"

"He himself is to lead 2, 00 men to strike directly at Gaoyang City, taking it at the fastest speed possible to sever Zhao Ci's connection with Jiangxia;"

"Afterward, if things go smoothly, he may, at his discretion, advance into Jiangxia to retake the cities occupied by Zhao Ci's army;"

"You will be the accompanying military strategist, assisting from the side. Do you have any questions?"

"As you command! No problem! Leave it to me!"