Chapter 578: Jin City

"You are to immediately lead your subordinate cavalry to head toward each of the county seats," Mo Yu said.

The Northern Di's sudden retreat to the north must have a reason.

He guessed that the Ningjin Army had already taken Jin City.

If this were the case, the Northern Di's momentum in the Ningjin Dusi was gone.

It was just that besides the two large cities of Ning City and Jin City, the Ningjin Dusi also had fourteen county seats.

Many Northern Di people still lived in these county seats.

Now that the Northern Di were retreating north, he naturally had to take these county seats back.

Furthermore, having been at Yanguan with his father for many years, he understood the nature of the Northern Di people very well.

When the Northern Di lost a city, they would destroy everything that could be destroyed.

He had Zhong Li head to these county seats also to save everything that could be saved.

After giving these instructions, he sent out a large number of scouts to investigate toward the north.

He was still somewhat uneasy about the Northern Di army retreating north.

Whether they were truly retreating or had other schemes, he had to grasp the situation.

"Hahaha... General Mo."

Just as he was pondering, he suddenly heard a hearty laugh and saw Qin Shan and Guan Tong walking over.

Mo Yu revealed a smile and went up to meet them, "You have suffered this time, holding out for so many days."

The Prince's Personal Army soldiers from Yanguan and the Wangfu Army soldiers from Ning City had truly joined forces.

Ning City would also be firmly controlled in their hands.

"Not tired, not tired, there is everything in this Ning City; the food is good and the sleep is sound." Guan Tong was always headstrong and would not admit to his own disheveled state.

Qin Shan ignored Guan Tong and said sternly, "You arrived just in time. After the Northern Di retreated, the soldiers discovered an underground tunnel at the North Gate that had already been dug into Ning City. If you hadn't arrived in time, there would likely have been a great disaster if we had to fight a night battle again tonight."

Guan Tong had been at Nan Cheng the whole time and did not know about this matter.

Upon hearing this, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"These Northern Di are truly cunning. Was it the Autumn Hunt Battle that inspired them with the tunnels dug by the people of Yan Commandery? If so, we will have to specifically guard against this when defending cities in the future," Mo Yu exclaimed in surprise.

"But if that were the case, there would be no reason for the Northern Di to retreat entirely. They only needed to hold out until nightfall to have a chance to take Ning City," Guan Tong said.

"Or perhaps they saw that they could not stop General Mo from joining forces with us," Qin Shan pondered.

In that case, attacking into Ning City would be of no avail.

"No, it is possible that we wounded Mule Hongzhen," Mo Yu suddenly realized something.

At that time, they had communicated with the Hot Air Balloon Troop in the sky and carried out a dense artillery bombardment in one direction for a while.

Afterward, the Hot Air Balloon Troop sent back news that it seemed an important Northern Di general had been wounded.

Later, they reported seeing a red-haired person checking the wounds of the Northern Di general.

From that moment on, the Northern Di army no longer fought them to the death but fought while retreating.

When they retreated to the camp at the North Gate, they even closed the gates and refused to fight.

They let their Artillery bombard them.

Because he was worried there might be another trick in the camp, he did not let the Wangfu Army soldiers attack rashly.

Subsequently, the Northern Di army retreated north from the North Gate of the camp.

"Call the Hot Air Balloon Troop over; I want to ask them myself." To verify his guess, he issued the order.

Before long, the Hot Air Balloon Troop arrived, and he carefully questioned them about the red-haired person.

"Red hair, high nose bridge, pale skin—without a doubt, this is that Missionary named Ivan," Mo Yu said.

And the Hot Air Balloon Troop reported that Wulanba was kneeling before the wounded person at the time.

Besides Mule Hongzhen, who else would have such prestige?

Deducing this result, Mo Yu, Qin Shan, and Guan Tong all became excited.

Mo Yu said, "No wonder they retreated. With no hope of taking Ning City and Mule Hongzhen's life hanging in the balance, what else could they do but retreat?"

After a pause, he said to Qin Shan, "After a short rest, I will continue to lead the army north to see if we can coordinate with the Ningjin Army to give them another painful blow. You should send soldiers to coordinate with the cavalry to take over the county seats; His Highness does not want a scorched earth."

"Leave this to us," Qin Shan and Guan Tong said in unison.

If this were the case, the Northern Di were undoubtedly retreating north.

They had won this battle.

The Northern Di now were merely fleeing in panic.

Having settled this matter, Qin Shan immediately organized seven thousand men, divided into seven teams of one thousand each, to head to the county seats surrounding Ning City.

As for the county seats of Jin City, Mo Yu would occupy them while heading to Jin City.

After all, these county seats generally had fewer than one thousand Northern Di soldiers stationed in them.

Jin City.

Yang Zhen gently stroked the city wall of Jin City.

Although he had occupied this place for over a day, every time he touched these familiar bricks and stones, he could not help but shed tears.

Separated for thirteen years, he had finally led an army to fight his way back to the Ningjin Dusi.

Besides him, the soldiers of the Ningjin Army were equally excited.

Upon detecting that the fifty thousand elite cavalry remaining in Jin City had headed to Ning City.

They boarded ships and headed to Jin City.

This place was very close to Chrysanthemum Island and could be reached in just half a day.

Moreover, unexpectedly, the attack on Jin City went very smoothly.

Almost as soon as the cannons sounded, the Northern Di troops and horses inside the city fled.

This left the entire Ningjin Army quite surprised, as they had originally expected a bloody battle.

After entering Ning City, the first thing they did was to rescue the slaves within the city while detaining the Northern Di people inside.

Many Ningjin Army soldiers found their own relatives and immediately wept together.

Of course, the ones who were undoubtedly even more emotional were the slaves.

From this moment on, they were completely free, and many slaves even requested to join the Ningjin Army immediately.

"General, all four city walls have been sealed," Captain He Cong said to Yang Zhen, who had arrived behind him while he was lost in thought.

Yang Zhen nodded; to guard against the Northern Di retaking the city, he had ordered his soldiers to seal the city gates after occupying Ning City, while simultaneously preparing supplies for defending the city.

Although he only had thirty thousand troops under his command, holding the city for three to five days was not a problem.

By then, the Prince's Personal Army from Ning City would arrive, and by gathering all the troops deployed this time, they would be able to formally annihilate the Northern Di army in the Ningjin Dusi.

They waited like this for one day.

The next day, he discovered a large number of Northern Di Cavalry appearing near Ning City.

Yet these Northern Di Cavalry had no intention of attacking Ning City at all, and one after another, they headed north.

Mixed in among these Northern Di Cavalry were many Northern Di herdsmen.

Seeing this scene, Yang Zhen's eyes narrowed.

Clearly, the Northern Di were going to withdraw from the Ningjin Dusi; they did not even want Ning City anymore.

Although he very much wanted to lead his troops out of the city immediately to fight these Northern Di soldiers,

he knew that Ning City was more important.

The only pity was that in this Ningjin Battle, the Ningjin Army was likely the one having the easiest time.

This went against their wish to perform a great service.

While Yang Zhen gazed at the wilderness, a carriage pulled by six Warhorses was speeding northward.

Wulanba and Tiemuta guarded the left and right sides of the carriage.

At this moment, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Mule Hongzhen looked toward Ning City, his eyes as deep as a bottomless abyss.