However, since he personally led the army, he knew that not all soldiers and generals in the world were as elite and capable as Lao Youyan Dao. Even to follow orders and stop when prohibited was not an easy task. Therefore, with his 218 elite soldiers and two helpers, Lin Shuhan and Zhao Chengxiao, he never lost except for a few battles where the strength was too different.
Such a record made Qiu Yi's self-confidence continue to swell. He also thought that with a mediocre person like Zheng Yu, even if he used ten or twenty times the number of troops to encircle and suppress him, he would be able to handle it with ease thanks to his familiarity with the nearby terrain and widespread spies.
However, although Qiu Yizhi grew up among famous generals, he was taught from a young age that war is dangerous and one must not underestimate the enemy or become complacent on the battlefield. Therefore, although Lin Shuhan's words touched his heart, he could not agree directly. He changed the subject and said, "Zheng Yu's supplies are so tight now, he may not be able to send a large army to encircle and suppress us, right?"
"If we send too many people, we will spend more money and it will be even more difficult to sustain; if we send too few people, it will be useless. Think about Zheng Yu, it's really difficult!" Lin Shuhan interrupted with a smile on his face.
Qiu Yizhi also agreed after hearing this: "That's exactly what Mr. Lin said. That's why I was afraid that Zheng Yu would think that it was just some petty thieves outside who robbed his grain cart, so he sent these defeated soldiers back to report the news!"
It turned out to be just as Qiu Yizi and Lin Shuhan had expected.
When Zheng Yu heard that the grain and fodder that had been transported from other places with great difficulty had been robbed, he immediately flew into a rage and pointed at the inspector in charge of the escort and scolded him. However, he did not forget to ask where these bandits came from and how they dared to rob the Lingnan Army's transport team.
When he heard that the robber was none other than his mortal enemy Qiu Yizi, he calmed down a lot in his rage. He immediately sent someone to summon General Sun Hao to his tent to ask him how to deal with Qiu Yizi, this cunning and sharp-tongued thief.
Sun Hao was a calm and slightly conservative general. Hearing that the second prince rarely asked for his opinion, he did not dare to perfunctorily deal with it. He pondered for a moment and frowned, "Even if this Qiu is now outside the city, the troops in the city are real. How many troops does the government army have now? There are more than 20,000 people in the city. How many troops can Qiu Yizi lead outside the city? According to the old general's opinion, as long as they continue to besiege Shanyin County and starve all the troops in the city to death, how much trouble can Qiu Yizi, a general without troops, make?"
"What about our army's food supplies? We can't just let him plunder them, right?" Zheng Yu asked.
Sun Hao thought for a moment: "Fortunately, there are only two roads leading to here. Why don't we use some of the troops besieging the city to ensure the food supply? Although our current strength is not enough to capture the city, at least we have defeated the enemy. The commander is not in the city, and the defenders in the city will definitely not dare to counterattack. I think we still have enough troops."
After hearing what Sun Hao said, Zheng Yu stood up and paced a few steps, saying, "It is really embarrassing that our army of tens of thousands of people was mobilized all over the world by a small group of soldiers like Qiu Yi. If it gets out, it will inevitably tarnish the reputation of the Lingnan Palace. Moreover, guarding the grain route so strictly is not a long-term strategy. I think the fundamental solution is to take the initiative to attack and catch this little thief!"
"Although what the Second Prince said is true, there are things that can be done and things that cannot be done in this world. Looking at the hills and dense forests around us, let alone hiding a small team of less than a thousand people, even if we drive 20,000 or 30,000 troops into the forest, as long as we command them properly, we may not be able to find any clues for the enemy. Moreover, Qiu Yizi was originally the parent official here, and he is very familiar with the terrain. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack to find his trace, surround him, and then completely annihilate him. It is not something that the Second Prince can do with just a few words..."
Sun Hao thought so but did not dare to say it out loud. He just felt that Zheng Yu in front of him was no longer the honest Second Prince of the past. Apart from anything else, looking at the current situation, although the court has not yet dealt with Zheng Nuo, the eldest son of Prince of Lingnan, it is only a matter of time before he is beheaded. By then, Zheng Yu will be the only heir of Prince of Lingnan. It is definitely not a good idea to offend him at this juncture.
Sun Hao pondered for a long time before saying, "The Second Prince is indeed very talented. I am no match for the youngsters. I am willing to guard the camp here for the Prince and wait for the Second Prince to return victoriously!"
Zheng Yu was of course happy to hear this, but he didn't know that these two simple sentences were the result of Sun Hao, a warrior in his fifties, using all his wisdom and experience to come up with this best of both worlds solution which would not offend Zheng Yu but ensure the safety of the army.
Zheng Yu obviously hated Qiu Yizhi so much that the next day after discussing with Sun Hao, he gathered two thousand elite soldiers and headed straight for the path where the transport team was robbed last time. Of course, two days had passed, and even if Qiu Yizhi was a snail, he had crawled a long way in this time, and Zheng Yu's attack was unsurprisingly empty.
But before he could feel regretful, news came from the camp that a transport team that had set out from Yuezhou Prefecture had been robbed again.
Upon hearing the news, Zheng Yu was both angry and anxious. He quickly urged the army to rush to the scene. It took him half a day to finally arrive at the scene, but all he saw was a piece of food and grass still burning on the ground - there was no trace of the enemy troops at all.
After working like this for a whole day, Zheng Yu dragged his men along hundreds of miles of mountain roads, almost destroying a large force, but he was still led by Qiu Yizi. Not to mention capturing Qiu Yizi alive, he didn't even touch a hair of his head.
A few days passed like this, and the Lingnan Army's grain carts were still being robbed every day. Zheng Yu's actions seemed to be in vain. Apart from wasting money and grain, they had no effect at all.
At this point, Zheng Yu seemed to be forced into a dilemma. If he continued to attack, it would be in vain; if he stopped, it would be tantamount to admitting that he had made a big mistake before, which would be even more embarrassing.
When people are pushed into a corner, they can come up with a solution.
Zheng Yu, with a lot on his mind, slept until midnight, and finally came up with a plan. Regardless of the cold night, he put on his clothes, lit an oil lamp, wrote a letter, and sent it to the Jinling camp.
The plan Zheng Yu came up with was quite clever - he asked the Jinling camp to send out a transport team. The team's number of people, the materials to be transported, the route, and the time of action were all described in great detail. Even the number of miles to be walked and the destination on each day were clearly written - the purpose was to lure Qiu Yizi to come and rob the food, and then he would lead the troops along the established route and direction, following from a distance, to lure Qiu Yizi out and annihilate him.
Although Zheng Yu's method is clever, his opponent Qiu Yizi is several times more shrewd than him, and he has Lin Shuhan, a man who is well versed in strategies, by his side.
The two men saw that this grain transport team was still transporting a large amount of money, grain and weapons, even though the previous grain transport team had been robbed many times, but they did not increase the escort force, and they were moving slowly and slowly, which was too obvious to lure the enemy. They also received intelligence from several outposts, saying that there was an army with a total of about 2,000 people, moving with this grain transport team.
“Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger!”
When Qiu Yizi said this proudly, he already had an idea in his mind.
However, when the Lingnan Army Jinling Camp received Zheng Yu's handwritten order, they immediately guessed their mission. It was not to deliver food and military supplies to Shanyin County, but to act as bait to attract the enemy to attack. Of course, no one was willing to do such a dangerous and difficult job. However, the handwritten order from the second prince Zheng Yu in front of the Lingnan Prince could not be ignored. A general had to be sent to serve as a grain escort officer to complete this thankless task.
However, after discussing for a long time, everyone still could not decide who should go. In desperation, they could only use the ancient and fair method of "drawing lots" and chose a captain named Anping to be responsible for escorting this dangerous grain.
Although Anping's name was given by his parents to sound stable, he was actually a troublemaker. When he was a soldier, he killed the top centurion because of the unfair distribution of wages. King Zheng Gui of Lingnan saw in his fearless character that he spared his life at the execution ground and instead recommended him to take over the centurion's position. He became successful from then on.
However, although Anping was a carefree character, he knew that the mission assigned by the second prince was of great importance. Not to mention taking the wrong step, even if he walked a step too fast or too slow, the consequences would be something he could not bear.
Therefore, Anping restrained his temper and did not ask the reason or care whether it was right or wrong. He just followed the contents of Zheng Yu's letter, gathered the troops, escorted the food and military supplies, and walked along the mountain path, stopping and starting all the way to Shanyin County, Yuezhou Prefecture.
Although Anping was rude, he knew that he was actually a bait, so he was extremely careful along the way, fearing that he would be ambushed by the enemy and delay the Second Prince's scheduled itinerary. He walked very cowardly. It was also thanks to him that he used all his patience in his life to avoid any delay.
They walked like this for eight days, and had been in the mountains for six days. Anping found out from the front that they were only two days' journey away from Shanyin County, so he became even more alert and told his soldiers who were transporting grain to move forward carefully and not to make mistakes and lose their lives at this last moment. As long as they entered the camp outside the city, they would be able to save their lives and everything would be fine.
Anping was a veteran of many battles and he also understood his role as bait. If he could reach the camp safely without luring out the enemy, his mission would be a failure. But in life, meritorious service, promotion, wealth, and other things can only be put in second place. Only life is the most important thing.
Anping also wanted to order his men to travel as fast as possible, combining two days' journey into one, so as to join up with the large force besieging Shanyin County as soon as possible. However, the order from the Second Prince Zheng Yu strictly restricted his route - before noon today, he had to complete a full day's journey and had to set up camp on the spot.
Anping knew that he was surrounded by dangers and that the enemy might be watching him closely from somewhere, so he did not dare to relax. He was cautious and set up camp on flat ground with a stream as a water source. He used pushed carts to form a small cart city, and sentries and guards to guard it carefully. Only then did he feel relieved and closed his eyes to rest and fall asleep.
But when Anping opened his eyes the next day, he was shocked - the gurgling stream beside him had turned into a turbulent river about two meters wide in less than one night. He tried to feel the depth of the water and found it was waist-deep.
It neither rained nor snowed that night, but the stream turned into a river. There must be something fishy going on.