Bi Wenxin was drinking, enjoying the wild pheasant his subordinates had brought, when suddenly, a commotion erupted in the camp. Bi Wenxin grumbled, "Damn it, can't even eat in peace. What's going on?"

A guard went to investigate and soon returned to report that a caravan had been attacked a dozen li away, wiped clean, and everyone killed. When they first saw the firelight, the camp sent people out, thinking it was just a fire somewhere, so they didn't bother to ask Bi Wenxin for instructions. But when they arrived, they realized something was wrong. The caravan had been slaughtered, and all the valuables had been stolen. Although the bandits who attacked the caravan tried to cover their tracks, they eventually fled southwest.

Upon hearing this, Bi Wenxin frowned. How dare some horse bandits attack a caravan just a dozen li from their camp? Their patrol range was within twenty li. Although the patrols weren't very strict these days—just a few soldiers going out for a stroll, rarely actually going twenty li—this was still their camp. He hadn't heard of anyone daring to live so brazenly under their noses. And to arrive, finish the battle before their men arrived, clean up the battlefield, and vanish without a trace was even more impressive. Bi Wenxin couldn't immediately think of who it could be.

The northern horse bandits were rampant, but he knew the major ones, and most were registered with him. They wouldn't casually attack the caravans he protected in Baoding. In return, he'd turn a blind eye to those obedient bandits, sometimes even ordering them to attack certain people. Thinking of this, Bi Wenxin felt it was strange. Northern Liao was in a bad state now; could one of the leaders be stockpiling goods to prepare for disaster?

After thinking for a moment, Bi Wenxin ordered his guard, "Tell Li Damazi to take some men to check it out… no, forget it, I'll go myself."

When Bi Wenxin arrived at the scene, the situation became even more puzzling. These bandits were highly skilled. They struck cleanly and ruthlessly, but their retreat was very efficient. The few boxes they didn't take were neatly stacked to one side.

Bi Wenxin glanced at the contents of the boxes and immediately felt uneasy. He had seen similar things before, two months ago, when his old friend, Gushan Defender Tian Duo, had people purchase a large batch of medicinal herbs from the Northeast, including this valuable herb, Tianlin Grass (Heavenly Scale Grass), carefully packaged with small pieces of cotton cloth and bits of root system and soil. Just one box of it cost over three hundred taels of silver to buy from the locals. It was the most expensive thing they could sell. He had even written to Tian Duo to ask what it was for, as he had never heard of it before. Tian Duo said that his patron at court was playing with alchemy. Bi Wenxin smiled wryly and didn't pursue the matter further.

And now there was a box of it here… Could that noble be making purchases again? They usually wouldn't pay too much attention to such matters, only offering slight assistance if they knew about it.

"General, there are also silks and other medicinal materials in the goods, and… there's a letter here."

Bi Wenxin casually took the letter, glanced at it, and indeed, it was related to that noble. But as he read on, cold sweat dripped down his back. Using the guise of purchasing medicinal herbs, those tribal bastards were actually complaining to that noble about the many hardships Bi Wenxin had inflicted upon them. Of course, they had also included generous gifts. Seeing the detailed gift list, Bi Wenxin snorted. So the tribal bastards had that much money. Just wait until I get my hands on that money, see what you'll use to deal with me. Bi Wenxin crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it into the fire. "Li Damazi, take five hundred men and follow them for me. Annihilate them. They're carrying a lot of good stuff; later, take half of it to distribute to the brothers."

Greed flashed in Li Damazi's eyes, and he eagerly agreed, immediately going to gather the troops. Bi Wenxin thought that although the enemy was well-trained, their numbers shouldn't be large, at least based on their tracks. Five hundred men should be more than enough. What he didn't expect was that a day later, an old horse returned with Li Damazi's head. This time, Bi Wenxin was truly enraged. No one dared to treat him like this. Moreover, he relied on a sense of chivalry and generous amounts of money to ensure the loyalty of his troops. If he didn't avenge his men, who would listen to him in the future? Li Damazi was able to quickly follow the intermittent tracks, indicating that the enemy's marching speed wasn't that fast, but their combat power might indeed be very strong. Being cautious, Bi Wenxin actually mobilized ten thousand troops, showing everyone his determination for revenge.

After Bi Wenxin left, not far from the camp, a Frost Wolf Army scout quietly released a hawk from a tree hollow.

The looted caravan was naturally arranged by Chi Lei. Scouts would always encounter cautious enemies who hid in their lairs and didn't want to come out, unless they were given enough incentive. Analyzing and summarizing the motives that could attract the enemy through previously captured items, boldly forging letters and other evidence, etc., were now standard courses for the scouts. This was also the favorite course of most soldiers. There were quite a few masters of forging scenes and evidence in their army. Even the Intelligence Bureau wanted to borrow people from them.

Bi Wenxin's mobilization of ten thousand troops proved that their previous plan had been fully effective. Now, besides keeping a close watch on the camp, they only had to wait for good news.

Bi Wenxin spent six hours reaching the site of a fierce battle. Five hundred of his subordinates lay scattered across the battlefield. The enemy clearly hadn't thought of digging a pit to bury them, and this treatment of leaving the corpses exposed in the wilderness angered the soldiers. But the enemy were bandits, could they reason with them?

Bi Wenxin didn't know that as he cleared the battlefield and began to move forward, he had already entered the carefully arranged encirclement of Tan Weiran and Chi Lei.

"Chi Lei, are we ready to move?" Tan Weiran asked.

"Your Highness, just wait a moment. Keep the archer cavalry in reserve; leave the pursuit and mopping up to them later." Chi Lei asked, "Do you think we should keep a battalion as a reserve?"

Tan Weiran smiled and said, "Isn't an archer cavalry battalion enough? Why are you getting more timid as you get older?" Tan Weiran looked at Bi Wenxin's loose formation and messy weapon configuration through his telescope and said, "Our tactics are already extremely cautious. There are ten thousand of them here; it's easy to eat them up. I know you want to minimize the sacrifice of our brothers, but, brother, we are fighting a war after all. Moreover, a one-time large-scale deployment, as long as the battlefield is wide enough to spread out, will definitely result in fewer losses than a gradual deployment. Rest assured."

Chi Lei chuckled and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Having been a scout cavalry for a long time, various habits were inevitable. Scout cavalry were the most willing to sacrifice, yet also the most cautious, fearing death. An excellent scout cavalry wasn't easy to train. Besides basic combat skills, there were also a lot of aspects such as reconnaissance, concealment, communication, lurking, map surveying, medicine, botany, mineralogy, etc. Training a qualified scout cavalry was more expensive than any other unit.

Bi Wenxin felt something was strange. From the remaining traces on the ground, the enemy should have been a force of around two thousand, but as he tracked them, he instinctively felt a sense of danger. They were in a wilderness, the terrain was undulating but not dangerous, but for some reason, he felt something was wrong. It was too quiet, too quiet… Were there no animals in this land before? Suddenly, Bi Wenxin understood that he had been ambushed… Although he didn't know who the enemy was, since they dared to ambush him, they naturally had something to rely on.

Tan Weiran saw it and sighed, "We've been discovered. Let's move."

An orange signal flare soared into the sky. Then, Bi Wenxin's troops immediately heard the rumbling of horseshoes from all around. Hearing the sound, their faces turned pale. The enemy had so many, so they obviously couldn't be bandits. But how could the Dongping army appear here? And why would they come here?

The troops that Tan Weiran and Chi Lei brought weren't good at attacking fortified positions, but strictly carried out the previous strategy… mounted archery. The many tribal warriors in the Jingyun Cavalry naturally went without saying. Although their accuracy might vary, it would be strange if they couldn't hit anything facing such a large group of enemies. They appeared from different directions, charged forward, and shot arrows in batches, then quickly turned around and retreated. Bi Wenxin wanted to lead his troops to charge up close, but he found that the enemy didn't want to engage at all and immediately retreated. But when some directions charged too far and slightly deviated from the main force, troops would immediately attack from both flanks, completely cutting off this small group of enemies from Bi Wenxin's main force, then gathering and annihilating them. After several rounds, less than half an hour had passed, and only three thousand of Bi Wenxin's ten thousand men remained. Bi Wenxin organized several breakouts, but the enemy actually allowed him to break through, as long as his formation stretched out, they would cut it off and annihilate it in pieces, and no matter how far Bi Wenxin charged, he couldn't shake off the pursuit. The warhorses used by the Frost Wolf and Silver Wing armies were all carefully selected, and the officers rode horses that were one in a thousand or even rarer. As for the Jingyun Cavalry, which was mainly composed of tribal cavalry, it went without saying. The soldiers had countless ways to make the horses run faster and jump higher, not to mention that on this battlefield, all the Dongping army's mounts were thoroughbred warhorses, which were extremely excited.

Bi Wenxin ran desperately, regardless of everything. He finally saw the place where his subordinate Li Damazi had died yesterday, but he immediately despaired. There, a neat cavalry formation was standing quietly, waiting.