Chapter 3 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Departure from Dengzhou

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After getting back into the car, Long Ling'er laughed, "I didn't realize Brother Ye was so capable. He scared them away with just a few words."

"Of course," Ye Tianlong said smugly, "How could these guys compete with me? Back when I was out in the game, they were hiding in some corner. The Governor's Mansion already has a very good reputation among the citizens of Esnia."

"I knew you'd say that," Liu Qin'er couldn't help but tap Ye Tianlong, "You're bragging."

Yu Fengwu's face remained expressionless as Ye Tianlong and his companions chatted and laughed. Ye Tianlong noticed this and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"You're Ye Tianlong... Lord Ye..."

The blonde girl, who had been sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest since getting into the car, now stared at Ye Tianlong with her beautiful, expressive eyes, scrutinizing him closely as if trying to find something strange about him.

"Genuine gold, no doubt about it," Ye Tianlong patted his chest and joked.

But a greater question arose in his mind: what was the background of this blonde girl?

Judging from her tone, it seemed she knew him?

The blonde girl tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said to Ye Tianlong, "Lord Ye, can you take me home?"

When they heard that the blonde girl's home was far away in the South China Sea, Ye Tianlong and Yu Fengwu exchanged a glance. This girl had actually been brought to Esnia from such a distant place, and her demeanor was quite different from her age—it was truly perplexing.

After talking with the blonde girl for a while, Ye Tianlong learned her name. From Yu Fengwu and Long Ling'er's expressions, Ye Tianlong understood the blonde girl's background. She

hadn't lied. So, he took out some money and instructed his Golden Phoenix Guards to take the blonde girl named Hailin to the largest carriage company in Esnia, the Four Seas Carriage Company, to take their long-distance carriage to the South China Sea.

Because the Four Seas Carriage Company had branches all over the continent and had the best reputation in long-distance passenger transport, their prices were correspondingly the highest.

"I never would have guessed you actually did something good."

After Hailin got out of the car, Long Ling'er sat down next to Ye Tianlong and said happily.

Ye Tianlong withdrew his gaze from the blonde girl's back and smiled at the beautiful dragon girl, saying, "Helping those in need is just my style!"

"Hmph, tell me honestly, did you ever have such thoughts in your mind? A beautiful girl like that should be kept by your side." Long Ling'er wrinkled her delicate nose and said with a half-smile.

Ye Tianlong smiled slightly, not answering Long Ling'er's question, but instead putting away his smile and saying to Yu Fengwu, "To be honest, I always feel that there's something wrong with this girl named Hailin, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

Yu Fengwu nodded and said, "There's nothing wrong with what she says, but her thoughts are too simple. Logically speaking, judging from her behavior, her mind should be quite complex. Unless she can control her own thoughts and intentions, if that's the case, it's really frightening for someone so young."

Hearing Yu Fengwu use the word "frightening," Ye Tianlong couldn't help but be slightly taken aback. He was only feeling uneasy, but he didn't expect Yu Fengwu to have such a feeling.

He couldn't help but feel fortunate, saying, "Luckily, I sensed something was wrong and decided to keep my distance."

"It's not that serious," Yu Fengwu shook her head and said, "I'm sure that Hailin doesn't harbor any hostility or ill will towards us." Long Ling'er also nodded vigorously to reinforce Yu Fengwu's words.

“No matter what, I’ll try to avoid these uncertain things as much as possible.”

Ye Tianlong scratched his head. “The things I have on hand are already giving me a headache enough.”

“Believe me, you’ll be leaving Esnia soon.” Yu Fengwu sighed softly and looked out the window.

“There will be big news from Xiahe soon.”

Seeing Yu Fengwu’s rather strange expression, Ye Tianlong couldn’t help but cast a questioning look at Liu Qin’er. The latter just shrugged slightly, indicating that she didn’t know either.

Yu Fengwu’s words soon came true. The military’s express messenger brought shocking news to the people of Esnia the next morning: Xiahe’s army had captured Chihe City, a major town in Dengzhou, overnight.

The light of dawn pierced the morning mist, shining on the rippling river, like countless mirrors shimmering. Villages of all sizes were scattered on both sides of the river, rising and falling, while distant villages were covered by a thin veil of mist, appearing and disappearing.

Looking out, the rolling mountains on the horizon, their peaks overlapping, painted a deep green against the gradually golden sky.

This was the south bank of the Red River in the Fast Empire, a gentle current that formed the boundary between Gaoyang Prefecture and Deng Prefecture. On

July 24th, 538 of the Fast calendar, the crisp hoofbeats of three thousand armored cavalrymen shattered the tranquility of the Red River banks. Sunlight shone on their magnificent armor, making everything gleam.

From the golden insignia and banners of these armored cavalrymen, it was clear that they were the city guard from the imperial capital, Esnia, the most elite cavalry force in the Fast Empire.

Their commander was the Eastern Governor, Ye Tianlong.

The presence of the city guard, who had always protected the imperial capital Esnia, here naturally had a very important reason. Emperor Andre III, who had ruled Fast for nearly sixty years, suddenly and mysteriously died a little over a month ago. The three princes remaining in the capital were vying for the Fast throne, each doing their utmost. The second prince, Wen Yeda, occupied the Palace of Nossula for less than ten days before his defeat, fleeing the palace with several confidants.

At this time, General Xiahe, originally ordered to quell a rebellion in Qingzhou, not only refused the military's order to return to Esnia for Andre III's funeral, but also led his 100,000 troops to join Wen Yeda, who had suddenly appeared in Gaoyangzhou and proclaimed himself the rightful heir to the Fast Empire, openly declaring his support for this self-proclaimed new emperor.

For the Fast nobles in the capital Esnia, this was the first rebellion since the founding of the Fast Empire to involve the direct participation of the imperial army.

Previous struggles for the throne had been conspiracies within the Fast Empire's court; now, the direct involvement of 100,000 imperial troops made the difference self-evident.

After raising the banner of rebellion, Shah immediately made a series of military deployments, dispatching his troops to completely control the entire territory of Gaoyang Prefecture, their base, and sending troops into the neighboring Deng Prefecture, their target being Dengfeng Granary in southern Deng Prefecture. Dengfeng

Granary, renowned as one of the three major granaries of the Fast Empire, not only stored vast quantities of grain, but also had the nearby city of Bugia, famous for its ironware, making its strategic importance self-evident.

Therefore, when the urgent military intelligence arrived in the imperial capital, Esnia, immediate military action became the unanimous choice.

However, neither Yunaia nor Gilemans wanted their strength to be affected, as fighting the battle-hardened General Shah was no easy task. The proverb "

When two tigers fight, a third party benefits" applies here. Yunaia and Gilemans were well aware of the situation where two tigers fight while the third party sits on the sidelines and watches.

It's unclear who first brought it up, but just as urgent military intelligence arrived—the Eastern Governor, the commander of the Tianlong Legion, and the Qingzhou General Ye Tianlong, leading his troops to confront Xia He's army in

the fight against the rebellion in Qingzhou—Hai Yingyang, in a hastily convened emergency meeting, calmly offered his advice. "Lord Ye Tianlong is a seasoned and resourceful general, skilled in quelling rebellions. Moreover, his subordinates are

a galaxy of strategists and brave warriors. This mission to Gaoyang Prefecture will undoubtedly be a resounding success, bringing the rebels to justice with ease." His clear and distinctive voice carried a powerful, almost invisible, persuasive force, allowing Ye Tianlong to truly appreciate the formidable strength of this renowned general, a figure on par with Yu Fengwu.

"What's even more admirable is Lord Ye's unwavering hatred of evil and his tireless dedication to eliminating scourges, his tireless efforts for the nation..."

Hai Yingyang's words left Ye Tianlong with no choice but to accept the mission to quell the rebellion. As the praise piled on, he found it difficult to even utter a word of refusal.

Of course, one implication was that Ye Tianlong's intervention against the person who had fought against Jarard was a huge advantage.

Action.

Naturally, the final decision was remarkably unanimous. Excluding those who hadn't spoken, all the princes and ministers agreed to appoint Ye Tianlong as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacification Headquarters, overseeing the military and political affairs of Dengzhou and Gaoyangzhou, striving to quell the rebellion launched by Wen Yeda and Xiahe in Esnia as soon as possible. Three hours later, Yunaya and Gilmans unanimously recommended the newly rebelled leader.

What angered Ye Tianlong even more was that Yunaya and Gilmans, using the excuse that the capital Esnia needed the full protection of the city guards, and that Ye Tianlong, as the Eastern Governor, needed to be far from Esnia, therefore demanded that Ye Tianlong temporarily relinquish command of the 20,000 city guards of the Eastern Governor's Office, unifying command of the city guards under the newly established Imperial Capital Security Committee.

Although Ye Tianlong was extremely unwilling, it was clear that Yunaya and Gilmans had reached a certain level of understanding; their alliance was something Ye Tianlong could not withstand.

After a series of maneuvers, including both soft and hard tactics, Ye Tianlong had no choice but to relinquish his military command of the Eastern Governor's Office. However, he wasn't one to surrender easily.

Under the pretext of taking his personal guard, he transferred three thousand elite city guards to his own forces. According to the customs of the Fast Empire, a general's personal guard follows him everywhere, and given Ye Tianlong's current status, having three thousand guards was perfectly normal. Yunaia and Gilemans had no reason to object.

For Yunaia and Gilemans, removing Ye Tianlong's command of the city guards was already their goal. In any case, Ye Tianlong's Eastern Governor's Office still had seventeen thousand city guards under their control, which was enough to change the power distribution in Esnia.

As for Ye Tianlong, nominally, his status had risen considerably.

As a legion commander, he now holds military and political power over three states—an astonishing power that neither Yu Fengwu nor Hai Yingyang had ever attained. Turning the pages of the Fast Empire's history books, only a handful of individuals have ever possessed territories in more than two states.

The Fast Empire currently has thirty-one states, meaning Ye Tianlong controls one-tenth of them. However, he currently only truly controls Qingzhou; the other two require his own efforts to acquire.

Before leaving Esnia, Ye Tianlong decided to take all the original troops of the Eastern Governor's Office with him, but the first military advisor, Shi Yixin, decided to remain in Esnia.

"As long as the Eastern Governor's Office exists in Esnia, I, as the Eastern Governor's Military Advisor, will hold my position."

Looking at Shi Yixin's unwavering gaze, Ye Tianlong's original plan to appoint him as a political official in Qingzhou had to be shelved. Also

remaining in Esnia with Shi Yixin was Lu Tuxian. Because very few people knew his true nature and background, staying in Esnia allowed him to continue serving as an informant.

“With these two staying behind, at least they can keep an eye on the Eastern Governor’s City Guard and prevent Yunaya and Gilemans from completely taking control of the Eastern Governor’s City.”

Yu Fengwu agreed wholeheartedly with their decision.

She had never approved of Ye Tianlong taking all of the Eastern Governor’s troops with him, as this would be tantamount to handing over the Eastern Governor’s City’s power, making it much more difficult to re-enter Esnia in the future.

“Although there are certain risks involved in leaving them behind, it is absolutely necessary. If

you take all your troops with you, not only will it be easier for Yunaya and Gilemans to control the City Guard, but they will also be more wary of you.”

Ye Tianlong’s reason for taking all his troops from the Eastern Governor’s City was that he feared they would be threatened and plotted against by Yunaya and Gilemans if they remained in Esnia, or even face death.

Now, hearing Yu Fengwu’s words, he had no choice but to nod.

Understanding their commander’s good intentions, the troops of the Eastern Governor’s City were naturally grateful. Quite a few soldiers volunteered to stay behind, and after careful consideration, the final selection of those to remain was made.

According to the regulations of the Fast army, no general could bring his wives or concubines with him on campaign. Furthermore, Yu Fengwu wanted to wait until after Andre III's funeral before leaving Esnia, so she also stayed in the imperial capital, Esnia.

Consequently, all the other women around Ye Tianlong also remained in Esnia, as they always followed Yu Fengwu's lead and wanted to travel with her. Thus

, while numerous royal relatives and nobles from all over the country flocked to Esnia for the funeral, Ye Tianlong was without a single woman by his side on this campaign. Mingling among the large group of men in the city guard, Ye Tianlong seemed to have returned to his former days as a single man in the countryside.

Although this was his first time leading troops independently, Ye Tianlong had learned a great deal about military strategy and tactics from Yu Fengwu during this period, and had also experienced several major battles. He was now a completely different person from the centurion of the local garrison a little over a year ago. Ye Tianlong led three thousand city guards on his journey to Dengzhou.

Upon

leaving Esnia, Ye Tianlong immediately dispatched messengers to Qingzhou to mobilize troops. Aside from necessary local garrison forces, he ordered all Tianlong Legion troops to assemble at the border of Qingzhou and Gaoyangzhou, preparing for a full-scale attack.

He himself led three thousand city guards to Dengzhou at breakneck speed. Knowing the importance of Dengzhou, Ye Tianlong was determined not to let Dengfengcang and Bugya fall into Xiahe's hands, otherwise Xiahe's army would be even stronger.

According to military intelligence, Xia He's army, which had entered Dengzhou, numbered no more than 20,000. They advanced in two columns from two directions towards Dengfengcang, sweeping through cities and fortresses with unstoppable momentum. The local garrison was utterly unable to mount any effective resistance.

Therefore, Ye Tianlong needed to reach Dengfengcang as soon as possible to organize the local garrison for coordinated operations. Any delay would mean that the local garrison and the mere 3,000 soldiers stationed in Dengfengcang would be no match for Xia He's regular army.

Halfway there, news arrived that one of Xia He's troops had reached Dengfeng, but had been halted by the local garrison, who had taken advantage of the terrain, and could not advance any further.

"What kind of person is this who can lead the garrison of Dengfengcang to resist Xia He's army?"

While urging his men to speed up the march, Ye Tianlong couldn't help but become interested in the commander of Dengfengcang.

"It was a lieutenant general named Wu Yanzhuo. The garrison commander of Dengfengcang wanted to surrender to Xiahe's army long before they arrived, but his lieutenant general Wu Yanzhuo discovered this and stopped him, so he had no choice but to lead his troops to resist."

Before receiving news of Ye Tianlong's expedition, the Green Hibiscus couple had already dispatched a large number of Tianlong spies to infiltrate Gaoyang and Dengzhou, gathering all usable intelligence.

The messenger standing before Ye Tianlong was also from the Tianlong spies; clearly, he had gathered very detailed intelligence beforehand, hence his fluent answers.

Ye Tianlong then inquired about the Xiahe army's deployment, briefly considered the situation, and immediately ordered the entire army to change direction and advance towards Chihe City. He intended to cut off the Xiahe army's retreat and attack from the rear.

Since the lieutenant general named Wu Yanzhuo could lead the army to resist the Xiahe army's attack, they should be able to hold out for a few more days after receiving news of Ye Tianlong's reinforcements arriving soon.

To maximize the morale of the garrison at Dengfengcang, Ye Tianlong dispatched three groups of fast horses in succession to relay the message that a large number of reinforcements were about to arrive.

At the same time, orders were issued to the garrisons throughout Dengzhou to be converted to combat formations, and to gather reserve troops to strengthen defensive capabilities.

With everything in place, Ye Tianlong led three thousand city guards, taking a shortcut and rushing towards Chihe City under cover of night.

Along the way, Ye Tianlong and his men encountered several scouts of Xiahe's army, numbering around one or two hundred each time. Clearly, while attacking Dengfeng Granary, Xiahe's army was also expanding in all directions, intending to control the surrounding areas.

In these sporadic encounters, Ye Tianlong aimed to annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop, allowing his city guards to fully utilize the high-speed mobility of their armored cavalry. Coupled with their overwhelming advantage, the battles were fought with ease and precision.

From the prisoners' confessions, it was learned that the Xiahe army that entered Dengzhou to attack Dengfeng Granary was commanded by Xiahe's nephew, Xia Yun. Before setting out, Xia Yun had already been appointed as the governor of Dengzhou by Wen Yeda, meaning that once Xia Yun conquered Dengzhou, the area would become his territory.

Therefore, after entering Dengzhou, Xia Yun divided his forces into two routes. He led the main force to attack Dengfengcang, while the other army took a different route, allowing them to conquer towns along the way and expand their strength, eventually encircling Dengfengcang.

Interestingly for Ye Tianlong, Xia Yun's army followed the exact same route he had chosen, except that his starting point was Xia Yun's destination, and Xia Yun's starting point was his target.

Inevitably, Ye Tianlong and his forces would encounter Xia Yun's army head-on halfway through their journey.

However, due to Ye Tianlong's rapid advance and Xia Yun's slow pace as he focused on conquering towns and recruiting soldiers, the meeting point was expected to be in the southern part of the Chihe River region.

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