September 5th.

Chen Mo arrived at Guangming County, which is less than a hundred li from Quanyang County. If he marched quickly, he could withdraw his Three Guards from the quagmire of Yu State in about three days.

But at this time, he received a reply from Yang Minggui.

From the letter, he learned that, besides himself, all five of Yang Minggui's grand generals, including Yuan Youchun, Dai Wangmin, and Wang Fa, had been ambushed by the Yu State Army, resulting in their entire annihilation.

Obviously, Yang Minggui believed that Yuan Youchun was killed by the official soldiers.

The other two grand generals, Wang Kai and Liu Fu, leading a total army of twenty-five thousand, were besieged by official soldiers at East Wei Bridge, requesting Chen Mo's immediate assistance.

Upon receiving this reply, Chen Mo exclaimed, "Well, damn!"

He had sent the urgent letter to Yang Minggui on August 23rd, and now it was September 5th when he received the reply, almost half a month later.

If Wang Kai and Liu Fu were really besieged, there would only be two outcomes by now: either they were wiped out, or they had broken through the encirclement.

Even if they were still besieged, it would be too late for him to rush over now.

Besides, damn it, you're asking me to relieve the siege without allocating any food?

Chen Mo called together Sun Meng, Xia Zhining, and others for a discussion.

After some deliberation.

Chen Mo replied in this way.

The gist was that he had received the letter and acted accordingly, even winning a battle, killing the enemy general Xu Jie, and was now presenting the head. But meanwhile, he was being pursued by the enemy, with over half of his troops dead or wounded, and facing a food shortage, he requested the Commander to send reinforcements and allocate food.

Regarding the previous killing of Xu Jie, Chen Mo had not claimed credit from Yang Minggui, so now he could use it.

Anyway, whether I go to support or not, you can't possibly know.

But it's true that I won a battle, killed enemy general Xu Jie, and was pursued by the enemy.

Chen Mo reported sending four thousand men immediately, three thousand of whom were captives, demanding from Yang Minggui one thousand stones of grain.

Falsifying amounts and claiming expenses came naturally to Chen Mo.

Then, Chen Mo had the Three Guards remain stationed in Guangming County.

Reinforcements — providing them was out of the question, and he could only while away his time drilling troops.

Indeed, Chen Mo instructed Xia Zhining to teach the Three Guards the Yanyue Array formation.

...

Yang Minggui received Chen Mo's reply on September 16th.

As for the head Chen Mo sent over, it had already started to rot.

However, since it was the head of a Middle-Grade Martial Artist, it was still recognizable.

After reading the letter, Yang Minggui frowned, glanced at the head in the box, and handed Chen Mo's letter to Military Advisor Xu Mu, saying, "A thousand stones of grain, why so much? Now just Xia Lin's tens of thousands of laborers consume three hundred stones of grain a day..."

In Yang Minggui's view, even if the front-line troops had suffered heavy losses, it was less important than constructing the Celestial King Hall, which was crucial for his breakthrough to becoming an Upper-Grade Martial Artist.

If people were gone, they could be recruited again, but cultivation could not be delayed.

Therefore, he didn't plan to give the thousand stones of grain, believing Chen Mo, who controlled a county, could be self-sufficient and shouldn't keep asking above for aid.

"Commander, this thousand stones of grain must be given, and a handsome reward as well, also announcing it to the entire army." Xu Mu deliberated for a moment and said.

"Hmm?" Yang Minggui looked at Xu Mu.

"Commander, currently the main battlefield in Fengzhou has been repeatedly damaged, and the ongoing defeats are troubling the Celestial Master greatly. Although Yu State is only a secondary battlefield, Xu Jie was one of Liang Song's top three generals, and also a household general of the Liang Family. Chen Mo's victory seriously dampened Liang Song's spirit. If we present this battle report to the Celestial Master, wouldn't it catch his attention..."

Xu Mu indeed had a keen political mind. Among the Celestial Master's Thirty-Six Commanders, only a few confidants were remembered, so if other commanders wanted to stand out before the Celestial Master, they needed a spectacular military achievement.

Although Chen Mo's battle report was not too dazzling, in the current state of continuous defeats, a decent victory was urgently needed to boost the morale of the troops.

Moreover, the Celestial Master had ordered the Commander to lead the vanguard in the attack on Yu State, but the Commander didn't go in person, instead sent subordinates who were ambushed and suffered a severe defeat. If this were reported to the Celestial Master and he blamed us, we wouldn't be able to bear the consequences.

The saying goes, "report the good news, not the bad," and Chen Mo's battle report could serve a great purpose, covering up the severe defeat we suffered.

Guided by Xu Mu's insights, Yang Minggui's eyes lit up with realization, exclaiming internally the clever maneuver.

"Commander, additionally, with General Yuan, General Dai, and General Wang Fa all fallen in battle, you lack manpower and need to develop confidants. Chen Mo is young, has potential, and is a suitable candidate.

Moreover, upon receiving your reply, he immediately went to reinforce and heavily damaged the Yu State Army, showing he follows your orders well without superficial compliance." Xu Mu continued.

Yang Minggui fully understood. He could take the opportunity to reward generously and win hearts, and broadcasting this to the whole army could positively guide his reputation, demonstrating his fairness in reward and punishment.

"Indeed, the thousand stones of grain should be given, but Military Advisor, how should the handsome reward be given?" Yang Minggui asked.

Xu Mu, pondering Yang Minggui's reluctance to spend money, suggested, "Since General Yuan is dead, the Commander can entrust Qingtian County to Chen Mo. Also, hasn't he been needing red copper? The Commander could reward him with a thousand jin."

"Good." Since Qingtian County needed governance, it could conveniently be granted to Chen Mo, and red copper, being freely acquired, rewarding him with a thousand or eight hundred jin wouldn't cost anything, Yang Minggui agreed to Xu Mu's proposal, then asked:

"But what about his request for us to send reinforcements? And what about Wang Kai and Liu Fu? We can't just ignore them..."

Xu Mu stroked his not-so-long beard, pacing back and forth a few times, finally fanning his feather fan, and said:

"Let Chen Mo remain stationary. Since the Celestial Master appointed the Commander as a vanguard, seeing the prolonged stalemate in Yu State, he will surely send other commanders for reinforcement.

As for General Wang Kai and General Liu Fu, there has been no news from them for more than half a month, so let Chen Mo send people to investigate their situation and rescue as appropriate. Additionally, give him the discretion to act as he sees fit."

Yang Minggui thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright."

Yang Minggui didn't know.

Although the Celestial Master Army often lost against the Fengzhou Navy.

But the Celestial Master Army had plundered the entire Northern Land, making them quite resource-rich, while the South was isolated and unsupported due to the Loyalist Army's conflict with the Court. In terms of consumption, they couldn't compare to the Celestial Master Army, so they couldn't hold out for long.

In this situation, Fengzhou sent a large number of spies (Espionage) to Qingzhou, starting to infiltrate and cause trouble.

...

End of September.

In the mountains outside Guangming County.

"Whoosh..."

An arrow shot out, hitting the neck of a wild boar that was rubbing against a camphor tree to scratch an itch. The wild boar made a "humph humph" sound and dashed forward.

It didn't run far before it fell to the ground and stopped moving.

"Madam is a Divine Shooter!" A commotion broke out in the forest.

In the forest, Chen Mo, along with Xia Zhining and dozens of Personal Soldiers, were hunting on horseback.

Xia Zhining was not wearing a mask, but except for Sun Meng, the Personal Soldiers only knew that she had a close relationship with Chen Mo and didn't know her true identity, so they directly referred to her as Madam.

Xia Zhining blushed slightly but didn't object. She had already adapted to this military life, and raised her bow and arrow, saying, "Bring the wild boar back. Today I'm treating everyone to a full-boar feast."

"Alright."

"Alright."

"Thank you, Madam."

The Personal Soldiers cheered.

Returning to Guangming County, Chen Mo saw Han Wu rush over excitedly, "County Magistrate, good news."

As he spoke, he handed Yang Minggui's letter to Chen Mo.

The letter explained that Qingtian County was assigned to his jurisdiction and he could take thirty percent of the produced coarse salt. Furthermore, he was rewarded with fifteen hundred catties of Red Copper.

A thousand stones of grain had also been allocated and were on the way, but they would only be delivered to Quanyang County, and he was to transport it himself.

For Chen Mo, this was indeed good news, as it meant he could expand his base and recruit soldiers.

Don't be misled; although he can take what he wants from Guangming County, Quanyang County, and other counties, without having conquered Yu State, these counties cannot become his bases, as they could be seized by the Yu State Army at any moment.

Additionally, the population of these counties is migrating towards the interior of Yu State, leaving behind the elderly, sick, and infirm.

But Qingtian County is different. It has a large population, and although it suffered from Yuan Youchun's ravages, it has resources and is considered stable within the Celestial Master Army's territory.

Chen Mo immediately wrote a letter and dispatched a fast horse to Pingting County, asking Geng Songfu to send people to take over.

Secondly, he ordered Sun Meng to lead a hundred troops from the Two Guards (Divine Courage and Divine Martial Guards) and three hundred Xianzhen Guards to assist the grain transport convoy and bring the thousand stones of grain to Guangming County.

As for the matter in Yang Minggui's letter about investigating the situation with Wang Kai and Liu Fu's two parts, Chen Mo will carry out this task.

However, when it comes to discretionary rescue, even if he's able to, he won't save them.

He's staying temporarily in Guangming County, waiting for further reinforcements from the Celestial Master Army before taking action.

Focus on one word: survive.

...

In the evening, Chen Mo gnawed on a roasted wild boar leg brought by Xia Zhining while looking at the map, trying to see if there were any iron mines or other mineral resources around to take them back.

Unfortunately, strategic resources like these certainly wouldn't be marked on the map, and all the officials from Guangming County had fled, leaving Chen Mo with no one to ask.

He bit off a chunk of wild boar meat.

[Meat consumption count +0.05, Purple Sun Transformation Skill experience +0.05.]

[Name: Chen Mo.]

[Cultivation Technique: Purple Sun Transformation Skill (Proficient 6119.6/10000).]

[Realm: Qi Absorption (Fifth Grade).]

[Power: 712.]

[Skills: Great Sun Qi Slash (Basic 1544328/5000000), Cloud-Chasing Arrow (Advanced 42362/200000).]

"At this speed, there probably won't be a breakthrough to Fourth Grade before the end of the year."

Chen Mo drank a sip of meat soup and then offered the half-eaten wild boar leg to Xia Zhining.

Xia Zhining gave it a dubious glance, but still took a bite from the uneaten part, and said, "This tastes awful."

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