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Upon hearing Li Rui’s question, Lu Chen did not answer directly. He glanced at the crowd, then turned to Qin Yushan and said, “Commander Qin, you speak.”

When the crowd heard Lu Chen’s words, their gaze collectively fell on Qin Yushan.

Li Rui and the others were somewhat curious. Commander?

What position was that?

When did such a position come to exist at the Prince’s Mansion?

At that moment, Qin Yushan stepped forward out of the crowd and approached Lu Chen’s table. He first paid his respects and said, “Yes, my Prince.”

Afterward, Qin Yushan addressed the crowd, “Our people intercepted a summoning order on the plains. The Barbarian Tribe is preparing to gather three hundred thousand cavalry to head southward, conquer North City, and establish a nation there, choosing Yan County as their capital.”

Hearing Qin Yushan’s words, everyone’s faces went pale.

The Barbarian Tribe, North City’s greatest threat. North City’s impoverishment stemmed from those periodic southern incursions by the Barbarian Tribe.

It had not occurred to anyone that the Barbarian Tribe would bypass petty looting and go straight to conquering North City, even going so far as to form a nation there.

Anxiety seized the people in the study room.

Especially Li Rui, who owed his role as Prefecture Governor to the demise of his predecessors at the hands of the Barbarian Tribe; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been his turn to hold the position.

He had hoped to enjoy some days of peace, but after just over a year, the Barbarian Tribe was heading south again.

And it wasn’t a mere looting expedition. Were it only for grain, Li Rui wouldn’t have been so concerned, given that the Barbarian Tribe typically raided other cities to the north of Yan County, seldom venturing to Yen County, being further south.

After snapping back to reality, Li Rui hastily asked, “That, Commander Qin, is your intelligence reliable?”

A southern invasion by the Barbarian Tribe was a major event, not to mention three hundred thousand cavalry marching south to attack North City. Reporting it to the imperial court, and doing so promptly, was imperative.

To those present, North City’s thirty thousand soldiers stood no chance against the Barbarian Tribe’s three hundred thousand cavalry; they could only hope for assistance from the imperial court’s forces.

In truth, North City had always relied on the imperial army to fend off the Barbarian Tribe’s invasions, the local thirty thousand soldiers merely meant to deal with lesser threats.

At that point, Qin Yushan said, “The intelligence we’ve gathered has been verified. Our people infiltrated the Barbarian Tribe’s royal court, personally acquiring this piece of news directly from the mouth of a Barbarian King.”

This…

Upon hearing Qin Yushan’s words, disbelief painted the faces of everyone present.

Who exactly was this Commander Qin by the Prince’s side?

The Prince’s men had infiltrated the Barbarian Tribe’s royal court?

At that moment, Li Rui came to a stark realization. He had always assumed Lu Chen to be an indolent Prince who shirked responsibilities, but now he understood that everything had been a facade for others to see.

The North Prince secretly possessed a force of his own, a force that had already permeated various places within North City and even penetrated the Barbarian Tribe.

Sweat beaded on Li Rui’s forehead at the thought; fortunate was he that he had never tried to trip up the North Prince upon his arrival in North City.

Otherwise, it wasn’t just his official’s cap at jeopardy—whether he’d even still be alive was in question.

At this juncture, Mu Changtian spoke, “Prince, what’s your plan? Will you seek assistance from the imperial court?”

Thirty thousand versus three hundred thousand, there’s not a chance of victory, and we must have the court send a large army here, or North City is done for.

Lu Chen said, “I plan to send someone to inform the court about this situation later, but it will take at least three months for the court to assemble a large army, while the Barbarian Tribe can complete their assembly in about two months. North City will still need us to defend it for a while.”

Although Lu Chen was confident he could have his thirty thousand soldiers hold North City and even defeat the thirty thousand cavalry of the Barbarian Tribe, such a matter was inevitably to be reported to the court, given that, at least in name, North City was territory of the Great Xia Dynasty.

If we didn’t inform the court about the foreign invasion, whether we ended up winning or losing the battle, the court would suspect us of having a rebellious heart for not reporting such a critical matter.

However, the assembly of Great Xia’s large army wasn’t as swift as that of the Barbarian Tribe; mobilizing a large army would take at least two to three months.

There’s a saying that troops and horses do not move without the supply of grains first, and certainly, Great Xia’s army could not be as fast as the Barbarian Tribe’s cavalry.

Moreover, this is North City, where the roads are exceptionally poor, so it would take even more time for Great Xia to move a large army here.

Upon hearing Lu Chen’s words, Li Rui’s complexion turned even paler.

If the Barbarian Tribe made their way southward, they could probably take the whole North City in less than a month, and with Great Xia’s army taking such a long time to assemble, by the time they arrived, all thirty thousand of their soldiers might well be dead.

What would become of Yan County by that time was too dreadful to imagine.

Lu Chen continued, “I plan to evacuate all the civilians north of Yan County to the south of Yan County and then concentrate all our forces in Yan County to hold off the Barbarian Army’s thirty thousand. General Mo, you have previously engaged in combat with the Barbarian Army; what do you think of this plan?”

Upon hearing Lu Chen’s question, Mu Changtian paused for a second, his brow furrowing slightly.

Then he glanced at the map and asked, “Scorched earth is not a problem, but if we evacuate all the civilians north of Yan County, the Barbarian Army will march straight in, reaching Yan County. It will be difficult for thirty thousand soldiers to hold it.”

Mu Changtian knew all too well the strength of the Barbarian cavalry. Most of them were elite soldiers; it was virtually impossible for thirty thousand soldiers to hold off an opposing thirty thousand cavalry.

Lu Chen continued, “What if 1 told you 1 have a weapon that can instantly break the cavalry’s formation?”

Upon hearing Lu Chen’s words, Li Feng and the others’ eyes lit up instantly.

Those who had followed the North Prince from the start knew that he possessed some mysterious weapons, like those explosive stones and the black sticks that could kill a Ninth Grade martial artist in an instant.

Rumors had already spread throughout the army that the North Prince had received the legacy of an Immortal.

Whether or not he had the legacy of an Immortal was beside the point; as long as the North Prince had a weapon capable of annihilating the Barbarian Tribe or could mass-produce such a weapon, it would suffice.

Just as Mu Changtian was about to ask Lu Chen about the weapon, Lu Chen, looking at the map, continued, “General Mo, I plan to lure the Barbarian cavalry to Wanning Valley and then ambush them from the high ground above the valley. Do you think this plan is feasible?”

Since Mu Changtian had several encounters with the Barbarian Tribe, he was most familiar with their situation, so Lu Chen sought his opinion.

Professional matters should be left to professionals.

After hearing Lu Chen’s words, Mu Changtian eyed the map on the table seriously and did not immediately respond.

After a while, Mu Changtian finally spoke, “If the Prince stays in Yan County, luring the Barbarian cavalry to Wanning Valley wouldn’t be difficult. The terrain of Wanning Valley is relatively flat, which is conducive to the cavalry’s southward advance directly towards Yan County.”

“However, Prince… If you set an ambush in Wanning Valley with just thirty thousand men, 1 fear they would be utterly incapable of stopping the charge of the Barbarian Iron Cavalry.”

Wanning Valley is flanked by high ground on both sides with a wide-open plain in front, so even if the Barbarian Iron Cavalry were to be ambushed in Wanning Valley, they could simply accelerate to quickly clear the valley.

Wanning Valley is not very long; without at least a hundred thousand men up front, blocking the charge of the Barbarian Iron Cavalry seems hardly possible.

What’s more, the thirty thousand soldiers of North City still need to set the ambush on the high ground on both sides, leaving even fewer than thirty thousand soldiers to face the enemy in a frontal attack..