"Has the Tian River begun to thaw?" Lü Yi asked urgently.
The adjutant replied, "It's confirmed. The thawing began yesterday!"
Lü Yi nodded with satisfaction, "Order the entire army to be vigilant against ice jams and prepare to advance!"
The Great Gan army finally marched south of the Helan Mountains.
The barbarian cavalry often came to harass them, but facing the Great Gan cavalry and fifty thousand archers, they dared not get too close and could only retreat in defeat.
However, the barbarians did not give up their camps outside the mountains and retreat to the Helan Mountains. Instead, they continued to send troops from within the Helan Mountains, gathering outside the mountains, ready to strike the Great Gan army at any time.
In the military camp, the Right Worthy King asked the Left Worthy King, "Our army has reached nearly 300,000, twice that of the Great Gan. Should we launch a surprise attack while they are on the march?"
The Left Worthy King reminded him, "We cannot let the enemy act with impunity, but be careful. The city walls of the Yan Province defenders back then had a special ballista with a range of over two li!"
The Right Worthy King sneered, "How many ballistae of this caliber can they have? Moreover, our army is in the west, and the terrain is higher. It's not that easy to hit us. Send out light cavalry to probe first!"
As the Tian River began to thaw, the major prefectures and counties in the northern regions on the other side of the Tian River began to prepare warships, ready to send them to the Tian River to support the Great Gan army that had set out.
Once the Tian River had completely thawed, it would be extremely difficult for the barbarians to cross the river and attack these prefectures and counties in the northern regions.
However, Shuofang was still north of the Tian River. Facing the predominantly cavalry barbarian army, they had no choice but to choose to hold their ground.
Yun Province and Yan Province, fortified their defenses and cleared the countryside, with patrols all over the city.
On this day, in the city of Yun Province, in a hidden chamber of a civilian residence, the nine Cloud Heaven Guards led by Zuo Jing placed their respective secret letters and some tokens on the table. In a corner, a middle-aged man who was unconscious was tied up.
"Leader, with these pieces of evidence, we can leverage the He family of Yun Province and make them serve the Great Liang Kingdom!" the Xuan-character Cloud Heaven Guard said in a deep voice.
Zuo Jing merely skimmed through the secret letters, glancing at the specially made gold ingots from the barbarians on the table.
"The He family is so audacious, yet they managed to act so discreetly. This indicates that someone in the Great Gan court has been supporting them all along," the Tian-character analyzed.
"Miss, if you hand this intelligence to Liang Xiao, you can use this opportunity to approach him. Once the He family falls, other scheming merchants will surely make plans. It would be best to relocate to the Great Liang Kingdom!" the Cloud Heaven Guard Qing reminded.
Zuo Jing's beautiful eyes lit up, and she pondered for a moment. Then, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at Qing, "Why would I want to get close to him?"
"Don't you want to beat him up before running away?" Qing retorted.
Everyone nodded in agreement. The Di-character also reminded, "There are definitely more merchants colluding with the barbarians than just the He family. Giving this intelligence to Liang Xiao is not a favor; it's just taking what each needs! Perhaps even those aristocratic families are all in a state of panic and making preparations!"
"Oh, that's true..." Zuo Jing nodded slightly, her mood complicated.
Among these secret letters was a personal letter from the head of the He family, He Wenting, and the inscribed gold ingots served as secret codes. These were all intercepted by the Cloud Heaven Guards from a He family messenger.
Coupled with several other ghostwritten letters related to colluding with the barbarians, it was enough to bring eternal damnation to the He family in the northern regions.
The Great Liang Kingdom did not care about the lives of the merchants and aristocratic families of the Great Gan Kingdom, only whether the Great Gan Kingdom was chaotic enough. The more chaotic, the better.
In this way, the Great Liang Kingdom, being of the same origin as the Great Gan Kingdom, could receive a large number of wealthy individuals fleeing from the Great Gan Kingdom and obtain more benefits.
This was also the usual tactic used by Zuo Wuji to gain power in the Great Gan Kingdom, and the Cloud Heaven Guards were adept at such matters.
However, the man who could care for her, had been working for Great Gan to pacify the nation. Now, she was somewhat reluctant for the Great Gan Kingdom to fall into chaos...
Qing reminded, "Miss, even if Liang Xiao possesses this intelligence, the decision of whether to purge the He family rests with him and the Emperor! Perhaps the head of the He family is already preparing to flee!"
"Hmm... Then I need to figure out how to beat him properly first!" Zuo Jing finally nodded slightly, feeling relieved.
The eight Cloud Heaven Guards observed Zuo Jing's reaction and exchanged glances, tacitly understanding.
At this moment, He Wenting, the head of the He family, was pacing back and forth in his home like an ant on a hot pan.
"It's not the Ministry of Justice or the Shadow Guards. Who exactly kidnapped He Xun and managed to steal the gold ingots from my residence!"
He Wenting was perplexed.
Those gold ingots were obtained recently, and he was planning to secretly melt them into gold bars for use.
However, the gold ingots hidden in the vault had disappeared!
"Master, perhaps we should retreat to Great Liang?" the steward suggested.
He Wenting gritted his teeth and sighed, "Yun Province is now under lockdown. If the He family withdraws in large numbers, it will surely arouse suspicion from the Ministry of Justice! Let's bribe them first to let the core disciples withdraw. The rest will inventory the family assets in Yun Province!"
On this day, due to the loss of confidential letters, the He family began to transfer their assets.
The head of the family, He Wenting, prepared goods and, under the guise of delivering them, left Yun Province with a large number of core disciples.
Upon learning that the head of the He family had left the city, the Cloud Heaven Guards were secretly delighted.
As the northern army marched southwest, the barbarian cavalry could no longer resist and sent out their vanguard.
Upon receiving news from the scouts, Lü Yi immediately ordered the various units to form ranks to meet the enemy, with cavalry on the flanks to guard against enemy flanking attacks.
The two armies assembled their forces and finally faced each other forty li outside the Helan Mountains.
"Marshal! By the time we arrive, the Great Gan army will already be in formation!"
The Right Worthy King received the news and was both surprised and enraged, "How could the Great Gan army react so quickly!"
The vanguard of the barbarian cavalry consisted entirely of cavalry, moving like the wind.
Last year, the barbarian cavalry had successfully launched a surprise attack with light cavalry on the trading post between Great Gan and the northern regions of Yan Province. The defenders of the northern regions had no time to react!
Back then, in the Battle of Helan Mountain, the Great Gan army did not have such a rapid assembly speed!
And now, the Great Gan army's assembly speed was no different from that of the most elite troops!
Were over a hundred thousand troops all elite?
It wasn't until the Right Worthy King led his soldiers up a dirt mound and gazed at the Great Gan army that he had to believe it.
All the Great Gan troops had formed a stable battle formation, ready to face the enemy, with no sign of the usual chaos of a large army!
"This Lü Yi has learned his lesson?" The Right Worthy King's brows were tightly furrowed, and he was displeased.
The barbarian's proud cavalry advantage was rendered useless against such an agile and responsive elite force!
Lü Yi was also observing the barbarian cavalry from a temporarily built dirt mound, and his heart tightened.
The military equipment of these barbarian cavalry was even more complete than ten years ago!
"If we cannot eliminate the traitors within our country, even if we defeat the barbarians, there will still be people who collude with the Kushan Dynasty, the Xianbei, the Tianri tribe, and even the Great Liang Kingdom, the Southern King, the Sun-Moon Army, and the Rejuvenation Sect..." Liang Xiao said in a deep voice.
Lü Yi's expression was solemn, and he nodded slightly, filled with anger.
With the army on the move, they had no time to investigate who was committing treason. This matter could only be left to the joint investigation of the Ministry of Justice and the Shadow Guards.
The sound of horns shook the heavens, and the soldiers of both armies sharpened their blades!
The barbarian cavalry began to approach, three li away,