Empire

"Tap-tap-tap——"

Before dawn, Chen Ziang, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by a rapid knock on the door.

"Who?"

Chen Ziang jumped up, grabbed the sword under his pillow, and looked at the door vigilantly.

"Sir, it's me, I have urgent military information."

The voice of Li Changqing, the general of the hundred soldiers, came from outside the door, and Chen Ziang's tense expression relaxed.

"What's the emergency?"

Chen Ziang asked as he got out of bed and put on his combat boots.

"Sir, something has happened. The provincial capital has been lost, and our army has suffered a disastrous defeat."

After hearing this, Chen Ziang's heart sank. He took two steps at a time to the door and opened it with a creak.

The sky was dark. Chen Ziang saw Li Changqing and Li Lang, the deputy battalion commander on duty, standing on the steps through the dim light of the lantern. Behind them were two unfamiliar faces.

"Greetings, sir!"

Seeing Chen Ziang, several people at the door saluted with their chests crossed.

"Sir, I am sorry to disturb your sleep, but the situation is urgent and I have to wake you up. Deputy Battalion Commander Li Lang said apologetically.

"It's no problem." Chen Ziang waved his hand and said,"Can you tell me the details?"

"These two are our scouts. Let them report in detail."

Li Lang turned sideways and pointed at the two dusty soldiers behind him.

"Sir, we are soldiers of the 5th Scouting Team of 2,000 people. We have discovered a large group of Dynasty Black Cavalry troops 50 miles east of Erlong Mountain."

"A large group of Black Cavalry?"

Chen Ziang's face darkened. This place is far away from Qingyang Prefecture. How could the Black Cavalry appear here?

"We rescued several Qinghe Army brothers who were being hunted down by the Black Cavalry scouts. We learned from them that three days ago, tens of thousands of Black Cavalry raided the provincial capital, which fell and our army was defeated......."

The two scouts quickly told Chen Ziang all the information they had learned, and Chen Ziang also realized the seriousness of the problem.

The provincial capital was the location of the temporary marshal's office of the Qinghe Army, and it was also the home of the Qinghe Army.

Now the home was destroyed, and even the commander-in-chief Zhang Dayuan and the deputy commander-in-chief Xu Fu were missing. For them, this was really terrible news.

"You two brothers have worked hard. Go down and have a rest first. This matter is of great importance. Please don't spread it to others before we figure it out."

""Yes!"

Soon, the two scouts who returned were taken away by the guards.

"What do you think about this matter?"

After the scouts went down, Chen Ziang looked solemnly at the deputy battalion commander Li Lang who was standing by and taking turns to watch.

Li Lang said:"The brothers in the scout team will not lie. I think it should be true, but we still need to send people to inquire about the specific situation."

Chen Ziang nodded:"Changqing, you go and pass on my military order. All the scouts will be sent out to clarify the situation as soon as possible."

""Yes!"

Li Changqing, one of the hundred soldiers, responded and immediately turned around and ran towards the place where the scouts were camping.

"This matter is of great importance, and we must prepare for the worst."

Chen Ziang instructed Li Lang,"Immediately call all officers above the rank of 1,000 men to come to my place for a meeting, and at the same time order the night watch troops to step up their vigilance!"

""Yes!"

Chen Ziang and his men had just taken over Erlongshan Stronghold, and were preparing to transport food back to the provincial capital after a rest.

Who knew that before they set off, bad news came from the provincial capital, which made Chen Ziang very worried.

Their Qinghe Army is now in a stage of development. If something goes wrong with Marshal Zhang Dayuan and others, it will undoubtedly be a huge blow to them.

Now Chen Ziang has to pray that Zhang Dayuan and others are okay. After all, no egg will be intact under an overturned nest. Once the big tree of Qinghe Army falls, he, Chen Ziang, will also face greater risks.

After all, when encountering the dynasty's expeditionary army, now there are tall people to support them, and he, Chen Ziang, can free up his hands to train troops and develop strength.

Once there is no tall man to support them, then they will have to face the front of the dynasty army, which is what he does not want to see at the moment. He needs time to develop

"What's going on? They woke people up before dawn.

Yang Zhong and other generals were exhausted from the days of collecting food in the open air.

They thought they could rest for two days in Erlongshan Village, but they were woken up when they were sleeping soundly.

"Something must have happened, let's go quickly."

Deputy battalion commander Zhang Bao keenly felt that the number of guards in various places in Erlongshan Village had increased, and the air was filled with a solemn atmosphere.

Soon, deputy battalion commander Li Lang, Zhang Bao, thousand-man commander Lin Yu, Yang Zhong and others all rushed to the meeting hall of Erlongshan.

"Brother Li, what happened?"

Seeing that there was a sentry every three steps and a sentry every five steps outside the hall, and the guards looked as if they were facing a great enemy, Zhang Bao approached Li Changqing, the general of the hundred guards, and lowered his voice to inquire about the situation.

"I don't know the specific situation, but I heard that something happened in the provincial capital. Deputy Battalion Commander Zhang, please go in quickly. The master is waiting for you inside."Li Changqing said

"OK, Brother Li, I'll buy you a drink when I have time."

""Okay, okay."

Zhang Bao patted Li Changqing on the shoulder and walked into the meeting room.

After Zhang Bao and others entered the meeting room, they found chairs to sit down. Soon everyone was there, including the new chief of staff Li Qiye and the thousand-man general Zhou Ba.

"Everyone, let me make it short and tell you a piece of bad news I just received."

After seeing that everyone was present, Chen Ziang knocked on the table to focus everyone's attention.

Seeing Chen Ziang's serious expression and saying that it was bad news, Zhang Bao and others had different expressions and began to guess what had happened.

"Scouts report that the provincial capital was attacked by a large group of black cavalry a few days ago. Our army suffered heavy losses and the commander is missing. Currently, the black cavalry is chasing our defeated soldiers everywhere."

"ah?"

"How come the Black Cavalry appeared in the provincial capital?"

"Could it be that Deputy Marshal Chen of Qingyang Prefecture was defeated?"

"The brothers' families are still in the provincial capital. What if something happens to them?"......

After hearing what Chen Ziang said, everyone was in an uproar, with surprise, suspicion and shock.

General Zhou Ba and Chief of Staff Li Qiye had just joined Chen Ziang's army and didn't know much about the situation, so they seemed much calmer.

Chen Ziang saw everyone's reaction. He also knew that the news was a bit sudden, but it had already happened, and they could only accept it and find a way to deal with it.

"Be quiet——"

Seeing everyone whispering, Chen Ziang had to knock on the table again to make them quiet down.

"You are all senior officers of the 9th Battalion of our Qinghe Army. No matter what happens, I hope you will not panic."Chen Ziang emphasized

"Sir, don't worry, we will listen to you."The deputy battalion commander Li Lang, who was in charge of military law, took the lead in expressing his opinion.

"Yes, sir, we will listen to you." Zhang Bao and others also followed suit.

"I have sent out a large number of scouts, and I think we will soon know exactly what happened."

Chen Ziang said with a serious face:"Before that, I hope you can restrain your troops, follow orders in all actions, and don't spread rumors. If anyone dares to disrupt my army's morale, I will punish him severely."

"Yes!"

Zhang Bao and others saw that the commander Chen Ziang was so calm and composed, and the worries and panic in their hearts also subsided.

"Li Lang!"

"The end is here!"

"Your people should strengthen patrols, and anyone who spreads rumors and disrupts military morale should be arrested and severely punished immediately!"

"promise!"

"The rest of you should go back and explain to the brothers, telling them that even if the sky falls, I, Chen Ziang, will hold it up, so don't lose your composure."

"promise!"