Chapter 181 An Uninvited Guest

The ancient plane entered a tense state of preparation for war.

Yunzhen gets up early and goes to bed late every day. In addition to transporting materials for building the city wall, he also tries his best to lend a helping hand in other ways.

The border defense troops have stepped up their training efforts, and all the soldiers are on high alert, preparing for the upcoming war.

With the strong support of the interstellar plane, the progress of the craftsmen in building the city wall has been visibly accelerated.

The information we heard earlier said that the war would not start until 10 days later.

In fact, only about seven days later, the Tatars could not wait to launch an offensive.

Yuzhou’s war preparation status can be hidden from everyone, and it is easy to find out.

The Tatar Khan was worried that something might happen if he delayed, and he was also afraid that the border troops would be too well prepared, making the battle more difficult.

Before all the troops were assembled, he immediately dispatched troops to attack Yuzhou.

The two sides fought again at Xiongwu Pass.

In the first encounter, the border guarding army did not use its full strength, but relied on its excellent condition to win a small victory over the enemy.

The Tatar Khan became even more worried when he saw this. On the one hand, he urged the other tribes to reunite quickly, and on the other hand, he sent people to ask Prime Minister Lu for more supplies.

The initial victory boosted the morale of the border defense troops.

The grassland warriors who had always been difficult for them to resist were nothing more than a group of weak-legged wild dogs if they were not well fed.

Everyone was full of confidence and felt that this battle would definitely achieve an unprecedented victory.

Just when everyone was discussing how to completely wipe out the Tartars and prevent them from ever offending the Great Zhou again, an uninvited guest suddenly came to the military camp.

A group of people rushed over from the capital, led by a civil servant in his 30s.

He had an arrogant expression and an overbearing demeanor, and as soon as he arrived he said to Yun Jin without any respect:

“I am Fang Ye, the military supervisor appointed by His Majesty. From now on, all matters concerning the border defense army will be subject to my supervision.”

“I heard that you secretly collected a batch of food and fodder? And you used it without reporting it to the court?”

“Where is the thing? Take me to see it.”

“Is the food and fodder registered? Who supplies it? Where does the money for spending come from?”

“Yun Jin, if there is any problem with this batch of grain, you will have to wait for His Majesty’s decision!”

Fang Ye’s arrival was the result of Prime Minister Lu’s active operations in the court.

He wrote letters to impeach Yun Jin many times, questioning the source of the grain and grass. He also made alarmist remarks in the court, slandering Yun Jin that he might have colluded with foreign enemies, intending to accept benefits to strengthen himself, control the military power in the northwest, and engage in rebellion.

Prime Minister Lu requested that Yun Jin be recalled for investigation and that other generals be sent to guard Yuzhou.

The emperor disagreed, saying that a great war was imminent and changing the commander in chief was a taboo.

After many struggles between the two sides, a military supervisor was finally sent to supervise and investigate the situation of the border guards.

Fang Ye is from Prime Minister Lu’s faction. In addition to his task as military supervisor, he also has to monitor Yun Jin and his son for Prime Minister Lu and find out their anomalies and secrets.

At this moment, facing Fang Ye’s almost difficult questioning, Yun Jin’s expression did not change at all.

He still sat there calmly and replied in a cold tone:
“I have already reported the source of food and grass to His Majesty, and His Majesty has also approved the secret order, allowing the border troops to purchase them locally and be self-sufficient.”

“If His Majesty has not announced it, then he does not want to tell you. There is no need for you to ask. Just do what you need to do. There is no need to waste your time on me!”

Fang Ye’s attempt to show off was rejected. He looked very unconvinced and immediately raised his voice and ordered:

“Yun Jin, you have to explain this matter clearly today!” “The emperor never mentioned the secret order. Who knows if you made it up?”

“I am the military supervisor appointed by His Majesty! I have been ordered to come here to investigate the grain and grass issue. You are so resistant and uncooperative. Are you planning to rebel against His Majesty’s order?”

As soon as such an outrageous slander was uttered, the other generals in the room immediately stood up and glared at Fang Ye with angry eyes.

“You little brat! What do you think this place is? How dare a mere military supervisor run wild in the frontier camp? Aren’t you afraid that you may come in alive but leave dead?”

“Without the marshal guarding the northwest, the Tartars would have rushed in long ago! Would you still be able to comfortably show off your power here? I’m afraid even your bones would be chewed to pieces by the Tartars!”

“The war outside is so tense, yet you are stirring up trouble and stirring up trouble. I think you are the one who wants to rebel!”

Faced with the harsh accusations from the generals, Fang Ye felt a little timid, fearing that these reckless men would start beating people up if they disagreed with him.

He wanted to quietly step back a few steps and retreat into the protective circle of his accompanying guards.

But he refused to admit defeat and kept asking to see the account books unreasonably.

Yun Jin stood up slowly and walked steadily to Fang Ye.

He was born tall and strong, and now wearing armor, he looked even more majestic and inviolable.

Yun Jin lowered his eyes to look at the frail military supervisor who was a head shorter than him. He grabbed the man by the collar and led him straight out of the camp.

“The drums of war have already sounded, the Tartars are here to disturb the border again.”

“Isn’t General Fang here to supervise us? Then let’s go to the battlefield together!”

When Fang Ye heard this, he was so frightened that his face turned pale and his legs went weak and trembling.

He was originally just a civil servant in the Ministry of War. Although he had some martial arts skills, he was not very good at it and had never been on the battlefield.

He had heard in the capital how terrible the Tartars were.

Asking him to go to the battlefield now would be like putting a knife to his neck.

Fang Ye struggled hard, trying to break free while shouting angrily:

“Yun Jin! I am the military supervisor! I don’t need to go to the battlefield!”

“Let me go! Prime Minister… Ahem, His Majesty is still waiting for me to report the results of the investigation, please let go!”

Yun Jin ignored his threats and carried the man to the front battlefield as if he was carrying a chick.

At this time, Xiongwu Pass was filled with smoke and the fighting between the enemy and us was very fierce.

The battle had only just begun, but the trend of victory or defeat had already become apparent.

Unlike the border guards who had sufficient food and fodder, the Tatars were obviously running out of energy.

The grasslands were also affected by drought this year. The more water-starved and hungry the soldiers in the northwest were, the worse and more severe the situation of the Tatars was.

In order to survive, the Tatars slaughtered a lot of cattle and sheep to fill their stomachs.

Having lost such an important survival asset, these simple-minded and strong-limbed foreigners had no other means of making a living except to go south to harass the border, burn, kill and loot.

After the mobilization, the number of Tatar troops reached over 10.

All the old, weak, sick and disabled people are dragged in to make up the numbers. They don’t ask for strong fighting power, but just having some cannon fodder will do.

In terms of the number of people, we are currently fighting a battle where we are outnumbered.

However, the border defense army was in excellent condition, with a much lower casualty rate than the enemy, and sufficient logistical reserves. In terms of chance of winning, they had a better chance than the Tatars, whose number was twice as large.