The Bodyguard King’s CEO Wife Chapter 1641: Deployment

He Linghan was naturally worried that Ye Shikai would suddenly rush to the front line. After all, although the days they spent together were ordinary, they were exactly what she wanted most. Ye Shikai could see that, so he promised her that since they had agreed on three months, he would not cut it short by even a single day. It was just that, although he was not at the front line, it did not affect his command. At worst... it only meant the distance was a bit longer, but with flying cavalry on urgent dispatch, at most two days would be enough to deliver his orders.

"All right, I’ll have the servants prepare breakfast and wait for you to come back." He Linghan looked up at the dark sky. It was already so late and he still had to go out, which showed how urgent the news really was. He Linghan knew how to weigh priorities, so she naturally would not stop him.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be right back." Ye Shikai mounted his horse and set off with a few close confidants.

"Who goes there? What business brings you here in the middle of the night?" When they arrived at He Linghan’s residence, the guards at the gate stopped them.

"I’m Ye Shikai. I have urgent business with the lord. Go report at once." Ye Shikai shouted loudly.

"Yes, General, please wait a moment." The gate guard nodded, then hurried into the residence. At this hour Mi Wen should already be asleep. Originally Ye Shikai had wanted to wait until morning to come, but the matter was truly too urgent. If he waited until morning, that would mean a delay of another three hours. On the battlefield, three hours might be the difference between victory and defeat.

"General Ye, the lord is in the study. Let me take you in."

"Good, make it quick, I have urgent business."

Inside the residence, in the study.

"What is it you need me for?" Although Mi Wen had already straightened her clothes, it was obvious she was still drowsy. At this time, if converted to the modern era, it would be around two or three in the morning—the sleepiest time for people. Mi Wen might be a cultivator, but she still had to handle so many affairs every day; naturally, she could not rest much.

"These five days I haven’t shut my eyes once. I’ve gone through all the battle reports from the past month." Ye Shikai said calmly.

"What did you say?"

"I discovered a major issue. There’s a huge loophole in Huo Ziqing’s deployment." Ye Shikai said immediately.

"What?"

"There are major problems with Huo Ziqing’s deployment."

"What problems?" When Mi Wen heard this, her heart tightened and all trace of sleep vanished.

"Take a closer look." Ye Shikai spread the map out on the table. Many markings had been drawn on it, all of them information about the Qin Army.

"What exactly is going on?" Mi Wen was both curious and nervous. For Ye Shikai to come at midnight, there had to be something important; otherwise, he would not have come at such an hour.

"Huo Ziqing has deployed the main force entirely along the defensive line. Along several cities he built dozens of camps and stationed the troops separately in them."

"What about it? Is that wrong? If the enemy invades, they only need to light the signal tower and the main force will be alerted at once. They can rush over quickly to provide support."

"It’s indeed not wrong. But if... I’m saying if the Qin Army does not attack from the front, but instead..."

"Instead what?" Mi Wen pressed.

"Huo Ziqing has massed his heavy troops in the front, but deployed very few in the rear. If the main force of the Qin Army detours and strikes at the rear, they would only need to cut off the grain route and then... the consequences would be unimaginable." A sudden chill of fear flashed through Ye Shikai’s mind. This was nearly a hundred thousand troops—if they had no grain and were encircled in terrain like Ba Shu, even breaking out would be as hard as ascending to heaven.

"That’s true. If it really happens, it would be terrifying. The lifeline of the army would be grasped in the Qin Army’s hands, and we would be doomed." Mi Wen immediately grasped the danger, and panic appeared on her face.

In Ba Shu, even normal marching was difficult; as for breaking out, it would be a one-in-ten-thousand chance of survival...

"The Qin Army only needs to cross the river to bypass the barrier of the mountains and strike straight at the grain route in the rear." Ye Shikai drew a line on the map. This was the route he believed the Qin Army was most likely to take.

All of this was like what had happened back in Nanyang. Wang Li had detoured to attack their rear, sending Guo Ling to lead forty thousand Qin troops in a fierce assault on Wan City. If Huo Ziqing had not fought to the death to hold the city, they might... have lost everything.

So this time, he would absolutely not repeat the same mistake or allow such a situation to occur again.

"Mi Wen, you must warn him immediately. In addition, assemble twenty thousand troops, commanded by a trusted General such as Zhang Lan or Wang Lian, to guard the safety of the grain route and the line of retreat. Once the main force enters Shu, we should not fear defeat in battle, only that we might not even have the chance to retreat." In his anxiety, Ye Shikai even called Mi Wen by her name directly, but she did not mind.

"All right, it’s just that... there aren’t many troops left in the city now. It’s not hard to muster twenty thousand men, but it will take time." Mi Wen was somewhat worried. This time she had already handed even her "capital" over to Huo Ziqing. To organize follow-up forces would take at least several days.

"If it really won’t work, I’ll first organize my own guard, plus Wan Qi Yuan’s cavalry unit. That will give us five to six thousand iron cavalry. If they travel day and night, they should be able to arrive in two or three days." Ye Shikai said at once. In fact, most of Man Cang’s Iron Armor Army had already been transferred to the front line; otherwise Mi Wen would not be so troubled by the shortage of troops.

.................................

The next day.

At first light, Ye Shikai had already assembled the troops. Among them were his personal guard and Wan Qi Yuan’s cavalry unit, all stationed in a military camp ten li outside the city. There were a full five to six thousand of them, all iron cavalry. With the main army on campaign, they were the most elite cavalry force in all of Changsha.

"Wan Qi Yuan, on this expedition you must be extremely cautious. The land of Ba Shu is a completely unfamiliar place to someone of the Wolf Clan like you. Honestly, if the situation weren’t so urgent, I truly wouldn’t want you to go." Ye Shikai sighed. Back when he was in the rear of the Qin Army, he was the commander of the cavalry unit—this was his Direct Lineage. Ba Shu was full of mountains, the complete opposite of the flat expanses of the plains. The strength of a cavalry unit lay in galloping across open ground and charging formations, not in crossing mountain after mountain.

"Rest assured, General. Though Ba Shu is different from the plains, I am not some soft persimmon." Wan Qi Yuan nodded.

"Good. Take care of yourselves. Lastly, I must warn you again: this time you lead the unit to ensure the safety of the grain route and line of retreat, and to scout for any invading Qin Army. But you must not engage in pitched battle." Ye Shikai instructed. Back in Nanyang, he had already lost his brother Xue San. He did not want to lose a second one, nor did he want his Direct Lineage troops to become cannon fodder...

"I understand."