Su Fan rode his horse, and halfway through his journey, he suddenly realized someone was chasing him from behind.
The person was also on horseback, and his mount was faster than Su Fan's.
It took almost no time from when Su Fan spotted the other person to when they caught up to him.
Su Fan was a little surprised.
What a good horse!
As the person caught up to Su Fan, they glanced back at him and then continued on their way without any particular concern.
Su Fan envied it for a moment, then felt a bit strange.
This person's attire didn't resemble a soldier's, so why were they heading towards the front lines?
Su Fan was a little puzzled but didn't think too much about it and continued forward.
Upon reaching the military camp, Su Fan had a soldier go report his arrival.
Upon learning that Su Fan had arrived, Xia Yuan immediately invited him in.
He also sent Meng Xingbang away.
"Did something happen that brought you all the way here?"
Xia Yuan asked Su Fan nervously.
Su Fan's arrival must mean something, and the most likely possibility was that Xia Yun had gotten into trouble.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, Xia Yuan truly didn't want to see Su Fan, because seeing Su Fan meant Xia Yun was likely in danger.
"No, I just wanted to ask the general for a favor."
Su Fan shook his head and said.
Seeing this, Xia Yuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"If you have nothing else, don't come bothering me. I'm old and can't handle the excitement."
Xia Yuan said speechlessly.
"What is it, speak,"
After the jest, Xia Yuan put away his smile and asked Su Fan with a serious expression.
"It's like this, I'm currently leading the Bandit Suppression Camp in operations, and we've reached the territory of Kaoshan Wang. However, their subordinates are too numerous, and it's difficult to defeat them with fewer than a thousand troops. So, I wanted to borrow a battalion of a thousand soldiers from you. What do you think?"
Su Fan tentatively asked.
Now that Su Fan was asking for a favor, he naturally had to humble himself. If you go to borrow something while acting arrogant, who will pay attention to you?
"Who did you say you were fighting?"
Xia Yuan was stunned and asked Su Fan for confirmation.
"Kaoshan Wang."
Su Fan said again.
He looked at Xia Yuan with some confusion. Was there something wrong with his previous statement?
Xia Yuan frowned slightly.
"It's best not to attack Kaoshan Wang right now."
Xia Yuan said to Su Fan.
"Why?"
Su Fan asked, puzzled.
"Kaoshan Wang is not that simple. Thinking you can defeat him with just a thousand soldiers is a fool's dream."
Xia Yuan shook his head.
"But Captain Li said that a thousand soldiers would be enough to defeat Kaoshan Wang."
Su Fan said, confused.
"He's still young and doesn't know how formidable Kaoshan Wang is. Do you know who was guarding the border before the war with the neighboring country?"
Xia Yuan retorted.
Su Fan was taken aback, recalling that Kaoshan Wang was previously the city lord of Beiling City.
"Kaoshan Wang!"
"That's right. It was Kaoshan Wang who had been guarding the border, preventing the neighboring country from daring to encroach on the border of the Tianlong Dynasty. Later, when Fang Shijie became the city lord, they dared to invade the Tianlong Dynasty's territory on a large scale. So, do you think you can defeat Kaoshan Wang with the same number of troops?"
Su Fan fell silent.
This was truly troublesome!
He had initially thought it was just a difficult bandit, but he hadn't expected the person to be a former general who had fought many battles. Even Pingnan Jun valued Kaoshan Wang so highly, Su Fan couldn't help but believe Xia Yuan.
"Then what should we do?"
Su Fan's mind went blank.
He had come here for two things: first, to acquire equipment, and second, to investigate evidence of Fang Shijie's intention to rebel.
Now, he couldn't acquire any equipment, and he had no leads for evidence. Was he just supposed to wait?
"I can give you an idea."
Xia Yuan suddenly said.
Su Fan's eyes lit up.
Pingnan Jun's strategy must be brilliant.
"What idea?"
Su Fan asked eagerly.
"Let them fight amongst themselves."
Xia Yuan said with a smile.
"Huh?"
Su Fan tilted his head, looking at Xia Yuan in confusion.
"How will they fight like dogs?"
Su Fan had a general idea of who the "dogs" referred to, but he was more puzzled about how to make them fight.
"I've already roughly figured out which battalion is taking orders from Fang Shijie. Although I haven't found the mastermind colluding with Fang Shijie yet, it's definitely related to the direct superior of this battalion. I've already narrowed down a few potential candidates."
Xia Yuan said slowly.
"Is their direct superior Meng Xingbang?"
Su Fan guessed.
To his surprise, Xia Yuan shook his head.
"It's not Meng Xingbang. He's fine. It's someone else."
Xia Yuan said with certainty.
Xia Yuan did not reveal who he suspected, as there was insufficient evidence yet.
"What I mean is, aren't you here to borrow troops? I'll lend you this battalion and have them join the Bandit Suppression Camp. This way, this battalion will directly appear in Beiling City, making it even more convenient for Fang Shijie to use them. Then, you can lead your men to provoke Kaoshan Wang's anger and make him attack Beiling City. At that time, you just need to bring your people and watch the show from the sidelines."
Xia Yuan explained to Su Fan.
"This way, the evidence of Fang Shijie colluding with the military camp will be more easily exposed. As long as you find his evidence, I can also cooperate with you at any time to round them up."
Xia Yuan's words enlightened Su Fan.
As expected of someone who led troops in battle, his mind was truly devious!
"General, you're amazing!"
Su Fan couldn't help but admire Xia Yuan. There must be a reason why he had achieved so many military achievements.
"Alright, I'll take you to see this battalion."
Xia Yuan said to Su Fan with a smile.
Then, Xia Yuan led Su Fan to the Xianzhen Camp.
"Xianzhen Camp!"
When Su Fan saw the flagpoles planted in the camp, he was stunned.
Isn't this the military camp that Qi Ling had warned him about?
This Xianzhen Camp indeed has a big problem!
Xia Yuan led Su Fan into one of the tents. Inside the tent was a soldier in armor.
"Xu Tian greets the General!"
The other party immediately knelt and saluted Xia Yuan.
"This is Su Fan, the commander of the Bandit Suppression Camp. This is Xu Tian, the captain of the Xianzhen Camp."
Xia Yuan introduced them to each other.
"Hello, Captain Xu."
Su Fan nodded at him with a smile.
"Greetings, Commander."
Although Su Fan was not his commander in the Xianzhen Camp, his rank was higher. Xu Tian still spoke to Su Fan very politely.
"Su Fan is here to borrow troops from me. Their Bandit Suppression Camp is currently facing a powerful group of mountain bandits with over a thousand men. Therefore, I intend to temporarily lend the Xianzhen Camp to Su Fan. What are your thoughts?"
Xia Yuan asked Xu Tian. Although it was a question, his tone was undeniably commanding.
"Your subordinate will obey any arrangement!"
Xu Tian dared not object and immediately agreed.
"Good, the entire Xianzhen Camp will proceed to Beiling City to support the Bandit Suppression Camp. Depart immediately!"
Xia Yuan did not allow Xu Tian any time to think and directly issued a military order.
"Yes!"
Xu Tian immediately accepted the order.
Su Fan did not expect it to be so quick. He had just come with Xia Yuan to go through the motions, and it was already arranged.
"Alright, you can go back now. The Xianzhen Camp will likely arrive tomorrow."
Xia Yuan said to Su Fan.
"Fine."
Su Fan said helplessly.
Xia Yuan didn't even ask him to stay for lunch.