Chapter 56: Shaking the Morale of the Troops

Upon hearing the soldier's report, Qin Qingxue was dumbfounded on the spot.

Both sides were responsible for procuring their own provisions, and since their main army was marching in the vanguard, they should have had the priority to buy up all the supplies along the route.

How, then, did the troops led by Li Ye manage to secure an ample supply of rations?

Let alone the fact that they were actually eating meat!

The aroma of stewed meat could be smelled from such a great distance, which meant there was a considerable amount being cooked.

If it were just for a few generals or Li Ye himself, the scent certainly wouldn't travel this far.

"Is Li Ye out of his mind? Will his military funds even suffice? He'll probably squander all his silver before they even reach the destination."

Qin Qingxue was furious.

She felt that Li Ye was simply acting recklessly, with not an ounce of understanding of how to conduct a military campaign.

Shi Wushuang persuaded her, "There is no need for us to be angry. The Sixth Prince is, after all, a merchant. He is trying to win over the entire army with such tactics. I imagine all this meat was brought along from the capital and won't last for many meals. Besides, the weather is scorching hot. Any excessive amount brought along will spoil very quickly."

"That makes sense! Li Ye's trading firm is massive; procuring some meat on short notice is no difficult task for him. But the men he commands are merely the old, the weak, and the disabled—they are entirely useless. Why on earth would the Emperor dispatch him here? Could he truly be trying to groom him?"

Qin Qingxue also felt that something was amiss.

Li Ye had never been favored by the Emperor, a fact Qin Qingxue knew all too well from their past association. Otherwise, she wouldn't have made such a decisive and forceful break with him.

Yet now, the Emperor's actions completely baffled her.

The provisions consumed by an army of five thousand along this journey were by no means a small amount. Furthermore, the Emperor had assigned Zhao Wudi to lead ten thousand elite troops to escort them along the way, and had even arranged for Li Ye to take over command of the army in the event of her defeat in battle.

What did Li Ye know about fighting wars?

Going there would simply be adding to the chaos.

She would be far better off having Zhao Wudi's ten thousand elite troops at her own disposal, where they could play a much greater role.

Holding his folding fan and cutting the figure of an elegant young gentleman, Shi Wushuang smiled and said, "I, on the other hand, believe that the Emperor's actions are immensely advantageous to us."

"How could that be? His troops will merely stand by and watch at the start, playing no role whatsoever. Moreover, the moment we suffer a defeat, he is supposed to step into my shoes," Qin Qingxue said angrily.

Shi Wushuang smiled with confidence. "Yet the Emperor never assigned you the task of protecting the Sixth Prince. Should the army of the Annan Kingdom launch a sudden raid, wipe out the Sixth Prince's forces, and kill him, it will have nothing to do with us! At worst, Zhao Wudi will bear the consequences for failing in his protection."

Qin Qingxue was taken aback, her eyes widening in disbelief as she looked at Shi Wushuang.

"You mean—?"

Although Qin Qingxue detested Li Ye to the core, harboring a hatred that made her teeth itch, she had never actually considered killing him.

After all, she was a female general of the Dayuan Dynasty, and the crime of murdering an imperial prince was by no means light.

"Since the Sixth Prince is our enemy, this is the absolute best opportunity to get rid of him. Once he is gone, both the Crown Prince and the Third Prince will go out of their way to win us over. Regardless of who ascends the throne, you will have the chance to become the supreme commander of the Dayuan Dynasty."

Dropping all pretense, Shi Wushuang laid his thoughts bare before Qin Qingxue.

Qin Qingxue was deeply shocked, yet she also felt that Shi Wushuang's words made no small amount of sense. It was just that she could not bring herself to make a decision immediately.

Seeing her hesitation, Shi Wushuang smiled and said, "In truth, we won't even have to lift a finger; we can simply leave it to the enemy. At worst, we will simply arrive too late to render assistance, resulting in the Sixth Prince being slain by the enemy forces. It will have nothing to do with us whatsoever!"

"If that is the case, it might just work! It was Li Ye who insisted on setting himself against me, so I am under no obligation to rescue him."

"It is wise of you to think so! Having an imperial prince harbor such intense hostility toward us is a grave threat. If we do not eliminate him, he will end up destroying us sooner or later."

Qin Qingxue nodded, consenting to Shi Wushuang's plan.

Shi Wushuang was overjoyed.

Leveraging the influence of the Yunlu Pavilion disciples within the Annan Kingdom, they only needed to provide the precise location of Li Ye's encampment and prompt the enemy forces to launch an attack.

By simply standing by and watching the fire from the opposite bank without sending reinforcements, they could undoubtedly kill Li Ye.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Annan Kingdom's army was not formidable, crushing ten thousand elite soldiers and five thousand old, weak, and disabled men with a numerical advantage would be no difficult task at all.

Little did Qin Qingxue and Shi Wushuang know that the soldiers in the main army were already filled with extreme resentment.

Because their own provision procurement had not gone smoothly, the army not only had to endure forced marches every day, but could only eat half-meals. They would have accepted it if there truly had been no other way, but catching the aroma of stewed meat wafting from the rear army instantly shattered their emotional equilibrium.

While they themselves could not even fill their stomachs, the others were actually eating meat!

The disparity was as vast as heaven and earth.

Staring down at the coarse grain in his bowl, unable to force it down, one soldier said furiously, "Can this even be called food? It's one thing not to get meat while on a military campaign, but they're feeding us coarse grain! We'll probably all starve to death before we even reach the south."

"Indeed. We are clearly the main force, yet we eat worse than the reserve troops in the rear. Where under heaven has a war ever been fought like this?"

A veteran soldier who was well-informed said to the others, "You lot know nothing. The rear is commanded by the Sixth Prince. His troops have always enjoyed exceptional rations; they eat meat at every single meal, and white rice is unlimited—they can eat as much as they want."

"The Sixth Prince commanding troops? Didn't they all say he knows nothing about warfare? The last time he captured the Bald Eagle Mountain, it was entirely due to buying them off with a fortune."

With a look of utter disdain, the veteran snorted and said, "What the hell do you know? When we go off to fight on an expedition, whether we'll return alive is anyone's guess. Who cares if the general knows how to lead troops? Eating well while you're still alive is the only truth that matters!"

"That's the truth! His Highness the Sixth Prince may not excel at military command, but he truly treats his men well. Those are just old and weak soldiers, yet every single meal they eat their fill, and it's all fine grain. It's immeasurably better than what we get."

"If I had the choice, I'd rather follow the Sixth Prince! As long as I get to eat meat every day, I wouldn't mind dying on the battlefield."

On the first day, they had merely been grumbling; by the second day, their morale had completely collapsed.

Because the horse-drawn carriages traveled at a swift pace, they actually caught up with the vanguard army.

To everyone's astonishment, they discovered that the entire army led by Li Ye was riding in carriages. Whenever they grew tired of sitting, they would climb down and run alongside for a short while.

In contrast, the ten thousand elite troops led by Zhao Wudi were entirely cavalry.

Compared to them, their own main army's lot was utterly miserable.

The ones who were actually expected to fight the battles had to rely on their own two legs to march, while the reserve forces either rode horses or sat in carriages.

The disparity in treatment was simply like heaven and earth.

Had Li Ye's army not been present, it would have been entirely normal for the bulk of an expeditionary force to consist of infantry marching on foot, as the cost of maintaining warhorses was exorbitant, reserved only for elite cavalry.

However, seeing the two armies march side by side caused profound resentment to fester in the hearts of the main army's soldiers.

Some had already begun to voice their complaints loudly, finding it utterly unacceptable to be fed poorly while still having to march on foot.