Evening. The sun was sinking in the west.

Pan Yucheng was scratching his head, trying to think up an excuse to give the army another day's rest tomorrow.

Just then a scout outside the tent asked to see him.

"Come in!"

The tent flap lifted and a capable-looking young man strode in.

"Greetings, General Pan!"

Pan Yucheng lifted a hand. "Get up and talk."

"Thank you, General!" The scout got to his feet, looking thrilled. "General Pan, you foresee things like a god! On the far side of Peak Forest Gorge, near the hills and thick woods on both sides, we found footprints and hoofprints.

There's definitely an ambush in those hills and woods."

Pan Yucheng's eyes narrowed slightly. It's not that I foresee things like a god, he thought. Ning Chen saw all this coming.

Ning Chen had said that since it was an ambush, there wouldn't be many enemy troops, and they'd most likely all be cavalry.

And they wouldn't dare attack the main force, so their target would be the baggage train. They'd want to seize or burn the supplies.

Pan Yucheng wasn't worried. Ning Chen had walked him through what to do in exactly this situation on a sand table long ago.

Want to go after our supplies, do you? You'll come, but you'll never get home again, Pan Yucheng thought.

Then he told the scout to bring the army's officers to him.

The next morning.

Pan Yucheng led the army through Peak Forest Gorge.

In the dense woods, scouts from Nanyue and from Zhang Tianlun were secretly watching every move Pan Yucheng's army made and sending word back nonstop.

This time, Kang Luo and Zhang Tianlun had sent twenty thousand cavalry in all.

Ten thousand were Nanyue's, led by Bai Yixian.

The other ten thousand were Zhang Tianlun's, under his general Zhang Xu.

Zhang Xu had once served in the Dragon Guard and later went over to the De Emperor.

It wasn't really going over, either. While the De Emperor was on the throne, Zhang Xu had simply won his favor, and when the De…