"Report... General, we're under attack! Under attack..."

A scout had come racing up and was shouting outside the tent, his voice shaking.

No shit. You think your father can't hear it? Ruan Yingxun cursed inwardly.

In the confusion he threw on his armor, grabbed his weapon and strode out of the tent. He looked over the chaos in the camp, his face dark.

"Who's attacking us?"

The scout said quickly, "Troops of the Great Xuan."

Ruan Yingxun looked even grimmer. The Great Xuan was split now between the De Emperor and the Ning Emperor.

An ambush by Ning Chen was more likely, but he couldn't rule out a trap laid for them by the De Emperor.

He didn't trust the Great Xuan's people one bit.

Maybe the De Emperor had faked the alliance to win back his lost territory, then sent troops to ambush them here.

"Find out right now whose troops they are!"

"Yes!"

The scout raced off.

Ruan Yingxun roared, "Runner... Pass my order. The archer battalion covers us. The rest of the army falls back into Hundredfold Ridge!"

The hills of Hundredfold Ridge folded over one another. Once they were back in there, they could slip out of the enemy's encirclement.

"And bring me that dog Wu Congzhou."

The runner took the order and raced off through the camp.

The Nanyue army was no Tuoluo army.

The Tuoluo were bloodthirsty and loved a fight, but they had little discipline.

Nanyue was different. Kang Luo was its commander in chief, and the troops under him were strictly disciplined.

As the runner spread Ruan Yingxun's order, the commanders of each unit reacted quickly.

The archer battalion began shooting back to cover the others as they withdrew.

And the Xuanling Army under Prince Wu wasn't the Ning'an Army. It had no muskets or cannon, and it couldn't fight like the Ning'an Army either.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!!!

A sky full of arrows came shrieking down on the archer battalion Prince Wu was leading.

"Fall back! Pull back!"

Prince Wu gave the order.

Li Bao had taken the blade-and-shield battalion with him, and Prince…