Chapter 526: Beneath the Pass City — Good News from Donggu City |
"The Pass City probably won't fall in a short time, and conquering Jinshan Town will likely take quite some effort. This year's Cold Origin Festival, it seems none of you will be able to return!"
Above the main tent of the Great Xia Right Route Army, west of the Pass City, Xia Hong withdrew his gaze from the Pass City to the east and turned back to look at Yuwen Tao and the others, speaking softly.
There were only half a shichen left before dawn. Today was December 30th. Once the sky brightened, Great Xia Year Twelve would officially turn the page, stepping into Great Xia Year Thirteen.
Since the founding of Great Xia, there were actually quite a few festivals now. Not just the half-month-long Cold Origin Festival at year's end, but also the Tianyuan Festival before the mid-year martial assembly; then the Hunt Festival on August 15th in the latter half of the year after the martial assembly ended; and right after the Hunt Festival, the Ancestral Sacrifice Festival on the ninth day of the ninth month...
However, in the hearts of the Xia people, the most important was undoubtedly the Cold Origin Festival.
The Cold Origin Festival represented the renewal of the year, signifying that Great Xia had endured and continued for another year in the Ice Abyss. This in itself held great significance, not to mention that on the last day of the Cold Origin Festival, the Xia Palace would host a Cold Origin Banquet, reviewing the camp's development and gains over the past year, while also summarizing and rewarding the performance of the Eight Departments and officials from various jurisdictions over the past year...
Moreover, hunting, mining, gathering, pioneering, cultivation... the lives of the Xia people, overall, were actually quite busy. There was basically not much time for rest throughout the year. These half-month of the Cold Origin Festival each year were considered the time when they could completely set aside all their tasks and peacefully spend time with their families.
Given its inherent significance and the deliberate emphasis placed on it, the status of the Cold Origin Festival in the hearts of the Xia people was naturally extremely high.
It was a pity that with the ongoing major war in the north, this year's Cold Origin Festival was destined to see many unable to return, especially the soldiers of the four route armies stationed in the north, and personnel serving the war effort.
"Lord Leader, you worry too much. How can a festival compare to the importance of military affairs? Of the five northern towns, three are already gone. Once Wuchuan and Jinshan are taken, and the Southern Foothills are unified, our brothers can receive their military merits and then return to celebrate a good festival. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
However, Yuwen Tao clearly didn't need his comfort.
"Now that we finally have a chance to earn military merits, who cares about celebrating festivals!"
"I'm only 1200 military merit points away from the fifth-rank nobility. I'm just waiting for the fighting to start."
"Lord Leader, you can't let only the Department Chancellor's Left Route Army steal all the glory!"
"Stealing glory is one thing, the key is military merit. This time, many in the Left Route Army will probably reach the threshold for ennoblement!"
…………
Not just Yuwen Tao, the remaining generals also spoke up one after another with smiles. Their tones were full of excitement; from their voices alone, one could tell they were not resistant to the war but were instead extremely thrilled.
Hearing everyone's words, Xia Hong shook his head and chuckled softly twice.
For the current Xia people, ennoblement and promotion in noble ranks were probably the top priority.
The so-called ennoblement was, to put it bluntly, about becoming a privileged class. Xia Hong saw this very clearly. So, from the very first day he established the ennoblement system, he had told Xia Chuan that the number of those ennobled must be strictly controlled.
Xia Chuan had clearly taken his words to heart. The nine-rank nobility system was implemented after taking Longyou, which was in Great Xia Year Two. It had now been in effect for eleven years. The current population of Great Xia had exceeded 6 million, yet the number of those ennobled had not exceeded 500.
On average, that's less than one per 10,000 people.
It was time to bestow a batch of noble titles to motivate the people. With the camp's various resources now abundant, it could fully support them.
"Don't worry. After the Southern Foothills are unified, ennoblement and promotions will all be based on military merit. Moreover, I've brought back quite a few good things from the Four Feudatories' territories this time. After the war ends, those with outstanding military achievements will receive additional rewards from me!"
Upon hearing Xia Hong's words, everyone's pupils instantly revealed a trace of fervor.
Yuwen Tao's Right Route Army originally had 50,000 troops. After transferring Xiang Fuhai's 10,000 troops to Luo Yuan, there were still 40,000 left. Among these 40,000 troops were nine designated armies: Dragon Slayer, Xuanwu, Feipeng, Chilin, Tiance, Green Wolf, Zhuhan, Luoyang, and Iron Eagle.
Apart from the Dragon Slayer, Xuanwu, and Feipeng armies, the remaining six designated armies were all newly added during the three years Xia Hong was absent. The commanders-in-chief of these six armies were Jiang Yuanlong, Zou Yuankai, Hong Gang, Wang Tao, Luo Ming, and Chen Ying.
Jiang Yuanlong was a member of the Jiang clan from Jiangxia Town, who had led troops against the Dajue Temple in Hongmen four years ago. Hong Gang, Zou Yuankai, Chen Ying, and Luo Ming were all old comrades from the Redwood Ridge period. Wang Tao was from Long Mountain and officially became a Xia person after Long Mountain's defeat in Great Xia Year Two.
Xia Hong was naturally very familiar with these six people. He had observed them even before arriving last night. Adding the commanders-in-chief of the Dragon Slayer Army, Hou Quan, the Xuanwu Army, Hong Guang, and the Feipeng Army, Hou Bing, these were the cultivation levels of the nine commanders-in-chief of the Right Route Army.
Among the nine, five were at the Sun Manifestation Level: Hou Quan, Hong Guang, Hong Gang, Zou Yuankai, and Jiang Yuanlong. Among the remaining four, the strongest was Luo Ming, with a base strength as high as 63 zong. Chen Ying, Wang Tao, and Hou Bing were slightly inferior, but basically around 60 zong.
Without the enhancement of a top-tier Supreme Grade Battle Body, the base strength of the Warmth Realm could only be increased to around 60 zong at most. Being able to increase it above 60 zong meant breaking through to the Sun Manifestation Level was almost a certainty.
This was what Xia Chuan had personally told him after capturing Beishuo City.
Clearly, during the three years he was absent, as the number of people breaking through to the Sun Manifestation Level continuously increased, Great Xia had also accumulated sufficient experience in this aspect and had already deduced the strength threshold for breaking through to the Sun Manifestation Level.
"I've inspected all four route armies. The total number of generals with strength exceeding 60 zong is at least over 100. That means in the not-too-distant future, these people are very likely to break through to the Sun Manifestation Level. As for those below 60 zong, there are even more. Combined with the things I brought back from the feudal towns and Yang Market this time, the surge in Sun Manifestation Level experts should arrive very soon..."
Xia Hong's gaze swept over the nine men, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement within.
It was foreseeable that once the current war ended and the Southern Foothills territory was completely unified, Great Xia would inevitably experience an extremely rapid period of development. The surge in the number of Sun Manifestation Level experts was secondary; the key was the leap in overall strength. The changes then would undoubtedly be earth-shaking.
Thump, thump, thump…………
A series of war drum sounds suddenly interrupted Xia Hong's train of thought. He turned and saw the drum-beating army formation in front of the military tent, a smile appearing on his face. He turned to look at Yuwen Tao and asked, "According to your plan, this means the tunnel digging has begun?"
Yuwen Tao nodded with a smile, just about to speak, when Xia Chuan unexpectedly flew over from the west first.
"It's too fast. I can roughly sense that the tunnel is less than nine kilometers from the exit. At the current progress rate, it can be completed in at most half a month. Once it's through, we can coordinate from inside and outside to capture the Pass City in one fell swoop!"
As Xia Chuan spoke, his emotions were exceptionally agitated. Clearly, the tunnel Yuwen Tao had been digging these past few days had made quite an impact on him.
Xia Hong smiled faintly, turned to look at Yuwen Tao, and couldn't help but reveal a trace of admiration in his eyes.
Last night, as soon as he arrived with Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao had directly laid out his plan for capturing the Pass.
The Pass City had Mo'ao Mountain on both sides, its city gates were too narrow, and behind the gates was an eleven-kilometer-long narrow passage. This was the most standard terrain that was easy to defend but hard to attack. The difficulty of breaching the gates themselves was extremely high, and how to break through the passage after breaching the gates was another major challenge.
Yuwen Tao's idea was to dig a tunnel.
In fact, this idea of digging a tunnel had been conceived a long time ago.
According to Yuwen Tao, as early as the year before last, after annexing Chuishan, he had realized that Great Xia would eventually move against the five northern towns. So, he had instructed the Military Department personnel to start extensively drawing detailed maps of the five northern towns well in advance.
During this process, Jinshan Town's uniquely advantageous Pass City had entered his field of vision early on. Over the past two years, he had personally come to inspect the Pass City site multiple times. He concluded that the possibility of capturing the Pass City from the front was extremely low, and this had little to do with troop numbers.
The Pass City was only a hundred meters wide from north to south. No matter how large the army, it couldn't be deployed effectively; they could only charge in formation. The defenders only needed to hold one choke point to firmly block the enemy outside.
"One man can hold the pass against ten thousand" – that probably described this kind of terrain.
If the front wasn't feasible, then the only option was to outflank and find a way around.
But the Pass City had Mo'ao Mountain on both sides, with heights ranging from thousands to even tens of thousands of meters. Trying to go around was simply impossible.
That left only one method: digging a tunnel.
Realizing this was the only way, Yuwen Tao had made preparations early on. He had Mu Dong cooperate, dispatching a large number of craftsmen in batches to infiltrate the area near the Pass, surveying the easiest tunnel to excavate underground.
Previously, worried about alerting Jinshan Town, after surveying the tunnel route, Yuwen Tao had directly sealed the map and hadn't taken any substantive action. Now that they were preparing for a frontal confrontation, he naturally began activating this tunnel route and started having people dig.
"The entire army is equipped with three thousand Gnawing Tooth Chisels, all made from the teeth of high-grade Gnawer Rats. According to the route we surveyed in advance, we can dig forward five hundred meters in one shichen. I arrived under the Pass City on the night of the 28th. We beat the drums once every five shichen and have done so four times now. Each time, we have them go to the foot of the Pass City to provoke..."
When the Great Xia Thunder Kui war drums sounded, not to mention the noise underground, even the sound of the surrounding cold wind would be drowned out. So, beating the drums and provoking for battle was entirely to cover the noise of digging the tunnel.
From Xia Hong's perspective, Yuwen Tao's strategy wasn't particularly ingenious, but that was because he had lived two lives. One must remember this was the Ice Abyss. There were no legendary, widely-known military strategy books from his previous life. For both Great Xia and Jinshan Town, large-scale wars involving tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops were like a bride getting on the sedan chair for the first time – a completely new experience.
Everything is difficult at the beginning. For someone like Yuwen Tao, born and raised in the Ice Abyss, to be able to come up with such a clever method for breaching a city in his first battle, calling him a military genius was not an exaggeration at all.
When Xia Hong first arrived and heard Yuwen Tao's ingenious idea, he was naturally greatly shocked and couldn't help but marvel in admiration.
If even he felt that way, Xia Chuan was even more so. Upon learning that Yuwen Tao had people digging a tunnel, he lost all interest in accompanying Xia Hong to inspect the battlefield and directly wanted to go see the tunnel's progress.
That led to the current scene of Xia Chuan returning after inspecting the tunnel.
Xia Chuan's words made Yuwen Tao and the other generals' expressions turn somewhat excited.
The narrow passage behind the Pass City was only 11 kilometers long in total. The tunnel route Yuwen Tao had surveyed the year before last could lead directly to the rear of that passage.
That meant once the tunnel was dug through, they could dispatch part of the army to secretly reach the rear of the passage via the tunnel. Then, with a pincer attack from front and rear, the Pass City would surely fall.
"Originally, our only concern was Caiqiu's Sun Manifestation Level experts, but now that the Lord Leader is here..."
"Don't worry, proceed with your plan..."
Xia Hong directly waved his hand, interrupting Yuwen Tao's words, his pupils revealing a trace of confidence. "Cai Qiuhu probably brought quite a few Sun Manifestation Level experts, but no matter how many he brings, it's useless. Even if he brought all of Caiqiu's Sun Manifestation Level experts, Jinshan Town must fall!"
Everyone present, including Xia Chuan, heard the domineering tone contained in Xia Hong's words, and their expressions perked up slightly.
"Two Beast Emperor-level puppets... it seems that's still not the Lord Leader's limit!"
Yuwen Tao had already learned about the events at Beishuo City from Xia Chuan. Hearing Xia Hong's words now, he immediately grasped the key point and felt even more assured internally.
Beast Emperor strength was on par with the human Tribulation Body Realm. According to the messages Jiang Xinfan had sent back this year, two Beast Emperor-level puppets were clearly not enough to make Great Xia fearless of the feudal towns.
Therefore, for Xia Hong to dare say these words now, it necessarily represented that he had other, even stronger trump cards.
"I just wonder, how strong exactly is the Lord Leader's own strength..."
What Yuwen Tao was most curious about at this moment was Xia Hong's strength.
Knowing that Xia Chuan had personally witnessed Xia Hong's two actions at Baimu City and Beishuo City, Yuwen Tao had asked earlier. Xia Chuan's answer was that he couldn't see through it. Not only couldn't he see through it, he couldn't even make a rough estimate.
This answer was actually quite telling in itself.
"Sir Department Chancellor once told me about the transformation rules of the Frost Beast Stakes. So, the Lord Leader must definitely have the strength to slay Beast Emperors now. Otherwise, where would the two Beast Emperor-level puppets come from? No, maybe even more than that..."
Thinking of this, Yuwen Tao felt both shocked and a trace of frustration within.
Although he knew there was a gap in aptitude between himself and Xia Hong, having joined Great Xia for so many years, Yuwen Tao had always been thinking about narrowing the distance. Especially during the past three years when Xia Hong was absent, as Great Xia developed by leaps and bounds, Yuwen Tao's cultivation progress naturally rose with the tide. His current base strength was over 9 jun, slightly higher than even Xia Chuan's.
Originally thinking that when Xia Hong returned this time, the gap in strength between them should be a bit smaller than before, who would have thought it not only didn't shrink but instead grew even larger.
"With two Beast Emperor-level puppets and the Lord Leader personally present here, capturing the Pass City is no longer a difficult matter. What we need to consider now is simply reducing casualties during the city capture and dealing with the Caiqiu feudal town behind Jinshan..."
Having figured this out, Yuwen Tao's mood immediately relaxed considerably.
He had known about Caiqiu's arrival for a while, but the arrival of a Tribulation Body Realm expert was completely beyond his expectations.
The matter regarding the young Fang Bo, Cai Qiuhu, had already been told to him by Xia Hong just now.
"Alright, follow me..."
Having finished inspecting the battlefield situation, Xia Hong was about to call all the generals to return to the main tent together, but he stopped mid-sentence and turned his head to look towards the west.
The others were puzzled and immediately turned to follow his line of sight.
Looking over, they realized someone was flying towards them from the distance.
"Lord Leader, good news, good news! Commander Luo has led the Central Route Army and has already captured Donggu City! Qin Feng's fifty thousand troops have been shut outside the city. Right now, they can't return to reinforce the town city, nor can they return to Donggu City. Wuchuan has fallen without a fight!"
The newcomer was Xu Ning. His face was full of smiles, and before he even got close, he reported the situation at Donggu City.
Hearing this good news, smiles immediately appeared on everyone's faces.
Luo Yuan, you truly didn't disappoint me.
Xia Hong silently remarked to himself before chuckling softly and saying, "Come with me back to the main tent. Tell me in detail how Luo Yuan captured Donggu City."
"Qin Feng led fifty thousand troops pretending to leave..."
Xu Ning was clearly also eager to share. Following behind Xia Hong as they flew towards the main tent, he recounted everything that had just happened at Donggu City.