Chapter 551: Annexing Beining Village, Chu Tianming’s Plan |
Year 13 of Great Xia, the second day of the first lunar month, at the break of dawn.
At the same moment tens of thousands of laborers in Red Tiger Ridge of Evergreen Valley initiated their uprising, Chencang's army of one hundred thousand also passed through the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor and arrived at Danxue Peak.
Calculated roughly at one square meter per person, even a formation of one hundred thousand ordinary people would occupy one hundred thousand square meters. On open ground, this would be enough to form a square formation with sides over three hundred meters long.
But an army naturally cannot truly be arranged in such a simple square formation.
At the foot of Danxue Peak, Beining Village.
Chencang's army of one hundred thousand had clearly arrived some time ago. The abandoned civilian houses in the village had already been cleared out. Soldiers moved among them, either patrolling or transporting supplies, busy as could be.
Dozens of watchtowers and sentry towers had been erected around the village. Banner flags fluttered and snapped loudly in the cold wind. Beneath the flags, soldiers scrutinized their surroundings with rapt attention, not letting the slightest movement escape their notice.
On the ruins at the very center of the village, a brand-new wooden building had quietly been constructed. Atop this wooden building, a gold and white dual-colored flag fluttered in the wind. Judging from the exceptionally high specifications of the flag and the exceptionally strong mental fortitude of the soldiers clustered around the building, it was not difficult to deduce that this was the commander-in-chief's tent of the Chencang army.
"Three years ago, during the internal strife in Chuishan Town in the Southern Foothills, it was originally a perfect opportunity for our Chencang to intervene in the Southern Foothills. But Third Brother, for reasons unknown, actually only sent a little girl over. The result was not only that Great Xia humiliated us, but we gained no benefits whatsoever. It can be said that he thoroughly disgraced our Chencang's face..."
Besides them, there were several dozen armored generals inside the tent.
The matter Chu Tianhe was speaking of was precisely the Chuishan Schism in Year 10 of Great Xia. At that time, Chu Yaner and Cai Shiqi each acted as representatives of Chencang and Caiqiu, competing with Li Xuanling over Chuishan. The final outcome, needless to say, was clear.
That matter, in fact, had a follow-up!
After Chu Yaner returned to Chencang, she reported the entire process of the events to her grandfather, Chu Tianxu. Chu Tianxu, not taking Great Xia seriously at the time, only dispatched three Sun Manifestation Level cultivators south, ordering them to teach Great Xia a lesson. The leader of those three was precisely Chen Yuanbai, who had ventured into the Southern Foothills region multiple times before.
After mocking Third Brother Chu Tianxu and bringing up Chen Yuanbai, Chu Tianhe's expression finally grew slightly more solemn. He continued, "Those three, Chen Yuanbai and the others, before they could even reach Great Xia, encountered that Profound Ice Daoist Abomination right here in Beining Village..."
Upon hearing the four words "Profound Ice Daoist Abomination," including Commander-in-Chief Chu Tianming on the chief seat, all the generals in the tent instantly tensed up a few degrees. Their ears perked up, and they began listening attentively.
The power of the Abominations from the Blood Mire Plains, while not yet completely widespread within Mo'ao Chuan, was no secret among the upper echelons of the Four Feudatories. Everyone present in the tent at this moment were leading military generals, so they naturally were aware as well.
Up to the present, three Abominations from the Blood Mire Plains had shown themselves: Thousand Faces from the Manluo Flower Sea, Profound Ice from the Blood Mire Plains trial, and Black Wind General from Caiqiu's Bone-Erosion Path. All three possessed strength at the Tribulation Body Realm and had mastered extremely powerful Trickery abilities.
Previously, Chencang hadn't connected Black Wind General to the Blood Mire Plains. But as the conflict between the feudal towns and Great Xia unfolded, the demonic wind in the Bone-Erosion Path and the miasma of the Blood Mire Plains contracted simultaneously. They slowly began to realize the connection.
The contraction of the miasma in the Blood Mire Plains clearly indicated the Abominations were deliberately trying to make Chencang and Great Xia fight. The demonic wind in the Bone-Erosion Path beginning to contract at this critical juncture was for the same reason—also a trick played by the Abominations to make Caiqiu fight Great Xia as well.
These three having shown themselves didn't mean the Blood Mire Plains only had these three Abominations. At the very least, they knew there was another powerful Abomination, one that had mastered the ability to alter the flow of time, currently in the stage of revival.
Fang Bo Chu Longteng, towards the end of last year, had circulated the news about the reviving Abomination in the Blood Mire Plains to the other three feudatories. It could be said that the greatest internal threat facing the entire Mo'ao Chuan at present was this reviving Abomination within the Blood Mire Plains.
Although everyone's thoughts drifted, their ears were still listening to Chu Tianhe speak. As Chu Tianhe's words concluded, they all understood what had happened in Beining Village three years ago.
In short, Chen Yuanbai and his two companions had extremely bad luck. After descending Danxue Peak, they intended to rest and recuperate in Beining Village, but ended up running into the Profound Ice Daoist Abomination and were killed directly, without even being able to send a message back.
Chu Tianxu, having waited a long time without receiving any reply from Chen Yuanbai's group of three, originally thought the three had been killed by Great Xia. He thus sent people south to investigate, and they eventually reached Beining Village, discovering the three bodies frozen into ice sculptures.
Initially, Chu Tianxu was unclear about the cause of their deaths. It was only later, after the Blood Mire Plains trial began and the Profound Ice Daoist Abomination appeared, that he discovered these three men's manner of death was identical to those disciples who died in the trial, thus solving the case.
"In that case, those three were simply unlucky. That Profound Ice Daoist Abomination has not shown itself again since it lured and killed a large number of talented disciples from the two towns in the Blood Mire Plains trial. Now that the miasma of the Blood Mire Plains has receded, those Abominations have all gone into hiding. I estimate they won't show themselves until we and Great Xia have fought to the point of being battered and bruised!"
A leading general below slowly spoke up. The others, hearing this, nodded one after another, showing expressions of agreement.
Chu Tianming on the chief seat also nodded. He then took out a pitch-black jade stone from his bosom, looked at it, and shook his head with a smile. "Since the army began its southward march from Yanling Commandery, I've been following along the entire way. The Abomination Detection Jade has shown no reaction. The Abominations likely won't come in the short term, so there's no need to worry. However, what I'm most curious about right now is not this..."
At this point, Chu Tianming paused slightly, then pointed at the map on the left side inside the tent and continued, "The vanguard scouts discovered earlier that there are a large number of clandestine operatives in the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor, including the area below Danxue Peak. They can basically be confirmed as Great Xia personnel. This means they have long been guarding against our Chencang army's southward advance. Given that, why didn't they deploy troops at the Blood Corridor exit? Gentlemen, any thoughts?"
Upon hearing this, all the generals in the tent immediately looked at the map, their expressions slightly tensing.
Chu Tianming's question had hit the nail on the head.
Ever since exiting the Blood Corridor, they had been pondering this very question. However, they had only been discussing it secretly before and hadn't reached any conclusion. Now that Chu Tianming had placed the question openly on the table, he clearly intended to pool collective wisdom and have them all deliberate together.
The exit of the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor was very narrow, only about fifty to sixty meters wide horizontally. Logically, if Great Xia had long guessed Chencang's army was going south, they should have moved all their troops there. Wouldn't blocking that exit be more convenient than letting them deploy their formation and then engaging in battle?
"Could it be that this Great Xia is arrogant, simply doesn't take our Chencang army seriously, and is intentionally letting us out?"
Soon, someone inside the tent was the first to voice an opinion.
This answer did provoke contemplation among a portion of the people, but more of them shook their heads repeatedly, clearly not agreeing.
Chu Tianming was the same; he was also shaking his head.
Warfare is a grave matter of state. Judging from the preliminary intelligence Chencang had gathered on the Southern Foothills, Great Xia had developed from a small camp to its current scale in less than twenty years. This fact alone proved that Xia Hong was definitely no simple character. How could he possibly be so frivolous?
"The likelihood is small. News from the Bone-Erosion Path side has already come back. The Xia troops have all blocked the Bone-Erosion Path exit. Calculating the time, Caiqiu's army of two hundred thousand should have already entered the Bone-Erosion Path by now. It's just unknown whether the two sides have officially begun fighting. If Great Xia knows to block the Bone-Erosion Path exit, then there's no reason they wouldn't know to block the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor exit. Not doing so can only mean they have ulterior motives. It's better to be cautious!"
Although Chu Tianhe had a fiery temper, he was not stupid. He directly refuted the previous general's words. Then, as if thinking of something else, he turned his head to look at his eldest brother, Chu Tianming, and said, "The width of the Bone-Erosion Path exit is similar to the Blood Corridor, also only about fifty-some meters. This isn't something that can be breached simply by having more people. Great Xia possesses so many Beast Emperor-Level Puppets. Unless Cai Qianshan is dead set on staking Caiqiu's entire foundation to fight Great Xia desperately, it will be very difficult to break through.
Eldest Brother, if we take action at this time, we would essentially be helping Caiqiu. Why not first send an envoy to Caiqiu? We should at least demand some benefits. We can't help them in a muddled, confused manner!"
Beining Village was roughly over forty kilometers from Dongchuan City. The Caiqiu army had set out earlier than Chencang's, so they were bound to encounter the Xia troops first. Currently, only half a watch remained until dawn. Although scout reports had not yet come back, based on normal estimation, the Caiqiu army should have already entered the Bone-Erosion Path, and might even be close to the southern exit.
Cai Qianshan had lost so much face at Jinyang City. In a fit of rage, it was entirely possible that his army would engage the Xia troops immediately upon arrival.
Eldest Brother Chu Tianxu, after descending Danxue Peak, did not rush to attack Dongchuan City but instead had the army garrisoned at Beining Village. Chu Tianhe speculated this was likely because he was unwilling to contain the Xia troops for Caiqiu's sake without reason.
Chu Tianhe having this thought was actually not strange. Not only him, but most of the generals in the tent were basically thinking the same thing at this moment.
The reason was simple. Compared to Great Xia, a new and not-too-powerful neighbor emerging in the Southern Foothills, Caiqiu posed a greater threat to Chencang. Furthermore, being able to sit back and watch Caiqiu and Great Xia fight each other, Chencang had no urgent need to advance its army, as it wasn't their own resources being consumed.
However, the most important objective of Eldest Brother's southward expedition this time was still to deal with Great Xia, as it concerned the inheritance of the Fang Bo position. Therefore, Chu Tianhe proposed sending an envoy first to demand benefits from Caiqiu, then mobilizing troops to attack Dongchuan City. This would also be considered maximizing their gains.
However, Chu Tianming clearly did not agree with this idea.
But he did not refuse outright either. Instead, a flicker of light passed through his eyes as he said, "The question I just raised, you haven't answered it yet?"
Hearing this, everyone was taken aback, then looked at each other in confusion.
Why Great Xia did not deploy troops at the Blood Corridor exit was indeed a difficult question to explain.
"Great Xia knows it cannot fight two major feudal towns simultaneously, so it simply gave up on opposing us and is focusing on dealing with Caiqiu?"
"Then why did Great Xia still leave one hundred and forty thousand troops in Dongchuan City? Wouldn't Xia Chuan think that our Chencang army of one hundred thousand marching south is only aiming to take this mere fifty-kilometer territory south of Danxue Peak?"
Chu Tianming directly retorted with a question, refuting that general's statement once more.
The generals in the tent grew even more puzzled.
Chu Tianming shook his head, a hint of speculation appearing in his eyes. "In any case, one point can be confirmed at present: Great Xia intentionally let us pass through the Blood Corridor. It's just that we can't discern their exact intention. However..."
"Reporting, Commandery Governor! Lord Fang requests an audience!"
Before Chu Tianming could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a report from outside the tent.
"Quickly, let him in!"
Upon hearing the three words "Lord Fang," a clear look of excitement appeared on Chu Tianming's face. He swiftly instructed to let the person enter.
The generals inside the tent, hearing this, all had a slight gleam in their eyes.
The surname Fang, and someone who could elicit such a reaction from Chu Tianming—there was only one person: Fang Tianqing, the advisor from the Heyang Commandery Governor's Mansion.
The title "advisor" was actually a somewhat sensitive designation within Mo'ao Chuan. This was because this position was typically only established within the feudal town's Mufu. In other words, only the Fang Bo could establish the position of advisor.
Chu Tianming was not the Fang Bo, not even a Little Fang Bo. Normally, he should not be able to have an advisor.
Speaking of this, one has to mention an early incident within the Chencang Chu Clan.
Chu Longteng placed exceptional importance on seniority and hierarchy. As early as the Chuqiu era, he established the primogeniture inheritance system. When he first established this rule, to set an example for everyone else in the town, although he did not directly appoint his eldest son, Chu Tianxu, as Little Fang Bo, he gave him the qualification to establish his own administrative headquarters.
Therefore, among Chencang's five commanderies, Heyang was the most special one. Not only did it have an advisor overseeing administration and managing the Six Departments, but it also had a military commander leading troops, capable of managing all military affairs of the entire commandery.
Actually, this was an early indication from Chu Longteng, showing his intention to pass the Fang Bo position to his eldest son, Chu Tianming.
However, times had changed. As Chu Longteng's strength grew increasingly formidable and his status rose higher and higher, Chencang gradually showed signs of unifying Mo'ao Chuan. Naturally, many of his thoughts began to change as well. Many people in Chencang had noticed this and began, intentionally or unintentionally, to downplay the influence of Heyang Commandery and Chu Tianming.
The commanding generals remaining in the tent today were all from Heyang Commandery, so they could all be considered Chu Tianming's confidants. They were no strangers to Fang Tianqing.
However, logically, since Chu Tianming was leading troops on an expedition, his advisor, Fang Tianqing, should remain in the commandery. On one hand, to handle commandery affairs for him, and on the other, to ensure the army's logistical supplies. After all, currently there were quite a few people within Chencang who wanted to trip up Chu Tianming. Without someone keeping watch, it wouldn't do.
Why would Fang Tianqing come at this time?
As everyone pondered this, Fang Tianqing from outside the tent also walked in.
As the name implies, an advisor is the brain trust of the administrative headquarters. Fang Tianqing's entire image matched this title perfectly.
He had handsome features, wore a yellow ceremonial cap on his head, and appeared to be in his early forties. A black brocade robe outlined his tall, slender figure clearly, making him appear both scholarly and composed. A long sword hung at his waist, adding a touch of sharpness to this scholarly demeanor.
"Tianqing pays his respects to the Commandery Governor!"
Fang Tianqing was very proper in his etiquette. From entering the tent to walking to the center, he did not look around. He directly offered a respectful bow to Chu Tianming on the chief seat.
"Tianqing, why stand on such ceremony between us! Attendant, bring tea first."
Chu Tianming's closeness to Fang Tianqing was clearly extraordinary. He personally descended from the chief seat, helped Fang Tianqing up with a look of reproach, and signaled a servant to bring tea. After receiving it, he personally handed it over.
"Have some tea first, then speak!"
Fang Tianqing accepted the tea, a look of gratitude naturally appearing on his face. An advisor, when it came down to it, was just a close minister. To receive such courteous treatment from his lord, Chu Tianming, was indeed rare and precious.
Seeing this, the expressions of the generals in the tent were also full of envy.
Having long been in the army, they had heard that Fang Tianqing, this advisor, was highly valued by the Commandery Governor. Now it seemed the rumors were true!
With the lord showing such courtesy, Fang Tianqing naturally would not overstep. After taking a small sip of tea, he immediately showed a smile, clasped his hands, and looked at Chu Tianming. "Commandery Governor, Tianqing has not failed your trust. Everything has been negotiated with Great Xia. They will withdraw from Dongchuan City at daybreak. Moreover, there is an extremely high probability that Caiqiu's army of two hundred thousand will not be able to return. We can take action in Linchu County!"
As Fang Tianqing's words fell, the tent instantly fell into a deathly silence.
All the generals trembled violently, their pupils dilated. Then they looked up at Chu Tianming and Fang Tianqing, their faces filled with utter astonishment.
"Hahahahaha, good, good, good..."
And Chu Tianming directly burst into loud laughter.