Chapter 563: Valley Council — Ally with Caiqiu to Contain Chencang |
With Xia Hong’s current position, getting a private audience with him was indeed not easy.
It wasn’t that the subordinates were acting on their own; the core issue was that as Lord Leader, he had far too many matters demanding his attention, especially right after a large-scale campaign. People wanting to see him came in wave after wave.
Yuwen Tao needed to report last night’s battle results and sit down with him to summarize Great Xia’s gains and losses from the campaign;
Yuan Cheng brought a message from Xia Chuan and wanted to brief him on the situation across the five southern towns, to discuss how to handle those towns going forward;
Qiu Peng had compiled the supplies in the five towns’ treasuries into a list, explaining one by one which items should be sent back to Xia City and which should be kept in the towns for local use;
Lin Kai had already, immediately after the battle ended yesterday, gathered the scouts Yuwen Tao had sent earlier, consolidated the intelligence they’d uncovered, told Xia Hong the important parts, and personally led a team north to survey the entire Evergreen Valley boundary, with updates coming in from time to time;
...
Too many decisions needed his approval, so from the daytime of the fourth day through the end of the battle, he hadn’t had a single moment of free time. It wasn’t until daytime on the fifth day that he finally gained a bit of respite and could begin discussing Great Xia’s follow-up plans with Yuwen Tao and the others.
Although the main Xia force had taken up position in Valley Village, whether they would proactively strike Chencang’s army on Guangningshan or stay put and wait for Caiqiu to make the first move before reacting, no one had yet given a definitive recommendation.
Inside the main hall of the administration building, six men were gathered. Xia Hong sat at the head; below him on either side stood Yuwen Tao, Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, Lin Kai, and Xu Ning.
The one speaking now was Yuan Cheng.
Yuan Cheng had a fiery temper and an impatient streak. He had volunteered to lead an attack as soon as the battle ended last night, but Xia Hong had refused and instead sent him back to the Southern Foothills to inform Xia Chuan of the battle’s outcome. That was why he’d returned bearing Xia Chuan’s message.
Now that Xia Hong was finally free to discuss follow-up plans, Yuan Cheng was eager to volunteer again.
And frankly, when he began speaking, the others felt stirred as well.
“Lord Leader, your strategy was brilliant. Before the battle you sent Lu Yang all the way to Wei Bo to notify them about the situation in Linchu County. Li Gangfeng was decisive—he brought over a dozen Tribulation Body experts and actually rescued the nearly doomed Cai Qianshan from Linchu County City. As a result, although Caiqiu was weakened, they weren’t wiped out by Chencang.
“Of course Wei Bo’s rescue came at a cost; Chencang, having swallowed most of Linchu County’s territory, is still pushing east. It looks like they intend to take the whole county. Hecang hasn’t acted openly, but from Jiang Xinfan’s intelligence from Chencang, in recent years their external policy has basically mirrored Wei Bo’s. So Wei Bo’s stance effectively represents theirs.
“From the looks of it, all three feudatories are trying to pick at Caiqiu!”
When Yuwen Tao began with that opening line, a smile immediately crossed Xia Hong’s face. Great Xia’s sphere of influence was indeed growing, and even someone as austere as Yuwen Tao was learning how to flatter.
Still, sending Lu Yang to Wei Bo before the battle had indeed been his move.
Xia Chuan’s cooperation with Chu Tianming on behalf of Great Xia was known to Xia Hong. Chencang’s hundred-thousand force had remained idle in Dongchuan City while Heyang Commandery sent a surprise strike into Caiqiu’s Linchu. Great Xia neither wished nor had the capacity to fight both feudatories at once; the confrontation with Caiqiu had already reached a point where it had to be launched, and agreeing to Chu Tianming’s proposal was a convenient course of action.
Originally, this cooperation could have been a win-win with Caiqiu as the one suffering the losses.
But looking at how things had evolved up to now, Xia Hong felt uneasy.
He had assumed Chencang taking parts of Linchu County would be enough, but who would have thought Caiqiu would fare so poorly that they couldn’t even hold Linchu County City.
The four counties were Caiqiu’s base, and Linchu County City’s strategic importance was obvious. Xia Hong himself had once lived there long enough to know how well-fortified that city was.
And yet Chencang had managed to take it.
Thinking that through, even if Great Xia took the whole Evergreen Valley, or even captured Qinghua City, the biggest beneficiary of this three-way clash would still be Chencang.
Moreover, if Chencang took all of Linchu County and forced Caiqiu to suffer such a loss, would Chencang’s hundred-thousand troops in Dongchuan City just remain idle afterward?
Their next obvious target would be Great Xia.
Although Great Xia defeated Caiqiu’s twenty-five battalions in battle, overall Great Xia still stood at a disadvantage compared to the four feudatories of the Mo'ao Chuan region, and Xia Hong never forgot that fact.
So he had to take precautions.
“General Yuwen speaks rightly. Since all three feudatories are picking at Caiqiu, Great Xia cannot fall behind. First secure Evergreen Valley, wait for reinforcements to arrive, then press on to capture Qinghua City. Perhaps even Baishui Commandery could be...”
Yuan Cheng, sensing the drift of things, pressed his request to lead the attack once more.
Yuwen Tao and Qiu Peng both looked tempted by his plan, but when they saw Xia Hong’s brow knit slightly they guessed his reservations and chose silence.
“If we press on and ally with Chencang, can we really wipe out Caiqiu?”
Xia Hong’s question had been expected; Yuan Cheng answered immediately with a bow: “Of course not. Not unless both Wei Bo and Hecang abandon Caiqiu, which is almost impossible.
“And even if Caiqiu fell, that wouldn’t be good for Great Xia. Chencang’s hundred-thousand force still sits in Dongchuan City. If Caiqiu were annihilated, Chencang would likely turn on us...”
That Yuan Cheng could speak so bluntly showed that despite his brashness, he was not an illiterate brute. He had risen to be one of Great Xia’s eight department chiefs over the past decade; he was no fool.
They all understood the situation clearly, and yet Yuan Cheng still volunteered to fight.
Xia Hong’s eyebrows rose slightly as he looked at Yuan Cheng, waiting for him to continue.
Seeing all eyes on him, Yuan Cheng kept his gaze steady and continued: “Lord Leader, Caiqiu is far from collapse. Jiang Xinfan’s report claimed Caiqiu’s registered population was around twenty million, with the combined forces of the prefectural guards, garrison guards, and the Silver Scale numbering five hundred thousand. Clearly those numbers are flawed; Caiqiu’s true strength is far greater!”
Yuan Cheng’s words pulled Xia Hong’s thoughts back to three years ago, when the Bone-Erosion Path had just been traversed into the Southern Foothills.
He remembered clearly that upon exiting Bone-Erosion Path, he’d encountered a group of Caiqiu prefectural guards who, under questioning, gave inflated figures: Caiqiu’s population at eighteen million and troops at three hundred thousand.
After spending time in both Qinghua City and Linchu County City, he quickly realized those two numbers were wildly inaccurate.
Jiang Xinfan’s later data had previously been somewhat useful, but after this direct clash between Great Xia and Caiqiu, it was now clear those figures were problematic.
Caiqiu casually mobilized two hundred thousand troops south. Although Linchu County had fallen to Chencang, scouts reported that Caiqiu still had at least one hundred thousand troops defending the city that night.
Add the seventy-thousand force stationed on Guangningshan, and that already sums to three hundred seventy thousand troops.
Crucially, that three hundred seventy thousand only covered Baishui and Linchu counties, and didn’t account for all of those counties’ forces.
Cai Qianshan’s Silver Scale troops hadn’t even been deployed yet.
So when Yuan Cheng said Jiang Xinfan’s intelligence was suspect, all five men, including Xia Hong, nodded in agreement.
It made sense: Jiang Xinfan had been in Yanling less than a year and could hardly claim deep insight into Chencang—let alone Caiqiu.
“Since there’s no immediate danger of collapse, Caiqiu’s only realistic path now is to cede territory and sue for peace. They certainly won’t be able to retake Linchu County City. And if they don’t fiercely resist Chencang next, losing just one county won’t satisfy Chencang’s appetite.
“In that case, Caiqiu will be unwilling and unable to pour many resources into Evergreen Valley. Qinghua City will likely be their hard line.”
Yuan Cheng stopped there, leaving the rest unsaid.
By then, the five men in the hall all understood his implication.
It had to be admitted that Yuan Cheng’s argument was logical and persuasive as a justification for Great Xia continuing northward. Evergreen Valley appeared barren to Caiqiu, essentially worthless; rather than waste troops there fighting Great Xia, Caiqiu would concentrate on resisting Chencang.
“You say Evergreen Valley is worthless to Caiqiu, so what use is it to Great Xia?”
Xia Hong suddenly threw out that question, and Yuan Cheng froze, stammering for a long moment without a reply.
To Xia Hong, Evergreen Valley wasn’t barren at all. Its exceptionally dense vegetation coverage alone showed it to be a valuable piece of land.
Its true value simply hadn’t yet been discovered.
But now Xia Hong wanted to turn Yuan Cheng’s thinking around, and naturally led him along.
“After the battle at Jinyang and the two fights at the north and south mouths of Bone-Erosion Path, all three engagements showed not just Caiqiu but the entire Mo'ao Chuan’s four feudatories Great Xia’s strength. If we tried to contest territory head-to-head with the four feudatories honestly, truth be told, Great Xia doesn’t have the capability right now...”
Xia Hong paused, scanned the five men, and continued: “Great Xia doesn’t even have a single Tribulation Body expert. Do you really think the Beast Emperor-level puppets at my disposal can genuinely stand up to the four feudatories in a full-scale confrontation?”
At that remark, the room fell silent.
The Frost Beast Stakes could only be used within the Sacred Cauldron’s radiation range—a closely guarded secret of Great Xia—but everyone present already knew this.
In theory, that limitation wouldn’t matter much as long as outsiders didn’t discover it. The Sacred Cauldron could be moved; even if Xia Hong were absent, they could still use the Frost Beast puppets.
The problem was that the feudatories were not fools.
Full-scale war and localized skirmishes were entirely different matters. If drawn into a protracted conflict, the feudatories would soon probe that weakness, and then Great Xia would be in serious trouble.
Once fighting on multiple fronts, Great Xia’s Frost Beast Stakes would be rendered ineffective.
Without a Tribulation Body expert to anchor their defense, relying solely on Beast Emperor-level puppets was not enough to sustain Great Xia in a full war against the feudatories.
Moreover, of the three battles Xia Hong had mentioned, the real head-to-head clash with Caiqiu had only occurred at the southern valley mouth of Bone-Erosion Path.
Frankly, if Great Xia hadn’t had an absolute numerical advantage, that battle was very likely a defeat.
And Great Xia had been the defenders, defending such a narrow valley mouth.
Put bluntly, Great Xia’s strength still lagged behind Caiqiu’s forces. As for the base of resources, it was even more one-sided. Even if Caiqiu were defeated on both fronts, they’d suffer heavy damage but not collapse. But if Great Xia lost even one match, the consequences would be dire.
At the start of the Southern Foothills campaign, the camp’s total Warmth Realm power added up to under three hundred thousand, with an even smaller army—nothing comparable to the feudatories.
Granted, counting the five northern towns they’d just taken would increase Great Xia’s Warmth Realm numbers significantly, but taking territory is not the same as absorbing it. Such vast lands and populations require time to digest and convert into true strength for Great Xia.
Great Xia’s troops are their morale, and Tribulation Body experts are their ballast. Compared with the four feudatories, Great Xia was deficient in both.
“If we can’t face the feudatories head-on, then we shouldn’t think about stealing territory from them. We should think about how to survive among them. Caiqiu, having lost three battles to us, is now desperately resisting Chencang. Cai Qianshan nearly died in Linchu County City. In the visible future, they can’t threaten Great Xia...”
On hearing this, Yuwen Tao and the others all understood.
Great Xia’s greatest threat had shifted from Caiqiu to Chencang.
“The Lord Leader means we should keep Evergreen Valley as it is, hold our positions, and let Caiqiu focus on fighting Chencang?”
Xia Hong’s unwillingness to push further north was something everyone had already noticed, and Yuan Cheng’s repeated pleas to lead the attack sprang from precisely that frustration.
Having absorbed Xia Hong’s earlier words and realized Great Xia still lacked the necessary strength, they immediately adjusted their thinking to align with him.
Xia Hong first nodded at Qiu Peng’s question, then shook his head and said: “Yes, but simply holding our positions isn’t enough...”
He paused, then smiled: “All three feudatories regard Chencang as a ravenous beast, which shows how powerful Chencang is. We cannot let them take Linchu County so easily.”
At that, everyone finally grasped his meaning.
The Lord Leader intended to ally with Caiqiu to check Chencang.
Their expressions turned strange.
“Lord Leader, isn’t this change too abrupt? We just allied with Chencang to strike Caiqiu, and now we’ll ally with Caiqiu to contain Chencang. How will the four feudatories view us afterward? Great Xia may find it very hard to gain true allies among them in the future.”
Yuwen Tao looked hesitant but could not hold back.
Xia Hong turned to him with full admiration. That Yuwen Tao could see this far put him head and shoulders above the others in the hall—truly a general’s insight.
“Being fickle, shifting left and right—at the end of the day it’s the weakness of a side trying to survive. The feudatories will disdain or scorn Great Xia for our conduct, but precisely because of that they will not regard Great Xia as a primary threat...”
As Xia Hong explained, Yuwen Tao nodded repeatedly, his eyes brightening. The other four men also broke into looks of comprehension, their respect for Xia Hong growing.
“As for allies, they change with the times. Towns and townspeople are not the same as friendships; everything is guided by interest. There’s no need to worry.”
After speaking, Xia Hong glanced northwards with a spark of expectation in his eyes.
“It’s been nearly a day. Caiqiu’s envoys should be arriving around now...”
Though he wanted to ally with Caiqiu, he needed to keep the initiative firmly in his hands. Right now, Caiqiu needed cooperation more than Great Xia did.
He’d set up camp in Valley Village specifically to wait for Caiqiu’s envoys. Judging by the timing, they ought to be close.
“Lord Leader, sirs, Feipeng’s commander-in-chief Hou Bing sent a scout to report an urgent military situation.”
Instead of Caiqiu’s envoys, an urgent dispatch arrived.
Hou Bing!
Xia Hong’s expression turned curious as he looked to Yuwen Tao.
Yuwen Tao understood immediately and ordered the Dragon Garrison soldier who carried the message: “Bring that scout in.”