Chapter 2062

The western front of the Dragon God's territory was ablaze with beacon fires.

This area originally belonged to the State of Peng and the Carefree Sect, and had long been cultivated by the Yangshan people; when the Dragon God Army took it, they encountered almost no resistance.

Yet they could not escape the ravages of war.

Two great generals of the Ya State, leading thirty thousand elite troops, launched a sudden invasion.

Qiu Hu and Wanqiliang commanded an army of one hundred thousand, ordered to meet the enemy!

One hundred thousand soldiers, seen from afar, formed a vast, dark mass—visually striking.

But when Qiu Hu and Wanqiliang fought their first battle, they realized the task entrusted to them by the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor was excessively daunting.

As expected, the disparity in strength between the two sides was enormous.

The thirty-thousand-strong Ya State army was formidable: high quality, excellent weapons, rich experience, and high morale—at least veteran soldiers who had fought for several years.

Moreover, this army was bolstered by elemental power. Ya State's elemental power far surpassed that of Yi State—no joke.

Even if the Yi King were alive and Yi State not destroyed, deploying Yi State's most elite troops to fight Ya State would still yield a slim chance of victory.

In contrast, the Dragon God Army facing the Ya forces head-on had only two elite units under Qiu Hu as their backbone; the other ninety thousand were a mixed lot.

There were the Yangshan guards, newly trained recruits with less than three months of training, and local militia from various regions—most of whom had never seen battle or killed anyone, only learning to obey commands.

No choice: the elite had been withdrawn to the central assembly, leaving Qiu Hu and Wanqiliang with a poor hand.

The first engagement between the two sides was an ambush meticulously planned by Qiu Hu—he gained the initiative and lured the arrogant Ya troops into his pre-set trap, then unleashed a volley of ten thousand arrows.

The Ya army broke out in a desperate surge.

In that battle, the Ya army suffered 1,700 casualties, over six hundred of whom were struck by arrows during the ambush.

How many casualties did the Dragon God Army suffer?

Over five thousand four hundred—and this was despite having the initial advantage.

How to describe this battle? According to Qiu Hu's account, it was like digging a tiger pit, the tiger fell in, but the pit was too shallow and its killing power too weak; the tiger struggled free and then launched a counterattack.

After this battle, both commanders roughly gauged each other's strength.

For Qiu Hu and Wanqiliang, it boiled down to almost three words:

No chance to fight.

Thus, the second battle was a retaliatory strike launched by the Ya army.

In that engagement, the casualty ratio between the Ya army and the Dragon God Army reached an astonishing one to seven!

Note that the Ya army's casualties were mostly wounded, while the Dragon God Army suffered far more deaths than injuries—extremely brutal.

Subsequent battles yielded similar results. In Ya eyes, these low-quality Flash Gold soldiers were too weak—just hot-headed youths rushing to die; a wave of the hand, and they fell in rows.

Still need to fight? The Ya generals leading the troops, the brothers Ge Xuan and Ge Yan, sent flying letters back home, detailing these battles as cutting melons and slicing vegetables, and optimistically estimated the war would not last long.

The letter originally said: "Within ten days, the so-called 'Dragon God Army' will surely be defeated!"

When the Ya King attended court and personally read the letter, the Wang Ting court erupted in laughter, the atmosphere light and lively.

Two close ministers laughed until tears came: "I thought they were formidable. Indeed, Flash Gold people are Flash Gold people—still as fragile as ever!"

Ya State had previously attempted to invade the Flash Gold Plains several times, early on discovering Flash Gold people were sallow, thin, weak, and their armies collapsed at the first strike.

Now, upon re-testing, they found their nature unchanged.

"Change the flag, rename it the Dragon God Army, and think they've become formidable!"

The Ya King laughed, and the ministers joined in, filling the court with mirth—only Ya General Wulu sat with a face as still as water, his fists nearly clenched to breaking.

Previously, the Ya King had sent him to lead elite troops in pursuit of the Bai Long tribe, but He Lingchuan came to their aid, resulting in a great storm at Storm Bay.

Then he lost, and upon returning home, he was mocked for years, said to be unable to defeat a merchant.

Now, facing the Dragon God Army again, the Ya generals achieved another great victory, further highlighting his past incompetence.

Another general stepped forward at the right moment, bowed, and requested the tassel: "Your Majesty, I wish to lead troops to attack Ju Lu Port, planting Ya State's banner on Dragon God Island!"

On the night the Dragon God manifested its spirit, it had lingered near a small island off Ju Lu Port; later, that island was renamed Dragon God Island.

To plant a flag there is to seize Dragon God's main stronghold—and, incidentally, to slap Dragon God hard across the face.

Moreover, Ju Lu Port is now the largest port on the Flash Gold Plains, with astonishing throughput, truly a money-shaking tree of daily gold. Ya State can wage war but is perpetually short of funds—naturally, they want to seize this golden goose that lays eggs.

The Ya King glanced at him, stroked his beard, and smiled: "Be patient, do not rush—opportunities will come."

Earlier, when the Dragon God rose and swept across the Flash Gold Plains, the Ya King had genuinely worried, fearing another powerful neighbor would emerge.

Now, at last, he could rest easier.

What Dragon God Army, making such a grand display, shouting everywhere—turns out it's just Flash Gold Plains' chickens pecking at each other!

Some officials laughed while glancing at Wulu, needing no words—his expression alone could infuriate him.

Wulu could bear it no longer, stepped forward, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty! The Ge brothers have won several major battles—how much territory have they seized?"

Since they've won big, they should have spoils!

For Ya State, land, money, and supplies are the best spoils. The Ge brothers have won again and again—surely they've seized something by now?

The Ya King's laughter paused, he lifted the letter and read it again, the smile on his face fading slightly.

The letter made no mention of it.

"Just begun fighting—don't rush." He laughed, "First, score an opening victory—still afraid there'll be no glory later?"

After seven or eight days, battle reports came in succession.

The Ge brothers, true to Ya State's noble lineage, fought with frequent victory reports.

But when Wulu spoke thus in court, the Ya King felt a twinge in his heart; re-examining the battle reports, he noticed the Ya and Dragon God armies clashed frequently, with scattered and shifting locations.

This was multi-point attacks, multi-front warfare.

Who initiated it?

Careful analysis revealed, surprisingly, that the Dragon God Army launched more attacks.

Did the enemy's brain fill with water? Unable to win, yet still so eager?

Can't win, yet still attacking like madmen?

The fiercest Battle of Aobao lasted five days and five nights. This was a strategic stronghold where the Two Rivers and One Lake converged; the Ya army captured Aobao on the evening of the second day, yet by the morning of the fourth day the enemy had diverted water to flood the city and seized it back!

It wasn't just corpses strewn across the fields. According to the secret report from the eunuch he sent to serve as supervising general, the corpses below the city had piled up to half the height of the city wall!

The eunuch described a scene from the battlefield: "Enemy troops fought with frenzied courage, battling to the death without retreat. Our forces fought bitterly for twelve double-hours, then withdrew into the city to regroup. The enemy harassed us all night with thunder jars and firewood, and at dawn a sudden flood surged in."

Scenes like this were commonplace on the western front of the Dragon God's territory.

The Dragon God's army would rather pay a price five to seven times higher, but they had to wrest back every inch of occupied land!

Not yielding a single step.

After more than half a month, the Ge brothers had no choice but to report their results: their side had only taken two or three minor garrisons and seven or eight villages.

Altogether, just a few hilltops.