Chapter 2063: The Land That Cannot Be Seized, the Enemy That Cannot Be Exhausted

The Duke of Ya was utterly incredulous: "Not even a single city?"

Then what was all that fierce fighting by the Ya army over these past twenty-plus days?

At this moment, the Ge brothers admitted that the enemy commander's tactical strategy was actually quite brilliant, greatly compensating for the shortcomings in troop quality and army combat power, and even achieving remarkable results at many opportunities; otherwise, the casualty figures of the Shenlong Army would have been even higher.

But what truly baffled them was the Shenlong Army.

This army's weakness had never changed—it was clearly a bunch of inexperienced new recruits, and facing Ya's elite troops should have been like those old Shan Jin armies that scattered at the first clash.

Yet they didn't!

These fellows had no other special skills, just two traits:

One, they obeyed orders; two, they weren't afraid of death.

In other armies, common issues like laziness and slipperiness were almost nonexistent in the Shenlong Army; the transmission of commanders' orders up and down was very smooth and efficient—at least in this aspect, the Shenlong Army's training had been relatively successful.

Ge Yan described the Shenlong Army as "clumsy but frenzied"; although lacking combat experience, their will was firm and they regarded death as homecoming.

Even when they fell into a disadvantage in battle, they were defeated but not routed, retreated but not scattered.

He himself was attacked by several Shenlong Army soldiers; although the enemies were ultimately slain, one of them bared his ferocious white teeth and sank them viciously into the back of his neck, missing the major artery by a hair's breadth.

This man was personally stabbed to death by Ge Yan, but his retainers couldn't pry open his jaws, and in the end they still took away a small piece of flesh—his teeth were clenched too tightly.

In the end, they could only knock out his teeth one by one.

This frail soldier, giving his all, was determined to tear a piece of flesh from the enemy commander's body, even at the cost of his life.

Having fought for so many years, Ge Yan had never seen such desperation; these Shan Jin people seemed to him to harbor a deep, mortal grudge, as if they wished to perish together.

Know this: the border they invaded was a desolate wilderness of barren mountains and ridges, where besides setting up a lumber camp, there was nothing of value, and in winter and spring it was bitterly cold and muddy. If the Shan Jin army retreated twenty or thirty li, their operations would be unaffected, and they could still enjoy endless supplies from the rear.

Yet they refused!

They insisted on holding the border line to the death, yielding not an inch.

What was there to defend in such a vast stretch of wasteland?

Meanwhile, in the far rear of the front lines, the Shan Jin west had an endless stream of troops being dispatched, replacing the fallen man for man.

On the day the war began, the Shenlong Army had 100,000 men; after fighting for nearly a month, despite averaging a 1:5 casualty ratio, their numbers had actually grown to 130,000!

By contrast, the Ge brothers' army originally had 30,000, now fewer than 21,000!

Twenty thousand versus 130,000—it was a struggle.

Don't forget, the battlefield itself is a flesh-and-blood grindstone; as long as one survives, combat experience and ability will rise rapidly.

The Nine Nether Great Emperor keeps shipping new batches of troops to the west—could it be that he intends to use them for training?

Ya is famed for its elite troops and strong generals, but since they're called "elite," their numbers can't be large. These 30,000 elite troops are the Ge brothers' foundation; losing even a few hundred would break their hearts, let alone losing over nine thousand in just this month!

What use is a formidable general if he has no troops under him?

Ya has strong generals like clouds; if the Ge brothers lose too many of their elite troops, what will they have left to compete with other great generals?

Ya also sent spies to sneak into the rear towns of Shan Jin's west to gather intelligence, and they found recruitment stations with long queues of eligible men. The conscription officers picked and chose: too thin, no; only son, no; under seventeen, no...

Local militia units across the regions were also training fervently; new recruits received crash training here before being sent to the battlefield.

Upon hearing this news, the Ge brothers' hearts sank to the bottom of the valley.

They had previously fought Shan Jin's local tyrants and bandit armies, which had always relied on conscripting strong men to fill ranks—when conscription officers entered a village, everyone would scatter like birds and beasts, and the only people visible were the old, weak, women, and children; how many would volunteer?

But here in the Shenlong Army, everyone was eager to enlist.

How strange and marvelous!

Do these foolish natives not realize how high the casualty rate is on the front lines?

Or is the Shenlong Army deceiving them, claiming victory on the western front is imminent?

But don't say that—tricking people onto the battlefield has happened in Ya more than ten or twenty times.

The spies also asked locals and learned that these places had welcomed the Black Armor Army during the first phase of the Shenlong War, and some had suffered even more brutal plundering and harm at the hands of Shan Jin's powerful magnates; then they rose again in a counteroffensive, successfully defeating those Shan Jin magnates.

After two temperings and several rounds of refinement, and having won through countless hardships, their victory instead made them indifferent to life and death.

These weak commoners, once turned into soldiers, seemed like different people—suddenly bursting forth with the strongest will and power.

Now the ball has been kicked to the Ge brothers' feet:

How should we fight next?

Warfare demands one's full spirit. After a month of stalemate, failing to take even a few hilltops, the Ya soldiers' attitude toward the Shenlong Army shifted from initial contempt to helplessness, then to irritation; comrades fell one after another around them, yet the enemy was endless, constantly replenished, and it seemed their numbers were still growing.

Alas, when will this war ever end?

Morale plummeted, and vital energy waned.

Meanwhile, the enemy seemed to have been injected with chicken blood—they fought on with ever-increasing zeal, and their combat experience continued to rise.

Thus, after the war entered its second month, the casualty ratio gap between the two sides actually narrowed further, dropping from 1:5 to about 1:3.5.

The Ya army's logistical burden also increased—food, medicine, weapons, armor, arrows; daily expenditures were no small matter, all requiring rear support.

After calculating, the Ge brothers found the opposition too tough, and could only seek aid.

But just as the Shan Jin western front was locked in a life-or-death struggle, with flesh flying and blood flowing, the outside world underwent a tremendous change.

……

Mou Kingdom capital, imperial study.

A Boshan furnace, lone blue smoke rising straight. Garden butterflies fluttered over, were smoked by the incense, then quietly flew away.

The Mou Emperor leaned sideways on the couch, hand supporting his chin, listening to ministers' reports.

His eyes half-closed, as if half-awake, half-asleep, and he hadn't moved for a good while.

But the officials knew he missed not a word; it was merely that this emperor preferred a relaxed posture.

Today was a closed-door small meeting, with only seven or eight ministers, discussing miscellaneous matters. The Mou Emperor listened for a good while, then couldn't help but shift his sitting posture and yawn.

Tired. Nothing interesting at all.

Seeing the next agenda item was fund allocation, he lazily raised his hand: "Enough."

The official who was about to swagger off immediately fell silent.

"Enough, we'll stop here for today," Mu Di said, casually pointing at a few people. "You stay behind."

His willfulness had long been routine for the officials, who now took their leave.

With only four people left on the scene, Mu Di pointed to Wang Haojing, the Right Assistant Minister of Guests: "Have you seen the envoy sent by the Hao Xiao faction?"