Chapter 2639: Astronomical Casualty Figures

The word He used was not "defeat," not "rout," but "annihilate"!

To uproot the power of Panlong completely from the world.

So the Great Square Pot had been in the mortal world all along, always in the hands of the force most staunchly resisting the Heavenly Gods! No wonder the fury and greed erupted by the Holy Venerable Lingxu — how could He possibly rest until He got His hands on the Great Square Pot?

For this, Bega and the various vassal demon nations suddenly replaced quite a few generals and officials, and even executed and put to death a large number of personnel on charges of defying the Heavenly Gods, secretly communicating with foreign enemies, and obstructing the Holy Edict.

The Heavenly God's furious wrath and iron-blooded severity also triggered violent tremors within Bega. Every official, every general had to recognize that the Holy Venerable's determination brooked no evasion, the Holy Venerable's will brooked no defiance, otherwise their careers and lives would also have reached their end.

In the end, the Holy Venerable Lingxu still relied on His supreme authority and leadership to force Bega to attack Panlong with all its might!

The last time Bega went all-out was the campaign to exterminate Yuan. That was originally its own vassal demon nation, the blade turned inward, so the world's feeling wasn't deep enough; the time before that, one must trace back to Bega's founding war, which was over four hundred years ago.

The might of the Heavenly God's wrath and Bega's power — too much time has passed, short-lived humans have long forgotten it all.

Doesn't matter, it's going to give this world a little shock again, to make everyone watch with their own eyes just how terrifying it is when a super war machine like Bega operates "regardless of cost"!

On the eve of General Tiger Wing's "awakening," the Bega army had not only seized the Mao River trade route, but had even taken the entire Mao River Plain.

Panlong hadn't held the former Xiluo territory for long, and had never fully pacified it anyway — lost is lost. But the Mao River Plain was different; it was too important to Panlong!

Not only was the Mao River trade route the main artery of Panlongcheng's maritime transport and foreign trade, the Mao River Plain was more fertile than the Panlong Wasteland — grain, minerals, water resources, pastures — nourishing everything of the Panlong nation.

Take down the Mao River Plain, and Panlong's combat power would shrink by at least half; Bega knew this perfectly well.

So the battles unfolding on the Mao River Plain were unprecedentedly fierce!

The area of the Mao River Plain was about the same as the Panlong Wasteland, not exactly vast. On just this one stretch of plain, several major theaters opened simultaneously, both sides girding their loins and attacking ferociously.

A year and a half, over two hundred and seventy campaigns!

The whole plain ablaze with warfire — there were barely a few days of truce.

And the cost?

The cost was Bega's casualties, setting an astonishing record:

Eight hundred and fifty thousand plus!

In six hundred years since Bega's founding, there had never been a war with casualties reaching this figure.

The Yuan campaign fell far short.

Panlong's territory was too hard to crack! Bega's advance on the Mao River Plain was arduous, completely different from the invasion of Xiluo — like trying to swallow red-hot iron blocks alive; it grates the teeth from the start, and swallowing them heedlessly only burns the stomach and scalds through the belly.

But the Holy Venerable Lingxu's determination brooked no defiance!

Bega could only rely on its numerical superiority, gritting its teeth and pushing forward.

Besides the armies, cultivators, and monsters of the various vassal demon nations, there was another kind of person flooding every battlefield —

Xiluo people.

Bega Grand General Wusun's exact words were: since we liberated Xiluo from Panlong's hands, the Xiluo people ought to show their gratitude with concrete action; Bega doesn't want verbal thanks.

Panlong and Xiluo had deep ties, from Zhong Shengguang down to the common folk. Panlong warriors initially couldn't quite bring themselves to raise blades against Xiluo people, and the Bega army intended to exploit this.

So Xiluo people were forcibly conscripted en masse and pushed to the very front lines of the clash. Every charge, they had to be in the very front, otherwise the supervising squads behind would chop off heads without hesitation.

As battlefield cannon fodder, they could disrupt Panlong's formations, letting the Bega main force behind fish in troubled waters; the second benefit, only a few like He Lingchuan knew — as Panlong's territory shrank, the nightmare qi at the border was no longer protected by the Black Dragon Totem, and could be absorbed by the Heavenly Net Star and the Punishment Dragon Pillar.

Every living human life that perishes in the mortal world is a boon for the other world.

Bega has always denied the "850,000" casualty figure precisely because the vast majority of them were Xiluo people.

And Panlong's casualties also approached three hundred thousand.

For the entire Panlong nation, and the alliance behind it, this was also an unbearable loss.

Ever since Panlongcheng took the Mao River Plain over a decade ago and developed to the present, it had been a myth of successive victories — never suffered such a heavy setback.

And for Bega, to strongly attack a neighbor for over a year yet not only fail to take it, but progress far slower than expected — it also lost face.

The whole world was watching the war between Panlong and Bega — a collision between a rising star and an established power. Far-sighted statesmen all understood these two would inevitably clash sooner or later. But honestly, probably no nation believed Panlong could truly hold out to the end, because Bega's might is engraved in history, branded in everyone's mind.

In the real true history, the iron-blooded Panlongcheng facing the mighty Bega, though everyone fought in blood, though it battled to the last man, this frontal war only lasted a few months from start to finish — the disparity in strength was too vast.

But in the Panlong World, this war has already lasted over a year, Panlong hasn't been cut at the aorta yet, civilian life continues, warriors still rush to the battlefield, the nation is still far from the point of exhausted ammunition and provisions.

And as long as they can hold on, there is hope, there is a chance for a turnaround.

War sometimes tests not just offensive height, but also blood thickness.

This is enormous progress.

Unbeknownst to himself, He Lingchuan has already helped Panlong come a very, very long way.

Hu Min also said: "I've heard a saying — Bega originally wasn't willing to launch a major attack on us Panlong, because many of its high officials do business with us."

He Lingchuan let out a long sigh: "Exactly so!"

Actually many years ago, before Panlongcheng attacked Xianyou, he had already proposed to Zhong Shengguang to conduct large-scale trade with Bega.

At the time many people didn't understand — why get so chummy with the enemy, even let the opponent make big money?

He Lingchuan's reason was very simple:

Binding interests together.

He understood Bega's system — in this old empire, the most profitable trades and industries were mostly controlled by the great aristocratic clans.

What are great aristocratic clans? Either current high-ranking noble houses with power and influence, or wealthy magnates backing powerful patrons and holding resources.

Let their enterprises make money in Panlong, bind the interests of these great clans to Panlong's survival — then when Bega resolves to raise the butcher's knife against Panlong in the future, they will become a force pulling backward from within Bega.

(End of Chapter)