Chapter 2662: The Secret of Elemental Force Resonance

"Bai Yishan?" He Lingchuan's fist clenched instantly. "Why!"

On the battlefield, acts of treason and betrayal have been rare among Panlong commanders over the past twenty years.

The soldiers and civilians of Panlong deeply love and remain loyal to this land, with many touching and heroic deeds, while acts of aiding the enemy or treason are few, especially among commanders and above.

He also recognized Bai Yishan.

This was a cultivator who fled to Panlongcheng from the southern state of Pu ten years ago, starting as a common soldier. Though not a native of Panlongcheng, he earned repeated promotions through leading from the front, showing both courage and strategy, and winning many battles.

He Lingchuan also found it surprising that he would defect.

"I personally interrogated him. He said that over the past ten or so months, he had lost two major battles, and the pressure was unbearable. Furthermore, the more he fought, the more hopeless he felt, believing that war against Bekka offered no hope of victory and would inevitably end in defeat." The Red General said calmly, "He did not want to be an inevitable loser, nor fight a war he was sure to lose, so he could not resist the repeated temptations of the heavenly demon Geng Yue and defected."

He Lingchuan remained silent for a few breaths before saying:

"He has lost his faith. The more dire the circumstances, the greater the test of character."

And human nature is hard to withstand such trials.

"These past eighteen months, we have also won many battles, but we cannot change the fact that the Mao River Plains have been lost. This is a heavy blow to Panlong morale." The Red General said solemnly, "We need a greater victory, a clear turning point, to inspire soldiers and civilians to continue resisting! Otherwise, if one Bai Yishan can appear on the battlefield, so can a second, a third. I can hold Longkou Pass, but others may not hold their own positions."

"Then we cannot merely defend and not attack." He Lingchuan mused, "Passive defense allows Bekka to press us with ease, attacking us continuously."

"We have cut off Bekka's supply lines and burned their wagons and horses, but their resources are too abundant—no matter how much we destroy, they can replenish afterward." The Red General said, "If the stalemate continues, Bekka may not be comfortable, but we suffer greater harm."

Panlong's reserves are far inferior to Bekka's.

Six hundred years of foundation—truly unmatched by other nations. In a war of attrition, Panlong is no match for Bekka.

He Lingchuan murmured, "It seems, methods and strength must be applied beyond war, within Bekka itself."

"What did you say?" Red Falcon's ears didn't catch it.

"Nothing." He Lingchuan already had an idea but could not speak it, so he changed the subject, "Red General uses avian demons as messengers—surely not just to exchange pleasantries with me?"

The Red General he knew was clear in purpose and rarely acted without reason.

"No." The Red General indeed did not beat around the bush, "You slept for five years, and there is a newly uncovered secret you do not know. Before the war, I had to inform you."

He Lingchuan immediately perked up: "Please speak."

"If I say I have gained anything in the Pan-Bekka War, it is that I have further penetrated the secret of 'elemental force.'" The Red General lowered his voice, "The strength of elemental force relates to many factors, not just popular will. We long observed that even within the same nation, two commanders of similar rank, leading equal numbers of troops and receiving equal allocations of elemental force from the sovereign, can still wield different amounts in battle. Sometimes, swapping their troops causes their elemental force to fluctuate greatly over time."

He Lingchuan knew this, as Cang Yan had conducted countless such experiments.

"So, the key still lies in the individual?"

"One could say that." The Red General said word by word, "But I believe a more precise statement is that the key lies in how commanders treat their subordinates!"

He Lingchuan exclaimed, "Subordinates? Superiors to subordinates?"

The Red General, most closely tied to the Great Vase Guan that birthed the laws of elemental force, and the very soul of Panlong's military, possesses elemental force surpassing even He Lingchuan's—she may be the person in this world closest to the truth of elemental force.

Her insights, each word invaluable:

"The source of elemental force is not only soldiers' reverence and trust in you, but also your care and selflessness toward them. Only true mutual devotion allows elemental force to flow freely up and down, enabling it to unleash its true power."

She added without pause, "The same principle applies to officials and the people, and the Son of Heaven and the citizens!"

Upon hearing this, He Lingchuan felt a flash of insight, as if the layer of paper that had long obscured the truth was suddenly pierced.

"Ah, so that's it! Ah, so that's it!" he said with focused voice, "Elemental force is not merely cohesive force, not merely faith, not merely the force of all beings! It is also reactive force! No wonder, no wonder Bekka's elemental force can never catch up to Panlong's!"

For many years, he had also been exploring the essence of elemental force, each time feeling he was close, yet always just short.

The Red General lightly pointed it out, and he suddenly felt enlightened, as if drenched in sweet dew.

"Cohesive force can be stolen, faith can be deceived, the force of all beings can be cheated. But the ultimate 'superior' who wields elemental force cannot conceal his true heart from heaven and earth." The Red General's words, each a pearl, "Whether he has compassion for suffering, whether he bears responsibility for all beings, whether he devotes himself utterly to family, nation, and great cause, whether he can truly achieve unity of heart with his soldiers, subjects, and countrymen—"

"—the closer he is to this resonance, the stronger the elemental force he can manifest and use! Conversely, the further he deviates from this resonance, the weaker the elemental force he can wield."

Thus, even if Bekka is a mighty state today—prosperous, strong army, abundant supplies—appearing advantageous on the surface, as a four-hundred-year-old empire, its internal vassal relations, soldier relations, ruler-minister relations, official-people relations, even demon-human relations, cannot compare to the purity and refinement of Panlong, forged in blood and fire.

Not to mention, a heavenly palace often meddles in between.

Leaving other matters aside, will Fu Shanlie, who leads this army to attack the southern wilderness, love his soldiers as his own children?

He indeed need not worry about logistics or supplies, nor fret over his soldiers going hungry like the Tiger Wing General, or lacking medicine for wounds and illness.

Even without these material concerns, would they then be invincible? Fu Shanlie's troops are extremely complex in composition; according to Panlong intelligence, at least four vassal demon nations' armies are mixed in, though all are main force units.

Before departure, the armies of Suoluo and Mountain King states fiercely clashed, each suffering casualties.

In the short term, resolving internal army issues alone would give Fu Shanlie enough headache, let alone achieving unity of upper and lower.

Today is the "Great Cold" solar term—has it snowed where you are?