Chapter 542: Military Taboos: Doing the Opposite

"Saintess, I wonder how many people you have brought this time?" Tuoba Xi asked.

To resolve the Star Luo Empire and the Clear Sky Sect in one go, a massive amount of combat power must be committed.

Hu Liena turned her body slightly, the army behind her exuding immense power, "This Saintess has brought an army of three hundred thousand from the Spirit Empire this time, thirty thousand in the Spirit Master Legion, and five Title Douluo!"

Standing behind her were none other than the three Elders: Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Leopard Douluo, and Lingyuan Douluo.

"Five Title Douluo? Besides the three Elders, who are the other two?" Tuoba Xi asked, puzzled.

"It is us!" Two figures appeared silently behind Tuoba Xi, catching him completely off guard.

"Second Offering, Fourth Offering, you actually came too." Tuoba Xi was greatly shocked; he had not expected Hu Liena to bring such powerful forces.

These two were none other than Golden Crocodile Douluo and Lion Douluo. Since it was known that Slaughter City was already helping the Star Luo Empire, how could Bibi Dong not have some precautions?

Although she did not believe the Slaughter King's strength would reach the level of a Limit Douluo, it would at least not be lower than Level 97, so she requested the Offering Hall to assist.

Although the Offering Hall and the Pope Palace often had friction, they were, after all, the same faction, and they could still cooperate during the continental war.

This was an attempt to achieve success in a single battle, to thoroughly resolve the Star Luo Empire. The Spirit Hall currently lacked the ability to fight a two-front war; as long as Star Luo was taken down quickly, and then Star Luo's troops were used to deal with Heaven Dou, it would be very advantageous for unifying the continent.

In fact, if possible, Bibi Dong and Hu Liena would have even liked to empty their entire nest, bringing everyone like Green Phoenix Douluo, Guangling Douluo, and so on, but unfortunately, it was not possible. Do not forget, the Spirit Empire's opponent, besides Star Luo, also had the Gulei Kingdom eyeing them covetously.

Therefore, they had to keep sufficient strength to guard against Nan Feihuang, lest they be the mantis stalking the cicada, only to be caught by the oriole behind.

"Pass down the order: assemble the troops. Tonight, I want to wipe out the Star Luo vanguard army," Hu Liena ordered.

"Nana, we have been traveling for days, and the army is exhausted. Why not rest for a night before taking action?" Xie Yue said.

"Speed is the essence of war!" Hu Liena speculated, "We are relying on the vanguard army for our surprise attack on Gengxin City, and the Star Luo reinforcements must be the same. We must resolve the opponent's vanguard troops before their main armies converge to dampen the enemy's morale."

"So that's it, I understand." Xie Yue realized it instantly.

He felt that since his own army had just arrived and needed rest, the enemy must be thinking the same; this moment was precisely when they would be most lax in their defenses.

The situation was indeed just so. Although Dai Mubai had received news that the Spirit Hall reinforcements had arrived, he did not pay too much attention to it.

Such forced marches caused severe physical exhaustion, and generally, one would need to rest for a night before being able to engage in battle again.

And his Star Luo army, it was estimated, would take another day to arrive.

Therefore, the decision he made was to pull up camp and retreat fifty miles, avoiding the edge of the Spirit Empire as much as possible before converging with the main army.

Once the armies converged, he would then fight a decisive battle with the Spirit Hall.

Time gradually entered the night. On the hillside, Xu Rong watched the game between the two sides quietly. The Spirit Hall's new night surprise attack army had already set out, "The King is truly god-like in his foresight; every move of both sides is exactly as he predicted."

"Tonight, the Star Luo Empire will surely suffer a great defeat, but the Spirit Hall does not know about the hidden strength of the Clear Sky Sect. Tomorrow, it will be their turn to suffer; this war is destined to be a lose-lose for both sides," Xu Rong muttered, "Strange, why do I feel like this doesn't look like the King's handiwork?"

He had been loyal to Nan Tianchen for many years; while this King was outstanding in internal affairs, he could never be this formidable in military matters.

The two sides fighting for their lives below were currently being played in the palm of the hand by the person behind the King.

"Sigh, forget it. Whoever the person behind the King is, it has nothing to do with me. Anyway, after tomorrow, I should pay the price for my own actions. My King, your subject has at least served the country with loyalty until the very last moment. I hope you will treat my Xu family well and let the Glory Shield shine with glory once again!" Xu Rong had already made up his mind.

For the sake of his family, he was willing to sacrifice, or rather, to atone! At this moment, the Star Luo army was marching through the night, preparing to converge with their own main army.

But just as they reached the halfway point, violent roars suddenly erupted from the rear.

"Kill!!!" Xie Yue let out a roar!

The Spirit Empire, led by the Spirit Master Legion, had thirty thousand troops pouncing fiercely on the thirty thousand Star Luo vanguard troops. Whether in quantity or quality, it formed a situation of total suppression.

Dai Mubai was both shocked and angry. How could this Spirit Empire be so aggressive, not caring at all about the state of their own army?

Such a forced march left soldiers exhausted and would only damage morale.

"The Spirit Hall is indeed just a group of brutes who don't understand military strategy," Dai Mubai roared. He had not expected that this time, he would be too clever for his own good.

It was precisely because he understood military strategy that he subconsciously assumed the opponent would not use such a forced march tactic; after all, this was a great taboo in the art of war.

Therefore, his retreat was not well-prepared, and this time, he had been beaten by the opponent's chaotic blows.

"Retreat! Do not fight them head-on. Save as many as you can," Dai Mubai made a prompt decision; he could not fight them right now.

Although the opponent was overly exhausted due to the forced march and their morale was not high,

they still had the advantage of numbers. With ten times the troops, ten against one, even if the opponent was only at thirty percent capacity, multiplied by ten, it was still several times the combat power of his side.

After a night of slaughter, the thirty thousand Star Luo vanguard troops were nearly wiped out, with only a few dozen people left, protecting Dai Mubai as they broke out of the encirclement.

With two Title Douluo protecting him, he would not die here.

But these two Title Douluo were also besieged by several Spirit Hall Title Douluo, and both were seriously injured.

It was thanks to the fact that the two Offerings of the Spirit Hall did not take action during this surprise attack; otherwise, they probably would not have been able to escape at all.

It was just as Xun Yu often complained: the Spirit Hall's old habit was that even when a lion pounces on a rabbit, it does not use its full strength.

Those Offerings were too arrogant and disdained to launch a siege on these stray dogs.

If it had been under Xun Yu's command, Dai Mubai would surely be kneeling before him right now. If he could have captured Dai Mubai alive, it would have been extremely advantageous for this war.

Although the Star Luo Empire's competitive succession policy could cultivate outstanding heirs,

the drawbacks were also very obvious: once the finally selected heir met with an accident after the outcome was decided, Star Luo would have no successors left.

If they had to start cultivating again, it would take at least thirty years, and they could not just cultivate one; after all, since it was a competitive succession, not only the Dai Family but also the Zhu Family had to follow the trend.

The energy expended in this was unimaginable.

If they could have captured Dai Mubai alive, the Spirit Empire would have thoroughly grasped the initiative.

Unfortunately, this great opportunity had now been missed.

Dai Mubai returned to the camp in a disheveled state to converge with his main army.

"Mubai, what happened?" Tang San hurried forward to help him up, "How did you and the two seniors get injured like this?"

"The Spirit Empire! I and the Spirit Empire are irreconcilable enemies!" Dai Mubai roared in anger.

He described the entire course of events to Tang San.

Upon hearing this, Tang San could not help but sigh. Hu Liena was indeed extraordinary; she had actually acted contrary to military strategy, using a great taboo of the art of war to gamble that her opponent would have no defenses.

He knew that Hu Liena was not just winning by chaotic blows, but acting with a plan.

This required not only accurate judgment but also immense courage and the determination to take a gamble.

(End of chapter)