Chapter 293: Rich harvest, save the land or save the people

The price of the great victory at Ningyuan Hill is clearly much greater than the ambush at Changbai Gully.

The Cloud Dragon Army rushing from the north has only a little over seven hundred people. Almost everyone's face is covered with a layer of blood stains, the vast majority have injuries on their bodies, and for the small number with serious injuries, blood has already soaked through their armor.

Xia Hong can even see that the arms of the vast majority of soldiers pulling the bow are trembling violently, clearly because the load of the ambush at Ningyuan Hill was too great, and they haven't recovered yet.

But even so, none of these soldiers showed fatigue, or rather, their excited expressions covered up all the fatigue on their faces.

Breaking two Longyou armies overnight, the first battle of the Cloud Dragon Army can be called perfect.

You know, the Cloud Dragon Army has only been established for twenty days. Regardless of cultivation, equipment, or training time, let alone comparing with the Zhaoyang Blood Guard Army, it is not even as good as that new army of Longshan.

Moreover, judging from the number of enemies killed and the supplies seized, the Cloud Dragon Army has completely destroyed the establishment of the two armies. These are two indisputable great victories.

The overall planning of the two great battles tonight and the specific fighting methods of the Cloud Dragon Army were indeed deployed by him personally, but the real executors were Cold-Resisting Realm experts like Xia Chuan, Liu Yuan, and Yuwentao, as well as the one thousand soldiers who truly participated in the battle.

It must be said that everyone's performance has already exceeded his expectations, especially Xia Chuan, Liu Yuan, Yuwentao, and others. Their dispatch of the ten battalions during the ambush and their precise control of the timing of the ambush made him amazed.

"What is the specific casualty situation?"

Xia Hong suppressed the excited emotions in his heart. After calming down, he asked about the specific casualties of the Cloud Dragon Army.

Hearing this, Liu Yuan's expression suddenly became a bit clearer, and he said in a heavy tone: "Report to the leader, in the battle of Changbai Gully, our army died 32, seriously injured 52; in the battle of Ningyuan Hill just now, our army died 69, seriously injured 72..."

101 dead, 124 seriously injured, a total casualty rate of twenty percent. Theoretically, compared with the huge battle results obtained tonight, it is definitely low enough to be outrageous, but when Xia Hong heard this number, the corners of his eyes still twitched violently.

Xia Hong is naturally not blaming the Cloud Dragon Army for not fighting well. Counting the two great battles tonight, Great Xia's battle loss ratio is estimated to be around 1 to 17. Such a battle record is not enough to describe it with the word perfect, and it is not an exaggeration to call it a miracle. The performance of the Cloud Dragon Army cannot be faulted at all.

He is feeling distressed about this twenty percent reduction.

Longshan has a big family and a big business. Even if this new army is gone, they still have three thousand elites in their hands, sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai;

Great Xia is different. They only have this treasure of the Cloud Dragon Army. Losing one is enough for Xia Hong to feel distressed for a long time, not to mention a twenty percent reduction.

This has nothing to do with how big the battle results are; the essence is that Great Xia currently has too little capital, and a twenty percent reduction is enough to make Xia Hong feel the pain of cutting meat.

"Must find a way to replenish troops. Relying on so few people to continue fighting with Longshan is definitely not going to work."

A sense of urgency arose in Xia Hong's heart. After looking around the Cloud Dragon Army formation, he looked to the north side and continued to ask Liu Yuan: "Is there anyone behind?"

The total casualties of the Cloud Dragon Army are 225, and there are only 725 here, which clearly doesn't match.

Liu Yuan nodded and said: "I led the main army over first. 142 Blood Guard Army captives, 124 seriously injured soldiers, the corpses of the dead soldiers, including the seized armor and weapons, are all behind. Yuwentao led 50 soldiers and is bringing them here. They are about five or six kilometers away from us."

"There are less than four hours left until dawn. We must seize the time. Xia Chuan, you take three battalions of soldiers to meet Yuwentao and that group of people. The rest set out immediately and return to Wu Shuang first."

Hearing this, Xia Chuan's expression became solemn, bowed and agreed, and immediately pointed out three battalions of soldiers and rushed to the north side.

If they didn't return to Wu Shuang before dawn, they would have to risk camping on the snowfield.

Moreover, Longshan has highly likely moved the main army to the Songyuan outpost. Maybe they are still thinking of ways to intercept them at this moment. They must use the fastest time to walk out of Songyuan and return to Wu Shuang territory.

Once Xia Chuan left, the remaining four hundred Cloud Dragon Army soldiers also set out on the return journey toward the south under Xia Hong's order.

"Walk seven kilometers south, then turn east for four kilometers, and you can leave Songyuan and enter Wu Shuang territory. The time should still be enough."

Xia Hong calculated the time and realized that it was more than enough. His mood immediately relaxed a lot, and he followed the main army to rush to Wu Shuang.

The distance of eleven kilometers should take more than two hours to walk at the Cloud Dragon Army's normal marching speed, but because this road was walked once when coming, the return speed was much faster at this moment.

In less than an hour, the four hundred people caught up with the transport team in front.

Lin Kai is very smart. He didn't follow the transport team but hung two kilometers behind the transport team, clearly to observe the situation around at any time so as to make a response in advance.

The soldiers of the transport team were just ordinary Earth-Digging Realm experts transferred from Xia City. Very few had basic strength breaking twenty thousand. Their strength was not good to begin with, and they had so many military supplies like ten large carts and eight hundred sets of hundred-forged battle armor, plus more than two hundred seriously injured captives. The marching speed was naturally shockingly slow.

The addition of more than four hundred Cloud Dragon Army soldiers immediately relieved them of a lot of pressure, and the marching speed suddenly became faster.

Finally, it took about an hour and a half, and the main army walked out of Songyuan and entered Wu Shuang territory.

Entering Wu Shuang territory and realizing that Longshan could no longer catch up, Xia Hong ordered Peng Bo to take two battalions of soldiers to meet Xia Chuan and the others in the rear to improve their marching speed.

Finally, one hour before dawn, when the main force was only three kilometers away from the Wu Shuang base, Xia Chuan and the others in the rear finally caught up.

When Xia Chuan's main force in the rear arrived, the five battalions of soldiers, except for their own original equipment, almost everyone carried one or two sets of blood-colored battle armor, a strong bow, and matching blood-colored arrows.

And those Blood Guard Army captives who were escorted were also basically pressed full of weapons and armor, clearly all spoils of war seized by the Cloud Dragon Army.

Xia Chuan's expression was very excited. Seeing Xia Hong, he immediately rushed up.

"Leader..."

"Let's go back first!"

Xia Hong waved his hand, signaling to talk after entering the base.

The crowd of more than one thousand main armies, escorting more than three hundred captives, all followed the entrance into the megalithic array base.

When Xia Chuan led a group of Cold-Resisting Realm experts to settle all the captives and count all the spoils of war, the sky was already dawning.

…………

Second year of Great Xia, July 1st

Top floor hall of Wu Shuang main building.

A group of Cold-Resisting Realm experts stood on the left and right, while Xia Chuan stood below, reporting the harvest of last night to Xia Hong with an excited expression.

"In the battle of Changbai Gully, 742 Longyou troops were killed, 221 captured, including three Cold-Resisting Realm experts: Zhou Yuan, Li Yuanqing, and Cheng He;

Seized 963 sets of battle armor, 890 long spears, 73 other types of knives and swords, all hundred-forged grade, plus two thousand-forged large knives, one thousand-forged long sword, ten iron large carts with a cargo capacity of two million jin, and 1290 healing pills;

Of course, the most important harvest is those 800 sets of hundred-forged battle armor that were just forged;

In the battle of Ningyuan Hill, 642 Blood Guard Army soldiers were killed, 142 captured, including two Cold-Resisting Realm experts: Hou Ming and Wang Lie;

Seized 784 sets of battle armor, 754 large knives, 30 other types of knives and swords, all hundred-forged grade, plus one thousand-forged long spear, one thousand-forged large knife, and 1742 healing pills.

There are also the four Cold-Resisting Realm captives captured alive by Big Brother personally: Hou Tong, Hou Quan, Zhang Qingyuan, and Lu Yin. Their weapons are also all thousand-forged grade, which are a long staff, two large knives, and a long sword."

After Xia Chuan finished speaking, the whole hall was silent, and everyone's breathing became a bit heavier.

Even Xia Hong couldn't help but feel a bit dazed.

"If you don't say it, war is the fastest way to plunder resources!"

Other things aside, just talking about the hundred-forged battle armor and weapons seized tonight, there are actually more than 2500 sets.

If Mu Dong led all the craftsmen in the camp to forge day and night without stopping, it would probably take several years to forge so many, but now, they were obtained in one night...

The problem of the Cloud Dragon Army lacking battle armor was not only solved, but the excess portion could also arm two more thousand-man armies.

"It's a pity that the extreme number of Earth-Digging Realm experts in the camp is not enough; otherwise, relying on this batch of spoils of war, two more armies could be armed immediately. At present, the only thing that threatens us is those three thousand Longyou troops. If we can add two more armies and fight another beautiful battle like tonight, directly swallowing Longshan is not..."

Xia Chuan clearly thought of the same thing as him, but before he could finish his words, Xia Hong interrupted him directly.

"Don't think too well. It's good enough to solve Zhaoyang in one fell swoop. Li Ying Xuan Ling is not a fool, and there are quite a few talents in Longshan. It is basically impossible to replicate the two great victories tonight later."

Xia Chuan and the rest of the Cold-Resisting Realm experts heard this, their expressions cleared up a lot, and after thinking carefully for a moment, they all nodded lightly.

The two great victories tonight seem simple.

But in reality, the intelligence transmitted by the insider in time; Longshan's carelessness; the two unique ambush locations of Changbai Gully and Ningyuan Hill; Xia Hong personally suppressing Hou Hu and dragging down a large number of Longshan Cold-Resisting Realm experts…………

There are too many factors that determine victory or defeat. In this, as long as one link has a problem, the result will change greatly.

Moreover, the two families of Longshan and Zhaoyang didn't know the existence of the Cloud Dragon Army from beginning to end. Calculating the unintentional with the intentional, just this point alone, Great Xia took too much advantage.

Longshan already knows the existence of the Cloud Dragon Army, so it is naturally impossible to be fooled again in the future, so it is definitely impossible to replicate the two great victories tonight.

"The battle armor of the Cloud Dragon Army can be considered to have a place to land now. Put the spoils of war aside for now. The top priority next is to find a way to deal with Longshan's offensive. If you have any ideas, say them all!"

Hearing Xia Hong's words, everyone lowered their heads and fell into deep thought.

It is not difficult to guess what Longshan will do next after suffering such a big loss.

"Leader, increasing troops is imperative. Continue to transfer people from Xia City. Although the three thousand Longyou troops are strong, if we can borrow the convenience of Wu Shuang's terrain and have a large number of people, it is not difficult to defend to the death. If Longshan cannot fight, they will naturally retreat."

Yuwentao's proposal immediately won everyone's approval.

Xia Chuan also nodded and continued: "Excluding Wu Shuang, Xia City, plus the four outposts of Jinggu, Wuyuan, Beehive, and Hanqiong, the total number of Earth-Digging Realm experts is now at least over ten thousand. If everyone can be transferred here, defending a Longshan is not a problem. If Longshan chooses an unwise fight to the death, we might even have a chance to counterattack."

At present, in Wu Shuang, besides the Cloud Dragon Army, there is also the transport team just transferred over, as well as some hunting teams. The total number of Earth-Digging Realm experts is about two thousand five hundred;

After the martial arts competition was held in June, the number of Great Xia's Earth-Digging Realm experts officially broke ten thousand. Another month has passed, and the number is naturally increasing. According to Xia Hong's estimation, it should be about thirteen thousand, so what Xia Chuan said is basically no problem.

If all Great Xia's Earth-Digging Realm experts can be gathered in Wu Shuang, then even if Longshan moves out in full force, I am afraid that wanting to take down Wu Shuang is as difficult as ascending to heaven, not to mention relying on those three thousand Longyou troops.

Everyone clearly approved of Xia Chuan and Yuwentao's proposal, and no one raised any objections.

After Xia Hong looked around at everyone, he shook his head slightly, finally cast his gaze on Xia Chuan, and asked back: "You just said that fighting to the death in Wu Shuang is an unwise choice. Since that's the case, we transfer all Earth-Digging Realm experts to Wu Shuang, doesn't that also become what you said, fighting to the death in Wu Shuang?"

…………

Hearing this, Xia Chuan's expression was stunned.

Not only him, but Yuwentao and the others were also stunned for a moment, and then looked at Xia Hong, their faces full of confusion.

Wu Shuang is Great Xia's territory, and they are currently here. Longshan will inevitably gather a large army to attack. It is a matter of course for them to concentrate Earth-Digging Realm experts here to resist Longshan's attack, right?

Seeing everyone's expressions, Xia Hong immediately knew what they were thinking. His expression was first a bit strange, then he changed his way of saying it and asked Xia Chuan: "What is our ultimate goal in coming to Longyou?"

"Of course it's to annex Longshan!"

"Then how can we annex Longshan?"

"Defeat the three thousand Longyou troops, destroy the Li family of Longshan, and all the living forces loyal to the Li family."

Xia Chuan's cognition is not low, especially after taking the helm of Great Xia, because he manages more and more actual affairs and communicates with Xia Hong more and more frequently, he has also learned many new concepts from him.

Xia Hong once said personally that to dismember and then annex a camp, the most important thing is to eliminate the largest vested interest group in this camp. This rule applies to all camps in the Ice Abyss, including Great Xia itself.

Xia Chuan had long since learned about the overall structure of the Longshan camp through Li Hu and Yang Zhong, so he knew very clearly that the Li family, who held the three thousand Longyou troops, was the uncrowned king of Longshan, and the group of people loyal to them was Longshan, the largest vested interest group.

Therefore, he would say such an answer.

While saying this answer, Xia Chuan clearly realized something, his expression stunned suddenly, and he reacted immediately.

That's right!

Great Xia's ultimate goal is to destroy the three thousand Longyou troops, destroy the Li family, and destroy all the living forces in Longshan loyal to the Li family, not to defend Wu Shuang to the death!

"Look at where our advantages are. Longshan's military strength is much stronger than ours. They are not afraid of frontal combat and will highly likely send troops to attack Wu Shuang.

If we fight to the death here, it will fulfill their wishes.

Great Xia can transfer Earth-Digging Realm experts, can't Longshan?

Zhaoyang was originally just forming an alliance with Longshan. The Blood Guard Army is gone now, and Hou Hu almost died at my hands. He will highly likely take the entire camp and merge into Longshan. Once these two families merge, the number of Earth-Digging Realm experts will inevitably far exceed ours. At that time, whether Wu Shuang can be defended is really not certain!"

Xia Chuan, Yuwentao, and Chen Yingyuan should have understood, but the others seem to be a bit incomprehensible, all still lowering their heads and thinking.

"Compared to Longshan, where is our Great Xia's advantage?"

"Xia City is not in Longyou. Wu Shuang, Beehive, and Hanqiong are, to put it bluntly, just three outposts of our Great Xia. We can come and go at any time, but Longshan can't. Their base camp is on Longshan, and it can't be moved."

This time, it was Yuwentao who opened his mouth to answer.

His words clearly awakened everyone.

Xia Chuan, Chen Yingyuan, Peng Bo, and others all suddenly realized.

Is it saving the land and losing the people, or saving the people and losing the land.

Simply put, these are the two choices.

It is a world where civilization has fallen, and such a simple truth still requires so much lip service to explain. Xia Hong shook his head immediately.

"Avoid the edge of those three thousand Longyou troops, first find a way to weaken Longshan's overall strength. As long as the battlefield is always in Longyou, then no matter how you fight, as long as Great Xia's casualties are not high, it will always be profitable. Understand?"

Xia Hong said this more straightforwardly this time.

"Understand, I will go to notify Meng Yi and Lu Yang now to transfer all the Woodcutting Realm experts in Hanqiong and Beehive back; in addition, let Zhao Long take the 1000 garrison troops in Hanqiong to Wu Shuang and wait for orders!"

Clearly, Xia Chuan had fully understood his meaning.

Xia Hong nodded with a smile and waved his hand to signal Xia Chuan to go and do it.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 294 =====