Chapter 368: Evasion and Surprise Attack, Jiangxia's Total Victory, Secret Letter, Counterattack

Bang!

Lu Yang arrived at the main tent relatively early. As soon as he approached, he heard the sound of a table being slapped inside, followed by Jiang Yuanlong's roar.

"Thirty-eight days, dragged on for thirty-eight days, you bunch of fools, now Dajue Temple has taken the initiative to attack, are you all happy now?"

"Lord Jiang, what's the rush? Dajue Temple hasn't arrived yet, right? We have 180,000 people, at worst we can give up Hongguan first, avoid the sharp edge, and then regain it when we regroup at night, right?"

"Easy to say, then tomorrow night's counterattack, Bada will take the lead?"

"Hongguan is Jiangxia territory, how is it Bada's turn to take the lead?"

"You..."

"Lord Jiang, the top priority is to withdraw the army. There are only two hours during the day, Dajue Temple can't go too far. As long as we withdraw to a safe area, it will be fine. What Brother Xiang said also makes sense. Give up Hongguan first, and regain it at night."

"Not bad, we can only give up Hongguan temporarily."

"Qin also agrees, give up Hongguan."

………………

Jiang Yuanlong was clearly furious to the extreme at this moment, especially after being contradicted by Xiang Tiancheng, he was even more speechless, as if he couldn't speak.

But as the leaders of the other six towns spoke one after another, his emotions seemed to calm down slowly, and the sound in the tent became smaller, so Lu Yang and the others outside naturally couldn't hear the sound inside.

"The ordinary people and Woodcutting Realm cultivators of Hongguan Village have already withdrawn. It will be fine once the 180,000 Earth-Digging Realm cultivators withdraw. The Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators should also follow. Why gather us all?"

"Jiang Yuanlong is in a fit of anger, who knows!"

"Hongguan is the entrance to the north bank of the Heng River. Giving it up so easily, it will be difficult to get it back, Jiangxia is not reconciled, right?"

………………

Hearing the discussions around him, Lu Yang turned to look at the main tent, full of incomprehension.

The army has withdrawn, why gather them, these Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators?

It's a pity that he couldn't hear the conversation in the main tent. No matter how puzzled Lu Yang was, he could only continue to wait quietly with the other two thousand-plus people.

Half an hour later, the leaders of the seven towns finally walked out of the main tent.

It's just that their expressions were not very good, and their faces were exceptionally gloomy.

Whoosh…………

The last one to come out was Jiang Yuanlong. He lifted the main tent flap, walked out quickly, surveyed the crowd, and said in a deep voice: "Hongguan is the gateway to the north bank, how can it be so easily handed over to Dajue Temple? All Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators, assemble outside the west gate of the camp immediately, and follow this Military Head to Hongguan to meet Dajue Temple in battle."

Whoosh…………

As soon as Jiang Yuanlong's voice fell, all the Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators were stunned, and then revealed incredible eyes looking at him, clearly asking if he was crazy.

180,000 Earth-Digging Realm cultivators, including Jiangxia's two thousand Town Defense Army, all withdrew. Just relying on these three thousand Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators, to meet Dajue Temple in battle?

However, what happened next made their expressions even more confused.

"Beishuo's, follow me!"

"Yangqu's Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators, follow me."

"Chui Shan people, follow behind me."

…………

Huang Tianxing, Duan Xing, Qin Yuanhai, and other leaders of the seven-town reinforcements actually signaled their own people to follow, and then took the lead and walked toward the west gate of the camp.

Really want these three thousand people to go up?

Although the crowd had disbelief on their faces, they finally didn't dare to disobey the orders of their own leaders and quickly followed.

Lu Yang also led the 31 Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators of Dongling, followed behind Huang Tianxing and Gu Tianxiong, and soon arrived at the west gate.

"Academy Head Gu, relying on these three thousand of us to meet Dajue Temple in battle, this is clearly letting us go to die, right?"

"Jiangxia let us go to die in vain, why did Academy Head Huang agree?"

…………

As soon as the Beishuo crowd arrived at the west gate, over a dozen people rushed out of the team and surrounded Huang and Gu, making questions in a low voice.

Beishuo sent over three hundred people this time, from seven jurisdictions in the territory. Each jurisdiction has a few relatively strong people, so they have some right to speak. There are three in the Jingxi jurisdiction, and Lu Yang is one of them.

Adhering to the principle of keeping a low profile, Lu Yang did not speak out like others, but leaned forward, which was considered supporting them with action.

Facing everyone's questioning, Huang Tianxing's expression froze slightly.

Gu Tianxiong saw the clue, worried that Huang Tianxing would anger these people, and stood out directly, saying to the crowd in a low voice: "The iron ore production in Qinghepu is low, and the forging craftsmanship is not good. They only have a small number of Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators equipped with Thousand-Forged battle armor. The five thousand monastery monks of Dajue Temple are not armored. Military Head Jiang's meaning is that our three thousand-plus people will set up an ambush halfway to delay Dajue Temple's march. If we can keep Hongguan from being lost before dark tomorrow, that would be best. Even if we can't keep it, letting Dajue Temple occupy Hongguan later can also increase our chances of winning in our subsequent counterattack at night."

Hearing this explanation, everyone reacted.

Although they are Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators, they are only small soldiers after all, and they only know a little about the military situation. Although they also actively inquired about the past forty days, the key information they mastered was also extremely limited.

For example, what Gu Tianxiong said just now, that the five thousand monastery monks of Dajue Temple were not equipped with armor, they didn't know.

Five thousand unarmored monastery monks, and they only have three zong of strength. Our eight towns' three thousand Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators against them, not to mention an ambush, even if they met head-on, they have a great chance of winning.

The Hongguan pass is narrow, and it is famous for being easy to defend and difficult to attack. Once it is completely occupied by Dajue Temple, it is indeed very difficult to regain it. Jiang Yuanlong is unwilling to give up, and taking them to take the initiative to attack at this moment can indeed be understood.

"May I ask Academy Head Gu, how many Earth-Digging Realm cultivators does Dajue Temple have?"

Lu Yang didn't care about being noticed at this moment and directly asked.

Three thousand armored Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators against five thousand unarmored monastery monks indeed have a chance of winning, but this is without counting the Earth-Digging Realm cultivators.

Once the number of Earth-Digging Realm cultivators is large, they can completely reverse the war situation.

Lu Yang's question made everyone react instantly, and they all looked up at Gu Tianxiong, waiting for his answer.

"Noisy, all shut up for the old man. You will naturally know the situation when you go to the battlefield. What's the use of asking more now? If you don't want to stay here, then get out of Hongguan and go back to Beishuo now."

It's a pity that before Gu Tianxiong could speak, Huang Tianxing on the side directly scolded Lu Yang and the circle of Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators on his side.

Scolded by Huang Tianxing, everyone immediately lowered their heads.

The duty of the Deputy Academy Head is to supervise the seven major jurisdictions in Beishuo. The Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators who came this time all come from various village-level camps in the jurisdictions. They are naturally a head shorter than Huang Tianxing, so they naturally dare not talk back.

As for returning to Beishuo, they dare not even more.

Reinforcing Jiangxia is a town decree, and a town decree means it is an order issued by the Town Head and the leader personally. The consequences of disobeying are very serious.

Lu Yang, who was directly scolded by Huang Tianxing, lowered his head and revealed an incomparably terrified posture.

"Humph!"

Seeing everyone submit, Huang Tianxing snorted coldly and walked toward Jiang Yuanlong.

Gu Tianxiong looked at the lowered crowd, his brows knit slightly, and he followed Huang Tianxing closely, leaning over and saying in a low voice: "My lord, reinforcing Jiangxia this time, the town city didn't give any benefits at all. These people are inevitably uncomfortable. Now that the great war is imminent, why bother with them?"

"A bunch of ignorant villagers who are afraid of death, their hearts are just this little thing. The old man has been fighting with Jiang Yuanlong all day, and he is already annoyed enough. Where is there any heart to deal with them, hum!"

………………

"Brother Lu, get up. The style of the town city is becoming more and more overbearing."

"What's the spirit? We didn't take anything from the town city, and we came here for more than eight hundred kilometers in a muddle, and we couldn't inquire about military intelligence when we were about to go to the battlefield, hum!"

"I don't see just Jiangxia Town, those people above the town city didn't take our lives seriously either. I won't die here in a muddle."

"Say less!"

After Lu Yang was helped up by Chen Yiqing, hearing what the people around him said, his eyes flashed, but he didn't take the conversation, just retreated to the Dongling team.

"Don't think about it, Jiang Yuanlong will lose no matter what he does. Pass my words down, let the brothers just save their lives when they go to the battlefield!"

Wang Tao, Zhu Shun, and Lin Fan nodded immediately and passed the words down.

Just gathering 180,000 Earth-Digging Realm cultivators took an hour. Jiang Yuanlong discussed with the seven-town leaders, and it took another half an hour for all the Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators to arrive at the west gate. Calculating this way, there is only one and a half hours left before dawn.

"Follow me!"

Jiang Yuanlong also knew that time was urgent. All three thousand-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators were in place. He didn't talk nonsense anymore, took everyone, and galloped toward Hongguan.

Three thousand-plus people all have Cold-Resistant Grade cultivation, so the speed is naturally very fast. Passing the Hongguan pass and entering the north bank of the Heng River, galloping west all the way, walking for about ten kilometers, soon arrived at a narrow snow forest area on the north bank.

Calling it a snow forest is a bit exaggerated. This area is extremely narrow, north to south is no more than three kilometers, and visually there are only two or three hundred trees that are not growing well.

"Stop marching, wait for orders on the spot!"

Jiang Yuanlong waved his hand to stop the army, looking at the snow forest thoughtfully.

Suddenly, a figure galloped from the west, rushed straight to Jiang Yuanlong, bowed and said: "Reporting to the Military Head, Dajue Temple's 80,000 people have marched to eight kilometers east of Longhe, and there are only two kilometers left from here. Their vanguard has stopped and is waiting for the rear army. There should be secret agents who discovered us."

Three thousand-plus people are still lined up by town. The front row is naturally Jiangxia's people, then the northern three towns, and finally the remaining four towns.

Lu Yang's position is still relatively forward, so he can hear the scout's voice.

80,000 Earth-Digging Realm cultivators!

Hearing the enemy's number, not only Lu Yang, but many people's pupils froze slightly.

Dajue Temple not only turned all the Earth-Digging Realm cultivators in the two villages of Jinbi and Longhe, but even collected some people from Qinghepu, actually gathering a full 80,000 people.

"There are less than two kilometers left. Everyone, follow this Military Head to attack!"

After Jiang Yuanlong finished listening to the scout's words, he only lowered his head and thought for a moment, then directly raised his sword and ordered the crowd behind him.

He clearly reached some agreement with the seven-town leaders. As soon as he gave an order, no one raised any objection. Huang Tianxing and the other seven people directly followed and signaled their own people to follow.

As before, Jiangxia's eight hundred-plus people took the lead, and the remaining seven towns' two thousand one hundred-plus people followed behind. Three thousand-plus fully armed Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators directly crossed the snow forest and galloped toward the west side of the north bank.

The north bank of the Heng River is narrower the further east you go. To Longhe Village, it is only four kilometers, and the area eight kilometers east of Longhe Village is at most less than four kilometers.

In an area of less than four kilometers, it is impossible for 80,000 people to be fully lined up.

Dajue Temple, knowing that there is an enemy army ahead, let the vanguard stop and wait for the rear army to arrive, which is naturally a wise move.

Jiang Yuanlong's intention is not difficult to see. He is clearly wanting to take the initiative to attack before the enemy's formation is fully lined up. It is impossible to defeat them in one fell swoop, but interfering with Dajue Temple's normal marching rhythm, and incidentally killing the opponent's spirit, is also no problem.

Three thousand-plus people directly drilled into the snow forest and galloped toward the west. The distance of two kilometers arrived in an instant. Soon, they saw the enemy army, which almost formed a black cloud, less than a mile to the west.

Although it is night, the Frozen Abyss has been covered with snow all year round, so it is not dark at all. Moreover, the temperature on the north bank of the Heng River is extremely low, and transparent hard ice is everywhere. Compared to other areas, the visibility here at night is even higher, so Dajue Temple's marching team, except for the front row, can hardly find a few torches.

An army of 80,000 people, under normal circumstances, still gives people a very shocking visual effect. But the group of people who just came from the Hongguan camp naturally won't have much feeling. After all, the camp has gathered a full 180,000-strong army during this period.

"Release arrows!"

Jiang Yuanlong didn't talk nonsense. As soon as he entered the 200-meter shooting range, he directly ordered the people in the rear to release arrows.

"Release arrows!"

Swish swish swish…………

Of course, Dajue Temple's side also issued an order to release arrows.

As soon as the arrow formations of both sides came out, it can be said that the high and low were judged.

Jiangxia's side has a total of three thousand-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators. Those equipped with strong bows are only the eight hundred-plus Jiangxia Town people behind Jiang Yuanlong. The two thousand-plus people from the remaining seven towns have very few equipped with bows.

And Dajue Temple's side has at least forty or fifty thousand people equipped with bows.

Under the gap of more than fifty times, if Jiangxia's side can be called arrow rain, then what Dajue Temple shot is arrow curtain.

The arrows shot by the eight hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators were instantly submerged.

Clang... clang... clang...

But submergence is not the end.

The arrows shot by Jiangxia's side not only broke through the enemy's dense arrow curtain like raindrops but also flew accurately toward the enemy's front row. If it weren't for the timely blocking of Dajue Temple's monastery monks and Qinghepu's Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators, this wave would probably have killed many people.

Looking at the arrows shot by Dajue Temple, although they were dense enough, they basically hit Jiangxia's people, but except for being able to bring out some sparks, not a single arrow could hurt anyone. Even except for occasionally one or two arrows going for the eyes, which could make people move, the vast majority of people didn't even move their bodies, directly standing in place and resisting the arrow rain.

The eight hundred-plus people behind Jiang Yuanlong shot continuously, not stopping at all.

"Jiangxia's eight hundred-plus people are all equipped with strong bows with a draw force of over one zong, and they are wearing Thousand-Forged Iron Armor; Dajue Temple's forging craftsmanship is not good, they are wearing Hundred-Forged Iron Armor, and those shooting arrows are basically Earth-Digging Realm cultivators. No matter how many, they cannot make up for the gap. There is no need to compare in archery."

Lu Yang, standing in the front row, slashed open several iron arrows flying toward his face, looked at the arrow quivers on the backs of the eight hundred-plus people behind Jiang Yuanlong, and found that they were almost bottoming out, his eyes freezing slightly.

"Kill!"

Jiang Yuanlong was clearly observing the arrow quivers of his own shooters. Seeing that most people's arrow quivers were empty, he drew his long sword and gave a roar, rushing directly toward the direction of Dajue Temple's army formation.

"Kill!"

Jiangxia's eight hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators followed closely, and then the seven towns' two thousand one hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators also rushed toward the army direction under the shouts of their respective leaders.

The distance of two hundred meters is very, very close for Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators.

Three thousand-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators wearing Thousand-Forged battle armor and having strength above one zong rushed toward the west side simultaneously. Even if this group of people is not a regular army, but just a mob randomly pieced together by the eight towns, the momentum caused is extremely terrifying.

Whoosh…………

The airflow was pulled by the crowd, the north bank snow forest was instantly filled with strong winds, the icicles on the trees fell, and the hard ice on the ground could not withstand the potential energy generated by the three thousand Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators running wildly, cracking one after another.

"Block them!"

The one commanding the army of Dajue Temple is still Head Monk Yanxin.

He clearly didn't expect that Jiang Yuanlong would dare to take three thousand Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators to rush over in advance. Looking at the large number of soldiers in the rear who hadn't come up yet, knowing that his side hadn't fully lined up, his voice carried a trace of panic. In his haste, he could only let the five thousand monastery monks and Qinghepu's three hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators top it.

Bang…………

Holding back for nearly forty days, I don't know how others feel, but Jiang Yuanlong and the eight hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators behind him clearly had too much anger accumulated in their hearts.

After all, the only ones who lost territory were their Jiangxia Town, and seeing that Hongguan was also going to be lost tonight, they rushed the fiercest at this moment, and their killing intent was the heaviest.

Jiang Yuanlong is the only one among Jiangxia's side who is not armored, but he is the first to rush into the enemy's front row. Arriving at the front of the formation, the long sword in his hand was drawn out, and the front row was instantly filled with silver light. The cold edge forced back the dozen or so monastery monks around him in an instant.

Bang…………

At the same time, the eight hundred-plus armored Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators behind him also rushed into the crowd, like thunder meeting fire, instantly hitting a gap in the front row of the five thousand monastery monks, and then it was extremely tacitly killing outward to both sides, constantly expanding the gap and making room for the seven towns in the rear.

Jiang Yuanlong at the very front slanted his body to dodge the crimson monk's staff hitting his head. The long sword was originally intended to force back Yanxin in front of him, but his peripheral vision noticed a monk who had not shaved his hair getting closer and closer to him. A coldness flashed in his eyes, his body turned suddenly, and the sword edge turned with it, slashing toward the left side.

Pfft…………

A sword seals the throat!

A thin line appeared on the monk's throat. After splashing blood mist, he fell down with eyes full of unwillingness.

"Beast, dare to kill my monastery monk, ah ah ah ah ah, die!"

While fighting with himself, he could still kill people. Yanxin was clearly angered by Jiang Yuanlong. His face had no trace of his usual calmness and peace. His face was flushed, his pupils were on fire, and the crimson monk's staff attacked Jiang Yuanlong frantically.

Whoosh... whoosh...

The crazy Head Monk Yanxin, Jiang Yuanlong clearly struggled to deal with him. Realizing that Yanxin's basic strength was above his own, knowing that the two could not distinguish the outcome in a short time, he scanned his peripheral vision, saw his side was advancing triumphantly, and immediately shouted angrily at the crowd: "Brothers, Dajue Demon Temple, killed my Jiangxia sons, occupied my Jiangxia territory, today even if we die, we must peel off a few layers of their skin, kill!"

"Kill!"

"Slaughter this bunch of dog thieves who eat inside and out."

"Monk who hasn't shaved his hair, I'll make you a dead monk who hasn't shaved his hair!"

"Not wearing armor, and dare to go to the battlefield, looking for death!" ===== CHAPTER 369 =====