Chapter 497

Mo Ao Era, Year 136, December 27th

Yangqu Zhencheng, Lord's Main Hall

An extremely intense argument was taking place in the hall.

"Such a large-scale troop movement—Great Xia's intentions have already been revealed. The Lord cannot wait any longer. If we don't raise an army to seek help, I'm afraid Yangqu's century of town rule will truly be destroyed in one fell swoop!"

"Seek help? From whom? The three northern towns or Dragon Valley? Sixty thousand Xia troops are stuck in the north; they are already overwhelmed themselves, how can they come to save us?"

"Great Xia is just mobilizing troops, they haven't made any specific moves. Chui Shan secretly defecting to them has long been a well-known fact. Perhaps it's just a normal troop rotation; what is there to worry about?"

"That's easy to say. Chui Shan's Pingkang Camp is less than 90 kilometers away from our Yangqu Zhencheng in a straight line, and the Tieling Camp is even closer, only 70 kilometers away. In the past, two numbered armies were enough to give us a headache, but now seven have come all at once. Those are not Town Defense Armies, but a real elite army composed of 14,000 Frigid-Resistant level experts. Even if Great Xia does nothing, will we be able to sleep soundly from now on?"

"We can't sleep, but what can we do? Now that even the three northern towns are being pressed so hard by Great Xia that they can't breathe, can our Yangqu alone turn the tide?"

"Seek help and bring in reinforcements! If the three northern towns won't do, then go to Dragon Valley. Dragon Valley is right next to us; they won't sit idly by."

"What if Dragon Valley is willing to send troops? Relying on the alliance for the past two years, Yangqu's development has indeed been good. Now, there are about 21,000 Frigid-Resistant level experts in the whole town. Subtracting the 2,000 in the allied forces and the 4,000-plus in the hunting teams, there are only 15,000-plus left. At present, more than 30 percent are scattered in other towns. Whether these people are willing to return to the town city is another matter, and even if they are willing, it cannot be done in a short time.

In other words, our total available military strength in Yangqu is only 8,000 Town Defense Army soldiers plus the Lord's 1,000 Profound Pattern Army. Even if we mobilize all the hunting teams and the remaining Frigid-Resistant level experts in the town, we can only scrape together 5,000 people at most.

Not to mention combat effectiveness, Yangqu's total military strength is 14,000. Dragon Valley's situation is similar to ours; let's assume their military strength is 16,000. With the two towns added together, the total military strength is 30,000.

According to intelligence reports, Great Xia has currently deployed a total of 35,000 troops in the two places of Chui Shan, Tieling, and Pingkang. There are 7 elite Xia armies with designations. Stationed in Tieling are the Dragon-Slaughtering, Golden Sword, and Zhao Dragon armies; stationed in Pingkang are the Yingwu, Zhenwu, Steel Mane, and Golden Eagle armies. The total number of elite Xia troops is 14,000, and the remaining 21,000 are ostensibly under the Chui Shan banner, but you all know in your hearts that they are Great Xia's Town Defense Army.

Yan will be blunt: these 35,000 troops alone are enough to sweep through our two towns of Yangqu and Dragon Valley. Not to mention that in the north, the Muyin Town also has Great Xia's Tiger-Leopard and Divine Martial armies, as well as at least 20,000 Town Defense Army soldiers. Let alone a pincer attack from the north and south, even if Great Xia fought on two fronts simultaneously to resolve our two families, I'm afraid it would only be a matter of time!"

………………

There were more than fifty people in the main hall. The one sitting in the main seat was naturally the Lord, Cao Qianyang. Below Cao Qianyang on the left, the Military Head, Yan Chenzhou, also had a seat.

And apart from the two of them, everyone else, whether it was the Town Head Cao Yuankang who had just broken through to the Manifesting Yang level, or other core high-level officials of Yangqu who only had Frigid-Resistant level cultivation, were all standing.

The last long paragraph was spoken by a white-robed old man standing near the front on the left side of the hall, with a long saber strapped to his waist.

The old man's name was Yan Fengping, the eldest son of Military Head Yan Chenzhou and one of the three Deputy Military Heads of Yangqu.

As Yan Fengping's voice fell, everyone who had been arguing intensely turned to look at him, their eyes filled with shock and suspicion. As everyone fell silent, the main hall also fell into a deathly silence.

Not only the people in the hall, but even Cao Qianyang above also stared at Yan Fengping. However, he only looked for a moment before immediately shifting his gaze to Yan Chenzhou on the left, as if wanting to see something.

Unfortunately, Yan Chenzhou kept his eyes closed the whole time, seemingly unable to perceive his gaze, and was also not at all concerned about the argument in the hall.

Seeing this, Cao Qianyang's expression instantly turned gloomy.

"Fengping, do you have an idea?"

After a moment of stagnation, he finally turned his head to look at Yan Fengping and spoke.

Hearing the inquiry, Yan Fengping was not at all nervous. He cupped his hands and said: "Since the Lord asks, this subordinate will speak his humble opinion..."

Speaking of this, he paused, then a look of frankness appeared on his face, and he continued: "If it were two years ago, if the five northern towns could have worked together and not let Great Xia successfully form an alliance, the situation would not have evolved into what it is today.

Over the past two years, Great Xia has used the name of the Alliance Leader to issue alliance hunting orders, plundering various resources from the five towns; they have also earned silver from the five towns through trade, and have infiltrated the five major northern town cities on a large scale. It is no joke to say that at this very moment, I dare not even be sure if there are Great Xia spies in this hall..."

"Yan Fengping, you're talking nonsense!"

"I am loyal to the Lord, how dare you slander me like this?"

"The villain sues first! I think you, Yan Fengping, are the biggest spy!"

………………

As Yan Fengping's voice fell, the hall suddenly exploded. Everyone was so angry that their faces turned red, and some with big tempers started cursing directly.

"Even if there are no problems with everyone in the hall, can you guarantee that your relatives and servants at home have not all accepted benefits from Great Xia?"

Yan Fengping asked another question with a very calm expression. This time, the expressions of everyone in the hall changed slightly, and they instantly quieted down.

"The financial and material resources of the five northern towns, even when added together, are already completely not on the same level as Great Xia. This determines that whatever the two sides do, it is unequal.

Our Yangqu military's secret agents planted in Xia City initially totaled more than two hundred people. In the past two years alone, more than 150 have been captured, more than 50 have been turned, and only 7 remain who can regularly send news back. It is not even certain whether these 7 have been turned now.

Conversely, Great Xia has used the name of the Alliance Leader over the past two years to continuously infiltrate the five major town cities. Taking our Yangqu as an example, on the surface, there is the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, as well as hunting teams holding alliance hunting orders, which can basically enter and exit our entire town territory freely; as for secretly, it goes without saying. The number of spies planted by Great Xia in our Yangqu Zhencheng is likely far more than 200. If the entire territory is counted, it is countless.

And we have captured less than 20 in total.

As for those turned, there is not even one.

Doesn't such a shocking contrast explain the problem?"

Seeing that everyone in the hall had fallen into silence, Yan Fengping did not rush to continue speaking, but gave everyone some time to digest.

After a moment, he continued: "In recent years, the integration of the nine towns in the Southern Foothills has been very deep. As for the situation of Great Xia, actually, not only our Yangqu, but the other four northern towns probably have an idea in their hearts.

Great Xia alone has 30 elite numbered armies. The two eighth-level legions, Cloud Dragon and Dragon Martial, have a total of 10,000 people. The remaining 28 ninth-level legions have a total of 56,000 people. That is 66,000 people. These soldiers all have a strength of over 6 zong. On this item alone, even if the five northern towns were added together, they couldn't scrape that many together;

And apart from these thirty elite numbered armies, Great Xia also has Town Defense Armies stationed in various places. This part, when added together, is even larger. According to our military's rough estimate, it is at least over 100,000..."

66,000 elite numbered armies, over 100,000 Town Defense Army soldiers!

Hearing these two sets of data, the expressions of everyone in the hall dimmed.

The specifications of the Town Defense Armies in the nine-town region have changed since Great Xia formed the Southern Foothills Alliance in Chui Shan the year before last. They are no longer dominated by soldiers with Earth-Digging Realm limit cultivation as before, but have been changed to be dominated by Frigid-Resistant level soldiers.

Therefore, the two figures stated by Yan Fengping represent that the military strength of Great Xia alone is conservatively estimated to be over 170,000.

Note, this is just military strength, not Frigid-Resistant level experts!

The harsh environment of the Frozen Abyss determines that all camps will reserve a portion of Frigid-Resistant level experts to specifically hunt and gather, so the number of Great Xia's Frigid-Resistant level experts must be raised by another 30 to 40 percent.

30 to 40 percent—conservatively calculated, it is over 220,000.

Yan Fengping ignored the dim expressions of the crowd and continued:

"Everyone, I haven't even counted the Frigid-Resistant level experts of Muyin, Jiangxia, and Chui Shan. Counting this part, everyone should think carefully about what level Great Xia's overall strength can reach!"

The expressions of the people in the hall were now not just dim, but even somewhat desperate.

The matter of the high-level officials of the three towns defecting to Great Xia was no longer a secret in the five northern towns. Anyone in the core layer had an idea about it.

Counting these three towns, Great Xia's number of Frigid-Resistant level experts should be over 300,000.

"Yan Fengping, do you mean that Great Xia's unification of the Southern Foothills has become a foregone conclusion, and we should accept reality, surrender to Xia Hong, and offer Yangqu's century-old foundation to Great Xia on a silver platter?"