Chapter 500: Ice Abyss Rations, Beishuo Deployment, Xia Army Movements

Most camps in the Ice Abyss have a very obvious shortcoming.

That is, food reserves are not high!

The harsh environment dictates that the vast majority of camps cannot have too much stored food. This has nothing to do with strength or weakness. Strong camps have large populations and naturally consume more food; weak camps have small populations and low consumption, but their ability to obtain food is poor, so it is even more impossible to have much.

Taking the Great Xia as an example, there are roughly two types of rations for the Xia people at present:

One is natural fruits such as crystal fruits, Chen fruits, and cold fragrance fruits.

In the early days when the Great Xia had no hunting ability, crystal fruits were the only staple food. This type of fruit has no effect of improving Qi and blood and is not a cultivation resource. It was a helpless choice during the camp's weak period.

And as the Great Xia's strength gradually grew, it was soon discovered that these natural fruits, including crystal fruits, have no effect of improving Qi and blood. Let alone Yuhan-level, even for the Earth-Digging Realm, if they are used as food, Qi and blood will inevitably wither. If this continues for a long time, it will even cause flesh and blood exhaustion, and basic strength will rapidly weaken.

This point alone dictates that this type of natural fruit can only be used as rations for children under six years old. Furthermore, it can be used for brewing wine and making medicine. At most, it can be used for emergencies to prepare for unexpected needs. If you want to use it as the camp's staple food, there is definitely no chance.

Speaking of this, I have to mention the second type of ration for the Great Xia and the entire southern foothills, or their only staple food: beast meat.

It is not strange that beast meat has become the staple food.

First, the number of cold beasts in the Ice Abyss is truly too huge, and it seems they can never be hunted or killed;

Second is its function. Beast meat is not only the most basic cultivation resource for humans but also has the effect of maintaining Qi and blood. Let alone the Earth-Digging Realm and Yuhan-level, even the Xianyang-level cannot do without it.

But as the only staple food, the defects of beast meat are also unusually obvious, that is, the reserve quantity cannot be too large.

In an environment like the Ice Abyss, storage is naturally not a problem. There are two reasons why reserve food cannot be too large: first, the hunting ability of all camps is limited and cannot be hoarded in large quantities; second, no matter how strong a single camp's hunting ability is, it cannot withstand consumption.

Taking the Great Xia as an example, although the number of hunting teams is amazing now, and with the system of combining soldiers and hunters, the army also clears beast tides from time to time. The ability to obtain beast meat can be said to be unmatched by any other family in the southern foothills.

But even so, it cannot withstand the Great Xia's growing population and increasing consumption. The Camp Needs Department has repeatedly raised its price to maintain the normal supply of beast meat, which is proof.

The earliest price of beast meat in the Great Xia was 1 point of contribution value for 2 jin; at the beginning of the war with Longyou in the second year of the Great Xia, the price soared directly to 5 points of contribution value for 1 jin; in the middle of the war, it was reduced to 1 point of contribution value for 1 jin; after the Battle of Longyou ended, it returned to 1 point for 2 jin...

Since then, I don't know how many changes it has gone through. It wasn't until July of the year before last that the Great Xia issued a hunting order in the name of the alliance, allowing all towns in the southern foothills to initially achieve resource sharing. Since then, the Great Xia's beast meat income has become more and more, and the price has been constantly falling, finally returning to 1 point for two jin.

The frequent changes in the price of beast meat are actually a specific manifestation of the low reserve quantity. The camp's anti-risk ability is too weak, so whenever there is any disturbance, this key resource must be tightened immediately.

………………

Mo'ao Calendar Year 136, December 28th, as the sky darkened

"The Great Xia has only managed Dongchuan for two years. How much beast meat can they have in reserve? Spies in the city found out at the beginning of the month that the total beast meat reserve in the entire Dongchuan City does not exceed 11 million jin. Xia Chuan has 30,000 coalition troops, which is not enough, and he temporarily conscripted 30,000 Yuhan-level experts. 60,000 troops, even if he uses all these 11 million jin of beast meat as military rations, it will only be enough to eat for two months at most. He wants to defeat our Beishuo Town in two months? Arrogant, the Great Xia is truly arrogant to the extreme!"

Beishuo Town city, inside the Lord's Hall, Yang Zun sat upright in the first seat.

The person speaking stood on his left, it was his third brother Yang Jian, who looked most like him and had also acted on his behalf to manage Beishuo for many years.

When Yang Jian said the last sentence, his face was full of disbelief. It was clear that he was both angry and shocked by the Great Xia's move to raise troops this time.

Of course, there were more than two people in the hall. On the right side below Yang Zun was an old man dressed in black brocade. The old man had no blood on his face, his face was pale, his breathing was a bit disordered, and his arms were hanging empty. It was Chu Xuankong of Chen Cang, who almost snatched Xia Yu Sheng away two days ago.

Behind Chu Xuankong stood five or six middle-aged men. Judging by their dress and appearance, they were clearly all people he brought from Chen Cang.

Dozens of people stood on the left and right sides of the hall, and in the middle stood Yang Ying, the second-generation descendant of the Yang family who had just returned from the Dongchuan camp to report the news.

Why did Yang Jian make such an exclamation? It was because the news Yang Ying just brought back said that Dongchuan Governor Seeing Mu Longhe had led 10,000 troops and taken the Dongchuan camp.

After the Great Xia started the war, the first step must be to take Dongchuan. This did not exceed Beishuo's expectations. Yang Jian's shock and anger at this moment stemmed from the fact that the Great Xia really started the war so directly and rudely!

Without any preparation, they just started fighting.

On what basis? On what basis does the Great Xia do this?

"Arrogant? People just have this strength..."

Yang Zun at the head suddenly spoke, then sneered: "Four armies moved at the same time. Yuan Cheng led the rear army to watch Yang Qu; Luo Yuan led the central route army to watch Longgu; Yuwentao's 50,000 rear army took the entire Yinhe Valley yesterday. Now they are dividing into two routes, one route of 40,000 moving east to Xiyuan, looking like they are going straight to Jin Shan Town city, and the other route moving west out of Yinhe Valley, approaching Wu Chuan East Valley, aiming at our side..."

While Yang Zun was speaking, five soldiers in the hall had already carried out a giant map. What was drawn on the map was the entire three northern towns.

The three northern towns, if simply and rudely arranged from north to south, are Beishuo, Wu Chuan, and Jin Shan, but in fact, the territory of the three towns is not like that.

Jin Shan has the largest territory among the three towns, with a total of nine jurisdictions. Its territory is generally to the east, and a large part is embedded in the inside of Mo'ao Mountain;

And Wu Chuan, sandwiched in the middle, has the smallest territory among the three towns, with only six jurisdictions. The easternmost East Valley jurisdiction connects to Muxin Fushan in the south and faces Jin Shan Town Yinhe Valley in the east;

Then there is Beishuo, which has a medium area among the three towns. The southern Kuline and Jingxi areas border the East Valley and Huayang jurisdictions of Wu Chuan Town respectively.

Once the map was taken out, combined with what Yang Zun just said, many people in the hall saw the signs, and their expressions were slightly condensed.

"Just now, Lord Chu Qinghe has already said that Luo Yuan's central route army in Muxin Town has already stationed 30,000 troops in Fushan. It looks like they are going to cooperate with the 10,000 troops on Yuwentao's right route to first take down Wu Chuan East Valley. Once the two sides merge, they can move north and take Kuline directly..."

Yang Jian has managed Beishuo for many years, and his overall view is naturally good. After finishing a section, he walked to the map and pointed to the position of the Dongchuan camp in the north and continued: "Seeing Mu Longhe's 10,000 troops have already taken this place. He is not moving for the time being, probably waiting for the follow-up army. Xia Chuan's next step should be to continue moving south to attack Bai Mu, echoing Luo Yuan and Yuwentao's two departments in the south, while simultaneously pressing on Kuline.

It shouldn't be enough to press directly on the town city, but as long as the four places of East Valley, Kuline, Bai Mu, and Dongchuan are opened up, Muxin's military supplies can be continuously transported through East Valley, either moving north to support Xia Chuan's department or moving east to support Yuwentao's department..."

After Yang Jian's words, even those who didn't understand in the hall understood at this moment.

The Great Xia started the war rashly. Why would it make Yang Jian shocked and angry?

The biggest reason is that Yang Jian knows in his heart that although the 60,000 elite Xia troops in the north are very strong, they have an extremely fatal shortcoming, which is military supply reserves, which cannot be compared with the three major town cities.

Fighting a war is not just about rushing up to fight for your life. Swords, armor, pills, including the most important food, are all indispensable.

No matter how strong the Great Xia is and how abundant its resources are, it cannot change the fact that Dongchuan and Jin Yang have only been established as cities for two years. No matter how willing the Great Xia is to invest, it cannot compare with their three major town cities.

Ice Abyss rations are already precious. Once such large-scale warfare starts, all gathering and hunting must stop. At that time, what is compared is reserves.

The rules of the Ice Abyss dictate that food reserves will not be too large, especially important staple foods like beast meat. Taking Beishuo as an example, after managing for so many years, once the town's hunting stops completely, the beast meat reserve in the city will only be enough for about six months at most.

Yang Jian just said that the beast meat reserve in Dongchuan City is only enough for two months in extreme cases. It is said that in more than two years, the Great Xia can make Dongchuan City's treasury so full, which is already very scary. ===== CHAPTER 501 =====