Chapter 1111: The Bear's Lament

Xiong and his men were keeping watch on the hillside with undivided attention; they had already let the Yushi Tribe go after demanding items of great value, and with the addition of the slaves, they hadn't made the trip in vain, and they had also successfully occupied all of these territories.

Currently, their main objective was to pursue the people of the Yushi Tribe; they were likely from the Jiang Surname Tribe, and because they were sufficiently loyal to the Shennong Clan, it was impossible for them to flee from the Shennong Clan, nor could they reconcile with Xuanyuan and his men; the only outcome was war.

Now their food supply was also beginning to run a bit short; they had brought only strong, able-bodied Soldiers and not many women or the like, and even though there was constant transport of food back and forth from Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe, there was still a sense of food shortage.

The people of the Tribal Alliance didn't even need them to come; they were only responsible for developing the newly occupied territories in the rear, hunting, and guarding the Slaves, but Xiong and his men also felt the pressure regarding food.

In this current situation where full-scale combat was not possible, at least half of the Soldiers had to be sent out to hunt and forage in the surrounding areas to supplement their food, and they could not go too far away, so as to ensure that when they were needed, they could return as quickly as possible.

According to the vanguard scouts' intelligence, the Jiang Surname Tribe would be able to reach them by tomorrow, so tomorrow they would not be able to send the Soldiers out; they had to prepare for a full-scale battle.

Inside the great tent, Xiong's expression was not very good: "Xuanyuan, I'm afraid our food cannot support us staying here for too long; according to statistics, without hunting supplements, our food will last about twenty days, and if we want to return smoothly, we must set aside at least five days' worth of food to be able to meet up with the last food-delivery team on the return journey.

This is a relatively safe amount of time, otherwise we will have to be prepared to go two or three days without eating; we should try our best to defeat the Jiang Surname Tribe or completely beat them within fifteen days, and our war for this year will end there, and we will continue to advance after the weather warms up next year."

Limu said carelessly: "Xiong, you are being a bit too cautious; since we have already arrived here, no matter what, we must resolve this trouble with the Jiang Surname Tribe, otherwise the territories we have conquered this year might be in danger, and we would have to start all over again next year.

Furthermore, there is no need to worry about the food problem; we have so many Soldiers, we can pull some people to go hunting, and even if we just drink some meat broth every day, we will have the strength, and it will be easier on the way back, fighting all the way back, and the Tribal Alliance also has food, enough for us to wait for supplies.

If we can't defeat them in fifteen days, then we will continue to fight; in twenty days, we wait another five or six days, and our supplies will arrive, so there is even less to worry about; that Jiang Surname Tribe certainly doesn't have that much food, and with such a large tribe to lead, they must hunt while they travel, so how many Soldiers can they have?

They aren't enough for us to kill; this year, in my opinion, we can even continue to fight forward!"

Xiong looked at Xuanyuan: "Then Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, is that your thought as well?"

Xuanyuan did not answer, but looked at Shaoyin: "What are your thoughts? I see you seem to have something to say."

Xiong also looked at his son and told him to say whatever he wanted to say; Shaoyin also opposed his father without hesitation: "Father, I think General Limu is right; we are actually in a more advantageous position, and as far as food is concerned, our supplies are more and more sufficient, and even if we finish this batch, the next delivery will be arriving soon.

Even if we really have no food, the King has said that we can go seven or eight days without eating anything and not starve to death; there is nothing to be afraid of, and we will certainly be able to wait for the supplies to arrive.

On the contrary, this Jiangshui Tribe's food is definitely not as good as ours; we can completely defeat them in these ten-plus days, and we can also seize their food; it doesn't matter if the Slaves starve to death, at worst the gains will just be a little smaller, but we must take this territory.

This year, there is still some time before Winter arrives, and we will definitely make it in time; even if it is truly Winter and the Dahe is frozen over, we can still return to Huaxia along the ice, it will just be a bit slower; Father, I think there is nothing to worry about, we only need to focus on the upcoming war."

Hearing Shaoyin's words, Xiong also sighed slightly: "Good, then let's not worry about this problem for now and prepare for tomorrow's great battle; we don't know the strength of the Jiang Surname Tribe very well yet, and we need to meet them head-on before we can accurately judge, so let's not be in a hurry for now.

Shaoyin, let's go out and take a look, and make some arrangements."

After saying this, he smiled slightly at Xuanyuan and the others, then left the great tent, with Shaoyin following closely behind.

"This Xiong, why does he feel a bit cowardly? I used to feel that Xiong was not such a person." Xuanyuan was a bit puzzled about Xiong's state.

Fenghou spoke indifferently: "He probably feels that he is getting old; people, as long as they get old, will start to fear things ahead and worry about things behind, which is very normal, because once a person is old, they become like a child, having no ability to resist when encountering danger, and being more worried and afraid of death.

Another thing is that Xiong now lacks nothing in Huaxia, and he is valued by Baifeng in Huaxia, so he might not care about these things anymore; besides, he sees that we have basically no pressure when fighting the Shennong Clan, so he himself might not be worried at all."

Outside, what Xiong said to Shaoyin was almost the same.

"Shaoyin, I now feel that my body is not as good as it used to be; although I can still ride an ox and hack and kill, I also feel a bit tired; another thing is, I have discovered that my brain is not as useful as yours; these years, perhaps it is just because the King sees that I am loyal that he uses me heavily and trusts me, but my ability might not be that strong.

You are already stronger than me; now, you should observe more and think more on your own; as long as you can show your skills here, when it comes time to report your merits, naturally no one will gossip.

I don't want to be too motivated now; at this time, the Grass has begun to wither and turn yellow, and the weather is cold, and I feel that the joints of my bones are aching, but here, I don't even have the chance to cry out in pain, and I can't even sleep on a warm heated brick bed.

I have struggled for a lifetime, and suddenly I just want to rest; I will wait until I go back to apply to the King, either to stay in Huaxia to work, or to just retire; I no longer have any strength."