Chapter 784: Slaughtering into the Wilderness, the General's Move

July 5th.

The third day after the formal establishment of the Barbarian-Slaying Army.

The Northern Frontier has made a major move!

Five major cities and twenty-one military towns have simultaneously dispatched troops, with a total of fifty thousand border troops massing on a large scale along the border line.

This action naturally drew the attention of the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes, and scouts from both sides have already begun frequent skirmishes.

However, the Northern Frontier border troops have conducted such large-scale drills in the past, so the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes were not overly nervous for the time being.

That was until more than twelve thousand Green Frost Army soldiers poured out in full force, all rushing to the border!

Now, the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes had to take it seriously.

With only fifty thousand border troops, even if they all charged into the wild jungle, they wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble.

The seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes even had the opportunity to annihilate them entirely!

But the Green Frost Army is different.

A thousand-man-level army corresponds to the combat power of a Grandmaster, while a five-thousand-man-level military formation can already contend head-on with Martial Saints and True Monarchs.

A ten-thousand-man-level military formation is a force sufficient to surround and kill peak-level powerhouses!

However, since the founding of the Great Lan Dynasty, apart from the founding Emperor, no Son of Heaven has ever sent the Green Frost Army deep into the wilderness to fight.

While the Green Frost Army's combat power is indeed astonishing, if it were only one or two major battles, they could completely settle the outcome and sweep away thousands of troops!

But if the front line is stretched and the timeline of a campaign is also extended, once the Green Frost Army falls into a state of long-term warfare, the situation becomes unfavorable.

Whether it is the soldiers themselves or the baleful weapons they carry, there is wear and tear; once the number of men falls below a certain limit, or the wear on their baleful weapons becomes too severe, the combat power of the Green Frost Army will be greatly discounted!

The seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes will not foolishly concentrate everyone together to fight the Green Frost Army head-on; they will certainly use the terrain to constantly drag them out and fight the guerrilla warfare they are best at.

Therefore, even if the Green Frost Army is sent to slaughter in the wilderness, it is very difficult to completely eradicate the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes, and instead, there is a possibility that the Green Frost Army could get trapped in the wild jungle.

Once the Green Frost Army is wiped out, or suffers heavy losses and has its organization destroyed, this would be absolutely no less of a loss to the Great Lan Dynasty than the rebellion of the Pure Void!

The Great Lan Dynasty has been established for over five hundred years, and it took the strength of the entire nation to barely maintain four ten-thousand-man-level Imperial Camp armies.

There are over a dozen peak-level powerhouses in the world, and the imperial court only occupies three of them; under these circumstances, the entire martial arts world must still honestly abide by the rules set by the imperial court.

On what grounds?

These four ten-thousand-man-level Imperial Camp armies are the most important reason!

A former Chief Grand Secretary once publicly expressed a view:

As long as these four ten-thousand-man-level Imperial Camp armies remain firmly in the hands of the imperial court, the Great Lan Dynasty's mountains and rivers will be secure forever!

From this, one can see the importance of these four ten-thousand-man-level Imperial Camp armies.

Since the founding Emperor, no monarch has dared to easily send these four Imperial Camp armies out to fight.

Even if these four Imperial Camp armies do nothing, their mere existence there is enough to deter all directions!

Therefore, when the Green Frost Army collectively mobilized and rushed to the border to rendezvous with those fifty thousand elite border troops, the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes still did not quite believe that the Great Lan Dynasty would take major action.

On the border line, the great army gathered on a plain.

Ahead lay vast stretches of primitive jungle and continuous mountain ranges.

The fifty thousand elite border troops were arranged into five huge square formations, having finished lining up on the plain.

The vast majority of these fifty thousand men wore light leather armor.

In addition to cold weapons, everyone carried firearms on their backs.

There were also hundreds of large trucks on the plain, loaded with various supplies.

Several hundred heavy machine guns!

Hundreds of portable mortars!

In this era, there are actually howitzers with longer range and greater power, but the terrain of the wilderness dictates that such weapons cannot be brought in, so portable mortars are the most suitable weapons.

The earth suddenly began to tremble, and dust flew in the distance.

A cyan torrent surged toward this side from afar.

This torrent carried heaven-toppling baleful energy and might, as if everything between heaven and earth would be leveled before it!

The fifty thousand elite border troops present all wore solemn expressions.

They knew that the Green Frost Army had arrived!

Soon, the cyan torrent rushed onto this plain, lined up in front of the five square formations, and arranged itself into a long snake formation.

When the torrent stopped, twelve thousand warriors wearing full sets of cyan armor, holding long spears and with battle blades at their waists, stood in front of the fifty thousand border troops.

Unlike the elite border troops behind them, they did not carry any thermal weapons, because they did not need to!

After the Green Frost Army arrived, Prince Cheng, wearing golden five-clawed dragon-scale armor, ascended a temporarily constructed high platform with a group of high-ranking Northern Frontier generals.

Prince Cheng stood at the very front, his gaze sweeping over the soldiers below.

He did not speak, just stood there and watched everyone for a full minute.

Then he suddenly drew the sword at his waist:

"Kill!"

The aura of a peak Grandmaster was fully unleashed, shooting straight into the clouds!

On the plain, wind and snow suddenly appeared, and ice and frost descended from the sky.

The next second, the twelve thousand Green Frost Army soldiers drew their blades almost simultaneously.

Cyan light slashed through the white snow!

Immediately after, the fifty thousand elite border troops also drew their blades one after another.

Tens of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison:

"Kill—"

The sound of the kill shook the clouds!

On the plain, the ice and snow dissipated.

Prince Cheng Qin Shixian sheathed his sword and left behind one final sentence:

"March!"

And so, this oath-taking ceremony came to an end.

Next, this great army did not immediately charge into the wilderness, but began to collect supplies on the spot.

At the same time, another force of over sixty thousand people was surging toward this plain from the rear.

These sixty-plus thousand people were laborers conscripted from the Northern Frontier, each carrying a large bag containing food, water, and various medicines.

These laborers would follow the great army into the wilderness.

Because the soldiers had to wear armor, carry weapons and ammunition, and maintain immediate combat readiness, they could not carry too much food.

Each soldier could carry at most about five days' worth of rations, while the laborers in the rear could carry about thirty days' worth of rations.

Therefore, the sixty-thousand-strong army plus the sixty thousand laborers carried enough food for everyone to eat for about eighteen days.

If the return trip is included, the army would have at most nine days to penetrate deep into the wilderness.

Even if they lived off the land, hunting wild beasts and exotic beasts in the wild jungle, and gathering wild vegetables and fruits, it would at most allow the army to hold out for a few more days.

Given the complex terrain and treacherous environment of the wilderness, one could march at most ten-plus miles a day.

In ten-plus days, they could only march no more than two hundred miles into the wilderness.

This distance wouldn't even reach many places.

This is an important reason why the Great Lan Dynasty has never sent a large army deep into the wilderness for so many years.

The logistics problem is difficult to solve; no matter how strong the army's combat power is, it's useless.

After all, if people don't eat, they will die.

But this time, the Great Lan Dynasty is determined to take the initiative to attack!

The oath-taking ceremony was held at 8: 0 AM, and it continued until after 1: 0 PM before the army on the plain had collected all their supplies and equipment.

The sixty-plus thousand laborers also arrived at the plain and were assigned to various units.

At this moment, this army, which could claim to be one hundred and twenty thousand strong to the outside world, finally set off.

The one hundred and twenty thousand people marched forward in a grand procession, one after another entering the endless primitive jungle.

The quiet jungle suddenly became lively.

The direction the army chose to enter was the joint defense zone of the three major Northern Barbarian tribes; these three tribes had all sworn allegiance to the Northern Barbarian King, and they had jointly set up a line of defense in this jungle.

Hidden sentries, various deadly traps, poisonous insects, wild beasts, and even raised exotic beasts together formed a defense line with Northern Barbarian characteristics.

This was the first line of defense set up by the three major tribes.

If the army marched normally, the casualties on the first day would likely be an astonishing number!

However, all the hidden sentries, traps, poisonous insects, and fierce beasts were like foam in the face of a cyan torrent.

Prince Cheng chose to use the strongest Green Frost Army on the first day of the march!

Six thousand Green Frost Army soldiers jointly activated their military formation, turning into a cyan torrent with heaven-toppling momentum as they surged forward.

Wherever they passed, let alone traps and living things, even towering trees and dense weeds were all crushed!

Wherever the Green Frost Army passed, dangerous terrain turned into a smooth path!

If one looked down from the sky, one could see a thousand-meter-long cyan torrent rushing into the green jungle.

Wherever it passed, the green was gone, leaving only a stretch of grayish-yellow land.

Nature's uncanny workmanship created this wild jungle, but at this moment, the Green Frost Army is changing the world with great power!

After the six thousand Green Frost Army soldiers sprinted forward for a distance, they were replaced by the remaining six thousand Green Frost Army soldiers who rushed to the front.

The Green Frost Army split into two, rolling forward in a relay fashion.

One hour later, the Green Frost Army forcibly carved out a thousand-meter-wide, one-hundred-mile-long rugged "highway" in the wild jungle!

Even if a Martial Saint or a True Person were to come, it would be difficult to accomplish such a feat!

The 12, 00 soldiers of the Green Frost Army joined together and returned along the same path.

Behind them, the army of 110, 00 was still advancing slowly.

Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to march more than eleven or twelve li a day in the wilderness.

But now, because of the Green Frost Army's powerful path-clearing, by 8: 0 PM, in just half a day, the vanguard of the main army had already marched over twenty li!

Moreover, the entire process went very smoothly, without a single loss of personnel!

The three major tribes of the Northern Barbarians responsible for this defense zone were also stunned; they had not expected that King Cheng would choose to clear a path in such an overbearing manner.

This also completely disrupted their plans.

The place where the Green Frost Army finally stopped was less than twenty li away from the headquarters of the Dream Lion Tribe, one of the three major tribes!

According to the current marching situation of the Northern Border Army, it would take at most three days to reach them.

In three days, the people at the Dream Lion Tribe's headquarters would have no time to evacuate.

And relying solely on the strength of the three major tribes, it would be impossible to block this Northern Border Army.

Dream Lion Rock.

A large area of wooden houses was built against the mountain, along with many treehouses and caves.

This is the headquarters of the Dream Lion Tribe.

Among the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes, the Dream Lion Tribe is in the lower tier in terms of population and strength, with less than 200, 00 people in the entire tribe, and 130, 00 gathered at the headquarters.

Because of the special nature of the Northern Barbarians, the men of the tribe can be counted as qualified warriors after reaching adulthood.

Therefore, setting aside the old, weak, women, and children, the Dream Lion Tribe's headquarters has over 40, 00 of the most elite warriors!

It is just that these elite warriors all use cold weapons, and the proportion of martial artists is not high.

If the terrain were changed, these 40, 00 Dream Lion Tribe warriors would only be slaughtered if they faced 40, 00 fully armed Northern Border frontier troops!

And even in the wilderness jungle, fighting on the home turf of the Northern Barbarian warriors, after learning of the Green Frost Army's terrifying power that could change the world, the high-level members of the Dream Lion Tribe did not believe their own warriors could stop the enemy.

Yet the Northern Border Army came too fast!

The Dream Lion Tribe did not even have time to retreat.

Fight, they cannot win.

The option of retreating was erased by the Green Frost Army from the very beginning.

This is the predicament of the Dream Lion Tribe at this moment.

A man over two meters and three centimeters tall, his body covered in mysterious tattoos, with long hair, handsome muscle definition, wearing a lion-head golden crown, and possessing a majestic aura, walked with a solemn expression to the highest point of Dream Lion Rock.

Here stood an ancient tree over thirty meters tall, with a wooden house built on top of it.

This wooden house is where the Great Elder of the Dream Lion Tribe resides.

The seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes each have their own customs; in some tribes, the supreme leader is the Tribal Chief.

In some tribes, the supreme leader is the Great Elder.

Others are led by a Council of Elders.

The Dream Lion Tribe is usually managed by the Tribal Chief in all matters, but the person who truly suppresses the tribe's destiny and shoulders the most important mission of the tribe is the Great Elder.

Narisuqi climbed the wooden house with ease, bowed respectfully outside the door, and said in the language of the Dream Lion Tribe:

"Great Elder, I need your guidance."

Narisuqi is the Tribal Chief of the Dream Lion Tribe; he had already learned of the Green Frost Army's forced path-clearing and immediately ordered the news to be sealed, forbidding it from spreading within the tribe.

"Come in."

A gentle female voice came from inside the wooden house.

Narisuqi walked into the wooden house, where a young woman with a beautiful figure, dressed in animal skin clothing that exposed most of her skin, was sitting.

She is the Great Elder of the Dream Lion Tribe, and she looked much younger than Narisuqi.

In fact, she was indeed nearly fifty years younger than the Tribal Chief Narisuqi!

"Great Elder."

Narisuqi bowed to the woman very respectfully.

The Great Elder signaled for Narisuqi to sit down.

"You already know about the Green Frost Army clearing the path, right?"

Narisuqi got straight to the point.

The Great Elder nodded calmly.

Narisuqi: "What do you think we should do next?"

The Great Elder did not hesitate: "Ask the Northern Barbarian King for help."

"But the enemy can arrive in at most three days; even if we ask the Northern Barbarian King for help, he won't have time to mobilize too many warriors!"

Narisuqi's tone was anxious.

"Before the reinforcements arrive, we just need to resist with all our might."

The Great Elder said calmly.

Narisuqi was startled and quickly asked: "Did you foresee something?"

The seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes also have inheritances of martial arts and mystic arts, with a power system the same as the Central Plains, only they have their own characteristics in martial arts and mystic techniques.

In fact, there are not only seventeen tribes among the Northern Barbarians; there are many very small tribes.

It is just that these tribes either live in seclusion in the deep mountains and have little contact with the outside world, or they choose to attach themselves to the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes, becoming their vassal tribes.

And the reason the seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes are famous, besides the powerful comprehensive strength of the tribes themselves, is that these seventeen tribes all have complete inheritances of Grandmasters or top-tier True Persons!

Not only that, every tribe has its own secrets, which can ensure that the tribe's highest combat power will not be cut off.

Either there are always people becoming Grandmasters or top-tier True Persons, or they can use other ways to reach this level of combat power.

The Dream Lion Tribe's main inheritance is not martial arts, but mystic arts.

The Great Elder is the only top-tier True Person in the tribe and has mastered a secret technique capable of foreseeing the future!

Because of this secret technique, whenever there is a major event involving the life and death of the tribe, Narisuqi would come to consult the Great Elder.

The Great Elder smiled and shook her head:

"The Great Lan Dynasty has the protection of True Person Xiang Yunshu; the other side must have used techniques to obscure the heavenly secrets before the army set out. If I dared to use a secret technique to predict information related to this army, wouldn't I be courting death?"

Narisuqi subconsciously lowered his voice, seemingly wary of True Person Xiang Yunshu:

"But, isn't it said that the Imperial Preceptor suffered heavy injuries and is in seclusion to heal?"

The Great Elder: "This battle concerns the fate of the nation; even if the Imperial Preceptor has the heaviest of injuries, it is impossible for him to stand by and watch."

Narisuqi looked puzzled: "Then, Great Elder, you..."

The Great Elder blinked at him:

"Some things do not necessarily require secret techniques to be predicted."

Narisuqi immediately stood up and bowed: "Please, Great Elder, give me your guidance."

The Great Elder stopped beating around the bush:

"Why do you think the Great Lan Dynasty suddenly launched this war?"

Narisuqi, being able to serve as a Tribal Chief, was naturally not stupid, and immediately said:

"Because of the Northern Barbarian King!"

"Correct. The Northern Barbarian King has already unified eleven tribes; the Great Lan Dynasty will not sit idly by and watch him completely unify the Northern Barbarians."

"Then why did the Northern Border Army come directly for us?"

"Because we are the weakest."

"..."

"The combat power of the Green Frost Army is indeed astonishing, but to force a path like this today, the consumption must also be astonishing. Having just started the war, they chose to hand over the sharpest blade in their hands; why do you think they would do this?"

"... o catch us off guard and eliminate us at the fastest speed?"

"Who is their true target this time?"

"It is the Northern Barbarian King."

"If they eliminate us, will the Northern Barbarian King die?"

"No... I understand!"

Narisuqi revealed a look of sudden realization:

"The true goal of this Northern Border Army is to lure the Northern Barbarian King!"

The Great Elder nodded with satisfaction: "Exactly. So the enemy will definitely not eliminate us so quickly; they need to use us to lure the reinforcements. Whether the Northern Barbarian King sends people to rescue us or leads troops to rescue us himself, it will leave an opportunity for the other side."

Narisuqi suddenly became a bit anxious; he was someone who truly admired the Northern Barbarian King and truly believed that he could bring a different future to the Northern Barbarians:

"Can the Northern Barbarian King think of this point? Will he know that this is a trap?"

The Great Elder: "The Northern Barbarian King is a person of true wisdom; he will definitely be able to see this point as well."

Narisuqi asked urgently: "Then will he still rescue us?"

The Great Elder looked at him: "Do you hope he rescues us?"

Narisuqi fell silent.

As the Tribal Chief, he naturally hoped the Northern Barbarian King would rescue them.

But he was also worried about the other's safety.

"He will definitely choose to rescue us."

The Great Elder said firmly.

Narisuqi was surprised: "Why?"

Knowing full well it is the enemy's trap, why must he step into it so firmly?

"Because he wants to become the true King of the Northern Barbarians!"

The Great Elder said as much.

Narisu Qi: "."

He understood.

The Dream Lion Tribe had only recently chosen to pledge loyalty to the other party; now that his subordinates were in distress, if the King of the Northern Barbarians did not choose to rescue them, how could he command respect in the future?

How could the remaining six tribes that had not yet submitted pledge their loyalty to him?

Therefore, even if he knew it was a trap, the King of the Northern Barbarians had to charge in!

"The people of the Central Plains call this kind of strategy a scheme under the sun."

The Great Elder said, "It means laying out the scheme openly and honestly; even if the opponent knows, they are still forced to fall for it."

"A scheme under the sun..."

Narisu Qi felt a chill in his heart.

On the first day the great war began, the Great Lan Dynasty had already completed a checkmate against the King of the Northern Barbarians.

Inviting the gentleman into the urn!

On the northern border line, an army of only seven thousand people had also completed its assembly.

They were waiting for the moment to unsheathe their swords.

(End of this chapter)