Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1019: Chapter 366: The Gathering Reinforcements, Rabble, Unexpected Joy, Battle Begins (Part 3)

”Therefore, the key to this battle is to take the initiative. We must open the battle with the Dajue Temple at night. However, doing so will inevitably push Jiangxia to bring their army into Hongguan, attacking Dragon River Village, and the defensive advantage will be completely lost.

Of course, if we can give our all, bringing along our own army and all those in the Earth-digging Realm from Hongguan Village, working together, there might still be a chance to decide the outcome of the war. But take a look at the situation of the reinforcements from the Seven Towns. Can it be done?”

Upon hearing Wang Tao’s words, Lu Yang turned his head, smiled, and said, ”I don’t care about the Seven Towns. Just us alone cannot cooperate fully with Jiangxia. Lord Wang is right, the most important thing in this battle is the initiative. Yet, what is precisely the hardest to achieve is also initiative. That Jiang Yuanlong is a clever person; he figured it out early on. As soon as the reinforcements from the Seven Towns arrived, he immediately tried to make an impression. He likely aimed to seize the initiative, hoping to intimidate the forces from the Seven Towns so that he could unify command and dispatch...”

Lu Yang paused as he spoke and continued shaking his head, ”He’s somewhat skilled, but still too impatient. It’s obvious that the people from the Seven Towns, regardless of how he tries to intimidate them, will only act according to the orders of their respective Town Chiefs. If each Town Chief strictly orders their men to cooperate with Jiangxia, they would follow through without Jiang Yuanlong’s intimidation. But as it stands now...”

Wang Tao, Lin Fan, and Zhu Shun immediately shook their heads repeatedly.

To begin with, there’s no need to mention Xiang Tiancheng, who directly went against Jiang Yuanlong. The Vice Institute Chiefs leading the other Six Towns evidently do not have a very cooperative attitude. Although they were indeed intimidated by Jiang Yuanlong’s prowess just now, when it comes to the actual deployment and operations of the army, how could they casually listen to Jiang Yuanlong?

”So the key to this battle is whether Jiang Yuanlong can lead the reinforcements from the Seven Towns to launch an active offensive against the Dajue Temple. Currently, the hope seems slim unless the Town Chiefs of the Seven Towns give orders to their own people.”

As soon as Zhu Shun finished speaking, Wang Tao immediately chimed in, ”It has to be quick too. The Dajue Temple isn’t stupid. I noticed when I came here that there were quite a few spies around Hongguan Village, likely more around the pass. The two armies are so close; any personnel movement is obvious to both sides. If Jiangxia delays by one day, Dajue Temple will have one more day to prepare. If they take the initiative first, bringing a large number of Earth-digging Realm, attacking the pass during the day, Jiangxia will undoubtedly lose.”

”In this subordinate’s opinion, Jiangxia is bound to lose this battle!”

Just as Wang Tao finished speaking and before Lu Yang and others could reply, a confident young voice came from behind them.

Turning around, the four of them realized that Li Hu had walked over without anyone noticing.

Lu Yang, Zhu Shun, and Lin Fan smiled upon seeing Li Hu, while Wang Tao’s expression was somewhat complicated.

Li Hu’s background is no simple matter. By bloodline, he is undeniably the grandson of the Prison Department Director, Li Tiancheng, and the nephew of the Lord Lady, Li Xuanling. Yet, Li Hu never identifies with these two titles, clearly harboring resentment towards the Li Family. This, however, unknowingly made Lu Yang and Zhu Shun, those old Great Xia people, view him in a good light.

Lu Yang curiously asked, ”Li Hu, how did you figure it out?”

Li Hu cupped his hands in salute, shaking his head as he replied, ”My lord, I just returned from leading military supplies over there. The Cold Resistance Level from both Bashang and Chui Mountain have already started causing trouble. The leaders of the two towns have gone over as well. A Jiangxia person named Xiahou Qin spent half the day mediating before finally persuading both sides to leave. I watched from the side for a long time, and it was obvious that the people from the two towns still held grudges when they left.

The greatest fear in such alliances is having hidden agendas. Problems have already started even before the fight. Once on the battlefield, it’s needless to say. No matter how skilful Jiang Yuanlong is, it’s impossible for him to unify over two thousand people. They’re just a ragtag bunch. On the actual battlefield, they’ll just be a burden, potentially even worse than Jiangxia fighting Dajue Temple alone.”

Upon hearing Li Hu’s words, Lu Yang immediately smiled, then after pondering for a moment, turned to everyone and spoke in a solemn voice, ”Regardless of the outcome, this battle is unrelated to us. I have only one requirement for you: preserve your lives. Xia people’s lives are precious, and if one must die, it should be in battle for our Great Xia. I don’t want you to lose your lives here in confusion. However, if you can ignite some inter-town conflicts on the battlefield, that would be even better.”

”Understood, Sir!”

The mention of ”Xia people’s lives are precious” caused everyone’s expression to slightly sober, and they promptly cupped their hands, replying to Lu Yang in unison.

”From Hongguan, heading west first leads you to Dragon River, then to Jinbi. Fifty kilometers further west brings you to Qinghepu, and beyond Qinghepu lies our Great Xia’s Baiyang Station. If the battlefield remains around Hongguan, we won’t have the chance to send messages to Xia City. But once the battlefield moves westward...”

Wang Tao shook his head, interrupting Lu Yang, ”The lord is worrying too much. Xia City is already aware of the battle between Jiangxia and Dajue Temple. How could the Lord not have people watching here? He might even be personally present. I even suspect that among all the spies near Hongguan, there might be our Great Xia people.”

Lu Yang was taken aback by these words, then nodded.

”That’s true, given the proximity, the Lord wouldn’t...”

”Excuse me, is this the military camp of Beishuo Dongling Village?”

Lu Yang, about to speak, was suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice outside, everyone inside immediately stood up, their expressions cautious.

With his brows slightly furrowed, Lu Yang gestured for everyone to sit down and then responded in a deep voice to the person outside, ”This is the military camp of East Ridge Village.”

”Han Feng from Guyan Village at Jin Mountain has urgent matters to discuss with Lord Lu.”