Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1047: Chapter 371: Troop Withdrawal, Entrustment, Alarm in Bashang, and Sudden Turn of Events

Wuyuan, originally should have been called Five Ape Mountain.

Because the mountain has five dangerous peaks, resembling a giant upright hand, it was named Five Ape Mountain.

In April of the first year, Great Xia destroyed the Three Tigers Camp, incorporating the entire Five Ape Mountain into its territory. Initially, for convenience, it was referred to as Five Apes. Later, considering that ’ape’ was an inauspicious word related to beasts, the name was changed to ’Yuan,’ thus the name Wuyuan came about.

Seven years have passed, and Wuyuan has undergone earth-shattering changes.

Especially four years ago, when Xia Hong established this place as Great Xia’s bridgehead for eastern expansion and set up eight subordinate offices, the changes here have been rapid and continuous.

Moreover, last October, Xia Hong personally drove away the Red Carp Monster, securing a 15-kilometer stretch of coastal waters, further fueling Wuyuan’s growth. It has now become the most important stronghold within Great Xia’s territory, undisputedly so.

Xia Hong, accompanied by Shi Ping, swiftly passed through the Snow Forest, heading three kilometers north, and from a distance, they saw a fan-shaped city wall stretching 15 kilometers east to west.

Wuyuan, during Xu Ning’s administration, had already seen the construction of a city.

The city wall was modeled after the original Long Mountain outpost, where hundreds of 8-meter-long five-cornered iron piles were driven into the ground, creating a fan-shaped city fortress along the cliffs of Five Ape Mountain, with the total length of the city wall extending three kilometers beyond the original Long Mountain.

”Greetings to the Lord, greetings to the Lord Guardian!”

”No need for formalities, continue your duties!”

Xia Hong, with Shi Ping, passed through the city gate and headed straight for the main hall of the Government Office.

Inside the main hall, Xia Chuan was in a heated discussion with Yuwen Dao, Yuan Cheng, and Luo Yuan. Upon seeing Xia Hong enter, they quickly paid their respects to him.

”Greetings to the Lord!”

Xia Hong took the main seat, saw Xia Chuan preparing to hand him the letters returned by Bai Xiang and the others, and waved it off, saying, ”No need to show me, just tell me the specifics.”

Xia Chuan nodded, put away the letters, clasped his hands and said, ”On the 17th of this month, a total of five thousand Defensive Army troops from Yangqu and Dragon Valley entered Jiangxia Territory from the east, directly reaching Binjiang Camp. Adding Jiangxia’s own five thousand Defensive Army troops, this is ten thousand soldiers. Additionally, Jiangxia has mobilized ninety thousand Earth-digging Realm troops from the town and the remaining twenty-four village-level camps within its territory, amassing a total of 150,000 Earth-digging Realm troops, thus forming an absolute advantage over Dajue Temple in terms of force.

On the 19th, 21st, and 23rd, Dajue Temple launched three assaults on Binjiang Camp, two during the day and one at night, all ending in failure. On Dajue Temple’s side, Jin Yang, Ju Kong, Hei Yan, and more than fifty official bhikkhus died in battle, leaving just over two thousand Zen Temple bhikkhus alive, with around ninety thousand Earth-digging Realm troops remaining.

The Three Towns also suffered greatly, with deaths estimated at over three thousand, primarily from Jiangxia, leaving only over four thousand out of ten thousand Defensive Army troops, and around eighty thousand Earth-digging Realm troops, with casualties similar to those of Dajue Temple.”

Upon hearing the casualty figures, Xia Hong raised an eyebrow and asked, ”Just these, what about the Xianyang Level on both sides?”

”I was just getting to that. Two days ago, on the 23rd during the daytime battle, Binjiang Camp was nearly breached. At the last moment, Jiang Yinglong, Xiahou Zhang, Long Mingyuan, and Cao Qianyang all intervened. Although Dajue Temple only brought Jin Yang, Yan Long, and Hei Ming, they pressed hard on all four throughout.

According to Bai Shanqiu, Jiang Yinglong and the others fought desperately, dragging the battle into the night, barely managing to disperse the enemy with ten thousand Earth-digging Realm troops. The three masters, seeing no hope of breaking through, finally stopped and ordered Yan Xin to retreat.”

After Xia Chuan finished, Yuwen Dao and the others looked slightly tense.

The combined total military strength on both sides exceeded 300,000, not to mention there were thousands of Cold Resistance Level and over ten thousand Defensive Army troops included.

Even seven Xianyang Level individuals took action!

Just hearing about it, one could imagine how intense the battle at Binjiang Camp was.

Though Xia Hong’s eyes flickered slightly, upon hearing the Xianyang Level battle situation, his face did not show much surprise.

Eight Xianyang Level individuals went to Dajue Temple and two didn’t return, with three heavily injured; let alone dealing with four Xianyang Levels. Fortunately, it was battlefield combat, not solo duels, and those three masters at Dajue Temple probably had some tactics they dared not use openly with so many watching, otherwise, Jiang Yinglong and the others would likely be dead.

There was obviously much news in the message returned by Bai Xiang and the others; seeing everyone’s expressions calm, Xia Chuan continued.

”After the battle on the 23rd ended, Dajue Temple retreated to Hongguan. The next day, on the 24th daytime, Jiang Xia Town’s Town Chief Jiang Xinfan personally went to Hongguan to meet with Yan Xin Chief.

It’s unclear what Jiang Xinfan and Yan Xin specifically discussed, but the night after they finished talking, on the 24th, all the several tens of thousands of troops from Dajue Temple, stationed west of Binjiang Camp, retreated to Hongguan.”

”Negotiations occurred.”

”It must have been negotiations. Dajue Temple hasn’t been able to take down the camp after all this time; continuing would just waste resources.”

”The leaders of the Three Towns all appeared, and Dajue Temple must be worried about the other Six Towns getting involved if they kept fighting.”

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Dao and others immediately spoke up.

Xia Chuan, hearing their words, nodded in agreement.

This is an obvious matter and there are likely no errors in it.

”Is it negotiation, or seeking peace?”

However, Xia Hong, at this time, suddenly posed a question.

The crowd paused in surprise at his words and then began to ponder.

Negotiation occurs when both sides wish to stop fighting;

Whereas seeking peace occurs when only one side wants to stop the fight and doesn’t dare continue, prompting them to initiate talks for a ceasefire with the other side.