Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1745: Chapter 554: Cai Qiu Defeated—Is This Really a Rebel Army? (Part 2)

It was at that moment, for the first time in their lives, they saw Landgrave Cai Qianshan’s face show a hint of panic. He only ordered Cai Qiuhu to quickly lead the army back north, and then left with Lin Chu County Governor Cai Qiuyang and five others of the Tribulation Body Realm, flying directly towards Lin Chu County City.

At that time, the people could understand the panic on the Landgrave’s face.

After all, it was a battle in the Outer Domain. For Cai Qiu, the recent defeat against Great Xia was more a loss of face, apart from some lost soldiers, the actual interests were not greatly harmed;

But with the arrival of the Chen Cang army, the situation was entirely different.

Not to mention that Chen Cang had already captured seven major camps of Lin Chu County, with the army now surrounding the County City. Just the name Chen Cang alone brought pressure on Cai Qiu that Great Xia could not compare with.

Who in the Three Vassals does not know of Chen Cang’s ambition?

If it were just ambition, it would be one thing, but Chen Cang also has strength!

Especially in recent decades, Chen Cang’s military power has grown increasingly strong. Chu Longteng has taken action less frequently, and his power has become increasingly difficult to fathom, making the Three Vassals more wary of Chen Cang.

Great Xia may be strong, but Moao Mountain stands between them, not to mention that with Great Xia’s current strength, they don’t even have the qualification to be a threat to Chen Cang.

Therefore, upon hearing the arrival of Chen Cang’s army, Landgrave Cai Qianshan only showed a brief panic, but Cai Qiuhu and the others in Cai Qiu were genuinely shaken to their core.

The crucial question was whether Chen Cang was coming to reap some benefits of autumn or to wage a full-front war against Cai Qiu?

If he plans a full-scale war, Cai Qiu would immediately have to seek assistance from the Two Vassals, Wei Bo and Hezang, and that is the real reason why Landgrave Cai Qianshan hurried to Lin Chu County just now.

“There is another guess…”

As thoughts raced through the people’s minds, Cai Qiuhu spoke again.

He turned his head and glanced backward, saying in a low tone, “If the rebellion in Evergreen Valley is not Chen Cang’s doing, but orchestrated by Great Xia, then we are in big trouble!”

“How can that be?”

“Great Xia, can they pull off something this big?”

“Impossible!”

……

As soon as he finished speaking, several people around immediately exclaimed it was impossible.

“I said, it’s just a guess! If this guess holds true, Great Xia could be fighting us head-on while causing such commotion at the rear, it would prove that their infiltration into Cai Qiu started very early, and we were unaware the whole time!”

The crowd, upon hearing this, still remained filled with disbelief.

Even though they had a preliminary understanding of the Xia Army’s capabilities, most of those present still did not place Great Xia in a very important position. At the very least, compared to Chen Cang, Great Xia was not considered much.

“Little Landgrave is overthinking it. Xia Hong was severely injured in the battle against Landgrave, and now should not have the capability to act. If not for our army’s morale crumbling, pivoting now to annihilate those 100,000 Xia Army would not be a problem, let alone worry about the mere rebellious forces of Evergreen Valley?”

“We need no more than half an hour to emerge from the valley, and the rebels now number just over 80,000, the vast majority in the Earth-digging Realm. Even if their numbers double in half an hour to 160,000, they are still nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs before our 150,000-strong army, easily crushed.”

“The scouts just reported that the Xia Army is carrying supplies. Even if they catch up after we exit the Bone-Eroding Path, it’ll take at least another half an hour. That group of rebels cannot hold us for half an hour!”

…………

That’s right!

Perhaps the best news came from what Father Landgrave Cai Qianshan said when he left just now, that Xia Hong was severely injured in their clash and could not take action in the short term.

Cai Qiuhu exhaled a slight breath and nodded, saying, “Then urge the army to continue accelerating. Having just suffered defeat, it is unwise to engage the Xia Army again in the short term. Quickly march to the north exit of the Bone-Eroding Path, clear the rebel forces first, then turn back to block the Xia Army.”

The previous battle at the southern exit ended in such a miserable defeat for Cai Qiu primarily because they attacked, while the Xia Army, starting with 230,000 defenders, added another 150,000 Earth-digging Realm cultivators by the sixth breakthrough attempt. Setting aside cultivation, as the defending side, Great Xia’s total force already reached 380,000.

Cai Qiuhu previously analyzed many reasons, but he did not talk about the disparity in troop numbers, because he disdained to. He believed that Great Xia, fighting with town-level camp strength against Cai Qiu, would naturally have more troops.

If Cai Qiu had spared 380,000 troops to fight, Great Xia, no matter their capabilities, would undoubtedly lose!

“Accelerate the march, reach the north exit within a quarter of an hour…”

Cai Qiuhu slightly boosted his morale and sternly ordered the generals.

Upon hearing the order, the generals immediately descended near the army and continued urging the soldiers to march.

…………

As Cai Qiu’s army accelerated its march.

The northern exit of the Bone-Eroding Path was already overcrowded.

The valley entrance, barely a hundred meters wide, was densely packed, with tens of thousands of civilian workers. Most of them were without armor, and even what they held were merely iron picks and shovels. A closer look would reveal that nearly ninety percent wore expressions of bewilderment, apparently unclear why they had gathered here.

Behind the civilian worker team, in a makeshift tent, Su Jing walked in briskly with a low expression after coming from outside. Upon seeing his sister Su Xing’er at the top seat, he immediately spoke solemnly, “Currently, only 120,000 have arrived, with less than 3,000 at the Cold Resistance Level. The people coming in the follow-up are sporadic, and at most, only 30,000 can arrive within half an hour.”