Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1769: Chapter 563: River Valley Council, Alliance with Cai to Govern Chen (Part 2)

“If we continue fighting and join forces with Chen Cang, can we destroy Cai Qiu?”

Yuan Cheng was evidently prepared. Hearing Xia Hong’s question, he immediately clasped his hands and replied, “Of course not, unless both Wei Bo and Hezang give up Cai Qiu, but this probability is very small, almost nonexistent.

However, Cai Qiu’s destruction is not good for our Great Xia, after all, Chen Cang’s hundred thousand troops are still stationed in East River City. Once Cai Qiu is destroyed, Chen Cang will likely start dealing with us…”

The fact that he could voice such thoughts was enough to prove that, though Yuan Cheng had a big temper, acted rashly, and was aggressive, he was no ignorant brute.

Thinking about it makes sense. After more than ten years, Yuan Cheng is now one of the Eight Departments Director of Great Xia, has held a high position for many years, and how could he not understand the current situation?

Even understanding it, he still chose to request battle proactively.

Xia Hong slightly raised his eyebrows, looking at Yuan Cheng, waiting for his subsequent remarks.

Seeing all eyes focused on him, Yuan Cheng remained undeterred, continuing to clasp his hands to Xia Hong, saying, “Lord, Cai Qiu is far from extinction. The intel sent by Jiang Xinfan says Cai Qiu’s registered population is about 20 million, and the total number of the County Guard, Town Guard, and Silver Scale Army combined is 500,000. Now, it seems this intel is definitely problematic, Cai Qiu’s true strength is far more than that!”

Yuan Cheng’s words pulled Xia Hong’s thoughts back to three years ago when he first set foot into the Southern Slope Territory from the Bone-Eroding Path.

He remembers clearly, at that time, just stepping out of the Bone-Eroding Path, he encountered a group of Cai Qiu’s County Guard soldiers. Under pressure, the other party’s answer was Cai Qiu had a total population of 18 million and an army of 300,000.

As he later lived for a period in both Qinghua City and Lin Chu County City, he quickly realized that the two numbers given by those soldiers were absolutely incorrect.

And the two new data sent by Jiang Xinfan later initially had some reference value, but following this direct confrontation between the Xia Army and Cai Qiu, it can basically also be confirmed they are problematic.

Cai Qiu casually deployed 20,000 troops southward. Although Chen Cang has taken Lin Chu County, reports from scouts indicate Cai Qiu had at least 100,000 troops guarding the city that night.

Adding the 70,000 troops stationed at Guangning Mountain, this totals 370,000 troops.

The key is that these 370,000 troops are only the forces of Bai Shui and Lin Chu counties, and not even the entire forces of these two counties.

The Silver Scale Army under Cai Qianshan has not yet moved out.

Hence when Yuan Cheng said Jiang Xinfan’s intel had issues, all five people including Xia Hong nodded in agreement.

Think about it, Jiang Xinfan stayed in Yanling for less than a year, and he dared not claim deep understanding of Chen Cang’s situation, let alone Cai Qiu’s?

“Since there’s no danger of collapse, Cai Qiu now has no choice but to seek territorial compromise and peace. Lin Chu County City, they definitely cannot reclaim it, and if they don’t resist Chen Cang fiercely, losing Lin Chu County might not satisfy Chen Cang’s appetite.

Under such circumstances, Cai Qiu is powerless and unwilling to invest too much in the barren territory of Evergreen Valley. Qinghua City is most likely their limit.”

Yuan Cheng refrained from saying more, some words are enough.

At this point, the five people in the hall naturally understood his implication.

It must be said, Yuan Cheng’s words are reasonable and provide ample grounds for Great Xia to continue advancing north.

Evergreen Valley is too barren, in Cai Qiu’s eyes it is like a chicken rib, rather than wasting forces here fighting with Great Xia, it’s better to focus on resisting Chen Cang’s attack.

“You said Evergreen Valley is too barren, Cai Qiu doesn’t want it, then why should Great Xia take it?”

Faced with Xia Hong’s sudden question, Yuan Cheng was momentarily stunned, stammering for quite some time without a response.

In Xia Hong’s eyes, Evergreen Valley is actually not barren. The exceptionally high vegetation cover alone shows that this place is not barren, but rather a real treasure.

Just its true role hasn’t been discovered yet.

However, he is now trying to change Yuan Cheng’s mind, so naturally, he must follow Yuan Cheng’s line of thinking.

“The Battle of Jinyang, the Southern and Northern Valley entrances of the Bone-Eroding Path each fought once, these three battles revealed not only Cai Qiu’s but also the strength of Great Xia to the Four Vassals of Moao River. Competing with the Four Vassals for territory, honestly speaking, Great Xia today does not yet possess that strength…”

At this point, Xia Hong paused slightly, sweeping a glance at the five people, then continued, “Great Xia currently lacks even a Tribulation Body Realm stronghold. You don’t really think relying on those Beast Emperor-level puppets can genuinely confront the Four Vassals head-on, do you?”

Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately fell silent.

The Cold Beast Stake, must be within the Holy Tripod’s radiation range to be used, which is a top secret in Great Xia, but everyone present knows it.

Supposedly, this limitation causes little problem for Great Xia as long as outsiders don’t discover it, since the Holy Tripod is movable, and even if Xia Hong is not present, they can still use the Cold Beast Puppet.

The problem is, the Feudal Towns are not foolish.

Full-scale war and localized skirmishes are entirely different concepts, if caught in a prolonged war, the Feudal Towns might soon discover this limitation, making trouble immeasurable.

As long as there is two-line or even multi-line combat, Great Xia’s Cold Beast Stake will be broken without a fight.

Without a Tribulation Body Realm expert overseeing, relying solely on Beast Emperor-level puppets indeed falls short in supporting Great Xia to launch a full-scale war with the Feudal Towns.