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”Qin Tian, you’re too presumptuous.”

When Qin Tian arrived at Xiao Zhan’s study, as expected, he received a scolding from Xiao Zhan, ”As a General, you bear a heavy responsibility. Something so significant happened in the East State, and I had to hold a meeting, yet I couldn’t find you anywhere. You have no sense of discipline!”

”I acknowledge my guilt, General.”

In front of Xiao Zhan, Qin Tian naturally bowed his head and admitted his fault; he certainly didn’t want to offend Xiao Zhan now. Otherwise, on the battlefield in East State, Xiao Zhan might just leave Qin Tian behind to guard the gate.

”Hmph, you brat, although you have a promising future, be careful.”

Xiao Zhan didn’t really mean to reprimand Qin Tian harshly. After speaking, he continued seriously, ”Now the war in the East State has erupted again, and the situation is more urgent and dangerous! As the top merit-holder who repelled the Dragon Clan last time, if you can’t earn merits this time, if you can’t make the City Guard Army proud, I’ll settle both old and new scores with you!”

”I will do my utmost!”

Upon hearing Xiao Zhan’s arrangement, Qin Tian was instantly assured. Judging by the setup, Xiao Zhan not only wanted Qin Tian to go to battle but also intended to entrust him with a major responsibility.

”Report!”

A household guard hurriedly came in from outside, looking tense, and said, ”Governor, news from the front line, East Mountain Town has been captured by the Dragon Clan!”

”So fast!?”

Hearing this news, Xiao Zhan was taken aback, exchanging looks with Qin Tian; both were dumbfounded.

As one of the most crucial military fortresses guarding the East State River, last time the Dragon Clan retreated, the East Mountain Bridge was destroyed. This time, both Xiao Zhan and Qin Tian anticipated that the Dragon Clan might capture East Mountain Town, but they thought it would take at least four or five days, right?

Unexpectedly, in a day’s time, or to be precise, half a day’s time, Long Tianwu’s vanguard had seized East Mountain Town with one swift action.

In this way, the Dragon Clan’s army established an important military base on the west bank of the East State River, from which to attack eastwards, just as smoothly as last time!

”Governor, we must depart immediately, otherwise, I fear that if we act slowly, Sea City will quickly fall into the hands of the Dragon Clan army. By then, east of the East State Mountain Range, we’ll be completely overrun, and even East Capital City might be harassed by the Dragon Clan in a short time!”

Qin Tian’s expression was serious.

Xiao Zhan was naturally aware of this reasoning. After pondering for a while, he said, ”Qin Tian, I have already ordered Lei Shi to serve as Vanguard General and lead fifty thousand troops to Sea City.”

”Now, I order you to command your own fifty thousand troops and set off immediately to support Sea City. Once there, you will be under Lei Shi’s command!”

”I obey the order and will set off immediately!”

Qin Tian was full of fighting spirit and immediately returned to his residence to organize his troops. He had Zhao Lanjin lead Xiao Zhuang as the front army, Zhou Yang guard as the rear army, and himself in the middle as the Central Army, grandly heading towards Sea City.

Before leaving East Capital City, he specifically went to say goodbye to Fan Bing. At this time, Fan Bing had already become the proprietress of three elixir medicine shops, doing increasingly large business, becoming a new force among the pharmaceutical merchants in East Capital City.

On the way to Sea City, Qin Tian received news that a total of 200,000 City Guard Army troops were dispatched, with Xiao Zhan personally leading 100,000, and Lei Shi and Qin Tian each leading 50,000, essentially deploying all their reserves.

Since the last East State war, the City Guard Army, the Forbidden Army, and the Four Great Camps had all been expanding their forces. The City Guard Army expanded from 150,000 to 250,000, the Forbidden Army increased by nearly ten thousand, and the Four Great Camps each expanded by more than 50,000.

The military strength of the East Capital City had indeed reached around one million, but in terms of combat power, according to Qin Tian and other generals, it had significantly diminished.

Fortunately, Qin Tian was leading his own troops. Over the past year or so, Zhao Lanjin, Lin Yu, and Zhou Yang had been responsible for training the soldiers.

Zhao Lanjin was in charge of Martial Arts training, Lin Yu trained formations and unit coordination, while Zhou Yang focused on tactical thinking. The three worked seamlessly together, resulting in a sharp increase in the combat effectiveness of Qin Tian’s troops.

In the City Guard Army, Lei Shi’s Lei Family Army had always been regarded as the elite unit, being formed by cultivation immortality experts personally recruited by Lei Shi. Hence, his troops were largely acknowledged as the elite.

However, rumors had been circulating this year that Qin Tian’s Qin Family Army had gained the strength to challenge the Lei Family Army.

There was rivalry among the soldiers of both sides, but due to a lack of combat testing, it was unclear who was superior.

Now, the East State battlefield had become their touchstone.

Because Long Tianwu himself was leading the attack this time, an edict from Imperial City commanded a complete annihilation of the Dragon Clan army and the capture of Long Tianwu alive.

Thus, under the Ice Emperor’s command, a massive force of 650,000 was dispatched to the East State, including 200,000 from the City Guard Army, 100,000 from each of the Four Great Camps, and 50,000 from the advance army.

When local troops were added, the numbers approached a million!

With such might, everyone set off full of confidence.

”Boss, the imperial decree from there has arrived, naming our Governor Xiao as the supreme commander of all three armies. The Four Great Camps and the Forbidden Army are all under his command. Haha, our chance to earn merits has come,” Zhou Yang excitedly told Qin Tian as they were about to reach Sea City.

Qin Tian smiled faintly and said, ”Not necessarily, old Zhou, don’t get excited too soon. The forces in the Tianyuan Dynasty are too intricate. Let’s hope Governor Xiao can manage to command them.”

After witnessing the internal conflicts among various factions in the East State during the last war, Qin Tian was now wary of placing his hopes on the Four Great Camps and the Forbidden Army.

The last time, the infighting within the City Guard Army alone was already too much. Now, with the Forbidden Army and the Four Great Camps added to the mix, Qin Tian felt even more uncertain.

The next day, Qin Tian entered Sea City, where Lei Shi had already fully taken command, bringing the troop numbers in Sea City to 150,000.

”Damn, the Dragon Clan moves fast! At this rate, within ten days, they’ll be at the gates of Sea City!”

At Lei Shi’s temporary military headquarters in Sea City, the generals gathered for a meeting. Lei Shi looked at the map showing the dozens of cities east of Sea City, all occupied by the Dragon Clan, and was filled with regret.

”Damn it, last time I wasn’t here, and the Dragon Clan bullied us because we had no one. Now that I’m here, I refuse to believe that the Dragon Clan’s army is that strong. With only 300,000, they dare to compete against our million. Overestimating their abilities!”

Lei Shi spoke alone, while the surrounding generals remained silent.

Apart from Lei Shi’s troops, the others present had largely experienced battles with the Dragon Clan. Other than Qin Tian’s troops achieving significant victories, most others had been defeated repeatedly.

Therefore, they lacked confidence and were even fearful, but seeing Lei Shi boast in front of them, they felt awkward yet dared not speak.