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”Your Majesty... I, I believe, before the Dragon Clan agrees to send troops to assist, we should consolidate our forces and focus on defending the area around the Imperial City.”

The State Preceptor spoke again, ”After all, our current morale has been affected, and our forces are not at an advantage, so we should consolidate to defend the Imperial City. As long as the Imperial City stands, the Tianyuan Dynasty will endure forever!”

The State Preceptor was promoted by Emperor Xuan himself, and his words always pleased Emperor Xuan.

He nodded his head, ”I share the same thought. Qin Tian’s target for deploying troops is nothing but the Imperial City. If he cannot capture the Imperial City, capturing other cities would be a wasted effort. Send a decree ordering all cities to defend to the death; anyone who dares to retreat will be punished by military law!”

”Great General, you are to mobilize our forces and concentrate our main forces in the Imperial City; at the same time, you are responsible for defending the Imperial City. Do everything to construct a defensive fortification before Qin Tian’s rebel army arrives, and try to stop Qin Tian’s rebel army outside the Imperial City.”

With no voices of opposition, Emperor Xuan began to arrange according to his plan.

The Great General, standing side by side with the State Preceptor, responded, ”I obey the decree!”

...

The Qin Country army set out, and the first target was Tiger City.

Tiger City was considered a major military stronghold of the Tianyuan Dynasty, with over seventy thousand troops, so initially, when Xu Kuan attacked, he met with some resistance.

However, along with internal disputes within the Tianyuan Dynasty and alienation from Emperor Xuan, Xu Kuan was only stalemated for three days, and then internal fighting broke out among the garrison of Tiger City.

At this moment, a faction of Tiger City’s garrison secretly contacted Xu Kuan, asking for rebellion and surrender.

Xu Kuan gladly accepted.

Indeed, three days later, the rebel army launched an attack on Tiger City, occupied the West City Gate, opened the gates, and welcomed Xu Kuan into the city.

Overnight, without spending a bit of effort, Xu Kuan captured Tiger City.

Meanwhile, in the Tianyuan Dynasty, cities close to Tiger City trembled one after another, unsure of what to do.

To resist, who now can withstand Xu Kuan’s army of over a hundred thousand? The Qin Country army is fierce like wolves and tigers, while the Tianyuan Dynasty army is low in morale.

Additionally, Emperor Xuan in the Imperial City showed no sign of dispatching strong forces for reinforcement.

On the contrary, Emperor Xuan gathered the main forces from various places outside the Imperial City to the Imperial City under various excuses, and the purpose was very clear.

Emperor Xuan had no intention of resisting elsewhere; logically speaking, they could also abandon, couldn’t they?

No.

Emperor Xuan had already issued an order that any City Lord who could not defend the city and directly abandons resistance, evacuating the city, would be beheaded!

This directly sealed off their thoughts of retreat.

Indeed, they could feign resistance for a while and then retreat; according to Emperor Xuan’s order, they would not be beheaded.

But undoubtedly, if they failed to defend the city, upon returning to the Imperial City, even if they weren’t dead, they would be skinned.

It was also at this time that Qin Tian received intelligence from the enemy forces ahead and analyzed the enemy’s mindset.

So, he found Xu Kuan and immediately issued an order: ”Anyone among the enemy forces who voluntarily surrenders will be given preferential treatment, without change in official position; anyone who resists and then surrenders will also receive preferential treatment, but with half pay.”

Such an order with distinctions was issued and instantly swept like a spring breeze over fallen leaves, prompting City Lords of these small cities to come forward and surrender voluntarily.

In one night, thirty-odd cities all opened their gates and surrendered.

Qin Tian was so delighted he couldn’t close his mouth.

Among these thirty cities, the maximum military strength was just over twenty thousand.

However, this did not affect Qin Tian’s mood.

With these cities, he could replenish supplies, and at the same time, recruit loyal men and elite soldiers from these cities to join Xu Kuan’s vanguard camp. In an instant, Xu Kuan’s army, which set out from Yueya City and originally comprised fifteen thousand troops, now numbered over twenty thousand after half a month of fighting!

Not decreasing but increasing!

Wherever Qin Tian’s army went, it encountered almost no resistance.

The whole Central State land, and even the North State land, was stirring up forces rebelling, resisting, and crusading against Emperor Xuan.

At this moment, the Imperial City panicked.

Not only that, the Dragon Clan was also making corresponding moves.

Long Tianwu mobilized one hundred thousand troops, gathering at the border cities between the East State and Central State.

Their stance looked as if they were ready to move at any moment.

It seemed to tell Qin Tian that if you dare to attack the Imperial City, our Dragon Clan’s one hundred thousand Iron Cavalry will directly coordinate with the Imperial City, attacking from inside and outside, leaving you with no armor!

”Have Xu Kuan halt at Luoye City.”

Seeing such a stance, originally Xu Kuan’s main force was only five hundred kilometers away from the Imperial City.

At this moment, Qin Tian made the order for Xu Kuan to rest in Luoye City.

Meanwhile, Qin Tian’s central military camp was gradually nearing Luoye City.

”Your Majesty, why have you asked me to stop now? The Tianyuan Dynasty is at the end of its rope, completely unable to stop us.”

Upon meeting Qin Tian, Xu Kuan began expressing his thoughts, ”At present, give me three days, and I can directly reach the gates of the Imperial City—I’d do it without fail.”

Qin Tian gave a faint smile and said, ”General Xu, I know, don’t rush, don’t be anxious.”

”Your Majesty, do you have some other plans?”

Xu Kuan knew that his Emperor Qin was a wise and strategic ruler, whose strategies surpass his own, so he wanted to know why Qin Tian was acting this way.

Qin Tian said, ”Zhao Lanjin and the others are in position. We will rest and restore our energy here for three days, and then after three days, coordinated with General Zhao Lanjin, we will launch a lightning attack together. This way, it will catch the Imperial City completely off guard.”

”Great General, our troops have set out from the West Capital City, trudged tirelessly all the way, without having rested, and need three days of rest.”

”Additionally, you probably already know that there’s movement from the Dragon Clan. They have mobilized one hundred thousand troops and are watching the situation.””

”I guess they’re waiting for the moment; if we are engaged in a protracted fight with the Imperial City, they will surely quickly send troops to aid the Imperial City, encircle us, and Emperor Xuan will undoubtedly feel immensely grateful to them.”

”On the contrary, if we easily attack the Imperial City, I imagine at the moment we conquer the Imperial City, the Dragon Clan’s hundred-thousand-strong army will instantly move west, occupy Central State, South State cities, and at the very least, seize something—that’s something I don’t wish to see.”

After listening, Xu Kuan nodded and said, ”Your Majesty, what you say makes sense; after we take the Imperial City, we absolutely cannot let the Dragon Clan reap the benefits. As of now, Emperor Xuan in the Imperial City is already the dying light of the sunset, posing no threat to us. Looking across the entire Spiritual Domain Continent, the only real threat left to us is the Dragon Clan!”

He looked up at Qin Tian and asked, ”Then, are you already deploying troops to prepare a blockade on the path of the Dragon Clan’s westward advance during these three days of rest?”

Qin Tian nodded: ”Yes, General Chen Huan leads five thousand troops, while the Barbarian Clan sends another five thousand troops; a combined force of ten thousand troops is rushing towards the intersection of Central State, East State, and South State’s junction to prepare for defense. After three days, we are fully prepared to take action!”