Chapter 1595 - 501: Retrospective Realizations, Decisions, and Finally Aid
Chapter 1595: Chapter 501: Retrospective Realizations, Decisions, and Finally Aid
Moao Calendar, Year 136, December 28th, second half of the night
Wuchuan Town, East Valley Camp, main building, top floor grand hall
"Greetings, Young Lord!"
The Wuchuan Young Lord Qin He flew in hurriedly from the southwestern skies. Ignoring the guards at the door, he shot straight into the grand hall, and as soon as he stepped inside, he cupped his hands toward his father Qin Feng seated at the upper end and spoke.
"Reporting to Father... Lord, Xiang Fuhai’s ten thousand troops did not come toward my East Valley. They changed course and went southwest. Looks like they’re heading for the Fushan Camp."
Wuchuan Lord Qin Feng, Army Chief Ye Tianhao, and a middle-aged man in blue robes were standing at the flank inside the hall. In front of the three of them was set up a giant map, depicting precisely the Northern Five Towns.
Behind the three stood another nine people in total.
Hearing Qin He’s words, everyone turned their heads toward the map, and disappointment immediately surfaced on their faces.
"He’s still a town lord, after all. Xiang Fuhai isn’t that stupid!"
As soon as Ye Tianhao spoke, everyone in the hall immediately nodded.
Only Lord Qin Feng, after nodding, let out a cold snort and said, "Looks like he’s going to link up with Luo Yuan’s thirty thousand first. Count it as Xiang Fuhai still having a bit of self-awareness. If he really dared to drive that ten thousand straight west over here, my East Valley’s fifty thousand troops are not to be trifled with..."
At these words, proud looks appeared on everyone’s faces.
To deal with this Great Xia advance, Wuchuan Town had mustered just over sixty thousand Cold Resistance Level cultivators in total, and dispatched fifty thousand to garrison East Valley—proof enough of how much Lord Qin Feng valued the East Valley Camp.
"With fifty thousand heavy troops guarding East Valley, Great Xia wanting to open up its supply line is pure fantasy. We don’t seek swift victory; as long as Beishuo and Jin Mountain can show a bit of spine and pin down Great Xia’s two Allied contingents, once the Xia Army runs out of supplies, they’ll have nowhere left to go but death!"
Qin Feng’s face at this moment was full of a cold smile.
It had to be said, Great Xia’s development over these last two years made him extremely envious. He knew very well that with Great Xia’s current overall strength, it could absolutely crush any one of the Northern Five Towns.
No joke—if the Northern Land had only his single Wuchuan Town, Qin Feng wouldn’t even hesitate; he would definitely surrender directly to Great Xia.
But five families—that’s a different story.
And with the Feudal Towns of Chen Cang and Cai Qiu backing them, though those two currently cannot send large armies south, they can still dispatch a certain number of Xianyang Level experts, which is enough to sway the course of the war.
Thinking of this, Qin Feng turned his head to look at the blue-robed middle-aged man on the right, a trace of puzzlement on his face as he asked, "Mr. Cai, it’s already been two days. The aid from the two Feudal Towns should about be here, shouldn’t it?"
Cai Yuntong first nodded, then his brows drew together slightly as he said, "Yunhe set out in the latter half of the night before last. It’s already close to twenty hours. Even factoring in the time to assemble people, it should be almost enough..."
The failed abduction of Xia Yusheng had already left the Northern Five Towns feeling guilty, so on the night of the 26th, the moment they received news of military movements within the Great Xia Territory, they immediately realized Great Xia was preparing to act.
Given the current strength of the Northern Five Towns, if they joined hands, they could indeed wrestle with Great Xia—but that’s only on paper. Once it came to a real fight, to be honest, including Qin Feng, none of the Lords of the Three Northern Towns felt very sure at heart.
So, asking the two Feudal Towns for aid was almost a foregone conclusion.
In truth, they didn’t even need to open their mouths.
On the night of the 26th, during the operation in Xia City to abduct Xia Yusheng, Chen Cang’s Chu Xuan Kong lost both arms, Cai Qiu’s Cai Shiqi was almost killed, and the two Feudal Towns together lost a total of seventeen Xianyang Level experts.
This abduction operation had in fact been initiated by the two Feudal Towns themselves. They hadn’t even allowed any Xianyang Level experts from the Northern Five Towns to participate; they only brought along Yang Jian, who was familiar with the situation in Xia City.
From this alone, you can tell the two Feudal Towns hadn’t taken Great Xia seriously at all.
The result was a vicious slap in the face from Great Xia.
The two, Chu and Cai, already hated Great Xia down to the bone. Even before receiving news of Xia Army deployments, they had decided to return to their Feudal Towns and seek support.
Since Wuchuan was wedged between Jin Mountain and Beishuo, there was no direct route to the two Feudal Towns, but that didn’t mean Qin Feng was ignorant of happenings there. He himself had been to both Feudal Towns, so he knew very well the distances between them and the Southern Slope Territory.
Glancing at the northern part of Dongchuan and the Jinshan Yinhe Valley area, his brows furrowed slightly as he pondered inwardly, "Cai Qiu’s people being slow is still understandable; traveling the Bone-Eroding Path carries certain risks, and it’s much farther besides. Counting the round trip and the time to assemble people, it needs at least more than two days;
but Chen Cang shouldn’t be like this! At Xianyang Level speed, going from the northern Dongchuan Danxue Peak, passing through the Jiuqu Blood Corridor to Yanling County, normal travel takes seven to eight hours; the round trip at most wouldn’t exceed sixteen hours. Even factoring in the Prefectural Governor needing to gather people from elsewhere, twenty hours should be about right. How could it be this long and still no one has arrived?"
Qin Feng thought for a moment but found no answer. In the end, he looked at the four Xia Army routes marked on the map, lightly clenched his fist, and a trace of vexation flashed in his eyes.
If possible, he actually didn’t want to rely on the Feudal Towns’ power to resist Great Xia.
As the saying goes, inviting gods is easy, sending them away is hard...
The Xia Army in Jinyang and Dongchuan were bloody, ironclad examples. Once the Feudal Towns truly station large numbers of Xianyang Level experts down here, even if they ultimately defeat Great Xia, how will the Five Towns conduct themselves before the two Feudal Towns from then on?
This time, the two Feudal Towns extended aid without even stating any conditions.
No conditions—that is the biggest condition.
Having been Lord for so many years, Qin Feng could hardly fail to understand this principle.
"Damn it, only four years since Dongchu, and they’ve already grown this strong..."