Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1697: Chapter 537: Luo Yuan Beseeches Forgiveness, Three Armies Encircle, Xu Ning’s Little Scheme (2)

The news that Cai Qiu’s army is heading south was known throughout the Right Route Army, so as soon as Yuwen Dao finished speaking, everyone nodded and then looked at Xia Hong.

“Let’s see if my speculation is correct. If Cai Qiu’s group truly lost their minds and dared to retreat to Jinyang with a hundred thousand troops, then this battle, consider it completely over!”

Xia Hong’s gaze was slightly cold, with an aura full of sterility.

Jinyang City, three years ago, was summoned by Great Xia with numerous craftsmen, built from scratch, with contingencies prepared long ago. Furthermore, before Yuwen Dao led his army out of Jinyang at the start of the war, how could he not have set up arrangements?

Next, we’ll see if my speculation is correct.

If Cai Qiu is truly arrogant, believing he can rest easy with a hundred thousand troops, and attacks Jinyang recklessly, it doesn’t matter if they can break in or not; the end is a dead end.

“Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan, both of you return to your units and send scouts to monitor the movement of the coalition. With Cai Qiu’s deceit technique aiding them, they will definitely move faster than you, so don’t think about catching up, just follow them closely from behind.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yuwen Dao, first regroup, and once done, catch up. However, maintain contact with Yuan and Luo’s armies, keep the three armies at a moderate distance to guard against coalition ambushes. As long as they pass through Yinhe Valley, you don’t need to chase eagerly, just stay steadily behind.”

“Yes, sir!”

Xia Hong arranged the three armies, finally turning to look at Xu Ning and continued, “Xu Ning, convey my orders to Xia Chuan’s Left Army. Once it’s confirmed that Jinshan Wuchuan’s hundred thousand coalition has gone to Yinhe Valley, then he should not encircle Wuchuan City anymore, withdraw the troops back to East River City, and guard the north!”

“Yes, sir!”

Xu Ning pondered for a moment and immediately grasped Xia Hong’s meaning.

If the hundred thousand coalition indeed went to Yinhe Valley, then not only Jinshan City, but Wuchuan City too has become a dead city, encircling them is meaningless, attacking the city even more so.

Like Jinshan, as long as the last hundred thousand troops from the two towns are eliminated, both town cities, along with their territories, will naturally belong to Great Xia.

Besides, the grain reserves in both town cities are enough, short-term siege is meaningless, it’s better to focus on eliminating the hundred thousand coalition first.

However, Xia Hong’s order excludes Xia Chuan’s twenty thousand elite from participating in the battle to eliminate the coalition.

Yet it’s understandable. Firstly, Chen Cang is a major threat and must be guarded against. Secondly, the Left Army has already gained considerable military achievements in this great battle, if they were to participate in eliminating coalition forces, the soldiers of the other three armies might have some complaints.

Thinking of this, Xu Ning’s eyes couldn’t help but burn with excitement.

Once this great battle ends and Great Xia fully secures the Southern Slope, there will undoubtedly be lavish rewards, and Xia City will surely see a surge of military honors and nobility.

“I already have over 6700 points of accumulated military merit before the battle, less than 1300 away from nobility. Once this battle ends, I should at least advance to a fifth-rank Jinque Marquis. If I can achieve further merits in battles with feudal towns, perhaps there’s a chance for a fourth-rank Marquis Yuheng…”

Great Xia currently implements a nine-rank system, from low to high: Xuanling, Chixiao, Qingming, Zidian, Jinque, Yuheng, Tianquan, Taiwei, Zhunbo.

According to Xia’s regulations, Great Xia only bestows nobility based on military merit, with the lowest ninth-rank Xuanling Marquis requiring an accumulation of 500 points of military merit. Military merit is the number of enemies killed on the battlefields, the nine-rank system was enacted after the Longyou battle, back then 1 point of military merit represented killing one enemy at the Earth-digging Realm limit.