Chapter 776 – Setting a Camp at Every Step
The Guards Legion soldiers would never be able to forget the scene in front of them for the rest of their lives.
Right in front of them, their brothers that had died in battle were all well and alive on the drill grounds. Outsiders could not possibly understand their current feelings.
The fallen Guards Legion had been miraculously revived.
"You're home, brothers!"
The soldiers on the drill grounds were unable to control their emotions, hugging one another.
Most of these brothers who rose from the dead were those that covered for their retreat. To see them once more had lessened the guilt the 5th division soldiers felt.
It also made them even more emotional and touched by the Monarch.
Regretfully, Shihu, Lei Jingtian, Shan Zhu, and Shi Bao, these four Advanced Generals, were not in the list to be revived. Ouyang Shuo did not know whether they had died or if they were captured.
Ouyang Shuo hoped that they were indeed captured.
If that was the case, at least there was still hope of them returning. If they died, then there was truly nothing Ouyang Shuo could do. Ma Teng was a historical general so Ouyang Shuo had received a System Notification when he died.
As for the other four of them, he had no information.
The spies hidden in Yongren City were going around trying to confirm the status of these four generals.
...
Whilst the Guards Legion soldiers calmed down their emotions, Ouyang Shuo announced some appointments. Lu Bu would temporarily replace Ma Teng as the Major General of the 1st division.
At the same time, the Deputy Major Generals of the 2nd and 3rd divisions would replace their Major Generals. As the 4th division deputy Major General was Shi Bao, Ouyang Shuo could only appoint a colonel.
The army did not lack generals, and this was just a makeshift.
As for the 15 thousand captured soldier shortfall, Ouyang Shuo did not fill it up with members from the Independent Division.
This position was still left for them.
Ouyang Shuo believed that even if they lacked 15 thousand troops, the Guards Legion Corps 1st legion would still be the strongest legion.
Especially after experiencing this setback, their fighting spirits had been ignited.
After adjusting the personnel arrangements, Ouyang Shuo was ready to leave the barracks but Huo Qubing stopped him.
Seeing that the Guards Legion Corps 1st legion had been revived, Huo Qubing requested to fight, "Monarch, I am confident about taking back Dongchuan Prefecture within five days. Monarch, please allow us to take action."
"No." Ouyang Shuo shook his head.
"Monarch?"
Huo Qubing could not understand. From his perspective, he felt somewhat wronged like the Monarch did not trust the Guards Legion, like he did not trust this marshal.
"Let's speak here." Ouyang Shuo turned around and left the drill grounds and move to a corner of the barracks. The following Personal Guards spread out to defend the area and prevent anyone from getting close.
Ouyang Shuo smiled and explained, "It is not that I do not trust you. Think about it, in their eyes, the Guards Legion Corps 1st legion is unable to fight anymore. You are a wildcard that can send them to hell at a crucial moment. As for Dongchuan Prefecture, what is that? If Swordsmen City wants it, let them have it. As long as we win in the main battlefield, we can take it back easily."
The ten day of battle involving the Guards Legion had achieved some use. They had wiped out the troops in Dongchuan and destroyed all the teleportation formations.
With that, the enemy would not be able to do anything or make any plans in Dongchuan Prefecture.
They did not move on Dongchuan Prefecture now so as to not alert the enemy. Swordsman City would not set troops and threaten the safety of Kunming Prefecture if they did not take action; it was also to numb the Yanhuang Alliance Army and Yunnan City-State to make them put down their guard.
Consequently, Ouyang Shuo had turned his sights onto Mengding and Tengyue Prefecture. As long as Baiqi's black chess piece plan succeeded, Shanhai City would have a high chance of victory.
The just revived Guards Legion Corps would play a huge part in this plan. Ouyang Shuo gave a brief introduction of the plan, making Huo Qubing's eyes light up.
In the end, his eyes were shining brightly.
Huo Qubing took in a deep breath and calmed his thoughts, "I understand Monarch. I'll follow your arrangements." Killing intent brewed in his eyes; its target was the Yanhuang Alliance and the alliance armies.
The next time they met, he was going to take revenge.
Ouyang Shuo felt relaxed when he saw that Huo Qubing understood. He gave a final instruction, "The soldiers of the 1st legion have been through such a huge change after all, so I doubt they can adapt all of a sudden. As the marshal, just rest easy and stay in the camp to help them adjust. Remember, we must be at our best battle condition to welcome the toughest battle. The toughest steel must be used at the most crucial moment."
"Yes Monarch!"
Huo Qubing bowed solemnly.
Through this incident, Huo Qubing suddenly felt that he had become closer to the Monarch. In his heart, he had the feeling that the Hanwu Emperor was in front of him.
Ouyang Shuo smiled before leaving.
Tengyue Prefecture, Tengchong City.
Di Chen, Chun Shenjun, the other Yanhuang Alliance members, the Lords from the Yunnan City-State with Qin Feng as the representative, as well as Wuqi, Tian Dan, Lianpo, and other generals had gathered in the hall.
Their goal was to discuss the next step they would take.
"Lords, we cannot be happy too early. The main force of the Shanhai City Army is still alive and the balance of our two sides has not been broken. Since Shanhai City fell prey last time, they would definitely be careful this time. A lion is hard to fight and a careful lion is even more difficult to handle."
"Hence, whether or not the next step in our plan can succeed would be the key to this battle. Yongren City only opened up the proceedings to the true battle. To win the entire war, we must be ready to pay a heavy price. If not, the enemy can turn the tables at any moment."
When Wuqi talked about 'paying a price', there were a few people in the hall with weird expressions. They were all Lords of the Dongchuan Prefecture who were now left with nothing.
Although both the City-State and Yanhuang Alliance had made promises before the war to give them appropriate compensation, the previously agreed upon compensation was battle rewards.
One must not look at how badly the various media outlets were describing Shanhai City. They themselves knew how strong Shanhai City was. Just as Wuqi had said, the loss of the Guards Legion was not enough to decide the entire battle.
In his words, they needed to make more sacrifices.
As for who to sacrifice?
The Lords of Dongchuan Prefecture turned their eyes to the Lords of Mengding Prefecture.
When the Yunnan City-State negotiated with Yanhuang Alliance, they were already mentally prepared. Even with the help of Yanhuang Alliance, it was impossible for the City-State to escape unharmed from Shanhai City.
The only problem was how high a price they would need to pay and whose interests they would end up sacrificing.
As the top Lord in the City-State, Qin Feng was not speaking and had obviously come to a consensus with Di Chen and the others. If not, the Yanhuang Alliance Army and the Alliance Army would not have teleported over to Tengchong City.
After all, Mengding Prefecture was the main battlefield they had planned beforehand.
It was obvious that Qin Feng's thoughts had changed regarding this matter.
When the few Lords from Mengding Prefecture thought about the current situation, their expressions became exceedingly ugly. They understood what the greater sacrifices Wuqi spoke of referred to.
After Dongchuan Prefecture, Mengding Prefecture was going to become the next sacrifice.
Yanhuang Alliance had calculated everything. Dongchuan Prefecture was messed up by Shanhai City, but it still ended up in the hands of Swordsman City.
Who knows what kind of tricks they were going to pull off in Mengding Prefecture?
Whatever it was, it was not good news to the Lords of Mengding Prefecture.
As expected, when Wuqi voiced his plan, the faces of all the Mending Lords collectively turned ashen white like a bunch of insects being abandoned and thrown into the wilderness.
A freezing wind swept inside the closed meeting hall, sending a chilling sensation down their spines.
In the following week, the Yunnan battlefield seemed extremely stale.
The left troops led by Baiqi did not proceed smoothly. One must not look at how they had gathered their forces in Tengyue Prefecture as they had not totally given up on Mengding.
Each city, apart from the troops based there, also had Alliance Army soldiers to assist.
To make matters worse, based on the battle plan set by Wuqi, each city would gather all the manpower from their affiliate territories for reorganization.
This did not only include the city protection forces but also included the bailiffs, protection forces of aristocratic families, students from dojos, and wandering experts.
According to Wuqi's words, anyone who could fight was not to be let go of.
Not only that, the territory also pushed out recruitment orders to recruit all the strong young men to equip them with weapons and form a civilian force.
Other labor forces were moved to help the troops defend.
Wuqi's plan was to use every person available to defend to the death.
This was simply too terrifying.
Each territory that the left troops took down required a lot of effort to defeat. The enemy troops would make use of their advantage to try to efficiently kill the enemy.
Apart from a frontal assault, many of them harassed the grain transport units.
This caused the left troops to suffer heavy casualties.
Helplessly, Baiqi could only use the reserve force, the 3rd legion of the Leopard Legion Corps to assist them. Only then did they manage to quicken their pace.
Even so, their progress was far from expected, and they even suffered heavy losses. In a week, they had lost 30 thousand troops. Only then did they take down half of Mengding.
And the time was already pointing toward the 4th year of Gaia.