Chapter 532 – Three Battlefields Prelude
= 6 Hours after Li Feihong had arrived to help Diaochan fighting against Gan Ji =
*VHOOM*
*BANG*
*BANG*
*VHOOM*
Li Feihong opened his portals and ambushed Gan Ji, assisting Medusa. He also brought more spare weapons for her since Gan Ji's skill could destroy their weaponry with a light touch.
His battle tactic was simple – Open a few gates, shoot Gan Ji, and close the gates.
Unfortunately, it wasn't effective.
"Hahaha! Liu Bei, your incompetency and cowardice precede the rumor! You aren't a combatant in your timeline, and you aren't a proper fighter in this life. You can't kill me with those tiny peas without showing yourself!!"
Gan Ji deflected all bullets with ease.
Currently, Li Feihong's tactic was too slow for any 8-wing immortal as the portal skill always released a sci-fi sound, which warned Gan Ji about the skill activation.
It was like a telephone punch that alerted his opponent before the attack could hit.
As such, Li Feihong could do nothing against Gan Ji but distracting him from Medusa.
*SWUA*
Medusa managed to land a hit on Gan Ji's back with her sword. The wound was deep enough that she could see Gan Ji's white bones.
Being in danger, Gan Ji absorbed more souls and replenished his lifespan. Then, he rushed into the crowd of zombies and skeleton soldiers.
Medusa chased after the injured old man, but Gan Ji's clone appeared again.
"DIE!!"
The clone activated the remote soul detonation skill.
Li Feihong opened a portal and pulled Medusa into his dimension.
The clone self-detonated. But Medusa was already out of range as she was in Li Feihong's dimension.
After the explosion ended, five more portals opened 100 meters away, and Medusa exited from one of the gates. As for the other four, Li Feihong's detached souls pointed their rifles at Gan Ji's real body.
"HAHAHA!! TOO LATE!!"
Gan Ji had already activated Sun Fang's self-healing skill and recovered from the previous injury. He dodged and blocked Li Feihong's bullets again while hiding among the undead crowd.
"TSK!"
Li Feihong got annoyed that he wanted to jump out of his dimension gate and fight Gan Ji himself, but Medusa reminded him.
"Don't get agitated. He's provoking you, so he can cripple you first. Be patient and continue pressuring him. He will run out of lifespan eventually."
Li Feihong grumbled and continued battling in this endless dogfight where the losing side would run out of lifespan first.
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= Meanwhile =
Sun Quan selected 10,000 elite soldiers who had 2-wing cultivation base to follow after Sun Shangxiang. Huang Gai and Lu Meng also tagged along with this detached unit to observe how this little girl would deal with these so-called zombies.
Sun Shangxiang didn't waste time. She sent down a forced march order and had this unit rush east. Everyone had to bring their own food, and they had to last about a week.
Lu Meng ended up becoming a temporary logistic officer as he had to arrange supply transportation for this sudden mobilization so that these 10,000 soldiers wouldn't starve after 7 days.
The forced march under Sun Shangxiang wasn't as harsh as Jia Xu's since she didn't have them walk 60 kilometers with loaded bags on their back. She only allowed them to walk 20km a day to save their stamina and condition.
5 Days of marching was smooth before she detected a commotion on the 6th day. A large group of peasants on the distance was approaching them.
Sun Shangxiang, Huang Gai, and Lu Meng rushed at the fleeing peasants to investigate.
"Who are you people?" Lu Meng asked the people, "Why are you grouping up here?"
A female elder staggered forward while several men supported her. She knelt on the ground and plead for their safety.
"Sir, a monster army is chasing us! Please help us!"
Lu Meng and Huang Gai immediately helped them up and asked about the monster army's location.
"Where is this army?"
"Sir, they're coming from Guangling direction. The immortals are also fighting over there!"
Sun Shangxiang's face changed when she heard that immortals were fighting in that direction.
Currently, Li Feihong and Diaochan were risking their lives to contain Gan Ji for everyone.
Liu Yang had recovered from her injury. She was currently staying behind to stabilize her foundation and protect the main forces from unforeseen circumstances. Yet, a few days ago, she visited Sun Shangxiang and warned her that Diaochan and Li Feihong were fighting Gan Ji in this area.
'This must be them.'
The risk of this mission skyrocketed. Gan Ji could turn his attention from Li Feihong and Diaochan toward them at any moment.
"We will retreat from this spot ASAP. General Huang, please escort these people away from this area. General Lu, organize the troops and prepare to withdraw. We can't get in the way of their battle, or our units will be wiped out."
Sun Shangxiang didn't stop there. She sent clan messages to Sun Quan and others.
Sun Shangxiang: "Li Feihong and the prime consort are fighting Gan Ji nearby. We're going to escort civilians back with us. I want all of you to construct fortifications and barricades ASAP. Prepare for the upcoming monster siege and be wary of the collateral damage of their fight!"
She chose not to get involve with Gan Ji and focused on the undead army instead.
"What about our test…" Lu Meng still wanted to know about zombies and the headshot test.
"Three 8-wing freaks are fighting nearby. Do you want to get in the middle of that!?"
"Uh, of course not."
"Then, do what I said if you want to live. We'll test whatever you want to know later."
Sun Shangxiang's unit and escorted the civilians and withdrew from the area. She didn't care about the humiliation that she went back on her words since the situation was not in their favor.
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At Lujiang Battlefront, the Immortal Legion and the Crimson Angel Legion still maintained their formation, waiting for the reinforcement from the Navy Legion of Gan Ning.
From Gan Ning's last month's report, the shipbuilders had completed a total of ten 18th-century frigates, which could carry cannons on board. The warships and 500 standard vessels were on its way from the east coast toward the Yangtze River.
From Dong Bai's initial plan, this unit would rendezvous with Sun Quan's two legions at Guangling and attack Yang Province from the eastern front.
However, the interference of Gan Ji thwarted their move. Sun Quan's armies had to defeat the undead army first before they could enter Guangling. Moreover, Gan Ji, Diaochan, and Li Feihong were fighting in this area, which made it difficult for Sun Quan and Sun Shangxiang to get there.
Guo Jia, the appointed grand commander of the main forces, gazed at the strategic map on the table in front of him. On the opposite side of the table, the loli goddess was standing on top of a box, looking at the map as well.
"Most of our generals are with the pincer units… so we're nothing but a distraction, eh?" Guo Jia muttered to himself after he analyzed the personal assets Diaochan had given him.
At Lujiang, Liu Yang, Taishi Ci, Zhang Xiu, Zhang Ji, Liu Ye, and Liu Xie were the only commanders, not including Guo Jia and Dong Bai.
The Silver Axe unit was still on its way to Lujiang, so Guo Jia added Xu Huang, Jia Xu, Yan Yan, and Zhang Ren as his future chess pieces. As for Sun Quan's two armies, Guo Jia didn't count on them since they got entangled with the undead unit on the other front.
"Goddess, can you spy on our enemy south of the river. I need to know the number of their 4-wing cultivators or higher."
This was the advantage of having an 8-wing angel in the army. Liu Yang alone could see everything through her immortal sight without the need of a scout or a spy.
"All Cao Cao's men have left and are currently at Chaisang. His army is still marching on the way, though. As for our enemy commanders, I see only five. Sun Ce, Song Qian, Chen Wu, Lu Su, and Zhu Zhi."
Chaisang located in the south of Jiangxia and southeast of Lujiang. It was a major city with 200,000 population, where Cao Cao could conscript more troops. However, it was almost 200 kilometers away from Chibi, where Zhang He and Zhang Liao's units were heading.
"What is their strength?"
"Sun Ce, 7 wings. Song Qian, 5 wings. Chen Wu, 4 wings. Lu Su. 4 wings. Zhu Zhi, 6 wings."
"What about ours?"
"Taishi Ci, 7. Zhang Xiu, 6. Zhang Ji, 5. Liu Ye, 3. Liu Xie, 4. Dong Bai, 6."
"Where is Cao Cao Army's current position?"
Liu Yang pointed at Pengze County on the map, which was 120 kilometers away from their frontline. They were marching toward Chaisang to regroup with Cao Cao's new unit.
"How long does it take for a 4-wing cultivator to fly 200 kilometers?"
"At a casual pace, 20 minutes. If they rush it, 10 minutes."
"What about 5-wing or higher?"
"5-wing has the same speed. 6-wing can cut the time in half."
"Hmm."
Guo Jia pondered. He had many ideas that he could destroy Sun Ce's forces within less than a month, but the problem was their casualty. He wanted to limit the loss of the ally soldiers.
After 10 minutes of silence, Guo Jia decided, "Send words to our soldiers. Have them gather all lumber and disassemble all wooden houses. Use those woods to craft as many catapults as we can."
"Catapults?" Liu Yang was puzzled, "What are you using them for? We have cannons. Catapults are outdated weaponry."
"If we're using it as a weapon, then yes. But I have another use for them. Please be sure to modify their strength, so they can shoot across the river. Also, don't bother about warships. We will not fight in the water."
"Huh?"
"Have faith in me. I know what's I'm doing."
"Oh, limiting the intel, eh? I'm fine with it."
Although Liu Yang didn't know what Guo Jia was scheming, she trusted him.
The order was passed down afterward. Their 200,000 soldiers used their wooden resources to make catapults as ordered.
After a few weeks of preparation, 10,000 catapults were made.
Xu Huang's unit also bypassed the undead army and arrived at Lujiang to reinforce the frontline. Now, 420,000 soldiers assembled and ready to cross the Yangtze River.
