Chapter 449- Alliance Army Heads down South
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
8th month, 12th day, Tianshuang County.
In the meeting hall, members of South Alliance were having a discussion.
“Leader, the first batch of grain has already been transported to Tianshuang County. Should we continue to wait for grain or?”
“What do all of you think?”
Hefu did not directly answer. Instead, he looked toward the other members. Although he had an idea in his mind, he did not want to leave his allies with the bad impression that he made all the decisions alone.
In the last few days, he had made a decision for the alliance on his own, and it was not right if he took such action again.
“I think we should wait till we amass enough grain before going all out.”
Voiced the Lords that wanted a more calm and sure battle.
“I don’t agree. Our alliance army took down Tianshuang County because we were fast and swift. At this point, we should just head down south in one breath for a final battle.”
Countered the Lords that craved battle. Their voices were much louder, and the moment this suggestion sounded out, they cheered out.
“That’s right!”
As expected, no matter the location, hot blooded people would outnumber others.
“Our current grain can only last us a week. What if we run out? Two hundred thousand troops, if we set out, there is no way back. Naturally, we need to be careful.”
“That makes sense; we cannot be reckless.” Another group of cheers broke out, these bunch of people really did not want to take a side.
“This isn’t being reckless. If we act too slow, we will miss the opportunity. Shanhai City Army aren’t scrubs; their commander is Baiqi. Since the Song Family has escaped, they definitely know that Tianshuang County has been conquered. If we just wait, they would have time to prepare and everything would be for naught.”
The three thousand cavalry sent after the Song Family returned the same day.
Needless to say, they achieved nothing.
At this moment, the Song Family had already reached the command force of the Shanhai City Army.
The entire hall was completely silent.
Be it those who wanted to wait, or those who wanted to fight, they all frowned with a solemn expression.
The name of Baiqi certainly made everyone terrified and fearful.
Battle of Changping, Battle of Lianzhou, Battle of Leizhou, and Battle of Julu. Four major battles where Baiqi was the absolute star.
The name of Baiqi had already spread out across the China region.
Facing such an invincible Asura, no one felt confident, even if they outnumbered the Shanhai City Army. Even if they had ten times more men, no one could say they would win for sure.
The way one saw it, waiting might seem safer, but in truth, such a choice would lead to a dead end.
“Attack!”
……
“Strike!”
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly flared up and war cries belted out.
In the end, South Alliance came to a common consensus—they had to strike
When Hefu saw the result of their discussion, he let out a slight smile, “Since that’s the case, let the army rest for a day to prepare things. Tomorrow morning, all our troops will head down south.”
“Yes!”
The members agreed in unison. Although they felt fearful, they also felt excited about the upcoming war.
After the meeting, the entire Tianshuang County grew busy.
Housed in Tianshuang County, apart from the two hundred thousand allied troops, there were also the troops from over ten Lords in Zhaoqing Prefecture. They either used the teleportation formations or rushed over to reach Tianshuang County.
Calculating everything, purely the Zhaoqing Alliance Army had reached a hundred thousand men.
In contrast to South Alliance, the Lords of Zhaoqing sent out all their troops. They were crystal clear about one thing—they could only win and not lose this battle.
The moment they lost, no matter how many troops they had left, it was useless.
Why not just take a gamble?
Hence, the small Tianshuang County housed three hundred thousand troops. They filled the barracks in the city to the brim, while various troops just camped outside of the city.
Tent after tent covered the city in white, creating a majestic scene.
Inside and outside of the city, in the alleys and streets, armored soldiers walked around with weapons. The commoners, apart from the old and sick, were basically shifted to the grain transportation force to help move grain for the army.
On the road toward Tianshuang County, transport carts and horses continuously moved. To increase the speed, the officer in charge did not mind using his whip.
Now, mountains of white rice filled the previously empty granary in the city.
The moment the order for war was given, the entire city woke up.
When the soldiers received the order, they hurried back to their units to report. The grain and resource transportation forces would start leaving even before tomorrow.
Hefu had prepared thirty thousand troops housed in Tianshuang County to take charge of the grain transportation routes. He already knew what would happen if the grain was stolen.
It could be said that all the Lords in the north of Zhaoqing had gathered. However, with his character that doubted all, he still was not at ease. If amongst the Lords, one of them worked for Shanhai City, they could create a nightmare for the alliance army.
How did they attack Tianshuang County?
Hefu was unsure if Shanhai City would try to pull the same trick on them.
Hence, he needed to be wary and prepared.
The main matter he needed to be wary of was Tianshuang County. Apart from that, he needed to remain on guard against the other territories in Zhaoqing Prefecture.
The only part that made him feel uneasy was that the Lords of Zhaoqing Prefecture had sent all their troops. As such, only some city protection forces or reserve forces remained.
If Shanhai City really attacked, these territories would fail to put up a defence.
The problem was that Hefu could not reject their good intentions. More importantly, he could not reject a hundred thousand troops. In truth, with just two hundred thousand alliance army troops, Hefu did not have confidence.
However, with a hundred thousand more, the situation would completely change.
Hefu had the confidence to start a huge war with Shanhai City. He did not believe that they would lose when they had ten times the troops.
At night, Hefu tossed and turned, thinking about what would happen if the Shanhai City Army suddenly appeared in the north of Zhaoqing.
For the entire night, he could not catch an ounce of sleep.
When he woke up, he had black eye circles under his eyes. He splashed his face with cold water and finally made a decision.
He would take out 25 thousand cavalry from both the alliance army and the Zhaoqing Alliance Army to form a cavalry force of fifty thousand to take care of the north of Zhaoqing Prefecture.
In the morning, the members of South Alliance and the Lords of the alliance army gathered once more.
During the meeting, Hefu described his worries. Some did not bother about his suggestion, while others felt impressed.
The first ones to express their support were naturally the Lords of Zhaoqing Prefecture.
In truth, going all out this time was something that made them extremely nervous. During the Battle of Leizhou, didn’t the Lords there lose their bases because they went all out?
To have a cavalry force protecting them helped to put them at ease.
When they observed the situation, the South Alliance members found it not good to straight up oppose the suggestion, so the matter was settled.
Hence, apart from the thirty thousand troops guarding Tianshuang County, and the fifty thousand cavalry, they only sent out 220 thousand troops. Even so, they still had a colossal force.
Since they had 220 thousand troops, they naturally could not go out all at once.
Fifty thousand cavalry acted as the vanguard and went out first. In the middle stood the one hundred thousand main force. Lastly, they had a mixed force made of seventy thousand infantry and cavalry. At the same time, these last members were in charge of transporting the grain.
The huge army left the county, like a black dragon, they surged southward.
A titanic battle was about to unfold.
The moment the army left, the intel station of the Black Snake Guards received the news. An unassuming Feng Bird flew into the air and disappeared.
After the alliance army took over Tianshuang County, they naturally had to clean it up. The first place they went to handle was the Four Seas Bank.
It was different from previous days. Not only was the Four Seas Bank famous among the Shanhai Alliance, even the entire China region knew of its existence.
Hefu and the others were no exception.
As for how to deal with the bank, the members of South Alliance were split.
The reason for the split was because they failed to find a single copper in the entire bank. Even a blind person could tell that the Song Family took away the money.
Only a building, a treasurer, and twenty odd workers were left.
Yuan Ping suggested that they kill them all, and some of the Zhaoqing Lords agreed with him.
Hefu had other ideas. The way he saw it, killing them did not bring any benefits.
Killing a few people would not harm Shanhai City. If there was harm, it was only harming their face.
Yuan Ping’s goal was also just that.
But after venting their frustration? They would only be left with a major trouble.
Hefu was very clear on one thing. Even if the alliance army won this battle, they could not shake the foundations of Shanhai City. Lianzhou Prefecture, including Qiongzhou Prefecture, were far too stable.
No one would be so arrogant to think that they could destroy the best Lord in the world in one battle.
Hence, they had to consider post-war plans. The way he saw it, both sides could agree for Shanhai City to give up on conquering Lingnan Province, while the South Alliance would not go any further either.
South Alliance was located in Lingnan Province. As such, no matter what, they had to come into contact with Shanhai City.
It was not a smart idea to break the bridge just because they wanted to vent their frustration.
Attacking Tianshuang County was part of war. No matter what they did, no one could say anything about it. However, if you won but still decided to kill the workers in their bank, you would have committed an immoral action.
If it was Hefu, he would not let it rest.
Based on that basic consideration, Hefu shut down Yuan Ping’s suggestion and only monitored the Four Seas Bank.
One had to say that this action saved his life in the future.