Bang!
Lu Yang arrived at the main tent early and heard the sound of someone slapping the table, followed by Jiang Yuanlong’s angry roar.
"Thirty-eight days, dragged on for thirty-eight days. You bunch of fools, now that the Dajue Temple has e up on its own, are you all happy?"
"Lord Jiang, why the rush? The Dajue Temple hasn’t arrived yet, has it? We have 180,000 soldiers. At worst, let’s first give up Hongguan, avoid the fierce attack, and then regroup at night to take it back, isn’t that doable?"
"It’s easy for you to say. Are you going to lead the vanguard from Bashang for the counterattack tomorrow night?"
"Hongguan is Jiangxia’s territory, why should I, from Bashang, lead the vanguard?"
"You..."
"Lord Jiang, the urgent task is to withdraw the troops. There’s only two hours of daylight; the Dajue Temple can’t go far. As long as we retreat to a safe area, it will be fine. Brother Xiang makes sense; let’s first give up Hongguan and take it back at night."
"Indeed, we can only temporarily give up Hongguan."
"I also agree with giving up Hongguan."
.........
Jiang Yuanlong was clearly furious to the extreme at this moment, especially after being contradicted by Xiang Tiancheng. It left him speechless with anger.
However, as the other Six Towns leaders spoke up, his emotions seemed to calm down gradually, and the sound in the tent became quieter, making it impossible for Lu Yang and the others outside to hear what was inside.
"The ordinary folks of Hongguan Village and those in the Logging Realm have long since evacuated. Once the 180,000 from Earth-digging Realm retreat, it will be fine. The Cold Resistance Level should follow as well. Why did they gather us all here?"
"Jiang Yuanlong is currently in a fit of rage, who knows why!"
"Hongguan is the entrance to the North Bank of the Heng River. Just giving it up freely, reclaiming it would be difficult, wouldn’t Jiangxia be unwilling?"
.........
Hearing the discussions around him, Lu Yang turned to look at the main tent, full of confusion.
Withdrawing the troops, yet they still assembled these Cold Resistance Level soldiers for what!
Unfortunately, he couldn’t hear the dialogue inside the main tent, and, puzzled as he was, Lu Yang could only quietly wait along with the other two thousand people.
Half an hour later, the manders of the Seven Towns finally came out from the main tent.
But their expressions didn’t look good, and their faces were extraordinarily gloomy.
Sigh...
The last to e out was Jiang Yuanlong, who lifted the main tent’s curtain, quickly walked out, and scanned the crowd, saying in a low voice, "Hongguan is the gateway to the North Bank; how can we so easily hand it over to the Dajue Temple? All Cold Resistance Level personnel immediately assemble outside the west gate of the main camp and acpany me, the Army Chief, to Hongguan to confront the Dajue Temple."
Wow...
As Jiang Yuanlong’s words fell, all the Cold Resistance Level soldiers were stunned, looking at him with incredulous eyes, clearly questioning if he was crazy.
The 180,000 from the Earth-digging Realm, including Jiangxia’s two thousand Defensive Army troops, had all retreated; relying solely on their 3,000 Cold Resistance Level soldiers to confront the Dajue Temple?
However, what happened next confused them even more.
"Those from Beishuo, e with me!"
"Cold Resistance Level from Yangqu, follow me."
"People of Chu Mountain, follow behind me."
......
Huang Tianxing, Duan Xing, Qin Yuanhai, and the manders of the Seven Towns reinforcement troops all began to signal their people to follow, leading the way towards the west gate of the main camp.
Were they really going to rely on these 3,000 people to hold the line?
Even though everyone’s faces were filled with disbelief, they dared not disobey their own manders’ orders and quickly followed suit.
Lu Yang, along with the thirty-one Cold Resistance Level soldiers from East Ridge, followed behind Huang Tianxing and Gu Tianxiong and soon reached the west gate.
"Dean Gu, relying on just our 3,000 to confront the Dajue Temple, this is clearly sending us to death, right?"
"Jiangxia is sending us to our deaths for nothing, why did Institute Chief Huang still agree?"
......
As soon as the Beishuo group reached the west gate, a dozen people immediately rushed out from the ranks, surrounding Huang and Gu, and voiced their questions in a low voice.
Beishuo had over three hundred people this time, ing from seven districts within the realm, and each district had a few strong individuals with some say, of whom there were three from Jingxi District, and Lu Yang was one of them.
Following a principle of keeping a low profile, Lu Yang didn’t join the questioning but moved forward a bit, showing his support through action.
Faced with the crowd’s inquiry, Huang Tianxing’s expression slightly tensed.
Gu Tianxiong perceived the budding issue and, worried that Huang Tianxing might upset these people, stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Qinghepu’s iron mine has low output, and their casting technology is poor. Only a few Cold Resistance Level soldiers have been equipped with Thousand Forged Armor. The 5,000 Zen Temple Bhikkhus of Dajue Temple haven’t donned armor—their idea, according to Army Chief Jiang, is for our 3,000 to set an ambush midway and delay the Dajue Temple’s advance. If we can hold Hongguan until dark tomorrow, that would be best, and even if we can’t, allowing Dajue Temple to take Hongguan later would increase our odds for a successful night counterattack afterward."
Hearing this explanation, the people finally seemed to understand.
Although they had a Cold Resistance Level cultivation, they were still regarded as mere foot soldiers and had only a limited understanding of military affairs. Even though they actively sought information during the nearly forty days prior, the amount of key information they grasped was extremely limited.
For example, the 5,000 Zen Temple Bhikkhus of Dajue Temple being without armor was something they hadn’t known.
Facing 5,000 armorless Zen Temple Bhikkhus, who only possessed Three-maned strength, their 3,000 Cold Resistance Level might very well have a significant chance, not just in an ambush, but even in a direct confrontation.
The Hongguan Port is narrow and is famously easy to defend and hard to attack. Once Dajue Temple pletely secures it, taking it back would indeed be difficult. Jiang Yuanlong didn’t want to give up and leading a proactive strike with them at this moment is quite understandable.
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