Chapter 253: The Eastern Battle, Part 1

That noon, just as Nangong Zhi of Nanyang County led an army of 100,000 to rush to the aid of Dongyuan County, Yuan Zhong once again stood atop the city walls of Nanliang Prefecture.

What lay before his eyes was no longer the clean and prosperous Nanliang Prefecture that had been properly reorganized by the Second Prince and Yuan Zhao. Now, Nanliang Prefecture was nothing more than ruins.

To be precise, Anyang had not engaged in indiscriminate bombing like a madman. The residential areas remained untouched. The targets of the bombings were the city lord’s mansion, several military camps, and key city gates.

Looking at the devastated city and the demoralized, wounded soldiers around him, Yuan Zhong felt a heavy weight in his heart!

Bombing, bombing—nothing but bombing! Warfare had completely changed. No longer was it a face-to-face confrontation—the enemy was 3,000 meters above in the sky! Facing such bombings, such warfare, everyone in Dongyuan County, from the governor and generals to the common soldiers, could do nothing but watch helplessly, curse in frustration, and struggle desperately.

…………

Meanwhile, in the north, the Eldest Prince was leading an army of 300,000, with Yuan Cai (Yuan Zhao’s elder brother) as the vanguard, to attack Kaiping County, where Li Yulong was stationed. According to an agreement with Nanyang County, the Eldest Prince’s attack on Kaiping County was meant to divert Li Yulong’s military forces, leaving Anyang’s northern front vulnerable.

However, at this moment, an unexpected development occurred. A messenger from Kaiping County arrived with urgent news: Li Yulong had ascended the throne and declared himself emperor, naming his new empire “Tang.” He invited the “Emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom” to attend the coronation ceremony.

Previously, after the Second Prince had left Wuyang City, the Eldest Prince had also proclaimed himself emperor. That was why Li Yulong addressed him as the “Emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom.”

The Eldest Prince was ruthless in his methods, but he was no fool—after all, only fools blindly follow traditions without question. Upon receiving this news, his first reaction was not anger, but fear!

Li Yulong’s ascension meant the complete dissolution of the Great Xia Kingdom. With this, the long-ambitious Cai Kingdom would surely take action! Because of this, after much hesitation, the Eldest Prince finally made a decision:

“Withdraw the troops and return to the capital. We will not attack Kaiping County. Instead, we will seize Wuyang County. Even if we can’t control the entire region, we must at least secure the northern half. This way, we will occupy one-third of the former Great Xia Kingdom and establish a solid foundation!

Additionally…ugh… send a congratulatory gift to Li Yulong, congratulating him on his ascension.”

Li Yulong’s coronation had been kept a secret from the south—specifically from Nanyang and Dongyuan County. As a result, Nanyang and Dongyuan were still under the illusion that a war in the north would ease their own pressure.

Li Yulong’s political acumen was indeed extraordinary. With a simple coronation, he had already orchestrated countless strategic calculations. At the very least, this move had shattered Nanyang’s seemingly perfect political alliances. Furthermore, the timing of his coronation was impeccable—occurring precisely when everyone else was too preoccupied with their own affairs to react.

Following his ascension, Li Yulong immediately initiated sweeping reforms in Kaiping County. He even looked to Li Xian for inspiration, implementing policies such as separating military and civil governance, establishing financial independence, ruling by law, and emphasizing commerce and industry. Of course, Li Yulong had his own considerations. As the Crown Prince of the “Taihao Divine Court,” he was well-traveled and knowledgeable, and he introduced many unique political reforms.

For instance, he divided the powers of the Prime Minister into two roles: the Left Prime Minister, responsible for assisting the emperor, and the Right Prime Minister, responsible for civil affairs and serving the people.

Additionally, he abolished the position of Grand Marshal and replaced it with a nominal “Grand General,” while establishing a “Pillar State General” who acted as the actual Chief of Staff. Below the Pillar State General, the military was divided into Army, Navy, and Air Force Commanders—these were the true holders of power.

Furthermore, he completely abolished the position of Grand Tutor, redistributing its responsibilities among various civil and military officials, thereby further strengthening central authority.

At the same time, Li Yulong also deployed troops to defend against Cai Kingdom in the north, as well as the Eldest Prince’s forces, in case of unforeseen developments.

…………

While Li Yulong was implementing sweeping reforms, Li Xian was also making decisive moves in warfare. The phrase “silent for a long time, but astonishing once it strikes” was perfectly embodied by Anyang.

At first, Anyang appeared to be playing it safe—even when engaging in commerce, they would formally purchase land for operations. This made others look down on them.

But now, faced with a ten-sided siege, Anyang unsheathed its sword. The moment its powerful military forces were unleashed, they crushed Songzhou and Nanyang County with overwhelming strength, advancing swiftly toward the east.

In just a few days, not only had Anyang broken free from the “ten-sided siege” that threatened it, but it had also launched its own “ten-sided siege” against the east.

Land, sea, and air—all-out warfare had begun.

Yan Ze’an led 30,000 elite ground troops, working alongside Chang Lin’s fleet of five ironclad warships to blockade the Xian Dai River. This effectively cut off Dongyuan County’s already limited military forces. The Xian Dai River, once known as a place of leisure and pleasure, had now become a dividing line between life and death.

The Yuan family had considered the possibility of an attack from Anyang. However, even the wise Yuan Yong had believed that if Anyang were to strike, it would be a defensive measure rather than a full-scale offensive. It was assumed that Anyang’s main military forces would be tied up dealing with Nanyang, Songzhou, or even the Eldest Prince.

Moreover, with the dire situation of being surrounded on all sides, it seemed impossible for Anyang to spare the resources for an attack. Therefore, Dongyuan County devised a clever strategy: let others fight to the death while they seized the unclaimed Luliang County.

Yet, even Yuan Yong had not foreseen that Anyang would first strike Songzhou County—and that Songzhou would retreat without a fight.

This single unexpected move completely overturned what had once seemed like a favorable situation.

The Dongyuan County was preparing to reap the benefits of the conflict, and the Songzhou County withdrew without a fight, allowing Anyang to fully concentrate its attacks on the Nanyang County. Caught off guard, the Nanyang County had not yet received reinforcements from Jin when Anyang swiftly annihilated over 200,000 troops—almost 250,000 in total.

Afterward, Anyang finally revealed its fangs. Its army, consisting of naval, land, and air forces, launched a five-pronged assault, encircling nearly 80% of the Luliang County’s territory north of the Xiandai River. Trapped within this encirclement were not only the forces of Luliang County but also 100,000 elite troops of the Yuan family from Dongyuan County—along with Yuan Zhong himself!

It was a lightning-fast strike. By the time the Yuan family of Dongyuan and the Kong family of Nanyang reacted, Anyang had already completed the encirclement and secured an overwhelming strategic advantage.

The five armies, like five fingers, tightly gripped the northern part of Luliang County!

Standing atop the crumbling city walls of Nanliang Prefecture, Yuan Zhong looked at his dispirited soldiers and the civilians fleeing with their families. At that moment, he felt only despair for the future. He muttered to himself in a low voice, “I always thought I was competent, but after fighting Anyang, I realized just how vast the gap between us truly is.”

No one around him responded, nor did they know how to respond.

Only messengers continued to shuttle back and forth, but most of the news they delivered was bad. Occasionally, a report of victory would arrive, only to be followed moments later by another report declaring the “total annihilation” of those forces. Those so-called victories were nothing more than Anyang luring their enemies into traps. The moment some overconfident generals stepped into the encirclement, Anyang unleashed carpet-bombing. In this brutal, intense, near-massacre of a battle, Anyang left almost no survivors.

Of course, if anyone managed to survive the ruthless bombardment, they would simply be taken as prisoners—it didn’t matter. As long as they were still alive, they could at least shout “Long live the emperor!”

The war raged on like an inferno, turning into a massive meat grinder. Even dozens of Golden Core cultivators, in battles involving tens of thousands, could only make the smallest of ripples before being swallowed up by the flames of war.

War and individual combat are entirely different forms of battle!

In single combat, one could rely on life-saving techniques, hidden trump cards, or strange magical artifacts—even demonic weapons—to escape danger or even turn the tide.

But in a large-scale, coordinated war like this, even Golden Core cultivators seemed insignificant. Moreover, Anyang was not lacking in Golden Core experts—there was so much liquid spiritual energy that people were bathing in it, and Golden Core cultivators were being mass-produced.

Perhaps only Nascent Soul cultivators could truly change the course of such a war—but even then, only if the power balance was close. And now, Anyang had begun attracting Nascent Soul experts, while also cultivating its own.

Now, Anyang was slowly advancing this colossal meat grinder of war. With each step forward, thousands of Dongyuan County’s soldiers fell. Aircraft loomed overhead, artillery bombarded from afar, and for those who barely survived and fought their way to the front lines of Anyang’s army, they were met with an entire force of Foundation Establishment cultivators, calmly launching their attacks. Some “lucky” ones even got to experience the taste of machine-gun fire.

This battle was completely unwinnable!

That was the message brought to Yuan Zhong by a frontline officer who had miraculously survived.

Looking at the letter, Yuan Zhong could do nothing but sigh. “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t even want to fight this damn war!”

No one around him responded—because if he didn’t want to fight, what was he doing all this time?

Now, all Yuan Zhong could do was sigh and wait. He could only put his hopes in the frontline commanders—though he knew this was nothing but a desperate wish. In reality, Yuan Zhong had already exhausted all options.

To begin with, Dongyuan County and the Yuan family never intended to engage in a decisive battle at this time. Their plan was to quietly seize Luliang County while carefully expanding their strength.

The Yuan family was fully aware of its current position. Dongyuan County was small and located in a remote corner, with little room for development. Their only strategy was to “fortify defenses, stockpile supplies, and avoid war,” waiting until other factions were exhausted from fighting before making their move.

But plans could never keep up with changes. Now, the Yuan family had no opportunity at all. They couldn’t blame Anyang’s ferocious assault, nor could they blame their own greed. The only ones to blame were their incompetent allies!

Still, Yuan Zhong had not completely given up. The Yuan family and Dongyuan County alone could not withstand Anyang’s multi-dimensional assault from land, sea, and air. They were powerless.

But Yuan Zhong was waiting—for reinforcements from Nanyang County, or even from Songzhou County.

“If we fall to Anyang, you all will have no chance either. So, you must come to our aid! And we, the Yuan family, must hold on—until reinforcements arrive!”

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