Kunming County, Lingxi City.
On the tenth day of November, the war gradually subsided. In just three days, one day earlier than expected, Kunming County was unified. After this battle, the power of the Alliance of Mountains and Seas rose against the trend and was unparalleled for a time.
After the war, the army immediately returned to the city.
After Qin Qiong led the Dragon-Seeking City Regiment back, they immediately teleported back to Dragon-Seeking City. Bai Hua took the initiative to pay the teleportation fee. Although Lingxi City's finances were tight recently, Bai Hua was still very generous.
After a short rest, the cavalry regiment led by Luo Shixin would break into Zhen 'an County of South Sichuan Province and follow the retreating Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Western Army.
Next, there would be a big battle in Tianjing City, and Luo Shixin did not want to miss it.
In order to repay Shanhai City's help, Bai Hua arranged for Zhang Liao to lead an elite cavalry regiment to accompany Luo Shixin's regiment and enter Zhen 'an County.
Although the lords of the other four counties of Yunnan Province were already preparing to establish the Yunnan City State, Bai Hua was not too worried about it.
The establishment of a city was not an easy task. If there was no one with prestige to take the lead, it was normal to drag on for ten days to half a month.
After the establishment of the city state, the formation of the allied army also took a long time.
Therefore, Lingxi City had enough time to digest the territory they had just occupied.
After three days of war, Lingxi City captured more than sixty thousand prisoners of war, making up for the losses they had suffered in the previous battle with the Taiping Army, and even had a slight surplus.
According to Bai Hua's plan, Lingxi City would use Shanhai City's military model as a reference, officially forming the City Guard Division, the Field Army, and the Kunming County Guard Division.
The city guard regiment would be led by Hong Ying and would be responsible for protecting Lingxi City. The field regiment would be established according to the latest establishment of Shanhai City, with a total of seventy thousand people, led by Zhang Liao.
As for the Kunming County Garrison Regiment, it would naturally be used to guard the entire Kunming County.
Such a large army was also Bai Hua's biggest trump card against the Yunnan City State.
The only disadvantage was that Kunming County was bordered by the other four counties of Yunnan Province, and the long border would place a greater burden on the territory's defense.
Secondly, even if the Yunnan City State was established, with the current power of the Alliance of Mountains and Seas, they would not dare to take the initiative to attack Kunming County.
In a sense, [Yunnan City State] was just a strategic defensive alliance.
With the establishment of the Lingnan City-State, the term "city-state" instantly became popular in China. In fact, the Lingnan City-State was the only city-state in the real sense.
Even the nearby city-state of Xiangnan still had all kinds of problems that needed to be solved.
Every lord was ambitious.
Although the existence of the city-states protected the safety of the territory from the invasion of the great lords. But at the same time, it also weakened the possibility of the feudal lord expanding again.
Within the same province, the lords coexisted peacefully.
This type of interaction was a bit out of place with the main tone of the wilderness.
The weak were naturally happy to be able to protect themselves. Experts, on the other hand, felt a little uncomfortable when their hands and feet were bound. Once the external pressure disappeared, the internal conflicts would burst forth.
Unless there was a truly powerful person who could unify the resources within the city and truly link the interests of the various feudal lords into one. Otherwise, the city-state would not last long.
In the five years of his previous life, there were less than three true city-states in the whole of China.
Ten days had passed since Shanhai City's army set out for Xunzhou County.
In just ten days, more than half of Xunzhou County's territory had fallen. The three armies firmly advanced toward Tianjing City. The largest war in the southwest war zone was about to break out.
At the same time, the Western Army led by Shi Dakai was only one day away from Tianjing City. Behind the Western Route Army, two cavalry divisions followed them like ghosts.
Zhen 'an County was, after all, the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Therefore, Luo Shixin's division and Zhang Liao's division did not really escape Shi Dakai's eyes. It was just that Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan's imperial orders came one day after another, each more urgent than the last. Shi Dakai had no time to pay attention to anything else.
Shi Dakai could only pretend that he did not see the "tail" behind him. He only strengthened the arrangements of the rear army. Shi Dakai's cautiousness in using troops was evident.
To the north of Xunzhou County, the Mountain Barbarian Independent Division led by Ouyang Shuo had already taken over the defense of the two passes. The Imperial Guard Division that had attacked the passes had suddenly disappeared from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's sight.
In the south, the eastern and western armies led by Bai Qi and Han Xin were still as imposing as ever. Considering the current situation, Hong Xiuquan had already withdrawn all the local garrisons in the south back to Tianjing City.
Precisely because of this, the southern part of Xunzhou County had fallen in advance and become Shanhai City's hunting ground.
It seemed that Hong Xiuquan had hardened his heart to rely on Tianjing City's strong walls and cannons to defend the city. It was reported that Hong Xiuquan had set up a total of 24 cannons on Tianjing City's walls.
When Ouyang Shuo received the news, he could not help but tremble.
Once the 150,000 Western Army led by Shi Dakai arrived at Tianjing City, together with the 50,000 garrisons in Tianjing City and the local garrisons that had arrived one after another, the siege of Tianjing City would be easily resolved.
Perhaps the Heavenly Kingdom could even defeat the Shanhai City army one by one.
It had to be said that Hong Xiuquan's arrangements were basically flawless. The only flaw was that he had underestimated Shanhai City, as well as Shanhai City's powerful think tank and valiant famous generals.
It was this flaw that had dragged the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom into hell.
On this very night, the Western Army that Hong Xiuquan had been waiting for with all his heart could no longer arrive.
Ouyang Shuo had long since given up on the scale of the cannons in Tianjing City. He had completely given up on attacking Tianjing City.
The only way to deal with such a strong city was to outsmart it.
Thus, as soon as the Western Army had begun to withdraw, a huge conspiracy had already enveloped the skies above Xunzhou County. Just as the Western Army was about to reach Tianjing City, the final step of the plan was already in place.
That night.
Forty kilometers away from Tianjing City, there was a hillside that stretched for dozens of kilometers. The Western Army led by Shi Dakai was camped out here. After resting for a night, the army would arrive at Tianjing City the next day.
At this point, Shi Dakai should have breathed a sigh of relief.
But for some reason, Shi Dakai felt a sense of unease in his heart.
In the night, the sky was filled with stars, scattered like stars on a chessboard. The Milky Way also hung in the sky, a rare sight. The bright moon hung high in the sky, enveloping the vast campsite in a hazy moonlight, making it seem both real and illusory.
After patrolling the campsite one last time and seeing that everything was normal, Shi Dakai suppressed the unease in his heart and returned to his tent, preparing to rest. After tomorrow, a bitter battle awaited them.
At this time, Shi Dakai had to conserve his energy.
To tell the truth, Yang Xiuqing's house arrest cast a shadow over Shi Dakai's heart.
Heavenly State seemed calm and peaceful, but the internal strife was becoming more and more intense. The heroic warriors who had appeared in the wilderness seemed to have slowly changed with the successive victories.
During the Western Expedition, Shi Dakai had actually interacted with many players.
In fact, he had even taken in player lords in his army. From them, Shi Dakai had learned about the historical events of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After listening to them, he felt a myriad of emotions.
Could it be that the tragedy of history was about to repeat itself?
Shi Dakai shook his head, trying hard to shake off the distracting thoughts in his heart, and prepared to rest.
Just as Shi Dakai was about to fall asleep, the rumbling of horse hooves suddenly rang out in the silent night. It was deafening, causing one's heart to flutter.
What followed was a deafening roar of killing.
Startled, Shi Dakai quickly got up and walked out of the tent. Because of the unease in his heart, Shi Dakai didn't even take off his armor when he fell asleep.
"What happened?"
Shi Dakai grabbed a guard and asked anxiously.
"General, General, look!"
The personal guard outside the tent was also bewildered at this moment. He stuttered as he pointed shakily at the entrance of the tent. His eyes were filled with incomparable shock and endless fear.
Hearing this, Shi Dakai's heart sank.
Looking up, he saw that outside the tent, a dense army had suddenly appeared. There were cavalry and infantry. Before the army arrived, a sky full of arrows was already raining down on the camp.
Apart from that, there was also a string of fire arrows piercing through the air.
The entire campsite began to burn with raging flames, illuminating the clear night sky even more brightly.
Based on Shi Dakai's experience, the army that had appeared now was no less than a hundred thousand. Behind the vast army of cavalry, there were groups of black figures advancing toward the camp.
It was obvious that this was a meticulously planned plot.
Given Shi Dakai's cautiousness, he would never have guessed that the real ambush was not at the back, but at the front, where everything seemed calm and uneventful.
After all, according to the intelligence sent to him by the heavenly kings, the front of the army should be peaceful. Logically speaking, the three armies of Shanhai City should still be a distance away from Tianjing City.
In reality, when Hong Xiuquan had withdrawn the garrison in the south, the armies of Shanhai City on the east and west were practically empty shells.
The real main force had first quietly retreated to avoid the eyes and ears of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Then, they had secretly assembled in the rear and moved west, lying in ambush along the route that the Western Army had to pass through.
At the same time, the imperial guard who had suddenly disappeared also appeared.
The two armies and the imperial guard made up a total of one hundred and forty thousand soldiers. Together, they ambushed the Western Army.
Ouyang Shuo's strategy was to destroy Shi Dakai's army outside Tianjing City. In this way, even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was truly at the end of the road, they could only defend an empty city and surrender obediently.
"Give the enemy the most fatal blow at the most impossible time."
Wasn't this the way Shanhai City had always done things? (To be continued.)
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