"What does Shanhai City want?"
Yunnan City Alliance's command center and the city's lords were all present. Everyone was discussing the enemy's abnormal behavior. The Shanhai City army's inaction made them feel very aggrieved.
"Could it be that the enemy is deliberately lulling us into letting down our guard before launching a surprise attack?"
"That's possible. Our enemy is very cunning." Qin Fen nodded in agreement. "I have already ordered the frontline troops to remain vigilant and prepare for battle."
Hearing this, one of the lords of Mengding Commandery explained, "I don't think it's that simple. Mengding Commandery is mainly hilly and is not suitable for cavalry to charge on a large scale. Even if the enemy launched a surprise attack, it would have little effect. It's too petty of them to set up a diversion just for a little advantage. It's not like Shanhai City's style. I think there must be some other reason behind this. "
"Then what could it be?" The lords felt like their heads were about to explode. "They can't be messing with us, right?"
"Who cares what their motives are. In my opinion, we might as well take the initiative to attack. "Someone suggested.
"No!"
Almost at the same time, five or six lords objected.
Qin Fen was also one of them. "If we resist Shanhai City's attack, not only will we receive help from the other cities, but even Handan City has promised to send troops. But if we attack Shanhai City, the nature of the situation will change. At the very least, the other cities will not help us restrain Shanhai City's army. "
"This won't do, that won't do. What should we do?"
"Let's wait and see!"
"That's right. The most important thing now is to calm down and not make any mistakes."
"I think Shanhai City will not let this drag on. They will definitely make a big move in the near future." Qin Fen concluded.
The meeting hall fell into silence.
This silence was the last calm before the storm.
17th September, Lingxi City.
The stars in the night sky were shrouded by dark clouds.
It was past curfew and the city was silent. Other than the bailiffs patrolling the streets and the night watchmen, there was no one else alive.
Occasionally, a stray cat would leap over the eaves and step on the roof tiles, causing them to bark. In the blink of an eye, the stray cat jumped into a courtyard and disappeared.
The night returned to silence.
At this moment, the East Gate, which was supposed to be tightly shut, was quietly opened from the inside and the drawbridge was lowered.
On the official road outside the city gate, an armored army had appeared out of nowhere. As far as the eye could see, the army stretched for over five kilometers. They were clad in clanking armor, and their swords and spears stood in great numbers. There was no end to them.
The army entered the city in a silent formation. Following the streets that had been specially 'cleared', they advanced quietly and quickly all the way to the teleportation array in the outer city.
In order to prevent spies, according to the rules, the outer city's Teleportation Portal would stop working after the curfew.
Therefore, whenever it was time for the curfew, there would be no one around the Teleportation Portal, which was the busiest during the day. No one would take the risk of being inspected and come to the Teleportation Formation to enjoy the scenery.
Tonight, however, was different. The teleportation array that had already stopped emitted a mysterious blue light once again. The army did not stop at all. They directly entered the teleportation array and disappeared.
Because there were too many people being teleported, the entire process lasted for two hours before coming to an end.
Following which, the East City Gate was closed once more and the drawbridge was raised. Lingxi City, shrouded in the darkness of the night, seemed as though nothing had happened at all as it regained its tranquility, waiting silently for the sun to rise once more.
Because of the careful arrangements, everything was carried out in silence. No one knew what kind of impact this secret operation would have on the upcoming war in the Southern Region and the structure of the entire China region.
The night grew darker and darker.
Even the last bit of starlight was hidden in the clouds and disappeared. The entire Southern Region was shrouded in the dark clouds of war and could not be at peace.
Under the dark clouds, who was the chess player and who was the chess piece?
It was night. Zhenhai City, Lingnan Province.
Outside the isolated territory of Zhenhai City was a chess piece that Ouyang Shuo had embedded in the heart of Lingnan City. Ruan Ping and the others had tried several times to remove this nail, but to no avail.
Song Wen, the city governor, had grown up rapidly after a period of training. He was calm and steady in the face of danger. Xiao He, the chief of the administrative office, had a very high opinion of Song Wen and intended to recommend Song Wen for the position of county governor.
Ouyang Shuo approved of Xiao He's proposal very much. As long as the time was right, Song Wen's promotion would be right in front of him.
Obviously, Ouyang Shuo's trust in Song Wen and Song Wu was not affected when the Song family's disciples committed murder on the streets in Shanhai City and Old Master Song's favoritism.
On the other hand, Song Jia's father, Song Tianxiong, was rather uneasy. Not only did he consciously strengthen the restrictions on the family's disciples, but when Ouyang Shuo returned to Shanhai City, Song Tianxiong specially came to apologize.
Ouyang Shuo was also very pleased with his father-in-law's tactfulness. He did not wish for anyone to act recklessly in Shanhai City before it was even established.
This kind of seedling had to be nipped in the bud.
It was just that it was hard for his wife, Song Jia, to be caught in the middle.
… …
That night, Zhenhai City, which was thousands of miles away from Lingxi City, was also not peaceful.
The army that had disappeared from Lingxi City walked out of the teleportation formation in Zhenhai City one by one. After lining up, under the leadership of the officers, they silently entered the military camp that had been prepared for a long time to rest.
The whole process was also quiet.
They were also waiting for the sun to rise again.
If one observed carefully, they would find that the army that appeared in Zhenhai City was larger than the army that had been teleported from Lingxi City. In other words, other armies had been teleported in from other cities.
It was clear that this was a large-scale mobilization of the army that had not been planned on the spur of the moment.
Even the barracks that the army was stationed in had been built long ago, and the granaries of Zhenhai City had already been stocked with millions of units of grain, as if they had been waiting for this moment to arrive.
Stationed in Zhenhai City was the latest to be formed, the Third Legion of the Stalwart Tiger Army. Its soldiers were all from the various guard divisions of the various counties, and its commander was the female general Fan Lihua.
The central tent was brightly lit.
Fan Lihua did not sit in the seat of honor, but on the first seat to the left. Seated below her was the commander of the City Guard Corps, E Lai, and across from him was the commander of the Second Legion of the Dragon Stalwart Army.
Seated at the very top was a heroic young general. It was none other than the genius general Huo Qubing.
It was obvious that the army that had been quietly teleported to Zhenhai City was the Imperial Guard Corps, the Second Legion of the Dragon Stalwart Army, and the City Guard Corps.
Each of these legions had accomplished a great deal in battle.
Speaking of which, the City Guard Corps and the Third Legion of the Stalwart Tiger Army had only been formed before Ouyang Shuo had set out to sea. At the time, they had been formed for two reasons. One was to expand the army, and the other was to prepare for the upcoming war.
It was not without reason that the Third Legion of the Stalwart Tiger Army had chosen to be stationed in Zhenhai City.
No one would believe that such a small coastal city would be garrisoned by a fully organized field army.
The reason that Shanhai City had given was that they needed to guard against a surprise attack by the Southern Ridge City State. What happened later proved that without the presence of the Third Legion, they truly would not have been able to deal with the Southern Ridge City State's attacks.
By the time Ruan Ping and the others learned that Zhenhai City was garrisoned by an entire field army, they had completely given up on any thoughts of taking the city in a short period of time and ceased all activities.
"Completely deranged!" Ruan Ping had ridiculed them at the time.
Even so, Ruan Ping and the others had not thought much of it. After all, Shanhai City's attitude had always been that they would focus on a western expedition, while the eastern front would focus on defense.
As for why the City Guard Corps had been sent to Hardstone City to temper themselves, their intentions were even more obvious.
Thus, Shanhai City had spent more than half a year preparing for today's battle. They had taken into account all aspects of their army, resources, intelligence, and public opinion. It could be said that they had painstakingly worked hard.
Otherwise, Ouyang Shuo would not have been so full of confidence.
After the Imperial Guard Corps and the Second Legion of the Dragon Stallion Army arrived at the border and set up camp, they stealthily left under the cover of night, traveling through Kunming Commandery and stealthily entering Lingxi City.
Ouyang Shuo's high-profile appearance in Lingxi City and his high-profile inspection of the Third Legion of the Dragon Stallion Army, as well as his military parade and exercise, had all been to attract the attention of spies from all sides. This was to provide cover for the Imperial Guard Corps and the Second Legion of the Dragon Stallion Army to escape.
Even the merger and the press conference had been for this purpose.
Of course, this was also to further confuse the Southern Ridge City State.
As a result, the attention of all sides was focused on Ouyang Shuo. No one could have imagined that Bai Qi's army, which no one had paid any attention to, would actually quietly withdraw two-thirds of its army.
Even now, Qin Fen and the others still believed that Bai Qi's army stationed at the border of Mengding Commandery consisted of three major armies, and not a lone First Legion of the Dragon Stallion Army.
Ouyang Shuo's strategy, or rather, his performance, had clearly been very successful, confusing all his enemies. Besides Qin Fen and the others, the most pitiful was the Southern Ridge City State.
Ever since the Battle of Chibi began, Ouyang Shuo had been overbearing, his army directly targeting the Southern Ridge City State. His most elite Imperial Guard Corps had not even participated in the Battle of Chibi, instead heading to the border of Mengding Commandery in a high-profile manner.
The Battle of Chibi had just ended, and the dark clouds of war had shrouded the skies of the Southern Ridge City State. All the players of the China region knew that Shanhai City had hardened its heart to attack the Southern Ridge City State.
No one could have imagined that from the very beginning, the General Military Administration's plan had been to first annihilate the Southern Ridge City State, and then return to take care of the Southern Ridge City State.
The reason was very simple.
Flipping open the map of the China region, it was not difficult to discover that the Southern Ridge City State was an isolated land with no strategic depth. If they wanted to take it down, they could do so at any time.
In comparison, the situation of the Southern Ridge City State was much more complicated.
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