Dali, Satellite City.
Inside the City Lord's residence, the leader of the [Xiao Alliance] Xiao Nianying was somewhat hesitant, pacing back and forth in the room.
The Great Xia Dynasty and the [Yan Huang Alliance] were at loggerheads. Xiao Nianying originally only had the mentality of watching the show, how could he have thought that there would be a day when he would be involved in this battle.
Facing the pressure of Di Chen and the other clans, the Xiao family could not remain indifferent.
"The favors that I owe will eventually have to be returned."
Xiao Nianying sighed, and thought of the words in Di Chen's letter. Sui Wen Di had only been in charge of Quanzhou for a few days when the Great Xia Dynasty grasped his weakness and attacked the Quanzhou satellite city's [Flowing Light Pavilion].
Despite being one of the ten great Guilds, they were pitifully toyed with by Ouyang Shuo.
The miserable fate of the previous owner of the [Flowing Light Pavilion] made Xiao Nianying shudder with fear. Thinking of this, Xiao Nianying finally made up his mind. "Perhaps, we have to have a good fight!"
… …
North Sichuan Province, Fenggang City.
Lord Ximen received Lord Chunshen's secret letter and sneered. He tore the letter into pieces and said mockingly, "You still want us to be scapegoats? Dream on. "
Lord Ximen increasingly looked down on the [Yan Huang Alliance]. A group of fellows who only knew how to fight amongst themselves made Lord Ximen ashamed to be associated with them.
Although he came from an aristocratic family, he would not necessarily side with the [Yan Huang Alliance], and would not be easily bribed by Di Chen and the others. He had his own interests to consider and judge.
[Earth on Le] was deeply changing the old pattern of interests, and a group of new nobles came into being. At this time, it was the time for the small and medium-sized aristocratic families to rise.
Thinking of this, Lord Ximen's eyes inadvertently swept across the other secret letter on the table. It was signed "How can I say I have no clothes". His eyes flashed, and he made up his mind, muttering to himself, "It's time to make a decision!"
… …
South Hunan Province, Rosy Clouds City.
South of Rosy Clouds also received Lord Chunshen's secret letter, his expression uncertain.
During this period of time, many major events had happened in the wilderness. There were also many twists and turns within the [Xiang Nan City]. South of Rosy Clouds' days in the [Xiang Nan City] were not good.
The root cause was the incident that happened in November last year.
On that day, Ouyang Shuo signed a trade agreement with the two city-states in Sanjiang Town. Unexpectedly, there was an accident in the middle. Lin Fen, the Lord of Xiangnan City-State, attempted to assassinate Fan Li and was captured by Ouyang Shuo.
When the South of Rosy Clouds saw this, not only did they not save the Qilin Empire, they even became obsessed and annexed the Burnt City in one fell swoop, opening the curtains to the expansion of the Rosy Clouds City within the city.
To this day, Rosy Cloud City already occupied two counties in the South Hunan Province.
This kind of behavior had a very negative impact. South of Rosy Clouds' reputation within the city-state had plummeted. Coupled with the Mountain Sea Guards adding fuel to the fire, South of Rosy Clouds' reputation was completely tarnished.
This was because South of Rosy Clouds was still estranged from her chief strategist, Zhang Liang. After all, Zhang Liang was the one who came up with the annexation plan. Now that something had happened, Zhang Liang naturally had to take the blame.
Unbeknownst to him, it wasn't Zhang Liang's schemes that had brought the South of Rosy Clouds to its current state, but his own greed. No matter how good the strategy was, if it went wrong during the implementation process, the strategist would also be helpless.
Fortunately, Rosy Cloud City, which occupied two counties, was still the most powerful territory in the South Hunan Province.
"I have no other way out, do I?"
A fierce glint flashed across South of Rosy Clouds' eyes. No one knew what she was planning.
...
Shu, Qiang County.
As the largest settlement of the Qiang Tribe, Qiang County was home to over two hundred Qiang Tribes of various sizes, with a population of over a million. However, they rarely communicated with the outside world, until the Great Xia delegation entered the Qiang County.
That was before the Great Xia had been founded. In order to complete the mission of founding the nation, Ouyang Shuo had sent a delegation to the Qiang County in an attempt to convince the Qiang Tribe to submit to the Great Xia.
Although the appearance of the subterranean tribes had slightly disrupted Ouyang Shuo's plans for the Qiang Tribe, the Great Xia had never given up on roping in and assisting the Qiang Tribe, and the relationship between the two became increasingly close.
Thanks to the successful implementation of the racial equality policy, the Qiang Tribe had a good impression of the Great Xia.
Over the past few months, according to Ouyang Shuo's instructions, Steel City had secretly sent countless rations, salt, pig iron, weapons, and other goods that the Qiang Tribe desperately needed, worth over a million gold coins.
As such, the Qiang Tribe gradually submitted to the Great Xia.
Speaking of which, Ouyang Shuo really had to thank Swordsman City. They had the geographical advantage, but because they had no desire to establish dominance, they were unwilling to waste rations and resources on roping in the Qiang Tribe.
The other lords of the Shu region wanted to rope in the Qiang Tribe, but they didn't have the power to do so. As a result, the Great Xia gained another powerful tribe after the barbarians, the Li Tribe, and the High Mountain Tribe.
The Qiang Tribe was an ancient tribe in western China. They called themselves the "Ri Mai" or "Er Ma", and they were known as the "Tribe of the Clouds". Throughout history, they had many branches.
The two most famous branches were in Western Xia, and the other was in Qiang County in the Shu region.
The Western Xia branch was the Xiang Qiang, founded by the emperor, Li Yuanhao, who was also known as Tuoba Yuanhao. This branch of the Qiang Tribe would only be officially added to the game after the Song Dynasty campaign.
The Shu branch was the Bashu Ancient Qiang, which originated from the Di Qiang. The first king was called Can Cong, also known as the Can Cong Clan, and his former residence was Can Ling. In Li Bai's "The Road to Shu", "The Silkworms Reach the Fish Ducklings, Why the Founding of the Nation", he referred to the same region.
On this day, more than a hundred tribal chiefs gathered in Can Ling.
One of them was a burly man with bulging muscles, shoulder-length hair, a full beard, and a fierce-looking face. His entire body exuded a valiant aura. He was the chief of the Can Cong Tribe, Fu Yang.
More than 60,000 elite Qiang Tribe warriors stood in the plaza outside. All of them had Tang swords at their waists and were clad in armor. They held spears or shields in their hands and carried longbows on their backs. Their equipment was no different from that of the Great Xia soldiers.
They seemed to be well-organized and were very different from the scattered and disorganized soldiers that Ren Baqian had in mind.
In the meeting hall, Fu Yang raised his wooden cup that was filled with fine wine and looked around at all the tribal chiefs. In a loud voice, he said, "Everyone, this is the opportunity for the Qiang Tribe to make a contribution!"
"Hula!"
More than a hundred tribal chiefs raised their cups in unison. It was a spectacular scene.
Fu Yang said, "The Qiang Tribe is a true man who knows how to repay kindness. Great Xia has sponsored us by supplying us with precious rations, salt, pig iron, and weapons. Should we not repay such kindness? "
"Yes!" The group was in an uproar.
"Good!" Fu Yang waved his hand forcefully. "Bring your men to the battlefield. Emperor Xia has said that if we win this battle, Qiang County will be officially under our rule. Our lives will be many times better than what we have now."
"Hula!"
Another round of cheers rang out.
Outside the plaza, an even more earth-shattering roar could be heard.
"Hula! Hula! Hula! "
This roar would eventually penetrate the mountains, cross the rivers, and shake the entire wilderness.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was September.
Over the past few days, both the Alliance of Mountains and Seas and the Yellow Emperor Alliance had been mobilizing their troops to the border. The rations and supplies that accompanied them were innumerable, and there was an endless stream of food carts.
On the first day of September, the troops were finally in place.
The Third and Fifth Legions of the Dragon Stallion Army of Great Xia were stationed in Dongchuan County, while the Second and Fourth Legions were already in Steel City. Only Bai Qi led the First Legion and was stationed in Lingxi City, overseeing the situation from afar.
The bustling wilderness suddenly quieted down. Everyone knew that this was the calm before the storm.
On this day, the outside world still could not guess who Great Xia was going to fight. The entire wilderness was paying attention to how Great Xia would start the first battle, and where it would start.
The tense atmosphere permeated the air above the wilderness, suffocating everyone.
…
The second day of September, Steel City.
The winding Jinsha River flowed endlessly, wrapping around the city.
As steel mills, munitions factories, mimic aircraft manufacturing bases, artillery manufacturing bases, steam engine manufacturing bases, and a large number of other industrial plants landed in Steel City, the city was becoming more and more deserving of its name.
Inside and outside the city, there was no distinction between day and night, and all sorts of mechanical roars could be heard.
Further away in the mountains, iron mines and coal mines, with the help of the steam engines, greatly increased the mining efficiency, and a steady stream of iron and coal was transported to the steel mills and coking coal factories in the outskirts of the city.
On the Jinsha River, there was an endless stream of ships, transporting steel, steam engines, looms, artillery, and other industrial products produced by Steel City to various parts of the dynasty.
It was a miracle to see such an industrialized city in the setting of an ancient game. Steel City was gradually becoming a microcosm of the Grand Xia's industrialization, as well as a breeding ground.
According to the plans of the Industry Bureau, they were preparing to build a railroad between Steel City's largest iron mine and its largest steel mill before the end of the year. This would also be the first railroad of the Grand Xia Dynasty.
Building a railroad would require an enormous amount of money, and the initial budget alone would cost five hundred thousand gold coins. At the same time, research and development of steam engines was also listed as one of the most important projects of the Industry Bureau.
The seeds of industry were quietly blossoming within the borders of the Grand Xia.
… …
On the northern outskirts of Steel City, a large military camp had been temporarily erected.
Stationed here were the Second and Fourth Legions of the Dragon Stallion Army. Near the camp were massive storehouses piled high with rations and supplies.
These rations and supplies had been prepared by the Bureau of Military Affairs' War Preparations Department in the nearby Southern Sichuan Province. They had been transported through the Jinsha River under the cover of transporting steel.
Their goal was naturally to conceal their tracks and prevent Swordsman City from discovering them ahead of time.
Not far from the military camp was an airport. It was surrounded by a five-meter-tall wall, making it impossible to see what was going on inside. More than a hundred mimic aircraft were parked in the airport, ready to take off.
If outsiders saw this, their eyes would surely pop out of their sockets. No one could imagine what kind of destructive effect such a large number of aircraft would have on the battlefield. Mimic aircraft of this scale were the culmination of Steel City's industrialization and one of the Grand Xia's trump cards in this battle.
Of the two armies, the Second Army was in the west, and its commander was the recently appointed general of the Sui Dynasty, Lai Hu 'er. The Fourth Army was in the east, and its commander was the Minister of the West, Luo Shixin.
Speaking of which, these two Sui Dynasty generals had crossed paths before. This time, Lai Hu 'er had been appointed as the left vanguard, while Luo Shixin had been appointed as the right vanguard. Together, they formed the Grand Xia's vanguard.
On this morning, the two armies set off at the same time, splitting into two groups to attack Jiangyang County.
The world was in an uproar when the news spread.
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