Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2173 An outrageous demand, a painful abandonment of Guangyang

Qingnan.

Xuanyuan Huang put Da Hong's plea for help aside, but could only sigh silently in his heart.

They can't even outwardly express their true emotions.

There's no other reason than that he is the ruler of the Great Yan, and the entire Great Yan is watching him!

If even he appears bewildered, lamenting, and worried, what will the people below think?
Therefore, even if it's just an act, it should be an act of absolute confidence and certainty to defeat the Han army.

First, he must have confidence, then his subordinates can have confidence in turn. If even he loses hope, then a sense of despair will spread among his subordinates.

"Li Jing of the Han Dynasty led an army of 250,000 to press towards Heyang. His generals, including Alcyoneus, Yao Xing, Pei Yuanqing, Anubis, Wang Feng, Zhao Yun, and Shi Yongkai, were all brave enough to fight ten thousand men."

"Now, Dahong has asked for help three times in a row!"

"What do you all think we should do?" After summoning all the civil and military officials, Xuanyuan Huang asked them for their advice.

The Great Yan Dynasty truly has no spare troops left!
The combined forces of Yue Fei and Li Jing, scattered across the land, numbered nearly 700,000.

Their Great Yan army, even when combined, only numbered 500,000.

Moreover, can the attacking and defending forces be of equal strength?

If it's an attack on a city, the defending side might only need 20,000 to 30,000 troops to handle 100,000. If the defending general is even slightly capable, those 100,000 troops would be completely helpless against them.

But what they had to guard against wasn't just one city, but four entire routes.

Does this mean that Yue Fei and Li Jing could concentrate their forces to attack one region, but they could also concentrate their forces to defend another region, regardless of the others?
Their forces are destined to be dispersed across various regions for defense.

In Qingnan Road alone, in addition to the 150,000 troops initially stationed there, Xuanyuan Huang brought an additional 80,000 reinforcements when he arrived.

Just here, they've already wasted almost half of their Great Yan's military strength.

After all, they were facing a massive army of 400,000 men from the Han Dynasty. Furthermore, there was also a Black Cavalry unit serving under Yue Fei.

There are a total of 120,000 troops in Da Hong, Heyang.

Meanwhile, their stronghold in the Tokaido region was guarded by 100,000 troops, including the navy and other forces.

Although the rest of the force, apart from the navy, consisted mainly of new recruits, they only needed to defend against the enemy navy's long-range naval attacks, unlike the overwhelming forces of the Han Dynasty they faced. Therefore, the new recruits, combined with the naval forces, were sufficient for defense.

So, to put it bluntly, the Great Yan only has 50,000 troops left.

However, in addition to Donghai Road, Qingnan Road and Heyang Road, Da Yan also has Guangyang Road.

If that's the case, where will Xuanyuan Huang find reinforcements for him? If troops from other places are transferred there, does that mean the other places are no longer needed?

When Xuanyuan Huang asked for advice, all the civil and military officials of the Great Yan Dynasty fell silent!
What method can bridge this gap in hard power?

In fact, what two countries fear most in a conflict is not the other side playing tricks or schemes, but rather the emergence of a gap in hard power.

If faced with intrigue and trickery, one can outwit them and counter their moves; even the most ruthless schemes have a chance of being dealt with. But how can one bridge this gap in raw power?

In Henan, it seems that Li Jing's army of 250,000 men is no match for Yue Fei's army of 400,000 men, but can you judge a war by just numbers?

Can the Flying Feather Legion's pure cavalry legion be compared to an infantry legion of equal size?
In the direction of Heyang Road, Dahong was forced to act with restraint, precisely because of the fast-reacting Flying Feather Legion. Dahong's various units dared not provide flanking support to each other.

In the end, Li Jing could only concentrate his overwhelming forces and pull them out one by one, like pulling out nails.

"In fact, the only way to break this deadlock is to invite the Zhennan Army to attack Guangyin from the north, thus relieving the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao!" Feng Hou coughed and said with a hint of hesitation.

From the very beginning, they knew that their family was no match for the Han Dynasty. Therefore, as soon as Xuanyuan Huang received the news, even before he had left Donghai Road, he had already sent people to Zhennan Ma Clan and Zhao Song.

The journey to Zhao Song was long, as one was in the far east of Da Cang and the other in the far west of the original Da Cang, with other people's territory in between. They couldn't use troop transport vehicles, and it would be considered fast if they could get there in half a year.

Fortunately, although they didn't know where their people were, it was clear that Zhao Song was a competent ally, as they had already dispatched troops before their request for help even arrived.

However, it was the Ma family in Zhennan who were causing them a lot of headaches.

The territory of the Ma family in Zhennan is right next to theirs. If they travel by troop transport vehicle from Donghai Road, they can cross Guangyang and reach Yangdong Road, where they are located, in about half a month without going day or night.

However, while this side is easy to contact, it is difficult to persuade.

Unfortunately, there is a conflict between the two sides in terms of geopolitics and ideology.

Firstly, the Great Yan Dynasty, which rose to power by instigating the Great Cang Rebellion, has never been treated well by the Zhennan Ma Clan since the era of the Celestial Masters!
Secondly, the two families are quite different. The Great Yan Dynasty rose to power through a peasant uprising, while the Ma family of Zhennan was a typical representative of a great noble family.

Third...

In short, Ma Qianli refused to budge. It was only because Ma Qianli had the demeanor of a great noble family that he was able to do so; otherwise, he might have simply driven the envoy of the Great Yan away.

It was only later, when Ma Baili softened his stance, that they saw a glimmer of hope. However, the conditions he proposed almost completely crossed their bottom line!

Although Ma Baili persuaded Ma Qianli to agree, the other party's condition was that they wanted the entire Guangyang Road.

Frankly speaking, among the four provinces controlled by the Great Yan, Guangyang ranks last in terms of wealth and status alone. From the perspective of economy, population, and resources, this province is also the least valuable of the four.

However, this was the region they ruled for the longest period of time, apart from the Tokaido, which served as their main base.

At that time, the Celestial Masters sect was still in its early stages of development and growth, and the early peasant uprising armies and aristocratic families were naturally in a state of absolute opposition.

Once the city falls, officials, powerful families, wealthy merchants, and so on—in short, anyone who isn't a poor commoner—will not fare well!
The early rebel armies were able to grow and expand using these barbaric methods. At that time, in order to expand and grow as quickly as possible, the land, money, and food they seized were truly distributed. Although the upper echelons also consumed a considerable amount, it was completely different from the situation in Heyang Road, where the upper echelons consumed almost everything.

It is precisely for this reason that Donghai Road and Guangyang Road are the two roads with the strongest foundation for the rule of the Great Yan Dynasty.

These two paths were also the ones that Xuanyuan Huang ruled for the longest time and devoted the most effort to.

Furthermore, this route is right next to their main base, the Tokaido, and is part of the strategic depth of the Tokaido. How could it be easily cut off?
This condition has truly crossed their bottom line!
Therefore, would the Great Yan side easily agree to this?
"The Ma family of Zhennan are short-sighted! They are all cowards!"

"Does he think that if our Great Yan is defeated, they can remain unscathed?" Shi Le slammed his hand on the table, his tone full of disdain for the Ma family.

If the Great Yan were to fall, Zhennan would only follow suit. They might not even be worthy of the Great Han sending troops on their own; it might just be a sideline in the process of destroying the Zhao Song dynasty.

"The Ma family of Zhennan has already got my Great Yan figured out!" Chu Liang's son, Chu Suiliang, remained calm at this moment, unlike Shi Le who was as agitated.

After all, the Han army came with the intention of completely annihilating the Great Yan.

If they can't hold them off, not only will all four of them lose their lives, but they themselves will also be in danger. Therefore, this is probably the reason why the other party is making such an exorbitant demand.

At the same time, Chu Suiliang actually understood why the other party made this condition!
Nothing more than the struggle for survival!

Zhennan was an important infantry town, and its military expenditure was less than that of Zhendong and Zhenbei in the past. However, with the death of the Da Cang Dynasty and its inability to continue providing them with money and food, Yangdong alone was still not enough to guarantee their huge military expenditure.

If the Zhennan Army does not seize more territory to develop, it will only decline in the future.

To put it bluntly, the strength of the four towns back then was due to the backing of the Great Cang Dynasty. Otherwise, which of these four families could have supported the expenses of such a powerful army with their meager resources?

Zhennan is probably in dire straits now, having almost exhausted its resources.

"Your Majesty, in truth, when faced with two evils, choose the lesser. In extraordinary times, it wouldn't hurt to grant it to them!"

"However, we can only give it to them after the Han army has retreated! That way, we won't have to worry about them not putting in their best effort!" Feng Hou sighed and said helplessly.

No one else dared to suggest giving up such an important piece of land, as doing so would likely bring them criticism and make them scapegoats. Therefore, Feng Hou had no choice but to speak up himself.

After all, things always need to be resolved!

No matter how important this place is, it's still better than letting Li Jing occupy Heyang Road and push his troops into Qingnan.

If Heyang Road cannot be defended, Qingnan Road will also be unable to be defended, as Heyang Road is the flank of Qingnan Road.

The data on paper already lags far behind that of the Han Dynasty. If the Heyang Road is lost, how will the Qingnan Road cope with attacks from two directions?
This place contains nearly half of the Great Yan's forces. If so many troops are lost, what will Great Yan do next?
"Why don't we wait a little longer? Tuoba Changping of Da Wu and Bei Di won't easily sit idly by and watch the Han Dynasty grow stronger!" Zhang Lu said with some heartache.

He was in charge of spreading the Celestial Masters sect, and Guangyang Dao had a large number of Celestial Masters followers there.

"No need. Hesitation will only lead to more trouble!"

"Tell Chu Liang by urgent dispatch, make him agree to Ma Baili and Ma Qianli's conditions!" Xuan Yuanhuang stopped Zhang Lu, who wanted to continue speaking, and made the final decision directly.

Of course, he was reluctant to give up Guangyang Road directly, but he also wouldn't place his hopes on Dawu and the Tuoba tribe in the north.

The Great Wu has been forced to fight for too many years, and these have all been large-scale battles. Rest and recuperation have become their top priority.

Even if they don't want to see the Han Dynasty grow too powerful and threaten their interests in the east, they will only intervene to a limited extent and will not really go all out.

Limited intervention offers them only limited help. After all, even with limited intervention, it's questionable whether they can get past Su Dingfang and Hulü Guang.

Or rather, the only help Da Wu could provide to their Great Yan was that Hulü Guang's 100,000 Central Imperial Guards remained tied up in the western battlefield and were not moved to the eastern battlefield.

Without the Great Wu, Li Jing's army would probably have grown from 250,000 to 350,000.

As for the Tuoba tribe in the north, let's deal with them after they get past the Zhongxing Mountains! If they get past that hurdle, their predicament will be completely resolved! But if they don't get past that hurdle, it won't be of any help to their Great Yan!
Moreover, and most importantly, the situation in Heyang Road cannot be delayed for long.

If Heyang Road is lost, even if they are willing to pay the price to get the Ma family of Zhennan to send troops, it will be difficult to turn the tide.

"As long as Zhennan sends troops, they can directly threaten Guangyin behind Li Jing!"

"At that time, we will be able to force Li Jing's 100,000 troops to return to defend!" Feng Hou said, pointing to the location of Guangyin on the map.

The Zhennan Army's defense zone borders both Henan Province and Guangyin.

If they could penetrate into Henan Province, it would directly threaten the capital of the Han Dynasty and cause turmoil in the Han Dynasty.

This path may seem appealing, but it's not feasible to implement.

Even if only 20,000 Han soldiers were defending Yangguan Pass, it wouldn't be a problem to hold off an army of over 100,000 for several months.

Moreover, even if Zhennan manages to capture this pass, how many casualties will he suffer? Whether the remaining troops will be able to continue threatening the capital of the Han Dynasty is another unknown.

After all, there were still tens of thousands of soldiers in the capital of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, the only option for Zhennan was to head north and attack Guangyin directly, forcing Li Jing's troops to return to reinforce the area, thus achieving the effect of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao".

At that time, Dahong's pressure will drop sharply.

Only in this way could the Han Dynasty withstand the pressure from the Song, Wu, and Tuoba dynasties, thus forcing them to retreat.

What the Great Yan needs most right now is time. If he could be given a few more years to develop, Xuan Yuanhuang was confident that he could double the manpower and resources that the Great Yan could mobilize.

Back then, when facing the Han Dynasty, why would we be so constrained at every turn as we are now?