Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2183 Trading Space for Time, Abandoning Heyang and Losing Qingnan

"What you mean, my dear minister!"

"Did someone leak the prince's whereabouts?" At this moment, Xuanyuan Huang couldn't help but reveal murderous intent in his eyes.

They had already suspected the mole inside during the last major battle in Dongcang.

For this reason, Xuanyuan Huang even devised a plan to test him.

However, they only managed to lure out Wang Xiaoyao; they didn't actually expose the real person behind it all.

For the past year or two, Xuan Yuanhuang had been deeply troubled by this person and had secretly investigated him more than once, but the person seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

"Your Majesty, now there are only two people still alive who know about Prince Changyi's whereabouts!" Chu Suiliang reminded him from the side.

None of the soldiers accompanying the army knew that Xuanyuan Changyi was hiding in the army. There were only a few people who knew this to begin with, and now there are even fewer alive. Only Da Hong and Xuanyuan Jingcheng are left.

As for those who died, they naturally wouldn't be considered suspects.

"Dahong is impossible; he is my brother!"

The first candidate was immediately ruled out by Xuanyuan Huang.

If Da Hong were to have any problems, Heyang would fall into Li Jing's hands in an instant. Li Jing would easily appear behind their troops, and by then, Da Hong's head might not even be on his head anymore.

"As for my cousin Jingcheng!"

When the topic of this person came up, Xuanyuan Huang hesitated.

Within the Xuanyuan family, there were few who were truly willing to help him. It was only after he developed and expanded the Celestial Masters sect, and even established his own dynasty and became emperor, that those related to him by blood came to him.

As for Xuanyuan Jingcheng, who had chosen to follow him from the very beginning, he naturally didn't want to doubt him. After all, they shared the same blood.

However, as Feng Hou and Chu Suiliang said, now, only these two people are still alive who might know the truth.

Moreover, Tetis, a Celestial-level expert, is dead, and Li Mu, a Divine General, is also dead, but Xuan Yuanhuang, a half-step Celestial-level expert, is qualified to be captured alive.

Everyone should think about this more!
"Regardless of the circumstances, Brother Jingcheng, this matter has already fallen into enemy hands!"

"This matter can only be investigated secretly!" Xuan Yuanhuang said in a slightly cold tone.

"There is one more matter, Your Majesty. Chengyuan is difficult to defend, and a decision should be made as soon as possible!" Empress Feng said with a heavy expression.

With Li Mu killed in battle, the morale of Cheng Yuan was shaken. At this time, Cheng Yuan only had 10,000 soldiers left. How could they deal with Li Jing's army of more than 200,000?

"What do you suggest we do, my dear minister?"

Xuanyuan Huang already had an idea in mind, but he was just hesitant to make up his mind and needed someone to give him a push.

"In the current situation, the only option is to trade space for time!"

"As long as the Ma family of Zhennan sends troops, the pressure on our eastern front will be relieved!" Feng Hou said solemnly.

Although not long ago, Xuanyuan Huang had reluctantly decided to agree to the conditions of the Zhennan Ma family, using Guangyang as bait to persuade them to send troops.

However, the situation deteriorated too quickly, and before much time had passed and before they could even send troops from Zhennan, the eastern front was already showing signs of being unable to hold out.

"Strategist, you must know that we have already promised Guangyang to Zhennan!"

"If we're going to trade space for time now, then it'll be at least half of Heyang and half of Qingnan!"

"You need to understand, if we give up like this, our Great Yan will only have the East Sea Road left, plus half of the Qingnan Road!" Xuan Yuanhuang said in an extremely heavy tone.

That's why he couldn't make up his mind!
The problem for the Great Yan now is that if Chengyuan County cannot be defended, Li Jing's troops can invade the southern part of Qingnan Road, which will not only threaten Donghai Road, but also directly threaten Xuanyuan Huang's front-line army.

If Da Hong's troops were transferred to Chengyuan County, and the remaining troops of Heyang Road were concentrated in one place, it would certainly be able to defend Chengyuan County.

However, if that were the case, the northern part of Heyang Road would be completely empty, and Xuanyuan Huang's troops are currently right next to the northern part of Heyang Road.

Whether it was Yue Fei or Li Jing who casually dispatched troops, they would put Xuanyuan Huang in an extremely awkward position.

Therefore, the solution is actually quite simple: while Da Hong concentrates the remaining troops of Heyang Road to hold Chengyuan, their frontline troops gradually abandon the northern part of Qingnan Road and retreat to the south.

In this way, the crisis can be temporarily resolved!
However, this is equivalent to directly giving up the territory of a Dao, plus the half of Heyang Dao that Li Jing has already taken over. If they give up all of these, what will their Great Yan have left?
"His Majesty!"

"It seems that the northern part of Heyang and the northern part of Qingnan Road have been completely abandoned!"

"In reality, the only real loss for our Great Yan is the northern part of Qingnan Road."

"The Heyang Road, at least for the Great Yan Dynasty, is nothing more than a useless trifle!" Chu Suiliang, another strategist, suggested.

In Heyang Road, for various reasons, the people's hearts and minds of the Great Yan are not firmly established, whether at the upper or lower levels.

Perhaps if given a few more years, this region will bring a huge boost to the strength of the Great Yan.

But at least for now, for the Great Yan, Heyang Road is a burden.

Therefore, their loss was only half of Qingnan.

"Furthermore, Your Majesty!"

"As long as we can wait for Zhennan to send troops, with the two sides joining forces, we can only wait for changes to occur in the western part of the Han Dynasty!"

"Our army can launch a counterattack, recover all lost territory, and even take Guangyin into our hands in one fell swoop!" Feng Hou continued.

Of course, Feng Hou was just joking when she said these words. She only wanted to convince everyone and give them a reason to convince themselves. If they really took it seriously, then they would have lost.

Even if, as he said, things change in the west of the Han Dynasty, and those changes are not minor, it will be enough for them to not only recover lost territory but also take Guangyin.

The probability of this happening is not nonexistent, but it is certainly very small.

"Furthermore, although we lost a large amount of territory by trading space for time!"

"However, our army can also concentrate its forces and shrink the defensive line to a single line!"

"In this way, we can also avoid the problem of insufficient troops in our Great Yan and prevent the Han army from defeating us one by one!"

After the wind subsided, Chu Suiliang spoke again.

Faced with these two successive situations, Xuanyuan Huang, who was initially undecided, gradually strengthened his resolve.

"In that case, send the order to Dahong immediately!"

"Send word to Shi Hu, ordering him to temporarily transfer the Black Spear Dragon Cavalry to Da Hong's camp to prevent Guo Ziyi from taking advantage of the situation!" Xuan Yuanhuang gave the order directly.

However, while Da Hong's side was easy to deal with, Xuan Yuanhuang knew that their troops would not be so easy to withdraw!

After all, they still had Yue Fei's hundreds of thousands of troops in front of them, and the battle lines between the two sides stretched for hundreds of miles!

If he wanted to lead his troops out completely under Yue Fei's nose, he needed more time to prepare and make thorough preparations.

"Actually, our army's biggest crisis right now is not these!" As she said this, Feng Hou couldn't help but look at the generals, big and small, below the tent.

"Your Majesty, the greatest crisis facing our army lies not in external forces, but in the hearts and minds of its soldiers!"

"Your Majesty, according to the investigation by the Celestial Guard, in Qingnan alone, there are more than 72 local aristocratic families, 21 military officers and even court officials who have been secretly communicating with the rebels!"

"This is the list obtained by the Celestial Guard. We respectfully request Your Majesty's judgment!"

As she spoke, Feng Hou took out a stack of names from her sleeve.

He came here today to report on this matter.

However, before he could speak, he received news of Xuanyuan Changyi's suicide in battle, which delayed his speech by a moment.

"Buzz!"

Inside the tent, as Feng Hou took out the stack of names, the deathly silence was broken, and a series of suppressed but still clearly audible gasps were heard.

Some people swayed and almost fainted on the spot.

Some people clenched their fists so tightly that their knuckles turned white.

Large beads of cold sweat dripped from people's foreheads onto the smooth ground.

"It's over," countless thoughts exploded in the minds of many people present.

The Celestial Guards never fail to return when they make a move!

Once this list is made public, it will lead to the confiscation of property and the extermination of entire families, resulting in rivers of blood!
"More than seventy-two families!"

"Your Majesty, these aristocratic families dare to collude with the Han Dynasty, they deserve to die!" Zhang Liang, who had always stood firmly against the aristocratic families within the Great Yan, said through gritted teeth.

For this reason, he selectively ignored the second half of the sentence after the wind and only paid attention to the first half.

"drink!"

"Back then, Luyuan City was handed over to the Han army by that aristocratic family, so that Feng Yi got one of our cities for free without losing a single soldier!"

"Those aristocratic families should have been executed back then!"

"Your Majesty, these people are not on our side!" Hao Yaoqi, a burly man, said in an equally unfriendly tone.

He was originally from Zhongcang, but of course, he was just a low-level person in Zhongcang and had no status.

He was a prisoner of war during the period when Zhongcang and Dayan fought. After his defeat, he was eventually incorporated into the Dayan army as a prisoner. Coming from a poor background, he fought his way up little by little with his courage and strength.

Now, within the Great Yan Dynasty, although he is not a high-ranking figure, he is at least a mid-level person. Although he sits at the very back, he is at least qualified to enter this large tent.

When Lu Yuan City was handed over to the Han army by those aristocratic families, Feng Yi's plan had already taken effect. This small incident successfully reignited the internal class conflicts within the Great Yan Dynasty.

Zhang Liang, Zhang Bao, Bo Cai, Hao Yaoqi, Niu Jinxing, Gu Wanfang, Ma Qiu, and a large number of others expressed great hostility towards the Qingnan family at that time.

At that time, it was only because Xuanyuan Huang had strong enough control over the Great Yan that he was able to temporarily suppress this matter.

However, this kind of contradiction has always existed.

Being suppressed doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Given the right opportunity, there will be another chance to erupt sooner or later.

This secret correspondence incident was the so-called opportunity!

At this critical juncture in the war, why did they begin exchanging letters with the enemy? What were they exchanging letters about? What was it that required them to do so at this time?

No one would believe that exchanging letters at this time was just for casual conversation!

Therefore, because of this incident, the conflict that had been suppressed by Xuanyuan Huang not long ago has erupted once again.

Following Zhang Bao and Hao Yaoqi, other leaders have stepped forward to express their opinions.

Therefore, like Zhang Bao, they ignored the second half of the sentence and only focused on the more than 70 aristocratic families mentioned in the first half.

Their ability to grasp the key points is consistently high.

Many of those who haven't made a move are guilty because of that list.

Shi Le remained silent, not because he had something to hide.

However, he knew very well that no matter what, at the critical moment of such a great battle, these reckless men could really be allowed to attack the powerful families.
In such a great battle, they completely pushed the enemy to the opposite side of the Han Dynasty, as if they were afraid that the Great Yan Dynasty would not be defeated quickly enough!
If that's really done, all those fence-sitters will be overthrown!

In this world, fickle people are always the majority. They may not be steadfast in their loyalty to the Great Yan, but they won't be steadfast in their loyalty to the Great Han either.

They will only offer help at the last minute, which, of course, is the last straw that breaks the camel's back for the other family.

"I too am from a noble family!"

"The Xuanyuan Clan of the East Sea is the foremost family in the East Sea region!"

"You should either deal with me first!" Xuanyuan Huang said with a hint of anger.

Sometimes he was really angry at their lack of ambition. These people would keep bringing up the affairs of the aristocratic families, never considering the timing or occasion.

If it weren't for the strained relationship with the powerful families, which was even completely severed for a period of time, the development of the Great Yan Dynasty would not have been so slow.
But the Great Yan Dynasty has no talented people!

Xuanyuan Huang was not without means to suppress these people; for him, transferring them away from the center of power was an easy task.

However, if he defeats them, he will not have enough men to replace them.

Over the years, although he has cultivated a group of talents, the problem is that the Great Yan has been expanding continuously, from the initial East Sea Road to the later Four Roads.

The talents he cultivated simply wouldn't allow him to defeat them.

It's easy to take these people down, but it's difficult to find replacements.

It is precisely because of this that even these people, who constantly do things that are extremely foolish in Xuanyuan Huang's eyes, occasionally slow him down.

However, as long as these people don't do anything that crosses the line like Zhu Can did, Xuanyuan Huang will still use them. He can't really suppress all of them to the bottom like Zhu Can did.

"I am terrified!"

Having watched the show long enough, Shi Le was the first to step forward and help the man who had fallen to the ground.

"I am terrified!"

Only then did everyone realize that Xuan Yuanhuang's words had been quite harsh; even these people could hear the anger in his tone.

Play is play, and jokes are jokes!
However, given Xuanyuan Huang's prestige within the Great Yan, no one present dared to truly provoke him.