Douluo: Steal Tang San's luck and become stronger!

In terms of specific military deployment, Xu Tianran and Ju Zi had already formulated a detailed "Radiant Sun" plan, which involved simultaneous attacks from three directions with key breakthroughs.

The northern route, led by General Luo Xiang, is comprised of the elite "Northern Frontier Army Group," supported by a large number of high-altitude soul-guided reconnaissance devices, heavy soul-guided siege artillery groups, and mobile soul-guided corps. Its main attack is aimed directly at the Heavenly Soul Empire, which is currently suffering from the most severe internal strife and has been greatly depleted of its national strength!

The objective is to take advantage of the infighting and disarray within the Heavenly Soul Empire, where internal rebels and the central government forces are locked in a war of attrition, to break through its northern and eastern border defenses as quickly as possible.

They aimed to capture strategic locations and advance directly into the heart of the Heavenly Soul Empire, striving to cripple or severely weaken its fighting force and will to resist in the shortest possible time.

The central route, commanded by General Ye Ran, was not directed towards a single country, but rather cleverly chose the long buffer zone between the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Star Luo Empire, as well as some sensitive areas where the three powers intersected.

The mission of this army is more complex and flexible.

On the one hand, it seeks opportunities to harass and sever the connection between the southern part of the Heavenly Soul Empire and the northeastern part of the Star Luo Empire, preventing any effective military cooperation between the two empires; on the other hand, it is like a treacherous viper.

They were ready to exploit any weaknesses exposed by the two great empires due to their own internal problems or the offensive of the northern army, to conduct deep penetrations, disrupt logistics, and create greater chaos, thus creating favorable conditions for the decisive battle on the main front.

The western route is led by General Cao Zhen, who commands the "Western Expeditionary Army Group," which is aimed directly at the western border of the Star Luo Empire, where the strength has been relatively well preserved, but the internal structure is not monolithic!

This army is equipped with a variety of offensive and positional combat soul guides, which are the latest developments of the empire and have not yet been fully revealed. Its strategic intention is to exert strong pressure and contain the main force of the Star Luo Empire.

This prevented it from effectively supporting the precarious Heavenly Soul Empire, while also probing the strength and weakness of the Star Luo Empire's western defenses, seeking a breakthrough, and laying the foundation for a possible two-front war or a subsequent general offensive.

The three armies, with clear division of labor, supported each other from all sides and echoed each other from afar.

Under the central command of the newly appointed commander-in-chief, Ju Zi, the information-based soul guidance communication network will ensure coordination. With the absolute advantage of soul guidance technology and the long-planned preparation of troops and materials, a comprehensive and lightning-fast three-dimensional offensive will be launched against the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, which are currently beset by internal and external troubles.

Meanwhile, far to the east of the Sun Moon Empire, in a vast area of ​​hills and sparse woodlands known as "Sanchakou," the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Sun Moon Empire's three armies, Ju Zi, was stationed in a fortified military camp, temporarily reinforced and filled with various soul-guided warning and defense facilities.

The terrain here is extremely complex. It is not a flat border, but rather a combination of rolling low mountains, crisscrossing valleys, large areas of impassable wetland shrubs, and several rivers whose water volume varies dramatically with the seasons.

Such terrain is not conducive to large-scale legions launching head-on battles, but it also provides countless natural cover for small forces to infiltrate, harass, and ambush. As a result, this area has long been a sensitive buffer zone where friction between the major powers on the continent is constant, but it is difficult for decisive battles to break out.

Since Ju Zi was appointed by Xu Tianran to take charge of military affairs on the eastern border front, she has relied on her extraordinary military talent, iron-fisted methods, and profound understanding of the use of soul tools in complex terrain.

Only then was the Sun Moon Empire's border defenses, which had been somewhat chaotic and passive due to the infiltration of various forces and frequent small-scale conflicts, stabilized again, and a relatively tight and rapid-response early warning and defense system was established.

However, a solid defense does not mean complete complacency. The situation at the "crossroads" area remains delicate and tense.

From the watchtower of the military camp, with the help of a high-powered soul-guided telescope, one can clearly see that about a hundred miles to the north, there are endless camps flying the royal flag of the Heavenly Soul Empire. Those are the main force of the Heavenly Soul Empire's "North Wind Legion".

An elite border army known for its tenacity and defensive prowess; further east along the mountain ridge, the flags of the Douling Empire's "Southeast Garrison Army" patrols can occasionally be faintly seen flashing.

Although it is farther away, its very existence is an invisible deterrent; turning south, across a vast swampy area, the Star Luo Empire's "Western Iron Wall" legion's fortified fortresses are like nails driven into the key pass, watching with predatory eyes.

With armies from all four sides gathered here, the atmosphere should theoretically be tense, with a conflict on the verge of erupting. However, quite strangely, in recent months, the expected large-scale frictions or conflicts have not broken out between the four sides, and even small-scale border patrol encounters have decreased significantly.

The reason is simple: everyone now faces a more troublesome, more urgent, and indiscriminate common enemy—the out-of-control tide of soul beasts!

In order to disrupt the situation and weaken the strength and attention of all parties, especially the border troops, the Holy Spirit Cult deployed more than one evil soul tool in this area, which can arouse the ferocity of soul beasts, disturb their minds, and even exert a certain degree of guidance and control.

These soul tools are evil and domineering, often affecting soul beasts within a radius of tens or even hundreds of miles, causing them to go berserk and gather into a terrifying beast tide.

However, this evil soul tool has an extremely fatal and troublesome drawback.

Once activated, the affected soul beasts will completely lose their minds, becoming extremely bloodthirsty and insane. Their attack targets will be completely random, indiscriminately targeting humans, soul beasts, and regardless of whether you are a soldier of the Sun Moon Empire or a civilian of the Heavenly Soul Empire.

They will attack any moving object in their line of sight and destroy everything in their path, driven only by instinct!
Therefore, after completing the deployment and activation tasks, the evil spirit masters of the Holy Spirit Cult would often flee far away immediately, never daring to stay in one place, for fear of being affected and devoured by the terrifying beast tide that would erupt indiscriminately.

This vicious tactic of "using and discarding" and "disappearing after creating chaos" has caused enormous trouble and casualties to the troops stationed on all four sides of the border.

About half a month ago, an unprecedented and widespread beast tide broke out in the Howling Valley, northeast of the "Three Crossroads".

Tens of thousands of soul beasts of all kinds, ranging in age from hundreds to tens of thousands of years, surged out of the valley like a black flood bursting its banks, rushing in all directions without any pattern!
That time, whether it was the Sun Moon Empire's soul-guided defense line, the Heavenly Soul Empire's infantry formation, or the Douling Empire's rangers and the Star Luo Empire's heavy armored legion, they were all formidable opponents.

All were subjected to the ferocious, indiscriminate onslaught of the beast tide. The light of soul-guided cannon fire, the roar of soul skills exploding, the howls of soul beasts and the screams of soldiers mingled together, turning the border into a bloody inferno.

Faced with such indiscriminate, catastrophic attacks, the lines between friend and foe among humans became blurred. Continuing to fight individually would only lead to being divided, surrounded, and devoured one by one by the beast tide.

Ultimately, the four frontline commanders made a difficult but rational decision at almost the same time—to temporarily set aside their differences and hostility and achieve a fragile cooperation, limited to dealing with this beast tide, through urgent and rudimentary soul guidance signals.

It was a chaotic and brutal joint defensive battle. The Sun Moon Empire's soul-guided artillery provided long-range fire support for the Heavenly Soul Empire's infantry, suppressing the vanguard of the beast tide; the Star Luo Empire's heavy cavalry launched a counter-charge at key passes.

This bought time for the archers and soul masters of the Douling Empire to redeploy; healing soul masters and military doctors from all four sides worked together to treat the wounded in relatively safe areas, regardless of nationality... It was through this forced and temporary cooperation that the four-party allied forces barely withstood the most ferocious impact of that great beast tide, guiding it to relatively desolate and sparsely populated areas, and eventually gradually calming it down.

There were no irreparable or devastating losses or large-scale casualties among the soldiers. However, the battle cost all four armies a considerable price, their morale was damaged, and they were even more disgusted with the Holy Spirit Church's unscrupulous behavior.

At this moment, Orange, sitting in the border command post, was playing with a cold metal bullet casing in her hand, but her eyes were somewhat unfocused and not fully concentrated on the border map in front of her.

Involuntarily, the scene from a few days ago, when she personally led a reconnaissance team during a small-scale soul beast uprising, flashed through her mind: the unexpected incident.

She and a small team of elite guards were trapped in a narrow stone forest by hundreds of ferocious "Iron-Bone Porcupine" soul beasts. Their soul tools were about to run out of energy, their guards had suffered heavy casualties, and their situation was extremely precarious.

Just then, a figure as swift as the wind, yet with an imposing aura as solid as a mountain, suddenly charged in from the flank! It was a young man who looked quite young, with even somewhat handsome features, wearing a tight-fitting outfit bearing the Tang Clan's insignia.

He wielded a strangely shaped spear that didn't seem to be made of metal. His spearmanship was sharp and precise, each strike aimed directly at the vital points of the soul beast, yet it also carried a strange, gentle force.

It can often knock away or knock back large-sized soul beasts without causing excessive bloodshed, effectively preventing other soul beasts from becoming even more frenzied.

What shocked Ju Zi even more was that during the fierce battle, nine spirit rings suddenly rose from beneath the young man—two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red! He was clearly a Title Douluo with 100,000-year spirit rings! Moreover, he was such a young Title Douluo that she had never seen in any known information!

With the young man's formidable strength clearing the way and providing cover, Ju Zi and her remaining guards were able to fight their way out of the encirclement and escape danger. After escaping, Ju Zi wanted to step forward to thank him and inquire about his identity.

But the young man merely nodded slightly to her, without saying a word, before his figure flickered and vanished swiftly into the depths of the stone forest as if merging into the wind, leaving behind only a faint, calming scent of grass and trees.

Being saved by such a young Title Douluo from an opposing force... This incident made Ju Zi, who was always proud and arrogant and regarded completing the mission and the interests of the empire as the highest priority, feel an indescribable humiliation and anger. Whenever she thought of it, she would grit her teeth in anger.

This was more painful for her than simply being defeated by the enemy; it felt as if her abilities and dignity had been trampled on in some invisible way.

"The Tang Clan... truly a place where hidden talents abound, not to be underestimated."

Orange gathered her wandering thoughts, her eyes regaining their sharpness and composure.

The appearance of that young Title Douluo, and the information she had recently learned through various channels about the demigod-like power displayed by Tang Lan, the sect leader of the Tang Sect, in Dongyang City, all raised her vigilance towards this emerging sect to the highest level.

However, crises often come with opportunities. Recently, the Holy Spirit Cult seems to have become even more aggressive, not restrained by the "success" of the last massive beast tide, but rather intensifying its activities around this "crossroads" area.

By frequently creating various small-scale riots by soul beasts, spreading poisonous fog, and polluting water sources, they clearly intend to continue bleeding the troops stationed in all directions, creating panic, and delaying time.

This constant harassment, while exhausting to deal with, also allowed Orange to keenly perceive an excellent opportunity—the other three forces, especially the Heavenly Soul and the Fighting Spirit Empire, were being thrown into chaos by a rebellion supported by the Holy Spirit Cult.

With the nation's strength depleted, some of the border troops were also redeployed to the country to quell the rebellion, leaving the defense forces outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and in a period of relative weakness and distraction!
"We can't wait any longer."

Orange suddenly stood up, walked to the huge border sand table, and gently traced her finger along the Sun Moon Empire's defense line to the east and north, her eyes flashing with decisive light.

"The Holy Spirit Cult's continued creation of chaos, seemingly causing us trouble as well, is actually helping us to lull our opponents into a false sense of security and conceal our true intentions. Now is the perfect time to launch a thunderous strike!"

She made up her mind to immediately submit an urgent, confidential report to His Majesty Xu Tianran, who was far away in Mingdu. She needed a detailed analysis of the current situation on all four sides of the border, especially the weaknesses and vulnerabilities revealed by the border guards of Tianhun and Douling due to internal strife.

It is strongly recommended that Your Majesty seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, decisively issue an order, and dispatch the main force of the Sun Moon Empire's army to launch a full-scale surprise attack from the sensitive and crucial point of the "Three Crossroads" while the other three parties are in internal chaos and their defenses are relatively weak!

With the Sun Moon Empire's well-prepared elite forces and superior soul-guided technology, she was confident that, with meticulous planning and swift action, she could quickly defeat the Heavenly Soul Empire's North Wind Legion and then sweep eastward.

Occupying this strategically valuable buffer zone spanning hundreds of miles could even allow us to penetrate deep into the heart of the Heavenly Soul Empire, disrupting its entire northern defense system and opening a crucial breakthrough for the empire's subsequent large-scale conquests!

However, the very next morning, just as Ju Zi had gathered his trusted generals to secretly discuss the details of the memorial and the preliminary plan for the surprise attack, and was preparing to dispatch his most reliable Soul Douluo with an encrypted soul-guided communicator and a secret paper letter to return to Mingdu to report—

"Report—!!!"

A sharp and loud announcement suddenly rang out outside the command post, interrupting her thoughts.

Ju Zi frowned slightly. At this moment, unless it was an urgent military matter, his generals would not dare to disturb him so directly.

She said in a deep voice.

"Come in!"

A general dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking officer of the Sun Moon Empire, with a calm demeanor, weathered face, and cultivation level that had reached the Soul Douluo level, strode into the council hall, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in salute, and his expression carried an undisguised urgency and solemnity.

Ju Zi recognized the man; he was a capable lieutenant under General Luo Xiang and one of Emperor Xu Tianran's trusted messengers, frequently responsible for relaying top-secret orders between the central government and the border regions. (End of Chapter)