Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 293: Rich Harvest, Saving the Land or Saving the People
The price of the victory at Ningyuanqiu was obviously much greater than that of the ambush at Changbaigou.

The Yunjiao Army that rushed over from the north numbered only a little over 700 people. Almost everyone had a layer of blood on their faces, and most of them were injured. A few of them were so seriously injured that their blood had soaked through their armor.

Xia Hong could even see that the arms of most of the soldiers who were drawing their bows were shaking violently. It was obvious that the ambush at Ning Yuanqiu was too stressful and they had not recovered yet.

But even so, none of these soldiers looked tired, or rather, their excited expressions concealed all the fatigue on their faces.

The Yunjiao Army defeated the two armies in Longyou in one night. Its first battle was perfect.

You have to know that the Yunjiao Army was established only twenty days ago. Whether in terms of training, equipment, or training time, it is not as good as the Zhaoyang Blood Guard Army, let alone the new army in Longshan.

Moreover, judging from the number of enemies killed and the supplies seized, the Yunjiao Army completely destroyed the two armies' organizations. These were two indisputable victories.

The overall plan for the two battles tonight and the specific tactics of the Yunjiao Army were indeed deployed by him personally, but the real executors were Xia Chuan, Liu Yuan, Yuwen Tao and other cold-resistant soldiers, as well as the one thousand soldiers who actually participated in the battle.

It must be said that everyone's performance had already exceeded his expectations, especially Xia Chuan, Liu Yuan, Yuwen Tao and others. Their dispatch of the ten battalions during the ambush and their precise control of the timing of the ambush amazed him.

"What are the specific casualties?"

Xia Hong suppressed the excitement in his heart, calmed himself down, and then asked about the specific casualties of the Yunjiao Army.

Hearing this, Liu Yuan's expression suddenly became clearer, and he said in a heavy tone: "Reporting to the leader, in the battle of Changbaigou, 32 of our soldiers were killed and 52 were seriously injured; in the battle of Ningyuanqiu just now, 69 of our soldiers were killed and 72 were seriously injured..."

101 killed, 124 seriously injured, a total casualty rate of %. Compared with the huge results achieved tonight, it is definitely shockingly low. However, when Xia Hong heard this number, the corner of his eye twitched violently.

Xia Hong was certainly not blaming the Yunjiao Army for their poor fighting. Taking the two battles tonight as a whole, Daxia's casualty ratio was estimated to be around 1 to 17. Such a record was not enough to be described as perfect, and it was no exaggeration to call it a miracle. There was nothing wrong with the performance of the Yunjiao Army.

He was heartbroken about the 20% reduction in staff.

Longshan was a big family with a lot of wealth. Even if they lost this new army, they still had 3,000 elite Longyou troops in their hands, and they were able to sit on the Diaoyutai.
It’s different for Da Xia. It only has the Yunjiao Army, its precious treasure. Losing one of them would be enough to make Xia Hong sad for a long time, not to mention a 20% reduction in personnel.

This has nothing to do with how big the victory is. The essence is that Da Xia currently has too little capital, and a 20% reduction in personnel is enough to make Xia Hong feel the pain of cutting flesh.

"We must find a way to increase our troops. It is impossible to continue fighting Longshan with such a small number of people."

Xia Hong felt a sense of urgency. He looked around the Yunjiao Army and then to the north. He asked Liu Yuan, "Are there any more people behind us?"

The total number of casualties of the Yunjiao Army was 225, but there are only 725 here, which is obviously a mismatch.

Liu Yuan nodded and said, "I led the army here first. The 142 Blood Guards prisoners, 124 seriously injured soldiers, the bodies of the dead soldiers, and the captured armor and weapons are all behind us. Yuwen Tao led 50 soldiers and is heading here with them. They are about five or six kilometers away from us."

"There are less than four hours left until dawn. We must hurry. Xia Chuan, you take three battalions of soldiers to meet Yuwen Tao and his gang. The rest of you should set off immediately and return to Wushuang first."

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan's expression became slightly solemn. He bowed and agreed. He immediately pointed out the soldiers from three battalions and rushed to the north.

If we didn't get back to Wushuang before dawn, we would have to risk camping on the snowfield.

Moreover, Longshan has most likely already transferred his troops to the Songyuan garrison, and might be trying to intercept them right now. They have to get out of Songyuan and return to Wushuang as quickly as possible.

As soon as Xia Chuan left, the remaining 400-odd Yunjiao soldiers, under Xia Hong's command, continued to head south and started their return journey.

"Go south for seven kilometers, then turn east and walk four kilometers, and you'll be out of Songyuan and into Wushuang territory. There should still be enough time."

Xia Hong calculated the time and realized that it was more than enough time. He immediately relaxed a lot and followed the army to rush towards Wu Shuang.

The 11-kilometer journey should take more than two hours to complete according to the normal marching speed of the Yunjiao Army. However, since they had walked this road once on the way here, the return journey was much faster.

In less than an hour, four hundred people caught up with the escort team in front.

Lin Kai was very smart. He did not follow the escort team, but hung two kilometers behind the escort team. Obviously, this was to be able to observe the surrounding situation at any time and to respond in advance.

The soldiers of the escort team were just ordinary Digging Realm soldiers transferred from Xiacheng. Very few of them had a basic strength of over 20,000. Their strength was not good to begin with, and with ten large carts, eight hundred sets of hundred-forged-level armor, and so many baggage, plus two hundred seriously injured prisoners, their marching speed was naturally incredibly slow.

The addition of more than 400 Yunjiao soldiers immediately relieved a lot of pressure on them, and the marching speed also increased.

In the end, it only took about an hour and a half for the army to walk out of Songyuan and enter Wushuang territory.

After entering Wushuang territory and realizing that Longshan could no longer catch up, Xia Hong ordered Peng Bo to lead two battalions of soldiers to meet Xia Chuan and others in the rear and increase their marching speed.

Finally, with one hour left before dawn, when the main force was only three kilometers away from Wu Shuang’s base, Xia Chuan and others in the rear finally caught up.

When Xia Chuan's large army arrived from the rear, almost every soldier in the five battalions, in addition to their original equipment, carried one or two sets of blood-red armor, a strong bow and matching blood-red arrows.

In addition, the bodies of the captured Blood Guard prisoners were also covered with weapons and armor, which were obviously spoils of war captured by the Yunjiao Army.

Xia Chuan looked very excited and rushed up to Xia Hong as soon as he saw him.

"Leader..."

"Let's go back first!"

Xia Hong waved his hand, indicating that they should talk after entering the base.

A huge army of more than a thousand soldiers, escorting more than three hundred prisoners, all entered the Stonehenge camp through the entrance.

By the time Xia Chuan and his group of cold-resistant soldiers had settled all the prisoners and counted all the spoils, the sky was already getting light.

…………

July 1, the second year of Daxia
The lobby on the top floor of Wushuang main building.

A group of cold-resistant class soldiers stood on the left and right, while Xia Chuan stood below, reporting last night's harvest to Xia Hong with an excited look.

"In the Battle of Changbaigou, 742 Longyou soldiers were killed and 221 were captured, including three Yuhan level soldiers Zhou Yuan, Li Yuanqing and Cheng He;

Seized were 963 sets of armor, 890 spears, 73 other swords and weapons, all of which were 1290-forged grade, two -forged grade broadswords, a -forged grade long sword, ten iron carts with a cargo capacity of million jin, and healing pills;
Of course, the most important gain was the 800 sets of newly forged -grade armor.
In the battle of Ningyuanqiu, 642 Blood Guards were killed and 142 captured, including two cold-resistant commanders, Hou Ming and Wang Lie.
784 sets of armor, 754 broadswords, 940 bows, 52502 blood arrows, and 30 other swords and weapons of various types were seized, all of which were hundred-forged grade. There was also a thousand-forged grade spear, a thousand-forged broadsword, and 1742 healing pills.

There are also four cold-resistant prisoners captured alive by my eldest brother, Hou Tong, Hou Quan, Zhang Qingyuan, and Lu Yin. Their weapons are all Thousand Forging Level, including a long stick, two broadswords, and a long sword. "

As Xia Chuan finished speaking, the whole place fell silent, and everyone's breathing became heavier.

Even Xia Hong couldn't help but look dazed for a moment.

"After all, war is the fastest way to plunder resources!"

Let’s not talk about other things for now, just the hundred-forged-level armor and weapons seized tonight, there are more than 2500 sets.

Even if Mu Dong led all the craftsmen in the camp to forge armor day and night, it would probably take several years to produce so many. But now, they got it in one night... The problem of the Yunjiao Army's lack of armor was not only solved, but the extra parts could even be used to arm two more armies of a thousand people.

"It's a pity that the camp doesn't have enough Digging Realm soldiers. Otherwise, with this batch of spoils, we can immediately arm two more armies. Right now, the only threat to us is the 3,000 Longyou troops. If we can add two more armies and fight a beautiful battle like tonight, it wouldn't be a big deal to swallow up Longshan directly..."

Xia Chuan obviously thought the same thing as himself, but before he could finish his words, Xia Hong interrupted him.

"Don't think too highly of yourself. It's good enough that we can defeat Zhaoyang in one fell swoop. Li Xuanling is not a fool, and Longshan has many talented people. It will be basically impossible to replicate tonight's two big wins later."

When Xia Chuan and the other cold-resistant-level warriors heard this, they immediately became much more sober. After thinking carefully for a moment, they all nodded slightly.

Tonight's two big wins seemed easy.

But in fact, the timely intelligence sent by the insider; Longshan's carelessness; Changbaigou and Ningyuanqiu were two unique ambush locations; Xia Hong personally suppressed Hou Hu and held back a large number of Longshan's cold-resistant troops...

There are too many factors that determine victory or defeat. If just one of them goes wrong, the result will change drastically.

Moreover, the Longshan and Zhaoyang families were unaware of the existence of the Yunjiao Army from the beginning to the end. They acted unintentionally, and just based on this point alone, Daxia gained too many advantages.

Longshan already knows about the existence of the Yunjiao Army, so he will certainly not be foolish enough to be deceived again in the future. Therefore, it is definitely impossible for him to replicate the two big victories tonight.

"The Yunjiao Army's armor is now in place. Let's put the spoils aside. The next priority is to find a way to deal with Longshan's offensive. Tell us what you think!"

After hearing Xia Hong's words, everyone lowered their heads and fell into deep thought.

Longshan suffered such a great loss, it is not difficult to guess what he will do next.

"Captain, we must send more troops. Keep sending people from Xiacheng. Although the 3,000 Longyou troops are strong, if we can take advantage of Wushuang's geographical advantages and have a large number of manpower, it won't be difficult to hold out. If Longshan can't be taken, they will naturally retreat."

Yuwen Tao's proposal was immediately agreed by everyone.

Xia Chuan also nodded and continued, "Excluding Wushuang and Xiacheng, plus the four garrisons of Jinggu, Wuyuan, Fengchao, and Hanqiong, the total number of people in the Digging Realm is now at least over 10,000. If we can transfer all the people here, defending Longshan will be a piece of cake. If Longshan chooses to fight to the death unwisely, we may even have a chance to fight back."

At present, Wu Shuang, in addition to the Yunjiao Army, also has the escort team that was just transferred here, as well as part of the hunting team. The total number of Digging Realm soldiers is about 2,500;
After the martial arts competition in June, the number of people at the Digging Realm in Da Xia had officially exceeded ten thousand. Another month had passed, and the number had naturally increased. According to Xia Hong's estimation, there should be around thirteen thousand people, so there was basically no problem with what Xia Chuan said.

If all the digging troops of Daxia could be gathered here at Wushuang, then even if Longshan mobilized all its forces, it would be extremely difficult to conquer Wushuang, let alone relying on the 3,000 Longyou troops.

Everyone obviously agreed with Xia Chuan and Yuwen Tao's proposal, and no one raised any objections.

Xia Hong looked around at everyone, shook his head slightly, and finally cast his gaze on Xia Chuan, and asked: "You just said that fighting Wu Shuang to the death is an unwise choice. In this case, if we transfer all the Digging Realm to Wu Shuang, wouldn't it be what you said, fighting Wu Shuang to the death?"

…………

Xia Chuan was stunned when he heard this.

Not only him, but also Yuwen Tao and the others were stunned for a moment, and then looked at Xia Hong with confusion on their faces.

Wu Shuang is the territory of Da Xia, and they are here now. Longshan will definitely gather a large army to attack. Isn’t it natural for them to concentrate the Digging Territory here to resist Longshan’s attack?

Seeing the expressions of the crowd, Xia Hong immediately knew what they were thinking. He looked a little strange at first, but then he changed the topic and asked Xia Chuan, "What is our ultimate goal in coming to Longyou?"

"Of course, it is to annex Longshan!"

"Then how can we annex Longshan?"

"Defeat the 3,000 Longyou troops, destroy the Longshan Li family, and all the living forces loyal to the Li family."

Xia Chuan's level of cognition is not low, especially after taking the helm of Da Xia. As the actual affairs to be managed increase, his communication with Xia Hong becomes more frequent, and he has also learned many new concepts from him.

Xia Hong once said personally that when dismembering and then merging a camp, the most important thing is to eliminate the largest vested interest group in the camp. This rule applies to all camps in Bingyuan, including Daxia itself.

Xia Chuan had already understood the overall structure of the Longshan camp through Li Hu and Yang Zhong, so he knew very well that the Li family, who commanded 3,000 Longyou troops, was the uncrowned king of Longshan, and those who were loyal to them were the largest vested interest group in Longshan.

That's why he gave such an answer.

As he said this answer, Xia Chuan obviously realized something, his expression suddenly changed, and he reacted immediately.

Yup!

The ultimate goal of Daxia is to destroy the 3,000 Longyou troops, destroy the Li family, and destroy all the living forces in Longshan who are loyal to the Li family, rather than defending Wushuang to the death!
"We must clearly see where our advantages lie. Longshan's military strength is much stronger than ours. They are not afraid of a head-on battle and will most likely raise troops to attack Wushuang.

If we insist on fighting here, we will just fulfill their wish.

If Daxia can mobilize the Digging Realm, why can’t Longshan do the same?

Zhaoyang was originally only allied with Longshan. Now that the Blood Guards are gone, and Hou Hu almost died at my hands, he will most likely bring his entire camp to join Longshan. Once these two join forces, the number of Digging Realms will surely far exceed ours. By then, I'm afraid it's not certain whether Wu Shuang can hold on!"

Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao, and Chen Yingyuan seemed to have understood, but the others still seemed a little confused and were all still thinking with their heads down.

"Compared to Longshan, what are the advantages of our Daxia?"

"Xiacheng is not in Longyou. Wushuang, Fengchao, and Hanqiong are just three bases of our Great Xia. We can come and go at any time, but not Longshan. Their base camp is on Longshan and cannot be moved away."

This time, it was Yuwen Tao who answered.

His words obviously woke everyone up.

Xia Chuan, Chen Yingyuan, Peng Bo and others all suddenly understood.

Is it better to save the land and lose the people, or to save the people and lose the land?

Simply put, these are the two options.

After all, this is a world where civilization has fallen. It is so simple that it takes so much time to explain it. Xia Hong immediately shook his head.

"Avoid the sharp edge of the 3,000 Longyou troops and first find a way to weaken the overall strength of Longshan. As long as the battlefield remains in Longyou, no matter how we fight, as long as Daxia suffers low casualties, we will always win. Do you understand?"

This time, Xia Hong put his words even more bluntly.

"Understood. I will go and inform Meng Yi and Lu Yang now to transfer all the logging troops from Hanqiong and Fengchao back, leaving only the digging troops in Longyou. Also, have Zhao Long bring all the 1000 defenders from Hanqiong to Wushuang and wait for your orders!"

Obviously, Xia Chuan had fully understood what he meant.

Xia Hong chuckled and nodded, then waved his hand to signal Xia Chuan to do it.

(End of this chapter)