Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 558 Cai Qiuhu's Fury, Seeing Solitude in Every Bush and Tree

The Bone-Eating Road stretches from south to north, with a total length of just over one hundred kilometers.

If the entire journey were within the territory of Caiqiu, along official roads, even an army of 150,000 would likely only take two hours.

But this isn't the place!
The Bone-Eroding Path not only lacks even a meter of official road, but also suffers from extremely low temperatures and complex terrain due to years of erosion by demonic winds. If there are few people, it won't have much of an impact on walking, but if there are many people, the situation becomes complicated.

Not to mention, Cai Qiu's returning army numbered a full 150,000.

"When we traveled from north to south, it took us more than four hours. Now, returning along the same route, even with our constant urging, it still took us almost three hours. With no war for so long, the military preparedness of the regional military governors has become so neglected!"

On the north side of the Bone-Eating Path, about five kilometers from the exit, Cai Qiuhu sped northward through the wind, glancing back at the army behind him, his pupils filled with unyielding rage.

Dozens of Caiqiu generals followed behind him, and upon hearing the sound, they all lowered their heads.

Caiqiu has a history of nearly three hundred years, and its army has been established for at least a hundred years, so it has always valued marching speed.

The speed of a march can be affected by many factors, among which the more important ones include the amount of baggage carried, the size of the march, and the quality of the roads and weather, etc.

Under normal combat conditions, the size of an army is fixed, and whether you have more men and more supplies or not, the other side has the same. Over the past few hundred years, the four vassal states have fought against each other many times, and they have a basic consensus on the speed of marching.

In the minds of everyone in Mo'aochuan, the quality of the four armies was roughly the same. Generally speaking, an army of less than 10,000 men could travel about 120 kilometers in an hour.

The more people there are, the slower the march will be. When the number of troops exceeds 50,000, the marching speed will be reduced by two and a half times, to about 90 kilometers per hour. When the number exceeds 100,000, it will be even slower, to about 70 kilometers per hour. As for an army of more than 200,000, no battle of this scale has been launched since the Four Feudatories began, so no one knows for sure.

Of course, this refers to the situation of traveling through the official channels of regional military governors.

On non-official roads, the marching speed is at least 1.5 times slower. An army of less than 10,000 people can only travel less than 50 kilometers in an hour.

The situation in the Bone-Eroding Path is a bit more complicated, so the speed will continue to decrease, but no matter what, it shouldn't take more than four hours.

After the army marched south for more than four hours, Fang Bo Cai Qianshan's face had already turned very pale. They were all present at the time and saw it clearly.

Now it's the return journey. In other words, the army has already traversed the Bone-Eating Path once before, so it's not so unfamiliar to them. They urged each other on, and it actually took them almost three hours.

That's right. Since their defeat at the south exit, they have been walking for almost three hours, and they are still five kilometers away from the exit.

Given this marching speed, it would be no exaggeration for Cai Qiuhu to describe the current state of the army as one of neglect and disarray.

"We just suffered a defeat, and our morale is too low, which may have an impact. Little Fangbo, don't worry too much. A great victory awaits us at the north exit. After slaughtering that group of rebels and boosting morale, we will surely be able to keep the Xia army out of the valley!"

A nearby armored general quickly offered words of comfort.

We can't stay silent. Cai Qiuhu is a minor regional governor, and his words are, to some extent, a weathervane. If the accusation of military neglect is confirmed, the entire army will probably start a purge immediately.

"That's right. The army has just suffered a major defeat, and it's normal for the soldiers to lack morale."

"The strength of the regional military governor's army is still beyond doubt. They almost broke through the pass in the last six attempts. The overall losses of our region in this battle are not too great. We can regroup and then march south to conquer again."

“We can lose many times, but the Great Xia cannot afford to lose even once. The Great Xia is nothing but a minor ailment, so Little Fangbo doesn’t need to worry. Right now, the most urgent task is to seize Chencang!”

………………

The other generals realized what was happening and immediately echoed their sentiments.

"Idiots, idiots, idiots, this bunch of idiots..."

Little did they know, Cai Qiuhu, who was at the front, was cursing the idiots in his heart as he heard the words of the generals. His face was even slightly flushed, clearly indicating that he was extremely angry.

How could I not be angry?

He had made his point so clear earlier in the middle section of the Bone-Eroding Path.

The rebellion in Changqing Valley and the siege of Linchu by Chencang troops are highly likely to be connected to the Great Xia. Connecting these three events, anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that the Great Xia is no ordinary entity.

Even now, these people still don't take the Great Xia seriously, considering it nothing more than a minor ailment!
"The regional military governors have enjoyed peace for too long. The neglect of their military equipment is secondary. The real problem is that everyone from top to bottom is arrogant, extravagant, and pleasure-seeking. They have lost all their fighting spirit and have long lost their will to fight!"

Last night, after the defeat, the army retreated and received a message from Linchu County requesting reinforcements. Before leaving, my father, Cai Qianshan, said these words to me.

At the time, Cai Qiuhu was somewhat dismissive, thinking that his father and uncle had suffered a great defeat and were extremely panicked when they heard the news that Chencang had sent troops to Linchu, which led them to say those words.

But when he recalled the dismal performance of the 150,000-strong army on its return march, and saw the arrogant and disdainful attitude of the generals around him, he truly realized that what his father and uncle had said was probably true.

Caiqiu is located in the middle of the Mo'ao River, surrounded by the three feudatories and the Mo'ao Mountains to the south. It is a natural battleground. When the various feudatories were focused on expanding outwards, Caiqiu could not even find peace. Now, after so many years, the three feudatories have basically expanded to all the territories they wanted to expand into. With Chencang's recent move, it is now quite clear who their next target will be.

Can Caiqiu, which has enjoyed peace for a long time, withstand the onslaught of the Three Feudatories?
A shadow fell over Cai Qiuhu's brow. Just as he was about to continue his advance, several figures appeared one after another.

"Reporting to the Junior Magistrate, the north exit is riddled with pits filled with burning coal and rocks. The fire stretches for two kilometers, leaving no gaps at the exit. There are at least tens of thousands of laborers blocking the outside of the exit."

"Reporting to Xiao Fangbo, all the trees in the area one kilometer ahead have been cut down by the rebels and piled up haphazardly in the forest, reaching a height of at least thirty meters. They are also continuously cutting down and piling up trees on the perimeter, and filling them with a large amount of wood chips, dry branches, and flammable coal dust. It seems they intend to set fire to cut us off."

"Reporting to Junior Commander, we've lost contact with everyone in the temporary command of Changqing Valley. The command headquarters is littered with corpses; everyone inside was slaughtered by the rebels. When we approached the rebels' main tent, we encountered City Lord Cai. He went to the rebels to sue for peace, but the outcome seems to be unfavorable. He said the Qinghua City garrison is on its way here, and it will take at least..."

Naturally, scouts should be sent out first before marching. Although his father and uncle Cai Qianshan had taken all the Jie Shen realm cultivators with him, Cai Qiuhu still had quite a few Xian Yang realm cultivators under his command. He was worried that both the Great Xia and the rebels might have backup plans, so he dared not stray too far from the main army. However, it was still acceptable to send out Xian Yang realm cultivators in advance to scout the situation ahead.

The person who came to report back was the scout he had previously sent out.

Upon hearing the three messages in a row, Cai Qiuhu's temples throbbed and his heart trembled. When the last person stammered and didn't finish speaking, he roared, "Are you mute? How much longer? Speak up!"

The man was startled and quickly replied, "Two hours."

"what……"

Cai Qiuhu roared angrily, his pupils almost spitting fire.

If Cai Yunzhou were here right now, he could have killed him with a single blow.

This is really troublesome!

Cutting down trees, destroying roads, digging pits and setting fires, and everyone blocking the north exit—is this something those peasants from Evergreen Valley would do?
Clearly, someone is giving the rebels advice from behind the scenes!
Looking at Cai Yunzhou, the city lord of Qinghua City, it's been almost half a night since the Changqing Valley rebellion, yet his reaction time is so slow. The county guards will take another two hours to arrive.

"Did he get anything out of the negotiations? How many rebels are there in total? Who is the leader? Are there any at the Tribulation Realm?"

Cai Qiuhu cursed angrily. When he saw the man's eyes darting around, he immediately realized that Cai Yunzhou's negotiation had been useless. A surge of anger rose in his chest, and his expression became somewhat distorted.

Xia Hong had already been injured by his father and uncle. As long as the 100,000 Xia troops did not catch up with him, there would not be a big problem. The main reason why he dared not stray too far from the main army was that he knew too little about the rebels at the northern exit.

He knew the rebels were no match for him, but he had no idea whether they were at the Tribulation Realm or how many were at the Manifestation Realm. He was already unsure of himself, and when he heard from his scouts that the rebels were cutting down trees to block the road and digging pits to set fires, he became even more anxious.

Cai Yunzhou went to negotiate with the rebels, hoping to resolve the issue or at least temporarily force them to retreat. However, nothing came of it, and he couldn't even find out anything about the rebels' background.

How could he not be angry?

"Young Master Fang, things have come to this point, we have no choice but to press on. The dead trees, broken branches, pits, and fires seem to be arranged in a logical way, but that only proves that the rebels are out of options. If they were truly confident in stopping us, they wouldn't have needed to resort to these methods. I will take a small elite force to clear the roadblocks and fires first!"

Suddenly, a burly middle-aged man from behind spoke up, volunteering to help. Cai Qiuhu turned his head and saw the speaker; his anger immediately subsided somewhat.

Zhu Fang, a cousin of the eldest brother Zhu Huorong, has a cultivation level of Xianyang. Although his strength is only 18 jun, he has mastered a wicked wind technique, which is perfect for clearing the roadblocks set up by the rebels.

but…………

Cai Qiuhu first glanced at the rear, that is, the south side, and then looked towards the exit on the north side. A shadow of gloom flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "The Great Xia army is not fast. It should take another half an hour for them to catch up with us. There is no need to rush. First, select five thousand elite troops, which I will personally lead, and march forward to clear the roadblocks..."

He was genuinely scared!

Such a large wave of rebels from Changqing Valley could have been orchestrated by either Chencang or Daxia. Regardless of which one it was, he couldn't believe that the other side would dare to try to intercept them with only a few hundred thousand Digging Realm cultivators.

The rebels must have a backup plan. He was really worried about sending Zhu Fang with a small elite team; he had to go himself.

"My lord, the main force is more important. Who knows about the Great Xia..."

"No need for nonsense. Our main force isn't stopping. Five thousand elite troops are advancing rapidly. The two armies are only two or three kilometers apart at most. If the Xia army has any tricks up its sleeve, I can react in time. The most urgent task is to clear the roadblocks and deal with the rebels at the exit."

Seeing that everyone was trying to stop him, Cai Qiuhu waved his hand to interrupt them, then turned his head and gave Zhu Fang a look.

Zhu Fang didn't say anything more and immediately went down to muster the troops.

Although they had just suffered a major defeat, the strength of the 150,000 remnants of the army was undeniable. The 5,000 elite troops selected from among them were even more formidable, with almost all of them having a strength of 20 or higher.

In less than two hundred breaths, five thousand elite troops were ready.

"March at full speed! Reach the northern valley entrance as quickly as possible!"

Without a word, Cai Qiuhu immediately ordered the advance, and then named more than thirty Xianyang-level soldiers, leading them to fly north first.

After flying less than a kilometer north, Cai Qiuhu saw the roadblocks made of trees by the rebels.

At this point, it's no longer just a roadblock.

boom………………

The land inside the valley entrance was already covered by firelight, stretching for at least ten kilometers on both sides. When Cai Qiuhu and his group looked north, they couldn't even find the source of the firelight.

"These rebels are really ruthless!"

"Such a large area, and they just burned it down like that..."

…………

The sea of ​​fire, covering hundreds of square kilometers, looked quite intimidating. Although they were just ordinary flames, Cai Qiu and his group, including their leader Cai Qiuhu, couldn't help but be somewhat shaken.

"Zhu Fang, use your magic to clear away the trees piled up on the road. Just clear a path!"

Zhu Fang's tricks are not omnipotent. If it were just an ordinary roadblock a few hundred meters long, he could blow it away with a word. But the roadblock in front of him, not to mention the horizontal distance, stretched for three or four kilometers from north to south.

Moreover, Cai Qiuhu could see very clearly that many large trees were being burned and collapsing one after another in the sea of ​​fire, the density of the roadblocks was becoming increasingly exaggerated, and the flames were becoming more and more intense.

It's definitely impossible to get Zhu Fang to remove all the roadblocks.

The only thing we can do is clear a path for the army to pass through!

"Yes, sir!"

Zhu Fang immediately bowed and accepted the order, then leaped into the air, standing in mid-air at the very front of the five thousand elite troops.

Then an unnatural bluish tinge crept onto his cheeks, and a round bulge, about an inch in diameter, slowly rose in his throat.

The protruding object clearly emerged from his body, first reaching his throat, then all the way to his mouth, and finally, under Zhu Fang's control, slowly floated out of his mouth. It was a blue spirit pearl.

After the spirit pearl flew out, it hovered three inches in front of his mouth.

Upon seeing the cyan spirit pearl appear, Zhu Fang opened his mouth and took a deep breath, his chest rising high. He waited until his face turned red before slowly exhaling.

call………………

What was originally just a routine breathing exercise suddenly transformed into a blue vortex after passing through the blue spirit pearl. The vortex was initially only the thickness of a fist, but after flying forward for several meters, it instantly grew to several meters, tens of meters, and hundreds of meters.

boom………………

After the cyclone left the cyan spirit pearl by more than a hundred meters, it transformed into a cyan tornado rushing horizontally forward.

In an instant, flames erupted ahead, and the roadblocks made of trees along the way were instantly shattered and swept away by the flames, scattering in all directions and into the air, creating an incredibly impressive spectacle.

"The rebels haven't been preparing for long. A large area in the rear hasn't been burned yet. Send 5,000 elite troops with General Zhu. Once we reach the valley entrance, everything will be easier to discuss."

"A few roadblocks to stop us? That's wishful thinking."

"What kind of rebels could possibly emerge from Evergreen Valley? Little Fangbo, let's march straight in!"

…………

Seeing a path appear in the sea of ​​fire, everyone's expressions immediately relaxed, and they all turned to Cai Qiuhu to ask for instructions.

Indeed, the rebels must have put a lot of thought into creating this sea of ​​fire as a roadblock, but it was no match for these powerful figures.

A single trick can be broken in an instant.

"Don't be careless. Have the 5,000 troops slow their march. Zhu Fang, you continue clearing the roadblocks. The rest of you, disperse to both sides and assess the situation. Be careful of any other ambushes the rebels might have!"

However, Cai Qiuhu remained unusually calm in the face of everyone's requests for instructions. He did not rashly order the five thousand elite troops to accelerate their advance. Instead, he made some arrangements first, and then led the remaining ten or so men to fly towards the north.

On one hand, he was genuinely afraid;

On the other hand, another major defeat would mean the complete annihilation of his 150,000 remaining troops.

The situation in Linchu County is still unknown. If something goes wrong with this army of 150,000, and 100,000 Xia troops enter Changqing Valley through the Bone-Eating Path, Qinghua City may not be able to be saved.

So, does Cai Qiu still have a future?

We must be careful, we absolutely must be careful!

Cai Qiuhu's face was full of solemnity. He led the group to deliberately slow down, exploring ahead while also being extra vigilant about their surroundings.

The phrase "seeing enemies everywhere" perfectly describes Cai Qiuhu's current state!

(End of this chapter)