I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

"I think we can proceed in two steps," Fang Wushuang said again, her voice maintaining the same rhythm as before.

"The first step is to select a small number of elite troops from each army to form a rapid reaction force, with each team consisting of about a thousand Golden Core cultivators, and dispersed at key nodes of the supply line."

Each team at Qiansongpo, the northern section of Maple Leaf Ridge, and the two transit points is equipped with a spirit beast mount and an early warning array. Upon detecting any anomalies, they immediately retreat to the nearest stronghold, avoiding direct combat and maintaining only the supply line.

She paused slightly, looked up from the map, and continued, "The second step is to accelerate the attack on Baicao Valley and break through the protective formation before the supply lines are fully restored. Once the formation is breached, the duration of the siege will be shortened, and our reliance on logistics will decrease accordingly."

Fang Zhenshan listened quietly to her advice, his gaze sweeping across the locations marked "Qiansongpo" and "Northern Section of Maple Leaf Ridge" on the map.

"What if the Demon Palace of Rebellion and the Lin family join forces again and launch a surprise attack on the supply line with more than a thousand troops? Since they have already cut it off once, they might very well try again."

"Then let them come."

"The most important thing about a rapid reaction force of a thousand men is that they are not afraid of being ambushed. They do not need to repel the enemy head-on. They only need to maintain the defensive line when they encounter a surprise attack and wait for support from the nearest garrison."

We are already prepared, and the Lin family can no longer send such a large force to block our supply lines without being detected. Last time they succeeded because we did not expect the Lin family to participate in the war. They took advantage of this information gap to carry out a rapid infiltration.

Once we adjust our defensive deployment, the cost and risk for the enemy to replicate the same actions will increase exponentially, and we will encounter far more enemies than before.

Her finger traced an arc on the map, following the supply line from Qiansongpo to the northern section of Fengye Ridge, pausing briefly at each transit point.

"From the nearest stronghold to any point on the supply line, it will take at most two hours with the speed of the spirit beast mount."

The previous escort force did not suffer heavy losses. If these 20,000 men were stationed in sections along the supply line, with the distance between each section controlled to be within half an hour's journey, then if one section was attacked, the troops stationed in the adjacent sections could complete reinforcement within an hour.

With a rapid reaction force of fully-equipped Golden Core cultivators in front and support troops behind, we don't necessarily seek victory, but we are fully capable of holding off the enemy until our reinforcements arrive. Once the enemy realizes they cannot achieve a breakthrough in a short time and their battle lines begin to stretch, they will become the ones being tied down.

The tent was quiet for a moment.

The generals nodded silently; this was the safest measure when using the fewest possible troops.

Fang Zhenshan immediately approved the plan: "Execute it according to this plan. Select one thousand men each from the White Tiger Army and the Azure Dragon Army to form a supply line guard unit. One unit will be stationed at Qiansongpo and the northern section of Maple Leaf Ridge. The other two units will serve as mobile reinforcements, and you will be in command of them."

He stood up and glanced at the generals present: "Prepare separately. We will begin to advance towards the supply line again this afternoon. All the armies at the front will launch a new offensive as planned. We must act quickly. The longer the supply line is maintained, the greater the pressure on the front. We cannot let this gap drag on for too long."

"Yes!" The seven generals stood up at the same time.

…………

In the afternoon, Fang Zhenshan stood at the edge of the command post, his gaze fixed on the protective array of light screens in the direction of Baicao Valley, which was gleaming with a light gray luster in the afternoon light.

Sunlight streamed down from directly above, casting the patterns on the light screen into a continuously flowing dark vein that slowly spread along the outline of the formation.

The Fang family's allied forces have completed the first phase of their deployment around Baicao Valley. The Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army have already deployed in front of the formation, the Vermilion Bird Army's archers are in position, and the Black Tortoise Army is building a temporary stronghold behind the allied forces.

The initial preparations have been completed. If we stop now and wait until the supplies are exhausted before launching an attack, morale will be affected, and the defenders of Baicaogu will have more time to reinforce their defenses on the city walls.

However, if the war continues and the defenses of Baicao Valley become stronger than expected, the war will drag into a stalemate, and the problem of resource shortages will become increasingly prominent. The Fang family's allied forces may even be forced to retreat due to the depletion of spirit stones, and their morale will inevitably be unstable.

The candlelight in the tent flickered, casting the broken supply line marker on the map on and off.

Fang Zhenshan's gaze lingered on the mark for a long time; now he could only believe that Wushuang could solve the logistical problem.

His gaze returned to the protective array of light screen in the direction of Hundred Herbs Valley, which was gleaming dimly in the sunlight. It was the last obstacle to his conquest of the Southern Region and the last hope for the remaining strength of Hundred Herbs Valley.

"Pass down the order: all armies shall proceed according to the original plan, and supplies shall be distributed at half the original amount for the time being." Fang Zhenshan's voice came from the tent, passing through the generals who were discussing the matter with a steady rhythm. "The protective formation of Baicao Valley cannot be maintained indefinitely. As long as we maintain pressure, their formation will eventually exhaust the spiritual energy stored in the spiritual veins."

Fang Zhenshan paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Moreover, the enemy has given me an idea. If things are hopeless and the offensive momentum is stalled for too long, we can try a different approach." He then looked at the person in charge of the formation. "I require you to quickly deduce whether it is possible to directly destroy the fifth-order spiritual vein beneath Hundred Herbs Valley. This protective formation relies on the spiritual vein to operate. If the spiritual vein is cut off, even the strongest formation will collapse on its own after losing its energy supply."

The commander in charge of the formation paused for a moment, then nodded emphatically: "Understood!"

He strode to the map, his finger landing on the dotted line marked "Fifth-Order Spirit Vein" below the core area of ​​Hundred Herbs Valley. His fingertip moved slowly along the direction of the dotted line, as if measuring the distance the spirit vein extended underground.

"Severing the spiritual vein requires approaching the core of the array from underground. It will take me at least three days to complete the directional excavation. However, if we can maintain suppression on the ground during this time and prevent the Hundred Herbs Valley garrison from noticing any underground activity, we may be able to destroy the foundation of the spiritual vein from underground. I will immediately arrange for people to conduct simulations, and I expect to provide a preliminary plan within two hours."

"Alright, I'll leave this to you!"

…………

About two hundred miles south of the northern section of Maple Leaf Ridge, Blood Abyss of the Rebellious Demon Palace was listening to the final confirmation report of the raid in a temporary camp on the edge of a dense forest.

News of the supply line being cut will reach the Fang family's allied forces command through multiple channels in the next few hours, but even if the Fang family's allied forces know that the supply line has been cut, they will not be able to pursue and wipe them out in a short time.

This dense forest is located between Maple Ridge and Green Water Gorge, to the side and rear of the Fang family's supply route. It happens to avoid the main patrol area of ​​the Fang family's scouts, allowing them to stay here for a period of time without being discovered in advance.

The supplies have been moved to a temporary warehouse deep in the forest, and the storage bags have been packed into cellars in batches to ensure that they would not be intercepted during subsequent transfers due to centralized storage.

Xueyuan stood beside a withered tree at the edge of the camp, listening to the middle-aged cultivator's report.

His fingers moved slowly across the bark of the dead tree: "The Fang family's allied forces have not yet begun to reconfigure their supply routes. Fang Zhenshan is probably currently in his command tent, weighing whether to continue the advance or suspend the attack and wait for supplies."

"His choice determines the course of this battle. We need to complete the next phase of deployment before he makes his decision, advancing simultaneously on multiple fronts to disrupt their formation and signal that it's time to begin!"

"Yes, sir!" The middle-aged cultivator turned around and his figure moved quickly into the depths of the camp in the twilight.

…………

North of Maple Leaf Ridge, the Lin family's temporary camp.

Moonlight filtered through the sparse canopy of the dense forest, spreading a continuously moving patch of dark light across the ground.

Lin Che sat on a flattened tree stump at the edge of the tent, holding a newly received black communication jade slip in his hand.

Lin Xuanjing also came from the other side of the camp to report the news brought by the Demon Palace of Rebellion: "Father, news has come from the Blood Abyss. The Fang family has confirmed that the supply line has been cut off. Fang Zhenshan is intensifying his offensive against Baicao Valley and has sent Fang Wushuang to rebuild the supply line defense. They have drawn two thousand-man teams from the Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army, with Golden Core cultivators as the main force, and dispersed them at the supply nodes in the northern section of Thousand Pine Slope and Maple Leaf Ridge."

Lin Che nodded: "Just like the intelligence from Zhihei, the Fang family reacted faster than expected. They were not slowed down by the cut-off supply line. Instead, they chose to speed up their attack. This shows that Fang Zhenshan has realized that dragging things out is more disadvantageous for him. He wants to break through the protective formation of Baicaogu before the supplies run out."

"So what's our next step?" Lin Xuanjing sat down opposite Lin Che, took off his helmet and placed it on his lap. "Should we continue to coordinate with the Reverse Fate Demon Palace to harass the supply lines, or wait until Hundred Herbs Valley creates an opening before..."

"Wait." Lin Che put the jade slip into his sleeve and looked at the shadows of trees slowly moving in the night wind at the edge of the camp.

"Fang Wushuang's thousand-man team was set up to prevent us from cutting off the supply line a second time. It is a rapid reaction force composed of Golden Core cultivators, equipped with spirit beast mounts and early warning arrays. Once we appear on the supply line, they will immediately retreat to the nearest stronghold and wait for support."

If we try to cut off the supply lines now, not only will it be difficult to succeed, but it will also expose our location, allowing the Fang family to pinpoint our activity area in advance.

Lin Xuanjing was silent for a moment: "Then what about Blood Abyss... how do we reply?"

"Tell him that the Lin family will not participate in the second cutoff of the supply line for the time being." Lin Che stood up and brushed the fallen leaves off his robe.

"We will appear in the direction of Green Water Gorge. Once the Fang family divides their forces to deal with the attack of the monster alliance, we will cut in from the south to intercept possible support troops. This move is more profitable than cutting off the supply line again, attracts more attention, and makes it more difficult for Fang Zhenshan to judge our true intentions."

"Understood. I will immediately contact the Demon Palace of Rebellion to inform them of our intentions." Lin Xuanjing stood up, put his helmet back on, and turned to walk towards the camp.

Late that night, the Lin family's airship fleet took off from the temporary camp north of Maple Leaf Ridge, slowly advancing south-southwest along the outer edge of the Fulong Mountains, avoiding the patrol routes of the Fang family's scouts, and moving towards the flank of Green Water Gorge.

The airship's aura array dimmed rapidly after takeoff, and the engine's hum was reduced to a frequency that blended with the night wind, like a dark cloud slowly moving across the night sky, almost invisible under the moonlight.

…………

After the Fang family's supply line was cut off, the allied forces of monsters in the direction of Green Water Gorge seemed to know this and began to show new movements.

No longer confined to activities near the canyon entrance, they began to expand their reconnaissance range to the outer perimeter of the canyon, leaving new footprints and scent marks on the patrol routes of the Fang family's allied forces' scouts. Their activity range expanded from thirty miles outside the canyon entrance to more than sixty miles.

That same evening, a reinforcement force from the Qingyun Sword Sect arrived in the hilly area west of Baicao Valley, numbering approximately 20,000, and approached the outskirts of Baicao Valley from the flank.

They advanced diagonally to a hilly area about eighty miles west of the outer defense line of Baicaogu and then stopped.

They neither advanced further towards Baicao Valley nor retreated, like a sword not yet fully drawn, maintaining a sense of unease and pressure right under the noses of the Allied forces.

The intelligence reached the Fang family's allied command headquarters faster than expected; the message arrived at the camp with high-frequency pulses in the afternoon light.

Fang Zhenshan stood on the tower at the edge of the command post, his gaze passing through the outline of the hills slowly being covered by twilight, and landing on the protective array light screen in the direction of Baicao Valley, which was being edged with dark gold by the last rays of sunlight.

The supply line has been cut off, and the monster alliance in the direction of Green Water Gorge is regrouping.

In order to attack Baicao Valley, the Fang family never sent troops to wipe out this allied force of demon beasts, and only focused on defense at the entrance of Green Water Gorge.

It seems that these 300,000 demonic beasts have also received intelligence and are preparing to launch a general offensive against the Southern Plains at this critical juncture.

The Qingyun Sword Sect is moving towards Baicao Valley, and the Lin family has already joined forces with the Reverse Fate Demon Palace and Baicao Valley.

Meanwhile, the main force of the Fang family's allied forces was located on the outskirts of Baicao Valley, caught between multiple lines of defense that were slowly closing in, and the shortage of supplies was spreading at a rate that increased every hour.

His gaze shifted from the light screen of Baicao Valley to the southwest horizon, which was gradually darkening in the twilight.

That's the direction of Green Water Gorge, and also the direction where the monster alliance is gathering.

If those 300,000 demonic beasts were to launch a full-scale attack at this time, the current garrison in the Green Water Gorge would be insufficient. If left unchecked, the Southern Plains would be directly threatened.

The coalition's foundation lies on the southern plains; once intelligence is leaked, morale will inevitably waver.

It looks like we'll have to split up...