Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1549: Chapter 485: Five Towns in Panic, Alliance Withdrawal Begins, Tan Rou’s Satisfaction (Part 3)

Public opinion, the means of Great Xia, follows quickly!

Xia Chuan did not pursue the matter of the two feudal towns at Xianyang Level, but instead, in Chui Mountain Town, he summoned the Five Towns’ lords in the name of Alliance Hierarch Xia Hong, using this great war as a reason to propose that the feudal towns are formidable, and the alliance must expand its army, continuing to increase forces in Dongchuan and Jinyang cities to prevent such incidents from happening again.

The Five Towns were naturally unwilling, especially after the previous year, realizing that many of their Cold Resistance Level soldiers sent to the allies had been turned by Great Xia, starting to bring their families away from the town, making them even more reluctant to send more people.

But no matter how reluctant, they couldn’t withstand the perfectly timed demand for reinforcements by Great Xia. Yang Zhun and Shangguan Yang, harboring guilty hearts, didn’t even dare to refuse amidst the boiling public grievances; Jinyang belonged to Jinshan Town, Dongchuan to Beishuo Town, having nothing to do with Wuchuan, Yangqu, and Dragon Valley, so naturally, the Three Towns didn’t see the necessity of opposing.

Thus, facing Xia Chuan’s demand for reinforcements, the final attitude of the five was clear: no opposition, but it’s impossible to send personnel.

Unexpectedly, Xia Chuan did not persist in entangling with them, stating that since the Five Towns couldn’t provide personnel, the reinforcements would be supplied by Great Xia, Jiangxia, Muyin, and Chui Mountain Town.

In June of the same year, Great Xia increased troops by two thousand, the Five Towns were indifferent;

In August, Great Xia added another two thousand, the Five Towns remained indifferent;

In October, Great Xia increased another five thousand, causing the Towns’ lords to feel something amiss but did not halt the process;

In December, Great Xia reinforced with three thousand more, calculating the total allied forces in the two areas reaching 42,000, with Great Xia accounting for nearly 30,000, only then did the Five Towns suddenly realize that Great Xia was using the pretext of expanding allied forces to take over. The towns immediately and hurriedly united to attempt to stop Great Xia’s reinforcement actions.

However, by then, it was already too late!

Xia Chuan pretended to agree to them last December but had been reinforcing the troops at both locations under the guise of Alliance Hunting Order since the beginning of this year.

Those Advanced Hunting Teams holding the Alliance Token, under the pretext of hunting, first entered Beishuo and Jinshan towns, then proceeded to Dongchuan City and Jinyang Village, transforming into soldiers. In mere six months, the total forces of Jinyang and Dongchuan were approaching 50,000.

By August of this year, Great Xia went even further.

Director of the Military Department, Yuwen Dao, led ten thousand troops from Chui Mountain Town, directly marching north, traversing through Yangqu and Dragon Valley territories, leaving five thousand at Jin Mountain, and continuing with five thousand northwards through Wuchuan Town, finally arriving at Beishuo’s Dongchuan City.

Yuwen Dao proceeded boldly, without any apprehension, not communicating with the Five Towns’ lords throughout the march, not even avoiding the direction of the towns.

The most ruthless action was when the army approached Jinshan Town. Jinyang City’s Grand Commander Xiang Fuhai even dispatched ten thousand troops southward to meet; when approaching Beishuo Town’s border, Dongchuan City’s Grand Commander Mu Longhe similarly sent ten thousand troops out to meet.

At that moment, the lords of the Five Towns didn’t even dare to be angry.

Seeing Summer Army’s flagrant behavior, they fully realized that the garrisoned Summer Army in Jinyang and Dongchuan cities had already reached over 60,000. Their hearts were filled with fear and chaos, nothing else.

Yangqu and Dragon Valley were easier to handle, as Summer Army was still farther from them; Wuchuan was slightly better, sandwiched between Beishuo and Jinshan but not directly facing Summer Army; but only Beishuo and Jinshan towns were now in a state like a thorn in their throat due to the 30,000 Summer Army in their territories, anxious every day, fearing the day Summer Army might act aggressively, threatening the towns.

Though these over 60,000 Summer Army were not invited into their homes by Beishuo and Jinshan towns, it was also a result of the two’s negligence and indulgence.

The saying goes, inviting a deity in is easy, but sending it away is hard, Great Xia clearly intends to occupy the nest.

Now, even if the Five Towns truly united to withdraw from the alliance, what would it achieve?

Aside from whether the Five Towns could actually withdraw, even if they did, it would most likely mean falling out completely with Great Xia. It’s no exaggeration to say, given the Five Towns’ current strength, combining them wouldn’t suffice to deal with this 60,000 strong army!

Currently, what they face is not the Dajue Temple of five years ago; back then, the town’s Defensive Army was the main force, whereas now, Great Xia’s 60,000 soldiers are all genuinely of Cold Resistance Level Cultivation!

Of course, these 60,000 aren’t all Summer Army, with a total of 14,000 being from the Five Towns. The problem is that these people have been with Summer Army for over two years, and according to the infiltration and defection situation by Ten Thousand Treasures Sub-building in recent years, it’s hard to tell how many of these 14,000 remain loyal to their own, anymore.

To boldly speculate, even if half, over 7,000, haven’t been turned, wouldn’t Great Xia guard against them? Among the six camps of allies numbering 60,000, these 7,000 have long been split and scattered, should any major event occur, Summer Army would certainly address them first, rendering these people unable to perform any crucial role.

……

Returning to the lord’s hall in Wuchuan Town.

Qin Feng’s mind was filled with various thoughts, considering the current decline of the Five Towns, the schadenfreude on his face had long vanished.

Wuchuan, sandwiched between Jinshan and Beishuo towns, if those two towns truly fell, Wuchuan’s outcome wouldn’t be much better either. How long could he gloat?