Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1736: Chapter 551: Annexing Beining Village, Chu Tianming’s Scheme (2)

At this point, Chu Tianming paused slightly, then pointed to the map on the left side of the tent and continued: “The forward scouts have already discovered that there are a large number of spies in the Jiuqu Blood Corridor, including below Danxue Peak. It can basically be confirmed that they are all from Great Xia. In other words, they have been guarding against our Chen Cang army moving south. Since that’s the case, why don’t they station troops at the Blood Corridor exit? Does anyone have any thoughts?”

The generals in the tent immediately looked at the map, their expressions slightly tensing.

Chu Tianming’s question hit the mark.

They had been pondering this issue since leaving the Blood Corridor, but had only discussed it secretly without coming to any conclusion. Now that Chu Tianming had put the problem on the table, it was clear he wanted to brainstorm and let them join in strategizing.

The exit of the Jiuqu Blood Corridor is very narrow, only sixty meters wide at most. If Great Xia had anticipated the Chen Cang army moving south, they should have mobilized their forces there to block the exit. Wouldn’t that be more efficient than letting them form a battle formation before engaging?

“Could it be that Great Xia is so arrogant and doesn’t take our Chen Cang army seriously, so they deliberately let us come out?”

Soon, someone in the tent spoke up first.

This answer provoked some contemplation among part of the group, but more people kept shaking their heads, evidently disagreeing.

Chu Tianming also shook his head.

Military affairs are the state’s paramount matters. According to the initial intelligence from the Southern Slope, Great Xia developed from a small camp to its current scale in less than twenty years. This alone proves that Xia Hong is no simple character. How could he be so frivolous?

“It’s unlikely. The news from the Bone-Eroding Path has already come back. The Xia Army has completely blocked the Bone-Eroding Path exit. By now, Cai Qiu’s 200,000 troops should have entered the Bone-Eroding Path. Whether they have officially begun the battle is still unknown. Great Xia knows to block the Bone-Eroding Path exit, so there’s no reason for them not to block the Jiuqu Blood Corridor exit. Not doing so only means they have ulterior motives; we should remain cautious!”

Though Chu Tianhe’s temper is large, he is no fool and immediately dismissed the previous general’s words. Then, thinking of something, he turned to look at his brother Chu Tianming and said: “The width of the Bone-Eroding Path’s exit is similar to the Blood Corridor, just around fifty meters. This isn’t something that can be breached just with numbers. Great Xia has so many Beast Emperor-level puppets on their side. Unless Cai Qianshan goes all out, putting everything from Cai Qiu into the fight against Great Xia, they’ll find it hard to break through.

Brother, if we make a move now, it’s like helping Cai Qiu. We should send envoys to Cai Qiu first—getting some benefits in return—before we assist them. We shouldn’t blindly help them!”

Beining Village is about forty kilometers away from Dongchuan City. The Cai Qiu army set off earlier than Chen Cang, so they will certainly encounter the Xia Army first. With only half an hour until dawn, although the scouts haven’t reported back yet, by normal prediction, the Cai Qiu army should have already entered the Bone-Eroding Path and may even be nearing the southern exit.

Cai Qianshan lost significant face in Jinyang City. In his fury, there’s a possibility that once his troops arrive, they might immediately start fighting the Xia Army.

Brother Chu Tianxu stopped at Danxue Peak and did not rush to attack Dongchuan City. Instead, he stationed troops in Beining Village, possibly to avoid getting involved with Cai Qiu’s battles against the Xia Army without cause.

Chu Tianhe’s idea is not surprising. Not only him; most generals in the tent are thinking the same.

The reason is simple. Compared to Great Xia, a newly emerged neighbor from the Southern Slope and not too strong, Cai Qiu poses a bigger threat to Chen Cang. Moreover, watching Cai Qiu and Great Xia fight costs Chen Cang nothing as they don’t have to rush into battle.

However, the main task for his brother moving south this time is to deal with Great Xia, as it pertains to the inheritance of the Landgrave position. Therefore, Chu Tianhe suggested sending envoys to Cai Qiu for benefits before attacking Dongchuan City to maximize their interests.

However, Chu Tianming clearly didn’t agree with this plan.

But he didn’t reject it either; instead, his eyes flickered as he said, “I still haven’t received an answer to the question I just raised.”

The crowd was stunned by these words and looked at each other.

Why Great Xia didn’t post troops at the Blood Corridor exit is indeed a tough question to answer.

“Great Xia might realize it’s impossible to fight two vassal towns simultaneously, so they simply gave up opposing us to focus on dealing with Cai Qiu?”

“Then why did Great Xia leave 140,000 troops in Dongchuan City? Xia Chuan wouldn’t assume our 100,000 strong Chen Cang army would only take the mere fifty kilometers south of Danxue Peak, right?”

Chu Tianming immediately retorted, rebutting that general’s words.

The generals were now even more confused.

Chu Tianming shook his head, an expression of speculation emerging in his eyes as he said, “In short, one thing is certain: Great Xia deliberately let us through the Blood Corridor. We just can’t see their intent, but…”

“Reporting to the Prefectural Governor, Lord Fang is here to see you!”

Chu Tianming was interrupted by the report coming from outside the tent.

“Quick, let him in!”

Hearing the words “Lord Fang”, Chu Tianming’s face visibly showed a trace of excitement as he quickly indicated for the person to be let in.

The generals in the tent heard this and their eyes slightly moved.

The surname Fang, and the ability to elicit such a reaction from Chu Tianming, can belong to only one person: Fang Tianqing, the advisor from the Heyang County Governor Mansion.