Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1746: Chapter 554: Cai Qiu Routed—What Kind of Rebel Army Is This? (3)

Su Xing’er heard the voice, and her expression immediately turned somber.

Inside the tent, it wasn’t just her; there were more than a dozen others, all generally young, with the oldest looking not quite thirty, and the youngest just over twenty.

“The strength of this Evergreen Valley is indeed a bit weak. Although the 150,000 men are numerically comparable to Cai Qiu’s defeated army, at most only a little over 3,000 are at the Cold Resistance Level, and we don’t have even one at the Xianyang Level. How do we fight like this?”

Among the dozen or so people standing on the flank, a young man with a sharp presence stepped forward and spoke. Seeing everyone’s eyes on him, he made no attempt to conceal the gloom on his face, continuing, “Don’t look at me; indeed, we can’t fight. You’ve all just seen the strength of the gathered rebel armies, not to mention the weapons, crossbows, armor, and spirit pills. Military formations and battlefield discipline are non-existent, and even the troop leaders are temporarily appointed. Expecting them to follow orders is impossible. With these 150,000 men, we might not even be able to withstand a single charge from Cai Qiu’s defeated army, let alone block the exit…”

The young man speaking wasn’t anyone else but Chen Ping, the eldest son of Chen Ying, Commander of the Iron Eagle Army. Around him, those dozen or so youths were all from Xia, including Xiang Liang, Chen Shang, Qin Zhan, Qin Feng, Liu Ming, Xiahou Ning, Qin Wuxin, Liu Yu, Murong Qian, He Qiufeng, Jiang Yifan, and others.

At this moment, Chen Ping felt a bit of regret in his heart.

He was originally a Nine Camp Captain of the Iron Eagle Army. For this northern expedition, his father Chen Ying’s Iron Eagle Army was assigned to Yuwen Dao’s Right Route Army, so he was supposed to go with the army into battle.

But before the battle, the main commander Yuwen Dao started planning to cause trouble behind Cai Qiu, thus he drafted a batch of personnel from the army early on to pass through the Bone-Eroding Path to Evergreen Valley to cooperate with the Frost Ash Association, including Su Xing’er and the other three in front of him, to plan the uprising.

A total of thirty people were sent at that time, including Chen Ping.

Since the Right Route Army set out from Jinyang, they hadn’t fought any major battles, taking over half of Jin Mountain’s territory without bloodshed along the way. It was for this reason that Chen Ping worried about not achieving any military merit after the battle, so he volunteered to come to Evergreen Valley.

As night fell, scouts from the Xia Army came, informing them of the latest news from the south that Yuwen Dao’s Right Route Army had fought two beautiful battles at the Aikou and Jinyang cities. Additionally, by dawn, Cai Qiu’s main army suffered a crushing defeat at the southern exit, and the situation at the southern slope had become completely clear.

Upon hearing this news yesterday, Chen Ping began to regret it.

If he hadn’t come here, he could have participated in the battles at Aikou, Jinyang, and the southern entrance.

Word was that the Lord was present at those three battles, and such rare performance opportunities were missed by him. How could he not regret it?

That’s just one reason; the major problem currently in front of him is even more unsolvable.

With the cooperation of these people, the laborers of Evergreen Valley successfully rebelled, and Su Xing’er rallied a rebel army of as many as 200,000.

Chen Ping was in charge of one of the segments of the uprising on the southern side of Evergreen Valley, rallying a rebel army of over 10,000. When he saw there were only a little over 300 at the Cold Resistance Level among the laborers, he sensed something was off. But he thought it was just the area tasked to him being too weak, believing that the rebel forces elsewhere might be stronger.

However, come nightfall, when he brought the troops to the northern exit to join the other rebel forces, he was instantly dumbfounded.

Among the 200,000 rebel forces, 120,000 were present, yet those at the Cold Resistance Level didn’t even total 3,000; the rest were mainly at the Logging Realm, with about two to three percent at the Earth-Digging Realm.

What kind of rebel army is this?

According to a scout earlier, Cai Qiu’s main army is extremely strong, likely stronger than the Xia Army if fought head-on.

Even after their recent defeat, they still have a remaining force of 150,000. Counting on this 150,000 laborers with shovels and picks to trap Cai Qiu’s army in the Bone-Eroding Path, that’s simply wishful thinking.

How could that be possible?

“What are you panicking for? No matter how strong Cai Qiu’s main army is, we’re only facing a defeated remnants right now. Didn’t Xiao Hen say earlier that Yuwen Sizheng’s army is following right behind? We don’t need to block them for long, just long enough until the Xia Army arrives!”

Chen Ping was reprimanded and reflexively wanted to retort, but when he looked up and saw the person scolding him, he immediately shut his mouth.

It was Xiang Liang!

Among the 30-plus people Yuwen Dao sent to Evergreen Valley, Xiang Liang was the leader, and everyone else had to follow his orders.

The Xia Army scout who brought the news last night was Xiao Hen.

According to him, Yuwen Sizheng had already brought an army of 100,000 pursuing the remnants of Cai Qiu, and if the Xia Army could arrive in time, defeating Cai Qiu’s 150,000 remnants wouldn’t be too hard.

The question is, how long until the Xia Army arrives?

Can they rely on these 150,000 laborers to hold out until the Xia Army comes?

Not only Chen Ping but also everyone else in the tent, whether from Great Xia or Su Xing’er and her three siblings, clearly didn’t look optimistic.

“Miss Su, don’t worry. Cai Qiu’s army is newly defeated, and the 150,000 men are essentially a panicked bunch. We don’t need to confront them head-on; we just need to find a way to stall them!”

Only Xiang Liang, who had just berated Chen Ping, remained full of determination.

Upon hearing his words, everyone immediately treated him as the mainstay, each turning to look at him with a slight rise in fighting spirit.

“Half an hour is enough for us to plan. First, arrange the rebel forces, gather all the war armor, and distribute it to the stronger individuals. Don’t the laborers have iron picks and shovels? Make them start digging a few deep trenches at the valley entrance now, find a way to divert water from the surrounding areas, and if there’s no water, pile coal stones and dry wood in the trenches. In short, spare no effort to block this remnant army…”