Sieging Cities Is Inferior, Winning Hearts Is Supreme! I Have a Plan to Bring Chang'an Back from Darkness into Light! Bone Douluo Scoffs

Outside Chang'an's eastern city pass, the allied army's camp stretched for hundreds of li.

Countless banners fluttered across the mountains and plains beyond the pass, facing the city across the chasm!

Atop Chang'an's eastern city walls.

Xue Luochuan stood before a map spread across the table, a faint furrow between his handsome brows.

Several generals had all gathered here, awaiting orders.

This time, Chang'an faced an unprecedented crisis.

Although, after a month of recuperation, the cities of Chang'an had recruited soldiers and now possessed nearly forty thousand troops.

And they had long since all been deployed to the eastern city.

They also had the Great Wall Squad and Li Xin's six battle generals under their command.

Yet before such powerful enemies, they still seemed severely outmatched.

The Tian Dou Empire had sent Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, two immensely powerful Super Douluos!

This was different from Yu Yuanzhen of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Ning Fengzhi was Xue Qinghe's teacher, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had deep ties with Xue Qinghe.

For this battle, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo both came determined to win and rescue the trapped Xue Qinghe!

Spirit Hall harbored the same intentions.

Therefore, this battle would undoubtedly be extraordinarily difficult!

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. I will not let Chang'an City fall before I do."

Li Xin fiercely slammed the black-and-white Giant Sword in his hand down, a resolute aura radiating from his deep eyes.

"The eastern city pass has natural defenses. If they want to attack from the east, they will surely have to pay a tremendous price!" Hua Mulan said, folding her arms as she looked at the eastern city marked on the map.

Xue Luochuan sat down with a slight wave of his hand.

"They will not attack from the eastern city."

"Although the allied army's commander and main camp are stationed in the east, I firmly believe that their main force may already be gone."

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the eastern city pass was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Could the allied army not have considered that?

No one would be foolish enough to attack the hardest pass to take.

They could detour through Tian Dou's pass, enter from within, and attack cities across open, defenseless terrain. That approach would reduce their casualties.

Thus, he firmly believed the allied army outside the city was merely an empty camp.

The allied commanders had simply appeared here to deceive him.

Even if the allied army's main force truly was here, taking the eastern city would not be easy.

If battle broke out, he only needed to transfer troops from the other cities to reinforce them.

The nearby cities were not far apart, and travel was convenient. A forced march would take less than half a day!

"Your Majesty is brilliant! We'll lead the troops back to defend the city at once!" Baili Xuance cried impatiently, carrying his White Tiger Scythe as he prepared to return to the western city.

"There is no need to return." Xue Luochuan waved his hand calmly, his expression utterly composed.

Li Xin and the others were completely baffled.

They did not quite understand Xue Luochuan's plan.

With a great battle imminent, the other cities had neither defending troops nor defending generals. The enemy had numerous soul masters; once battle began, they would likely be wiped out in no time!

"Even if we return to defend them now, we still cannot withstand this attack." Xue Luochuan gazed into the distance beyond the city.

"I understand. Your Majesty intends to abandon the other cities, concentrate our forces in the eastern city, and fight the allied army in a decisive battle!" Hua Mulan realized.

Chang'an was already weaker than the allied army. Rashly dividing their forces would only make the already disadvantaged Chang'an easier to break!

Moreover, Tian Dou had suffered greatly last time. This time, they would absolutely not attack several cities at once.

They would surely destroy them one by one!

Concentrating their forces was the best strategy against the enemy!

"Even so, the eastern city will still be difficult to defend against attacks from within."

"Therefore, we have almost no chance of winning this battle."

Li Xin spoke gravely. He had long prepared himself to die.

"It is not that we have no chance. In fact, our chances are rather high." Xue Luochuan smiled lightly.

The generals were once again stunned.

"How are we supposed to fight this?" Li Xin asked, somewhat lacking in confidence.

Although they had previously won several great battles against larger forces.

They had not become arrogant because of those victories.

These battle-hardened veterans could keenly discern the strengths and weaknesses of both sides every time!

That was why they had repeatedly turned danger into safety and defeated larger forces with smaller ones!

The previous battles had been unusually easy because the enemy had possessed almost no Soul Master legions.

This time, Spirit Hall had dispatched a Soul Master legion of ten thousand, all Soul Elder rank or above!

That ten-thousand-man Soul Master legion alone was enough to crush Chang'an's current army of forty thousand!

"Sieging a city is inferior; conquering hearts is superior!"

"I have a plan that can plunge Chang'an into darkness, then restore it to light!"

A playful golden glint flashed through Xue Luochuan's eyes.

Although he had failed to seize territory and summon more heroes of the King this time, he still held a trump card capable of crushing the allied forces!

Outside the pass.

A modest-sized force slowly entered the valley under the command of several immensely powerful Soul Masters.

Several highly conspicuous banners bore the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, a swan, a white tiger, and a purple holy sword representing judgment!

Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, and the commanders of the three factions arrived atop tall steeds.

Yet none of Spirit Hall's other Titled Douluo were present.

"His Majesty truly guessed right. How could an army of over three hundred thousand have so few men? There are even fewer than during the last siege! These are all empty camps!"

Kai pointed at the allied forces outside the pass, utterly impressed by Xue Luochuan's calculations.

After all, an army of more than three hundred thousand should have looked several times more imposing than an army of forty thousand!

Yet this time, the visual impact was far weaker than before!

Ning Fengzhi did not rush to attack. He needed to buy time for the other troops taking the long way around.

He ordered the army to halt outside the pass, then rode forward and said:

"Xue Luochuan, you ignited war and brought chaos upon the continent. We have marched under imperial decree to restore peace to the continent. Will you not surrender without resistance?"

Peace on the continent—this was the excuse Spirit Hall used to send troops.

That was why it had won the support of countless small nations.

It was also why Chang'an's soldiers and civilians had been divided in heart and devoid of fighting spirit ever since the nation's founding.

To this day, he had always lacked a just cause for war!

"Now that the allied army numbers in the hundreds of thousands, Chang'an can be destroyed in an instant. Resistance is futile!"

Ning Fengzhi looked refined and scholarly. Though his voice did not carry any overwhelming pressure, it still possessed immense authority!

Xue Luochuan looked down at Ning Fengzhi with cold eyes and gave a faint smile.

"Hahahaha, you're not worthy of hearing me speak!"

"I have a plan that will make your army retreat without spending a single soldier!"

His casual voice carried astonishingly far, reaching every member of the allied army with perfect clarity!

The allied forces immediately erupted in laughter!

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Our allied army has over three hundred thousand men! We'd drown you in spit alone!"

"And you think you can make us retreat without spending a single soldier?"

"What a ridiculous delusion!"

"He must be unbalanced because he only got to be emperor for a few days before his kingdom was about to be destroyed. The blow must have driven him mad!"

"Forget not spending a single soldier—if you can drive back our allied army this time, I'll eat shit upside down!"

Bone Douluo's hoarse laughter slowly rang out.

"Haha, stop dreaming. What, are you going to become a god on the spot?"

The Chang'an Garrison also exchanged bewildered looks, each of them wanting to speak but holding back.

They truly could not imagine how the allied army could be made to retreat!

Xue Luochuan said nothing. He merely clapped his hands lightly.

Golden light blossomed beside him!

A graceful, noble angel with flowing golden hair appeared upon the city wall!