However, Zhao Cheng had long since made preparations. On this journey into the mountains, he had only thirty thousand men with him—the current main force of the Heaven-Answering Army: Peace Camp.
Of these thirty thousand, ten thousand were regular troops, while the other twenty thousand were reservists.
Back when Zhao Cheng had established this military structure in Peace Camp, making the number of reservists twice that of the regular army, part of the reason had been to prepare for this very day.
The forests were vast, with deep grass and dense trees. One careless step, and one could lose their direction amid the mountains. More importantly, the terrain within the mountains changed endlessly, with almost no pattern to it. A path that looked flat could very well give way beneath a single step, revealing nothing but emptiness below; the surface had merely been covered by fallen branches, leaves, and wild grass.
Beyond that, sheer cliffs and deep mountain ravines were countless.
When Zhao Cheng had advanced from the Chain Mountains to take Wu City, it was because he had been very close to Wu City. That was why he had been able to make speed the soul of war.
But from present-day Heaven-Answering City to the Southern Wasteland, even though he entered the mountains partway through, the distance was still several times that from the Chain Mountains to Wu City.
Under such circumstances, Zhao Cheng had naturally repeated his old methods. Years ago, he had dispatched a team into the mountains to survey routes, draw maps, and leave all manner of markers. At almost the same time as they were building plank roads, he had sent another group into the mountains with vast quantities of rope, using them to mark the way and enable forced marches.
Yet because the journey