Great Xuan Calendar, Year 379, November 20.
Dense swarms of flying vessels sped out from Sky City. For this campaign, Sky City had deployed one hundred and fifty thousand regular troops, all elite armored soldiers, under the command of General Luan Bing.
Hong Yuanqiu, the office chief, remained in the rear, responsible for overall coordination, dispatch, and support.
Though Sky City was now left with only fifty thousand troops, with Dai Xuanzun holding the rear and the great formation guarding from without, it remained exceedingly secure. Only Earth Star was somewhat undermanned.
But considering that Upper Firmament Heaven would not possibly give up so easily and would certainly concentrate its strength on defense, Kui Lodge was in fact safer than usual.
Beneath the regular army were also local garrisons, conscripted troops, and hired forces called in from various regions, totaling more than five hundred thousand.
These forces would attack the Earth Stars serving as formation mechanisms from different directions, occupying or destroying them and creating an opportunity for the regular army to strike at the central formation hub.
Moreover, the Military Affairs Office had recruited a large number of cultivators to accompany the army from Kui Lodge and the surrounding Earth Stars. More than a thousand were mid-level cultivators, while the lower-level cultivators traveling with them numbered over ten thousand. Most of them were mysterious cultivators.
Zhang Yu was currently standing inside an utterly ordinary-looking flying vessel. His White Boat was far too conspicuous; anyone with intent would recognize it as his personal craft at a glance, so he used this vessel as concealment.
Since he was not responsible for military strategy this time, he did not know the specific arrangements for the entire army.
Yet this military operation was relatively straightforward. The target was there; it would not flee.