Just as Meng Yan had predicted, the situation was proving more difficult to sustain than he had imagined.
The enemy's offensives grew increasingly fierce, and their timing was extremely unpredictable, sometimes in the early morning, sometimes in the afternoon, and sometimes late at night or in the middle of the night—they could launch an attack at any time.
On their side, to guard against an attack that could come at any time, the soldiers had no choice but to stay on guard for twelve hours straight.
Under such high pressure, it was truly unbearable. He could clearly feel that the enemy was becoming more and more courageous in battle, while his own morale was decreasing. Especially at noon today, the number of soldiers who broke through to the city wall was twice as many as usual. If it weren't for the deputy general risking his life to drag those dozen or so fierce warriors down the city wall with him, the city might have already been breached today!
The price was enormous; the two Transcendent lieutenants had their heads chopped off by the enemy's female general riding Dragon Horse the moment they landed at the city gates!
When Meng Yan was tallying the casualties after the battle, he was chilled to the bone to realize that he had unknowingly lost a third of his troops in the past few days of defending the city, and when he counted his soldiers, he could not even count four thousand.
Looking at the sky, he had a feeling that if they came back tonight, given their current low morale, they might really not be able to hold out!
Finally, he met with the generals from several other countries and arrived at a secluded military tent inside the pass. Surprisingly, the people sitting there were all people with faces from the Central Plains.
The generals leading the troops from several countries had all reached the Transcendent Realm, yet they showed immense awe towards the people in the tent, performing a kneeling salute that soldiers would not normally do upon meeting them.
"Greetings, sir."
The group spoke in unison. The people sitting in the military tent all had indifferent expressions. If Chen Qing were there, he would definitely recognize that the one sitting in the very center was the Ghost Empress from the capital who possessed the inheritances of the Heavenly Python, the Dragon Palace, and the Ghost Domain Realm.
"What brings you here?" one of the men asked coldly.
"Your Excellency, the war situation is dire, and Tiannan Pass is in grave danger. We implore Your Excellency to intervene and turn the tide!"
Faced with the requests of several military generals to kneel and pay homage, the men remained silent with cold faces. Those who knelt did not dare to raise their heads because they received no response, and cold sweat dripped from their foreheads to the ground.
After a long while, the Dragon Mother, who was in charge, finally asked, "Has Chen Qing made his move?"
The group felt a chill run down their spines and dared not hesitate. "No, we didn't."
"What was the original agreement?" Dragon Mother asked with a smile.
The military officers fell silent.
The next instant, a chill rose throughout the entire military tent.
What's wrong? Can't you speak anymore?
Several military officers hurriedly kowtowed several times, and Meng Yan spoke up, "Your Excellency, the original agreement was that if Chen Qing did not take action, the envoys would not need to take action either. We could still help the envoys occupy the Central Plains. However, we underestimated the strength of Jiangnan."
"You've underestimated it now?" Dragon Mother sneered. "You expect us to bail you out?"
"Your subordinate dares not!" Meng Yan hurriedly kowtowed and fell to the ground again.
"Get out of here, you bunch of useless trash!" Dragon Mother said coldly, "If you can't hold Tiannan Pass, you'll all die here!"
"Your subordinates take their leave!" The men practically tumbled and crawled out of the military tent, only daring to speak to each other after they had walked quite a distance.
"General Meng, what do you think?"
Meng Yan's face turned ashen, and he finally shook his head helplessly. "Let's go, the envoys probably won't make a move."
He didn't understand why, at such a crucial moment, they should still care about the original agreement and not act rashly.
Given the current military strength of Jiangnan, once they occupy Tiannan Pass, how difficult will it be to retake it? A golden opportunity to advance into the Central Plains is right before their eyes; what are these guys thinking?
But tonight, the leaders of the other countries all looked troubled.
Everyone here is experienced in commanding troops, and they all know very well that if the enemy launches another attack tonight, they most likely won't be able to hold out.
"When will the reinforcements arrive?" Meng Yan asked in a low voice.
The envoy from the Azi Kingdom said that he would arrive tomorrow as agreed.
"Tomorrow?" Meng Yan gritted his teeth. In his opinion, if he were to use that killer move, it would be safer to wait until reinforcements arrived, but now it seemed that he wouldn't be able to wait that long.
"It can only be used ahead of schedule today."
Upon hearing this, the generals from several countries all had uncertain expressions. After a long while, one of them Human Dao, "General Meng, as you know, once that method is used, the soldiers will have no fighting power left. What if the enemy launches another attack before reinforcements arrive? How can we resist?"
Upon hearing this, Meng Yan gritted his teeth and said, "Therefore, tonight, we must kill enough enemy soldiers and severely damage them so that they dare not attack again for a short period of time!"
"Will this work?" one of them asked uncertainly.
"Whether it works or not, it's a risky proposition. If there were any other way, would I have done this?" Meng Yan asked coldly.
The group fell silent. They would oppose any possible solution. They had experimented with the Second Blessing before, and the risk of the blessed soldiers being rendered useless was extremely high. Now, elite troops blessed by gods and spirits were rare, all being the elite forces of various countries. Once lost, who knew how long it would take to replace them?
Moreover, even if they successfully repel the enemy once that tactic is used, the people of the Azi Kingdom will have a significant advantage and will inevitably seize a considerable amount of land in the Central Plains. It's as if they have weathered the most difficult period, while the other side comes to reap the rewards.
"There's no need to worry too much about the Azi Kingdom." Meng Yan saw everyone's concerns and said, "Their location means they can't become too powerful. Controlling the Central Plains territory through us? We'll take it back sooner or later."
"That's true." One of them nodded slightly.
Another person asked, "General Meng, how can you guarantee that you can inflict heavy losses on the enemy?"
"Let them attack first," Meng Yan said, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "We'll pretend to be outmatched and retreat. Once enough of them have advanced, relentlessly attacking until our formation can no longer be withdrawn, we'll launch a thunderous counterattack and severely cripple them!"
"I believe that the troops from Jiangnan are elite. If they suffer heavy losses, they certainly won't continue their assault the very next day. This is our only chance."
Upon hearing this, the men all showed signs of struggle, but in the end, they gritted their teeth and nodded fiercely, saying, "Just as General Meng said, let's fight those scoundrels from Jiangnan!"
"Yes, we need to scare them into submission so they'll slink back to Jiangnan with their tails between their legs!"
"Then the army will be placed under General Meng's unified command!"
Meng Yan looked up at the person who had spoken, and the person looked directly at him and said, "This tactic of feigning weakness before launching a counterattack requires unified advance and retreat, and it will be more effective if commanded by one person."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yan looked at the others, who exchanged glances and nodded in agreement, saying, " Zhou Yun is right."
"In that case," Meng Yan wasn't one to mince words, and nodded directly, "It's getting late. Let's go back now, discuss things with our men, and I'll take command. I may not be the most capable, but after we brothers overcome this difficult time together, when we march into the Central Plains, all the land will be divided equally!"
"This guy surnamed Meng is quite capable; he's much more reliable than that good-for-nothing second prince you favored back then." Inside the military tent, even though they were hundreds of meters apart, they could still hear each other's discussions clearly.
Dragon Mother glanced at the other person and smiled slightly, "So, your Anan Kingdom must be full of talented people, right?"
Upon hearing this, the other party curled their lip. If they had truly capable people, why would they let the other party steal the limelight?
Ultimately, the Southern Wilderness is a place with low fortune and a shallow cultural heritage; how easy is it for it to produce an outstanding person?
"The method they've proposed is quite risky. Are we really not going to intervene?" another person asked, frowning.
"Make a move? What do you have to offer?" The Dragon Mother scoffed. "Without the advantage of the terrain, even if we all joined forces, we might not be able to defeat Ao Zhen, let alone Chen Qing, whose strength is no less than Ao Zhen's!"
"What's the origin of that person named Chen Qing?" The only woman in the military tent asked doubtfully, "This is the first time in three reincarnations that I have seen someone who can resist the evil soldiers by relying on his accumulation in the mortal world!"
Dragon Mother looked at the crowd and finally said, " The Corrector!"
Everyone: "."
Two more chapters to come!