"My lord, this is absolutely unacceptable!"
After the envoy from the Divine Martial Guild left, Shen Qi was the first to voice his objection.
Chen Qing looked at Shen Qi, and it was the first time she had seen him oppose something so decisively. This guy had always been the type to consider things from multiple perspectives.
Shen Qi continued, "Their title is illegitimate. Our lord is a legitimate vassal king, bestowed by the imperial court. The Northern Lands is a genuine invasion by demons, resulting in the deaths of billions of people, with countless Northern Lands men perishing in the jaws of snakes. This is a blood feud of humanity. If the emperor were to launch a spring campaign now, it would be perfectly justified, whether to reclaim lost territory or to avenge the Northern Lands men. If we were to send troops, does our lord know the consequences?"
Chen Qing silently stroked his chin; this was indeed a big problem!
The foundation of Divine Path Style is people, and since it is based on people, the hearts of the people are of utmost importance. It was because he saved billions of people in Jiangnan from the clutches of demons that he has achieved unity of purpose and such high prestige today.
If troops were sent to aid the Northern Lands, the situation would be different.
Not to mention that there are a billion Northerners within our own territory. These Northerners have lost their families and homes and are now wandering in foreign lands because of those giant pythons in the Northern Lands. If they find out that we are going to send troops to aid the Northern Lands, the Northerners, who are already of strong character, might just rebel.
Suppression may be easy, but the hearts and minds of those who have long been loyal to the Fighter Army will likely be lost.
The same applies to the local people of Jiangnan. In the fight against the Northern Lands, the Fighter Army suffered more than 100,000 casualties, most of whom were the pillars of their families. Although they had the protection of the Underworld, the living and the dead were still separated. Now, they had to go and help the demons they had risked their lives to fight. How could the soldiers who fought bloody battles on the front lines feel about this?
All things considered, it's definitely not worth it!
But if he didn't agree, these guild players might use every means to coerce him.
For example, by continuing to exert pressure in North Sea City, or by instigating various disturbances among the believers in Northern Wolf City, the current situation could very well lead to the complete loss of this hard-won stronghold in the north.
If we fail to win this time, things will get even more complicated in the future.
"What do you think we should do?" Chen Qing asked, looking at Ziyue and Shen Qi.
Faced with the question, Shen Qi also fell silent. He was a smart man and naturally knew that if he refused, the current situation would become extremely difficult.
Ziyue then spoke up, "Mr. Shen Qi is right. Even in the worst-case scenario, we cannot agree to openly protect the demons of the Northern Lands. Otherwise, we will lose the hearts of the people. Even if we manage to resist the emperor of the Central Plains, what we have lost is something we can never recover, no matter how much benefit we have gained."
"Should we force ourselves to endure it?" Chen Qing frowned slightly.
"It's unrealistic to force it," Ziyue shook her head again. "During your absence, I've been keeping an eye on military strength depletion. Although Jiangnan is wealthy, its population is far smaller than that of conscription areas like the Northern Lands. Even with a strong desire to join the army these past few years, the size of the Fighter Army has never exceeded one million. Moreover, most of them are miscellaneous soldiers and logistics personnel. The number of truly trained combat soldiers, including the elite troops of the West Sea, is less than 500,000. This year, there have been frequent battles, all of them hard-fought. Although the Southeast campaign was fought well, the losses were considerable, with a large number of First Rank combat soldiers lost. The size of the West Sea elite troops has been reduced by half."
" Xu Hu's side has a slightly better Fighter Army, but it's still not enough. In the battle of North Sea City, the losses so far have exceeded 100,000, including more than 70,000 combat soldiers. Moreover, most of them were high-quality combat soldiers who had been promoted to the Third Rank or above. In fact, more than half of our highest-quality combat soldiers have been lost."
Chen Qing was stunned. He had been so busy lately that he hadn't even calculated the losses in detail. Now that Ziyue brought it up, he realized that half of his savings were gone.
The Fighter Army is progressing extremely quickly. Soldiers who have been promoted to the Third Rank rank in such a short time are all top performers. If given more time to grow, they could probably reach the Transcendent level within a year with their own resources. As a result, half of them have already been lost.
Chen Qing suddenly felt a pang of heartache and trembled slightly.
But there's nothing that can be done about it; that's how war is—it's impossible to avoid losses and deaths.
Shen Qi also said, " Jiangnan has a long and narrow terrain, facing the Central Plains, and there are not many natural defenses. If the two sides are evenly matched, what is needed is a large number of soldiers to be deployed in various places. When Xu Hu went to the North Sea to fight, we all discussed that facing the giant python of the north, we needed at least Fourth Rank elite soldiers. Any lower, and it would be suicide. Such elite soldiers are also needed for the Jiangnan defense line. At most, he can only bring 100,000 troops. 100,000 troops were able to take North Sea City and hold out for so long. He is already a rare commander."
"One hundred thousand." Chen Qing's lips twitched slightly. If that's the case, then considering the losses, Xu Hu only has thirty thousand soldiers capable of fighting now?
Am I really that bad at soldiers?
I'd only ever heard the saying "you only realize how little money you have when you need it," but now it seems soldiers are experiencing the same thing?
He mentally calculated the current total troop strength. Forget about the elite troops of the West Sea. Maintaining the stability of the West Sea islands and the current situation in the southeast, Tian Heng was already Amitabha Buddha if he could guarantee that he wouldn't need to ask for reinforcements.
The Jiangnan defense line cannot be touched either. Although the imperial court has now reduced its forces, the Ghost Clan soldiers have one advantage: they do not need logistics and their advance speed is extremely fast. If a surprise attack were to occur one day, and the border defense line is not strong enough, it is very likely that a loophole would be exploited.
Moreover, even if the Xiao Household member doesn't have designs on Jiangnan, a large number of refugees are now seeking refuge Jiangnan, and among them are countless demons. If there aren't enough people to defend the border areas, the infiltration of a large number of demons into Jiangnan will cause internal turmoil and affect the fortune of the Divine Path.
Basically, it can be said that there are no more troops available to deploy.
With no troops available, Xu Hu only has 30,000 Fighter Army at his disposal. If the guild players exert pressure, he could very well be routed.
We've taken too big a step.
Chen Qing sighed inwardly. He knew that taking too big a step could lead to disaster. Jiangnan had only been developing for five years. Even though the Divine Path Style had developed at an unusually rapid pace, with its current foundation, it was clearly unrealistic to aim for both the Southeast and the Northern Lands.
But he truly couldn't bear to give up the Northern Lands.
After all, so many soldiers died, and the Arctic route will yield extremely high profits in the future, and it will also be the best source of future resources.
Once you give up
"Now it seems we either have to give up or just keep dragging it out."
"Drag it out?" Ziyue looked at Chen Qing: "Aren't you giving up yet?"
"How can we give up?" Chen Qing frowned. "So many people have died in the North Sea. We absolutely cannot abandon North Sea City. But if we can't open up this road to the Northern Wasteland, North Sea City will just be an endless drain on resources with no return. You risked so much to finally get that little emperor of Northern Yan to join us. If we can't establish ourselves here, what will the world think of us? Will any other forces still be willing to pledge allegiance to us in the future?"
The two frowned, clearly understanding this principle. To be honest, Ziyue, who had personally brought the situation in Northern Wolf City under control, naturally did not want to lose all her previous efforts.
How are you planning to stall?
"I'll go there myself!" Chen Qing stood up abruptly. "I'll go and have a good talk with those so-called evil dragons!"