Chapter 353: The Battle of the Practitioners (Part )

"call out"

Zhao Chuanzong released the bowstring, and the sharp arrow accurately hit the neck of a barbarian leader who was riding a horse in front of him.

"Puff~" The barbarian leader covered his throat, blood gushing out from between his fingers, and fell to the ground from his green-maned horse.

"Om~"

Zhao Chuanzong felt his body suddenly become hot, his blood boiling, and all his previous fatigue was swept away.

"It's the late stage of Ju Yuan."

Zhao Chuanzong was delighted.

He glanced around and saw that there was no trace of the enemy, so he blew the eagle whistle around his neck and began to gather his men.

Loud whistles echoed in the sky, and soon more cavalry gathered from all directions.

"Hundred generals." Adjutant Liu Er appeared beside Zhao Chuanzong.

"What's the situation?" Zhao Chuanzong asked.

"All the scouts sent out from Xichang City to the north were killed. No one escaped." Liu Er laughed, "I think this fourth wave of 80 people should be the last spies of Xichang City. They will not send anyone to explore again. They will just shrink and defend the city."

"Yes." Zhao Chuanzong nodded. "From this point of view, the military strength of Xichang City is not large, probably only about a thousand people, which is the same as the intelligence we got before."

The number of scouts can usually be used to estimate the number of troops. Zhao Chuanzong had previously captured a live person and interrogated him for information, and had led the rangers outside the West Field City to kill the barbarians who were leaving the city. Now he could roughly confirm the situation in the city.

"Notify the mechanical division commander Zhang Wu to pass the information back to the army in the rear."

"Yes!"

……

On January 19th of the 16th year of Yuanding, Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Long Xiao and Chen Shijie issued the "River Crossing Operation Plan" to all armies.

After capturing Xichang City, the Shiyang Legion divided into three columns and crossed the Tianshui River, heading southeast, passing through Lanwan, Hudukou, and Jiangsheng, and then crossed the Canglan River to join Li Hao's Wuyao Legion.

All baggage, except for necessary food supplies and small carts, horses, and boats, all other heavy equipment must be thrown away, and the 30,000 troops around Fengwu City must set off on the same day.

After receiving the order, the commanders of each army immediately organized their troops to retreat on January 19th, evacuating from Fengwu City, Yangbei, and Tujiao one after another, and heading towards Xichang City and Tianshui River.

On January 23, the Qinglong Army arrived outside Xichang City first.

On January 24th, at the hour of Mao, 5,000 Qinglong troops led by Long Xiao defeated the resistance of the generals defending Xichang City and successfully occupied Xichang City.

Seven quarters after noon.

“Da, da, da~”

Zhao Xing rode a horse and entered the city with Xia Jing, while Long Xiao was busy searching for supplies.

As soon as I entered the city, I saw Long Xiao kicking a sack while cursing.

Zhao Xing and the others jumped off their horses and came to Long Xiao: "What did you find? I heard that the casualties were very low. Why are you still angry?"

"Damn it, there's not a single piece of useful equipment, just food. It's really a joke." Long Xiao pointed at a pile of sacks on the ground. "After I attacked the city, I wanted to replenish some arrows, but after searching for a long time, I couldn't find any armory."

"In the end, I only found a hundred or so spare oxbows and machetes in the barn, and they were all crude stuff."

Xia Jing smiled and said, "The commander of the garrison of Xichang City is the leader of a small tribe under the command of the Golden Feather King's Court. He has no more than 1,500 soldiers and only 15 cultivators."

"It's just such a small city. How much military supplies do you expect? Having food is good enough. You still don't understand Brother Zhao's fighting spirit. Wouldn't it be better to have food?"

Long Xiao looked at Zhao Xing, who was reading the post-war summary.

"Yes." Zhao Xing closed the list. "Xichang City is originally a grain field, and strictly speaking it is not even a city. Even if all the indigenous residents are counted, there are only more than 5,000 people. It's good enough to get something to eat."

Long Xiao nodded. Since Zhao Xing said it was good, then it must be good.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? Go away!"

"I want to see the General."

Suddenly, a group of soldiers on the street started to move.

Zhao Xing looked over and saw a barbarian with wrinkled skin on his face that looked like fish gills being driven away by the Qinglong Army.

"what happened?"

Long Xiao took a look and said, "A native said he wanted to join us. He also knows a little bit of the Great Zhou language. But I didn't agree. He has contacted me twice this morning. He really won't give up."

"Why don't you agree?" Zhao Xing asked in surprise.

"If they are not of our race, their hearts must be different." Long Xiao said as a matter of course. "Although we don't kill barbarians, our Qinglong Army doesn't want barbarians. Even if they are sincere in their service, they are not easy to use and it is inconvenient to communicate with them. How can they compare to the soldiers we have trained for many years? If they are taken, they will only hinder us."

"Your Qinglong Army is an elite force, so you don't need it. You can incorporate it into other armies." Zhao Xing said. "You don't have to worry about them having any ulterior motives. These barbarians hate the people of the royal court more than the people of the Great Zhou."

"What's the logic behind this?" It was Long Xiao's turn to be surprised.

"The natives of Xichang City belong to the 'Kash Tribe', but the garrison you just drove away is the 'Kuiniu Tribe' of the Golden Feather King's Court." Zhao Xing said, "Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. It is more appropriate to use it among them. I looked at the records. Five years ago, there were more than 30,000 residents in Xichang City. Now there are only more than 5,000. What do you think happened?"

Long Xiao seemed to be thinking about something, but Zhao Xing waved his hand and asked the soldiers to bring the barbarian over.

"General, General, my name is 'Wang Gang', and I am willing to serve the Great Zhou Dynasty." The barbarian spoke in poor Great Zhou dialect. Zhao Xing knew that the name was chosen on the spot and was a very common name in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Although this person's skin is wrinkled, he is actually in the prime of life. It is just because of his ethnic appearance that his skin looks like this. In fact, it is an organ similar to fish gills.

"Wang Gang, why do you want to join us?" Long Xiao asked curiously.

"General." Wang Gang cupped his hands. "As long as you do not kill people without armor or weapons after entering the city, you are worthy of following."

Long Xiao couldn't understand. Could it be that the army of the Southern Barbarian King's Court was even more terrifying than his own people?
It's so strange that I was supported just because I didn't kill civilians.

"You fought against the regular army of the royal court before. Those regular army had some military discipline." Zhao Xing said, "The people in charge of the West Field are a miscellaneous barbarian army. They don't have much concept of a country, only the concept of tribe. They obey the orders of the royal court to fight and complete the mission. As for the lives of the barbarians of other tribes, they don't care."

"Yes, that's right." Wang Gang said angrily, "Our Kashi tribe has been conscripted eight times in five years. When all the brave soldiers were conscripted, we had no power to protect ourselves. The people from the Kuiniu tribe came here last year and didn't regard us as their own people at all."

"Five years ago, we had tens of thousands of people in the Kashi tribe, but now we have less than 5,000 people. During this period, we only fought two wars and lost more than 3,000 people. The rest of the tribesmen all died at the hands of our so-called own people."

"They asked us to contribute to the Royal Court in the name of Wu Yue God, but what did Wu Yue God and the Royal Court bring us?!"

"General, I am willing to join the Great Zhou and lead the way for you."

Zhao Xing nodded and said, "Okay, Wang Gang, since you speak the language of the Great Zhou and have the name of the Great Zhou, then you are from the Great Zhou."

"However, I won't assign you a position, but you can apply for the city's food and weapons at any time. If you can find five people to listen to you, you will be a platoon leader. If you can find ten people to listen to you, you will be a squad leader. If you can find a hundred people to listen to you, you will be a general!"

"Thank you, General." Wang Gang said happily, "General, if I can recruit a thousand men, can I become a deputy general?"

"You're dreaming." Zhao Xing said with a smile, "Where can you find so many people?"

"General, as the saying goes, it's hard to leave your homeland. After Xichang City was breached, a small number of defenders and barbarians fled, but most of them are still hiding in the underground caves, among which there are still 800 young and strong men who can fight. Originally, we wanted to wait until the enemy left before coming out." Wang Gang bowed, "But seeing that the general is kind and righteous, I risked my life to come out and contact the general."

“Wang Gang, I just said that if you can find so many people, you are an official of any position, but if you want to fight for a future for your people, it depends on your performance.”

"Yes, General, I will bring them here right away." Wang Gang understood what Zhao Xing meant. If he wanted to get the same treatment, it would still depend on his meritorious service. However, this was better than continuing to be ruled by the other barbarian generals.

It took the Kash tribe five years to see through the true face of the royal court. They have reached the point where they feel that anyone can come, as long as they are not ruled by the royal court.

Zhao Xing waved his hand and sent a team of people pushing several carts of food to follow Wang Gang.

As soon as Wang left, Long Xiao scolded the two commanders who were searching the city: "What do you do for a living? You didn't even know there were 800 barbarians hiding?"

The commander of the city search felt very aggrieved. The people were not in the city and were hiding in caves outside the city. How could they be found so quickly?

"Don't blame them." Zhao Xing said, "If such a small group of people are determined to get into the cave, they are familiar with the terrain and it will be difficult for you to find them."

"Brother Xia, have the spies we sent out to explore Tianshui City returned?"

"Not yet." Xia Jing shook his head.

"Order the Shenwei Army and the Xuanjia Army to enter the city to rest, cook, and quickly recover their strength." Zhao Xing said, "In two days at most, we will go to attack Tianshui City."

"Yes."

……

In the early morning of January 25th, the Shenwei Army and the Xuanjia Army led by the headquarters received bad news in Xichang City.

The Tiger Dragon Army and the Lieyang Army led by Liao Rulong and Wang Ji were sniped by Zang He, the commander of the Jiuyou Army, in the Huangling and Zhangshan areas.

The Zhenhai Army led by Chen Shijie, Zhao Zheng, Wang Ji and Han Bing was intercepted by Hou Sen, the commander of the Jiuyou Army, at Sandaow Bay.

Except for the group led by Zhao Xing and Xia Jing, which was relatively successful, the other two groups encountered troubles at the very beginning of the river crossing plan.

It was originally agreed that they would meet in the Xichang City and Tianshui River area in the early morning of the 25th, but the other two groups still had not arrived until the evening of the 25th.

Zang He and Hou Sen are the commanders from the Jiuyou Legion.

The commander-in-chief of the Jiuyou Army, Commander Youyun, who was in charge of encircling Xia Jing's troops, discovered on January 20 that the Great Zhou army in Fengwu City had fled, so he sent Zang He and Hou Sen, each with a vanguard of more than 800 people, to intercept the Shiyang Legion that were crossing the river.

Both Lao Chen and Liao Rulong's films have a cast of just over 10,000 people.

The eight hundred people led by Zang He and Hou Sen were all practitioners, but 90% of them were at the Ju Yuan realm, and most of them were warriors, with only a few mages.

It is simply unrealistic to rely on 800 people to defeat 20,000 people, so the purpose is only to slow down the marching speed of the deserters from the Great Zhou.

Zang He and Hou Sen saw that Chen Shijie and Liao Rulong's troops were marching in neat formation and advancing and retreating in an orderly manner, and they were all elite soldiers, so they did not dare to come down and fight on foot.

You can only throw some firecrackers and spells at the flying boat.

Once they had thrown all the firecrackers and their energy was almost exhausted, they had to return, because the flying boat needed supplies, and so did the people.

Zang He and Hou Sen were traveling quickly to Fengwu City on a flying boat, so they could not carry many large-scale lethal weapons. Therefore, this pursuit only slowed down the marching speed of Chen Shijie and Liao Rulong's troops, and did not gain any advantage. Not even many people died on both sides.

It was not until the afternoon of the 26th that Zhao Xing in Xichang City received the news that the two tribes had temporarily repelled the pursuers. Zang He and Hou Sen led their men back to Fengwu City to replenish supplies, repair, maintain the flying boats, treat the wounded, and wait for the follow-up army.

After getting rid of the pursuers, the two units reached the designated camping location in the evening.

On January 27th, the Shenwei Army, the Xuanjia Army, the Lieyang Army, and the Hujiao Army, totaling more than 18,000 people, launched an attack on the eighth-grade witch city Tianshui City from three sides.

The Zhenhai Army led by Chen Shijie and some reserve troops remained in the shallows and Xichang City to guard against Zang He and Hou Sen's vanguard troops.

The Shenwei Army attacked from the east of Tianshui City, and the first troops to be dispatched were the chariot troops.

The original chariots were pulled by strange beasts, or were driven by magic arrays and core energy crystals. They could fly in the sky or walk on the ground.

But now it is different. The mechanism master has recovered his strength, and the mechanisms he created can only restore part of the power of the magic mechanisms, and the chariots can only move on the ground.

It’s like a flying boat can’t fly in the sky for long, because the world is different.

The chariots in the restricted area are also different in style from the past, somewhat like a combination of a shield car and a battering ram.

The siege chariots used by the Shenwei Army were all built by Wang Ji. They looked like a carriage, but instead of a horse, there was a spiral ram about three meters long.

On top of the carriage is a 'sail'.

A total of one hundred and twenty siege chariots crashed into the eastern city wall of Tianshui City.

The outer structure of the carriage has three layers of defense: the first is a leather layer soaked in animal skins, the second is metal iron sheets, and the third is a combination of hardwood.

Three layers of protection protect the fragile core of the magic circle.

In the restricted area of ​​Jue Tian Di Tong, the mechanism of the mechanism master is very fragile and can easily fail because the available materials are too weak. And once it is too far away from the mechanism master, it will fail.

There is no other way but to protect the magic circle in this way.

"Hu~~"

A strong wind appeared on the battlefield, and the strong wind blew on the sails of the chariot and began to push the chariot forward.

The wheels of the chariot are tracked, so it can pass through trenches.

Since there are not many practitioners, all the Divine Power Army needs one person to use wind magic to blow the sails of more than three chariots.

Zhao Xing had the strength of the eighth level of Lingqiao realm. He was also casting spells to blow wind. He controlled thirty chariots to crash into the enemy's city wall.

With the sails fluttering, the chariot slowly moved towards the city.

"Blow! Blow it back to me quickly!"

"Don't let these ghosts get close!"

On the east wall of Tianshui City, a red-skinned barbarian general was waving a sword and roaring madly.

The wizard on the city wall also began to blow the wind violently, blowing it out of the city.

There is no way. If we don't block the World-Breaking Chariot, this thing will be able to destroy the structure of the magic circle wall as long as it gets close to the city wall.

"Huwuwu~"

Two completely different winds began to blow wildly in front of the city on the east side.

The sails of the chariot sometimes flapped to the east and sometimes flapped to the west, and the situation soon reached a stalemate.

The one hundred and twenty chariots were still more than one hundred meters away from the city wall, and they basically slowed down like turtles.

But soon, twenty chariots broke the deadlock.

Zhao Xing controlled the strong wind and blew away twenty world-breaking chariots.

The wizard who was competing with him suddenly changed his expression.

"Commander, there is an expert on the opposite side and we can't hold on." Three wizards reported immediately.

"Damn it! How high can they be? Hold on!"

"Yes Yes……"

However, the facts cannot be changed by personal will.

Even though Zhao Xing was at the eighth level of Lingqiao Realm, the wind he used was much stronger than those at the same level.

In addition, because of the Mo Yun vine, Zhao Xing was able to open the pure Yuan soil that could only be opened by the fifth grade, and continuously absorb spiritual energy from it.

Therefore, he almost doesn't need to consider consumption, and it is basically always in full condition.

Whether it is other wizards or wind warlocks, in high-intensity confrontations, they have to stop and recover after blowing for three to five minutes.

For low-level practitioners, casting spells with all their strength consumes a lot of energy.

But Zhao Xing can stay here and enjoy the wind until the end of time.

"Kakaka~"

Twenty chariots quickly approached the city wall.

Then they encountered the second problem - the moat.

A large amount of water surged out of the moat, forming waves that blocked the way.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing had no choice but to cheat again.

"Xingyun!"

The Cloud Swallowing Technique was performed, and white clouds floated above the moat and began to quickly absorb the water in the moat.

"What.!"

Seeing the water level in the moat dropping rapidly, the barbarian generals on the east wall almost popped their eyes out.

"Could it be that there is a fifth-rank military minister on the opposite side? Why is his cloud so strong?"

"No wonder the commander-in-chief of the Jiuyou Army wants to encircle and suppress this army. Can Tianshuihe really withstand it?"

The barbarian general guarding the city began to panic.

His eyes began to glance at the twenty flying boats parked in the inner city.

Due to material and other reasons, there are only medium-sized flying boats in the Jue Tian Di Tong area, and there are no warships.

A barbarian general of his level could only use a small flying boat at most, which could only carry five to twenty people and had a limited altitude, which could not exceed one thousand meters.

He also has to take the engineer who built him with him, otherwise he won't be able to fly far.

"The enemy is determined to take this city to cross the river and besiege us on three sides. I don't know how many tens of thousands of people there are. We only have 6,000 people in the city. Can we hold out?" The barbarian deputy general began to have other ideas.

But out of fear and faith in the Nine Nether God, he suppressed the fear in his heart and gave orders.

"Fire Archers, get ready!"

"put!"

The barbarian general took advantage of the fact that his own wizard started to cast a spell and shot arrows with the wind, mainly aiming at the sails of the World-Breaking Chariot.

But this is of no use, because the ignition point of the material of the "sail" made by Wang Ji is very high, and ordinary fire cannot burn it at all.

The spell fire could work, but the problem was that Zhao Xing was also casting wind magic, so the fire couldn't float over and would only fly back and hurt its own people.

Tianshui City was now under attack from three sides, and the practitioners assigned to each side were simply not enough. Except for those who had obtained the [Heaven and Earth Protection], the spells of the rest were only effective within the city.

"Boom!"

The sound of ramming against the wall startled the barbarian general. He looked towards the city wall and saw that the ramming horn of a chariot had already hit the wall and began to shine.

What he didn't know was that Zhao Xing on the other side had actually begun to consider whether to give up the attack.

Because the situations coming from the other two sides were not good. If the casualties were too heavy, or if the battle dragged on too long and they were caught up by the 30,000 Jiuyou troops chasing behind, it would be a big trouble.

At that time, they would have to fight with their backs against the wall, which went against his original intention of fighting a guerrilla war.

"Send the messenger, ask Xia Jing in the west how long it will take to capture it?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Yes!" The messenger was a mechanical engineer from the Wuliang Juzi School. He closed his eyes and quickly replied to Zhao Xing. "Sir, General Xia said that it would take at least four hours to break through in the west."

"What about the north of General Liao?"

"Two hours."

Zhao Xing made an estimate and found that he had the best luck, as the eastern side he was commanding was where the enemy's defense was the weakest.

Now twenty world-breaking chariots have begun to destroy the city wall formation, and the enemy's reinforcement speed is obviously slower than the speed of breaking the defense.

After about three quarters of an hour, the east wall will be exposed. Once the magic circle of the wall becomes ineffective, the difficulty of attack will be greatly reduced.

The Shenwei Army has a machine artillery battalion, which can be regarded as a powerful weapon in the Juetianditong restricted area.

A long time ago, Zhao Xing suggested to Ji Che that when the six departments held meetings, they should suppress their realms. Since then, some powerful weapons in Jue Tian Di Tong have also been put on the research agenda.

For example, Wang Ji of the Shenwei Army created a mechanism called the [Shenwei Cannon]. Its materials are very ordinary and have nothing to do with magic, but its power is amazing.

There was a reason why the God of Nine Netherworlds sent out three armies of cultivators, Youyun, Zanghe and Housen, totaling more than 30,000 people (not including a small part of the local army) to encircle and suppress the Ten Yang Legion. This army was far more effective in killing the Nanman army in Jue Tian Di Tong than the armies in other places.

Because Zhao Xing used the Ten Yang Legion as a pilot at that time, and it was also the earliest army to conduct exercises with Jue Tian Di Tong as the imaginary enemy.

"Tell Xia Jing and Liao Rulong that if they cannot capture Tianshui City within two hours, retreat immediately. We will cross the river in another direction." Zhao Xing shouted to the messenger.

"Yes!"

…………

As time passed, nine world-breaking chariots were destroyed one after another, but the light on the city wall became weaker and weaker.

Finally, after three quarters of an hour, the city wall became dull and every brick turned into earthy gray and lost its luster.

The city wall barrier disappeared!
"Finally it's broken!" Zhao Xing breathed a sigh of relief. If it were placed somewhere else, for a seventh-grade wizard city like this, the magic circle would only be of an intermediate level and could be easily broken.

But here, breaking it is very slow.

"Machinery artillery battalion one, fire!"

Rumble~
Large-scale explosions began on and inside the city walls. Flames appeared and huge noises suddenly inspired people.

"Firebow Battalion One and Two, shoot!"

"Where's the Sky-Breaking Flying Boat, Zhao Chuanzong, move the Destroying Divine Crossbow onto the Sky-Breaking Flying Boat, get into the air, and focus on killing the Seventh Rank!"

"Go to camp and prepare first, follow me..."

While giving the order, Zhao Chuanzong suddenly pulled Zhao Xing.

Zhao Chuanzong was a cavalry commander. He could not play a role in siege warfare, so he acted as the deputy of the big brother Zhao Xing.

"Why are you pulling me?"

Zhao Chuanzong hesitated and said, "Brother, the Liuyun Flying Boat is prepared for you, not for fighting. General Xia said that it can only be used to help you break through..."

In Jue Tian Di Tong, the energy core of the flying boat has become a Yuan crystal, but it has also become a fragile item. If it is used to attack the city, it is very likely to be destroyed.

The Ten Sun Legion does not have many small flying boats, with only fifty in the entire army, and only four medium-sized ones, which are the sky-breaking flying boats.

Among them, the small flying boats are only capable of short-distance and low-altitude flight, but the medium-sized air-breaking flying boats can fly long distances.

"Asshole! Call me the Minister of Agriculture!" Zhao Xing kicked Zhao Chuanzong away. "Who is more important, the Minister of Agriculture or General Xia Jing? Listen to my orders and take off. I don't want to escape alone!"

Zhao Xing's voice was loud and clear, and everyone saw and heard it.

In fact, Master Zhao knew that this thing was just a psychological comfort. If the Nine Nether God launched a sweep, it would be difficult to escape with this thing, otherwise he would have fled back to the Great Zhou long ago.

He would never think of running away unless he reached the maximum level (fifth grade) in Jue Tian Di Tong.

If he reaches the fifth level, he won’t be afraid anymore.

If he reached the fifth rank, he would have more tricks up his sleeve. Little did he know that when Liu Tianning was at the fifth rank, he was known to be invincible at the same level, and challenging opponents of higher levels was as easy as eating or drinking water.

When he reaches the fifth level, Master Zhao can summon a very powerful straw man clone. Of course, the prerequisite is that he has to survive this wave of sweeping.

Tianshui City was broken, he couldn't let these "leveling experience" run away. It was useless to just kill some ordinary barbarian soldiers.

"Yes!" Zhao Chuanzong gritted his teeth and said, "The general has ordered that the God-breaking Crossbow be brought onto the flying boat, including the Sky-breaking Flying Boat!"

"kill!"

"Come on!"

……

One hour after the battle started, the eastern side of Tianshui City was breached.

The cities to the west and south were also breached two hours later.

After masters like Zhao Xing, Xia Jing and Long Xiao climbed up the city wall, they immediately made progress, gained a foothold on the top of the city wall, and immediately blasted open the city gate after recovering their strength.

After the city was breached, street fighting ensued. After entering the city, the battle completely turned into a war between low-level practitioners. Tianshui City is a seventh-grade wizard city. Once they enter, the people of the Ten Yang Legion will recover their realm to at most the seventh grade.

The most difficult part is breaking the city, and many people will die in the process.

On the night of January 28th, Tianshui City was completely captured.

"How many people have recovered their strength?" Zhao Xing asked.

"There were originally 350 people, and after taking over Tianshui City, the number reached 880." Xia Jing said.

"The number of practitioners in Tianshui City is slightly more than ours, but fortunately they are not masters. They are far worse than those in Fengwu City, and are also weaker than the pursuers behind us now." Chen Shijie said.

"Where are the casualties?"

"More than a thousand people died." Xia Jing said, "Fortunately we took the city, otherwise the number would have tripled."

The Witch City is very important, because as long as the soldiers do not die immediately, they can get the maximum recuperation after the city is broken and enter the city. Their own resistance will also recover with the realm, and serious injuries will become minor injuries, and minor injuries will become minor injuries.

"We must repair ourselves quickly, treat the wounded, and move the boats across the river. We can only stay here for two days at most." Zhao Xing said.

It took them about three days to rush from Fengwu City to Xichang City. With an army of tens of thousands of people advancing, the speed was relatively slow, but it was already considered fast.

Now, there are tens of thousands of pursuers behind them, and they don’t have much time to repair and cross the Tianshui River.

On February 1, the army crossed the turbulent Tianshui River one after another.

On the evening of February 2, Zhao Xing once again split the Ten Yang Army into six groups instead of three. Xia Jing, Liao Rulong, Zhao Zheng, Long Xiao, and Chen Shijie each led one group, and hid the boats crossing the river in Sanshu Bay.

Xia Jing and others were confused about this: "We won't need these boats when we cross the Canglan River to the north, so why don't we destroy them?"

Zhao Xing looked at the soldiers hiding in the ship and thought, "Let's keep it for now, just in case."

…………

On February 5, the 10,000 men led by the commander-in-chief of the Jiuyou Army, Youyun, and the 20,000 men led by Zang He and Hou Sen arrived at Tianshui City.

"Commander-in-chief, the Yingwu King Xia Jing and his men have crossed the river." Zang He said, "They are marching very fast, as if they know we are encircling them."

"So what if we know?" Hou Sen said coldly, "After crossing the river and heading south, there are ambushed troops in every direction. How long can they hold out if they are running so lightly?"

"As the encirclement gets smaller, our speed in rushing to the rescue will get faster and faster. If we are a step slower this time, it will be difficult for them to provide reinforcements the next time they attack the city."

"Housen is right." Commander Youyun looked at the map. "As long as we keep chasing them, we will eventually drive them into a dead end. By then, they will have nowhere to escape."

In the wild, practitioners cannot get supplies. The higher the level of recovery, the more food they need. As long as the army is destroyed, it will be difficult for a single person to enter the city.

After screening over and over again, they were either caught and killed, or starved to death in the wild. Flying in the air? That would make it easier to catch.

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief! There is a great discovery!" Suddenly, a guard rushed in excitedly.

"Tell me." Purple lines covered half of Youyun's face, making her look a little charming.

"We just received news that among the Great Zhou team that crossed the river, the highest-ranking Great Zhou official was not only the Yingwu King Xia Jing, but also the Grand Minister of Agriculture Zhao Xing who had disappeared for a long time!"

"What?" Commander Youyun stood up with a bang and stared at his guards: "Are you sure the news is true?"

"It is absolutely true. Our people devoured a wandering soul from the Great Zhou Dynasty. They saw Zhao Xing and Xia Jing enter Xichang City with their own eyes, and they also saw him in Tianhe City."

“Hahahaha!” Commander Youyun burst into laughter. “I didn’t expect that such a great achievement would happen to me.”

Regarding Zhao Xing, Ji Che offered his subordinates the following conditions: those who had accurate information would be promoted two levels and granted the title of Marquis. Those who brought back the Minister of Agriculture would be promoted five levels and granted the title of Duke of a County!

The Southern Barbarians also attach the same importance to it. As long as Commander Youyun has accurate information, he will be able to be promoted afterwards, capture or kill Zhao Xing, and even have the opportunity to be taught by the God Wu Yue himself!
"I want to kill Zhao Xing!" This was the first reaction of Commander Youyun. But he quickly gave up the idea.

Because although he had recovered to the sixth rank, Zhao Xing might have also recovered to the seventh rank. How could he find anyone by himself in the vast wilderness?

There might even be a risk of failure, after all, Zhao Xing's past record of challenging opponents of higher levels is well-known.

Even if it is a fifth-rank Nine Nether God, he cannot find it alone, so he still has to rely on the army.

"Report to the Nine Nether God immediately! These 30,000 people alone are not enough. We need to create a large encirclement. The more people the better."

Youyun immediately realized that he couldn't reap the fruits of this victory alone, so he might as well get the visible benefits first.

At the same time, through layers of information transmission, the news that Zhao Xing was still alive was secretly passed back to the royal city.

"Your Majesty, we have received news from the Grand Minister of Agriculture!" Ji Si reported.

"Are you sure?" Ji Che, who was sitting on the throne, was excited. "Don't pretend again and make me happy for nothing."

"This time it is absolutely true, the letter was written by the Minister of Agriculture, and it matched the secret information of the military world." Ji Si said. "But the front line also brought bad news, that is, the Nine Nether Gods have concentrated more than 400,000 troops and are conducting a large-scale sweep of Cangyue Prefecture and Lanhe Prefecture in the central part of the Southern Barbarians."

"The Grand Minister of Agriculture is in the northeast of Lanhe Prefecture. He is surrounded by the Nine Nether Gods."

Ji Che was silent. This news was really too bad. He had just received news from his elder brother, only to find out that he was in danger.

"Immediately send a message to King Luohou, and tell him to go and bring Zhao Xing back at all costs. I repeat, at all costs! Even if we have to fight a few decades later, even if all the ten imperial guards are annihilated, it doesn't matter!"

"Yes." Ji Si nodded.

Ji Che looked into the distant sky and murmured to himself: "Brother, you have to hold on."

…………

On February 7, three days after leaving the south of Tianshui River, Zhao Xing's Shiyang Legion began to attack Mincheng, Heshuicheng, and Yuyoucheng of Lanhe Prefecture according to the original plan.

Once these three cities are taken, as long as we pass two more lines of defense, we will have the opportunity to join forces with Dong Ze's Shensu Army.

Two of the defense lines are relatively sparse. After all, Jiuyou God mobilized so many people, so many places became short-handed.

But after three days of fighting, Mincheng, Heshuicheng and Yuyoucheng were not captured, but enemy reinforcements were on the way.

"Brother Zhao, the situation is not good. If we can't take down a castle within three days, we will be surrounded." Xia Jing was worried.

They now have a thousand practitioners, including more than ten at the seventh level. However, with such limited strength, they won't be able to survive long in the vast encirclement of the enemy.

As the encirclement gets smaller, their window to attack the city will become shorter and shorter.

"No more fighting." Zhao Xing looked at the map for a while and shook his head. "If we continue fighting, we will die. Tell Lao Chen and Lao Liao's troops to retreat."

"Where to retreat?" Xia Jing asked.

"Cross the Tianshui River again and return to Fengwu City." Zhao Xing said.

"What?" Xia Jing was a little confused: "How can we go back? There are enemy troops surrounding us on seven sides. Do we have to go back to the north of Lanhe Mansion?"

"The most dangerous place is the safest place. We just crossed the river. The enemy certainly didn't expect us to escape an encirclement and get back in." Zhao Xing said, "So we have to attack their weak river garrisons before the enemy encircles us and return to the north of Lanhe Mansion again. And we have to be fast."

(End of this chapter)