Chapter 477: 229, the only King of a Different Surname in Great Jin_2
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The mere two fronts of battle had already exceeded the common person's imagination, and continuing to dispatch forces to attack Lingyuan Prefecture, even a powerful nation like Great Jin couldn't possibly be so overconfident, could it?
Taking a deep breath, Gu Tianyun spoke in a low voice, "I too hope that I am wrong, but look at the Demon Army outside the city, they have only surrounded us without making a move. If it's not as I suspect, then why haven't they attacked directly? Why do they surround us, neither fighting nor letting us leave?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's brows furrowed and their hearts trembled slightly.
Both armies numbered in the hundreds of thousands; once the Demon Army launches an attack, they would have to concentrate their forces. This would allow them to choose whether to defend Longguan or not.
For them, the best choice at the moment would not be to defend Longguan County. After the intense battles of the past few days, Longguan City had already been battered, abandoning Longguan and retreating to the unaffected Lingdong Prefecture to garrison, then dispatching a portion of the army to support the Prefectural City, and coordinating a pincer attack on Zhang Zhenwei's one hundred thousand Monastic Soldiers with ten thousand from Leiyin Temple, would be the best move.
But with the Demon Army encircling them without attacking, their 560,000-strong army was as stagnant as dead water, unable to move. This was most fatal.
Abandon Longguan, forcefully breaking through to the east?
Gu Tianyun turned his head to glance at the eastern side of the city, where the vibrant vitality of Great Jin's elite Wolf-Slaughtering and Tiger-Valiant armies was stirring in the eastern sky, undoubtedly further confirming his suspicions.
Great Jin and the Demon Sect were intentionally trapping them in Longguan County!
"I have already sent a message to Xu Du, explaining the situation here. The siege of the army is my sole fault. Our forces within Guangling Prefecture cannot move, and neither can Great Jin and the Demon Sect's armies. If there truly is a large force attacking Lingyuan Prefecture, Xu Du will surely respond. All we need to do is hold Longguan and wait for the situation to change," Gu Tianyun said.
"What Sword Leader Gu says isn't fair. Though we fell into a trap set by Great Jin, in the battle of Longguan, we also slaughtered over two hundred thousand of the Demon Army, and retaking Longguan is an undeniable fact. Although we are surrounded in the city now, our armies are still present and they cannot breach our defenses. Where is the fault in that?"
"Brother, where is there any crime? The Enchantress, in order to trap us in Longguan, actually used the lives of more than two hundred thousand soldiers as bait. No one could have anticipated such a battle. Besides, Great Jin attacking Lingyuan Prefecture is still just our speculation, not yet a reality. The Holy Sect surely won't blame you for this."
Hearing his junior fellow disciples Yu Longkai and Liu Boyuan from Bailu Academy speak, Gu Tianyun's expression steadied somewhat. Just as the two said, he had indeed fallen into a trap, but had not been defeated. Of the 900,000-strong army, nearly 700,000 remained, coupled with the merits of retaking Longguan and heavily damaging the Demon Army, the likelihood of Xu taking blame was indeed not great.
Even if Lingyuan Prefecture were truly attacked, as the Sword Chief of Xizhao overseeing Xingyuan, he indeed had to bear responsibility. But even if the Holy Sect truly laid blame, he had his reasons.
Up to now in this battle, the Demon Sect deployed an army of 830,000, Great Jin deployed 200,000, and with the 200,000 Jinjia Army that Xu dispatched to support, plus another 200,000 reinforcement forces from Leiyin Temple and Bailu Academy, he had a total of 900,000 troops.
If Great Jin were truly set on attacking Lingyuan Prefecture, they would surely send a large force. If so, the disparity in the strength of both forces would be significant, and he would certainly have his excuses.
With this in mind, Gu Tianyun felt much more settled.
"Next, we'll see whether the Demon Sect and Great Jin will attack the city. If they do, it means they have no intention to attack Lingyuan Prefecture. But if they continue to besiege us without attacking, it's very likely..."
Everyone nodded in agreement with his words and looked out at the dense army of the Demon Sect and Great Jin, unexpectedly hoping that they would attack the city soon!
On the first day, the Demon Army made no move.
On the second day, still nothing.
On the third day, likewise, no movement.
On the fourth day, still the same.
On the fifth day, the sixth day, the seventh day... after waiting for about half a month, the Demon Sect and Great Jin's armies showed no signs of activity. By this point, the defenders like Gu Tianyun within Longguan City had their answer.
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New Yu Era 1322, October 25th
"Reporting to the general, this time we have 198 casualties," someone reported.
Outside Guangling Prefecture City, Hou Yuxiao looked at the Brahman Purifying World Army as they retreated from the city gates for the fourth time. He listened to a Grandmaster Realm Commander report the number of casualties to Zhang Zhenwei. Although his expression was as calm as ever, he couldn't help but feel a measure of respect for Zhang Zhenwei.
Because he had personally participated in the first three attacks and could not see the overall situation, it was only during this fourth attack, as he watched from outside the city, that he realized Zhang Zhenwei's command of the one hundred thousand Purifying World Army was formidable.
The four attacks were feints, yet the one hundred thousand-strong army managed to advance and retreat in an orderly manner, executing the battlefield commands of their chief without deviation. When ordered to charge, they charged; when ordered to retreat, they retreated. They were truly the elite of the Holy Land, with not only high average cultivation but also a military discipline far superior to the regular Mansion Army of Xingnan Prefecture.
The first attack suffered 1,209 casualties, while the subsequent three attacks saw 209, 217, and 198 casualties respectively. These numbers gave a rough indication of the high quality of the army.
Even though these were feints, considering that both sides had cultivations no lower than Ten Layers of Body Openings and many Warriors of the Gang Qi Realm, controlling casualties to around two hundred in such large-scale conflicts is incredibly challenging!
Zhang Zhenwei, as the supreme commander of this grand army, naturally exemplified his capabilities through the quality of his forces.
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