CHAPTER 964: 417, DONGYUAN BATTLE SITUATION, NEWS CAME_3

Zhao Yulong’s arrangement could adapt according to Wanyan Cheng’s siege plans. If Wanyan Cheng gathered a large army to attack one location, the allied armies could also concentrate together. If the attack was scattered, he could use his five million troops to reinforce according to the enemy’s siege strength.

However, Zhao Yulong overlooked a critical point.

In a battle involving tens of millions of martial artists, schemes and plots hardly work. After all, the number of enemy forces, their marching routes, and the top martial artists on both sides are clear. In such close confrontations, using clever tricks is simply impossible.

It’s not entirely Zhao Yulong’s fault. He was the Grand Marshal of Soldiers and Horses of the former Great Yu Dynasty, and even at the dynasty’s peak, it had no more than tens of millions of troops combined, with no enemies on par with the Great Yu.

He had never experienced a battle involving tens of millions of troops.

But the Great Jin had...

Wanyan Cheng’s thinking was completely different from Zhao Yulong’s. From the beginning, he never intended to engage in a prolonged war with the alliance. With three million elite martial artists from three paths paving the way, twelve million troops advanced directly, targeting the northernmost Pingyuan City of Dongyuan Path, taking it by storm.

Zhao Yulong was caught off guard and led his army to reinforce, with the remaining four city armies following immediately. However, they were too slow to catch up. By the time their troops arrived, the Pingyuan City’s defenders had already been routed by the Great Jin army, with only half remaining. If not for his quick arrival, the fifty thousand would have likely been entirely wiped out.

Wanyan Cheng also expected Zhao Yulong’s arrival, giving no respite. As soon as Pingyuan City was captured, they immediately engaged the long-marching allied army, even before Zhao Yulong had a chance to assess the situation inside Pingyuan City.

No one anticipated that this great battle would start in such a dramatic fashion, with over twenty million troops clashing just outside Pingyuan City.

This involved over twenty million martial artists, ninety percent elite from Holy Lands, including Gang Qi Realm, Grandmaster Realm, Yuan Dan Realm, and even more advanced cultivations, not to mention Saints.

Once the battle began, almost the entire Dongyuan Path could hear the commotion.

From November 15 to November 20, the battle raged for a full five days, with countless casualties on both sides. The alliance was pushed by the Great Jin soldiers from Pingyuan City all the way south to Zhutiancity.

Zhao Yulong didn’t even have the chance to retreat to Zhutiancity, being further driven back to the central area of Dongyuan Path, within the Shunkang Prefecture.

Fortunately, the Great Jin soldiers seemed to have also reached their limits, giving him a chance to catch his breath and order his army to retreat to Shunkang City.

Having learned his lesson, Zhao Yulong no longer divided his forces, stationing the remaining troops within Shunkang City’s territory, watching the Great Jin army outside closely. If they moved, so would he, and if they didn’t, neither would the allied forces move.

After two more battles, Zhao Yulong’s strategy proved effective. Although the Great Jin was strong, the scale of this war was simply too large. At most, both sides could gradually deplete each other’s living forces in battle, making it nearly impossible for either side to achieve a decisive victory.

And because of the sheer number of combatants, neither side could eliminate a significant portion of the other’s living force in one go.

Thus, back and forth, the battle situation reached a stalemate.

Although the Great Jin had invaded Dongyuan Path, they only managed to occupy Pingyuan and Zhutiancities. Wanyan Cheng couldn’t take Shunkang Prefecture, forcing him to camp his army outside Shunkang City.

Zhao Yulong had no intention of counterattacking, solely defending Shunkang Prefecture with the allied forces, preventing the Great Jin army from advancing further.

New Yu Era 1322, November 25

Two beams of light rushed from the south, both heading towards Shunkang Prefecture. However, one landed inside the city, while the other landed outside.