Chapter 2144 - 2129: Request for Reinforcements

Chapter 2144: Chapter 2129: Request for Reinforcements

Within the Commander Mansion at Blood River Fortress, Ye Zhen was looking at the military map in front of him, his brows tightly furrowed.

Ye Zhen was the proposer of the twelve-word strategic guideline and simultaneously its most thorough executor.

The entire Blood River Fortress originally had four fortresses, sixteen strongpoints, and over ninety beacon fire towers.

Now, under Ye Zhen’s proactive contraction, only two fortresses, four strongpoints, and over ten beacon fire towers are still deployed with troops. The troops from other military units have been completely withdrawn.

These two fortresses are respectively Yang Gate Fortress and Cairo Fortress, each deploying a troop of thirty thousand soldiers.

Moreover, within Blood River Fortress, there are still 150,000 troops and over 40,000 sin slaves remaining.

Based on current intelligence, the Demon Clan army advancing towards Blood River Fortress might exceed 400,000.

Although, with 400,000 Demon Clan troops, Ye Zhen can guard against them, defending the fortress isn’t an issue.

However, how many soldiers will die in battle is uncertain.

Therefore, Ye Zhen is still incessantly making various arrangements.

"Liuu Feng, how are things at Dingbian Fortress and Black Earth Stronghold?" Ye Zhen asked without lifting his head.

"Grand Marshal, the civilians at Dingbian Fortress and Black Earth Stronghold have already been conscripted, but they refused to support us with troops! They claimed their forces are limited and must guard against roaming Demons." Liuu Feng’s expression was slightly gloomy.

"I expected this!"

Ye Zhen angrily hammered the table, "They are not worried about what will happen to them if Blood River Fortress falls!"

"Grand Marshal, they’re convinced Blood River Fortress will hold, so they haven’t deployed the militia. As long as the Military Law of Great Zhou has deployed civilians, and previously had conflicts with Dingbian Fortress..." Liuu Feng had a bitter smile.

"Never mind them, how many civilians are there?" Ye Zhen asked.

"Thirty thousand, they’ll arrive in three days!"

"With these thirty thousand civilians, we’ll keep twenty thousand for the fortress, send 5,000 each to Yang Gate and Cairo Fortresses, and quickly teach them how to use Wind-Fire Crossbows.

Additionally, from the 40,000 sin slaves, select 5,000 elite fighters and issue them Armored Crossbows, deploying them to the two fortresses. This way, the combat strength of the two fortresses can reach forty thousand, sufficient for self-defense." ℯℯ𝘭.

Ye Zhen also considered recalling all troops from these two fortresses back to Blood River Fortress, but if he did that, once the Demon Clan army attacks, Blood River Fortress would become an isolated city, which is a major taboo for defending cities.

Ye Zhen can only split his forces!

However, given the current situation, facing 400,000 Demon Clan troops, Ye Zhen is confident in dealing with them. The key is to minimize his losses.

"Liuu Feng, where has the Demon Clan vanguard reached?" Ye Zhen asked once more.

"Grand Marshal, the Demon Clan army vanguard is still 80,000 miles away from us. Under normal circumstances, they can reach us in half a day at most...."

"Wait?"

Suddenly, Ye Zhen frowned, "Half a day ago, wasn’t the Demon Clan vanguard only 100,000 miles from us? How have they only advanced 20,000 miles in half a day?"

"According to intelligence from the Heavenly Patrol Divine Hunter, the Demon Clan vanguard suddenly slowed their pace, and the reason is still unknown."

"Investigate further, I want to know the reason for the Demon Clan vanguard’s slowed pace as soon as possible." Ye Zhen commanded.

That investigation lasted a whole day.

An oddity followed, within the next day, the Demon Clan vanguard advanced less than 20,000 miles, moving very slowly.

This situation made Liuu Feng, Gu Tieqi and other generals feel this was a positive development.

Any delay in the Demon Clan attack is always favorable.

Yet, to Ye Zhen, it was extremely unusual.

According to intelligence, other war zones were already engaged in intense battles, truly rivers of blood.

Including other defense zones in the Northern War Zone, battles had already begun, with some first-wave clashes even ended.

Whereas, where Ye Zhen was, everything was quiet.

This silence gave Ye Zhen a bad premonition.

What made Ye Zhen even more tense was when he operated the Heavenly Mechanism Secret, he felt a surge of blood.

This shocked Ye Zhen greatly.

The Heavenly Mechanism Secret passed down by Master Lud Li was indeed quite accurate.

Previously in the Taimeng Demon Realm, it had saved Ye Zhen’s life.

And this time, operating the Heavenly Mechanism Secret causing a surge of blood must be related to the Demon Clan attack.

"Still no clear intelligence?" Two consecutive days with no findings on why the Demon Clan vanguard halted, Ye Zhen was quite anxious.

"Grand Marshal, not yet!"

"Deploy the Heavenly Patrol Divine Generals to explore broader areas!"

"Grand Marshal, exploring further areas would be extremely dangerous even for the Heavenly Patrol Divine Generals..."

"It’s an order! Moreover, Big Ears and Little Cat will be deployed!"

Liuu Feng was dumbfounded by Ye Zhen’s actions.

He was even willing to send treasures like Big Ears Nie Ting into the Demon Clan army’s controlled area, where, if discovered, they might instantly face siege from several or even a dozen Dao Realm enemies.

Actually, the measures Ye Zhen took to obtain concrete information were much more than these.

Within this half day, Ye Zhen had also activated several rarely used small communication transfer formations, contacting several informants within the Demon Clan.

Jii Hua, Longnu the Bull Demon, Yue Dao the Moon Demon, these individuals Ye Zhen also inquired for intelligence.

Yet, none provided valuable information.

Jii Hua was also in the Northern War Zone but had already participated in the offensive, not involved in the advance on Blood River Fortress.

Without support from accurate intelligence, Ye Zhen felt like a lost fly.

The previous two precise forecasts, whether for the millennium campaign or twelve-word strategy, were built on thorough intelligence support.

This time, however, lacked definitive intelligence support.

Fortunately, Ye Zhen’s boldness eventually brought him accurate intelligence.

A Heavenly Patrol Divine General discovered an army advancing rapidly towards the Blood River Fortress area, estimated between 400,000 to 700,000 troops, expected to reach Blood River Fortress within a day at the latest.

But it is still uncertain whether this army will attack Blood River Fortress because their marching direction suggests at least five military units they may target.

Big Ears and Cloud Winged Tiger King only intercepted communications from the army’s Commander—the Seventh Crown Prince of the Demon Emperor, Congyun!

"Report this news to the Governor’s Mansion, then prepare the entire army, elite forces ready for expedition!" Ye Zhen issued the military order in the shortest possible time.

Liuu Feng was quite surprised, "Grand Marshal, this army led by the Seventh Crown Prince of the Demon Emperor, Congyun, has at least five military units on its route. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll attack our Blood River Fortress?"

"I feel the target of the Seventh Crown Prince Congyun’s attack is precisely our Blood River Fortress!"

Ye Zhen spoke decisively without giving any justification.

This was an intuition.

Or rather, only this situation could explain the current anomaly!

Upon hearing this, Liuu Feng was deeply shocked, his face instantly losing color, "Grand Marshal, if this is true, our Blood River Fortress will face nearly a million troops attacking us?"

"Then, can we hold?"

"Whether we can hold or not, we must hold!" Ye Zhen’s face showed a solemn determination, if one must find a reason why the Seventh Crown Prince Congyun chooses to attack Blood River Fortress, it would be because of the Demon Soul Realm incident.

"Then Grand Marshal, should we immediately request reinforcements from the Governor?" Liuu Feng urged.

Ye Zhen slowly shook his head, "Before this army’s attack target is confirmed, we have no reason to request reinforcements from the Governor’s Mansion!"

"Order all Heavenly Patrol Divine Generals to deploy, monitor this army, once the Seventh Crown Prince Congyun’s army directs towards Blood River Fortress, that will be our time to request reinforcements from the Governor!" Ye Zhen instructed.

After half a day, Liuu Feng rushed into the Commander Mansion holding a Jade Scroll, "Grand Marshal, confirmed, the attack target of the Seventh Crown Prince’s army is determined to be our Blood River Fortress, request reinforcements, quickly!"

Half a quarter-hour later, a ten-thousand-fold urgent reinforcement Jade Scroll vanished into the small communication transfer formation.

Subsequently, Ye Zhen and Liuu Feng stared nervously at the small communication transfer formation, anxiously waiting for information about reinforcements!