Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 826 - 686: Homeless Dog

Chapter 826: Chapter 686: Homeless Dog

Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei, summoned the noble families, scholars, and rich merchants within the city, originally intending to seek their sponsorship for some funds and grain and to calm them slightly.

If there were some who recognized the times and were willing to serve under his command, supporting his great cause, that would have been ideal.

But under the current circumstances, Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei, clearly could not realize his wish.

Although the people before him were all silent as statues and each maintained a respectful and solemn demeanor, Yu Dianpei could even guess their thoughts with his feet.

They were thinking "He is indeed the County Prince Fenyang, with unmatched military sharpness", "It seems the Court has foreseen this; the new emperor has a prosperous destiny", "Prince Ning’s defeat is apparent; we absolutely cannot join the traitor to avoid implicating our families in the future", and even "Today we would rather die than associate with Prince Ning" and so on.

Even Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei, at this moment, was in a state of panic and confusion.

He could only hurriedly wave his hand, intending to dismiss all these prominent figures from Jiujiang City, but the Iron-faced Man stopped him, "Your Highness, this is not the time! We must lock down the news, strictly preventing any leak."

Yu Dianpei suddenly realized and promptly ordered the royal army at his side, "Keep these people under watch! The military reports from Nanchang must not be leaked either, whoever dares to speak, this prince will have him sliced into a thousand pieces!"

Then he walked up to the injured knight, "How did Shenji Camp reach Zhaojiawei? Why wasn’t there any token of communication sent back?"

That knight was obviously severely injured and nearly unconscious, but he still strained to reply, "I do not know why Shenji Camp was in Nanchang, I only know that these troops appeared suddenly at Zhaojiawei on hundreds of transport boats two hours ago. They landed forcefully under the flags of ’Shenji right and left camp’, using a detachment to defeat the local Weisuo army of three thousand in Zhaojiawei; the main force advanced both on foot and by horse, aiming directly at Nanchang.

The reason we could not send out a token of communication is because dozens of Jiao Dragons appeared surrounding Nanchang. They soared in the sky, sealing off the clouds, making all tokens of communication impossible to send or receive. I also broke through desperately, relying on a few subordinates for cover, managing to rush to Jiujiang. Additionally, when I departed Nanchang, Shenji Camp was less than fifty li away from Nanchang. They were advancing extremely fast, by now they might already be at the outskirts of Nanchang City."

"Do you know how many troops they have and what flags they are flying?" The Iron-faced Man asked, finding his voice trembling slightly.

"Sir! They are flying the flags of ’County Prince Fenyang Li’; as for the number of troops under his command, I do not know. However, according to the front line night exploration report of Yebushou, Shenji right and left camp should be here in full force, no fewer than forty thousand," replied the knight.

With that, the knight fainted.

The expression on Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei’s face was extremely grim, as he already had a very bad premonition.

Yu Dianpei highly valued the defense of his stronghold in Nanchang.

Nanchang Government itself was the leading large city in Jiangxi, and Yu Dianpei’s grandfather, the first generation Prince Ning Yu Quan, had spent over a hundred years perfecting its management.

The city’s defensive capability was second only to Nanjing.

Beyond the city itself, Yu Dianpei also stationed nearly eighty thousand troops inside and outside Nanchang.

Among them, twenty thousand were his prince’s mansion’s guard, seasoned in battle skills and equipped with superior gear, their elite ability was not inferior to the Jingying Forbidden Army of the Court.

According to the estimates of the generals under Prince Ning’s command, Nanchang’s defense was as solid as a rock.

The Court would need to mobilize more than three hundred thousand troops, attacking day and night, to take down Nanchang.

But this time their adversary was Li Xuan, the County Prince Fenyang renowned as ’unbeatable in attack and invincible in battle.’

The fact that he had appeared unexpectedly right outside the gates of Nanchang terrified and unnerved Yu Dianpei.

"Your Highness," the Iron-faced Man, his heart cold as ice, swirling with indescribable anxiety and restlessness, said, "Now is not the time to hesitate, our army must quickly return to relieve Nanchang’s siege!"

After these few sentences, the Iron-faced Man calmed down somewhat, "I think there’s no need for Your Highness to panic. Nanchang is one of the top ten fortified cities in the world. Not only is it defended by tens of thousands of our elite Prince Ning’s troops, but it also has the support of the heavenly level from Jinque Palace. It’s not so easy to capture."

"This might be a good thing, Li Xuan’s move although unexpected, his rapid advance deep into our territory is also a major military taboo. Once he falters in the attack, our army will easily crush him!"

However, the frustration and fear in Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei, were overwhelming. He was distracted, muttering to himself, "How could Li Xuan come to Nanchang? How exactly did Shenji Camp get here? Those spies that I nurtured are useless, useless! They actually told me that they saw Li Xuan’s Shenji Camp entering Henan—"

The Iron-faced Man thought this was not the time to worry about these things.

Li Xuan was evidently planning to strike at Prince Ning from the start; naturally, he had ways to deceive and cross the sea.

"Your Highness," the Iron-faced Man emphasized, "Nanchang is the fundamental base of our fiefdom; it must not fall into enemy hands. Please make a decision quickly!"

At that moment in Nanchang, not only were the family members of their hundreds of thousands of soldiers there, but also millions of stones of grain reserves, as well as the military supplies and artisans accumulated over the years by Prince Ning’s mansion.

If they lost it, Prince Ning’s hundreds of thousands of troops fighting abroad would be like rootless ducks, dogs who had lost their homes!

Finally, Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei, calmed down and after pondering for a moment, he ground his teeth, "Order all troops to board the ships, we break camp and return immediately!"

Yu Dianpei thought the Iron-faced Man was right; Shenji Camp might not be able to capture Nanchang before they could rescue it from the south.

And whether or not Shenji Camp had captured Nanchang, he must return as soon as possible to confront Li Xuan before the morale of his troops dispersed.

※※※※

At the same time, Li Xuan stood at the top of a small hill about five miles east of Nanchang, peering at the city through a telescope.

He had rushed to Nanchang on the ’Red Thunder Chariot’ after receiving military intelligence from Jiangxi.

Li Xuan had left the Capital City and reached the inner regions of Poyang Lake in just half a day, coincidentally arriving as Wang Yuan and the Shenji Camp were disembarking, allowing him to take over the local battle efforts seamlessly.

By then, Li Xuan’s forces not only included forty-thousand soldiers from the Shenji right and left camp but also ten thousand troops from the Weisuo Institute in Raozhou, twenty thousand standard bearers from Jiangxi, and another twenty thousand Iron Cavalry that he had brought from Liaodong.

After the crushing defeat of Datan at Xuanfu, The Court no longer needed to station excessive troops in Liaodong.

The Meng Wu and Jurchen tribes were now too weak to threaten the cities of Liaodong anymore.

Thus, half a month earlier, Li Xuan had withdrawn twenty thousand cavalry from Liaodong ostensibly to quell rebellions in Shaanxi but secretly to assist the Shenji Camp in moving to Jiangxi.

Originally, hiding the movement of such a huge army, numbering sixty thousand men and tens of thousands of animals for long-distance relocations, was extremely challenging.

Li Xuan’s strategy involved having a pre-prepared force from the Weisuo Institute pose as the Shenji Camp after the latter had entered Zhengzhou in Henan, while the entire Shenji Camp, along with the twenty thousand Liaodong cavalry, embarked on ships and took the river to sea.

Then, with the help of sea vessels, they sailed directly from the Yellow River estuary to Chongming Island, and from there, they changed to canal boats for Raozhou, thus evading everyone’s watchful eyes.

There were only two difficulties with this tactic; first was the perilous and unpredictable nature of sea voyages, whether it be encountering sea storms or gigantic sea beasts, any of which could devastate their entire force.

However, this was not a problem for Li Xuan at all, as he had the support of the East Sea Dragon Clan, which ensured a smooth passage at sea.

They could even deploy Illusion Techniques to help Li Xuan’s army advance silently along the river, using magical techniques to propel the ships rapidly.

The East Sea Dragon Clan was reluctant to get openly involved in mortal conflicts, but their actions were a fine line that wouldn’t attract too much backlash from the Dragon Qi.

Generally, as long as they didn’t directly interfere in the battle, it wouldn’t invoke calamity.

The second difficulty was time. The arrangements Li Xuan had made in Henan could only fool others temporarily. If it exceeded ten days, there would be a risk of exposure.

Luckily, Prince Ning had been unable to restrain himself.

Lei Li, having just been appointed as the Inspector of Jiangxi, had already moved his troops to occupy Jiujiang just a few days after his appointment.

At that moment, beside Li Xuan, Immortal Master Shuide, Ao Shuying, was still furious and shocked, "My father has already set out for the Extreme North to investigate the situation there. If this proves to be true, then our Dragon Palace and Jinque Heaven Palace will be irreconcilable!"

The disturbances created by Jinque Heaven Palace in the north were not limited to harming the people of the Jin Dynasty. The creatures of the sea were also suffering heavily.

It posed an even greater threat to the East Sea Dragon Palace, potentially depriving countless sea creatures of adequate sustenance. This turmoil could cause the governance of the East Sea Dragon Palace over the oceans to crumble!

The rivers and lakes of Two Rivers and other water systems would also freeze earlier due to climatic changes or even dry up due to drought, endangering the survival of aquatic clans elsewhere.

"I never expected that Jinque Heaven Palace would be so reckless,"

Li Xuan shook his head and then looked peculiarly at the dozens of giant dragons circling in the sky, "But is this really okay? By doing this, you are directly involving yourselves in the mortal dragon strife."

"This is by my father’s command!" Ao Shuying spoke sharply, "Although my father only recently departed for the Extreme North, this news should be reliable. Jinque Heaven Palace wouldn’t just split without reason, and Shaosiming is indeed severely injured and missing. Since they in Jinque Heaven Palace dare to make the first move on the first day, we in the East Sea Dragon Palace naturally must respond on the fifteenth!"

She then turned her gaze towards Nanchang, "This city is extremely fortified, how are you planning to take it down, Li Xuan? Those cannons you brought probably won’t be very effective. Do you need my help?"

The cannons of the Shenji Camp were better suited for field battles rather than sieges.

Especially against the thick iron and stone walls of Nanchang, which even the Red General Cannons found hard to shake.

Ao Shuying’s method of assistance involved leading the dozens of dragons in her command to directly ram the walls.

This could potentially cause casualties among her dragons, yet by this time, Ao Shuying’s fury towards Jinque Heaven Palace had reached a boiling point.

Still, there was another method, which was to directly flood the city with water from the Gan River.

However, no matter what, Ao Shuying would never resort to such a sinister tactic.

Li Xuan remained calm: "This city is indeed hard to conquer, but there is a saying I’ve heard—fortresses are oftentimes breached from within."

Just as he said this, Lei Li, the newly appointed Inspector of Jiangxi, hurriedly rode up to in front of Li Xuan, "Your Highness, County Prince, it is settled. Nan City will open its gates in two hours."

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