Nuclear-powered Sword Immortal
Chapter 223 - 220 Tactics

Chapter 223: Chapter 220 Tactics

Dragon Roar City, serving as the capital of Jiangzhou State and the headquarters of Dragon Sparrow Manor, spanned forty-eight miles in length and forty-six miles in width, with a population of over three million people.

In terms of prosperity, it was comparable to Starlight City at the Tian Nan Hub.

However, unlike Starlight City, which had no city walls,

Dragon Roar City, due to the need to set up the Dragon Mysterious Array, had walls built on all sides, standing twenty-two meters high, equivalent to a seven or eight-story building.

Such walls, supplemented by various devices and in coordination with elite soldiers, made it unlikely even for Hugging Pill Masters to storm over them.

Additionally, a moat was dug outside, equipped with numerous traps, which could greatly slow down the advance of a large army using siege equipment.

With the Star State army approaching, Dragon Roar City had already entered a wartime state, under full martial law, with a curfew in place.

Even during the day, aside from elite soldiers and some core disciples of Dragon Sparrow Manor, there were few residents coming and going.

On the city walls, soldiers clad in iron armor stared solemnly toward the distant horizon.

In the guard cities spread over twenty miles, heavy troops were stationed, forming a strategic angle with Dragon Roar City.

One of the guard cities, leaning towards Dragon Ascending Mountain, had such a clear view from atop its walls that one could see crowds swarming on Dragon Ascending Mountain.

Meanwhile, in the war hall within Dragon Roar City.

Apart from the mysterious elder Sparrow Sword Immortal Huo Yuqing, Ye Qianqiu, Long Xiangtian, and Manor Master Long Yinfeng, among other Divinity Transformation experts, were all present.

It was Ye Qianqiu who was speaking at the moment.

This Venerable Daoist smirked coldly, "I have carefully studied Gu Jinlai’s campaigns to pacify Star State, and in every major battle, he used his Demon God Guards to decapitate the leadership, claiming their territory after collapsing their leader group. However, this time, they clearly realize that this approach won’t work against us at Dragon Sparrow Manor, so they have mobilized tens of thousands of troops, hoping to use their numerical advantage to wear down our masters."

"With a peak population exceeding sixty million in Star State, even now they still boast over fifty million, almost double ours in Jiangzhou. He only needs to wear down our elites with enough troops, forcing us to send out our Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, Hugging Pill Realm True Disciples, and protector stewards. Once they exhaust our high-level forces, they can surround and eliminate our Refining God and Divinity Transformation experts, depleting their strength, and eventually, small advantages will snowball into larger ones, turning the tide in a decisive battle," said Ye Qianqiu.

Long Yinfeng looked a bit solemn, "This Gu Jinlai really does have some nerve."

"To hold the throne of Lord of Star State, Gu Jinlai is naturally no fool," Long Yinfeng added.

Long Xiangtian’s demeanor remained very calm, "However, it seems he’s forgotten one thing. He has only held Star State for less than a year. Even though he’s used forceful methods during this time to suppress all resistance within Star State, now that he’s pulled all his soldiers away and mobilized two hundred thousand people, it inevitably leaves Star State vulnerable. If there’s internal turmoil in Star State now, their strategy of attrition against us will be nothing but a daydream."

With that, he chuckled lightly, "Within a month, they will be the ones in disarray. By then, the initiative will be in our hands."

The other elders nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright, the battle plan has been thoroughly discussed already, let me just reiterate one point: if Gu Jinlai wants to drag this out, we’ll play along. Time is on our side, plus they are invading our Jiangzhou, where we have the advantages of timing, geographical positioning, and support from our people, all on the side of Dragon Sparrow Manor. As long as we don’t rush to action and maintain our strategy of strictly defending Dragon Roar City’s advantageous position, victory will undoubtedly belong to Dragon Sparrow Manor," concluded Ye Qianqiu.

The other elders nodded in agreement.

The Sword Master Xue He then raised a concern, "What if Gu Jinlai avoids our Dragon Roar City and attacks other cities instead?"

"Ah, our purpose in defending the city is merely to achieve victory with the least cost; it doesn’t mean we fear Gu Jinlai. If Gu Jinlai dares to divide his forces and bypass Dragon Roar City to attack other cities..."

Ye Qianqiu smirked coldly, "We wouldn’t mind marching out of Dragon Roar City, catching him in a deep assault, and shutting the gate to beat the dog, so to speak."

After hearing this, Sword Master Xue He thought about it and agreed.

The overall strength of Dragon Sparrow Manor was not inferior to that of Star State.

They were only adopting this tactic because they did not want to engage in a mutually destructive battle with Star State, which would allow others to take advantage of their weakened state.

If they really set aside all external factors and fought to the death...

Their chances of winning were still higher than Star State’s.

"Gu Jinlai and the forces behind him are ultimately a recent rise; how can they compare their foundation with ours at Dragon Sparrow Manor? By marching their army into our Jiangzhou, they had sealed their defeat from the start. Everyone, please return to your positions and hold firm. We will wait for Gu Jinlai to come and settle scores. I want to see just how many lives Star State can sacrifice within Dragon Roar City," said Long Xiangtian, wrapping up this brief pre-war meeting.

With these instructions, the Divinity Transformation Elders felt reassured, each taking their positions in preparation for the impending siege battle.

...

On the other side.

Having taken Dragon Ascending Mountain, Gu Jinlai was not in a hurry to begin the artillery bombardment.

At the moment, he was ordering everyone to cast fortresses and sealed gun platforms.

Yes, gun platforms.

Once the artillery barrage began, the Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators of Dragon Sparrow Manor would surely do everything in their power to dismantle the cannons.

Despite having numerous Short Range Defense Cannons, Thunder Machine Guns, and him, Xin Tianqi, Cheng Wanli, Lu Zhanfeng, Shi Chen, Sha Wujin, Nie Shisan, and other Monarchs and Divinity Transformation Cultivators, they were ultimately inferior to Dragon Sparrow Manor.

Facing a potential attack from twenty Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator flying swords from Dragon Sparrow Manor, they could not completely defend against them.

This was the time to leverage the advantage of the gun platforms...

It was even necessary, at times, to use the cannon as bait to lure the Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators into attacking.

The cannon he had constructed were all incredibly solid, cast from steel-reinforced concrete ranging from one to even two or three meters thick.

Once the exits were sealed, the flying swords of Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators could not break out in a short time.

In such a relatively cramped space within the cannon, even the quickest flying swords couldn’t take advantage of their speed.

And without speed, which guard of the Demon God, infused with the Great Demon Body, couldn’t suppress a flying sword?

Once the flying sword was destroyed, the Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator would inevitably suffer a severe backlash.

Though this severe backlash was not fatal, it would still take a Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator two to three, or even three to four months to recover.

Two to three months...

The battle between Jiangzhou and Star State would have already been decided by then.

...

"Over there, thicken it a bit more; this cannon is designed to attract fire. The cannon is a steel cast model, fill it with more gunpowder. Once a flying sword penetrates it, immediately detonate it,"

On the mountain, Nian Buwang continuously issued orders: "Here, use a double-layer design. If it can’t stop the flying swords, the gunners can retreat in time. Then, let the cannon be destroyed and take the flying sword down with it. With our 108 cannon models and 48 real cannons, I really want to see how much it will cost the people of Dragon Sparrow Manor to remove all our heavy fire points."

"Sir, what if the Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators from Dragon Sparrow Manor don’t fall for it?"

A disciple of the Gu family asked.

"Don’t fall for it?"

Nian Buwang glanced at him: "If they don’t fall for it, then just keep bombing. Forty-eight cannons, relentless for three days and nights."

As he spoke, he smiled and added: "Thanks to Dragon Sparrow Manor giving up several border cities, our logistics team easily transported a large amount of ammunition to Dragon Ascending Mountain. I want to see how long they can last."

This disciple, remembering the power demonstrated by these cannons during trials, couldn’t help but feel spirited.

The Artillery could kill a Great Demon with its shells.

The defensive power of Refining God and Divinity Transformation was worse than that of a Great Demon; if hit, it would undoubtedly be fatal.

Of course, they possessed the capabilities to dodge and the power to intercept with flying swords.

But with forty-eight cannons firing simultaneously, saying it was saturation bombardment wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

In such a scenario, would a Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator be able to evade one or two shells, block three or four, and withstand the simultaneous firing of eight to ten shells?

And after all, even if they survived the first volley, what about the second, third, fourth, and countless more rounds?

Sooner or later, one or two unfortunate ones would be visited by dozens of shells simultaneously.

...

While Nian Buwang was making related arrangements, Jin Lai was also assembling Xin Tianqi, Cheng Wanli, Nie Shisan, Lu Zhanfeng, Shi Chen, and Sha Wujin—one Primordial Spirit, and five Divinity Transformations—pointing at a location on the map.

"When the people of Dragon Sparrow Manor cannot withstand the bombardment and retaliate, they will definitely make a move from these directions, and this, will be our ambush point."

Jin Lai said, "Of course, for safety’s sake, everyone can wait until they deploy their flying swords, and estimate when their flying swords are about to reach Dragon Ascending Mountain before striking."

"The people from Dragon Sparrow Manor will surely be cautious and will not launch their swords all at once when striking. They will likely do it in two, or even three batches, to avoid putting the Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators in danger after deploying their flying swords,"

Cheng Wanli said.

"If they deploy their flying swords in batches, then it’s even easier."

Jin Lai smiled: "The interwoven firepower network of Close Defense Cannons and ’Thunder’ Gatling Guns will show them what it means to have the Calabash Brothers save their grandfather."

Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather?

Xin Tianqi and the others looked at Jin Lai with some confusion.

"Ahem, don’t mind the details,"

Jin Lai pointed to another location: "This is your retreat point; I have also prepared a large amount of explosives here and set up several safe spots. If the situation changes and the ambush turns against us, you can retreat here and hide in the safe spots. Then, the bombs here will be launched, turning the surrounding kilometers into a Purgatory Fire Sea. The shock from the explosion and the intense flames and thick smoke will provide the best cover for your retreat."

"This arrangement is indeed foolproof."

Xin Tianqi nodded.

"Then... let’s begin."

Jin Lai said, "We now head to the predetermined spot; half an hour later, we’ll shell Dragon Roar City."

——————

(Should this half hour be changed to seventeen hours later?)