Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1738 - 552: Chu Tianming’s Strategy for Breaking the Deadlock—Vertical and Horizontal Alliances

"Reporting to the Minister: all the civilians in the city have already been evacuated, and the 140,000 troops have finished forming up outside the south gate. We’re just waiting for your order—at any time, we can depart!"

Thirteenth year of Great Xia, third day of the first month, dawn had just broken.

In East River City, on the top floor hall of the Ministry Building, Cloud Dragon Army Commander Liu Yuan strode in and directly reported to Xia Chuan seated above.

Xia Chuan sat upright in the main seat, with Yue Feng, Zhou Yuan, Meng Yi, Mu Longhe, Mu Qinghe and over ten other field commanders standing to his left and right.

Hearing Liu Yuan’s report, everyone immediately turned their heads to look at Xia Chuan.

"Good. Pass the order at once: the entire army is to withdraw to the Dongchuan Camp. Have the scouts spread out around East River City—if Chen Cang’s army shows any movement at all, report immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

Xia Chuan rose directly and gave the order. Liu Yuan cupped his hands in salute, then quickly withdrew from the hall to relay the retreat order to the army.

As soon as Liu Yuan left, the people below immediately opened up a stream of discussion.

"That Chu Tianming is quite the formidable character. Just from the fact that we of Great Xia didn’t mass troops at the Blood Corridor entrance, he could see that we have no intention of fighting him!"

"That Fang Tianqing isn’t simple either! He barged into our camp alone and still dared to be so arrogant as to demand we pull out. Chu Tianming had him bring a message—that Chen Cang will only occupy Dongchuan and won’t so much as touch a hair of Great Xia’s other territory. I’d say that’s at most thirty percent true."

"Thirty percent true? You’re being far too optimistic. In my view there isn’t even ten percent truth. Right now Chu Tianming’s mind is set on that Little Landgrave seat. Seizing East River City to satisfy Chu Longteng, once he becomes Little Landgrave he’s bound to drive his army south, keep storming cities and strongholds, and encroach on our Great Xia’s lands!"

"It’s not that simple, is it? Chu Longteng isn’t that petty. Chu Tianming taking just East River City counts as passing the test?"

"Not very likely. But by rights, Chu Tianming has no need to take the initiative and send someone to negotiate with us. Scouts from the Feudal Towns are everywhere in Southern Slope Territory, and the Lord is holding Jinyang in a standoff against Cai Qiu. He definitely knows we have 100,000 troops and two hundred Xianyang-level experts, and East River isn’t some impregnable fortress—it shouldn’t be enough to scare him off from fighting, right?"

......

Hearing the discussion from the generals below, Xia Chuan’s gaze flickered slightly as he turned his head to look at the map on the rack to the left side of the hall.

It was a massive map covering the territories of the Four Vassals and Southern Slope, with all the major cities, camps, and villages of the Four Vassals, as well as the official roads linking these settlements, marked with absolute clarity. Even the terrain features of every region were laid out at a glance.

"According to the information Jiang Xinfan sent back..."

Xia Chuan suddenly spoke, cutting off the generals’ debate. Only after everyone shifted their gaze to him did he continue, "This test Chu Longteng set up is, with high probability, meant to crush Chu Tianming’s ambitions to fight for the heir position. And Chu Tianming himself also knows full well that, given Chu Longteng’s unquestioned authority in Chen Cang, trying to change his mind is an eighty-percent lost cause. If Chu Tianming wants to save himself, his only option is to win the support of the overwhelming majority in Chen Cang—everyone other than his father..."

As Xia Chuan unraveled the situation thread by thread, the generals’ brows knit slightly as they began to think through how Chu Tianming could possibly win over the vast majority in Chen Cang.

"Whether the Lord is physically present in Dongchuan or not, whether the Beast Emperor-level puppet is there or not, no one in Chen Cang knows. Just facing the hundred thousand troops Chu Tianming has brought so far, unless Chu Longteng and all of Chen Cang’s top experts are committed, where would he get absolute confidence that he can crush us?"

Yue Feng seemed to be catching on. Staring at the map in front of Xia Chuan for a moment, he faintly grasped something and asked, "Minister, you mean that Chu Tianming also knows that relying on himself alone he can’t possibly defeat our Great Xia, so he can only look for another way to complete the test Chu Longteng set for him?"

What is currently known is that Chu Tianming’s march south this time is precisely a test devised by Chu Longteng. Though the exact standards for success are unclear, you can guess even without knowing: when an army of 100,000 is deployed, it’s definitely to win gains for Chen Cang—victory in battle is the bare minimum.

Chu Longteng is very clear that Chu Tianming can’t beat Great Xia, so with high probability this test will ultimately end in Chu Tianming’s failure—and Chu Tianming himself knows this full well.

Right now, he’s trying to find a way to break the game.

What he wants is far more than just winning battles. He wants results substantial enough to earn recognition from his father, Chu Longteng—and, more broadly speaking, results that will, as much as possible, be recognized by all of Chen Cang.

Seizing a single East River City falls far short of that.

"Sending his staff officer Fang Tianqing to placate us into withdrawing is precisely because he doesn’t want a direct clash with Great Xia. Chu Tianming knows very well that our Xia Army is currently facing off against Cai Qiu at Bone-Eroding Path. Could it be that..."

As Yue Feng’s voice fell, everyone in the tent reacted in an instant. Their gazes snapped to the map, all converging on the central heartland of Moao River—Cai Qiu’s location.

More precisely, the western frontier of Cai Qiu: Lin Chu County!

"That’s right! Brother Yue just woke me up with one sentence. The Three Vassals of Moao River all regard Chen Cang as a monster flood, so there is absolutely no chance of them joining hands with Chen Cang. That’s precisely the foundation for the Lord daring to confront Cai Qiu head-on this time. In that light, instead of attacking us and indirectly relieving pressure on Cai Qiu, it would serve Chen Cang better to seize this excellent moment when Cai Qianshan is being pinned down by us—to carve a piece of flesh off Cai Qiu!"

Strictly speaking, Mu Longhe is old enough to be Yue Feng’s great-grandfather, but given Yue Feng’s present status and strength, Mu Longhe can only address him as Brother Yue.

And these words from Mu Longhe thoroughly exposed Chu Tianming’s intention. In an instant, all the commanders in the hall understood.