A while ago, when Fang Yun was away, the Kingdom of Qing had been playing tricks in secret. With new and old grudges added together, Zhang Poyue wanted to take revenge again.
Zhang Poyue's confidant suddenly said, "General, you said before that you had to be promoted to a great scholar ahead of schedule for the sake of Jing State. It was too hasty and your foundation was not stable. You are trying to make up for it. You also said that you could successfully regain your position as a great scholar by lowering your position and asking a half-saint to help. If you lower your position now and wait until the battle to seize the state is completed, and then ask Fang Sheng to help, it will not be considered as interfering in the battle to seize the state. Isn't it the best of both worlds? This matter is a piece of cake for Fang Sheng, and he will definitely agree. Even if he disagrees, you can still make a fuss... cough cough, just pester him, it will definitely work."
Zhang Poyue slapped his thigh fiercely and shouted, "Just do it, fuck him!"
"I advise you to wait and not be in a hurry. Once those new machines leave the factory, you might lose your rank in vain." said the general who assisted the engineer.
"Is the new mechanism really that powerful?"
"certainly!"
In the temples of the saints.
Fang Yun slowly opened his eyes, lightning flashed in front of his eyes, the void shattered, the sky shook, and then it returned to calm.
Mi Fengdian and Feng Shu's clones also opened their eyes.
"Saint Fang, this battle will probably be very difficult." Mi Fengdian frowned slightly.
Feng Shu on the side also nodded slightly.
The two of them knew very well that the reason why Jing Kingdom was now able to defeat Qing Kingdom was all because of Fang Yun.
No matter how strong Li Wenying, Zhang Poyue and others were, they could only barely resist the Kingdom of Qing.
What's more, both of them are great scholars and cannot participate in the war.
In terms of young talents below the Hanlin Academy, Jing State is no less than Qing State, but in terms of Hanlin Academy and Grand Secretaries, Qing State still has a huge advantage.
If the great scholars could join the war, the two saints would not worry. After all, the great scholars of various schools in Qing Kingdom had basically suffered heavy losses during the last suppression by the Holy Path and have not been able to recover until now.
"It doesn't matter. If we win, Jingguo can make further progress. If we lose, Jingguo will learn a lesson and learn from it. What's more, the monsters have temporarily given up Liangjie Mountain. They will surely come back one day. The human race cannot slack off. We should treat this battle to seize the state as a training exercise. It's just difficult for the Xun family."
The two saint incarnations looked at each other in confusion.
After the Holy Court officially announced the start of the war to seize the state, the courts of the two countries began to prepare for war.
The situation on the border between Xiangzhou and Xizhou changed suddenly, and many people evacuated the border cities with their families.
On March 26, Xin Qing Jun ascended the throne and personally swore an oath to his troops.
The Qing army began to gather rapidly towards Xizhou.
However, within just a few days, the five million troops of the Qing Kingdom were stationed in Xizhou.
Xiangzhou only has a million troops at most, which is far from comparable to the army of Qing State.
In the early morning of the third day of April, four million-strong Qing army troops divided into four routes and directly captured four of the ten cities of Taihe Prefecture.
When the millions of troops arrived at their respective target cities, they were stunned.
The city gates were wide open, and the people and officials in the city lined the streets to welcome them, singing and dancing, with piles of delicious food, as if they were welcoming their relatives.
Except for the fake smiles of the people, the expressions of all Xiangzhou officials were extremely sincere.
"Empty City Strategy?"
All the people of Qing suspected that this was a plot of Jing. The four million-strong army did not dare to enter the city, but waited for news from the capital.
It took a whole day before the four armies each sent a team into the city and occupied the four cities. The remaining soldiers set up camp outside the city.
The entire army did not sleep that night!
According to the previous plan, this was going to be a tough battle, but in the end, four cities were easily captured without firing a single arrow.
The entire Qing army felt guilty.
The Qing court also felt guilty.
The Qing army questioned the officials of the four cities, and their answers were unanimous: this was an order from the Jingguo cabinet, and they knew nothing.
There was no resistance, and the Qing army dared not kill anyone. If they dared to touch anyone, the entire human race could drown them with a spit from everyone.
The Qing army was unaware of Jing's intentions and did not dare to advance rashly. They stayed in four cities for seven days before continuing their march towards Taihe Prefecture.
After all, the supply, logistics, mobilization, stationing, etc. of a four million-strong army is not a simple matter. Any problem in any aspect is likely to affect the entire army.
Seen from the sky, four million-strong armies were like a long dragon marching along the official road towards the next city.
Every soldier of the Qing Kingdom felt uneasy.
Since they set foot in Xiangzhou, they have not seen a single enemy, and everyone who sees them welcomes them happily as if they were one of their own family.
The million-strong army continued marching and soon arrived at the next city.
What was unbelievable to all the soldiers of Qing State was that the scene they encountered in the previous city happened again.
The city gates in front of them were wide open, and officials and people lined the streets to welcome them, with faces as if they were welcoming the coming of a savior, as if they had been living in dire straits before.
The more this happened, the more anxious the people of Qing became. The more this happened, the less they dared to destroy the city. Except for a few people who stayed in the city, most of the soldiers were stationed outside the city and would never enter.
That evening, a large number of articles praising the soldiers of the Qing State appeared on the discussion board.
The scholars in the eight cities that were "recovered" constantly praised the people of Qing, praising the Qing army for not harming anyone, enforcing orders and being a role model for the human race.
Scholars from all over the country already knew about this most bizarre war in human history, and they were confused to see those scholars constantly praising the people of Qing.
The people of Qing are even more confused.
They are still confused.
The more the scholars who occupied the city praised them, the less they dared to act recklessly. They were obviously a group of vicious and ferocious soldiers, but when they arrived in Xiangzhou, they all turned into gentlemen.
Every soldier and general of the Qing Kingdom suspected that this was a huge trap. As long as something went wrong in the city they occupied, the entire Qing Kingdom would face criticism.
In order to avoid being attacked by public opinion, the Qing army issued strict orders in various places, resolutely not allowing a single person to die in each city, and making sure to serve the residents of each city well and well!
As a result, military strategists and scholars from all over the country began to deduce on the discussion board, trying to deduce the real purpose of Jing State.
Soon, some deductions became a consensus. For example, Jing State was extending Qing State's supply lines. After all, maintaining the logistical support required for an army of four million was an arduous task, even more difficult than conquering a city.
For example, Jing State knew that it could not win by normal means, so it was looking for Qing State's weaknesses. Once it found the weaknesses, it would attack the enemy unexpectedly and hit the weakest part.
Others speculated that Jing State was preparing a powerful force, waiting for Qing State to penetrate deep into its hinterland and then wipe it out in one fell swoop.
Some people even speculated that Jing State would definitely make use of Xiangzhou's well-developed waterways. Once Qing State's front line was extended, the people of Jing State would attack on all fronts, relying on the advantage of waterways to cut off Qing State's army and annihilate it separately.
No matter what deduction is made, it cannot conceal the slightest bit.
This was the most terrifying war in the history of Qing Dynasty.
Many soldiers often suffer from nightmares at night.
Clearly no battle was fought and clearly no one died, but on the tenth day of April, the Qing army was in chaos because someone was sleepwalking, causing patrolling soldiers to mistakenly believe that the Jing army was launching a surprise attack. As a result, the entire army was in chaos. Fortunately, the Grand Secretary stepped in to suppress the chaos and prevented a major disaster.
However, Qing State made a big joke out of this.
Four million troops were dispatched, but not a single Jing citizen was killed. However, seven people were accidentally killed when the camp was bombed, and over a hundred were injured.