Longzang

Chapter 696 Marching into the Northern Territory
Wei Yuan stood quietly, his gaze fixed on the spot three inches in front of his toes, without moving.

Immortal Lord Yan Shi remained silent for a moment, then snorted heavily and said, "Take care of yourself," before disappearing.

Wei Yuan was completely bewildered, not understanding why Immortal Lord Yan Shi was suddenly angry, and asked Ji Liuli, "Why is Ancestor Master angry?"

Feng Tingyu also asked, "Why does the Patriarch dislike Wei Yuan?"

The two asked the question almost simultaneously, and then all eyes fell on Wei Yuan. Ji Liuli snorted and said, "It would be strange if the Ancestor liked him!"

Immortal Lord Yan Shi left in a hurry, and Wei Yuan hadn't even had time to discuss sending troops to the northern mountain gate. However, Wei Yuan had been thinking about this matter for several months and had formulated a complete contingency plan, so it couldn't be delayed any longer.

Taking advantage of the arrival of Immortal Lord Yanshi and his enlightenment of Qingming to create a treasure land, Wei Yuan finally made up his mind to send troops to the northern mountain gate to recover the lost territory!
When Immortal Lord Yan Shi left, he left the flying boat behind. Wei Yuan then took Yu Zhizhuo aboard the flying boat and began to study its various mechanisms in detail.

This is an ordinary flying boat of the Taichu Palace, with a total length of thirty zhang. The structure and formation of the flying boat are not complicated. The Heavenly Craft Hall has a complete set of blueprints for manufacturing ordinary flying boats as well as the refining method for spirit treasure flying boats. However, the materials and formation diagrams are not easy to obtain, so this most ordinary flying boat is equivalent to a large magic weapon and is quite expensive.

After thoroughly inspecting the internal structure of the airship, Wei Yuan, Yu Zhizhuo, and the cultivator in charge of piloting the airship discussed the matter and decided to remove the partitions of the lower cabin so that a huge cargo box could be placed inside.

Wei Yuan then loaded ten cannons and 50,000 cannonballs into the flying boat, which was already overburdened, so he set off for the northern mountain gate.

Wei Yuan then hired three large flying boats from the Chamber of Commerce, plus two flying boats transferred from the Taichu Palace, to transport a total of 5,000 troops and a full set of equipment to the northern mountain gate.

Under normal circumstances, five airships would be enough to transport 20,000 people, and Wei Yuan originally thought that would be sufficient. However, when it came time to set off, Wei Yuan discovered that the First Army had an unusually large amount of equipment and supplies, not even including military rations.

The last five airships carried only five thousand soldiers. Each soldier's equipment and ammunition weighed almost twice as much as he did, and with the infantry guns that accompanied the army, the entire airship was filled.

Wei Yuan stayed in Qingming to continue handling various affairs. At this time, Qingming was expanding too rapidly, and all the cultivators were extremely busy.

The old Taoist priest worked tirelessly day and night, traversing the vast expanse of the sky to survey new farming sites and, incidentally, search for his adoptive father.

Yu Zhizhuo was not in Qingming at the moment. He had just set off for the Red Sand Oasis, where a small mineral vein had just been discovered underground, and Yu Zhizhuo was needed to explore the potential of this mineral vein.

Silk was continuously transported from the Western Jin Dynasty to Qingming, and then brocade was transported back with it. More than half of the brocade merchants in the eight prefectures had gone out of business, and the craftsmen were now unwanted and had all changed professions.

Because of Qingming's acquisitions, silk prices remained high. Although grain prices were also high, as long as silk prices did not fall, farmers and various families continued to convert farmland into mulberry fields.

The most stubborn families, like the Mi family, quietly converted several thousand acres of mulberry fields after their patriarch was attacked and killed by bandits at Hanyang Pass. They even put their efforts into planting ice mulberry trees on all of these acres.

With this change, the new head of the family suddenly found that he was earning more than before. So he simply closed all the brocade shops and began to buy land and grow mulberry trees and raise silkworms.

Everything was on track in Qingming. Wei Yuan dispatched several more flying boats. Calculating that the first batch of troops was about to arrive at the northern mountain gate, Wei Yuan released a small flying vehicle and led the cultivators to the northern mountain gate together.

In the north, spring had just arrived, and new buds were sprouting everywhere. As soon as Wei Yuan landed, a Taoist priest in armor came forward to greet him, bowing and saying, "Greetings, Senior Brother Wei! I am currently in charge of the Seventh Division of the Taoist Army. I have come to assist you on the orders of the True Lord. Your defense zone has been divided. Please follow me. Military secrets can only be viewed in the main hall of the forward camp."

Wei Yuan bowed and said, "Please lead the way, Senior Brother He."

He Fang released a magical light boat, carrying the cultivators, and flew north. After half a day, they arrived in front of a fortified city. After the city guards verified their identities, they activated the great formation to let them into the city.

Wei Yuan then went to the main hall, where three other Dharma Aspect cultivators were on duty. After handing over the magical artifact controlling the city's defensive array, Wei Yuan officially took over the defense zone of the Seventh Town.

Wei Yuan then arrived at the Military Affairs Hall, where a massive water basin, several meters in diameter, was displayed on a sand table. The surrounding mountains and terrain, stretching for thousands of miles, were all marked on the surface. The guards had also deployed countless tiny alarm arrays outside the city, which would activate and send a warning signal into the city should Liao cavalry approach.

The Northern Mountain Gate has been fighting the Liao people for years, including several years of bloody battles. The Liao people only stopped their attack a few months ago, but they did not retreat. They still stationed heavy troops on the border and confronted the Northern Mountain Gate.

The northern mountain gate now spans only five thousand li in circumference, having lost a large portion of its territory. However, the loss of this last thousand li resulted in the casualties of millions of elite Liao troops, and the downgrading of three medium-sized tribes.

The city where Wei Yuan is currently located is guarded by the Seventh Dao Army Garrison, which is equipped with 10,000 Dao Army soldiers, 300 Dao Foundation cultivators, and 5 Dharma Aspect cultivators, and is responsible for the defense zone within a 300-mile radius.

Wei Yuan's arrival was to take over the defense zone of the Seventh Town and use it as a base to reclaim lost territory. Wei Yuan's elite troops were not meant for defense.

On the front of Weiyuan, the Liao people also built two fortified cities, each serving as a flank, and each stationed 40,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry.

After surveying the terrain, Wei Yuan drew a circle on the left side of Weicheng, then drew a line between the two cities to separate them. He then said to He Fang:
"We will attack as soon as my troops arrive. You will lead a thousand Taoist soldiers, using Taoist magic to conceal the military aura, pretending to be ten thousand, and advance on the Second Guard City to contain the defending troops in the city."

"Furthermore, seven thousand soldiers will be deployed between the two cities to assist my troops and intercept reinforcements from the second city. I will then lead my army to attack the first city."

After a brief arrangement, the first army of Qingming arrived in three days. After a day of rest, Wei Yuan led his troops to attack.

The so-called large army consisted of only 7,000 Qingming soldiers and 10,000 Dao soldiers. Wei Yuan left only 200 to guard the city, while the rest were all dispatched to attack the weak enemy with a mere hundred thousand or so.

The city wasn't entirely empty; although there were only two hundred soldiers, there were two senior uncles, Sun Yu and Feng Chutang. One of these uncles used poison, and the other had accumulated a lot of karma, so if the Liao soldiers attacked, their fate would be quite tragic.

Soon, the Northern Liao scouts discovered Wei Yuan's army, but before they could return to report, they were enveloped by a cloud of black mist and then knocked unconscious.

Wei Yuan's army then followed and captured these elite Liao scouts.

Seeing that Wei Yuan's forces were small but dared to launch an attack, the Liao general was very cautious and chose to defend the city.

Looking at the earthen city wall, which was no more than two zhang high and no more than one zhang thick, Wei Yuan waved his hand and the central army launched ten infantry cannons.

(End of this chapter)