Chapter 733: Chapter 571: The Crazy Battle Plan
The Chi Ci Tribe’s flag territory is located at the western exit of Menghe Mountain Pass. The exit of Menghe Mountain Pass resembles a gigantic trumpet, widening as it goes outward until the flanking mountain ridges end, followed by a flat grassland.
Inside the exit of the mountain pass, a river flows down from the mountains, gathering spring and meltwater from around a dozen high mountains. In the summer, the water volume surges, forming a lake about five to six miles wide.
The lake blocks the mountain pass, and the territory of the Chi Ci Tribe is just beyond the lake.
Unlike the Wula Clan, which is a typical nomadic tribe only engaged in herding and not farming, the Chi Ci Tribe is a semi-agricultural, semi-pastoral tribe. They have cultivated a large amount of farmland around the river and the lake, having farmed here for hundreds of years.
Their pasturelands are divided into dozens of large and small areas, and they are also extremely skilled at hunting, with many smaller tribes hunting inside Menghe Mountain.
Besides farming, the Chi Ci Tribe also has a city, Monghe City, which is their flag territory.
The city houses quite a few shops and many merchants. Excluding the traditional dress, it does not differ much from the cities of Da Rong.
The merchants in Monghe City mainly come from Beiyuan Town and the snowy plains, with some being internal merchants of the Wuliang Royal Court.
Da Rong does not set up mutual markets in the border town, nor does it allow merchants to sell goods to foreign tribes, especially within the Wuliang Royal Court, which is strictly prohibited.
However, merchants are always motivated by profit. Ji Feiyu once smuggled at West Road of Chongshan Town, with the Wula Tribe and the Chi Ci Tribe both being his trading partners.
Now, many soldiers of Beiyuan Town are doing business with the Wula Tribe and the Chi Ci Tribe, even surpassing the scale of Ji Feiyu’s smuggling trade back in the day.
Actually, Monghe City in the Chi Ci Tribe is the eastern commercial center of the Wuliang Royal Court. Here, one can find silk, porcelain, tea from Da Rong, and also herbs, fur, and gemstones from the snowy lands.
However, Monghe City has been quiet recently. Due to the war between the Wuliang Royal Court and Beiyuan Town, merchants from Beiyuan Town cannot reach Monghe City, resulting in a severe hit to the commerce of Menghe City.
Because of this, there is some dissatisfaction in Monghe City. The people of the Chi Ci Tribe do not care about Wu Tuo’s greatness; they only want the goods from Da Rong to make money.
The war between the Wuliang Royal Court and Beiyuan Town has affected the top earners of the Chi Ci Tribe.
Of course, their complaints are only internal, as they dare not defy the commands of Wu Tuo.
At this time, the Chi Ci Tribe is actively preparing for war, mobilizing many young and able-bodied people to guard the passes and fortresses within Menghe Mountain Pass and also training elite troops.
Even Tang Wuxi, the Vassal King of the Chi Ci Tribe, has already established a General’s office at the westernmost pass of Menghe Mountain Pass.
At this moment, Tang Wuxi is standing on the fortress wall of the pass, looking deep into Menghe Mountain Pass.
The entire Menghe Mountain Pass stretches over a hundred miles, and within these hundred miles, there are three passes: East Que Pass, Central Que Pass, and West Que Pass.
Nearby the passes, many fortresses have been built on the sides of the mountains.
Between the passes, there are small settlements of the Chi Ci Tribe, either farming or hunting, living in poverty but providing substantial resources for the soldiers within the passes.
"Prince, we have just received news that Chongshan Town is massively mobilizing troops and is expected to launch an attack on us within a month!"
A subordinate reported from beside Tang Wuxi.
Tang Wuxi calmly asked, "Do we know how many troops Chongshan Town has mobilized?"
The subordinate replied, "It’s not very clear, only that there are currently many troops gathering in our east!"
Tang Wuxi fell silent. Compared to the Wula Tribe, the Chi Ci Tribe does not fear Chongshan Town, even though Yang Zhenshan once burned a hundred thousand troops in the gorge of Guanshan Pass, among which over ten thousand Northern barbarians were young and able-bodied from the Chi Ci Tribe.
That great defeat cost the Chi Ci Tribe quite some power, but it did not instill fear in them, as, in his eyes, it was a victory achieved by Yang Zhenshan through tricks and schemes.
After a long silence, Tang Wuxi suddenly said, "Send orders, instruct Commander Bader to lead the Jia Guard to East Que Pass to prepare for battle. I will also head to East Que Pass in two days!"
"Yes!" The subordinate responded and quickly withdrew.
Regarding blocking Chongshan Town’s army outside Menghe Mountain Pass, Tang Wuxi is quite confident.
With the strategic difficulty of the passes inside Menghe Mountain Pass, even if all the soldiers of Chongshan Town are martial artists, he is confident of holding them back.
This is not blind confidence but pride born from his understanding of the strategic passes inside Menghe Mountain Pass.
...
In the Dinghu Guard, inside the Assistant General Mansion.
Yang Zhenshan is sitting in the main seat of the great hall, with the military leaders of Chongshan Town standing inside the hall.
Looking at the familiar faces, Yang Zhenshan wears a relaxed smile, "It’s been a few years since we’ve fought side by side like this!"
"It’s been years; you still look as charismatic as ever, my lord!" Xie Yuan laughed.
Niu Zhuang also chuckled, "Compared to the Marquis, it seems we’ve aged quite a bit, haha~~"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Among the eight Assistant Generals, Xie Yuan and Tang Feihu are the oldest, slightly older than Yang Zhenshan, now all past their sixtieth year.
Zhang Chengzhi, Niu Zhuang, and Qin He are slightly younger, just past fifty.
And Zhang Mingwu and Luo Feiyu are even younger, Zhang Mingwu being just over forty, while Luo Feiyu has not yet reached forty.