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Panda Novel

Chapter 1006 – Before the Troops Move, the Grain Moves

First day of the Chinese New Year, Shanhai City.

Based on the customs, the Imperial Court would hold a large-scale worshiping activity. The scale of this year’s one was even bigger than the last, as this was their first ceremony since establishing the country.

Last year, it was based on the customs of a marquis, while this year it was based on that of a king.

The only difference was that apart from worshiping the Yellow Emperor and Yu the Great, he also had to pray in the ancestor temple. Before the New Year, when he decided to accept his family, Ouyang Shuo built a huge temple in the imperial city to worship his Ouyang family ancestors.

This ancestral temple could be said to be the last ring in the completion of the dynasty.

In the eyes of the people, the worshipping venue was huge and boisterous. However, in Ouyang Shuo’s heart, this was something that he was already used to.

…

In the next few days, Ouyang Shuo would be busy attending various kinds of feasts.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Ouyang Shuo held a feast in the palace to receive Bai Hua, Mulan Yue, Gong Chengshi, Wufu, West Gate Big Official, and other player officials to strengthen their friendship.

Till this date, they had become a new source of strength in the official circle. Ouyang Shuo did not want to grow apart from them because of time or space.

Especially these few Provincial Governors, who had done so much for the dynasty.

Third day of Chinese New Year, Ouyang Shuo held a feast for the generals in the Guards Legion Corps camp, Baiqi, Han Xin, Sun Bin, Huo Qubing, Li Mu, Shi Wanshui, and the other marshals all came.

This was a chance for the generals to get familiar with one another. Especially generals like Li Mu, who had just joined the army recently.

After the end of the holiday, Ouyang Shuo would discuss with them the specific battle plans for attacking Annan.

On the fourth day, Ouyang Shuo held a feast in Xinan University, meeting the professors and exceptional students today, showing his focus on education matters.

That night, Ouyang Shuo also met with the various envoys of different countries who had moved into Shanhai City.

************

Gaia 5th year, 2nd month, 23rd day, fifth day of the Chinese New Year, the Imperial Court holiday was over.

The first day was the imperial assembly.

The symbolic meaning of this assembly was far greater than its practical meaning.

Jiang Shang as the Grand Secretary represented the civil servants to summarize the achievements of the past year, the plans for the 5th year, and the outlook for the year.

Dragon Legion Corps Marshal, the only commander-in-chief, Baiqi, expressed his thoughts about the border defenses. He also roughly described their battle plans for the 5th year.

In conclusion, it was a very friendly and peaceful assembly.

There were no disputes.

After the assembly ended, Great Xia, this machine that had been on a short break, started to work once more.

…

Xia Palace, Imperial Reading Room.

Ouyang Shuo met Yunnan Provincial Governor Bai Hua alone.

“Sit!”

The two of them were old friends, so their meetings were a lot more causal.

Ouyang Shuo did not call Bai Hua here to instruct her on Yunnan administrative matters, as the Cabinet would worry about that themselves. This meeting was mainly to coordinate military and administrative matters.

This was to prepare for the Battle of Annan in advance.

As they say, ‘Before the soldiers move, the grain moves first.’

Although Annan was not large in size, it had eight million players. To win this battle, the Black Snake Guards had infiltrated Annan in the first half of the 4th year.

In the second half of the year, the Military Intelligence Division also joined in.

The Grand Council now had detailed information of the various places in Annan.

The important information included where their troops were housed at as well as lesser intel like the geography and rivers. All of this information was gathered in the Grand Council for the strategists to inspect.

To the Great Xia, Annan did not have any secrets.

Toward all of this, Annan Haiphong City Lord Ruan Tianque only had a guess and premonition. In terms of scouting, Great Xia was many times better than Annan, and they were not on the same level.

For this, Great Xia tossed in four to five million gold every year in the three intel organizations.

Apart from intel scouting, the war resource preparation had begun before winter. As one of the provinces connected to Annan, Yunnan Province became one of the main ones for this battle preparation.

“There’s one thing I do not understand, the border between Mengding Prefecture and Annan is the Stone Mountain Ranges, how am I supposed to send the resources to the battlefield?” Bai Hua asked.

Logically speaking, since it was not during the country war month, Great Xia could only use the naval route to attack Annan. The movement of war resources should also be done through the sea.

If that was the case, territories like Lingnan Province and Minnan Province ,which were beside the sea, should be the main provinces for battle preparations.

Bai Hua did not understand.

However, the message from the Privy Court was really certain; they wanted the Yunnan Province to be ready.

Ouyang Shuo smiled, “I called you here to clear your doubts.” As he said that, Ouyang Shuo passed her a seal that was half the size of a fist.

“What is this?”

Bai Hua took it and looked at its stats.

Mountain Opening Seal: After use, one can open up a mountain path through any mountain.

This seal was obtained from one of the Lords after they destroyed Singapore. Ouyang Shuo had kept this item till now.

Ouyang Shuo had thought about using this seal on Annan.

Since Bai Hua felt that Great Xia could not move resources to Annan through Yunnan, Ruan Tianque would think the same. Great Xia could open up a secret path through the mountain ranges directly into Annan.

“Now you understand why the Privy Court told you to prepare?”

“You should have said so earlier.” Bai Hua shook her head.

With such a secret weapon, Bai Hua felt bad for the Annan players.

Of course, just one seal alone would not be able to win the battle for them. In the end, a true head to head battle was needed. However, with this tunnel, the winning chances grew a little greater.

“I understand. I’ll quicken the battle preparations when I return.” Bai Hua nodded, keeping the seal into her storage bag.

“As for the specific location to use it at, Baiqi will let you know.”

The path opened naturally was not only to transport resources, but it was also a secret travelling path. Where it should be was up to Baiqi, the war expert.

“Understood!”

Their conversation came to an end.

…

2nd Month, 25th day, Wuying Hall.

Ouyang Shuo gathered the military generals to discuss attacking Annan.

This battle pretty much involved the entire Great Xia Army. Which forces were the vanguard, which were the main force, and which were in charge of border defenses; all of these aspects had to be discussed.

When spring started, the war would too.

Great Xia had many troops. As such, to move troops at a large scale needed one to give orders in advance. Such a large scale gathering of troops could not be completed in a week or two.

At the same time, to numb the enemy, it was best to keep it a secret.

All these matters made it really complicated.

Luckily, he Grand Council would lead them, and Jia Xu and Pang Tong were moved temporarily to the War Division to help Zhao Kuo set up a military plan.

Ouyang Shuo as a ruler needed to stay in the Capital City, and he might not be able to rush to the frontlines. Hence, before diving into the problems, he needed to select the main commanders and deputies for this battle.

A snake had to have a head, much less an army for such a large-scale battle.

Amongst the legion corps, apart from the guards and City Protection Legion Corps, the Dragon Legion Corps had the least work to do. Furthermore, the secret tunnel opened up between Yunnan Province and Annan was in their region, so they were the main force.

Dragon Legion Corps Marshal Baiqi was naturally the best choice for commander.

In truth, when they discussed reorganizing defensive regions, Ouyang Shuo had talked to Baiqi about it.

Based on Ouyang Shuo’s idea, the Dragon Legion Corps would use this battle to jump out from the China circle and focus on conquering the ASEAN.

When Baiqi heard that, he naturally had nothing to say.

Hence, at the end of the year, although the Dragon Legion Corps did not have any defensive duties, Baiqi made use of the winter break to increase their training to maintain them at their best condition.

The best soldiers in the army this year belonged to the Dragon Legion Corps.

“Baiqi, receive my order!” Ouyang Shuo was solemn.

“Present!”

Baiqi stepped out. His face was still expressionless, and he looked really cool.

“I appoint you as the commander of the battle, commanding both the army and the navy. As the war is overseas, I grant you all power.”

As he said that, Ouyang Shuo personally gave him the appointment decree and the soldier talisman.

When Baiqi heard that, his expression finally wavered. With a ‘Shua!’, he kneeled on the ground and respectfully received the items.

When Han Xin and the other marshals saw that, they could only envy it.

Annan had 800 thousand guards, 300 thousand territory troops, and 1.5 million combat occupation players. To take down Annan, Great Xia had to send out at least a million troops.

Without a doubt, this was the largest battle in the wilderness till date.

Even the Battle Maps did not reach such a scale.

The Great Xia forces sent would include the Guards Legion Corps, City Protection Legion Corps, Dragon Legion Corps, and Bear Legion Corps while the navy side included the Emperor Squadron, the Yashan Squadron, and the Pacific Squadron.

All of them were elites, the cream of the crop.

To the Great Xia generals, if they could lead such an army to such a historical battle, they could die with no regrets.

The moment news spread that they were going to attack Annan, many generals wished to fight.

Out of all of them, Huo Qubing was the closest to the king. However, he was a typical one type God General and did not know how to command such a large battle.

Hence, Han Xin and the others were tempted to try to be the main commander.

If the king appointed someone else, they might feel unhappy. However, the king chose Asura Baiqi. As such, even the prideful Han Xin was happy with the decision.

Apart from being famous in history, in the Great Xia journey, Baiqi contributed the most.

Everyone in the army looked up to him.

The Great Xia people had already looked up to him as their war god.

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