Chapter 704: Chapter 290: Rich Harvests—Should We Store Land or Men?
The price of the great victory at Ning Yuan Hill was clearly much greater than that of the ambush at Changbai Gully.
The Cloud Dragon Army rushing in from the north had only just over seven hundred men, almost everyone had bloodstains smeared on their faces, the majority of them were wounded, with a few having serious injuries where blood had soaked through their armor.
Xia Hong could even tell that most soldiers’ archery arms were trembling violently, evidently due to the heavy load from the ambush at Ning Yuan Hill, they hadn’t recovered even by now.
Yet even so, not one of these soldiers showed signs of fatigue, or rather their excited expressions completely masked the fatigue.
To vanquish two Longyou armies in one night, the Cloud Dragon Army’s first battle was simply perfect.
Mind you, the Cloud Dragon Army had only been established for twenty days, whether in cultivation, equipment, or training duration, they couldn’t compare to the Zhaoyang Blood Guard Army, let alone the new forces of Long Mountain.
Moreover, judging by the number of enemies killed and resources acquired, the Cloud Dragon Army completely dismantled the two armies’ structures, these were indisputable great victories.
The overall plan for tonight’s two battles, the specific tactics of the Cloud Dragon Army were indeed personally overseen by him, but the true executors were Xia Chuan, Liu Yuan, Yuwen Dao and other Cold Resistance Level leaders, as well as the thousand soldiers who truly fought.
It must be said, everyone’s performance far exceeded his expectations, especially Xia Chuan, Liu Yuan, Yuwen Dao, their precise control over timing for deployments and ambushes was particularly impressive.
"What are the specific casualties?"
Xia Hong suppressed the excitement in his heart, calmed himself down, and then inquired about the specific casualties of the Cloud Dragon Army.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yuan’s expression sobered up a bit, and he said in a heavy tone, "Leader, in the battle at Changbai Gully, we lost 32 soldiers and had 52 seriously wounded; in the recent battle at Ning Yuan Hill, we lost 69 soldiers and had 72 seriously wounded..."
dead, 124 seriously wounded, a total casualty rate of nearly 20%. Compared to the massive victories gained tonight, it should be considered exceedingly low, yet Xia Hong’s eyes twitched when he heard these numbers.
Xia Hong was not blaming the Cloud Dragon Army for poor performance; summing up the two battles tonight, the Great Xia’s damage ratio could be around 1:17, such a record cannot merely be described as perfect, it’s outright miraculous, the Cloud Dragon Army’s performance is flawless.
He feels distressed for this 20% attrition.
Long Mountain is well-established, even without this new army, they still hold three thousand elite Longyou Army in their hands, sitting steady as a rock;
The Great Xia, however, is different, there’s only this precious Cloud Dragon Army, losing just one is enough to cause Xia Hong soreness for a long time, let alone a 20% attrition.
This has nothing to do with how many results were achieved, the essence is simply that Great Xia currently has very little capital, a 20% attrition is enough to make Xia Hong feel the pain of cutting flesh.
"We must find a way to replenish the troops, relying on so few people, trying to continue fighting against Long Mountain will definitely not be possible."
A sense of urgency stirred within Xia Hong as he surveyed the Cloud Dragon Army’s ranks, then glanced toward the north and continued to ask Liu Yuan: "There are still people behind, right?"
The total casualties of the Cloud Dragon Army were 225; there were only 725 here, clearly not matching.
Liu Yuan nodded and said: "I brought the main forces ahead first, 142 were Zhaoyang Blood Guard captives, 124 were seriously injured soldiers, the bodies of fallen soldiers, including all captured armor and weapons, are behind. Yuwen Dao is leading 50 soldiers, bringing them over, about five or six kilometers away from us."
"Less than four hours until dawn, we need to hurry, Xia Chuan, take three battalions of soldiers to assist Yuwen Dao and his men, the rest depart immediately, head back to Wushuang first."
Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan’s expression became slightly stern, and he responded with a nod before immediately pointing out three battalions to hasten toward the north.
If they haven’t returned to Wushuang by dawn, they’ll have to risk camping on the snowy plains.
Additionally, Long Mountain has likely already moved their army to the Song Yuan stronghold, may even be plotting to intercept them, they must travel through Song Yuan to return to Wushuang territory as quickly as possible.
As soon as Xia Chuan left, the remaining over four hundred soldiers of the Cloud Dragon Army also set off southward on Xia Hong’s orders, embarking on their return journey.
"Travel seven kilometers south, then turn east for four kilometers, and you’ll exit Song Yuan and enter Wushuang territory, time should still permit."
After calculating the time, realizing there was more than enough, Xia Hong immediately felt much more relaxed, joining the army as they hastened towards Wushuang.
Eleven kilometers of journey, at the Cloud Dragon Army’s normal marching speed should take over two hours to complete, but since this path had been traveled once on the way here, the return speed was much quicker.
In less than an hour, the four hundred men caught up to the convoy ahead.
Lin Kai was clever, he didn’t stay with the convoy but instead kept two kilometers behind it, clearly to observe the surroundings and take preemptive action if necessary.
The convoy’s soldiers were merely ordinary Earth-digging Realm recruits transferred from Xia City, with few having Basic Strength exceeding twenty thousand, inherently lacking in prowess. With ten large carts, eight hundred sets of Hundred Forged Level armor and weapons as much baggage, plus over two hundred seriously injured captives, their marching speed was naturally painfully slow.
The addition of over four hundred Cloud Dragon Army soldiers immediately relieved much of their burden, significantly increasing marching speed.
Finally taking just about one and a half hours, the army exited Song Yuan, entering Wushuang territory.