Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 731: Chapter 299: Troops at the Gates, Searching, Completely at a Loss (2)

Li Xuanling heard this and immediately frowned.

The harsh environment of the Ice Abyss has already determined that most camps cannot have too many reserve supplies. This has nothing to do with being strong or weak. Strong camps have a larger population and more highly cultivated people, so they naturally consume more supplies. On the other hand, weaker camps have fewer people and less ability to acquire resources, making it even less possible for them to have many reserves.

Even a strong place like Long Mountain, if they don’t go out to gather and hunt for a long period, can last at most half a year. Li Xuandu judged that the Great Xia could hold out underground for a few months, which was already considering the worst-case scenario.

From the Great Xia’s retreat into the Beehive’s underground, and the discovery of an empty Mirror Valley last night, one can basically conclude that from Redwood Ridge, there will be no more reinforcements coming from Great Xia. This means the 9,000 Earth-digging Realm they have underground is the strongest force they can bring to Longyou.

A thousand Cloud Dragon Army plus 8,000 ordinary Earth-digging Realm is naturally no match for the 3,000-strong Longyou Army. Clearly, Great Xia is well aware of this, which is why they have retreated with their men into the Beehive’s underground space, choosing to avoid the battle.

The question is, can they avoid it for now, but forever?

Long Mountain only needs to guard the surface of the Beehive and wait for a few months, and they will naturally surrender as their supplies run out, leading eventually to a dead end.

Li Xuanling ordered her men to find the underground entrance because she is confident that with her 3,000 Longyou Army, she can go in and completely eliminate this batch of people from Great Xia.

In other words, if the Longyou Army encounters any setbacks in their attack, she will immediately change tactics, guarding the surface to prevent Great Xia’s people from coming out. After a few months, Great Xia will still meet a dead end.

Xia Hong, being such a clever person, could not have overlooked this point.

This proves that his retreat underground is still a delaying tactic.

The real intent is to stall their 3,000 Longyou Army.

Li Xuandu suddenly furrowed his brows, looked up, and exchanged a glance with Li Xuanling, realizing that the same thought had occurred to both of them, their pupils flashing with surprise.

“No, wait, why would he need to stall us? Almost all of Great Xia’s effective forces are here. If Xia City had any reinforcements, Mirror Valley couldn’t possibly be empty. It can’t be that he’s waiting for these 9,000-plus people to cultivate and break through, could it?”

After saying this, Li Xuandu couldn’t help but shake his head.

Waiting for more than 9,000 people to cultivate and break through is even more unrealistic.

But he really couldn’t figure out why Xia Hong still needs to stall them.

“Could it be that he’s trying to lure us to attack Xia City?”

At this moment, Meng Ying suddenly spoke. He was one of the four people who came to explore last night. Seeing Li Xuanling and Li Xuandu both looking at him, he continued hurriedly:

“They shifted a large number of Earth-digging Realm people to the Beehive. Logically speaking, Xia City must be empty right now. Could Xia Hong be thinking that if he just holds the Beehive tightly, and we fail to conquer it for a long time, we might go through Mirror Valley and head south to attack Xia City, allowing him to bring this batch of people from the Beehive to launch a rear assault while we’re stuck in the siege.”

…

Upon hearing Meng Ying’s words, Li Xuanling and Li Xuandu were momentarily stunned, then pondered them carefully, their expressions gradually becoming peculiar.

It’s quite possible, to be honest.

“It really could be. From the news my uncle brought back, Xia City’s defenses are extremely strong and hard to break. Xia Hong deliberately left no one in Mirror Valley, and it really might be to lure us into attacking Xia City. He would only need to leave a part of the Earth-digging Realm in Xia City to rely on the strong defenses to hold us off temporarily. Even if we eventually broke in, we’d likely suffer significant casualties. And if, at that time, he brought this batch of people from the Beehive for a rear assault, then perhaps…”

At this, Li Xuandu paused and continued to Li Xuanling, “This seems to be the only way Great Xia can have any chance of winning against us.”

The 3,000 Longyou Army, even when facing ten times its number of ordinary Earth-digging Realm, has no fear. Great Xia’s Earth-digging Realm cannot number 30,000, so triumphing over Long Mountain in a head-on manner is utterly impossible.

But if things proceed as Meng Ying and Li Xuandu have speculated, the outcome is truly uncertain. Even if they don’t win, Long Mountain would probably still be significantly damaged.

Li Xuanling frowned and asked the two, “If it’s really as you suspect, does this mean Xia Hong is entirely confident that we absolutely cannot take the Beehive in a short time?”

Li Xuandu and Meng Ying were silent for a moment and then nodded in unison.

“Then Xia Hong is too naive. We are completely clear on all the underground passages of the Beehive. Once we pinpoint one, we can immediately sort them all out, find the entrance to the main area. Nine thousand people thinking to hold us off, they’re dreaming!”

“Leader, we found it, an entrance in the southeast direction. The filling wasn’t thorough, and the shallow tunnels nearby have been collapsed with brute force, revealing a path down.”

Just as Li Xuanling finished her words, the voice of Li Xuanping came through.

Hearing this, she was overjoyed and immediately rushed over with Li Xuandu and Meng Ying, not forgetting to have Li Xuanping notify all other Cold Resistance levels, including the Longyou Army, to gather.

“The leader is here.”

“Make way, the leader is here.”

…

Near a location about two kilometers southeast, surrounded by several hundred people, when they saw Li Xuanling approaching with her group, they immediately made way.

Li Xuanling walked into the center with the crowd and saw that the outermost part of the collapsed underground did indeed have a narrow passage entrance, and her expression immediately brightened.