Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 602: Chapter 602. The Grand Militia

”Do you have an accurate assessment of the issue?” Shi Zhang asked.

Shi Zhang, An Mei, and General Zee Min had moved their discussion to Shi Zhang’s office inside the city hall. The topic was too sensitive to be discussed openly. If the general populace were to hear the problem, there would be panic. This would be catastrophic in their current situation.

”As I said, my calculation is still rough. It’s an estimate at best,” An Mei answered. ”However, even with a best estimate, our food stock will not sustain us for more than one year.”

”Considering we still have refugees coming in, it will be less than that,” Zee Min added.

”Mm...” Shi Zhang muttered.

”That’s it? Mm? That’s all you can say?” An Mei asked. She loved her husband dearly, but his easygoing attitude, where he considered every problem trivial, did strike her nerves most of the time.

Shi Zhang smiled wryly. He knew his wife’s temper. If he didn’t say something to soothe her, he would never hear the end of this.

”Please calm down, dear. I said before there was a solution, and I was right,” Shi Zhang said.

”What do you mean?” An Mei asked.

”When I sent the two of you here, I stopped somewhere first to check on something,” Shi Zhang informed.

”Check on what?” An Mei asked. Her tone was impatient.

”I received an encouraging message a few months ago,” Shi Zhang answered. ”There have been talks about the capital reassembling the bulk of Khode’s military, to which a large portion had undergone disbandment when the Supreme Councilor came into power.”

”Really? Why didn’t you tell me this before?” An Mei asked.

”Well, we are both busy dealing with the refugees. I never found the chance to talk about it,” Shi Zhang chuckled awkwardly.

”You forgot, didn’t you?” An Mei asked accusingly.

”Anyway, our discussion on the city wall made me think about this matter, so I went and sent a message to the capital,” Shi Zhang said. ”I received a reply almost immediately. Reenlisting all the soldiers takes a lot of time. Getting them to rally at the capital is also time-consuming, but they are almost ready to march. I was informed they are called the Grand Militia. They will march within one or two weeks from now, the latest.”

”Do you know how large the army gathered by the capital?” Zee Min asked.

”It is at least a hundred thousand strong,” Shi Zhang answered, before quickly adding, ”Not including the battle puppets still operable by the military.”

”Not many of those battle puppets are left in the military,” Zee Min said. ”Most have been repurposed into the Supreme Councilor’s Royal Puppet Army. Speaking of which, will the capital also send the Royal Puppet Army?”

Shi Zhang shook his head. ”From what I heard, the Supreme Councilor isn’t involved with this operation. The military reassembling is run by the Wai Clan, and the gathered army will be led by General Xuang Feng.”

”Well, I guess he finally got us the reinforcements, even if it is way too late,” Zee Min remarked after hearing Xuang Feng’s name.

”I can’t believe the Supreme Councilor doesn’t also send his Royal Puppet Army. Does he not care about his subjects?” An Mei asked.

”He does not,” Zee Min stated matter-of-factly.

Shi Zhang sighed. He had met the Supreme Councilor when he took over the High Council. All mayors and important government officials were summoned to the capital to be briefed on how things were moving forward. It was not a pleasant experience. Some of those mayors never returned to their cities.

”The point is that we now have hope,” Shi Zhang said. ”When the grand militia arrives, they will make short work of the enemy. Once the invaders are driven away, the refugees can return to their respective settlements. Problem solved.”

”Considering the size of the army, they might require more than one week to reach here,” An Mei made a quick calculation. ”If they truly can finish the enemy quickly, then yes, we won’t have to worry about our food problem.”

”I don’t think it will be that easy,” Zee Min said. ”I’ve fought the invaders before. They are not simple opponents. They are very devious.”

While Zee Min was pessimistic, Shi Zhang was more hopeful. He said, ”No matter their schemes, there is a limit against overwhelming numbers. Xuang Feng had also fought these invaders before, hadn’t he? He will take the necessary precautions when facing the enemy.”

”Let’s hope it is so...,” Zee Min uttered.

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A few weeks later, the grand militia that Wai Kung assembled was finally ready to march. The process took so long because most of the administrative staff in the capital’s government offices had been replaced by worker puppets. Most old data had been tossed away or purged.

The call to rally was mostly done by announcement in each settlement. This rally amassed over one hundred and twenty thousand cultivators.

”It is fewer than I hope for,” Xuang Feng remarked after receiving the report from Wai Kung. They were having a final meeting before departure.

”We can wait a bit longer, but I don’t think we can add the number by much,” Wai Kung said. ”The number of people answering our call has gone down drastically over the last month.”

”It is not surprising,” Wei Zhuang said. ”Many soldiers bear grudges because a large portion of the military was disbanded. There are even talks that these ex-soldiers joined the underground resistance, wishing to overthrow the Supreme Councilor. It is unlikely they return to help when we need their strength, even if it is to drive away the invaders.”

”What about our battle puppet division?” Xuang Feng asked.

Wai Ling answered, ”Most of the military battle puppets had been confiscated by the Supreme Councilor to be integrated into his Royal Puppet Army. The ones we can still use to join our campaign number forty thousand.”

”In total, we have a force of a hundred and sixty thousand...,” Xuang Feng muttered.

”From what we gathered, the enemy has fewer than forty thousand troops, cultivators and battle puppets combined,” Zue Siao said. ”We outnumber them four times. We have more than sufficient forces to face them.”

”They should also leave a portion of their troops to keep Surly Gate Town under control,” Wai Ling added.

”But there is also a report that additional troops from Echos continue to trickle in from the border path they had cleared,” Zue Siao said. ”The number is few, but it should cover the troops they had to leave behind at Surly Gate Town.

”Don’t forget they also have human puppets,” Wei Zhuang said. ”We don’t know for sure how many of Khode’s citizens they have controlled.”

”It shouldn’t be more than ten thousand,” Xuang Feng said.

”How can you be sure?” Wai Kung asked.

”I suspect they are using the receiver modules we failed to bring back from Echos,” Xuang Feng answered. ”Those modules are not more than ten thousand.”

”Probably they can copy it and create more?” Wei Zhuang said.

”I don’t think so,” Xuang Feng replied. ”The modules and the Mental Regulator they stole were manufactured by the Supreme Councilor himself. Out of all Khode, only he managed that feat. Unless Echos had someone on the same caliber as the Supreme Councilor, I doubt they can copy it.”

”Okay, then we can surmise the enemy had no more than fifty thousand troops,” Wai Kung said. ”We still outnumber the enemy by a great deal.”

Wai Ling noticed that Xuang Feng didn’t show a bright expression despite the fact. She asked, ”Feng, what’s the matter?”

Xuang Feng realized his broody mood. His expression changed to apologetic. ”I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bring anyone down. However, I must warn everyone not to underestimate our enemy. Both Zee Min and I had faced this enemy using a force that was equal to or even slightly more than the enemy, but we were both defeated decisively without being able to deal any meaningful damage to our adversary. Even when we greatly outnumber the enemy, we should still proceed with caution.”

Everyone there valued Xuang Feng’s opinion. He was the most senior military officer among them. He was also the one who had faced the enemy.

”What do you suggest?” Wai Kung asked.

”We will march carefully,” Xuang Feng said. ”The enemy is devious. We cannot leave our supply carts unprotected during the march, but I will send several squadrons to deliver shock assaults. From our scout’s intel, their army is currently scattered in areas surrounding Steam Water City. I want to hit those scattered troops and trim their number as much as possible. We will use the Phantom Brigade for these shock assaults. We should have enough talismans in our repository.”

”We do,” Wai Ling confirmed. ”The Supreme Councilor has given us permission. I will retrieve those talismans by today.”

”Please do,” Xuang Feng said. ”We will depart tomorrow. Everyone! This will be a war to defend our sovereignty. We will drive the invaders out! Please, lend me your strength!!”