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”Master, Qin Tian’s army is making strange moves. Xu Kuan and Che Aijun have led a force of one hundred thousand to harass our Eastern Border. Gao City is in imminent danger and requests reinforcements!”

”Master, Gao City has already fallen. Of the thirty thousand troops, three thousand have died, and two thousand are injured, retreating to Red City.”

”Report! Master, our Eastern Border is under siege by Xu Kuan and Che Aijun’s army. The situation of the fifty-thousand-strong garrison is critical!”

In one day, King Wu received three urgent reports from the front lines, and his eyes widened immediately.

”Weren’t we told that Qin Tian was being targeted and too busy dealing with the Ninth Prince and the Crown Prince? What’s happening? How does he have time to harass my Eastern Border?!”

King Wu confirmed repeatedly and immediately began to discuss strategies with his trusted generals.

”Master, since Qin Tian dares to come seeking death, let’s grant him his wish!”

”Yes, Master, West State is our domain, and we’re stronger than him. This time, we must teach him a lesson! Especially that traitor Che Aijun, I must personally kill him!”

”Master, time is of the essence, please give the order. Gao City has fallen, and it now seems Red City won’t hold for long. If this continues, the core city on our Eastern Border, Xilin City, will be threatened. Once Xilin City is taken by Qin Tian, our West Capital will be completely exposed!”

After analyzing the situation, the generals were extremely anxious.

King Wu looked at the map; Xilin City was currently more than a thousand kilometers from Red City, but there weren’t many barrier cities in between. If Qin Tian concentrated his forces, he could indeed reach the gates of Xilin City in about a month.

And Xilin City, that was the only checkpoint on the Eastern Border protecting the West Capital. Once Xilin City fell, it would be equivalent to exposing the entire West Capital directly before the enemy.

Therefore, King Wu was very panicked, and immediately prepared to mobilize the army.

”Your Highness, wait.”

Mr. Wu, who had been silent, frowned slightly as he looked at the map and said slowly, ”Your Highness, Qin Tian’s sudden move cannot make us anxious. I suspect a trick.”

”A trick?”

King Wu and the other generals were taken aback.

”A trick? What kind of trick?”

”Strategist, you might be overthinking. They’ve already reached our doorstep; even if there’s a trick, isn’t it our duty to aid the front lines?”

”Indeed, because of a trick, should we just watch Red City and Xilin City fall together?”

Several generals showed dissatisfaction towards Mr. Wu.

As a trusted minister of King Wu, it was clear that Mr. Wu had always been favored by King Wu, holding a position second only to King Wu himself.

Recently, because the situation in West State had not improved, King Wu seemed to have some dissatisfaction towards Mr. Wu, so these generals dared to openly question Mr. Wu at this time.

King Wu also looked at Mr. Wu and said, ”You say it’s a trick, then tell us the reason.”

Mr. Wu seemed to have anticipated King Wu’s question and said, ”At this moment, both sides were originally at peace. Qin Tian suddenly raised armies so quickly, which is the first unusual point; logically, Qin Tian could directly attack Xilin City from the northern line, yet he did not choose Xilin City and instead attacked our southern cities Gao City and Red City—this is the second unusual point.”

”Currently, with the situation in the Demon Clan Country being favorable, Your Highness was originally preparing to send troops to support. An army of one hundred thousand was already assembled, but unexpectedly, Qin Tian attacked us at this time, as if he had been planning—this is the third unusual point.”

”In such large-scale warfare, logically, Qin Tian himself should be at the front lines, but we haven’t received any reports of him; he and several of his trusted followers should still be in Yueya City. During such a large-scale conflict, he remains at ease in Yueya City, undoubtedly plotting something—this is the fourth unusual point.”

Mr. Wu analyzed, his gaze sweeping over everyone, ”Adding these four unusual points together makes it absolutely abnormal. Your Highness, in my opinion, Gao City, Red City, and the cities behind Red City like Qi City and Grand Stone City can be allowed to fall. We only need to firmly hold Xilin City.”

”Xilin City is easy to defend and hard to capture. For Qin Tian to enter the core of West State, he must capture Xilin City; there’s no other way. At this moment, we can’t panic. As long as Xilin City stands, Qin Tian will find it difficult to progress further, and if he can’t succeed after prolonged sieges, he will inevitably have to retreat.”

”Heh.”

As Mr. Wu finished speaking, an old general sneered, ”Mr. Wu, you’ve never been to the battlefield, so you wouldn’t know how hard it is to capture a city, would you? You speak lightly of abandoning over a dozen major cities southeast of Xilin City.”

”Indeed, over a dozen cities, once abandoned, won’t Qin Tian seize them easily and refuse to withdraw? I think you’re being rather fanciful.”

”Over a dozen cities, Your Highness. If we send reinforcements now, we can probably hold at least ten cities. Later, counterattacks would be easy; but if we follow Mr. Wu’s advice and shrink back to Xilin City, by the time Qin Tian’s forces reach its walls, then we would truly be cornered with no way out.”

The opinions of several generals were completely opposed to Mr. Wu’s.

All along, King Wu had absolute trust in Mr. Wu. Even when Mr. Wu’s opinion alone differed from everyone else’s, King Wu would follow Mr. Wu’s advice and never make mistakes.

However, after everyone spoke this time, Mr. Wu noticed that King Wu had fallen into deep thought, which clearly indicated his lack of trust in Mr. Wu, or at least, not as much as before.

”Your Highness,” Mr. Wu feared the outcome he worried about might happen and reminded, ”Your Highness, by holding Xilin City, we can have everything. If you dispatch troops to assist Red City and Grand Stone City, you’ll have to draw forces from Xilin City. With its original garrison of two hundred and fifty thousand, Xilin City isn’t even enough. If you take troops away, Xilin City will be left vulnerable, which is not good.”

The old general laughed again, ”Not good? What’s not good? Could Qin Tian possibly dare to launch a surprise attack on Xilin City? What kind of surprise attack? With our posts hundreds of kilometers ahead of Xilin City, any movement by Qin Tian would be detected immediately. Xilin City will never be in danger!”

Mr. Wu stared at the old general, pointing to the map, ”What if the enemy crosses Xilin Mountain and confronts Xilin City directly, then what?”

”Hahaha, Mr. Wu, while I respect you as a strategist, I never expected you to understand so little. Xilin Mountain is all cliffs and precipices. If five hundred can cross it in a day, that’s impressive. You claim they’ll launch a surprise attack on Xilin City with how many? A hundred thousand? How many days would it take to get them all across? We have scouts arranged over there. The moment anything happens, we’ll be informed immediately. Qin Tian? He won’t get through even with wings!”

”General Wang makes sense!”

”Makes sense!”

Several generals echoed in agreement.

Mr. Wu, anxious, looked at King Wu who remained in deep thought and earnestly said, ”Your Highness, think thrice, for this is a critical moment—one wrong move, and all will be lost...”