To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck-Chapter 851 - 363 The Key to Breaking the Situation_2

Chapter 851: Chapter 363 The Key to Breaking the Situation_2

“Both sides have similar strength, and neither can do much to the other; this should be considered a draw.”

Lu Yuan analyzed the two sides’ positions on the peripheral battlefields, feeling gradually more confident.

Originally in Xiangyang Prefecture, the Chu army had the advantage in terms of troop strength.

However, during this winter, the Ning army, in control of Jingmen and Jingling Prefectures of Xiangyang, urgently conscripted fifty thousand strong men and gathered them at Fu City to defend it.

With these hastily conscripted fodder, the Ning army barely bolstered its forces, enough to contend with the Chu army.

At the same time, after a winter’s respite, the Ning naval forces, which had suffered a crushing defeat on the Jiangxia waterways, had managed to recuperate. Their morale gradually improved; lost warships were replenished, and they essentially regained their combat strength.

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Now, integrated with the Xia Kou naval forces, the Ning navy had grown to over seventy thousand men, close to twice the size of the remaining forty thousand of the Chu navy.

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Plus, with Chu Wei having been reassigned by Lu Yuan, the Chu naval forces lost their soul, and even with high morale, they failed to gain any advantage after several clashes with the Ning navy.

After a few minor naval engagements revealed that neither side could easily gain the upper hand, or rather, that eliminating the opponent might come with a heavy price, they also ceased their entanglements.

Without a definite advantage, the Chu navy naturally couldn’t completely block the entire Yangtze River waterway.

At this time, both sides, with Jiangxia City as the dividing line, began to equally share the river waterway, each with its own advantages.

Fortunately, dreading the strength of the Chu navy, the Jingling naval forces of Ning had to station most of their strength near Jiangxia to contain the Chu navy.

As a result, the Ning naval forces couldn’t divert too many ships for a flanking maneuver behind Chu, to attack Chu cities along the Han River.

Moreover, Zhou Qing left thirty thousand county soldiers behind in Chu State’s Xiangyang Prefecture. Relying on city defenses, he could barely guarantee that the rear was without worries.

But in this situation of mutual restraint, with the Ning having defensive advantages and the assistance of the Ning naval forces outside, with Zhou Qing’s current strength, it was essentially impossible to clear out the remnants of Ning in Xiangyang Prefecture.

This place, like with Jiangxia, would be too costly for the Chu army to attack, and they likely couldn’t take it.

The Ning, lacking in strength, could only defend.

A stalemate was the only option here.

To break the deadlock on the Xiangyang battlefield, they could only wait for other minor victories to accumulate, and then sweep through to establish the situation.

“So, the key to breaking the deadlock now lies only with the Dongting main battlefield, where I am.”

Muttering to himself, Lu Yuan looked toward the south.

At a disadvantage in both Lingshan and Lingnan, the only chance for Ning to break the deadlock was to make an effort on the main battlefield.

And in the main battlefield, with Lu Yuan in command at Jiangxia and with strong soldiers stationed, the Ning army had no hope of victory.

With a breakthrough at Jiangxia out of the question, their only chance for victory would be to the south of Jiangxia, tackling a few prefectures and counties bordering Chu’s Dongting.

Deploy troops to conquer Changsha, Hengyang, and Luyang Prefectures and then invade deep into Chu territory, cutting off the rear supply lines of several Chu armies in Lingnan or Dongting, or even directly threaten the Chu capital.

Any one of these three outcomes, if achieved, could deal a heavy blow to the currently balanced Chu army, reversing Ning’s decline.

At that point, the advantage Chu State had only just managed to secure would be lost due to this defeat, and the struggle for supremacy with Ning would have to be prolonged.

The quick victory Lu Yuan had originally planned within a year or two would then succeed.

“However, my plan to train five disciples has been kept very secret for the past two years; it has always been under wraps.

Even in my own Chu State, not many are aware of Chu Wei’s breakthrough to Innate, so the people of Ning definitely can’t find out.

If they think they can deceive me and take advantage of Dongting Prefecture’s lack of Innate experts, and come over to reap benefits, Chu Wei and the Spirit Consort will certainly give the Ning bandits a surprise.”

Lu Yuan thought of the news from Fu City in Yuzhang that had reached the royal intelligence agency.

In the lands of Lingshan and Jiangnan, the snow retreats slower than in Lingnan, so while a great war was unfolding in Lingnan, Yuzhang and Dongting were just emerging from snow and ice, at a time when people were just beginning to be active again.

Hence, the Chu and Ning armies could only deploy troops and send generals a bit later than in Lingnan.

Therefore, by mid-March, when Lan Cai’er had just led her troops to arrive outside Nanhai City, Ning forces in Yuzhang were just beginning to stir, moving out from the Pengli main camp.

And perhaps knowing that the movement of large armies cannot be easily concealed,

The hundred thousand Ning troops from the Pengli main camp made no attempt to hide their tracks, openly displaying their intentions and clearly indicating their target: the Chu Prefectures of Luyang and Hengyang.

Their aim, of course, was to use this action to mobilize the Chu forces and thereby alleviate the disadvantage on the Lingnan battlefield.

Yes, after half a month’s gestation, even from thousands of miles away, news of the annihilation of Su Country in Lingnan, through various twists and turns, had also reached Ning.

Upon hearing it, Shen Qiu cursed Su Xuange as useless, and also keenly realized the dire situation of the rapidly collapsing Lingnan Battlefield.

With Su Country gone, the two Chu armies in Lingnan could join forces unopposed, converging to attack the remaining Song and Nanhai Countries.

With the remaining strength of Song and Nanhai Countries, they would naturally stand no chance against the merged and strengthened Chu forces.

Therefore, if Ning didn’t want to see Chu slowly taking down each opponent and gradually taking over the entirety of Lingnan,

It had become the only choice to restrain and weaken Chu’s strength in Lingnan before they could sweep across the region.