Maid Lotus separated from the Dragon King in Shuangquan Village. After that, she was going to Jade City to call up disciples of New Moon Hall.
Gu Shenwei left two spies and then returned to Xiaoyao Lake alone. Although the information he had collected was insufficient, he could not wait any longer: He had to develop a strategy to attack the enemy as soon as possible.
Upon returning to the capital of Stone Kingdom, he met several kings who were ” invited” to form an alliance.
The four kings of Shi, Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdom all had come. However, the King of the An nation, on the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, was not in attendance. He had already fled to Jade City to take refuge.
The four kings were terrified, and distrusted the Dragon King.
After a grand alliance ceremony, Gu Shenwei released the three kings of Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdom. According to the custom, they left their Crown Princes as imperial guards and hostages of the Dragon King.
Zhong Heng quickly completed his task. Within 20 days, he had collected more than 300 large and small ships to transport all of the troops of the Great Snowmountain troops to the North Shore. Next, he set up camps at the entrance and exit of the main road in the east. Finally, he was prepared to wage a large-scale battle with Golden Roc Fort.
Roughly speaking, the army of the Great Snowmountain was not weak. There were nearly 20,000 people, including swordsmen, machetemen, forest savages, slaves and nobles from the Land of Fragrance, tribes and mine thieves from Wushan, and soldiers from the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake, which was more than that Gu Shenwei had expected.
But the army was like a clumsy paper dummy without a complete shelf, and soldiers from different factions all had their own ideas. Even if there was no enemy, they were wobbling and might fall apart at any time, let alone fighting against the army of Golden Roc Fort.
Those who were actually prepared for the war were more than 1,000 swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain and machetemen of Tuo Nengya. They were unwaveringly loyal to the Dragon King, but it was arduous for them to bind together the recruits who were more than ten times their numbers.
Therefore, Gu Shenwei held the first meeting and the participants were limited to a few, including the heads of the Great Snowmountain, Tuo Nengya, Zhong Heng and Fang Wenshi.
He was satisfied with the result. Those people had been hiding all along and fought asymmetrical skirmishes. Finally, when they returned to the Western Regions, they all looked forward to fighting a decisive battle with Golden Roc Fort, and their soldiers were waiting excitedly for the arrival of the enemy.
In the midst of the war, only Tuo Nengya reminded Dragon King that the army was moving too fast, the Wushan army in the rear was unstable, and the spies who were sent by Golden Roc Fort had not been completely eliminated. Besides, the position of many tribes and mine thieves was still unclear, and the narrow road to the Land of Fragrance might be cut off at any time.
Gu Shenwei did not make a decision on the spot but summoned the next group of people, which included ten leaders of slaves and soldiers from the Land of Fragrance, the two leaders of the noble soldiers, Ha Chilie of the Wushan tribe, and Ge Ying, a mine thief.
There were complicated relationships among these people. Slaves and nobles, tribes and mine thieves all used to be extremely antagonistic like water and fire. Now they were barely keeping the peace, and their mutual contempt and hatred had not decreased.
As soon as they entered the tent, two small disputes occurred.
The leader of the slave soldiers accidentally touched the leader of the nobles and was harshly scolded, but the slave dared not to refute or even defend himself. He lowered his head respectfully and accepted the scolding from his former master. His knees kept shaking. If the Dragon King had not appeared in time, he would have soon knelt for mercy.
Another dispute was more serious: As soon as they met, Ha Chilie and Ge Ying glared at each other. One claimed that the other was servile while the other accused him of malicious intent; then they drew their sabers.
Gu Shenwei’s arrival put a stop to the two disputes.
These people were also glad to fight against Golden Roc Fort, but they had different attitudes.
Out of fear, the nobles of the Land of Fragrance obsequiously said that they would follow the Dragon King forever, but there was no sincerity in their words.
The ten slave leaders were still confused. In just a few months, the whole world had changed. They were full of surprise about everything outside but lacked an intuitive understanding of Golden Roc Fort and the Supreme King. They did not know the importance of the war at all but humbly expressed that they would carry out all the orders of the Dragon King.
Slave soldiers were the largest single source of troops in the army of the Great Snowmountain, with a total of more than 7,000 people, but their combat capability was very doubtful.
Soldiers needed obedience rather than servility. Although Gu Shenwei had given them freedom, the slaves only looked at this freedom carefully and never dared to embrace it. In their eyes, the Dragon King was a kind but demanding master.
The Audacious Twin Blades Ge Ying had brought hundreds of mine thieves. Why did he join the army of the Great Snowmountain? He did not know the reason. At first, he said that he admired the Dragon King, and then he was naturally fond of lively activities. Finally, he was concerned about dividing up the spoils. ” Dragon King, we all have given up our business to follow you, regardless of the reward. If we win, how would we divide the gold and silver treasures and those women of the Supreme King?”
Ha Chilie was unhappy before Gu Shenwei spoke, “Do you think the Dragon King is a bandit leader like you?”
In principle, Gu Shenwei should not take sides in official matters. He learned this truth from his father Gu Lun, who knew the doctrines of officialdom and sometimes told his three sons. Gu Shenwei did not care much at that time but remembered it clearly when he grew up.
But this time was different. He had to correct Ge Ying’s mistake. “There will be gold and silver treasures, and women, but we win it not by robbery or division, but by ourselves. We will build a new country. By that time, all of you will be heroes, and you will possess everything.”
“F**k, do you want me to be an officer? Haha.” Ge Ying was a rough fellow. Although he said dirty words, he wanted to express his excitement.
Ha Chilie was the last person to speak and simply expressed his desire for war. His loyalty to the Dragon King could be compared with that of the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, but he brought no more than 300 people. Most of the tribes in Wushan adhered to the principle of non-interference and believed that the war had nothing to do with them.
Gu Shenwei summoned the third group of people, who were princes and generals from all countries of Xiaoyao Lake.
The soldiers from Stone Kingdom stood firmly on the side of the Dragon King, but they were full of distrust for the other four countries.
This distrust was justified.
In the An Kingdom, because the king had fled, the soldiers were forced to join the army of the Great Snowmountain.
The people of Sha and Hui Kingdom were similar to the people of An Kingdom. When it came to the upcoming war, all of them avoided the question and showed obvious negative emotions.
Among the countries, the Kang Kingdom was the most powerful, and also had the strongest opposition to the Dragon King.
The Prince of the Kang Kingdom had escaped before attended the meeting. Last year, he was on a par with the Dragon King, and even in a slightly higher position. But now he served the Dragon King as a hostage. This change made him very uncomfortable, so he spoke with strange voices, “We can take measures according to the actual situation, and the Dragon King is there. What are we afraid of? We just follow behind him and then pick up the booty.”
The composition of the army of the Great Snowmountain ranged from loyal to sinister people, and the number of the latter was larger.
Before fighting a decisive battle with the army of Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei had to fight a hard battle with his own army.
“I should try my best to listen to the opinions of others before reforming the whole army.” Gu Shenwei thought to himself.
Zhong Heng’s idea was pragmatic and simple, “To drive wolves with tigers, temper justice with mercy. The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain and the machetemen of Tuo Nengya should be scattered among the various armies and serve as generals who drive people to march forward bravely. The soldiers of the five countries should be strictly supervised. At the same time, a large amount of gold and silver should be offered as a reward, and the distribution scheme of spoils should also be worked out so that everyone has an impetus to fight.”
Fang Wenshi’s viewpoint was slightly empty and differed from Zhong Heng’s. “The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain cannot be dispersed. They are the main force of our army, and the whole army is waiting with eyes wide to see their performance. Once they are dispersed, the army will be soulless. Who will fight bravely? I think that the prime minister’s opinion is wrong, very wrong.”
Both views were reasonable, so Gu Shenwei could not make a decision immediately.
Fang Wenshi had other views, “The war is very important, but actually the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort are small forces in the Western Regions. Whoever wins or loses will not change the overall situation much. I think that we should ask the Central Plains for help. The Central Plains will mainly attack the east area, holding the power of Golden Roc Fort as much as possible. The Great Snowmountain will cooperate in the south, and their efforts will be fundamental for victory.”
Zhong Heng did not oppose to aligning with the Central Plains, but he reminded the Dragon King, “Wei Song is now the chief of the Central Plains in the Western Regions.”
Wei Song is inextricably linked to the murder of the Gu family. Gu Shenwei and Zhong Heng once conspired to assassinate Wei Lingmiao, the son of Wei Song, and nearly got revenge on Wei Song in Stone Kingdom last year.
This was a stubborn stone wedged between the Dragon King and the Central Plains and could not be bypassed. However, Fang Wenshi did not know about it and was still recommending himself. “Let me persuade the Central Plains to ensure that Golden Roc Fort is in a dilemma within a month.”
Gu Shenwei did not agree with him immediately. Among the complicated problems, he only made a decision about one thing: to appoint Tuo Nengya and Ha Chilie to pacify Wushan.
The mountain path to the Land of Fragrance could not be broken, which was a good base that was given to him by heaven. It was rich in natural resources, easy to defend, and difficult to attack. Whether pursuing a retreating enemy or making a comeback, they all needed this rich land.
Tuo Nengya had rich experience in Jianghu and knew how to deal with many forces. Ha Chilie was a native of Wushan, who could introduce them and negotiate.
Gu Shenwei let them take away 100 swordsmen and 500 slave soldiers. These 600 men were a big force in Wushan.
All things had yet to be decided. A spy who stayed in Shuangquan Village delivered the bad news that Golden Roc Fort already knew that the Dragon King had returned to Xiaoyao Lake, and the conquest plan changed accordingly. The army was still gathering in Shuangquan Village, but there were no longer 30,000 but 50,000 soldiers.
The news spread quickly and the whole army was shocked. At night, the soldiers of the five countries fled. Although the number was not large and only dozens, this was only the beginning. If they were not stopped in time, the troops of the Great Snowmountain would be in danger of completely falling apart.
Gu Shenwei took many measures. According to Zhong Heng’s suggestion, he dispatched part of the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain to the five nations and then strengthened the supervision of the soldiers. After that, he summoned all of the princes and generals from every country and made them live near the main tent to prevent them from deliberately releasing their subordinates.
He was faced with a difficult chess game, and Gu Shenwei felt overwhelmed for the first time since he raised the banner against Golden Roc Fort. Although he could work out several strategies for the war at once, none of them satisfied him.
The last person he summoned was Dugu Xian, and he hoped that the surrendered general could help him revive the game.