Ti has led us to the present.
With the fall of Xichang, Chu’s control over Dongping Prefecture has increased significantly.
Le Ling City has thus completely lost communication with Dongping Prefecture.
Except for confirming that Wuyan City, which is closer to Le Ling, is still holding out.
The situation in Shouzhang City has beco utterly unknown; nothing can be ascertained.
Since nothing is known, according to the fearso reputation that the Chu army has made for itself and considering that they are now on the brink of Le’an Prefecture, Xu State’s monarch and officials assud that Shouzhang City has fallen along with Xichang City to the Chu army.
And with the loss of these two cities, the only barrier left to the west of Le Ling City is Wuyan City.
If any problems arise with this city, then there will be nothing left to stop an invasion from the west of Le Ling.
The Chu army could then easily gallop all the way and lay siege to Le Ling City, which would face the sa fate as Liang, encircled by Chu forces.
Should this scenario unfold, Xu State’s years of governance in Qingzhou would almost certainly end in collapse.
In the end, even if the statehood could be preserved, it would beco like Wei and Zhao, relegated to a corner, without any chance of regaining its forr strength.
Xu State naturally was unwilling to face such an outco.
Therefore, having realized the severity of the situation, Xu State’s monarch and officials could not care less about other considerations.
They imdiately sent ssengers to the Xu State mainland, urgently communicating the orders for troop mobilization to defend the king.
On the Xu State mainland, there remained seven hundred thousand soldiers, with five Inborn overseeing them.
These forces were originally intended to deal with the ethnic tribes settled in Xuzhou.
But now, these tribes have collectively surrendered to Xu State, eliminating the greatest threat to the holand.
Therefore, the primary duty of these forces remaining at ho was to maintain internal security to prevent any rebellion or chaos from the newly surrendered tribes.
The rest concerned the other countries bordering Xu State.
However, to the west of Xuzhou lies Zhao Country.
Zhao has always been an ally of Xu, with mutual support and vigilance between the two countries, making it unnecessary to guard too closely against them.
Therefore, the real threat to Xu State’s mainland is the Tang Kingdom located to the east of Xuzhou in Jingzhou.
But this year, Tang has been besieged by several powers in Yuzhou and has been too preoccupied with its own troubles to pose a threat.
Especially since Chu State and Jin Country reached an agreent, peacefully exchanging the southern part of Yuzhou for Xianyun Prefecture last month, finalizing the deal.
To show sincerity, Chu forces even actively withdrew fifty thousand soldiers from the Yuzhou Expeditionary Camp, including five Inborn, demonstrating absolute good faith.
With a reduced military presence, Chu’s threat to Zheng Kingdom and Jin Country in Yuzhou has significantly decreased.
These countries were then able to divert more forces to focus entirely on Tang Kingdom.
Under the all-out attacks from these countries, even Tang, with its deep heritage, began to struggle.
On the front line, Tang suffered retreat after retreat, losing soldiers and commanders, and facing desperate resistance.
In such circumstances.
The soldiers stationed in Tang Kingdom’s mainland were continuously drafted to the front line, leaving only enough to barely defend against any attacks from Xu State and Xu Kingdom.
The possibility of Tang launching an offensive against the other two countries was now out of the question.
Thus, the threat from the east side of Xuzhou was also eliminated.
In the short term, at least until there is a ceasefire between Tang and the other three countries, Xu State need not worry about the threat from Tang.
At this mont, with the Imperial Capital Le Ling in imminent danger and no imdiate threats at ho, it was naturally ti to redistribute the holand’s troops to reinforce the southern front.
After two months of mobilization, in addition to the existing forces, Xu State had also raised an additional five hundred thousand Civil Group Volunteers in Xuzhou.
Therefore, at this ti Xu State possessed an army of one million two hundred thousand, with five Inborn within its territory.
With a single command, one million soldiers and four Inborn were transferred en masse to Le’an Prefecture from the mainland.
Back ho, only two hundred thousand Civil Group Volunteers and one Inborn were left to maintain the most basic public order.
Beyond that.
Xu State also carried out a partial mobilization at ho.
That is, local able-bodied n, while ensuring essential farming and cultivation work, must be prepared to enlist at a mont’s notice.
This ensured that, upon the governnt’s order, an army could be raised and ready to march into battle at any ti.
The number of these partially mobilized local able-bodied n is also around one million, considered a second-tier reserve force.
However, Xu State would not easily conscript these n unless absolutely necessary.
They had not yet reached a point of desperation, nor were they as mad and heartless as Wei State’s ministers, to inflict such harsh asures on their own people.
Moreover, while the front lines required a large army, an ample supply of materials was even more critical.
Now, with the sudden changes in the situation, Le’an and Qingping, originally planned as rear areas, had beco part of the front lines.
Dependence on these two prefectures for logistical support to sustain the army’s supply was clearly no longer possible.
Thus, the only remaining rear area for Xu State was now its own mainland territory.
If all the able-bodied n were conscripted from there, disrupting the production of these last resource lands, the loss would likely far exceed the benefits of the additional million soldiers.
Such short-sighted asures, taphorically killing the chicken to get the eggs, were not sothing Xu State’s monarch and officials were foolish enough to carry out.
Furthermore, even without that million n, the one million strong army already mobilized from the mainland was enough for Xu State’s needs.
Upon arrival in Le’an Prefecture, Le Ling City’s officials did not rush the reinforcents to the Imperial Capital but sent them straight to the front lines towards Wuyan City.
At this juncture, the battlefields of Qingzhou in Xu State were afla everywhere, each front teeming with peril.
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