Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1234 - 127: Coming Out in Full Force

Chapter 1234: Chapter 127: Coming Out in Full Force

However, it should be noted that most of the time, rivalry among generals and commanders of the Human Race’s army doesn’t particularly affect the army’s combat effectiveness. The Human Race’s army is as formidable as ever, or it wouldn’t have beaten the Demon Clan so thoroughly.

Of course, there are exceptions, and according to Danggui’s words, there have indeed been instances in history where rivalries among high-ranking officers led to the army’s collapse or even fratricide. But the odd part is that, although the Human Race’s army is clearly aware of this problem, the upper echelons have never directly addressed it, which can only mean that the rivalry among generals and commanders might just be a superficial issue, and that there are deeper conflicts within the Human Race Empire.

Generally, rivalries among high-ranking officers mainly occur at the decision-making level. In fact, whether it’s the historic Human Race’s army or the attacking army from the Dongsheng Empire this time around, there are more generals than commanders.

And most of these generals are required to obey the orders of the highest commander, that is, the commander. So, most of the time, it’s still the commanders who lead the army, with generals serving as the combat spearheads, much like tanks in a modern army or akin to the magic troops of the Western Continent.

An army of one hundred thousand typically has one hundred commanders and several hundred generals. Don’t assume generals can directly lead various units; in fact, they cannot. Each unit continues to be directed by its own commander, and generals only have the authority to lead a charge, not to command troops in battle.

Therefore, an army of one hundred thousand is usually arranged with just over a hundred commanders responsible for commanding in battle. But several hundred generals are equipped to serve as the vanguard and penetrate the enemy lines.

This is also why the Human Race’s army has been able to continually force the Demon Clan’s army into retreat. Because these generals are all cultivators, and according to Danggui, they have nearly all reached the Core Formation stage, meaning they have a Dantian or Qitian capable of gathering magic power within their bodies.

The group traveled day and night, and faced with two large mountains, it took them almost twenty-four hours to finally reach Lingyuan City by the morning of the next day.

After climbing over the high mountains, everyone finally saw a different scene than the forest sea -- Lingyuan City located beside a river, with the city having dug moats, connecting the moats to the river. This area was relatively flat and had fewer trees, allowing one to see large tracts of cultivated fields in the distance.

However, although Lingyuan City is called a city, it always gave off a certain sense of inadequacy. The city walls were primarily made of wood, with sturdy tree trunks planted one after the other into the ground, forming walls spanning thousands of meters.

The city’s overall scale wasn’t large; counting carefully, it could accommodate five thousand defenders at best. But considering the incursion of the Dongsheng Empire’s troops in the hundreds of thousands, these defenders were clearly insufficient.

Moreover, it should be pointed out that while the Dongsheng Empire’s preliminary force might seem familiar, they do have their own traditions in certain respects.

For example, in terms of describing military strength, traditional Huaxia dynasties tend to overreport, counting logistics as well, turning tens of thousands of soldiers into claims of two hundred and fifty thousand or even five hundred thousand.

But the Dongsheng Empire is quite different. According to the document that Danggui showed to the Advance Team, it’s clear from the content of the Dongsheng Empire’s manifesto for the western expedition.

The so-called "more than a hundred thousand troops... a thousand valiant generals... over a thousand Kunzhou." This "more than a hundred thousand troops" is the result of the translation, and the original sentence was an inverted sentence, actually meaning over a hundred thousand; that is, the troop strength exceeds one hundred thousand.

And these one hundred thousand plus are genuine combat forces, not logistical transport units. The Dongsheng Empire seldom inflates its military numbers. On the contrary, they tend to overreport the number of generals.

So the "a thousand valiant generals" actually represents a thousand generals. Most of the time, however, the actual number doesn’t reach a thousand. Typically, it’s around three to four hundred, with more being around five hundred, and very rarely, it hits eight hundred.

One thousand generals have only appeared once or twice throughout history. Keep in mind that even an empire as powerful as the Dongsheng Empire, if they were to forcibly extract a thousand generals, it would be enough to empty the country’s war potential.

However, according to Danggui’s description, the current situation could be even worse, because this time the number of generals from the Dongsheng Empire might not have been overreported and could have indeed reached more than a thousand. If this is true, then this would amount to a war of annihilation for their nation.

By the way, the "Kunzhou" mentioned in the proclamation was their Air Force, an aerial warship transformed through taming and modifying the Overturning Beasts. The term "Kunzhou" is the result of translation; the original text had only one syllable, referring to the Overturning Beasts.

However, there’s no need to worry about these behemoths of the air, because Dongsheng Empire’s Kunzhou are mostly used as transport tools for the troops, and they are not directly deployed to the front lines of battle.

Although the Dongsheng Empire has an air force, their combat strategy is quite conservative and outdated. They regard Kunzhou as transport carriers, transporting soldiers to areas outside the war zone, and then gradually advancing on the ground into deeper territory. They almost never use Kunzhou to air-drop troops into a designated area and adopt tactics similar to leapfrogging.

According to Danggui, in all their wars, Dongsheng Empire basically followed this routine, with Kunzhou delivering the army to the edges of West Heaven, and the ground forces then gradually advancing and occupying till their food supplies ran out, at which point they would retreat.

Through over a hundred years of warfare, the greatest losses sustained by the Dongsheng Empire have not been its ordinary soldiers, but rather its Generals. With each conquest to the west, Dongsheng Empire would have at least a hundred Generals fall in battle. These individuals were Cultivators, and generally, the death of one meant one less among their ranks.

Taking various circumstances into account, Luo’er always felt that there were traitors within the Dongsheng Empire, specifically targeting these Generals. Considering the struggles between military leaders in the Dongsheng army, this speculation might indeed not be just rumors.

Along the mountainous path, the group trekked with difficulty and finally arrived at Lingyuan City. Faced with the wooden city walls that were less than ten meters tall, everyone was at a loss for words. Seeing this, Danggui then explained to them.

This was not the real Lingyuan City, or rather, what was left of the original Lingyuan City. The actual Lingyuan City was further south but had already been destroyed by the Dongsheng Empire.

This settlement, upon closer inspection, should be considered the Third Lingyuan City, established less than five years ago. The previous two Lingyuan Cities had both been completely ruined by the hands of the Dongsheng Empire.

However, whether this Third Lingyuan City would also become a historical ruin was something the Advance Team viewed pessimistically. They had previously witnessed the strength of a General and thus had gained some direct understanding of the military might of the Dongsheng Empire.

If a single General was already so formidable, a thousand of them descending upon them was unsustainable, not to mention the wooden city walls—indeed, it was difficult to harbor hope.

The group arrived at Lingyuan City, and after communicating with the defenders, the guards lowered the drawbridge to let them pass. Once inside Lingyuan City, the Advance Team felt as though they had entered a zoo.

Looking around the city, almost all the residents belonged to the Demon Clan, either the Beast-Ear Race or the Beast Head Tribe. However, since Lingyuan City was under the control of the Qingqiu Clan, the main demographic was the Fox-Ear Tribe.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Luo’er and others always felt that there was an alluring charm inherent in the bones of these Fox-Ear Tribe members, particularly the women. As they entered the city, the local residents crowded around, curiously sizing up the guests from the Western Continent.

As a half-Elf, Luo’er’s appearance was highly favored by these residents. It was their first time seeing such a wondrous species, with deep emerald green pupils and sharply pointed drooping ears. If the Fox-Ear Tribe exuded a sense of seductive charm in their bones, then in Luo’er’s bones resonated an ethereal quality.

Perhaps influenced by the reports from the guards, shortly after Luo’er and the group entered the city, a squad of soldiers surrounded them and escorted them to the official residence within the city to meet with their Leader.

Passing through the bustling streets filled with people, they entered the inner city, and then waited in the parlor, while Danggui went to report to their Leader.

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a lovely figure appeared in everyone’s line of sight. Surrounded by a crowd, she walked with graceful steps, approaching Luo’er and the others.

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