Chronicles of Celestial Origins

He had just expressed his attitude, but Han Siyuan still wanted him to lead his troops to attack Jinan County. In addition to justice, there was also selfishness.

As far as war is concerned, under normal circumstances, the commander who leads the army will never be selected from those who have opposing opinions, because others are already opposed, and it is very contradictory to let others risk their lives to attack the city.

If you insist on your own way and let those who oppose the war be the commander and lead the army to fight, it will most likely lead to defeat. The commander will have no intention of fighting and will naturally retreat when encountering danger, which will inevitably lead to the defeat of the team.

Of course, Han Siyuan had sufficient reasons to appoint him this time, because his cultivation level was the highest in the coalition, his strength was the strongest in the coalition, and his prestige was the highest in the coalition. To recapture Jinan County, he was of course the best candidate for the commander.

Although the reasons were sufficient, it did not mean that there was no selfishness.

This matter could be discussed privately after the meeting, so that whether he refused or not would not affect anything.

But Han Siyuan chose to choose him as the chief general in the meeting hall in front of everyone, with the intention of weakening his influence within the coalition.

In recent years, Tang Ning's prestige has grown day by day, completely overshadowing Han Siyuan, with more and more supporters and more and more voice.

Han Siyuan's move was to make him offend the cultivation families and sects in Jinan County. With his status, refusing to lead troops to retake Jinan County would inevitably make the local forces in Jinan County dissatisfied with him.

Back then, when he wanted to retake the three counties of Qingzhou, he was full of confidence and even said on the spot that he would take the head of the Peacock King when facing opponents with different opinions.

Now that he has a higher cultivation level, but is unwilling to contribute to the recovery of Jinan County, the local forces in Jinan County will definitely hold a grudge, and they will definitely not get their support in the coalition in the future.

Tang Ning knew Han Siyuan's intentions, but he could not put himself in danger to gain the favor of the cultivators in Jinan County.

He knew the inside story, but he couldn't say it openly. No matter how many troops the coalition forces used, the final result would definitely be a great defeat.

Before this, he had actually expressed his attitude of defending Linzi County many times in public and private occasions. Now he publicly expressed his position again in the meeting hall, which was already his best effort.

Han Siyuan and other people in the coalition forces insisted on going their own way, and he had no choice.

As expected, when he politely refused, several high-ranking coalition forces in Jinan County showed displeasure and dissatisfaction.

"If Han Daoyou doesn't give up, I am willing to lead my troops to recapture Jinan County." Lu Zhiyuan said coldly.

"Okay. Daoist Lu is ambitious. Since you have volunteered, I will appoint Daoist Lu as the main general for the attack on Jinan County." Han Siyuan smiled and praised: "Which other Daoist is willing to lead the troops to recapture Jinan County?"

At this moment, two or three more people volunteered, but it was naturally impossible to accomplish anything with just these few people. After no one responded, Han Siyuan began to call the generals, most of whom were those who had just expressed their support for the recovery of Jinan County, and some were neutral and did not speak.

In this way, half of the senior leaders of the coalition forces were gathered, and they began to discuss the attack strategy and arrange the deployment of follow-up support and material supply.

………

Time flew by, and several months passed in the blink of an eye. When the decision to attack Jinan County was made, the entire coalition army started to operate at full speed like a machine. Various legions were transferred from various places one after another, and warships transporting materials continued.

The coalition attacked Jinan County in two ways, one from Jiangyue County and the other from Ning'an County.

At the beginning, the two divisions made smooth progress, with frequent good news, and they took down several cities in a row.

But the further they advanced, the more fiercely the demons resisted, and many casualties began to occur.

At this time, it had been more than a year since the coalition entered Jinan County, and warships carrying the wounded continued. The coalition continued to advance step by step.

It was not until the coalition forces that set out from Jiangyue County attacked Huazhang City in Xuyang County, Jinan County, that the coalition suffered heavy casualties for the first time.

A fierce battle broke out between the coalition's vanguard and the defenders in Huazhang City, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. More importantly, Deng Qilin, who led the vanguard, was killed by the demon Mahayana in Zigui City.

The coalition had not yet taken Xuyang County, but had already lost a Mahayana cultivator, which was a great blow to the morale of the entire coalition.

Despite this, the main general Lu Zhiyuan who led this unit did not stop for a while to adjust, but instead added more troops to attack Zigui City. After taking it, the coalition went to Xuyang County again. At this time, it had been nearly three years since the coalition entered the jurisdiction of Jinan County.

In such a large-scale war, if a county can be captured within a few years, it is considered a good progress.

But when the coalition surrounded Xuyang County, a large number of elite demons rushed out from the inside, led by the late Mahayana demon who attacked Yuantian County. Xuyang County sent out more than a dozen Mahayana demons to counterattack.

The result was no surprise. The coalition was defeated and even the main general Lu Zhiyuan died at the hands of the late Mahayana demon.

Not only that, the other six Mahayana monks who followed the army were also killed or injured. In the end, only three people successfully broke through and escaped.

As for the coalition forces below, there were even more casualties, and the other coalition forces that first learned of the letter also hurriedly withdrew from Jinan County. This coalition force was led by Yao Yuanqing, the leader of the aristocratic family who came to support.

He remained silent during the original meeting and did not explicitly support or oppose the attack on Jinan County. He belonged to the neutral faction.

So Han Siyuan called his name and asked him if he was willing to lead his troops to recapture Jinan County, and he agreed.

When discussing the strategy of advancing, the coalition decided to attack Jinan County in two routes. Lu Zhiyuan led one route, and Yao Yuanqing was the main general of the other route, because he had a high level of cultivation and was the leader of the aristocratic coalition.

Yao Yuanqing led his troops from Anning County and advanced to Hongxing County in Jinan County.

Unlike Lu Zhiyuan, after Yao Yuanqing's troops entered Jinan County, they took steady steps and did not rush for success. They were very cautious every time they attacked the enemy camp.

They first sent scouts to explore the way, and then sent small teams to attack. Only when they fully understood the details of the enemy camp would they send the majority of the vanguard to attack, and he himself would stay in the rear of the coalition.

So when Lu Zhiyuan's troops were already at the gates of Xuyang County, Yao Yuanqing had just captured the three outermost cities bordering Hongxing County.

When he heard that Lu Zhiyuan was defeated and died, Yao Yuanqing made a decision immediately and led his troops to withdraw from Jinan County, so there were not many casualties in his team.

………

Linzi County, Weiping County, in a dark room, Tang Ning held the Xiantian treasure gourd, and the green spiritual power in his body continued to flow into it to condense ice crystals.

At this time, there was a knock on the door outside. He immediately put away the treasure gourd and sat down. As the stone door opened, Gao Yuan came in from outside, bowed and said: "Uncle Master, Senior Yao has arrived at the headquarters and is waiting in the meeting hall. He said he wants to see you."

Tang Ning nodded, then stood up and left the cave. Although he did not participate in the battle to capture Jinan County, he was also responsible for supporting logistics and defense. Weiping County is located behind Ning'an County and is the second line of defense in Linzi County. He is currently stationed here with Kong Rui, Zhu Zhiqing, and Feng Jingyuan.

Yao Yuanqing was already seated in the majestic and vast hall. He strode in and bowed his head: "Fellow Daoist Yao, why are you here?"

"Our headquarters has withdrawn from Jinan County. I returned to Linzi County to report the battle situation to Fellow Daoist Han. I passed by here and came to visit." Yao Yuanqing stood up and returned the greeting: "Fellow Daoist Tang must have known about Fellow Daoist Lu's matter!"

"I heard about it, but I didn't expect the casualties to be so heavy. Fellow Daoist Lu was too anxious. He is the head of the Jinan County sect and wanted to repel the demons and recapture Jinan County. Therefore, he was too eager for success and was ambushed by the demons, resulting in this great defeat. It's a pity." Tang Ning had expected this. He showed a look of pity on his face and sighed slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Tang is far-sighted. If Fellow Daoist Lu had listened to you, this wouldn't have happened."

"How many casualties did Fellow Daoist Yao suffer?"

"My troops are fine. I kept in mind Fellow Daoist Tang's advice and marched into the camp step by step. The casualties were relatively small. When the news of Fellow Daoist Lu's defeat and death came, our troops had just captured three cities outside Hongxing County."

"Fellow Daoist Yao has made a great contribution by being able to retreat to Linzi County without casualties and preserve the strength of the coalition forces."

"What kind of contribution is this?" Yao Yuanqing waved his hand and said, "To be honest, I don't support the war against Jinan County in my heart, but because we are outsiders and have just arrived in your place, it is not easy to express our views on such a war and defense plan. And Fellow Daoist Han named me on the spot. We are here to assist your troops. If you refuse to move forward, you will inevitably be criticized or even verbally attacked. Therefore, you have to follow the order. "

"I understand that Daoyou Yao has done his best to escape unscathed. Those allied monks who returned safely will be grateful to you for this."

Yao Yuanqing sighed: "It's a pity that I had too many concerns at the time. Even if I opposed it in my heart, I didn't have a clear attitude, which led to the defeat of the attack on Jinan County. Speaking of it, I am also responsible. If this happens again next time, I will definitely support Daoyou Tang with all my strength."

Tang Ning knew that this was the real purpose of his visit today. The meaning of this was very obvious. The implication was that he was dissatisfied with Han Siyuan's decision to attack Jinan County this time, and he would no longer obey Han Siyuan's orders in the future. And he undoubtedly represented the attitude of the family alliance. As a reinforcement team coming to assist Qingzhou in resisting the demons, they have a certain degree of autonomy and do not have to obey Han Siyuan's arrangements.

This time Han Siyuan insisted on letting them attack Jinan County. They had just arrived and it was difficult for them to refuse, but they were dissatisfied. Especially since the battle was not going well and they returned empty-handed, they felt that Han Siyuan was incompetent. However, they could not leave Qingzhou, so they decided to join forces with Tang Ning.