Chapter 587: 275 Barrier Accumulation_2
Because Lu Yuan only planned to help Li Xiong capture the Erhai region, as for the area east of Erhai, the eleven Yi countries directly controlled by Da Changhe Country, and a large part of Hui Chuan Country, he did not have much desire.
Adding all these territories together, it would amount to half a county.
With this foundation, after a little consolidation, including the two Inborn Grandmasters within Da Changhe Country, they might barely maintain a hegemonic position.
Da Changhe Country, which has not lost everything and still retains a large part of its family property, will naturally not engage in personal battles with the Grandmaster, sneak attacks, and massacres.
Because Lu Yuan’s side can do this, they can also do the same in return.
In the end, it’s a contest of attrition, endurance, and who dies first.
With the size of Chu State, the chances are high that the other side would lose and die first, while Chu State would suffer heavy damage.
As long as the other side is still rational and wants to maintain its own half-county base, it cannot engage in such madness.
In this way, Lu Yuan can safely digest the territories already in hand.
‘Hmm, I suppose Jinling must have been waiting to see me make a fool of myself, right?’
Lu Yuan couldn’t help but sneer when he thought of this: ‘Since I dispatched troops to the southwest Yi region, how could I not have thought of the various difficulties faced by Jinling when its dynasties expanded outward?
I have long had strategies in place to deal with this situation.
Now, Li Xiong is a barrier, and leaving half of the foundation to Da Changhe Country is another means of restraint.
With these two factors in place, it will not take a hundred years for my Great Chu to digest Qianzhong County, but only twenty or thirty years.’
At this moment, Lu Yuan was pleased, and Li Xiong, who had been affirmed and promised by him, had already returned from his excitement.
Now he knelt down directly, his whole body bowed to the ground: “My lord places such trust in me, I am deeply indebted and can’t repay it. The Yi people in front hinder my path through the river, I am willing to personally lead the death squad to cross the river and strike. I swear not to return until I defeat the Yi army.”
Lu Yuan had already set the rewards, and now, the whole Kunhai region west of Lu River, as long as it could be captured, would be immediately granted to Li Xiong.
So now, every battle, every piece of land that was taken, belonged to him.
Li Xiong’s initiative has risen to unprecedented levels at this moment.
Because he knew this was not fighting for someone else, this was fighting for himself.
Who else can be more proactive in helping oneself to seize interests?
Fighting the Yi people, I, Li, am the one who should step forward.
However, faced with his request for battle, Lu Yuan just smiled, did not agree, and shook his head: “I know that Li Qing is eager, but it’s not urgent at this moment. Da Changhe Army is heavily guarded, and the Li River and the Great Shaman of the other country are not lacking in ability. They will not retreat when they have reached their core territories.
If we launch a strong attack now, it is uncertain whether we can achieve any gains, but there will definitely be casualties.
Although those Yi soldiers are not valuable, squandering them here is still a waste.
Let’s wait for now.
Now it’s a new year, and changes are coming our way. We can just wait for the opportunity that will soon arrive.”
Upon hearing this, Li Xiong temporarily extinguished the flames in his heart and was puzzled.
Changes?
Opportunity?
What does this mean? Could it be that this King of Chu had some other arrangement that could give him confidence in breaking through the current Lu River defense line?
Li Xiong was guessing this in his heart and expecting something.
As Lu Yuan said, it wouldn’t be easy to break through the defensive line in front of them at this moment.
Even if he personally led the charge, there wouldn’t be much confidence in winning.
Both Li River of Da Changhe Country and the Great Witch Sacrifice are old Inborn Grandmasters. Although their strength has not reached the Second Realm, they are experienced Grandmasters.
If you compare them carefully, Li Xiong, a new generation of Grandmasters, may not be stronger than these two.
With the two of them joining forces on the other side of the river, even if Li Xiong took personal action, he would not gain any advantage.
Even Lu Yuan’s current strength couldn’t guarantee that he could take down the opponent once he made a move.
After all, the gap between the Second and First Realms of Inborn is large, but they are still within the same major realm. Their strength is relatively strong and weak, but not to the point of suppression.
Even if he caught them off guard by using his techniques, it would still be difficult, if not impossible, to kill them in a situation where they were supported by others.
Not to mention, those two still had the backing of more than 100,000 troops, and they could escape into the army at any time if something went wrong, making them even more difficult to kill.
For these reasons, Lu Yuan had previously tested Li River and the Great Witch Sacrifice in a few bouts, but had always used his martial arts strength instead of revealing his Immortal Daoist techniques.
It was because he hadn’t found the right opportunity and didn’t want to expose his strength too much without being able to guarantee a kill in one strike.
To kill these two, they needed to wait for them to be injured or isolated.
Just like how Gui Lianyun and Zhang Chanyi were ambushed and killed previously when they were weak and isolated, this was the correct way to deal with Inborn Grandmasters.
Otherwise, the consequence of failure would be the same as He Basheng’s, who attacked Zhou Country’s Northern Pillar State Grand General in Hanzhong County during the previous Northern Expedition. Even though he used an Immortal Technique and wounded the opponent,
In the end, he still let the man escape back into the army, his achievements incomplete.