Chapter 1277: Unable to Plan Ahead
March passed quietly.
In the blink of an eye, it was April and May.
During these months, the entire Southern Wilderness was calm. The Feng and Chen families, who had been in constant friction with Wu Qi, also stopped for the time being. The main reason was that all the well-informed forces in the entire Southern Wilderness were frightened.
Indeed, the external passage of the Southern Wilderness is now controlled by Zhao Cheng, but this does not mean that the Southern Wilderness is completely isolated from the outside world.
It’s just that the small roads are dangerous and difficult to travel, and are not suitable for large-scale caravans or military marches.
In addition, as early as many tens of thousands of years ago, there were Taoists who tamed flying birds. After a long time, even mortals can master some of the skills of taming animals, which can be used to deliver letters.
In this case, what happened under Tianjue Pass had spread throughout the Southern Wilderness as early as March.
Facing the destructive power that buried millions of troops, no one could remain calm.
In this case, even if it is already thought of, such a method must be difficult to replicate, otherwise Zhao Cheng would not have to withdraw to the Southern Wilderness, but knowing it does not affect people's fear.
As time goes by, more details are revealed, such as the charred corpses within the destruction range will actually release a faint light at night, for example, fertile soil turns into poisonous soil, ordinary people will be poisoned and die in pain after staying in it for a while, and medicine cannot save them.
As for the center of the explosion, everything was destroyed, and even the bones were not left. In this case, the Huangtian Army that retreated to the Southern Wilderness undoubtedly added a mysterious color.
Before, the Feng and Chen families were not unaware of the threat of the Yingtian Army, but compared with the Yingtian Army that was farther away, they were more inclined to destroy Wu Qi first and then punish Yingtian.
After all, the Yingtian Army was farther away and could also be used to destroy Wu.
Now, although the old thief Wu Qi deserves to die, the threat from the Yingtian Army has to make them pay attention. They still understand the principle of "lips and teeth are cold". With the magical power of the Yingtian Army, if Wu Qi is defeated, it will be their turn.
But the problem is, if the magical power cannot be replicated, the Yingtian Army, which retreated from Qingzhou, is not as strong as they expected, then wouldn't they lose the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to destroy the Wu thief? !
Now Wu Qi is sandwiched by two forces, which is undoubtedly his weakest time.
In this case, the Feng and Chen families can only hold their troops for the time being and think about it. Now the two families are quarreling.
Some people believe that since ancient times, those who hold the mandate of heaven will not last long. They will be exhausted after one effort, and it is better to sit and watch Wu Qi and the Yingtian Army fight, so that the two sides will consume each other, and when the time is right, they will send troops in one fell swoop to destroy the Wu thief, kill Yingtian, and divide the southern wilderness in two.
Some people also believe that Yingtian Taixie has too many supernatural powers since his debut, and he cannot stay for long. It is better to unite with Wu Qi, wipe out Yingtian, and then plan for the follow-up.
Compared with the second statement, there are undoubtedly more supporters of the first statement.
It is easy to say that the alliance is simple, but the reality is that even if Wucheng is really taken, it is likely to help Wu Qi recover Wucheng. After all, the territory bordering Wucheng is all Wu Qi's territory.
Of course, the most important thing is that what the Yingtian Army has shown now is all supernatural powers, not hard power. If the Yingtian Army has a large army of 200,000 or 300,000, the three families will certainly unite without hesitation, but now, the entire Yingtian Army is only 70,000, and the territory is only a small Wucheng. In a short period of time, there is no possibility of any development.
"Those who eat meat are vulgar and cannot plan for the long term!"
In the Wu family army's military camp, Wu Qi looked in the direction of the Feng and Chen families, and his heart was agitated.
Compared to a few months ago, he was undoubtedly older, with gray hair, deep wrinkles, and black age spots.
Before the Yingtian Army retreated to the Southern Wilderness, he attacked Wucheng several times, but all failed. Now that the Yingtian Army has absorbed Huang Tian's old subordinates, it is more difficult to fight. He is not a man who acts on impulse. Seeing that things are not possible for the time being, he does not force an attack, but thinks about waiting for the right time.
But the more he waited, the more anxious he became, especially the news passed to him by the spies in the city, which gave him a strong bad premonition.
Of course, the top secret of the musket, the entire Yingtian Army, is currently only known by those Taoists. Even if the Wu family has been deeply involved in Wucheng for many years and left many hidden players, these hidden players are just some civilians. Now they are all apprentices and taking classes, and they can't get in touch with the core of the Yingtian Army at all.
But even if those things were not top secret, he was still frightened. If Zhao Cheng was allowed to develop for two or three years, the follow-up would be really bad.
In Wucheng, the total population was more than 500,000, nearly 600,000, but in fact, there were many people in the city who were unregistered and had no household registration. This was no secret. In order to avoid taxes, no one could do anything.
The entire Wucheng, even after Zhao Cheng's several purges, now has a population of at least 600,000.
More than 600,000 people, according to Zhao Cheng's current system, except for the elderly, weak, women and children, can be said to be all soldiers.
The elderly, weak, women and children learn the skills of making clothes and armor, and the young and strong learn the skills of making bows and crossbows. These young and strong can make armaments when they are not fighting, and they don't need too much training when they are fighting. They just need to equip everyone with crossbows, form a formation, and then pull the trigger.
This means that if Zhao Cheng is really given time, the other party can easily create a bow army of up to 200,000 in addition to the main force of the Yingtian Army.
As for the resource problem, Wucheng is backed by mountains and has no shortage of wood and stone. As for leather, silk, and cloth, Zhao Cheng raided so many houses and brought back countless resources from Qingzhou. It is impossible to consume them all in a few years.
And this does not count the population Zhao Cheng brought back from Qingzhou. Wu Qi's spies have no idea how many people there are because of their low status, but there must be 100,000 or 200,000.
200,000 archers, plus 70,000, rounded up, that is 300,000 troops. With such a force, who can stop this Southern Wilderness? !
Wu Qi was shocked when he thought about this war potential.
But he couldn't learn from Zhao Cheng. The reason why Zhao Cheng could do this was because Wucheng was now an isolated city, and all forces had been killed by Zhao Cheng. Zhao Cheng could do whatever he wanted, but he couldn't.
Apart from other things, he couldn't do it at all, just the abolition of currency and the use of merit.
If he failed to do so, many of the people under his rule would actually be the private property of local tyrants. Furthermore, he did not have enough money and food to support so many people leaving their jobs.