Chapter 458 The First Effort

Everyone said in unison: "I heard it clearly!"

The voice was as angry as thunder, reaching the sky, and I don't know how many night herons were startled.

The messenger swallowed his saliva, and saw General Hong throwing the edict back to him: "Come, take the messenger down and have a good rest. He will take this edict to Panlong City tomorrow."

Two soldiers stepped forward and took the messenger away.

General Hong held her waist knife in her hand and stood facing the Panlong Army.

She wore a ghost head mask today, which was particularly ferocious under the light of the jumping fire.

A gust of night wind blew.

She didn't move, and thousands of people stood still.

After a long while, General Hong gave an order in a deep voice: "Wait for Commander Zhong to make the final decision. Now disband, go back and rest!"

Everyone still didn't move.

General Hong turned around and strode away.

Until her back disappeared in the darkness, the West Square of the city boomed, and was almost blown up by the angry curses.

The anger of the Panlong Army was almost higher than the torches held in the hands of the people.

There were spitting and cursing everywhere. He Lingchuan heard someone nearby had already greeted the king's 19th generation ancestor.

How disrespectful.

Menban didn't bring a shield with him, so he could only stomp on the ground twice: "Damn... those cowards in the capital, cowards who have no eyes for giving birth to sons!"

Hu Min spit into the pit he stepped on: "Why don't we fight all the way back to Xiluo and take down the capital, so as not to be caught in the middle here!"

A Luo hissed at him: "Don't talk nonsense."

Liu Tiao asked He Lingchuan: "Broken Blade, what's wrong with us fighting all the way back? We don't need the motherland to send a soldier to support us. Why, why..." She couldn't say any more, and she was so angry that she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Why are you afraid of us going back?" He Lingchuan said calmly, "We are too strong, and our motherland is too weak."

Everyone looked at each other and recalled the order read by General Hong just now. It sounded condescending and majestic, but the whole article was full of anger.

"It is more important to defend against the border residents in the northwest than to defend against the enemy."

"That's right!" Soldiers from other teams heard it and echoed loudly, "It is more important to defend against the border residents in the northwest than to defend against the enemy. The motherland is defending us, us!"

After guarding the enclave alone for more than ten years, being feared, suspected and excluded by the motherland, anyone's heart would be chilled.

"Yes, the motherland would rather borrow troops from the Beijia Kingdom than let us go back!"

"It is better not to have such a motherland!"

There was a commotion around.

After an unknown amount of time, He Lingchuan finally heard the most crucial sentence:

"It's better not to go back to such a motherland!"

Someone soon responded:

"Yes, if you go back, you will be ostracized and looked down upon. It's better to stay in Chiba Plateau."

"You should understand that it's the adults who will be ostracized if you go back, what does it have to do with us? We are soldiers, how can they not want us?"

"Go back to be cannon fodder?" Someone else refuted bluntly, "The 40,000 elite soldiers who were transferred away by the motherland last time are all heroes here. After returning, They were reorganized and sent to various places, and some died or ran away. How many are left now? What about elite soldiers and brave generals? If we go back, we will all end up like this! "

"Will the king love his soldiers like Lord Zhong, and will he be as good at moving troops as General Hong? Look at their country, the more they try to quell the rebellion, the more chaos it will cause!"

"Yes, the soldiers are cowardly, and the generals are cowardly. If we go back like this, we will be at most the grass in the troubled times, and we will not be rich on the Chiba Plateau!"

He Lingchuan listened to the noise in his ears and exhaled lightly.

So, the reaction of the King of Xiluo was indeed expected by Panlong City, right?

Every action of Panlong City was stepped on the "fear" point of the King of Xiluo.

Before the king issued the order to move to An, Panlong City had already rushed away. This was because they were impatient.

The Panlong Army did not take the Jinxi Corridor given by Baling State, but took a different route and fought back from Xijue State. This was disrespectful and arbitrary.

It was impossible for Xiluo to destroy a country in just a few days. This was a proud and brave general.

With the above characteristics combined, which king would not be afraid?

If Zhong Shengguang returned to Xiluo with such an army, who in the country could be his opponent?

Would it be easy for such an army to capture the capital of Xiluo?

So even if the king had some hesitations before, after hearing about the great victory of Xijue reported by Zhong Shengguang, he finally made up his mind:

Never let them come back!

The order to move to An? No.

There were originally court officials who opposed the move to An, believing that Panlong Wasteland was Xiluo’s territory and ancestral foundation, and could not be ceded away at will.

Then in the name of justice, order the Panlong Army to guard the border area and permanently guard the territory!

He Lingchuan even doubted the time when General Hong uploaded the victory report.

If they waited until they captured the Xijue Palace before sending a message to their motherland, it would take at least ten days for the message to come and go, so it was impossible for the envoys from the Xiluo capital to arrive at Yuheng City so quickly.

In other words, General Hong first sent the victory report to Xiluo, and then led the army to slowly besiege the Xijue Palace.

General Hong, or the God Mitian, really didn't take Xijue and Xiluo seriously.

Tonight in the west of Yuheng City, the Panlong Army was destined to spend a sleepless night.

He Lingchuan looked at the direction where General Hong disappeared before.

This should be the strategy of Zhong Shengguang and General Hong.

They knew very well that the will of the people could not be violated or blocked, but could be guided, so they turned the questioning and anger of the army and the people to the Xiluo Kingdom.

This is called, to advance in order to retreat.

In fact, Xiluo country is the culprit, and it is not wrong to take the blame.

If it were not weak and cowardly, the Panlong army and civilians would not have suffered so much.

And Zhong Shengguang and others did not know what price they would pay in the future if they chose to stay in Panlong Desert!

If they insisted on returning to the country at this time, could they avoid the heroic deeds more than ten years later? Everyone could live in peace and safety?

Because of the king's order, the Panlong army temporarily stopped returning to the east and continued to station in Yuheng City, confronting the Jin Tao army.

The Xiluo envoy galloped to Panlong City to find Zhong Shengguang.

Obviously, General Hong and his army must wait for Panlong City's final decision.

…

At dawn, He Lingchuan went to fetch water with a bucket, but saw several figures by the river.

One was by the river, and the others were far away.

Just by looking at the back, he could confirm that the one by the river was General Hong.

Her aura was too strong.

"Who?" The guards behind General Hong felt it and glanced over with sharp eyes.

General Hong's voice was very calm: "It's okay, get your water."

She didn't even turn her head, and knew what he was going to do.

He Lingchuan walked forward, rinsed the bucket in the river, and said: "General, why don't you take a rest?"

General Hong stood facing east, looking at the white mist floating on the river:

"I don't need it."

Yes, He Lingchuan remembered that she had been transformed by the mighty power to achieve a demigod body, and she didn't need to eat, drink, and sleep like ordinary creatures to maintain her physical strength.

There were people around her and behind her, but He Lingchuan felt that she was isolated from the world and isolated from the whole world.

"General."

General Hong didn't say anything, but just tilted her mask slightly.

"Even if the monarch objects, the army can still fight back, right?"

"If we fight back, do you know what we will face?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "I only know that we don't have to face anything."

"Oh?"

"After returning to the country, at least we don't have to face the joint attack of Baling and Xianyou anymore, and we are no longer isolated and helpless."

General Hong nodded: "Then what?"

Then...

"Even if we can return to the country, do you think the Panlong Army and these millions of civilians can live a stable and prosperous life away from war?" General Hong said lightly, "That's impossible. There is no such pure land in the world."

But they can avoid destruction, and the story of Panlong Wasteland will not end with the most tragic ending. Of course, He Lingchuan couldn't say this, so he could only say firmly: "It's worth a try! At least in Xiluo Country, there are two things worth our full efforts!"

"What is it?"

"Future and hope!" And the opportunity to escape fate.

General Hong raised his head slightly, as if touched.

"Do you think the future and hope will be in Xiluo?" Her voice was indifferent, and only by listening carefully could one discern the hidden sarcasm in it.

"Is it in the Panlong Wasteland where enemies are everywhere?" He Lingchuan said bluntly, "Even if Lord Zhong goes back to seize the country, the foundation he has laid will be stronger than in the wasteland, right?"

General Hong laughed: "Dare to speak out? He Lingchuan, you are very courageous." If you were in China, you would lose half your life if you dared to speak out like this.

"What I said is just what the Panlong Army thinks." He Lingchuan took a deep breath and solemnly requested, "General, please take us back to the country!"

General Hong did not reply, and turned his head to the east again.

After crossing the river and walking a few miles, it was the border heavily guarded by the Jin Yao Kingdom.

He Lingchuan wondered if she was also struggling with her conscience?

"Go back after you get enough water."

So He Lingchuan saluted her, filled a bucket with clear river water, and left without looking back.

In any case, he tried.

But even if he joined the Dafeng Army, he was still a nobody, and General Hong would not listen to his opinions.

This time, the opportunity to change the final fate of Panlong City might be missed.

He Lingchuan sighed helplessly, and then remembered the conversation between King Yuan and his nephew Shao Jian that he heard in the ruins of Qianxing City.

King Yuan firmly believed that the three things he asked his nephew to send to Zhong Shengguang were more important than himself and the entire Yuan Kingdom.

What about Zhong Shengguang?

Would he think so too?

After returning, He Lingchuan lay back in the broken house and looked up at the starry sky through the big hole in the roof.

The deeper he immersed himself in this soul land, the more things he cared about, and the less he wanted it to go to its destined end.

But this history was extremely stubborn, and it seemed difficult for him to change the ending.

After dawn, everything was back to normal.

Hu Min said to everyone: "Let's open a betting, who bets on the eastward advance, who bets on the westward return?"

"Did the skinny guy catch your gambling addiction?" Liu Tiao snorted, "One tael of silver, I bet that General Hong will continue to advance eastward. We have fought so far, how can we return in disappointment?"

Hu Min pouted at He Lingchuan: "Captain, what about you?"

"I bet on the westward return."