Chapter 1501: Advancing White Mage Ji

Chapter 1486: The Advancing White Moggy

In the future Pylon Desert, these things were ubiquitous. Even when Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu went to the Pylon Ruins, He Lingchuan summoned these creatures to pull the desert ship.

However, these three creatures were exceptionally large, comparable to the Earth Dragon King itself. In the future Pylon Desert, only one such creature existed.

But upon closer inspection, he noticed some differences. The bodies of these massive creatures were covered in intricate scales, and when burrowing, they spun upwards like drills.

Furthermore, these were not living creatures, but rather mechanical puppet beasts!

Xin Yi, standing nearby, immediately recognized them: "These aren't Earth Dragons. These are Armored Worms, giant constructs left over from the Middle Ages! They were used when Lingxu City attacked Yuanguo, possessing the ability to burrow underground and drill through mountains!"

He Lingchuan quickly consulted this walking encyclopedia: "Do they have any other abilities?"

"Aren't those two enough?" Xin Yi's voice was loud amidst the battlefield noise. "Giant constructs rarely have complex functions!"

It's already incredibly difficult to make them so large and keep them functioning properly!

These were the Armored Worms Lu Wushuang lent to White Moggy.

True Earth Dragon-type monsters are highly dependent on their environment and cannot leave their native regions. Moreover, it's difficult for an army on the march to transport such massive creatures, which is why mechanical puppet beasts have an advantage. Like the Golden Armored Divine Generals, they can shrink to less than six feet in length for convenient transport.

When expanded, they can bore holes over a *zhang* wide, both above and below ground. White Moggy specifically placed them under another section of the riverbank, instructing them to drill from underground to the enemy's rear, creating a series of tunnels.

The Beijia army then passed through the Armored Worms' tunnels and emerged behind the Yuheng City forces!

Instantly, the Yuheng City army was caught in a pincer movement.

Furthermore, with the Armored Worms burrowing everywhere on the bank, the ground, already softened by rain, quickly suffered multiple collapses, making it difficult for the Yuheng army to even maintain formation!

The Beijia army finally seemed to be adopting a "reckless" posture.

Seeing this, He Lingchuan decisively ordered the entire army to retreat to the nearest auxiliary city!

Those three Armored Worms were a stroke of genius. The two sides had already been fighting for over twenty days, and the sudden appearance of these three beasts caught the Yuheng army completely off guard. With the enemy's attack so fierce and their morale high, He Lingchuan saw no need to sacrifice his own men to hold the line.

Since the war began, both sides had employed countless tactics. After twenty-seven days of relentless assault, the Beijia army, led by White Moggy, finally broke through the enemy's riverbank defenses!

Seeing this, the Beijia army cheered.

This victory was truly hard-won.

White Moggy sighed in relief, though his face showed no joy. The cost of those three Armored Worms was several times that of a Golden Armored Divine General, and each required three large pieces of light red mystic crystal to operate for... just fifteen minutes. This price made even White Moggy's heart pound.

Such expensive, energy-intensive war puppets that could only dig holes, shake the ground, and devastate had too low a cost-performance ratio for their limited abilities.

Of course, their utility depended on the application. They were well-suited for surprise attacks on cities.

Alas, such treasures should have been reserved as a trump card for a sneak attack on Yuheng City. It was truly a pity to unleash them prematurely.

The Yuheng City army was truly troublesome.

He Lingchuan quickly led his forces to retreat to the North Auxiliary City, which was the second line of defense against the Beijia army. Having finally secured the riverbank, White Moggy immediately ordered the establishment of a camp. Once the Beijia army could establish a foothold there, they could seize grain from the heart of the Mao River Plain.

With food, the Beijia army would alleviate their urgent needs and could calmly execute their plans.

Of course, as a commander, White Moggy understood the necessity of striking while the iron was hot. The Beijia army relentlessly pursued the Yuheng forces towards North Auxiliary City.

Two advisors urged him not to pursue the retreating enemy, but he ignored them, as this opportunity was too rare to miss.

Hadn't they struggled with attacks for nearly a month, waiting precisely for this chance?

Indeed, during their retreat, the Yuheng army was obstructed several times by the Armored Worms, disrupting their formation and slowing them down. They failed to return to the city as planned.

At this point, another army dispatched by White Moggy also arrived, outflanking them and blocking the path between them and North Auxiliary City.

There was no time to return to the city.

With blockades ahead and pursuers behind, He Lingchuan issued his second order:

"Abandon North Auxiliary City, and the entire army is to retreat instead to South Auxiliary City!"

For an ordinary army, poor communication between ranks would likely lead to chaos if ordered to switch directions so abruptly. However, his current force, though a mix of Yuheng City and Ximo armies, consisted of soldiers trained by He Lingchuan who were exceptionally familiar with his command style. These rapid changes in direction caused no confusion; instead, everyone ran even faster.

This time, the Beijia army finally stopped pursuing. They turned around and took North Auxiliary City.

This place, though called an "auxiliary city," was essentially a large military camp with walls and high gates, housing only soldiers and no civilians. Thus, it was empty at the moment.

Such a small victory would have been beneath White Moggy's notice in the past. But now, not only were the soldiers jubilant, even he himself let out a long sigh of relief, feeling that after tonight's battle, he could finally get a peaceful night's sleep.

It had not come easily.

Taking this auxiliary city meant establishing a foothold in enemy territory, and from there, they could hope to complete the Emperor's mission!

In the latter half of the night, both sides were reorganizing their forces.

With the auxiliary city captured, the Beijia army could move their camp inside – which they had only just begun to construct. Only basic forces were left on the riverbank to guard supply transport, so the entire path from inside to outside was brightly lit.

Most of the Yuheng City army retreated into South Auxiliary City, seizing the time to recover their strength, treat the wounded, and even the cooks began to light fires and prepare food.

The generals stood on the city walls, watching the lights inside and outside North Auxiliary City and the moving soldiers, all feeling indignant.

Wen Daolun gently said to everyone: "We held the Beijia army firmly at the riverbank for twenty-seven days straight. Who would believe such a feat if we told them? It's already remarkable!"

The Yuheng City army had only been formed for three and a half years, and He Lingchuan's newly trained Ximo and Tiger Wing armies had only taken shape for one year. For this lineup to withstand the Beijia army for over twenty days straight had already earned Wen Daolun's deep admiration.

Xin Yi also nodded from the side: "They were bound to cross eventually."

Objectively speaking, no matter how formidable the Yuheng City army was, it was impossible to forever repel the Beijia army from the east bank.

That was unrealistic.

Men Ban said solemnly: "What's past is past. Once they establish a foothold in the Mao River Plain, the trouble will be endless."

Wen Daolun comforted everyone: "The emergency harvest in the Mao River Plain is almost over. Even if they are free to plunder, they won't get much."

This was the very purpose of Yuheng City's determined resistance – to buy time for the plain's autumn harvest.

He continued: "After this, we will clear the fields and strengthen our defenses, so that the Beijia army won't be able to acquire sufficient grain until next spring and summer."