Chapter 1980: Need a Signature Victory

He Lingchuan said sternly, "The armies under your command have already been reorganized, and so many elite troops have been added. Moreover, seven or eight powerful tribes like Luodian and Longye don't need training and can go straight to battle. The speed of taking fortified positions should be 30% faster than it is now!"

"A month ago, Zhong Lizheng besieged Juxia City and took twenty-three days to capture it. That was only because the city ran out of stones for building walls. Otherwise, while you were attacking, they would have been frantically rebuilding, and you might not have taken it even now." He Lingchuan pointed at the sand table, casually explaining the Battle of Juxia. "What's the problem? On the fifth day of the siege, you actually allowed the Juxia soldiers to successfully go out and harvest autumn grain! Before that, they were terrified and on the verge of surrender. After that, they felt that the Black Armored Army could also be negligent and make mistakes, as if it wasn't a big deal, and they could still hold on. On the battlefield, offense and defense can switch, and victory and defeat can reverse, perhaps in an instant. If you miss this turning point, you will pay with more time and more lives!"

Zhong Lizheng's head was almost touching the table.

The other generals also listened in silence, not daring to breathe a sound.

In fact, He Lingchuan knew where the core problem lay. As the saying goes, it's easy to raise an army of a thousand, but hard to find a single good general. What's even rarer than a powerful army is a powerful general!

In this vast Dragon God War, through the crucible of battle, rising stars had gradually emerged. But it wasn't enough; compared to the scale of the war, the number of capable generals was still far from sufficient!

Once the phase of overcoming strongholds began, this weakness became particularly prominent. If He Lingchuan had personally commanded the Battle of Juxia City, he was confident he could have taken it within two days.

But he couldn't be everywhere at once, and this war was not his alone.

He then went on to analyze the targets that two other forces were about to attack. The generals quickly lowered their heads to take notes, even more diligently than students listening to Master Sun's lecture.

After speaking, he picked up his cup and took a sip of water. He then asked, "Regarding the major problem of slow progress during the transition phase, does anyone have a solution? Come to think of it, even after the major training concludes and the second phase begins, this problem will still persist."

Silence fell among the group.

As long as the root cause remained, the problem would be difficult to resolve.

But after a few breaths, someone spoke up: "Perhaps, we need a decisive victory that is either widespread or iconic."

Everyone turned to see that the speaker was Qu Ruhai.

He and some of the Luodian people had been integrated into Lu Yaofei's main force, and he had achieved great merits throughout this campaign.

He Lingchuan tapped his finger lightly on the table twice. "Widespread? What do you mean?"

"The first phase of the Dragon God War progressed like a hot knife through butter, faster than anticipated. This was because many factions surrendered without resistance. On one hand, they were awed by the Dragon God's might, and on the other, it was due to the iconic decisive victories in the first phase, which made them feel hopeless upon hearing the news, leading them to surrender on sight."

"Iconic" decisive victories in the first phase? He Lingchuan's lips curved slightly; he knew Qu Ruhai was referring to the battles when he personally led the campaign against Luodian Kingdom.

In less than a month, Luodian was destroyed. This news indeed shook the Blazeflash Plains intensely, and it caused numerous tribes around Luodian to surrender at the mere sight of the forces, losing all will to resist.

Qu Ruhai was indeed worthy of being the former Chief of Luodian's Left Clan. He had great foresight, and not only was he experienced in battle, but he also possessed a strategic mindset concerning warfare.

He Lingchuan interlaced his fingers on the table. "Go on."

"During the transitional phase of the Dragon God War, our army's shortcomings might also be masked using this method." Qu Ruhai pointed at the sand table. "In the Blazeflash Plains, there are only two places we haven't touched at all. One is where Qianyao is located, and the other is here—"

Indeed, there wasn't a single flag at that location on the sand table.

"—the Allied territories."

"His Lordship has his reasons for not including the Allied territories in our offensive scope." Tao Ran shook his head. "Besides, our own territories are ablaze with war; we barely have time to eliminate enemies everywhere. Why should we instead attack allies who haven't provoked us?"

"Who would know our true strength by fighting small fry? It's a thankless task!" Qu Ruhai said gruffly, "If we're going to fight, we should fight someone big to establish our might!"

He continued, "Right now, everyone in the Blazeflash Plains is watching the Dragon God Army's movements! The Allied territories are considerable in size, reputation, and influence, yet we've bypassed them. The people of Blazeflash don't care about our difficulties; they'll only think the Dragon God Army lacks the confidence to annex the Allied forces, which is why we haven't acted yet."

Qu Ruhai knew the nature of Blazeflash people perfectly well. The people here only believed in the law of the jungle.

If you don't fight them, it's only because you're not strong enough.

"If we can take down the Allied forces with lightning speed, just like in the first phase of the war, the other factions still stubbornly resisting will understand that they are just wasting their efforts!" The strength of the Allied forces, led by the Situ family, was quite formidable in the central-western Blazeflash Plains, being a coalition of multiple nations and powers.

No other local power could rival them.

Qu Ruhai's eyes gleamed. "The key is that, with our strength, taking down the Allied forces would be easy and comfortable, so why not do it?"

The Great Emperor of Nine Hells might be stretched thin fighting multiple other factions, but launching a main offensive against the Allied forces would be no problem.

This strategy would play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

He Lingchuan felt a touch of relief. "Well said. So, how do you propose we take down the Allied forces?"

Qu Ruhai replied without hesitation, "First, attack Situ He and capture this Allied leader. Then, disband the alliance and defeat them piecemeal."

Lu Yaofei disagreed. "The Allied forces themselves are very friendly to the Yangshan Merchant Association, and Yangshan has good relations with the local people. After news of the Dragon God Army sweeping across Blazeflash spread, Situ He, despite strong opposition, refused to harm the Yangshan people within his territory, showing great integrity. If we suddenly attack the Allied forces, I'm afraid..."

...it might be morally questionable.

After all, the Allied forces were different from other regional powers; they had always maintained positive interactions with Yangshan.

Qu Ruhai stated bluntly, "War is about winning. To win, we must make choices and weigh our options! To decide the outcome in one go and create an overwhelming effect across the Blazeflash Plains, we must either defeat Baitan or eliminate the Allied forces. Otherwise, at our current pace, we will soon get bogged down in a quagmire of war, becoming progressively slower."

He was very experienced in warfare: "Once a war slows down, all sorts of strange problems will emerge, both expected and unexpected. If you don't believe me, just look at the current state of the Allied forces. They couldn't get off to a good start, and then their campaign got worse and slower as it dragged on!"

The Allied forces' war against Bixia had already lasted two years. Their internal conflicts were one problem after another, and Situ He was exasperated and exhausted, mentally and physically, trying to maintain such a sprawling enterprise.

The Dragon God Army was more than ten times larger than the Allied forces, so their troubles and conflicts should logically be more than ten times greater. If the war continued as smoothly as in the first phase, even more contradictions could be temporarily hidden.

If not...