The Demon Lords-Chapter 708 - 149 Storm! _1

The most terrifying thing for people is, in truth, the absence of hope.

Initially, Lord Jingnan and the Earl of North Border commanded their elite forces into Jin State. They fought for ten days across a thousand miles, crushing the main forces of the Wenren and Helian families. However, in reality, to assume that these ten days had eradicated all the foundations of two large families, whose resources rivaled those of nations, would be nearly impossible.

But that battle shattered the pride of the knights of the Three Jin and the spirit of the local populace. In the past, when faced with the claim that Yan's iron cavalry was the best in the world, the people of the Three Jin would often dismiss it, believing their own cavalry was not much inferior to that of the Yan people.

However, after the two lords swept away the main forces of both families with the force of a thunderstorm, the populace of Jin land, feeling as if the sky had fallen, transitioned from their previous self-satisfaction to a fearful conviction that the Yan barbarians were truly invincible.

Consequently, nearly half the cities in Jin State surrendered almost immediately upon receiving a decree. A few hundred Yan cavalrymen could compel an entire city to surrender, and thousands of defeated soldiers from Jin land would choose to lay down their arms and surrender when pursued by merely a hundred Yan horsemen.

Recall when General Zheng took charge of Shengle. With almost no effort, he subdued Tufa Chengji of a prominent local clan, having him help clear out resistance within the city before opening the gates to welcome Zheng's army.

When a country or a regime continually wins battles and expands its territory, the spirit of everyone, from the monarch to the commoners, soars with immense pride.

The opposite of this state is collapsing at the mere sight of the enemy.

The Yan people lost the battle at Wang River, and it was a crushing defeat. Yet, sustained by their strong national confidence, the Yan people did not succumb to panic at the mention of the wild people, nor did they fear the Chu people as if they were tigers.

If they lost, they would simply fight back!

They were merely waiting for an Imperial Edict from His Majesty. Once the mobilization orders were issued, everyone would follow the example of their ancestors, serving as vanguards for the Emperor, and march boldly to the front lines once more to engage the enemy in a bloody battle.

Such was the sentiment of the populace, and it was even more pronounced among the soldiers of the Eastern Expeditionary Army.

Defeat instilled in them a sense of anger and pent-up frustration, not a mindset of fearing or evading war.

Over the past few months, countless men had dreamt of that disastrous defeat, of the tens of thousands of corpses floating in the Wang River on that fateful day.

At this time, Great Yan was still in a period of ascending national fortune. Everyone firmly believed that even if the road ahead was somewhat tortuous, the future was undoubtedly bright.

There is no enemy the Black Dragon Banner cannot overcome!

The army's morale was high and ready to be directed, yet the Yan Emperor and the ministers of the court still insisted on requesting Lord Jingnan to come out of retirement and lead the troops.

For everyone understood that such national confidence was incredibly difficult to build. Losing once was acceptable, but if they were to lose again, the consequences could be severe.

If Yan wished to maintain this confidence, this fervent enthusiasm for outward expansion and pioneering, then this second time, they absolutely had to win; defeat was not an option!

Qian State was still sharpening its weapons and feeding its horses, preparing for war. Chu State was still consolidating its internal affairs. The Savage King of the Desert grew old but did not die. Yan had many external enemies; it was not yet time to rest.

Ran Min, an ordinary standard-bearer, was unaware of these grand strategic matters, nor did he have the leisure to ponder them.

When the sound of war drums reached him, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

The war is finally about to begin! I finally have the chance to earn military merits!

Killing someone openly in the hall of the Nan'an county government office, what a display of spirit! And drinking with that head constable, how exhilarating that was!

The boasts have been made; now, the deeds must follow. This task must be done.

The military council meeting in the marshal's tent came to an end, finishing much earlier than expected.

This was Lord Jingnan's style. Ordinarily, he wouldn't engage in overly cumbersome preparations, nor did he like to frequently summon his generals merely to assert his authority or deliver lectures.

Zheng Fan had once told the blind man that Lord Jingnan was a man of action and disliked formal reporting meetings.

Anyone he was dissatisfied with, anyone who failed to meet his requirements, or anyone who made a mistake—he would simply have them executed.

A single head was far more effective than ten meetings designed to browbeat subordinates into obedience.

And although it was called a military council, it was, in essence, a one-man show.

Essentially, Lord Jingnan issued orders one after another, and the generals were simply to execute them.

It is often said that "three cobblers with their wits combined surpass Zhuge Liang." However, when it came to the art of war, everyone in Yan State was utterly convinced of Lord Jingnan's mastery.

Even the common folk of the Yan region—who held Tian Wujing in extremely low public esteem due to his past annihilation of his own clan—upon learning that he would command this second campaign, would say with schadenfreude, "Those wild people and Chu bastards are in for it now!"

Absolute prestige and the unwavering trust of subordinates are the prerequisites for such a one-man show; otherwise, one could only expect feigned compliance and internal division.

But obviously, Tian Wujing didn't have to worry about this problem.

In military matters, no one would question him, and no one dared to question him.

Upon receiving their respective military orders, all the generals immediately returned to their camps. The sound of horns calling the soldiers to assemble soon echoed throughout the various encampments.

Lord Jingnan had given detailed instructions for each contingent: whether they were to consolidate or separate, which routes to take, how to advance, and how to respond to any problems encountered.

While not as theatrical as Zhuge Liang, the Marquis Wu, who was famed for providing brilliant stratagems in silk pouches beforehand, Lord Jingnan favored a meticulous, "unraveling the cocoon thread by thread" approach to breaking through complex situations when deploying his forces. His troops, in turn, were expected to respond to his commands with the seamless coordination of a limb to a body.

The assembly of troops was completed late into the night. Ran Min, carrying his standard, stood in his assigned position within the ranks.

Generally, large-scale military mobilizations are seldom conducted at night. Firstly, it can easily cause panic and unsettle the troops. Secondly, maintaining strict discipline and ensuring orders are perfectly executed during nocturnal movements is exceedingly difficult.