Chapter 72: The Shining Plains
After a month of travel, the 2nd Army and 31st
Battalion had finally met up with the Air Kingdom’s 1st Army.
Lin Zheng, his strategist, Jia Yuan, and Fan Meng met with
the Air Kingdom’s General Tian Can. Just as Jia Yuan was alongside Lin Zheng,
the Air Kingdom’s Special Forces, the Spectres of Wind, also had their
commander, Quan Zen in attendance.
The two sides chatted about the current state of the war. In
the month the 2nd Army had used to travel south, the Water and Earth
Kingdoms had been able to conquer small pockets of land from both the Fire and
Air Kingdoms. While the situation wasn’t dire for the Fire and Air Kingdoms,
morale was clearly on the other side.
All those present agreed. The Fire and Air Kingdoms needed a
large victory to bring back the strength of morale to their side.
At this point, Tian Can spoke up. “Tomorrow we will be
heading toward the border to fight against the combined forces of the Earth and
Water Kingdoms. They currently have their armies set up at the Shining Plains.
We will be going there to engage them in battle.”
A light of determination appeared in each of their eyes. As
for Jia Yuan, he responded with a wry smile. The retaking of BlueFire City had
been a small endeavor. Jia Yuan thirsted for a true battle, where thousands
upon thousands of troops made battle on a battlefield where the situation
changed as fluidly as a river!
After some discussions, both armies began their trek towards
the Shining Plains. A week later, they found themselves at the western side of
the Shining Plains. On the other side, they saw hundreds of thousands of troops.
On the left side of this encampment, flew the flags of the Water Kingdom. On
the right side, flew the flags of the Earth Kingdom. However, there was
something on the side of the Earth Kingdom’s encampment that caught the eyes of
all of those who had just arrived.
The Shining Plains had a slight incline toward the eastern
side. As such, Jia Yuan and the other could see that the Earth Kingdom’s
encampment was surrounded by a formation of walls and other earthly defenses.
The encampment looked like an impregnable fortress!
Next to Jia Yuan, Lin Zheng whistled. “The Earth Kingdom’s
defensive capabilities are truly spectacular...”
Jia Yuan harrumphed. “Our Fire Kingdom’s offensive
capabilities are nothing to scoff at either. When the time comes, it will be
strength against strength.”
Next to Jia Yuan, Fan Meng stared at the Earth Kingdom’s
formation, his eyes taking in every detail. “Interesting…interesting…” he
muttered.
The two armies began to set up their own encampment and
defenses. After a few hours, the leaders of the combined armies met in a
special headquarters tent.
The tent was very big, big enough for a large strategy table
as well as 50 or so officers. However, there were only 6 people in the tent at
the moment. On the strategy table was a board with the surrounding geography
and pieces representing the various friendly and enemy units on it.
“We’ll take to the field 2 days from now. The plains are
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very large, and we will divide the battlefield into three main portions. The
center of the plain will be taken by our 2nd Army, while the right
side will be taken by your 1st Army. As for the left side, we will
hand to the combined special forces of our two Kingdoms.”
Tian Can nodded. “During the first day, the various armies will
probably restrain themselves to merely feeling each other out. What are our
plans?”
Lin Zheng looked towards his strategist, then responded. “We…
believe that it would be advantageous for us to take care of the Water Kingdom’s
troops first. After that, we can tackle that fortress of the Earth Kingdom’s
Army. As such, we’re going to be spending the day to look for weaknesses in the
Water Kingdom’s Army.”
Tian Can looked toward Lin Zheng. “And what if they expect
this plan? After all, it’s the obvious one.”
The two generals began to debate the possibilities of what
would happen on the plain, while the rest listened.
As for Jia Yuan, he simply stared at the table. He wasn’t as
dumb as he used to be, but he didn’t really have a mind for strategies, still.
Once the talk began to grow convoluted, he zoned out and began to think about
his cultivation.
He was currently at the 7th level of Absorption,
and had virtually mastered the basics behind the control of his Song’s fire
element. As for his adequacy with the water element… it was a little less
adequate. After all, Jia Yuan’s control over fire was a product of his training
in the crater. When it came to the water element, not only hadn’t Jia Yuan done
such specialized training, but he didn’t even have a teacher. While Jia Yuan
could somewhat perform the basics, his skills when fighting with water were
only average.
After a few hours of deliberation, those in the tent finally
finished their discussions. Just as Jia Yuan was about to leave, Quan Zen
walked up.
Quan Zen looked to be about 24 years old, and was at the 2nd
level of Manipulation. Naturally, he looked down a bit of Jia Yuan and the 31st
Battalion in general. After all, his own Battalion had already been formed for
7 years, while Jia Yuan’s Battalion was only a few months old.
“Hey kid, we’re going to be working together when the
fighting starts. Thought we might as well talk things out. From what I see,
most of those in your Battalion are still at the middle of the Absorption
level. From this, I think that you guys should let my Battalion be the main
force, while you guys provide support.”
Hearing this, Fan Meng actually
stepped up and responded. “Forgive me, but I disagree. I think we can use the
synergies between our elements to gain a distinct advantage over the enemy that
we otherwise wouldn’t have…”
Current Situation-
Fire Kingdom 2nd Army Troop count: 105,000~
soldiers
Fire Kingdom 31st Burning Legion Battalion: 1,000 soldiers
Air Kingdom 1st Army Troop count: 110,000
soldiers
Air Kingdom 17th Spectres of Wind Battalion:
1,700 soldiers.
