The Imperial Guards hurriedly left, retreating beyond the perimeter that Qian Ye had marked out. Once out of the restricted area, they didn’t linger long, only briefly regrouping before lifting camp and marching back toward the capital. Forced back by the dreadnought-mounted artillery, the Commander Xue had likely lost heart for lingering further. Whether he might bear complaint upon his return, Qian Ye neither cared nor worried about at all.
In the next few following days, celestial signs over Ta City shifted eerily, appearing as if the Final Days themselves had arrived. Vast columns of storming clouds circled overhead daily, such that the people gazed upon this motion and thought that the Heavens themselves quaked.
As anxiety grew, Xu Jingxuan himself appeared to declare that the anomaly arose due to Lord Qian’s martial cultivation—no cause for alarm. Although public unrest calmed accordingly, whispers and murmured speculation grew instead.
Could they once have conceived the idea one individual’s practice would shake Heaven and Earth?
Truly though, even Qian Ye himself hadn’t anticipated that. Zhang Boqian had considered every facet while revising Taihuan Binfajue, yet never conceived that long before engaging an enemy, merely the flow of primal aura within Qian Ye’s being could produce phenomena on this scale.
Despite the commotion, though, an unexpected boon materialized: the tidings spread like wildfire across Ta Province, such that every soul in that dominion raised him up as deity. Enthusiasts revered and exalted Qian Ye even more so than previous worshhip offered the old Royal Sage, with many declaring their allegiance no longer owed the Zheng State itself. Others even began musing upon suitable new national nomenclatures for this supposed theocratic regime of ‘Lord Qian.’
Yet with Xu Jingxuan commanding, western mobilizations proceeded in perfect order. Scout divisions rode west upon conscription’s commencement, scouring wild borders for latest Darkblood Tribe intel. By the present time, earliest returning scout divisions had begun their reports; great strategem-maps hung in war chambers, thick with growing marks and indicators.
By the moment Qian Ye gathered his generals upon concluding a cultivation chapter, these same massive maps now bristled densely with precise symbols, down to the positioning of individual clan encampments marked in exactitude.
At the clarity and structure upon the map, those knowing military affairs universally lauded it, their admiration for Xu Jingxuan boundless.
Concurrent military drills introduced new recruits—led by the so-called “mercenary” generals—to the scope of Jingxuan’s troop-leading ability and overwhelming renown along distant borderlands. Though born of rogue and rough backgrounds, they’d endured enough lifetimes crawling along deathlines to recognize effective soldiering. Within scarcely twenty days’ span, Xu molded civilian novices into barely trained fighters, drilling them into disciplined obedience—every warleader cherished such raw yet responsive units, despite all initial skepticism toward untested levies’ combat worthiness.
Despite their origins as frontier freebooters and brigands, only fools could survive this Neutral Territory’s crucible with status and reputation unscathed. They recognized authentic strategy when shown—fieldcraft rather books; seasoned generalship beyond dry theory. No warcamp entertained fantasy for fools’ bravado, only survival’s brutal clarity—those lacking battlefield instinct quickly perished.
As he moved up before the great map, Xu stood upright unthinkingly. The very gravitas of his form changed into one calm confidence. Tracing clusters, he lectured:
“The Western Passage extends some 500 kilometers in this long crescent, averaging ninety-wide. Its narrows constrict to merely fifteen klicks here,” he explained, moving a finger westward, “where terrain sharply trends northwards for nearly a further 140 klicks terminating unto Emerald Sea — wolves’ central den.”
He didn’t further dwell upon the Emerald Sea, but circled back towards the main passage again: “Per latest intelligence, within a 100-klick range there dwell a hundred-and-sixty-six Darkness Race tribal settlements big and small, aggregating nearly 300 thousand population. Additionally they built a pair of major fortress groups — two primary castles reinforced with perhaps another seventeen minor strongholds and stone keeps along outer ring perimeters.”
Some merc general visage clouded, whereas several宋阀宋Valley clan starship Commanders merely scoffed:
“In what decade do they think this is now? Stone keeps and little keeps still standing? Nothing but target markers for gunner calibration.”
Their peers considered briefly, then roared laughter erupting all around, each tossing in derisions toward such ridiculous defenses.
Yet Qian Ye only tapped his chair once, reasserting solemnity while prompting Xu resume.
Xu’s facial complexion tinged red: “Zheng lacks any fleet of such scale previously—or vessels bearing turret fire substantial enough. Usually ships serve recon, rearguard suppression alongside battlefield interdiction — not for attacking walled enclosures.”
Qian Ye inclined in agreement.
Out of dozens of Zheng floatships claimed in confiscation, none surpassed outdated frames, their mobility underwhelming with mediocre firepower lacking serious wall-breaching ability.
Actually Zheng defensive cannons featured specialized designs — likely intended specifically countering Darkblood upper caste raids. Heavy striking power and potent hull penetration. Some could arguably match mid-sized cruiser belt armor — against such cannonry, even cruisers could not risk frontal engagement lightly.
But this calculus altered entirely once one considered possession of a full-dread class vessel.
The very defensive systems that once seemed ironclad from darkness forces now transformed unto brittle tissue-paper. Once outer defenses crumbled, main bastions couldn’t long hold.
With a sign, assistants hung two fresh parchment — schematics of the two Darkmain primary bases. Although roughly drawn plans revealed incomplete interior structure mappings alongside cluttered layouts, considering past Zheng’s knowledge limitation, these blueprints now counted invaluable resources indeed.
At this Qian Ye turned eyes once, nodded approvingly: “Clearly you put real effort beforehand.”
Jingxuan replied with modesty: “Serving Zheng’s army so many years, it has long stood as my greatest wish — to charge west through Grand Corridor right onto Emerald Sea plains. So naturally, whenever available, I sought and archived all accessible intel I encountered.”
A thin curl formed on that pale mouth: “It demonstrates the right mindset,” said he warmly. “Follow me, give it timely effort, realization won’t be far at all.”
The general’s breaths momentarily deepened, and upon stepping forward he gave a formal salute — full military obedience.
Former Zheng’s national weakness, territorial expanse notwith, had left strength sapped entirely in internal rivalries. Compared against great Empire provinces, Zheng only equaled one minor command; its official ranks and formal powers aside, its troop quality and ordnance capacity remained equivalent to only mid-to-high province level within the great Qin. For such a limited force, however mighty the leadership, no expedition westward past those chokepoints seemed possible — defense remained as ambitious as their situation permitted indeed.
After Jingxuan departed, Song Hui stepped forward instead.
Immediately all those gathered scowled, their previously serious but composed countenance soured into discomfort.
A new parchment unfurled revealed something truly horrifying — lines, figures, formulas danced chaotically across chart after chart — nothing but endless arrays interlocked upon interminable spreadsheets.
Veteran war command generals — battle-mappers, chart-makers, battlefield interpreters by trade — yet even reading maps seemed simple recreation compared to this cryptographic cipher-scroll. Numbers alone caused headaches among this martial caste. Combine numeric tables with cryptic formulae and it became outright mystic — no soul could decipher anything even upon staring for ages on that insurmountable tome.
And Qian Ye — even he, needing considerable attention, only barely discerned the charts to represent current economic framework.
But astonishingly, Song Hui had integrated all three components within: current Zheng national production, the Neutral Land output, and further, even the Ningyuan Heavy Industries contributions! Qian Ye couldn’t even recollect her having visited the Neutral Territories at all — how then did she compile such vast and accurate systemic analysis, using only floating vessel’s recorded archive?
Without preamble she simply announced model construction principles and purposes within less than five minutes. Truthfully, her words remained essentially useless since he himself understood less still than before, while all gathered generals now stared blankly, hearing only the buzzing abstractions — as if angels speaking secrets from unreachable heights.
Even Xu himself scarcely fared better. Tactical genius he might be yet economic formula — refined Song Hui core doctrine beyond fundamental comprehension. At best he might sense faint relation between certain formulae toward battlefield logistics structures indeed.
Abandoning complex theoretical explanations completely, Song Hui shifted to the bottom line:
“By current Zheng Blackrock energy yield alone, combined with remaining other fuel outputs — nationwide production might sustain our fleet for approximately three months at standard operation. Merely the corridor-controlled zones now offer just one month and a half. According to projections, should we break ground now, new mining operations combined with refined installations might eventually allow double present production around halfway through Year Six, quadruple by Year Twelve peak.
That being said,” she cautioned, “this constitutes the very ceiling possible without outside supplement. Which implies — our only sustainable fuel supply must derive either from further seizing Zheng resource installations or else importing entirely from neutral territories or the Empire’s heartland instead.”
Qian frowned.
Though well prepared at expedition beginning, the sudden doubling in fleet numbers upon annexation Zheng’s surviving vessels threw original supply plans completely awry — fuel demands likewise surged beyond initial calculations by over 100 percent. Worst yet, these antique floatships devoured vast amounts of Blackstone fuel despite meager firepower, consuming like insatiable dark beasts of industry.
Currently their operation might last barely past additional month before urgent refueling required.
Yet still Song Hui continued relentlessly: “This covers but the fuel requirements now — next the matter concerns spare parts replacement and maintenance facilities for all floating vessels…”
Repair requirements naturally led first to establishment of extensive industrial workshops – how vast must the construction facilities be to accommodate dreadnoughts?! That itself required machinery and equipment in abundance, skilled engineers of technical expertise sufficient to operate heavy fabrication tools, while providing family housing for their support entourage — every single logistical item added upon the list. And these only formed the grossest initial summaries.
Merely skimming highlights revealed over 170 main categorized components, with hundreds of detailed subsections beneath – crucial spare parts numbered at least into four figures, while dozens more subtypes existed even for simple consumables alone. Just hearing such detail made even imagining their full complexity headache-inducing.
Mercifying at last came a summation: Fortunately, most requirements lay procurable within Zheng. Those unavailable in Zheng itself could be taken from enemy tribes if need be. Though YONGLU territory’s output didn’t reach the refinement or surplus seen upon middle/upper continental echelons, still its basic supply chain offered decent middle/lower-tier availability.
Yet even so, the primary issue lied within local Primal Chaos Field destabilizing geological readings such that neither indigenous Zheng mining operations nor external investment attempted serious large-scale extraction. The terrain itself prevented effective investment — the land remained wild, underperforming compared to its mineral riches beneath.
Otherwise? The alternative always presented — simply purchasing from neutral trade channels or Empire imports, though inevitably pricier accordingly.
And therein it came back to simple economics — at last the crux simplified. Qian Ye’s brow relaxed. This, he understood.
But Song Hui quickly burst those relief-bubbles: “Of course,” she remarked sharply — having perfectly caught exactly this assumption upon his countenance, “money only remains half the issue!”
“What more then?!” Qian Ye asked humbly – already headache-throbbing again from all these figures and diagrams, and honestly dreading re-examining them.
She snapped the parchment, pointing down with finger jabbing at the maps: “As stated earlier, Zheng itself produces or possess nearly every key supply chain component we may require! Therefore honestly spoken — what reason remains anymore regarding any need at all to actually ‘maintain Zheng’s continued independence and rule’? We occupy a third already — why not absorb the remaining two?”
So Qian Ye realized the lady — charming as the image might be beneath those other traits — remained at heart nothing but an inveterate warhawk and expansionist pureblood.
Yet complications remained. He’d given his oath appointing Nan Ruohuai as Lord Regent here, and without direct betrayal or clear evidence for treacherous motives from Nan, breaking that promise so soon after conquest would weaken Qian Ye’s personal code of leadership, making him into that which he once condemned.
Conquering remained one simple feat, yes indeed. Maintaining required occupation – but unlike Song Hui’s assumptions of mere brutal annexation followed by scorched departure, any true administration post-victory would almost certainly transform into drawn-out insurgencies and occupation headaches.
He contemplated briefly before answering: “Zheng remains but small land — annexing the rest offers no true benefit to strategy we desire. Everything that we shall truly require and deserve… we shall henceforth seize from hands of Darkness themselves.”
Then declared he: “Henceforth, mobilize all forces fully for coming western war. Begin full westward campaign a week hence. Further, I appoint and charge Song Hui to organize entirely every line of supply and logistical support across our held dominions and regions!”
A massive and decisive appointment — command over absolutely everything necessary behind armies’ march.
Yet, to his amusement, such an empowering decision brought only discontented expression upon her.
“I don’t wish to sit behind and count goods all day!” The chest-bearer protested. “I want command! Frontline command!”
However large the ‘boons’ above, such assignments couldn’t be entrusted. So without further acknowledgment over her sullen glare, he dismissed the gathering with final assignment directives distributed throughout the remaining officer structure — dismissing all for final preparations upon impending hour of departure.
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