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"Your Majesty... This absolutely must not happen!"

After the envoy from the Shenwu Guild had left, Shen Qi was the first to voice his opposition.

Chen Qing looked at Shen Qi, seeing him this resolutely opposed for the first time; the man usually preferred to consider all sides of a matter.

Shen Qi continued, "Their name holds no legitimacy. Your Majesty, you have been officially conferred by the Imperial Court as a Vassal King. It’s the Northern Demons who have truly invaded; the Northern Territory suffered the death and injury of tens of billions, countless Northern men perished at the serpents’ mouths, avenging their blood is the duty of the Human Race.

At this time, if the Emperor launches a spring campaign, whether to reclaim the territory or avenge the men from the Northern Territory, it would be justified.

But if we send troops, do you understand the consequences, Your Majesty? "

Chen Qing stroked his chin in silence; this was indeed a serious issue!

The foundation of the Divine Path was humanity and, as humanity was central, the will of the people was of utmost importance. Chen Qing himself had rescued tens of billions from the South from the mouths of demons, which is why he now enjoyed such unanimous support and high prestige.

But sending troops to aid the Northern Territory would be a different situation altogether.

Setting aside the fact that there were a billion Northern People within his own domain—people who had lost everything to those great serpents and had to wander in foreign lands—if they found out he was still willing to send troops to aid the Northern Territory, it was very possible that the Northern People, already of a fierce nature, might rebel outright.

Suppressing them might be easy, but the loyalty he had established among the ranks of the Warrior Army would likely be gone.

The same would be true for the native people of Jiangnan.

In the struggle against the Northern Territory, the Warrior Army had suffered over a hundred thousand casualties, most of them the main provider of their households.

Even though the underworld provided a safety net, the living and the dead were worlds apart.

How would the soldiers who had fought and bled on the front lines feel about aiding the very demons they had risked their lives fighting against?

All things considered, it just wasn’t worth it!

However, if he refused, these guild players would likely use every means at their disposal to coerce him.

Such as increasing the pressure at Beihai City, or inciting unrest among the believers in Northern Wolf City. Given the current situation, there was a very high chance that he would lose the hard-won strongholds in the north completely.

If he failed this time, future endeavors would only be more troublesome...

"What do you think we should do?" Chen Qing looked at Zi Yue and Shen Qi.

Faced with this dilemma, even Shen Qi fell silent; being an astute man, he naturally knew the situation would be very difficult if they refused.

Zi Yue then spoke, "Mr. Shen Qi is right. Even in the worst-case scenario, we cannot publicly protect the demons of the Northern Territory, or we would lose the people’s trust. By that time, even if we managed to resist the Emperor of the Central Plains, we could not retrieve what we’d lost, no matter the benefit. "

"So, should we just tough it out?" Chen Qing frowned slightly.

"Toughing it out isn’t realistic..." Zi Yue still shook her head: "During your absence, I have been keeping track of the military expenditure. Jiangnan may be wealthy, but its population is far less than those conscripted territories of the Northern Territory. Even though the volunteering spirit to enlist has been quite strong over the years, the size of the Warrior Army has never exceeded one million, and most of them are irregular troops and logistical personnel. Even with the inclusion of the Western Sea Elites, we don’t have more than five hundred thousand trained combat soldiers. This year has seen frequent conflicts, involving tough battles. Despite the brilliant victory in the Southeast, our losses weren’t small; a large number of First Rank battle soldiers were lost, and the Western Sea Elites were cut by half. "

"The Warrior Army on Xuu Hu’s side is a bit more sufficient, but still not enough.

Up to now, the battle for Beihai City has resulted in losses of over a hundred thousand, with over seventy thousand being combat soldiers, and most of them advanced to Third Rank or higher, our highest-quality soldiers.

In fact, we have already lost more than half of them. "

Chen Qing was taken aback, having been so busy lately, he had not made a detailed assessment of the losses. Now that Zi Yue mentioned it, he realized that half of his assets were gone?

The advancement of the Warrior Army was extremely fast, and those soldiers who had been promoted to the Third Rank in such a short time were among the best. Given more time to grow, with the resources at his disposal, they might have reached Transcendent levels within a year.

Yet now, half of them were already lost.

Chen Qing suddenly felt a heart-wrenching tremor.

But there was no helping it, war was like that, without loss, without death, it was impossible...

Shen Qi also said, "Jiangnan’s terrain is long and narrow, facing the Central Plains, there really aren’t many places of natural danger.

If the forces on both sides are equal, what’s needed is a large number of soldiers to defend various places.

When Xuu Hu was dispatched to Beihai, we all considered that, facing the giant python of the north, at least Fourth Rank elite troops were needed.

Anything lower would be sending them to their deaths.

And such elite soldiers are also needed on the Jiangnan defense line.

The most he could bring out was one hundred thousand.

One hundred thousand troops, to be able to take down Beihai City and hold out for so long, is already a rare military talent. "

"One hundred thousand..." Chen Qing’s mouth twitched slightly, saying so, including the casualties, did Xuu Hu now only have thirty thousand soldiers capable of fighting?

Holy... Are the troops that scarce?

He had only heard sayings about money being missed when it’s needed, but now the same was true for soldiers?

He calculated the total military force in his mind, the Western Sea Elites were out of the question. They had to maintain the stability of the islands of the West Sea and the Southeast. Tian Heng would already be thanking Buddha if he could ensure no need for reinforcements.

The Jiangnan defense line also couldn’t be moved, even though the Imperial Court had now contracted its power.

But the Ghost Race soldiers had one advantage, they didn’t need logistical support, and they could advance very quickly.

A surprise attack from the heavens, if the border defense was insufficient, it was very possible for them to exploit a loophole.

Moreover, even if the Siao Family’s individual had no intentions towards Jiangnan, now a large number of refugees wanted to seek refuge in Jiangnan, and among them, there were unknowingly many Demons mixed in.

Without enough manpower to defend the border areas, if a large number of Demons infiltrated Jiangnan, internal turmoil would further affect the Divine Fate.

Basically, it could be said that he had no troops left to call upon.

No troops to call upon, Xuu Hu only having thirty thousand Warrior Army soldiers, if guild players applied pressure, it really could lead to a collapse.

Perhaps he had overextended...

Chen Qing sighed softly in his heart, he knew stretching too far could end badly.

Jiangnan had developed for only five years, even though the Shenwu stream had developed at an outstanding speed, but given the current foundation, aiming for the Southeast as well as the Northern Territory was obviously unrealistic.

But to let go of the Northern Territory, he really couldn’t bear it.

After all, so many soldiers had died. After all, the polar route in the future had extremely lucrative profits and was the best location for blood-energy supply in the future.

If they were to give that up...

"Looking at it now, either we give up ... or ... we just have to drag it out."

"Drag it out?" Zi Yue looked at Chen Qing. "You still haven’t given up?"

"How can I give up?" Chen Qing frowned. "With so many dead and wounded at Beihai, Beihai City absolutely cannot be abandoned. But if we can’t make it through this route in the Northern Wasteland, holding Beihai City would just be an endless pit of consumption with no returns. You all risked so much danger, and it wasn’t easy to get the Little Emperor of Northern Yan to agree to join us. If we can’t establish a foothold here, how will the world view us?

Will any powers actively pledge loyalty to us in the future? "

Both of them frowned, obviously understanding this principle. To be honest, as the one who personally brought the situation in Northern Wolf City under control, Zi Yue naturally didn’t want to forfeit all previous efforts.

"How do you plan to drag it out?"

"I will go there myself!" Chen Qing stood up resolutely: "And have a proper talk with those so-called Evil Dragons!"