Chapter 67: War!

Just a few months after Dou Di recovered his ability to

cultivate, Jia Yuan and Fan Meng were chatting with each other in Jia Yuan’s

commander tent while eating some food together.

The two had grown closer together, one a genius of cultivation,

the other a genius of strategy.

At this time, a soldier of the 31st Battalion

rushed into the tent.

“Commander! Big news!”

Jia Yuan looked toward the soldier. It was actually a member

of Dou Di’s squad.

“Speak up.”

The soldier sputtered out the news. “Our Kingdom has entered

an alliance with the Air Kingdom in a war against the Water and Earth Kingdoms!

A messenger had just arrived with this scroll bearing the royal seal.”

Jia Yuan, upon hearing these words, accidentally spat out

his food, losing a bit of the “reliable commander” persona he had been working

to maintain.

The royal seal was created by manipulating one’s fire aura

into a specific formation and then imprinting the formation onto an object,

creating a seal at the point of contact. The method was very secretive and was

only used in extremely important cases.

Jia Yuan opened the scroll by tapping it releasing the seal.

He then handed it over to Fan Meng who read it out loud.

“As of today, the 182th day of the 7203th year of the

Ancient Calendar, our Kingdom’s BlueFire City has been sieged by the combined

forces of the Water and Earth Kingdoms.

It is in light of this event that I, the King of the Fire

Kingdom, declare our Kingdom to be in a state of war against the Water and

Earth Kingdoms.

The esteemed Air Kingdom has generously offered their

assistance in this endeavor, and as such, we will be working with them to

destroy the Water and Earth Kingdoms.

We will show them that the Fire Kingdom is not to be trifled

with!”

Fan Meng paused. “Ah… it appears that there are some other things written below.” He glanced at the soldier.

The soldier understood. He clasped his hands towards the

Commander and Strategist, and left the tent.

Fan Meng glanced at Jia Yuan. “It appears that we’ve been

summoned to join the 2nd Army near the border with the Water

Kingdom… it appears that they wish to retake BlueFire City and turn it into a

vantage point for the war. We’re to help with the siege and work with the 2nd

Army however they need.”

Jia Yuan thought for a bit. “Isn’t the 2nd Army

actually the strongest standard army of the Burning Legion? I heard the 1st

Army is full of pampered nobles and the like. Why are we matched with them?

Does it say what other Burning Legion Battalions will be going?”

“That’s the strange part. We’re the only Burning Legion

Battalion grouped with the 2nd Army. The rest are with the 1st

and 4th Armies.”

Jia Yuan understood immediately. “So either they decided our

Battalion needs a quick dose of battle experience, or they decided that they

would only throw us into the main fray because I’m the only battalion commander

who’s not directly from a noble family…”

Fan Meng replied in a rather wistful manner. “We have an

unproven commander with an unproven strategist, with an unproven battalion. You

not being a noble is probably just the tip of the iceberg. It also doesn’t help

that you’re associated with the Black Wing Merchant Guild… they may believe

that your allegiance is closer to the guild than your country. Perhaps they want

to see if you’ll fight for your country…”

Jia Yuan mused to himself.

It’s not like I feel

allegiance to country or to the merchant guild… I just want to do well for my

friends… and for my teacher.

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His eyes sharpened. “Fine, if they want to see how we’ll do,

then we’ll give them a show, right? I trust you’ll come up with something

that’ll show how special our battalion is.”

“Let’s go prepare the troops. We’re moving out!”

A few hours later, the 31st Battalion of the

Burning Legion left their encampment for the eastern border to join up with the

2nd Army.

After about a week’s worth of grueling travel, the entire 31st

Battalion had made it, in haphazard fashion, to the staging grounds for the 2nd

Army.

They had made it, but they were exhausted.

Jia Yuan turned toward his troops. “Wait here! I’ll talk to

the General of the 2nd Army and I’ll find out where we can make

camp. Don’t cause any trouble!”

Jia Yuan walked toward the center of the camp, where an

ostentatious tent had been set up, clearly the headquarters.

Along the way, he walked past many troops, most of whom

looked at him with reverent gazes. They could tell from Jia Yuan’s armor that

he was a commander of the Burning Legion. The most special force of the Fire

Kingdom! However, some of the veteran troops looked at Jia Yuan with jaded

eyes. They had fought with those from the Burning Legion before… the troops of

the Burning Legion tended to be arrogant and demeaning and couldn’t be bothered

to help the normal troops when the going got tough.

He pushed aside the cloth in the doorway of the tent and

walked in. Inside stood 11 burly men in clean but not overly decorative armor,

surrounding a table with markers and other pieces on it.

Jia Yuan clasped his hands toward those in the tent. “Greetings.

Commander Jia Yuan of the 31st Battalion reporting.”

The man standing at the head of the table walked over with a

big smile on his face. “Ahh, Commander Yuan! Good, good. I am General Lin

Zheng. We’ve been waiting for you! How was the travel?”

Jia Yuan smiled and responded. “No need for the

pleasantries, General. I’m not one of those stuffy nobles.”

The General cackled. “Ahhh, you’re just like my sons said.

You’re the easygoing type, huh? Good, good. Come over here, here’s the

situation.”

Jia Yuan instantly thought of the two brothers who wielded

unusual weapons, Lin Pei and Lin Xuan.

So that’s why they

were so adept with those unusual weapons. Their father turned out to be the

most hardened general of the Kingdom…

“As you can see, this is where we stand. Over here, is

BlueFire City. We’re planning to siege it for about a month until its resources

dry out… doesn’t make sense to lose too much manpower here in a forceful sack

of the city, especially so early in the war.”

Jia Yuan racked his brains for a response, but couldn’t come

up with any. He wanted to take BlueFire City quickly so that the Fire Kingdom

could seize the city for supply and defense purposes, but he also couldn’t

argue against the General’s point about losing troops.

Jia Yuan finally turned toward the General. “I agree, but I

want to see if my strategist agrees. In the meantime, I’d like to allow my

battalion to rest, as we rushed over here at top speed.”

“Ahh, yes. Of course, you can invite the strategist over! As

for your troops, they can set up camp on the right flank. We left a space open

for you there.”

Jia Yuan left the tent and distributed the orders to the 31st

Battalion, then returned to the tent with Fan Meng, who looked over the table.

After a while, he turned toward the General. “There’s no

need to wait a month to take over BlueFire City. With our 31st

Battalion, we can do it in a single day.”