Let's not even discuss whether we can win if we take the initiative to attack; the very act of attacking first is foolish. Without any external influence, you clearly only need to defend the city, yet you insist on coming out to do battle.
Right now, the combined forces of both sides are nearly three million. It's impossible to win a battle outright, which means that even if we attack first and Nanjiang wins, it wouldn't play a decisive role. Instead, it would lead to a reduction in our defensive troop strength, which would be a great boon for the Hexi army.
So taking the initiative to attack is tantamount to aiding the enemy!
Hou Yuxiao naturally understood what Hou Yucheng was thinking. He lowered his head and chuckled lightly, saying, "I deliberately made the army march through Fei Peng Mountain. What do you think Nanjiang will think when they find out?"
"That's clearly luring them into a trap...'
Hou Yucheng suddenly realized, stopped speaking abruptly, and his expression gradually grew more animated.
With the Hexi army marching through Fei Peng Mountain, this obvious strategy of enticing the enemy will likely make Nanjiang think that Hexi is playing psychological tactics, aiming to make them afraid to leave the city for an ambush. In doing so, they would actually...
"Family Head, that's brilliant!"
"A scheme within a scheme; Nanjiang might really fall for it."
At this time, the three brothers of the Gao Family also caught on, their eyes suddenly lighting up as they couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
"Continue the march, as per the previous arrangement. If Nanjiang dares to take the initiative and set up an ambush in the mountains, let's use this opportunity to wear them down. Then, attacking the city will be much easier."
The expressions on all four faces were full of confidence, not taking the potential Nanjiang army hiding in the mountains seriously at all.
After Hou Yucheng left with the three Gao brothers to the front lines, Hou Yuxiao looked toward Fei Peng Mountain and fell into deep thought.
In truth, no matter how clever his tactic of luring the enemy out of the city was for Nanjiang, the best choice was still to defend the city. Leaving the city for an ambush was still playing a losing hand—with only someone from Nanjiang who was a fool failing to see that and choosing not to attack.
However, he still felt certain that Nanjiang would take the initiative.
The reason lay with Duanmu Hong!
Ever since he had learned that Duanmu Hong had come to Nanjiang, Hou Yuxiao had been prepared, knowing that Hexi's conflict would not only be with Nanjiang—he had also taken into account the variable of the Rakshasa Holy Sect.
The Rakshasa Holy Sect and Qing Xuan need to repair the Chi Li Heaven Barrier, and they must slay at least two Sub-Saints of Martial Dao. While Heigu had already been killed, Hong Ju had survived a brush with death. This meant that Duanmu Hong and Qing Xuan still needed to kill at least one more Sub-Saint of Martial Dao.
That's the reason he had the severely injured Hong Ju hide in Qingmiao City.
With Hong Ju hiding in Qingmiao City, the next targets for Duanmu Hong and Qing Xuan would only be Bai Tong and Ziquan. This also meant that the Nanjiang Allied Forces were not completely united; Hou Yuxiao wasn't sure what Bai Tong and Ziquan were thinking, but he could be certain that Duanmu Hong and Qing Xuan definitely wanted to kill them, at least one of them.
Given this, by deliberately taking the route through Fei Peng Mountain, assuming Duanmu Hong and Qing Xuan can see that they shouldn't leave the city, they would probably find a way to trick Bai Tong and Ziquan into coming out, giving themselves the chance to attack.
The Rakshasa Holy Sect definitely wouldn't want to see Hexi conquer Nanjiang, so they incited Qing Xuan to form the Nanjiang Allied Forces. This meant on one hand, they wanted to kill Bai Tong and Ziquan to repair the Chi Li Heaven Barrier; on the other hand, they needed to use the armies of Baimiao and Zimiao to help them fend off the Hexi army...
If the Hexi army arrived at the gates of Qingmiao City, any move they made against Bai Tong and Ziquan under the watchful eyes of everyone would be equivalent to helping Hexi conquer Nanjiang. Therefore, they had to act against Baimiao and Zimiao before the Hexi army reached Qingmiao City. Not only would this achieve the goal of repairing the Chi Li Heaven Barrier, but it would also allow them to frame Hexi, further uniting the Nanjiang Allied Forces against a common enemy and continuing to use the armies of Baimiao and Zimiao to defend the city.
From this perspective, Fei Peng Mountain was their only chance!
"An ambush won't likely involve staking all their forces; they should deploy only a part of the army. Also, to divert attention and continue using the armies of Baimiao and Zimiao, they would probably send the Qingmiao Army to lay the ambush, giving them a chance to move against Bai Tong and Ziquan. It all comes down to whether my guesses are correct!
Hou Yuxiao shook his head slightly; after all, these were still just his speculations. Whether things would go as he assumed was uncertain, but these deductions were based on the information he currently had, and of course, he also had a certain degree of confidence.
Originally, if Duanmu Hong hadn't been here, Hou Yuxiao wouldn't have thought so complicatedly. But thinking of Duanmu Hong and that Saint Heir, both dispatched by Sikong Yue, made him extremely vigilant.
The shadow Sikong Yue had cast over him still lingered to this day!
He had just learned from Hong Kui that the Nanjiang Five Miao Tribes were descendants of Ni Han. Given this, Sikong Yue's purpose in repairing the Chi Li Heaven Barrier was far from innocent. Moreover, with Ni Han now involved with Nanjiang, might Great Jin also meddle in Nanjiang affairs?
Or to put it another way, had Great Jin already intervened, and he was just unaware?
Hou Yuxiao snapped out of his deep thoughts, watching as the sky gradually darkened, his expression turning slightly somber. He subtly released his aura, surveying every area the army was about to pass through.
As expected, no discovery!
He could conceal the army's aura with Karmic Obstacle; likewise, the enemy could use the Array of a Mystic Realm Master to cover their tracks. If Nanjiang truly set up an ambush, they wouldn't just wait for him to sense them.