To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 674: Chapter 304: Negotiating Peace and Relocating Seals_2

Furthermore, for the transport of food and fodder, as well as for siege consumption, the Zhou People had also mobilized more than 100,000 civilian workers in Hanzhong Prefecture.

With these people, the number of Zhou forces indeed amounted to 300,000.

But that was before.

As the Hanzhong messenger said.

To resist the Zhou invasion and protect his territory, Qiao Kangquan, the King of Hanzhong, was unyieldingly firm in his resolve to stand against the Zhou forces.

Previously, he had assembled 100,000 troops around Baishi City, the capital of Hanzhong, not to face the Zhou forces in a decisive battle, but to wholeheartedly defend the fortress.

Against a formidable fortress commanded by an Inborn Grandmaster with 100,000 troops, even if the Zhou forces were three times that number, it would not be easy to take it.

The war started in March and continued until September, with both sides fighting fiercely in and around Baishi City.

The 100,000-strong Hanzhong army was almost entirely wiped out on the city walls.

The Zhou army did not fare much better, suffering heavy casualties with over 100,000 soldiers killed or injured, including many elites.

Under such heavy losses, the original 300,000-strong army of Zhou Country might not even amount to 200,000 now, with at most only 100,000 being the elite troops left.

Lu Yuan’s 80,000 well-trained and reserved troops marched northward, and after rendezvous with Hanzhong’s remnants, they could face the Zhou forces, which were of similar strength but battle-weary, giving them potentially higher chances of victory.

With this strength, he was naturally not afraid of Zhou Country.

However, if possible, Lu Yuan actually did not want to confront Zhou Country right now.

After regaining the lost territory of Hanzhong Prefecture, Zhou Country’s borders had almost returned to their original eight prefectures after years of expansion and conquest.

With such vast territory, even though the land they occupied in Yong State was not as fertile as other states, they still controlled a population of no less than 30 million.

With this enormous population base, although Zhou Country’s current army was only 800,000 strong, if they wanted, they could easily raise another 20 or 30 million troops with sufficient battle strength at any time.

This is only in terms of the ordinary soldiers.

After the Northern Expedition, nearly ten years of recuperation saw the eight Grand General positions in Zhou Country fully filled again.

Moreover, by recruiting Jianghu Grandmasters and cultivating their own, they added another three reserve Grand Generals, all of whom were Inborn Grandmasters.

In other words, Zhou Country now had a total of eleven Inborn Grandmasters.

In terms of quantity, this was already twice as many as Chu Country.

If Zhou Country was willing, they could deploy four or five Inborn Grandmasters to the Hanzhong battlefield at any time.

With so many Inborn Grandmasters gathered, even Lu Yuan would face considerable pressure.

It was not that he was worried about not being able to defeat the enemy.

With his current strength, which had reached the extreme in both Immortal Method and Martial Arts, he would not have much difficulty in dealing with five or six Inborn Grandmasters of the First Stage, and could even defeat them.

However, the Zhou side knew Lu Yuan’s details.

His identity as a cultivator was not a secret in Zhou Country. It was impossible for him to rely on surprise attacks to win as he had done in the past.

As such, it would not be as easy for him to eliminate Zhou Country’s Inborn Grandmasters as before.

Without eliminating Zhou’s Inborn Grandmasters, their quantity and mobility meant that they did not have to directly confront Lu Yuan.

Each Inborn Grandmaster could lead tens of thousands of troops, one group marching along the Han River to Xiangyang, and another crossing mountains and ridges to launch surprise attacks on Xichuan.

Just these two moves alone would be enough to put Chu Country in a tight spot.

Even if Lu Yuan had overwhelming strength, if both sides attacked each other’s rear and wreaked havoc, he would still be the one to lose in the end.

Of course, all of these were the most extreme choices.

As long as both Zhou and Chu countries did not completely tear each other’s faces apart and prepared to start all over again, these situations would not occur, and all wars would continue to be within a controllable range.

Even so, Lu Yuan did not want to be entangled with Zhou Country in a war within this controllable range.

While Zhou Country had a population of 30 million, Chu Country, even after annexing Xichuan and plundering some of the Yi People from Jianchuan, had a population of no more than 8 million.

Zhou Country could mobilize a million troops, but even with all its might, Chu Country could only muster up to 300,000.

Given the disparity between the two countries in terms of power and resources, even if the two sides were to consume each other at a one-to-one ratio, it would still be a significant loss for Chu Country.

This gap in national strength could not be filled by Lu Yuan’s own exceptional martial prowess alone.

Therefore, at a time when he had just expanded his territory and urgently needed to consolidate his gains, Lu Yuan did not want to engage in a major conflict with other countries now.

Especially not against Zhou Country, a world-class power.

And this idea seemed not only to be shared by Chu Country, but also by Zhou Country in the north, which had just achieved a great victory.

This could be seen from the fact that after they had captured Baishi City, they only tried to attack outside Jianmenguan Pass, and did not make any further aggressive moves.

It seemed that they too were not ready for a full-scale war with Chu Country.

Thus, the outcome of this war ended with the recovery of Hanzhong Prefecture, with no further advances.

This was also in line with common sense.

After all, Chu Country was surrounded not only by numerous enemies, but also powerful opponents at its borders.

To the north was Wei Country, to the east was Liang Country, both of which were powerful rivals not inferior to Zhou Country.

And to the west of Yong State, where Zhou Country was located, there was also a Western Liang Country that occupied three prefectures.

Moreover, in the Snow Mountain Plateau, which belonged to the outer territories southwest of Yong State, there lived millions of Snowy Wilderness People as well.

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