Free Web NovelChapter 2011: Chapter 2015: Laying the Groundwork
Seeing Xiaozhuang’s message, Qin Tian smiled.
"I’ve always been thinking about confronting the Barbarian Clan head-on, forgetting that I could start from within their clan. Hehe, now they’ve reminded me, the internal conflict within the Southern Barbarians’ six clans is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me."
Qin Tian instructed Xiaozhuang to have the spies stationed in the Barbarian Clan report directly to him; he wanted to know the latest firsthand information.
It seems now that with the internal strife among the Southern Barbarian’s six clans, he doesn’t necessarily have to meet the Barbarians on the battlefield. In such a war, his tens of thousands of people are at a complete disadvantage.
What Qin Tian wants now is to find a potential ally among the Southern Barbarian six clans.
However, at the moment, he really can’t find anyone he can work with.
He’s received news that four of the Southern Barbarian six clans have decided to send troops against him, while the other two proposed to withdraw from external affairs, intending to exit the coalition attacking the West State.
Unfortunately, the two clans wanting to exit are the weakest ones: the Leopard Clan and the Fox Clan.
In fact, Qin Tian knows through his research that the Leopard Clan once had a glorious history and ruled Man City as the Barbarian Clan’s leaders for over a century.
However, in the past hundred years, the Leopard Clan’s strength gradually waned and was surpassed by other races. After the old Leopard King took over for a dozen years, the Leopard Clan has now fallen to fourth place among the Southern Barbarian six clans.
"If the old Leopard King hadn’t died, I might consider working with this stubborn old man. Now that he’s dead, the Leopard Clan faces the danger of being annexed, and as for the Fox Clan, Fox King Anna is a woman and the weakest. Even if I proactively contact her for cooperation, she probably doesn’t have the courage to partner with me alone."
Qin Tian is a bit helpless now, "The Fox Clan is too weak, struggling to survive in the cracks. They surely don’t dare to act alone; what should I do?"
To achieve peace in the Southern Barbarian area as soon as possible, Qin Tian decided to relocate Zhou Yang to the south, stationed at his final choice, Nanmu City.
This city is easy to defend and hard to attack. With the army stationed there, they can advance or retreat as needed, extremely convenient.
Zhou Yang and Duan Xiaodao came, along with them were fifteen hundred Qin Family soldiers.
In the West Capital, Qin Tian entrusted everything completely to Xiaozhuang. In fact, Xiaozhuang’s work is only logistical, as Yueya City and the Imperial City are currently in a stalemate, neither side dares to make a rash move. Any major action could result in tens of thousands of casualties, and neither side can afford it, nor can guarantee victory after the decisive battle.
Qin Tian tasked Zhou Yang and Duan Xiaodao with building fortifications in Nanmu City, while continuously sending elite spies to the Southern Barbarian six clans, striving to grasp their intelligence at the first opportunity.
However, Qin Tian did not choose to patiently wait for news in Nanmu City.
Speed is essential in warfare, so Qin Tian led a thousand Qin Family soldiers and quietly moved eastward, arriving at the border town Zhangmu Town, which borders the Barbarian Clan.
Here, the west is West State territory, the east is the Wolf Clan territory within the Barbarian Clan, and further southeast is the Leopard Clan territory.
Qin Tian previously received information that the Southern Barbarian four major clans join forces to kill the old Leopard King, and next, they will surely move to annex the Leopard Clan.
The Wolf Clan plans to dispatch troops, the Leopard Clan intends to resist, and Qin Tian deployed forces at the rear border of the Wolf Clan, prepared to seize the opportunity to infiltrate once the Wolf Clan’s rear is vacant, to occupy their territory first, and then to obliterate the Wolf Clan!
...
In the Imperial Palace of Man City, the four clan kings gathered once again to discuss the division of the Leopard Clan.
After successfully intercepting and killing the old Leopard King, these four kings were extremely excited, feeling that the once invincible Leopard Clan would be divided by them, and the Leopard Clan would henceforth be as inconspicuous as any other twenty-some small tribes.
However, at the start of the meeting, the Fox King stood up to accuse the Wolf King: "Wolf King, what did you initially say? And what are you doing now? Your Wolf Clan is indeed untrustworthy!"
"Tiger King, what do you mean by this?" Wolf King feigned ignorance.
Tiger King sneered, "Do you still think we don’t know? You’ve dispatched an elite unit, secretly infiltrating Leopard City, hehe, what do you intend to do, thinking we would not know?"
Upon hearing this, Wolf King was taken aback.
He hadn’t imagined that his secretly arranged team was discovered by Tiger King and the others.
"Hehe... I didn’t plan to seize Leopard City ahead of time. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m quite interested in that old Leopard King’s young leopardess, this time, I’ve dispatched three thousand elite troops just to bring the young leopardess Yan Ruolan back to our Wolf Clan. Hehe, Tiger King, do you think my three thousand people could capture Leopard City?"
Tiger King didn’t speak but looked at Lion King.
Lion King spoke, "Wolf King, don’t try to fool us here. Your strategist Wolf is renowned for his cunning, and surely has long planned for the Wolf Clan to engulf the Leopard Clan?"
"I’ve received reliable intelligence that you’ve already made a deal with the Leopard Clan’s Great General Yan Cheng, to have Yan Cheng open Leopard City’s gates, cooperating inside and outside. You’ve promised Yan Cheng that you would help him become the new Leopard King... Hehe, your wolfish ambition is apparent."
Xiong King also said, "Wolf King, this move of yours is not right. If you fancy a woman, just pursue her openly. Hehe, you’re playing with plots, isn’t it a bit of overkill? I’m telling you, even if your Wolf Clan occupies the Leopard Clan, we three clans won’t recognize it. Humph, unless you want to go against us three clans? That would be an unwise idea."
Seeing his plan fully exposed and the three kings’ displeased expressions, Wolf King chuckled. He was unwilling to go against the three major clans; otherwise, the outcome would be like the old Leopard King.
"Gentlemen, here’s the deal, our Wolf Clan indeed has troops ready to cooperate with Yan Cheng to seize Leopard City. At that time, after Leopard City is captured, the thirty-two cities east of Leopard City, along with the young leopardess, will belong to our Wolf Clan. The rest, how about you divide?"
Upon hearing this, the three major clan kings looked at each other.
Tiger King said, "But, you must vacate Leopard City; everyone knows one Leopard City counts for ten cities!"
"Fine, fine, I’ll vacate it."
Wolf King chuckled inwardly, thinking whether to vacate or not, I’ll decide after capturing Leopard City, first, I must stabilize them and gain their tacit approval for my actions.
Lion King said, "The old Leopard King had no siblings or sons, just a young leopardess. Hehe, with his death, the Leopard Clan and Leopard City will inevitably be in chaos, the Great General Yan Cheng indeed has ambition and wants to become the new Leopard King... However, he’s merely your Wolf King’s pawn. I see, this time, the Leopard Clan is truly finished! Irredeemable! Hahaha..."
