Chapter 006: Xiaohan Pass

Hearing this giant face-spider asking him questions, Duke Wade suddenly produced a glowing token adorned with a beauty’s portrait. Clutching the token in his hand, Duke Wade spoke in a deep voice, “Take me to Queen Shajelin.”
“Honorable envoy, it is you! How remarkable. Please follow me!” the spider-man said respectfully.
In the dark world, dots of light floated everywhere in the sky. These lights came from insects flying in the air, and it was their glow that provided some visibility in this dark realm. Soon, under the guidance of the spider-man, a massive palace gradually came into view before Duke Wade. This enormous palace actually took the form of a giant spider!
Passing through one of its massive spider legs, a vast world slowly unfolded before Duke Wade’s eyes!
……
In the imperial capital of Gavin, beneath the grand palace hall:
“Thief Du Fan leads 130,000 northern rebels southward. Do any of you have any suggestions?” Fisher asked from his seat high in the hall.
Since overthrowing the Green family, this regent of the Gavin Empire had seen its prestige soar even further. The Green family, especially after Old Green conquered the Frozen Alliance, had reached the peak of its power. Yet even such a powerful family was nearly brought to ruin by Fisher’s series of schemes. As for the remaining noble families, who among them dared claim their strength could match Old Green’s at the time of conquering the Frozen Alliance?
“Your Highness, Xiaohan Pass is the only route for the north to enter the heart of the empire. Given the current situation, if the northern rebels want to reach the south, they must pass through Xiaohan Pass as well. I suggest that our army first gather at Xiaohan Pass and deliver a devastating blow to the northern rebels there!” said a general loudly.
“Good suggestion! The northern rebels should reach Xiaohan Pass in five days. Spread my orders—mobilize all noble private armies within a radius of three thousand miles around Xiaohan Pass! Those who refuse will be charged with treason!” Fisher ordered firmly.
“Additionally, order the local armies of the northern provinces to either resist alone or join forces with the imperial capital’s guard troops! In short, do everything possible to weaken the rebels! Anyone who disobeys will be treated as a traitor!” Fisher issued another order.

These two commands directly resulted in assembling 200,000 of the empire’s regular troops and 400,000 local forces at the Xiaohan Pass! Following behind the Northern Army were 200,000 troops originally stationed in the other nine duchies of the Frozen Alliance, 100,000 members of the Sacred Knights Order, and 10,000 members of the Sacred Light Knights Order! Along the way, there were also 200,000 fierce local troops who quietly hid in the darkness, waiting for the right moment to strike at the Northern Army!
…
Sitting on the Green Shuttle, Du Fan watched the groups of local armies in the distance, resembling hungry wolves, and felt a sense of powerlessness.
Although those local armies numbered only a few hundred or thousand, they were extremely agile! All of them were cavalry!
As Du Fan’s army set off, these local armies would occasionally sneak up and strike, then vanish as soon as the main army turned to retaliate!
Of course, these local forces couldn’t cause much damage to the Northern Army, but they significantly slowed down its progress! A slower pace gave Fischer more time to prepare—this was what Du Fan was most concerned about!
“Brother, is there any good solution?” Du Fan asked George.
“Du Fan, our father made some secret arrangements before attacking Red Lake City. I think it’s time to use them,” George said solemnly.
At these words, everyone present fell silent in sorrow.
Elder Green, as the head of the Green family and the supreme leader of the Northern Army, and most importantly, the father of Du Fan, George, and Allen—such a elder had used a self-destructive tactic under an incurable curse just to let his two sons escape! This act elevated Elder Green’s status in the eyes of everyone present to an unsurpassable level!
“Brother, do you know what father arranged?” Du Fan asked sadly.
“I do,” George nodded.
“Then go and do it,” Du Fan said.
Soon, George took out several magic letters and sent them out immediately.
By the afternoon, after the magic letters were sent, the local forces of the Gavin Empire following the Northern Army had greatly diminished!
“Brother, what exactly did father arrange?” Du Fan exclaimed in surprise at the obvious change in the afternoon.

“It’s nothing much. When my father was in the north, many bandits in the mountains had already submitted to him. This time, I just sent messages to a few of the major bandit leaders, telling them to become active at this moment,” George said with a smile upon hearing Du Fan’s question.

“I never thought these bandits would be more loyal than those nobles!” Du Fan said with emotion after hearing George’s words.

Many of those following the Northern Army were local nobles who had previously relied on the Green family! After Old Green was betrayed and under Fischer’s coercion, they turned their weapons against the Northern Army. Yet those bandits, even after Old Green’s death, still followed his instructions from before and took the opportunity to cause chaos.

Comparing the actions of these local nobles and bandits, Du Fan suddenly found their behavior quite endearing!

Not only that, but even the imperial and papal forces chasing closely behind the Northern Army had significantly decreased!

……

“Damnards! They’re all the same kind of scum!” Fischer roared loudly.

Looking at the reports from various provinces in the north, filled with accounts of rampant banditry, where governors had to lead local troops to suppress the bandits and could no longer send troops to attack the Northern Army, Fischer was furious.

“The remnants of the Purple Blossom faction have appeared too! Haha, Old Green, Old Green… I told you to attack the Frozen Alliance under the pretext of suppressing those remnants. Who would have thought, haha, that you’d end up mixing with them? What can I say? Old Green, it seems you had rebellious intentions all along! Now that I’m dealing with you, you can die without regret!” Fischer murmured as he read another military report from the Frozen Alliance.

Just as Fischer was targeting the Green family, Oscar suddenly appeared in the Frozen Alliance with an army of 100,000!

Not only that, but the royal families who had fled from the eighteen duchies of the Frozen Alliance also joined Oscar’s forces. With 100,000 troops and the weakened defenses of the Frozen Alliance, they swiftly conquered two duchies!

“Your Highness, what should we do?” Abraham asked Fischer.

“The Northern Army is the greatest threat. First, send the Eastern Army north to join the troops already stationed in the Frozen Alliance. Keep the forces chasing the Northern Army unchanged!” Fischer ordered fiercely.

Three more days passed. On the day before the Northern Legion reached Xiaohan Pass, news of the Eastern Army’s devastating defeat reached Fischer’s hands! Out of the hundred thousand soldiers in the Eastern Army, only thirty thousand survivors managed to escape! By this time, Oscar’s army had already conquered five duchies, including the Dragon Kingdom! The battle reports from the Eastern Army mentioned a new troop type in Oscar’s forces—the orc army, which had been extinct on the continent for countless years! It was the fifty thousand orc soldiers who appeared suddenly from behind, catching the Eastern Army off guard. Under attack from both fronts, the Eastern Army suffered a crushing defeat! Only thirty thousand of the hundred thousand warriors managed to retreat to Wolf City! What was worse for the Gavin Empire was that Oscar’s army included members of the Holy Royal Families of the Frozen Alliance. After the five duchies were occupied, they were immediately restored as independent states. Oscar didn’t need to send troops to garrison them. Instead, those duchies quickly reestablished their military systems and continuously sent newly recruited soldiers to the front lines! Just before Du Fan led the Northern Legion to Xiaohan Pass, he was surprised to find that the royal guard troops and Church forces, which had always followed him like sticky tape, had abandoned their pursuit of the Northern Legion and turned back toward the Frozen Alliance. Du Fan immediately deduced that something had happened in the Frozen Alliance! Of course, since the Northern Legion was still on the march, it was impossible to find out exactly what had happened there! Xiaohan Pass! Known as the foremost pass in the north of the Gavin Empire! Throughout the continent’s history, countless soldiers’ spirits had gathered beneath its walls! Whenever chaos broke out in the north, Xiaohan Pass would always be a strategic battleground! Thousands upon thousands of soldiers had died trying to capture it over the centuries! When Du Fan arrived at the entrance of Xiaohan Pass, the intense killing aura there gave the entire pass a faint red tint! Looking at it, Du Fan couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Surrounded by mountains on both sides, its walls were built like mountains themselves! Thanks to the Gavin Empire’s centuries of effort, the wall connecting the two surrounding peaks was over eighty meters high! Such a height made it impossible for any scaling ladders to reach it! To pass through Xiaohan Pass, one had to go through its gates—solid iron gates that formed a single, unbroken structure.

Through the pivots behind the city gates, dozens of oxen are needed to slowly pull them open!
“Naixiu, shoot an arrow and give it a try,” Du Fan said to Naixiu behind him, looking at the formidable gates ahead.
Hearing Du Fan’s words, Naixiu quickly drew her bow and shot an arrow. A radiant arrow shot toward the city wall!
Just as the arrow was still over thirty meters away from the wall, a white barrier suddenly appeared at the point of impact, blocking it outright!
“Such tall and solid city walls, yet they’re also protected by a shield? It’s simply unjust!” Allen muttered aside.
As Allen continued to mutter, he didn’t realize that George beside him had suddenly burst into tears.
“Brother, what’s wrong?” Du Fan and Allen asked urgently, seeing George in tears.
“Building this Xiaohan Pass required our father to exert tremendous effort. Who would have thought… sigh!” George let out a deep sigh.
“Among the strategies our father devised, Xiaohan Pass was also part of them. He must have made arrangements long ago, fearing that we might be forced to flee to the south like this,” George explained.