Chapter 237 Testing Hou Hu’s Confidence

There is no doubt that Zhaoyang is powerful enough to challenge Longshan’s status.

The main materials used for the houses in their residence are bluestone and iron.

The specific operation method should be to drive piles into the ground first, then use boulders and small stones to pile up the shape of the house, and finally melt the iron ore into slurry, and quickly pour it into shape before it solidifies.

The house built in this way has a layer of shiny black iron patterns on the outside. The beauty is secondary. The key is the defensive power, which is extremely amazing.

The Zhaoyang garrison not only had hundreds of houses, all of which were like this, but there was also a circle of city walls built in the same way around it, with a total length of about three thousand meters.

As Xia Hong walked towards the main building, he carefully examined the stone in his hand.

The stone was green in color, with clear black lines on the inner layer. Xia Hong had to use a little force to crush the stone, but he could just run his fingernails along the black lines and the stone would break immediately.

“Stones are everywhere, but it’s hard to find stones that are so hard that they can be easily broken along the grain. Also, normal iron paste condenses too quickly and can’t be poured so perfectly. There must be some other special materials added in between.”

Xia Hong raised his head and looked towards the north side of Zhaoyang. He saw a huge icy rock wall several thousand meters high, stretching from east to west, with no end in sight.

Just as the Daxia base was located on the west side of Shuanglong Mountain, Zhaoyang was also located on the northern edge of Pingxiyuan. The rock wall in front of us was the northern end of Pingxiyuan.

“The scale of Beimang Mountain looks larger than Longshan Mountain and Shuanglong Mountain. The ice crystals on the upper rock wall are hundreds of meters thick at the thickest point. If nothing unexpected happens, this green stone was taken from the bottom of the rock wall.”

After being in Zhaoyang for two days, Xia Hong had learned a lot of information about Zhaoyang just by eavesdropping, even though he had not specifically asked around.

Rely on the mountain to eat the mountain, rely on the water to eat the water!
All the camps in Bingyuan have very small activity ranges and can only grab resources in limited spaces, so the buildings are all very unique to the region.

For example, Daxia is close to Redwood Ridge, so most of the buildings are made of wood;
As for the previous camps in Wuyuan, since there were many caves, most of them built their camps in the caves. In addition to using wood, they also added iron to stabilize the cave structure.
The beehive is more direct, and since the plains are unsafe, they built their base underground;
…………

Xia Hong crushed the green stone in his hand with force and realized its defensive power, which was stronger than pure iron. Looking at Beimang Mountain again, his expression immediately changed.

Obviously, the defensive capabilities of both the other camps and the buildings of Da Xia are not as good as the houses in Zhaoyang, which are made of bluestone and iron oars.

“There are no signs of cold beasts on this side of the rock wall. Zhaoyang’s back is basically safe. There is a 3,000-meter circular green iron wall guarding in front. In addition, the interior is so solid that it can easily resist the impact of ordinary cold beasts. If their cold-resistant level and digging level are taken into account, it will be even more incredible. No wonder they dare to challenge Longshan. They are really strong!”

Pinggu, Beimang Mountain, Bluestone Iron House…

These things are certainly important, but at most they can help Xia Hong broaden his horizons. What he has focused on eavesdropping on these two days is, of course, the content about the strength of the Zhaoyang Camp revealed when people in the camp communicated with each other.

The house he lived in was right next to the main building, and people who usually came in and out of the neighborhood were considered middle and high-level officials in Zhaoyang, so after two days of eavesdropping, he learned quite a lot.

“There should be about 20 people at the Cold-Resistant Level, more than 5,000 at the Digging Level, and more than 20,000 at the Logging Level. The total population of the entire camp is probably more than 60,000. The gap with Longshan is already negligible. If Hou Hu can hold his temper and continue to develop for a while, it should only be a matter of time before he surpasses Longshan.”

While Xia Hong was thinking, he had already walked into the main building. The person who had just informed him immediately came up to him and took him to the second floor of the main building.

Pinggu, where Zhaoyang is located, is next to Beimang Mountain. Its terrain is similar to that of Jinggu, a steep and sunken valley. The main building is located at the deepest part of the north side of the valley, leaning against the rock wall of Beimang Mountain. It is square in shape as a whole. Although it has only two floors, it is more than 300 meters long and 20 meters high, much larger than the main building of Daxia.

Moreover, the wall of the main building is more than three meters thick, which is almost the same thickness as the outermost city wall. Its defensive power must be extremely amazing.

“My Lord, I cannot enter here. You can go in by yourself. Please!”

“Thank you very much.”

At the entrance of the main hall on the second floor, Xia Hong thanked the person who led the way, then strode in. Seeing that there were already fifteen people sitting in the main hall, he immediately glanced around and then slowly walked forward.

“Among the eight cold-resistant people who went to Longshan, Hou Hua and Hou Tong from the Blood Guards are not here, but the other six are here. Of the remaining nine, I haven’t seen seven of them yet. Judging from their clothes, they are from Zhaoyang. The two who are dressed slightly differently are Bai Qiucheng, the leader of Baiyuan, and Dong Zhong from Dongkang Camp. These two families are here too!”

In the two days since he came to Zhaoyang, he did not take the initiative to get to know anyone, and Hou Hu did not look for him during these two days, so he did not know many people so far.

However, he was able to recognize Bai Qiuchen and Dong Zhong, who were sitting in the front row, because he had secretly spied on them before. And considering the other six people he had seen once before, there were only seven people in the hall that he had not seen before.

Xia Hong had just glanced at everyone in the hall when Hou Hu, who was sitting at the head seat, came down to greet him personally.

“Brother Hong, come here, come and sit next to me!”

Not only Hou Hu, but the other fifteen people in the hall also stood up and bowed slightly to Xia Hong, with a hint of respect in their eyes.

Bingyuan believes that the strong are respected!
Obviously, the strength Xia Hong displayed when fighting with Li Tiancheng that night had won the respect of these people.

Xia Hong had a kind smile on his face. When he saw Hou Hu put an identical chair next to the main seat and motioned for him to sit on it, he first put away the smile on his face, and then slowly revealed a hint of anger.

“Brother Hou, what does this mean?”

Hou Hu clearly saw the anger in Xia Hong’s eyes, but he still pretended to be puzzled and asked: “Zhaoyang has always respected the strong. Brother Hong is not weaker than me, so he should be on an equal footing with me. Why, Brother Hong?”

“Hong is willing to stay in Zhaoyang for two reasons. One is that I cannot stand Longshan’s tyrannical style, and the other is that I am inspired by Brother Hou’s righteous act of raising an army to fight against Longshan. For these two reasons, I decided to stay and help Brother Hou overthrow Longshan and seek justice for the thousands of people living in Longyou…”

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he gathered his emotions for a while and asked angrily:

“Not to mention that I have no interest in staying in Zhaoyang, could it be that Brother Hou thinks that I am the kind of petty person who cares about the empty seats?”

After hearing Xia Hong’s words, Hou Hu’s puzzlement quickly turned into joy, but when he found that Xia Hong’s anger had not subsided, he immediately put away all his joy, and then showed his uneasiness, slapped his forehead, and said apologetically:

“Brother Hong is full of enthusiasm and chivalrous spirit, but I, Hou, am a mean person. I hope Brother Hong will calm down. This seat is indeed arranged according to strength. If Brother Hong doesn’t sit down, how can I sit down…”

“Brother Hou, there is no need to say more. You are the leader of Zhaoyang, the host. I am just a guest to Zhaoyang. Besides, Zhaoyang will be the leader in dealing with Longshan later, and the other camps will be auxiliary. I am alone and cannot contribute much. How dare I sit in front of the host? Just find a seat for me!”

Hou Hu’s smile deepened in the depths of his eyes, but on the surface he waved his hands repeatedly and said seriously: “Although Brother Hong is alone, his strength is amazing. He can even force Li Tiancheng to retreat. To deal with Longshan, we have to rely on Brother Hong. How can he not contribute much?”

He pondered for a moment, then winked at the person on his left and said, “How about this, I’ll ask Hou Quan to give up his seat, and Brother Hong can sit first?”

“That would be disrespectful!”

Xia Hong did not continue acting. Seeing the first person on the left gave up his seat, he nodded, walked over and sat down.

After leaving me aside for two days, when we met again, Hou Hu actually tested me first.

Xia Hong couldn’t help feeling a little surprised, but after thinking for a moment, he felt that Hou Hu’s behavior was reasonable.

When I forced Li Tiancheng to retreat that night, the strength I showed was no weaker than Hou Hu’s. It would be wrong if he was not afraid of me at all.

I just used this simple method of giving up my seat to test him. It seems that Hou Hu took seriously the innocent and gullible look I had displayed on the way back from Longshan.

Xia Hong was basically certain that if he really agreed to sit in that position, someone below would definitely raise objections, and then Hou Hu would come out to rebuke them, and the other party would give a lot of reasons, and he would have to accept it in the end. Putting aside Hou Hu’s overbearing personality, the leader of any camp would not allow someone to sit on an equal footing with him, and even if he allowed it, the people below would not agree.

This is the characteristic of the Bingyuan Camp, let alone such a powerful camp as Zhaoyang.

There were fifteen people in the hall, except for Bai Qiuchen and Dong Zhong, the leaders of the two camps, and the other thirteen were from Zhaoyang’s cold-resistant class. The way they looked at Hou Hu was exactly the same as the way the people of Daxia looked at them. How could Xia Hong not understand?

So this was Hou Hu’s test. He was testing whether he would rely on his strength to have thoughts that he shouldn’t have. This would also help him adjust his arrangements for the subsequent battles. This was most likely the case.

Now that you have passed the test, you should be bolder in your arrangements.

Xia Hong’s eyes flickered slightly, and she curled her lips slightly as she looked at the bland fruit plate on the table.

Although Zhaoyang is strong, its material resources cannot be compared with Daxia.

The leaders of two camps and the cold-resistant class currently staying in Zhaoyang’s camp are here tonight. For such an important occasion, two fruit plates are placed on the table.

“I’ve finished all the Blood Cold Wine and Aged Wine I brought with me. My mouth is almost dry. I have to find a way to get some more back at the base…”

While Xia Hong was complaining about the shortage of supplies in Zhaoyang, Hou Hu, who was sitting on the first seat, was in high spirits because of the perfect effect of this test, and even the look in his eyes when he looked at Xia Hong became extremely satisfied.

“After the battle with Li Tiancheng on the evening of the 14th, I had a lot of insights, so I went into seclusion as soon as I returned to the camp. I haven’t come out for two days. Have you guys finished everything I arranged when I came back?”

As soon as Hou Hu opened his mouth, the expressions of the fifteen people below were slightly lifted. They immediately sat up straight, turned their heads, and looked at him respectfully.

This scene made Xia Hong’s expression slightly stiff.

The other thirteen people are nothing special, mainly Bai Qiuchen and Dong Zhong.

The leaders of the two camps were also very respectful towards Hou Hu.

The meaning contained in it is huge.

“This doesn’t seem like they are just leaning towards Zhaoyang. It seems like they are preparing to merge the whole family into Zhaoyang. Dongkang is on the right, and Baiyuan is to the northwest. The two families are adjacent to Zhaoyang, so it is not surprising to completely merge with them. However, in this way, Zhaoyang’s strength will become stronger and stronger!”

Xia Hong’s eyes became a little serious as he continued to listen to the conversation between Hou Hu and everyone else.

Hou Quan, who had just given up his seat to Xia Hong, stood up and bowed, saying:

“Captain, two days ago, I sent eight people to the eight camps in Longyou to report that the news that Li Tianhua is no longer in Longshan should have spread by now.
The people who went to Changning and Songyuan to report the news have all returned. According to them, the Longyou Army is patrolling everywhere in the two territories, and they should be controlled by Longshan.

The people who went to Yucheng to report the news have also returned. They couldn’t even get into Yucheng’s base, and couldn’t find anyone from Yucheng, so they don’t know what’s going on. “

After hearing the last piece of news, Hou Hu’s face condensed slightly, and then he chuckled twice, and said in a cold voice: “Something must have happened to Yan Chuan. Since Longshan wants to strike first, the first person to be attacked must be this kind of person who is indecisive.

The Yucheng, Changning, and Songyuan families were all taken over by Longshan. With the help of the ordinary people from these three families, they controlled at least 5,000 more Digging Realm. This time, the action was very fast. “

Xia Hong raised his eyebrows slightly, marveling at Hou Hu’s sharpness.

He saw Yan Chuan’s body with his own eyes, but Hou Hu was able to infer that something had happened to Yan Chuan based on just this little information, and he also thought of Yu Cheng being captured by Long Shan. This was a bit complicated.

Hou Quan below nodded in agreement and then said:

“Li Xuanyan has come to his senses?”

“He doesn’t have the brains to act so decisively. I guess Li Tiancheng is in charge of this personally. They have taken down more than just these three companies. Tell me what else is going on!”

When mentioning Li Xuanyan, Hou Hu’s tone was very contemptuous and he directly asserted that he was incapable of doing such things. It was obvious that he knew him very well.

Another person came out from behind Hou Quan and said with a bow, “Wushuang and Hanqiong have already captured Yanglu as promised. Our spies have received a message from Wushuang. Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli are stationed in Yanglu with a large number of troops, waiting for Hou Ming of Fengchao to finish his work. The two groups will join forces, and the four families of Wushuang, Hanqiong, Fengchao and Yanglu will be connected. The entire southeastern part of Longyou will be completely out of Longshan’s control!”

“it is good!”

Hou Hu’s face was excited. He stood up and turned his eyes to Bai Qiuchen below. He said in a deep voice: “You said that part of the Longshan army is stationed on your west side, cutting off the main road between Xiling and you, and the other part is stationed in the south. They neither allow you to go south in large numbers nor allow you to come to Zhaoyang to join us. Is that right?”

Bai Qiucheng stood up and bowed, nodding his head and said, “Indeed, the number of Longyou troops is a bit abnormal. Longshan was able to capture Yucheng, Changning and Songyuan so quickly, and Longyou troops must have been mobilized. But half of the two thousand people stationed on the west side of our camp are also Longyou troops judging by their attire. The same is true for the two thousand stationed in the south. How could Longshan have…”

“Li Tianhua likes to keep things a secret no matter what he does. There are more than a thousand people in Longyou. I knew this a long time ago, but I was still a little surprised that there were so many.”

Hou Hu frowned with a hint of pressure, and then sneered: “They blocked the main roads to prevent large-scale personnel exchanges between us. They are afraid that we will unite. Among the more than 4,000 people, I assume that there are really 2,000 Longyou troops. It is too naive to want to block all the main roads between the six camps…”

He pondered for a moment, then turned to Hou Quan and asked, “Hou Hua’s 1,000 Blood Guards are already in place at Bai Yuan Camp, right?”

Hou Quan bowed and nodded excitedly.

“Tell him to stay where he is. I’ll be there right away. Also…”

Hou Hu turned his gaze to Xia Hong, who had been listening quietly, and said with a smile: “Brother Hong, I’m sorry to trouble you.”

“Brother Hou, just speak frankly!”

Finally, it was time to arrange things for himself. Xia Hong immediately stood up and bowed, giving Hou Hu enough face.

“Brother Hong, you don’t have to do this…”

Hou Hu raised his hand to indicate that he didn’t need to be polite, and then said: “There are 1,500 Zhaoyang soldiers stationed in the Hanqiong camp, led by Hou Tong. Brother Hong, please go to Hanqiong and assist Hou Tong. It would be best if you can break the blockade of the southern part of Baiyuan by Longshan. If you can’t break through, you have to delay them and not let them interfere with the battle on the west side. How do you do?”

He would personally lead the Blood Guards to deal with the Longshan defenders on the west side of Baiyuan, while he would help Hou Tong hold back the Longshan defenders on the south side of Baiyuan.

“Okay, Hong will do his best!”

Xia Hong understood Hou Hu’s deployment instantly and nodded in agreement.

Although Xia Hong had not personally experienced the strength of the Longyou Army and the Blood Guard Army, he had seen their battles. Not only did their individual strength reach the limit of 30,000 pounds, they were also equipped with special weapons. Their combat skills were much stronger than those of the hunting team members in ordinary camps.

Such a large army, with hundreds of people, can threaten the Yu Han level. This is why Hou Hu fled to the Blood Guard like crazy when he was chased by Li Tiancheng that night.

And there are more than a thousand such troops in Longshan.

Zhaoyang only has a thousand Blood Guards, who can just hold the south side. Is Hou Hu so confident that he can defeat the Longshan army on the west side?
Xia Hong’s expression flickered slightly, and as he looked at Hou Hu who was still arranging tasks above him, a strong curiosity arose in his heart.

(End of this chapter)