To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 904: Chapter 381 Northwestern Warfare_2 Chapter 904: Chapter 381 Northwestern Warfare_2 After contracting their defensive lines, without the burden of Hexi Prefecture, the one hundred thousand defenders from Hexi Prefecture were relocated by Zhou Country to the Guannei Prefectures to assist in defense, bringing the total number of troops in the Jingji area to three hundred thousand.

In Longxi Prefecture, on the other hand, only one hundred thousand soldiers and horses were left behind, along with another one hundred thousand civilian workers summoned to stand guard against the Barbarians.

Clearly, compared to the Barbarians who had repeatedly been defeated and had never taken any advantage from them,
it was Wei Country that had been continuously victorious since they headed south, annihilating hundreds of thousands of Zhou soldiers and seizing a Shuofang Prefecture from them, which posed more of a threat in the eyes of Zhou People.

Therefore, in order to resist the southern incursion of Wei Country, Zhou People had no choice but to concentrate more forces to guard against the Wei people.

In fact, the threat from the Wei people was indeed significant.

Without last year’s autumn and winter’s Great War, the offensive of Wei Country’s five hundred thousand-strong army was fierce.

At the start of the war, they even swiftly captured three prefectures within Zhou Country’s Guannei, and their vanguard almost reached the outskirts of Zhou Country’s capital, Chang’an, shaking the entire country to its core.

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Later, He Basheng urgently counterattacked, the Zhou internally conscripted more than two hundred thousand civilian workers in a rush to sacrificially shore up their forces, and only after a heavy cost were they finally able to push back the advance.

However, even so, of the three prefectures lost in the north of Guannei Prefecture, only two territories were ultimately recaptured, and one remained firmly under the control of Wei Country.

North of Guannei Prefecture, Wei Country had already secured the main route for moving southward, and Zhou’s capital Chang’an was constantly under the shadow of Wei’s blades.

The slightest signal of beacon fires in the north would shake Chang’an, causing alarms thrice a day.

Under such circumstances, Zhou Country was already discussing whether to relocate the capital.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ɴονǤօ.сο

For instance, moving from the capital, Chang’an, to Henan Prefecture’s Heyin City in the rear, which was protected by the natural barrier of a great river to the north.

However, relocating the capital was no trivial matter, with Zhou Country’s royal family, nobility, and ancestral tombs all located in Guannei Prefecture, a region that has always been the most populous and affluent, forming the foundation of the country.

Leaving from here would involve too many intertwined interests.

Therefore, the country was divided into factions that argued on this matter every day.

The matter of relocating the capital thus dragged on without a conclusion in sight.

Although the issue of relocating the capital was a hot debate, there seemed to be a unanimous opinion within Zhou Country about continuing to abandon Longxi Prefecture.

In last winter’s Great War, after Barbarians moved their tribes to the abandoned Hexi Prefecture, they raised another five hundred thousand troops to invade Longxi Prefecture.

In Longxi Prefecture, Zhou Country only had one hundred thousand soldiers and horses, and one hundred thousand civilian workers—the forces were considerably weak.

Especially since the Inborn Grandmasters had committed all their reserves this time, deploying a total of eight.

In Longxi Prefecture, Zhou only had a mere two.

Facing up five hundred thousand against two hundred thousand, and eight against two, the overwhelming disparity in strength left Zhou at a rare disadvantage on the battlefield in Longxi, causing them to be defeated and pushed back at every turn.

In just a few months, they had lost half of their territory.

If it hadn’t been for He Basheng beating back Wei Country and then leading fifty thousand soldiers and horses back for an urgent reinforcement, it’s likely that the entire Longxi Prefecture would have been lost.

However, after losing half of Longxi Prefecture, the Zhou court finally came to recognize clearly that the country’s strength could no longer support fighting on two fronts.

Moreover, after years of war ravaging the area, Longxi Prefecture had long since lost its original state of lush grasslands and abundant farmlands.

The once flourishing Longxi Prefecture, which had a population of three million at its peak, had by now dwindled to just over a million, with over half its territory occupied by invaders.

The remaining half of Longxi Prefecture under Zhou’s control was left with only about eight hundred thousand people.

With such a reduced population, it was not only about maintaining the ten-plus thousand Zhou soldiers stationed there; even providing for their own during the war was a struggle.

Longxi Prefecture had become as useless to Zhou Country as the ribs of a fowl.

Thus, after a discussion, Zhou Country decided to give up Longxi Prefecture and relocate the remaining population of over eight hundred thousand to the more secured Henan Prefecture in the rear.

As for the tens of thousands of soldiers left in the prefecture, they were also pulled back to Guannei Prefecture to replenish the military forces that were lacking in Jingji after the Great War.

This series of relocations resulted in Zhou Country consecutively losing Hanzhong Prefecture, Shuofang Prefecture, Hexi Prefecture, and Longxi Prefecture, with only Guannei Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture, and Xiangyang Prefecture remaining—a total of four prefectures and thirty-two divisions.

Their territory was reduced to about forty percent of what it was at its peak.

And with the significant reduction in national borders, the population of Zhou Country had naturally decreased as well.

Now, Zhou’s four prefectures and thirty-two divisions were estimated to have a population of only about thirteen million, seven million less than at its peak.

The country’s military forces were down to only one hundred and fifty thousand in Henan Prefecture, one hundred and fifty thousand in Nanyang and Xiangyang prefectures, and two hundred thousand in Guannei Prefecture—a total of five hundred thousand soldiers and horses.

A drop of nearly a million from the peak of over a million.

Zhou Country’s national strength had substantially weakened, having fallen from one of the leading powers to barely clinging to the threshold of mighty nations, no longer reaping the glory of the past.

What was more fatal was that even after giving up a vast amount of territory, the geopolitical environment surrounding Zhou Country had not improved at all.

To the west, Helong’s two prefectures had become pastures for the Barbarians.

To the north, Wei’s several hundred thousand-strong army was eyeing Shuofang Prefecture covetously, having gained the access route to Guannei Prefecture and sending troops south day and night.

To the south, Chu State had also defeated its old rival Ning Country and gained the momentum to unify Jiangnan, thereby having the spare strength to send troops northward.

To the east, Liang and Zhao, likewise, had long coveted Zhou’s Henan and Nanyang prefectures.

Although they had not yet sent troops to attack, should an opportunity arise, they would not hesitate to join in the fray.

In such a situation, Zhou Country was truly surrounded by enemies on all sides, and each enemy was exceptionally strong; aside from the Barbarians, each could be considered Zhou’s equal, not weaker in the slightest.