novelslam Chapter 231 20,000 Beast Dens
Chapter 231 20,000 Beast Dens
Song Chen turned his gaze away from the window: "Teacher, have you finalized the specific plan for the counterattack?"
Zhou Wangyue leaned back in his chair and replied, "The general framework has been set, but the specific procedures have not yet been determined."
Song Chen thought for a moment, then asked, "Teacher, haven't you ever thought about counterattacking before?"
"Of course I've thought about it." Upon hearing this question, Zhou Wangyue's voice deepened.
"We've tried before, but every time the Great Xia tries to completely eliminate the dens of alien beasts in a certain area, the Sirius Clan intervenes."
"Sometimes it's its subordinates, sometimes it's the Sirius King himself."
"The Sirius Clan's dominance among land-based beasts far exceeds your imagination. They can command low-level beasts, mobilize vassal races, and coordinate the entire region's beast population using their mental power."
"Every time our army is about to launch a full-scale counterattack, the Sirius Clan gives an order and all the strange beasts within a thousand miles will be driven over, forming a large-scale beast tide counterattack. Sometimes, even a super beast tide will occur across the entire country."
"The pressure on the border defense line has increased sharply. Civilians on the outskirts of the city could not be evacuated in time, and the troops had to return to defend the area."
"After several attempts, the hideout was not completely cleared out, and a lot of manpower was lost in the process."
"Things are different now. With the death of the Sirius King, more than half of the sixth-tier Sirius clan perished in the Arctic. The remaining remnants are scattered and fighting for power. They have neither the energy nor the ability to command the beast herds across the entire country."
"The current land-based monsters are like scattered troops, with no unified command between their strongholds, and they collapse as soon as they are attacked."
"This is the best window of opportunity in fifty years; if we miss it, we'll never have another one."
Song Chen nodded; he had already experienced the Sirius Clan's ability to rule in Europe.
"Teacher, I don't yet know the current strength of the Great Xia Dynasty. How much Qi and Blood do you have now?"
"Forty-two hundred thousand."
"Where is Representative Qi?"
"510,000, most other councilors are around 200,000, 250,000 to 260,000 is considered top-tier, and those who have just broken through to the sixth rank are around 100,000."
"But the true pillar of strength for Great Xia is not me, nor is it Lao Qi. It is Speaker Li Qingcang, whose blood energy exceeds 700,000. He is the only high-level sixth-rank martial artist in Great Xia, and also the only human martial artist who can fight the royal king one-on-one."
"The reason why Sirius King has not dared to invade our territory and the Ocean Royal Family has not dared to launch a full-scale attack in recent years, besides the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons, is because of him."
"However, the Speaker has been in seclusion for many years, so it's a bit difficult to see him."
Zhou Wangyue explained.
The car continued its journey, and the lights of Beijing flashed past the car window like flowing water.
The convoy turned onto a side road, and ahead appeared the familiar high wall, with automatic turrets and monitoring equipment on top of it flashing dark red indicator lights in the night.
The steel gate slid open slowly, revealing a brightly lit courtyard behind it.
The sign for the Arctic Expedition Joint Command has been changed to the Great Xia Clearance Operation Joint Command.
Dozens of military vehicles and armored personnel carriers were parked in the courtyard, and people in different military uniforms walked quickly between the buildings.
The car came to a stop, and Zhou Wangyue opened the car door: "We're here."
He glanced back at Song Chen: "Go in, your task is laid out on the sand table."
The lobby of the joint command center for the clearing operation was more crowded than during the Arctic expedition.
Song Chen followed Zhou Wangyue inside, and the first thing she saw was a three-sided holographic sand table.
The giant holographic sand table in the center projects a map of the entire Great Xia territory. All 108 base cities in the country are marked with blue dots, and dense red markers are scattered around the perimeter of each city, which are the dens of alien beasts to be eliminated.
The sand table on the left shows the troop deployment map, and the one on the right shows the logistics supply route map.
The staff officers moved back and forth between the three sand tables, their terminals ringing incessantly, and the papers spitting out by the printers piled up on the long table against the wall.
There were more than twice as many people in the hall as last time.
Representatives from the Northwest Military Region, the Southwest Military Region, the Eastern Coastal Defense Line, and the Northern Border Forces, as well as representatives from all major military regions, were present.
The shoulder insignia on their uniforms were all different, but everyone wore the same expression: after waiting for so many years, this day had finally come.
Song Chen followed Zhou Wangyue toward the main conference hall, and as they walked through the corridor, people kept recognizing him.
A middle-aged colonel in military uniform snapped to attention and saluted, calling out, "Councilor Song."
Several staff officers who were discussing the battle plan nearby turned their heads in unison, their eyes filled with awe.
Song Chen nodded to them, but didn't stop walking.
The doors to the conference hall are double-layered, with an outer layer of steel plate and an inner layer of soundproofing material.
The moment the door was pushed open, there were already more than a dozen people inside.
The long conference table was filled with people on both sides, some of whom were real people and some were holographic projections.
Six members of parliament were present in person, and five of them were projected onto chairs. The image quality was so high that even the wrinkles on their faces could be seen clearly.
Qi Shanhe stood on the podium in front of the conference table, without a script in his hand.
The fact that this top military official of the Great Xia Dynasty rarely attends public events, but personally standing on the podium today, is enough to demonstrate the significance of this meeting.
He saw Zhou Wangyue and Song Chen walk in, his gaze lingered on Song Chen for a moment, and his eyes, like Zhou Wangyue's, were fixed on his heart. His brows furrowed slightly, just like Zhou Wangyue's reaction at the airport.
"Associate Song, your blood and qi..." Qi Shanhe asked with some doubt.
Before Song Chen could answer, Zhou Wangyue walked up to Qi Shanhe and whispered something to him.
Qi Shanhe listened, his brows smoothing out from a furrowed expression, and then he nodded.
He didn't press further, but simply glanced at Song Chen again and said, "Okay."
Then he turned to Song Chen, his tone becoming more formal this time: "Councilor Song, there's something I need to tell you first. Your military merit award in the Arctic may have to be put on hold for a while."
"The parliament originally planned to award you a Great Xia Medal of Honor and a bonus, but now Great Xia is going to fight a tough battle. The Medal of Honor is still being minted, and the bonus has been temporarily moved into the military budget."
"It's not just you; I haven't even received my own Arctic war credits yet. For those of us who fought on the front lines, let's keep track of the score for now and talk about it after the war is over."
Song Chen found a chair and sat down, smiling, "The medal doesn't matter, and the bonus isn't urgent either."
Qi Shanhe glanced at him and nodded: "Okay, let's start the meeting then."
Of the thirteen members of parliament, six were present in person and five were online; the speaker did not attend.
Qi Shanhe stood on the stage, his hands supporting him on the table, his gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone present.
"Gentlemen, the Great Xia currently has about five million standing troops. This is the maximum number of troops that can be deployed during peacetime. Any more would crowd out civilian resources."
"But this is not an ordinary time; it is the best window of opportunity in decades."
"The Great Xia has 108 base cities, and there are more than 20,000 alien beast dens waiting to be cleared on the outskirts. With 5 million troops distributed across the country, each base city has less than 50,000 troops, which is not enough."
"Therefore, the first step is to expand the army to 30 million."
The meeting room was quiet for a moment, then people began to discuss in hushed tones.
A sixth-ranking online legislator, his hair graying, spoke up: "Thirty million, how do we determine the conscription area?"
"All martial artists who can fight, regardless of their background, including martial arts school students, hunting teams, freelance martial artists, mercenary groups, and reserve members of the defense forces of various base cities, will be recruited."
"The council has drafted a conscription order, which includes all martial artists whose Qi and Blood values meet the requirements."
"After recovering all the lost territories of Great Xia, then we will make them retire."