Chapter 72: The Shining Plains

After a month of travel, the 2nd Army and 31st

Battalion had finally met up with the Air Kingdom’s 1st Army.

Lin Zheng, his strategist, Jia Yuan, and Fan Meng met with

the Air Kingdom’s General Tian Can. Just as Jia Yuan was alongside Lin Zheng,

the Air Kingdom’s Special Forces, the Spectres of Wind, also had their

commander, Quan Zen in attendance.

The two sides chatted about the current state of the war. In

the month the 2nd Army had used to travel south, the Water and Earth

Kingdoms had been able to conquer small pockets of land from both the Fire and

Air Kingdoms. While the situation wasn’t dire for the Fire and Air Kingdoms,

morale was clearly on the other side.

All those present agreed. The Fire and Air Kingdoms needed a

large victory to bring back the strength of morale to their side.

At this point, Tian Can spoke up. “Tomorrow we will be

heading toward the border to fight against the combined forces of the Earth and

Water Kingdoms. They currently have their armies set up at the Shining Plains.

We will be going there to engage them in battle.”

A light of determination appeared in each of their eyes. As

for Jia Yuan, he responded with a wry smile. The retaking of BlueFire City had

been a small endeavor. Jia Yuan thirsted for a true battle, where thousands

upon thousands of troops made battle on a battlefield where the situation

changed as fluidly as a river!

After some discussions, both armies began their trek towards

the Shining Plains. A week later, they found themselves at the western side of

the Shining Plains. On the other side, they saw hundreds of thousands of troops.

On the left side of this encampment, flew the flags of the Water Kingdom. On

the right side, flew the flags of the Earth Kingdom. However, there was

something on the side of the Earth Kingdom’s encampment that caught the eyes of

all of those who had just arrived.

The Shining Plains had a slight incline toward the eastern

side. As such, Jia Yuan and the other could see that the Earth Kingdom’s

encampment was surrounded by a formation of walls and other earthly defenses.

The encampment looked like an impregnable fortress!

Next to Jia Yuan, Lin Zheng whistled. “The Earth Kingdom’s

defensive capabilities are truly spectacular...”

Jia Yuan harrumphed. “Our Fire Kingdom’s offensive

capabilities are nothing to scoff at either. When the time comes, it will be

strength against strength.”

Next to Jia Yuan, Fan Meng stared at the Earth Kingdom’s

formation, his eyes taking in every detail. “Interesting…interesting…” he

muttered.

The two armies began to set up their own encampment and

defenses. After a few hours, the leaders of the combined armies met in a

special headquarters tent.

The tent was very big, big enough for a large strategy table

as well as 50 or so officers. However, there were only 6 people in the tent at

the moment. On the strategy table was a board with the surrounding geography

and pieces representing the various friendly and enemy units on it.

“We’ll take to the field 2 days from now. The plains are

very large, and we will divide the battlefield into three main portions. The

center of the plain will be taken by our 2nd Army, while the right

side will be taken by your 1st Army. As for the left side, we will

hand to the combined special forces of our two Kingdoms.”

Tian Can nodded. “During the first day, the various armies will

probably restrain themselves to merely feeling each other out. What are our

plans?”

Lin Zheng looked towards his strategist, then responded. “We…

believe that it would be advantageous for us to take care of the Water Kingdom’s

troops first. After that, we can tackle that fortress of the Earth Kingdom’s

Army. As such, we’re going to be spending the day to look for weaknesses in the

Water Kingdom’s Army.”

Tian Can looked toward Lin Zheng. “And what if they expect

this plan? After all, it’s the obvious one.”

The two generals began to debate the possibilities of what

would happen on the plain, while the rest listened.

As for Jia Yuan, he simply stared at the table. He wasn’t as

dumb as he used to be, but he didn’t really have a mind for strategies, still.

Once the talk began to grow convoluted, he zoned out and began to think about

his cultivation.

He was currently at the 7th level of Absorption,

and had virtually mastered the basics behind the control of his Song’s fire

element. As for his adequacy with the water element… it was a little less

adequate. After all, Jia Yuan’s control over fire was a product of his training

in the crater. When it came to the water element, not only hadn’t Jia Yuan done

such specialized training, but he didn’t even have a teacher. While Jia Yuan

could somewhat perform the basics, his skills when fighting with water were

only average.

After a few hours of deliberation, those in the tent finally

finished their discussions. Just as Jia Yuan was about to leave, Quan Zen

walked up.

Quan Zen looked to be about 24 years old, and was at the 2nd

level of Manipulation. Naturally, he looked down a bit of Jia Yuan and the 31st

Battalion in general. After all, his own Battalion had already been formed for

7 years, while Jia Yuan’s Battalion was only a few months old.

“Hey kid, we’re going to be working together when the

fighting starts. Thought we might as well talk things out. From what I see,

most of those in your Battalion are still at the middle of the Absorption

level. From this, I think that you guys should let my Battalion be the main

force, while you guys provide support.”

Hearing this, Fan Meng actually

stepped up and responded. “Forgive me, but I disagree. I think we can use the

synergies between our elements to gain a distinct advantage over the enemy that

we otherwise wouldn’t have…”

Current Situation-

Fire Kingdom 2nd Army Troop count: 105,000~

soldiers

Fire Kingdom 31st Burning Legion Battalion: 1,000 soldiers

Air Kingdom 1st Army Troop count: 110,000

soldiers

Air Kingdom 17th Spectres of Wind Battalion:

1,700 soldiers.