Preparations for One-Sided 'War'

After putting Qian Renxue to sleep, Xue Long went to the Martial Field.

The moment he was there his three Martial Spirits manifested and flew to the side and landed on the ground and took Lotus meditation positions.

Then the surroundings shifted into a mountainous and windy location. The Martial Field has turned into a mountain temple. The training field turned into a literal martial field used by Shaolin monks.

This was the Domain of Martialdom at its true potential!

The maids who were doing their things noticed the changes they swiftly line-up into line when they saw that their Prince had deployed the Martialdom Domain!

"Girls, I want to see that ice maids teamwork you have been working on." Xue Long said as he rolled up his sleeves. 

Shui Bing'er looked at her sister who nodded and then looked at the other maids. They swiftly changed positions, some of them moved aside from those who were not from the ice team.

Moments later, the maids were ready to unleash their martial spirits. 

The maid at the back started to dance which caused snowfall in the temple while other maids took martial arts stances and their Martial Spirits manifested, all of them were either water-related or actual ice beasts.

They swiftly surrounded their prince, and since the snowfall gave a boost in speed and other attributes they became even stronger. 

Moments later the released blast of water and cold wind, this has frozen Xue Long feet.

Then, all six of them lunged at the Prince who was stuck in a single spot. Since his feet are frozen this limits his mobility and ability to dodge.

This didn't work as they thought it would, since he can't use his feet, then he simply won't. His arms are more than enough to do his thing.

First, he grabbed the maid who was about to kick him. From the front.

"Just no, while kicks are strong, don't do them from the front. I already told you that before." As he said that he spun her and then smacked her on her ass before sending her flying away.

The maid squeaked as she felt the smack!

For a second the other 6 maids stopped for a bit as they saw this. They blushed like tomatoes. What is going on!? Is the prince testing them how they react to his random way to counter?

Regardless, they swiftly moved once again and tried to attack from multiple directions. The best part was that they can move even better on the ice. Incorporating sliding into their fighting style is something they have been working on for several months.

To make up for his inability to use his feet Xue Long simply grabbed another maid who was about to hit him, he used her as a shield against another maid who tried to hit from the front.

The girl who was in midair got her eyes wide as she could not stop her attack. So what the Crown Prince did was send her flying into the other girl.

This caused them to fly some distance away.

Seeing that nothing works… the girls decided to unleash their elemental attacks. 

All Xue Long did in this case was just look at the incoming barrage of ice, water and wind. 

Instantly, he became a sculpture of ice.

This made the maids look at each other with a smirk. Their teamwork is not bad at this point. If not for the fact that they are fighting him they should be victorious.

Though… they grimaced seeing the ice simply turn into water and then drop on the ground and turn into a puddle…

The prince has simply undone the ice!

"Not bad. Not bad at all. You girls quickly noticed that things don't work and switched to other tactics. That's the key to success. However, now we are going to check out 7 vs 7."

As he said that he motioned for other maids to come. 

 was done and the fighting proceeded.

As one could expect the ice team won. For the simple reason that they already have experience in fighting as a seven maid unit.

After the fighting was done Ye Lingling healed the hurt girls.

Sparing was over and it was time to reflect on some things.

"First of all. I can see that you girls started to develop use kicks more than punches. While it's nothing bad, you need to realise that kicking is slower than punching especially when you use ice as your preferred terrain of combat." 

The prince started to explain the shortcomings of their fighting method.

"Don't forget when your landing is compromised your speed will drop. A drop kick is a high danger high-reward move. Don't abuse it." Xue Long said that as he looked at Shui Yue'er who was slightly blushing. She is the one who loves to use her Spirit Ring ability with a kick. All that extra damage is something she likes to abuse.

"Next is your need to use your triumph card all the time. Spirit fusion is great and all, only it should not be your go-to move."

He said that while looking at Shui Bing'er and the support girl Xue Wu. 

When their spirits merge it becomes a huge Ice Phoenix. Very powerful ability. However, it takes time to merge them.

It doesn't change the fact that their method is to stall before the move is ready.

"It should be used only as a last resort, your current teamwork is already good, so just put that extra effort to take the enemy out instead of holding back."

After giving them advice, Xue Long proceeded to do his thing before going to Military HQ.

He needs to see how the preparations are going.

~~~

"As you asked my Prince, we are mobilising only a standing army, no conscripts or enlistments.

Though our numbers because of that are lower than Star Luo which according to scouts is over 10 million of regular infantry and over 2 million cavalry." One of the officers gave an overview of the forces Dai Weisi is gathering.

It doesn't sound bad… sending over 12 million people to get his cat back.

Sounds too much… but this is an imperial era where soldiers are minions of the royals.

"I see… don't overdo it. However, just in case do have a reservist ready if they will try something fishy. On my side, I will get my Titled Douluos ready just in case. And maybe it's time to show what Zi Ji can do in her Dragon form." Xue Long's words made the officer gulp when he heard the dragon form. 

According to some sources her dragon form is enormous and the miasma which the dragon form emits can kill alone!

Those regular soldiers are going to get slaughtered!

"How are the logistics? Father has been stockpiling for years now."

"Yes, the amount of food we have is enough, the issue is carrying that food to the frontlines." The officer explained the situation to Xue Long who had a thoughtful look.

"Hmm, fine. Show me how usually Heavenly Dou Empire logistics work. From there we can arrange something. We still have several days before we need to go to the front."

As Prince said that he was feeling pity that he had to call off his usual Academy acceptance event this year.

Well, it can't be helped since the chance to get Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing was far too good to pass.

Military officers showed him the carts they use to carry food. Xue Long has frowned seeing how this stuff is done.

This was… bad… like the logistics of his empire is bad!

*Sigh*

"Listen up, I need boxes this size." The prince showed that the size was not too big enough to be carried by a regular person.

"I want food to be arranged neatly. I will use my maids with ice martial spirits to keep the food fresh as long as possible." He explained to them. This was a good solution for the short term. Once he is done with Star Luo he will teach these idiots the basics of crate storage! You just don't dump food in the carts!

This is the issue of stalemates! Star Luo and Heavenly Dou were like this for hundreds of years. The wartime technology was so bad that I looked worse than the Iron Age or even Bronze Age!

You just don't dump food in carts and cover them and hope for the best!

"Understood! I will see to it!"

"Good. There is not much time left. Next time make sure you report issues like these early. Instead of me finding out myself. Do you understand?" 

The military officers quickly nodded at him with some fear.

'I will need to see how the military hierarchy works here as well. It appears even the basics need to be inspected.'  He sighed to himself.

His family has been running the empire for generations, and only recently he saw improvements in Administration thanks to him spending time with his uncle, an uncle who wants that face value, so the Crown Prince made him work extra hard on that.

'Now to make sure it doesn't fall apart when we leave it alone.'

~~~

After visiting the HQ of the military Xue Long called forth all of his maids to gather in Martial Field.

There were hundreds of girls who lined up professionally.

"I just visited the army, and the logistics are lacking." The girls for a second frowned… all of them at the same time when they heard that.

They don't like when someone disappoints their Prince!

"This is why I want all my girls with ice Martial Spirits to support the logistics. This is only temporary as we fix and rework the whole system." He explained to them, before switching to the next piece of information.

"The rest of you will work as my occupation units."

"...Occupation?" Na'er asked with slight confusion.

"Yes. Because we will be going on offence and taking Star Luo. The troops Dai Weisi mustered are considered the limit of what their empire can do." 

"This means once I crush that army we will start advancing into their territory.

In other words, their attack now is the ultimate gamble, either they crush us and gain breathing space or they lose, there is no other way for them." 

Xue Long knew he put Star Luo on a crossroad. That was his idea since the assassination attempt. Why have skirmishes if you can crush an entire empire with a single punch?

For that, he needed something to piss off the Star Luo Empire. At first, he thought of using Dai Mubai but he was useless. He needed something better.

And just for him, Zhu Zhuqing came to his doorstep followed by Zhu Zhuyun.

Perfect bait material.

And now he has all the cards he needs to get his revenge. This is why he prefers that cold freezing anger over throwing an angry fit. This is what he wants to teach his Xue'er but she still has her issues.

Though… she is much better than her book counterpart that's for sure.

"...My Prince… you planning to crush their whole army yourself?" Na'er asked with wide eyes because she didn't hear anything about the Heavenly Dou Empire army!

It's almost like they are there to see him crush Star Luo, like some sort of show in a theatre!

"That's because that's how it is. There comes a point that numerical advantage at a certain point becomes irrelevant. This is what I want to show to Star Luo, who always believed in that silly notion that numbers are important.

Maybe it has something to do with their cat's blood… though tigers are not pack hunters…strange." The Prince said that to himself more than to his maids though they all heard him anyway.

Well, it doesn't matter… ladies. You will split up into groups, a regular team size of 7 will do. And do your occupations with the Heavenly Dou Empire standing army."

"Any questions?"

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