Chapter 1041.1: Smoke Rises (II) - Part 1
The difference between humans and demons had always been immense.
As long as demons reached maturity, regardless whether or not they could take human form, they would definitely be far stronger than an adult male. A human male who had never cultivated... never stood a chance in front of even juvenile demons.
Great Liang's armies, the most elite Northern Frontier Army, consisted entirely of martial artists who had embarked upon the path of cultivation. Their realms might differ, but every one of them had to be a genuine martial artist. Otherwise, once they climbed onto the Northern Frontier city walls and faced the demon race, no matter how many men they had, they would only be marching to their deaths.
But soldiers like these required years upon years of cultivation. Every soldier who had fought upon the Northern Frontier and survived was an invaluable treasure to Great Liang.
Some time ago, Great Liang had begun conscripting troops across the realm and training them in the various prefectures, claiming they had to be ready to be dispatched to the Northern Frontier at any time. But in reality, once the Northern Frontier Army lacked manpower, the first to set out would be those veteran soldiers who had retired from the Northern Frontier Army and were now scattered throughout the provinces. Only after that group had been exhausted would the prefectural armies be sent.
Only after the prefectural armies had also been exhausted would those young recruits from before be sent.
If they only had to march to the Northern Frontier five or ten years from now, that would still be acceptable. But if they had to head north within the next year or two, then for Great Liang, things would truly have reached the point of hanging by a thread.
So Demon Lord Redsleeve's intentions were actually easy to understand. She would first wear down the Northern Frontier Army's effective fighting strength. Once both sides began taking casualties, the balance of the war would inevitably continue tipping towards the demon race.
Once a certain tipping point had been reached, the demon race's march south would become a matter of course, with nothing left to stop it.