"That's right, the three thousand vicious dogs of the Jiuken Kingdom, each one possesses sixth-level cultivation, making them even stronger than the now-fallen Cang Guard Army. Most of the five thousand Cang Guards were only at the fifth level, and could only rely on their numbers to barely contend with the vicious dog army."

Julia Reed was quite advanced in age, but his hearing seemed sharp; he overheard Summer Clark and several officials discussing.

His gaze was still carefully examining the nearly motionless yin soldiers beneath the palace tower, while his mouth answered Summer Clark's questions.

"In that case, the Cang Defense Army—most of them are probably only at the fourth level of cultivation?" Summer Clark continued to ask.

"That's right. The eight thousand Cang Defense Army, facing a thousand vicious dogs whose combat power far surpasses theirs, and five thousand Predatory Army whose strength is roughly equal to theirs, have almost no chance of victory..."

Grace Harper picked up the conversation, looking at those yin soldiers as she replied.

"Then, in your opinion, what level are these yin soldiers bestowed by the Great Wind?"

Summer Clark continued, "These thousand yin soldiers—can they contend with the vicious dog army?"

Grace Harper looked at the three yin generals standing solemnly beneath the palace tower, pondered for a moment,

and replied, "Judging from the aura they just released, these three generals are extremely powerful, no less than the eighth-level vicious dog generals.

Their and the soldiers' power is very strange; I can hardly sense any spiritual energy fluctuations from them, but I can feel that these soldiers are extremely strong, almost on par with the Cang Guards."

Julia Reed said, "Though these soldiers under Your Highness are powerful, if they face the vicious dog army head-on, I'm afraid the odds are still grim.

The most worrying thing is, Jiuken has three thousand vicious dogs, but only sent a thousand for this invasion of Taicang.

The reason is that those monsters of Jiuken, who look like mongrels but walk upright, have learned of the total annihilation of the Cang Guards and the death of the sovereign, and are confident that a thousand vicious dogs are enough to destroy Taicang.

But if they encounter fierce resistance, the other two thousand vicious dogs will rush over at top speed. If they march at full speed, it may take only two hours for them to reinforce the main battlefield. By then, Taicang will still be doomed to destruction."

Summer Clark frowned. The territory of Taicang was extremely small, only about five hundred li in diameter (let's set it as diameter here), but the distance between the Taicang border and Taicheng was still eight hundred li. Two thousand armored soldiers could cover that in just two hours?

If the vicious dog army had no mounts and could still march so swiftly on foot, then their strength was indeed formidable.

"No matter what, we must win this battle!" Summer Clark said silently in his heart.

His memories told him that the human race was one of the weakest among the boundless wilds.

In the eyes of other powerful races, they might be nothing more than food.

If Taicheng was breached by the vicious dogs, then in the two cities of Taicheng and Cangcheng, over six hundred thousand Taicang humans would be mercilessly slaughtered, their flesh preserved as rations for Jiuken to survive the sunless days.

Just thinking of this still struck Summer Clark as utterly unbelievable.

This world had three suns in the sky.

They rose from the east, south, and north, converging at noon, and after noon, instead of continuing along their paths, they actually retraced their routes.

In the twelve months of the year, there were two months

when all three suns collectively went on strike, plunging the world into utter darkness.

Without sunlight, all things ceased to grow, all crops withered and died, and endless snow fell from the sky, bringing extreme cold.

This was the so-called "sunless days," meaning the sun fell silent.

This incredible world left Summer Clark, who had just digested his memories, deeply shocked and confused.

But he had no time to ponder its mysteries.

Because the pressing matter before him was still how to defend Taicang when the vicious dog army was at the gates.

If Taicang fell, there were no other human nations nearby—they would have no place to retreat.

"Eight thousand Cang Defense Army, with two thousand archers among them—why don't we make a stand and defend Taicheng to the death?"

A general stepped forward from the crowd; it was one of the four Cang Guard generals, named Lucas Grant.

Grace Harper shook her head and said, "With His Highness's yin soldiers aiding us, we should be able to withstand this attack by the six thousand Jiuken troops, but we must fight a quick battle and not give the other vicious dogs a chance to reinforce."

Summer Clark nodded and said, "That's true. Defending the city to the death does give us the advantage of the terrain, but it also hands the initiative to Jiuken. If the power of the yin soldiers is exposed to the vicious dogs during a siege,

then they can retreat at their leisure and wait for the other vicious dogs to arrive. By then, we would be sitting ducks."

Grace Harper gave Summer Clark a strange look. Hearing such words from this crown prince was quite unexpected.

"But with our current strength, though we do not fear these six thousand Jiuken, a quick victory still seems unrealistic," Julia Reed said, frowning deeply.

Hearing everyone's words, Summer Clark couldn't help but take on the demeanor of a manager overseeing thousands, thought for a moment, and suddenly said to Grace Harper, "Do the people of Taicang know about the Jiuken invasion?"

Grace Harper replied, "The whole city is already under martial law, and the people are voluntarily digging traps in front of Taicheng."

Summer Clark nodded, then asked, "What about the scouts? Have they returned? How far is the Jiuken army from Taicheng?"

"Less than three hundred li away."