Chu Mo couldn't help but gasp in astonishment, looking shockingly at the Emperor and Fang Mingtong. "Who else knows about this?" he asked.

Fang Mingtong glanced at the Emperor before falling silent.

Chu Mo's gaze turned to the Emperor.

The Emperor too remained silent, shaking his head, "Regardless of who knows, this information... I'm afraid it's already been leaked! Otherwise, Great Qi wouldn't widely deploy such a large army, secretly crossing from there."

Fang Mingtong added, "Moreover, it's highly likely that large sects are being operated behind Great Qi. They must want to surprise us by crossing from there. However, the existence of this secret passage will be exposed as a result. It seems... this time, Great Qi is intent on wiping us out completely. They don't even care about such tremendous benefits."

The Emperor's face turned extraordinarily grim, and gritted his teeth, "So the current problem isn't about the primordial stones in the mine anymore. Since Great Qi knows about that place, they'd know it's a primordial stone mine. The most serious issue we face now is how to handle their army!"

Chu Mo looked at the Emperor and Fang Mingtong, meanwhile contemplating in his mind: From the perspective of the Emperor and Marshal Fang, they didn't want to send troops openly to Skybreaker Mountain. It wasn't the lack of military force, but can't stir the grass and startle the snake! If they disregard the mining incident, merely strategizing and competing against each other, the best plan would be to play along with the enemy, then hit them hard unexpectedly!

However, at such a time, the military intelligence departments of both sides would definitely keep a close watch on each other's army movements. Great Xia's military department would control Great Qis' and get their troop mobilization information from them; it goes the same way for Great Qi.

As for why the millions of Great Qi's army managed to deceive Great Xia's military intelligence department... this isn't a question Chu Mo needed to consider. This is Old Fang's issue!

Both the Emperor and Fang Mingtong were silent. Chu Mo scratched his head and said, "Um, I have a not-so-mature idea, not sure whether I should mention it or not?"

"Go ahead!" Fang Mingtong and the Emperor both spoke in unison with an urgency seen in their eyes as they looked at Chu Mo.

Chu Mo's mouth twitched, muttering in his heart: Is it appropriate for you two to behave like this?

"How long is that tunnel, and if the million-strong army enters, would it be possible that while some have already come out from the exit, others have not even entered yet?" Chu Mo looked at Fang Mingtong and asked softly, "Or could the entire million-strong army be included?"

"That mine stretches across the entirety of Skybreaker Mountain!" said Fang Mingtong sternly, "From our side, all the way to Great Qi's!"

Speaking, Fang Mingtong pointed towards a large mountain range on a map hanging on the wall of the imperial study, "Here, see, from here...to here! The whole length is 170 li, even if a million soldiers entered, they would not take up that much of the tunnel."

Chu Mo nodded, "So... how many people do we have there? I mean... our miners extracting the primordial stones...If I'm not mistaken, they should also be soldiers transferred from the army, right? Only they could maintain the utmost secrecy."

The Emperor nodded approvingly at Chu Mo, "We have a total of 12,000 men there! All of them are robust young men from Great Xia, and their loyalty is beyond question!"

"12,000 men..." Fang Mingtong sighed lightly, managing a bitter smile, "If not for the news brought back by you, Chu Mo, these men may have been wiped out instantly...without any chance to retaliate."

Chu Mo raised his eyebrows slightly, "I don't really know what the tunnel looks like, is it suitable for warfare?"

Fang Mingtong said, "For convenience, we had dug the tunnel very large! It's more than a hundred feet wide and over a dozen feet high, and very spacious. If they have the element of surprise, our men would unlikely react in time. The enemy would need only two volleys of arrows to almost wipe them all out."

Chu Mo silently agreed, if they were caught completely off-guard, they might not even have any weapons at hand! Who would carry battle weapons when mining?

"So, you're saying, if we discreetly transfer a team from the army now, it is very likely to be noticed by the other party, right?" asked Chu Mo.

"Correct, the military intelligence department of Great Qi is no pushover... To put it bluntly, this time, we were defeated by them!" said Fang Mingtong with some regret, "Had it not been for your news... we might have faced huge problems!"

The Emperor rubbed his forehead, "Now is not the time to assign blame, and besides, I never anticipated this... heh. Now, even if Great Qi's military intelligence isn't that powerful, we still wouldn't dare to easily transfer manpower. Damn... A traitor in our own ranks... is always scarier than any outsider!"

Chu Mo's mouth twitched violently. He hadn't expected to hear such an explicit curse from the Emperor. It just showed how furious he was at this moment.

And... traitor in their own ranks? Who's he talking about?

Chu Mo's eyes narrowed slightly, he thought to himself: The people in Great Xia who could qualify to know about this probably wouldn't number more than ten!

All these people stood at the pinnacle of power in Great Xia, there was no reason for them to destroy their own country in such a way.

What good would Great Xia's ruin bring them? Great Qi couldn't possibly hand over Great Xia, which they had painstakingly conquered, to this person to be the emperor, right? Anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't believe this.

Except for... one person!

A figure suddenly flashed in Chu Mo's mind. He was startled by his own thought. He thought to himself, no wonder the Emperor is not telling who it is... this matter indeed isn't something I can participate in.

Then Chu Mo frowned slightly, "I do have an idea... but it's not fully developed yet."

"What do you suggest?" Fang Mingtong looked at Chu Mo.

The Emperor also stared intently at Chu Mo, "Whether it's mature or not... let's hear it."

Chu Mo looked at Fang Mingtong and said softly, "Without considering the fate of the mine for the time being, I do have an idea to deal solely with the million-strong army of Great Qi." Chu Mo continued, looking at Fang Mingtong, "How optimal is the tunnel's ventilation condition?"

Fang Mingtong's eyes lit up as if he had realized something, he said in a deep voice, "There will be a ventilating shaft at regular intervals."

"Well then, block all these ventilation shafts. Within a short period... it should not affect the ventilation in the tunnel, right?" Chu Mo asked.

Even the Emperor seemed to have understood something, a hopeful light shone in his eyes. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to recommend and support, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)

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