Chapter 787 – Wuqi's Plan
The three armies of the Shanhai Alliance were like three sharp blade, stabbing right into the Yanhuang Alliance. It made the complicated Battle of Yunnan evolve into an affair entangled the north and the south in chaotic warfare.
Who knew what intentions Shanhai City was hiding behind their backs?
After the war started, everyone focused on how the Yanhuang Alliance would react. They originally thought that it was just a regional war, but would it become an all-out war involving the two City-States?
Apart from the regions where war started, the atmosphere in Jingchu, Jiangchuan, and other related places became exceedingly nervous. Gong Chengshi openly declared that he was ready to go in at any moment.
All of a sudden, the China region was thrown into a state of uproar.
Tengyue Prefecture, Tengchong City.
Shanhai Alliance's actions locked up the solemn Tengchong City in an extremely uneasy atmosphere. The Lords of Yunnan City-State were worried that the Yanhuang Alliance Army would leave immediately.
"Did we obtain abandonment in return for our huge sacrifices?" Some of the City-State Lords looked terrible at this moment; they felt despair, lost.
Even Qin Feng, who was usually calm and settled, could not help but show a panicky expression. With the character of the Yanhuang Alliance, it was not impossible for them to just pull out right away.
That afternoon, all the Lords of the City-State looked toward the west of the Lord's Manor. They were all nervous and were waiting for the outcome.
In the Lord's Manor were the seven Lords of Yanhuang Alliance as well as Wuqi, Dan Tian, and Lianpo; they had all come together for an emergency meeting.
Naturally, the topic of their discussion was the actions of the Shanhai Alliance.
When he received the news, Xiong Ba wanted to immediately leave Tengchong City but Wuqi stopped him from doing so.
Yizhou Island was a place that Xiong Ba had spent so much to obtain, and it was his proudest work. It was also an important strategic position to launch them into the ocean.
Wuqi was the only one who could stop Xiong Ba at this moment.
Even so, Xiong Ba's expression was exceedingly solemn. He knew that with the strength of the Penghu Squadron, they would not be able to face off against two squadrons from Shanhai City.
When he took down Yizhou Island, Xiong Ba knew that Shanhai City would help Xunlong Dianxue take it back. However, he was still out at sea at that time, and the enemy troops he expected did not arrive.
When Xunlong Dianxue had the burst of conflict with Shanhai City, the matter had changed Xiong Ba's view on the situation all the more.
The all in gamble during the Battle of Red Cliff was him taking a massive risk. If the King City Navy could fight against the Shanhai City Navy, he might have gained the support of the alliance.
With that, he could use the strength of the alliance to defend Yizhou Island.
Who would have guessed that he would have such an ending? Not only did he not reach his goal, he also became the laughing stock of the alliance, and he was unable to lift his head for a long time.
Luckily, he was a formidable character. Face was a secondary problem, and the key was how to keep Yizhou Island. With this, Xiong Ba tried to sow discord with Xunlong City while raising the strength of the Penghu Squadron.
At the same time, during these two months, he had personally taken charge of the island to lead the construction and to win the hearts of the people. He strengthened the island defenses and started voyage trading.
Xiong Ba truly put his heart and soul into this matter.
In another three to four months, Xiong Ba was confident about defending the island and making it a golden goose. He had not expected for Shanhai City to give him such a fatal blow at this a moment.
If he knew that this would happen, he would not have listened to Di Chen and joined this battle. If he had not joined this battle, Shanhai City would not have attacked and taken revenge.
Regret built up in his heart.
Just as he was deep in thought, Wuqi spoke out in the hall, "Lords, their intentions are really apparent; they wish to use this crucial moment to force us to leave Tengchong City. If we leave, Yunnan City-State will lose all ability to fight back and will fall into the hands of the enemy. If that happens, all our efforts will become wasted."
"But we cannot just abandon our territories and not care, right?"
The moment Stone City took down Zhangwu Prefecture, not only would Di Chen lose face, but it would also be a huge backward step for the territory. It would be enough to shake Handan City's position in the alliance.
Obviously, Di Chen was anxious.
If Handan City did not have Juedai Fenghua there and also his family members helping, Di Chen would have wanted to rush back like Xiong Ba.
Right before the meeting started, Di Chen had received an emergency mail from Juedai Fenghua.
As the matter was too sudden, the two War Fighting Legions housed in Zhangwu Prefecture had underestimated the Stone City troops and had consequently suffered a loss of six thousand men.
The nearest house to Fengtian Prefecture was already taken down by Stone City.
The situation was an emergency.
If it were not for Di Chen's training, he would have failed to maintain such a calm demeanor.
Wuqi shook his head, "It is not ignoring the matter but how we go about addressing it. Will we follow the enemy's tempo or find a chance in this danger to claim victory?"
"How so?"
Di Chen and the others were suddenly rather interested. Hearing Wuqi's words, it seemed like he had an idea.
Wuqi continued, "The attack of the Shanhai Alliance armies only seems strong because it was sudden and caught us all off guard. No matter which army is it, for them to gain the results they want, it cannot be achieved in a short time. Hence, we have time to turn the situation around."
"As such, we need to rush back now. There is still time if we go back now. I believe we can manage to control the situation. If it's a little later, the situation will be hard to predict." Di Chen felt disappointed. He originally thought that Wuqi would speak of some grand plan. Who knew he would reach such a conclusion.
Wuqi's expression did not change as he calmly said, "Our territories have already formed a joint system on how to deal with foreign invasions. Even if all of you go back, you will not make much of a difference."
"…."
Although he did not want to admit it, Di Chen could not disagree with this statement.
The Battle of Lords in the wilderness relied on teamwork, which was a crucial factor in territorial rule. The Lords were only the master of the ship, but they were not people that were needed at every moment.
If the army could not function when the Lord was not in the territory, it would be a huge problem.
"General, please continue." Di Chen said sincerely.
Wuqi nodded, "Shanhai Alliance is attacking our homes to force us away; this means that they are not prepared to have a huge war with us. If we join up with the Alliance Army and immediately teleport to Wenshan City, we will be able to catch them off guard."
"Based on our reports, this morning, Baiqi's army was still resting outside the city, and they have not shown any signs of attacking yet. One can see that he is just prepared to be the fisherman keeping his net. Hence, if we surprise them and crush the Shanhai City Army, the morale of their allies will drop. At that time, we would still have enough time to rush back to clean up the battlefield."
When Di Chen and the others heard his words, their eyes shone brightly.
Based on Wuqi's words, they wanted to fight back from the dead.
Due to the actions of Shanhai Alliance, their original sneak attack plan that was rendered impossible immediately became a possible solution.
"Ok, let's follow your plan."
Di Chen, who originally supported retreating, was the first to step up and agree with Wuqi's plan. No one out of all of them desired to beat Shanhai City more than him.
This was a rare opportunity that Di Chen did not want to miss out on. Although it was risky, it was still worth it. As long as they successfully snipe Shanhai City in Yunnan, the Shanhai Alliance would not be their match without their core pillar.
"What Stone City takes away now, I'll take back in folds." Di Chen mumbled to himself.
Handan City did not attack Stone City because of Shanhai City. The moment Shanhai City loses on the Yunnan Battlefield, they would need to slowly heal up and would not be able to care about Stone City.
Di Chen could already see the day when Handan City claimed the entire Jingdu.
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
All the Lords of the Yanhuang Alliance agreed to the plan.
Chun Shenjun, Feng Qingyang, and Zhan Lang had no worries of being attacked. Naturally, they did not want to retreat. Sha Pojun and Wandering Magic were temporarily okay, so they had no reason to oppose this plan either.
Especially Sha Pojun, this fellow that hated Ouyang Shuo to the bone.
Sha Pojun would always be at the forefront if one wanted to take down Shanhai City.
What surprised them was that out of the seven, it was Xiong Ba who was a little hesitant and did not make his stance clear.
The atmosphere in the hall was a little weird.
After a long period of silence, it was still Di Chen who spoke, "Xiong Ba, what exactly are you thinking?" As he spoke, he stared at Xiong Ba.
Everyone present was intelligent, so they obviously could guess what he was thinking about.
Di Chen's Zhangwu Prefecture had two War Fighting Legions holding on. Moreover, reinforcements would probably arrive soon, so the Stone City troops would not be able to cause much damage.
One must not forget that more than half of the Stone City Army was composed of mercenaries.
They were really clear about the personalities of the mercenaries. When the war was going well, they would charge at the front to kill the enemy and claim the spoils of war.
However, if the situation turns sour, the first to run would be these mercenaries.
But Yizhou Island was different; it was facing the strongest navy in the world. Furthermore, Yizhou Island was alone in the ocean. Even if King City wanted to send reinforcements, they lacked the ability to do so.
The current Yizhou Island was in danger of being occupied at any moment.
Hence, Xiong Ba would obviously hesitate.