Volume 5 Chapter 19: A brilliant move (1)
In the Grand Alliance, at the post-war meeting, some were happy and some were sad. The three gang leaders who lost the battle were sad, but everyone else was beaming. Overall, this battle was a strategic success, and it greatly reduced the survival space of the Iron Blood Alliance. The only regret (maybe it was not a regret in the minds of the bosses) was that another gang was disbanded, and nominally the Grand Alliance only had 14 members left.
One of the topics of today's meeting was how to fulfill the pre-war agreement and help the disbanded Lingyun Pavilion rebuild. With the example of Jinglei League taking over Yinyue, the bosses were quite enthusiastic and wanted to take Lingyun Pavilion as their affiliated gang. They argued fiercely on the spot and acted righteously: helping the allied gang is my duty, and I will fight anyone who tries to stop me!
I swallowed a silver moon before, and I haven't had time to digest and absorb it. I got the upper hand in this battle, so I naturally feel embarrassed to compete with them. In the end, I, the neutral leader, came out to preside over justice: In terms of status, the most noble one is our general leader Beibei, right? Lingyun Pavilion is a subsidiary gang of the leader of the Grand Alliance, Luanshi Jingtu, and it is not a disgrace to its original identity as a member of the Grand Alliance, so no one should fight, let our general leader show his care for the subordinate gangs!
As soon as this was said, the bosses thought that it would be difficult for them to get it anyway, and they had no leadership ability in troubled times. It would be better to give Lingyun Pavilion to Beibei, which would not be an independent entity in the end, than to let others get it. So they all agreed with my proposal.
Speaking of which, because Luanshi had no ambition, he did not take the opportunity to send troops when Tiexue attacked Suiyue last time, so he did not get a branch station. But it was strange that such a gang actually had a subordinate small gang. This time, Luanshi declared war on the other side in the name of this small gang, and took down a small faction of Tiexue with an absolute advantage in military strength. Finally, he got a branch, but I said a few words and this branch was handed over to Lingyun Pavilion. Everyone knows that Beibei is not capable of controlling a large gang like Lingyun Pavilion, so Luanshi's power will not be actually increased, and he, the general leader, can only be the general leader in name forever. Naturally, every boss is secretly happy.
The second topic was quite special. The Grand Alliance received a letter from Jiucheng, which stated that Jiucheng was willing to terminate its alliance with Tiexue and join forces with the Grand Alliance to eliminate Tiexue. They also proposed to return the original Yinyue garrison to Mengtian Bingyue and provide financial compensation. The only requirement was that they hoped to retain the branch garrison that they lost to them in the failed feint attack of the Thunder Alliance. They said that this was entirely for Jiucheng to have a base in Pojun City, which would facilitate future commercial trade with Pojun City, and they would never have military ambitions against the Grand Alliance.
This letter caused a lot of controversy among us. First of all, we could not determine whether Jiucheng was sincere or not. Secondly, even if what the other party said was true, should we accept Jiucheng's proposal?
Some people believe that by driving out the wolf and devouring the tiger, and using the troops of the Nine Cities to quickly annihilate the Iron Blood Alliance, we can not only shorten the time it takes for the Grand Alliance to unify Pojun City, but also reduce our casualties. What the Nine Cities ultimately ask for is only a garrison that is now in their hands. This deal is very cost-effective for us.
Some people also hold opposing views: Jiucheng is not a fool. Their betrayal of their allies will cause great reputational loss. They will also make great efforts to help us attack Iron Blood, and finally only ask to keep a garrison? There is no such a cheap thing in the world. Jiucheng must have a conspiracy. Either they will deny it after defeating Iron Blood and take the Iron Blood garrison into their arms, or they will use this to let the Grand Alliance relax their vigilance and stab the Grand Alliance from the back at a critical moment.
I firmly opposed it. "No matter whether this letter is true or false, no matter whether Jiucheng has a conspiracy or not, what is the goal of our alliance? The next step after unifying Pojun is to march into Lianzhen. If we form an alliance with Jiucheng now, it will tie our hands in the future. Now we have the upper hand, and we should use the power of victory to completely defeat Tiexue and drive Jiucheng out of Pojun. We should also take advantage of the situation to form a coalition and take the initiative to attack Lianzhen City!"
Someone immediately refuted me: "Brother Sky, are you saying this with selfish motives? Silver Moon Light is now your affiliated gang, so it is naturally irreconcilable with the Nine Cities and is eager for revenge. Have you ever thought about how much more casualties the Grand Alliance gangs will suffer if you reject the Nine Cities' proposal?"
…
The dispute continued, so they had to resort to the old method of voting. In the end, the opposition had a slight advantage with 13 votes to 11 and passed the proposal to reject the peace talks between the nine cities.
The third topic is about internal affairs. Now many small neutral gangs see that the Grand Alliance has the upper hand and are beginning to worry that once the Iron Blood is destroyed, the Grand Alliance will start to take action against them. Some gangs have already flirted with the Grand Alliance in advance and applied to join the alliance.
Some bosses were disgusted: they didn't show such enthusiasm when both sides were evenly matched, but now we are fighting bloody battles and are about to defeat the Iron Blood, and you want to join in and share the profits? No way!
I said anxiously, "We can't do that. Since we have decided not to negotiate peace with Jiucheng, Jiucheng wants to interfere with Pojun City and is worried about our future attack. They have no choice but to cooperate with Iron Blood. Their combined strength is still very strong and cannot be underestimated. And if we reject the applications of these small gangs to join the alliance, they will surely be afraid that the big alliance will not only destroy Iron Blood in the future, but also swallow them up. Then they will be forced to join the Iron Blood Alliance. In this way, the advantages and disadvantages of both sides will be reversed!"
Someone said sourly: "The Thunder Alliance is powerful and has already taken over four branches. Of course, they don't care about other gangs trying to share the cake. But have you ever thought about it? Our gangs have also made a lot of efforts. Those who are unlucky have not yet taken over a branch. You should leave some soup for others when you eat the meat, right? Don't use the interests of the alliance to do favors casually!"
I said coldly, "Attacking a city and defeating an enemy depends on one's ability. Which of the four branches of the Thunder Alliance didn't fight back with swords and guns? Don't blame others if you don't have the ability. My opinion is for the benefit of the alliance. Otherwise, if it is really as I said, a large number of small gangs will be forced to join the Iron Blood, and we will all have a hard time in the future. Maybe the big alliance will be destroyed, and everyone will go home to farm. What's the point of fighting for fame and fortune! But my proposal is just a strategic idea. There is a lot to be done in terms of specific operational means. It may not be so easy for those small gangs to share the benefits with us!"
"So what's your idea, Sky brother?"
"Hehe, it's very simple. Aren't there different levels of UN members? We can just follow suit. The founding gangs will be like permanent members of the Security Council, with the power to decide on major issues, while the gangs that join later will only have the right to speak and vote on general issues. This is the first point. When we expand the alliance for the first time, we can only approve five gangs to join, and then give them an observer status. They will have to go through a probation period before they can become formal members, etc. In this way, they will not get any actual benefits during the war between the Grand Alliance and the Iron Blood. As for what they want to gain in the future, they must earn it through their own efforts. This is the second point. Since we have approved a few gangs to join the alliance and announced that we will further expand the alliance in the future, we will give other small gangs hope: the Grand Alliance is not a super gang club, and will also recruit members from small gangs. They are not an organization that relies purely on force to unify the world. As long as I don't go against the Grand Alliance, my gang can still be preserved. Then, I believe that those neutral gangs will never surrender to the Iron Blood Alliance and destroy themselves!"
"What a great plan, brother Sky!"
"High, really high!"
"Brother Sky, you are well versed in politics. I admire you, bro!"
Everyone praised me, and I felt a little flattered. Fortunately, I listened to the flattery of Lemmings and others a lot, so my immunity was trained long ago, so I didn't get carried away. I bowed and said, "How dare I, I am just a fool who occasionally makes some gains. I need your guidance in the future."
Afterwards, we made relevant resolutions regarding the subsequent offensive, and decided to publicize the letter sent by Jiucheng and publicly express our attitude, in order to strengthen deterrence and to use it to sow discord between Tiexue and Jiucheng.
After everything was arranged, the next day the Grand Alliance announced that it would accept the five small gangs into the alliance, and claimed that any neutral gang in Pojun City was welcome to join. This move really worked, not only did no gang join the Iron Blood Alliance anymore, but even four of the 17 gangs that were originally under his command announced that they would leave the Iron Blood and defect to the Grand Alliance!
Tieti Tatiana was so angry that his nose was crooked. This man was ambitious and a great hero, but he was unlucky and encountered a strong opponent like the Thunder Alliance in the Grand Alliance. His ally, the Ninth City, was not sincere in cooperating with him and had ulterior motives, which caused the Iron Blood Alliance to always be at a strategic disadvantage.
Of course, the Big Alliance would not miss the opportunity. After resting for two days, on the third day, it once again declared war on the gangs under the Iron Blood Alliance!
There was almost not enough to go around this time. Of the fourteen gangs in the Grand Alliance, there were only thirteen small gangs left under the Iron Blood. Of course, some of them had won the previous battle and had two bases, which barely satisfied the appetites of the various factions in the Grand Alliance. Those bosses in the alliance who had not been able to obtain a branch before had also figured it out. They had to give it a try, at least to get a branch as capital, otherwise they would never be able to boldly declare war on the other side and propose to disband their gang. Then the gap between them and other gangs in the Grand Alliance would only get bigger and bigger, and they didn't know when they would fall to the same status as the small gangs that joined later.
This time, the Thunder Alliance was only allocated one attack quota (some gangs were allocated two), and I did not compete with them - not because I was afraid of quarreling and damaging the relationship, but because I was a little wary in my heart.
This time is different from last time. I can't play the same trick again, that is, declare war on Tiexue later, so that the other party has no time to mobilize troops for defense. I can only try my luck like other gangs. If the other party happens to concentrate its troops to defend the target attacked by our alliance, I will be in big trouble. In fact, this possibility is very high - since the day of the alliance, who has the deepest hatred with Tieti? Who has caused the most damage to the Tiexue Alliance? I think Tieti must hate me to the bone! When receiving 14 declarations of war at the same time, Tieti will most likely make Jinglei League the first defense target. Even if all other gangs are captured, they will defend the base I attacked and cause huge losses to Jinglei League. Only then can he vent his anger.
So, even if I succeed in attacking two targets, I may not be able to take down either one, and end up losing two divisions, which is a big loss. It is better to concentrate forces to attack one place, which has a higher chance of success. Even if I fail, I will only lose one division at most.
So I didn't participate in the competition for the quota. After selecting a target, I prepared for the attack with peace of mind.
On the day of the war, the fourteen gangs went out one after another, each attacking their own targets. The Thunder Alliance also dispatched its own troops, sending Huai Huai and Ba Dao to lead 20,000 troops to attack the Peerless Villa. The reason why the entire army was not dispatched was that if the opponent focused on defending the Peerless Villa, the entire Thunder Alliance would not be able to attack it immediately, so it would be better to retreat early to reduce the loss of personnel; if the opponent did not concentrate its forces in the Peerless Villa, 20,000 people would be enough to take it down!
After Huai Huai and Ba Dao led their troops to set off, I mobilized 30,000 troops in the alliance, plus the more than 20,000 people recruited by Meng Tian Bingyue in recent days, as well as the 30,000 troops borrowed from Tianshui Pavilion, and the most elite Thunder Regiment, and set out from the headquarters in a mighty manner to carry out a top-secret operation, leaving only more than 10,000 people at home to defend (the current size of the Jinglei Alliance has expanded to nearly 70,000 people).
This time, the attack of the major gangs was not very smooth. For the Iron Blood Alliance, this was a desperate fight. If they lost too many garrisons, they would no longer have the capital to turn over! So even though the chances were slim, they still dispersed their forces to various gangs, hoping to block as many attacks from the Grand Alliance gangs as possible. And because the Grand Alliance publicly rejected the peace talks of Jiucheng the day before yesterday, Jiucheng also felt deep pressure. If they did not cooperate with Iron Blood, Iron Blood would inevitably be eliminated in a short time, and then it would probably be Jiucheng's turn! Moreover, this time no gang took the initiative to tie down Jiucheng's forces, so they were able to go out with confidence. Jiucheng drew a large number of troops from Lianzhen headquarters and its subordinate gangs, plus the army stationed at the Silver Moon branch, a total of 200,000 troops, and dispatched 150,000 to help Iron Blood defend. Iron Blood also divided most of its own forces and stationed them in the small gangs of the alliance. On average, the garrison forces of each small gang were close to 20,000, which was really not an easy bone to chew!
The gangs in the Grand Alliance had not expected this to happen. The first batch of troops were 20,000 to 30,000, and they thought they could easily win. Unexpectedly, they could not take it. The bigger they were, the more angry they became. They all sent out their reserved troops, and each mobilized more than 50,000 troops to attack the target fiercely. Only then did they make some progress. The gangs that finally won two attack targets were in a headache. How could they mobilize 100,000 troops? They had no choice but to concentrate their forces to attack one target and give up the other target. In the end, they gained one and lost one, and the battle was in vain.
