"You’re brilliant and mighty, Brother! But... aren’t we being a bit too cautious?" Qin Ziwu said with so hesitation.
Zhao Pu chid in, "Brother Wu, the Chairman’s decision is sound. Winning through surprise tactics is spectacular, but it’s also very risky. The reason historical victories won by cunning sches are so celebrated is precisely because they were so difficult to pull off."
Du Yu added his praise, "That’s right. He who lives by cunning will die by cunning. The Lord’s steady and solid approach is the best strategy."
Qin Ziwen shook his head and chuckled. "It’s not as dramatic as you all make it sound. I know I’m no military genius, so I don’t bother with all that fancy stuff. All I can do is build strong forts and fight dumb wars. I just need to execute the fundantals well."
’That really is my brother’s style,’ Qin Ziwu thought.
Before, when their Ho hadn’t reached a certain level of developnt, he had simply focused on building up quietly, letting the Alliance Association grow as it pleased.
Then, once the Ho’s structures were far more advanced, he established the Qin Alliance and caught up to them in a very short ti.
Just then, a Beaked Eagle descended from overhead.
Wang Yun let go and jumped down from the Beaked Eagle’s talons.
"How did it go?"
Wang Yun said, "Chairman, the ssage was delivered. The Alliance Association agreed to send one hundred able-bodied n. From what I saw, they even started fighting amongst themselves over those hundred spots."
Qin Ziwen nodded slightly.
Qin Ziwu swelled with pride. "We’re doing so well now, it’s only normal that those Alliance Association folks want to tag along."
The others nearby weren’t surprised to hear this. Seeking fortune and avoiding calamity is human nature.
n strive upward, just as water flows downward.
The better the Qin Alliance developed, the more desperately the people from the Alliance Association wanted to join.
"Chairman, so are we just going to wait here for now?"
"Yes, let’s wait a bit longer. There’s no rush back at the Ho. Before I left, I told Jia Liangcai to send people to search for altars, and also to build boats and go fishing. This war here won’t affect the Ho’s developnt." Qin Ziwen narrowed his eyes. "Since we’ve already made a move against Hongding Mansion, it’s best to root them out completely. We dealt with Liu Ze this ti; if we don’t finish the job, so Li Ze or Zhang Ze will just pop up next."
He never expected that in the short ti he was away, the leader of the Blood Words on the other side would dare to row across in a small wooden boat to launch a sneak attack.
If he hadn’t taken precautions and specifically assigned people to stand guard on the rooftop in shifts, the enemy might have actually pulled off their surprise attack.
Although, to be precise, the enemy did manage to raid the Ho and even activated an anchor point.
However, they had insufficient authority, so he was able to forcibly shut down the anchor point.
This victory was due to an authority override.
Otherwise, if the anchor point had truly opened, there would be no vast sea to serve as a natural barrier. The two sides would have clashed in close combat, and his people would have been caught completely off guard.
By afternoon, the flas on the island had gradually died down.
Around Hongding Mansion, the ground was covered in a thick layer of ash and embers that still gave off warmth.
A thick, burnt sll perated the air.
Yang Long led a group of people to clean up the debris, collecting the charcoal and ash.
At the sa ti, he sent another group to dig trenches.
After digging for a while, they found it highly inefficient, so they switched from digging trenches to building a wooden stockade instead.
By now, even the dumbest person inside Hongding Mansion could guess what they were doing.
They were building a wooden wall around the mansion to trap them inside!
In less than two hours, two sorties were launched from Hongding Mansion to destroy the wall, but Yang Long and his n beat them back both tis.
"Run!"
A dozen or so enemies fled in a panic, dropping their weapons and armor. They left behind seven corpses and one prisoner.
Yang Long stopped his brothers from giving chase.
"Don’t get too close, or they’ll attack from the upper floors." Yang Long looked up at Hongding Mansion. ’If they start throwing things from that high up,’ he thought, ’from the tenth or twentieth story, even a simple rock could be lethal.’
So for safety, they were building the stockade over a hundred ters away.
"Even now, all they’re willing to send out are these small harassnt squads instead of a large force." Yang Long sneered, glancing at the captured man. "Go torture him. See if you can get anything out of him."
The captive was no tough guy. Forget about holding out until they brought in a honey trap; the mont the torture began, he started wailing in pain and surrendered completely.
"I’ll talk, I’ll talk! But you have to ask questions before I can answer!"
’I barely even started and you’ve already folded?’ the portly man in charge of the torture thought, looking a bit disappointed. ’You’re nothing like those loyal, unyielding heroes in the TV dramas.’
Yang Long walked over and asked directly, "Why did you only organize such a small group? Where is everyone else in the building?"
"The floor leaders were all shirking responsibility," the captive said with a pained expression. "In the end, they decided to draw lots. Each floor had to send one person, and I was the unlucky one who got picked. Why don’t you let go? I can join you. I live on the seventeenth floor, so I know the layout inside really well. I can be useful."
"Have you eaten human flesh?"
The captive shook his head. "I haven’t."
Yang Long said flatly, "I don’t like dishonest people. Kill him."
"I have!" the captive hastily corrected himself.
"Heh. I don’t like dishonest people," Yang Long said before turning and walking away.
"You motherf—" Before the captive could finish his curse, his throat was slit.
The portly man standing behind him put away his butcher knife. With a simple grin on his face, he hurried to catch up to Yang Long. "Brother Long."
"Erhu, tell the brothers to be vigilant. Don’t give the enemy a single opening," Yang Long ordered, his expression cold as ice.
"Got it, Brother Long," Erhu nodded hastily.
From the side, a burly man with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a full beard ran over. "Brother Long, the Qin Alliance says they want to borrow one of the courtyards in our Urban Village for a bit."
Yang Long was silent for a mont, then nodded. "Let them."
’Things have already co to this point,’ he thought. ’Lending them a plot of land in the Urban Village is no big deal.’
Before long, a voice sounded in Yang Long’s ears.
[Warning, an anchor point is attempting to lock onto the Urban Village]
[Lock-on successful]
[Anchor point established]
Yang Long stopped in his tracks. He whipped his head around, staring in the direction of the Urban Village.
"You all... heard that?"
"Brother Long, we heard it too."
"It said sothing like... anchor point established."
Listening to his n’s scattered replies, Yang Long’s expression grew dark. ’I thought they just wanted to borrow a place to rest for a bit,’ he thought. ’This anchor point... isn’t that the sa thing Liu Ze was talking about setting up in the other Gated Community?’
Yang Long suddenly found the situation grimly humorous.
His own side had set out to establish an anchor point. Not only had they failed, but they had also lost a leader in the process.
And now, the enemy had turned the tables and set up an anchor point right in their own ho.
"Brother Long, should we go take a look?"
"No need. We just focus on our own work." After a long silence, Yang Long shook his head. ’It’s pointless to go now.’
Before long, a group of people hurried over from the direction of the Urban Village. As they drew near, Yang Long realized they were the n Chairman Qin had sent to help him build the wall.
...
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