Once the clean-up task on Mara’s side was completed, the fighters imdiately withdrew and rushed to the next execution point. The ss left behind would be dealt with by soone else, while the village head’s state of cluelessness was not sothing the Command Room considered.
anwhile...
The sa thing was happening at Mara’s base.
The dense sound of gunfire suddenly rang out, but quickly returned to calm. With swift and decisive action, the fighters quickly dealt with the remaining, unforgivable individuals, leaving behind an empty camp.
And countless bodies that would no longer cause harm.
After dealing with Mara’s main ’elites’, what remained were a large number of soldiers scattered around, especially at the bordering regions. Almost 1500 in number, most of them were temporary recruits. Mara had purchased a large number of weapons for their defense, investing a significant amount of resources.
However, handling such a large crowd required a different approach.
That is... persuasion to surrender.
.......
At the border...
Mara’s n were already fatigued, dealing with an enemy who didn’t take them seriously every day. With their casual military discipline, they were basically spending their days gambling.
These n were all under the command of one of Mara’s trusted subordinates, nad Karin.
At this ti, Karin was playing poker with his n in a temporary wooden hut. His initial vigilance had long been worn away by the enemy’s indifference. As long as he was getting paid, he was happy to relax on this side.
"Commander, soone from the other side is asking to see you," a soldier ran into the hut - which was really more of a shed that was open on all sides, providing only a bit of shade.
Karin jumped up in surprise. "Soone from the other side? Asking to see who? ?" He felt a touch of excitent – finally so news.
"Yes," the soldier replied.
"Bring him in imdiately," Karin dropped his cards on the floor.
His n also began to clean up quickly, sitting on both sides of the large wooden table.
Soon, a young man unard entered, his face stern, showing no fear of the surrounding ’elites’.
"I heard you wanted to see ?" Karin said with a faint smile.
"Yes."
"What for?" Karin asked.
"Persuading you to surrender."
Karin laughed at the audacity, "Ha, why should I surrender? What can you offer ?"
"Nothing. I can only offer you your life," said the man nonchalantly.
"How dare you. Who are you to threaten us..." a man jumped out, pointing at the young man, but before he could complete his threat, he was thrown forward, landing on the ground with blood oozing from the wound on his shoulder.
A sharpshooter.
Everyone imdiately realized the problem.
They quickly sought cover, aiming their guns at the frost-faced intruder.
"What are you trying to do by killing our man here?" Karin questioned.
"Commander Karin, kill him. Revenge for our brother."
"Yes, revenge."
"·····"
The intruder did not pay attention to these voices, he just looked coldly at Karin. The coldness in his eyes made even Karin feel a chill in his heart.
"So that’s your way of persuading to surrender," Karin said, his anger not light. After all, eting an enemy who’d kill on his territory was not sothing he could accept.
"Of course not. He was just too noisy, like a fly. I simply wanted my ears to have so peace," the intruder chuckled.
You just kill people when you want so peace?
What the hell?
Is he insane?
Or emotionless, like killing a chicken?
A chill ran down everyone’s spines.
"What do you want?" Karin managed to ask with evident panic.
"Very simple, surrender. If you don’t, you die. If you do, you live," the intruder replied nonchalantly.
"By what right?" Karin challenged.
"You have no choice. If you don’t agree, you’ll all die. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Checking the ti, it seems your Lord Mara has already gone to et the Maker," the intruder said casually.
This was clearly a threat, evident to any listener.
"What, dead? Who are you trying to fool?" soone questioned with disbelief.
"Do you hear that? The intense gunshots in the distance?"
At these words, everyone’s hearts sank. This was no coincidence.
The enemy was obviously prepared for this.
Even if Mara wasn’t dead, even if this was all a farce, they were trapped between two dangers. Their death was likely inevitable.
"What will you do with us?" Karin asked.
The intruder snorted, and said, "Humph, originally I wanted to kill all of you. But, keeping you alive may prove useful - and I can assure the safety of your families. Is that reason enough?" The reason for keeping them alive was, of course, because... the mining field needed workers. The shortage was critical, so generate so value before dying.
Karin sighed and said, "Give ti to consider."
"No problem, but you only have five minutes. We’re in a hurry. Five minutes later, you will all die," the man threatened.
After saying that, the intruder turned and walked out of the shed. He stood in the open space not far away, watching them.
For a mont, they fell silent.
"What should we do, surrender or not?" one of the soldiers asked uneasily.
"Mara may not necessarily be dead." Mara’s other trusted subordinate said with a glint in his eye. Without Mara, his status would be certainly lost.
"This isn’t about Mara’s vanity anymore, it’s about whether or not we make it out of this day alive. You all witnessed it, our location here is far from safe. If we don’t agree, we’ll die here tonight," Karin imdiately corrected them.
"..." There were mutterings of agreent from the crowd.
Unknown threats are the most terrifying.
"Well, let’s just go all in. Even if they say they won’t kill us now, in the future, things won’t get any better. So, might as well die fighting," a burly compatriot loudly proposed.
But as soon as he uttered the word ’die’...
His body flew backwards like he’d been severely struck. His chest was drenched in blood, he fell to the ground, silent and unmoving.
That scene...
was enough to terrify everyone else in the room. Another one has fallen, how can anyone remain calm after such a display?
"Ah... I’ll fight them myself." His close friend, driven to panic by fear, stood up and roared.
The next second...
A faint whooshing sound was heard again.
The man soon t the sa fate as the one before him, lifeless and unable to utter a word.
People gulped nervously.
Their sense of panic reached an unprecedented level.
The people on the other side were ruthless. If you’re with them, you thrive; if you oppose them, you perish. They... they were terrified.
"I suggest we surrender; otherwise, we all might die here. The tide has turned and even if we die in the future, I at least want to live to see another day in this world," Karin suggested depressively, sinking back into his chair.
The four others lower their heads in silence.
Sothing akin to surrendering...
Death isn’t scary.
But seeking death yourself, that’s truly terrifying.
Now that they all agreed, there was nothing else to be said. Karin instructed his people to drop their weapons and surrender.
His supporters were hastily assembled from a motley crew. As such, the mont the command was given, they dropped their weapons to surrender, waiting for them to be reassigned to a new master. Who’s to say they might even be allowed to return to tilling the fields soday...
During this ti, thanks to so ’unintentional leaks’ by the soldiers, many people have learned of the high living standards under their enemies’ rule: there’s no forced labor, each is reasonably autonomous, and with good law and order. Quite a few were looking forward to starting over, hoping for a better life.
anwhile...
The troops that departed from the base were preparing for a major battle
But when they neared the border, they ca to a halt without any explanation. Almost half an hour later, they resud their course. Just as the soldiers were rekindling their fighting spirit, they were astounded by what they witnessed.
What’s going on?
The enemies had stood in several rows, densely packed, all wielding empty hands and standing on the open ground not far from them.
Where were the weapons?
Where was the tense stand-off?
What the...
They all exchanged puzzled looks. Were they planning for a party?
This is crazy, they thought.
As perplexity swirled among the soldiers, the voice of their highest-ranking officer, the camp commander, could be heard: "Soldiers, our brave fighters infiltrated the enemy’s territory last night. They not only killed Mara and his guards but also convinced all the enemies at the border to surrender. Do you understand what this implies?"
The commander paused for a mont, looking at the faces around him, filled with disbelief and shock. Could they not be shocked? They were all prepared for a hard fight but now they were being told that their services were no longer needed. It was ti to clean up the aftermath. They were having difficulty coming to terms with the news.
The commander continued:
"This implies that our future enemies might use the sa tactic against us. So, from now on, whether it’s day or night, we must stay vigilant. If our territory suffers from an infiltration attack, then our hard-earned advantage will be lost. Now, the first platoon. Move to the front to accept the prisoners, handle the custody, and wait for the training team."
"Yes."
"The second platoon will move to capture Mara’s base and clear up the aftermath there."
"Yes."
"The third platoon will go to the border between Mara and Talents to stop them from exploiting the chaos. Our team will et you there. In the afternoon, replacents will arrive to take over your defensive duties. For now, your task is to protect our achievents."
"Yes."
After receiving their orders, the soldiers proceeded according to plan, following their commanders equipped with the map, and quickly drove their vehicles to their assigned locations.
Next...
Operation clean sweep began.
So, for the entire morning, the conflict with the two surrounding forces was a one-sided battle.
The way the other force was handled was just like how it was with Mara: without a leader, these people who have no sense of honor and only respect strength were easily taken care of under a bit of coercion, temptation, and iron-fisted thods.
By three in the afternoon...
With zero casualties.
They were able to completely control the territories of the two forces, leaving no one capable of stirring up any trouble.
In order to fend off provocations from the three other forces bordering these two territories, Tang Yi relocated three more platoons, each defending a different direction. He also used the teleportation node to send large quantities of military supplies, and even the scarcely used cannons Mara once owned. Using them as a deterrent, he established secure posts just in case.
The nearly hundred soldiers previously infiltrating the two forces have been reorganised into a unit, they engaged in retraining, changing uniforms, establishing new camps, and forming a special ergency squad - the second division, ped in the central region close to the junction of the three forces, ready to provide support to the three platoons at any ti.
Just like that, the initial assembly of the defense was completed.
The rest was to sort out and train the captives.
For the ti being, these people weren’t fit for defensive duties due to their lack of discipline, they all needed to be retrained, and anyone unsuited for duty would be culled. Only after at least two months of new recruit training would they be included in the territory’s combat sequence.
...
PS: I stayed up till the wee hours to complete this Chapter, which is the first one for today.
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