Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 999
A lot of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators nodded at his words. That was their concern, too.
Although those Cultivators were all the dominators in their own regions, they had never stepped out of the Ancient Sages Sector in their entire life. They were out-and-out 'bumpkins', and not any bumpkins but ancient bumpkins who were thousands of years behind the contemporary era!
Now that Long Yangjun had proposed a plan to infiltrate a modern Cultivation civilization on their own, they indeed felt ill at ease.
"It seems that there's one thing you haven't got straight after three days of analysis and studies, fellow Cultivators."
Long Yangjun's voice gradually turned cold, but the air around her grew more and more daunting.
"You're under the illusion that the Ancient Sages Sector is our home, haven, and the solidest shield. You believe that we will be safe as long as we stay in the Ancient Sages Sector.
"You couldn't be more wrong!
"Given the circumstances, the Ancient Sages Sector is not our shield at all but an unbreakable shackle that confines our real strength. If we stay here, we will be doomed forever!
"Let me ask you, fellow Cultivators. What do you think the source of our power is? What is the reliance for the twelve of us to control the Ancient Sages Sector?
"Our subordinates? The Cultivation sects outside? The 'loyalty' of the tribes large and small from the desolate regions?
"No!
"The source of our power, and what we use to control the Ancient Sages Sector, is the unparalleled might of the twelve of us and the twelve Colossi!
"As long as we remain as invincible as we are, and the twelve Colossi can unleash the maximal damage, wherever we are, we can always come back and take control of the Ancient Sages Sector again!
"On the other hand, if we stay in the Ancient Sages Sector and simply hang around with the selfish, shortsighted guys from the major sects, is it going to help us at all? Are those pigs and dogs really qualified to support us instead of stabbing us in the back?"
Long Yangjun's cold voice was darting about the table like an ice knife.
Knocking the table hard, she continued, "In the past three days, I carefully studied the ways that the unparalleled experts fight in the universe, only to realize that they are completely different from our tactics!
"If the twelve of us continue lingering in the Ancient Sages Sector, we will be burdened by the traditions and the millions of 'compatriots'. We will be confined by our shackles forever. However capable we are, we will never be able to bring out our full potential.
"Our enemy can simply summon a large batch of starships and bombard our world into a wasteland with destructive cannons from the orbit of the planet. What else can we do but take the blow and be burnt and blackened or crawl into the burrows and cry for help?
"In such a case, we won't be able to bring out one percent of our combat ability!
"In the second scenario, if we leave the Ancient Sages Sector and have a head-on clash with a fleet from a modern Cultivation civilization with advanced warships and weapons—
"For the time being, it is impossible for us to be perfectly familiar with the usages of the Colossi. Any one of us can fight three to five starships in a head-on clash at most, which means that we will only be able to fight no more than a hundred starships in total. That will only be a medium-sized fleet for a modern Cultivation civilization. Also, we are not considering the logistical issues!
"In such a case, even if we can bring out a hundred percent of our combat ability, we will not be able to weather through such a head-on battle!
"However, consider the third scenario. If we march to the enemy's rear, sneak into the enemy's towns, and blend in with the enemy's people, the situation will be very different!
"According to Heiye Lan, the large cities in the Imperium of True Human Beings often have a population of tens of millions. They are complicated super mazes! I assume that the cities of the Star Glory Federation must have a population of at least ten to twenty million even if they are smaller.
"If the twelve of us sneak into a major city in the Star Glory Federation with a population of twenty million, and if we lock onto the area with the densest population or the government facilities of paramount importance, how much damage can we bring to them?
"Also, when we are in the enemy's heartland, the enemy will hold back from taking action for fear of injuring their own people. It is impossible for them to destroy us without caring about the methods and the price.
"They can bombard the surface of the Ancient Sages Sector, but can they lay waste to their own cities where tens of millions of people are living? Even if they do blow such cities to the ground, they might not necessarily be able to kill us!
"In such a case, our survival abilities, assault abilities, and negotiating abilities will all be significantly increased!
"If our combat ability is a hundred percent in the beginning, it is possible to have been enhanced to ten thousand percent!
"In conclusion, my opinion is that in battles in the environment of the modern Cultivation civilization, the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators must not have positional warfare with the enemy. They should march to the enemy's rear and start 'guerilla battles', 'unrestricted battles', 'decapitation battles', 'asymmetric battles', and other tactics that will make best use of the advantage of the immense personal combat ability!
"All those tactics have been mentioned in Heiye Lan's jade chips. I believe that you should understand them quite well and don't need me to elaborate on them, right?
"Therefore, in the game among the Imperium, the federation, and the Ancient Sages Sector, we, as a force with the weakest overall capabilities but boasting twelve Colossi, must not stay in the Ancient Sages Sector and do nothing while waiting for the enemy's bombardment. We must release ourselves and our Colossi to the enemy's internal organs, where we will play an even more important, unrestricted role!
"That concludes my proposal. What do you think, everybody?"
Including Li Yao, everybody looked at Long Yangjun in a daze. For a long time, nobody said anything.
Long Yangjun was frowning. "Fellow Cultivators, do you still think that it is just my whimsical idea? Please feel free to offer your enlightenment!"
"I wouldn't say it is enlightenment." Han Baling, the dominator from the prairies, was the first to come back to himself. He took a long breath in relief and smiled bitterly. "Lord Wang, although we have known each other for a long time, only today have I finally realized why you held such power in the court of the Great Qian Dynasty for decades without falling!"
Long Yangjun smiled and replied frankly, "I once established 'Ghost Character' on my own, which is an agency focusing on intelligence collection, infiltration, and assassination. Some of the tactics of the Imperium of True Human Beings are quite similar to the way I operated 'Ghost Character'. So, I specifically spent more time comparing and studying them. That's all!"
Chapter 1540: Sleazy and Cruel Long Yangjun! |
"Yes. They're similar to the tactics on the prairies. The soldiers on the prairies never have head-on clashes with the enemy, nor do we have a fundamental base. We simply migrate to wherever there is grass and water. The enemy can't find us at all!" Han Baling said in great delight.
"Every time the army from the central plateaus marches close, it doesn't matter even if they have a million soldiers on their side because we can simply abandon our main camp and disperse on the prairies.
"We can even slip behind them and march into the central plateaus, where we will go on a rampage. You fight your battles, and I fight mine. In the end, the enemy will often waste all their strength on marching until they are exhausted and short of supplies! That's exactly the way we crushed the three hundred thousand soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty last year!"
"Hehe!" The Cultivators from the Great Qian Dynasty all glared at him.
However, they had to admit that Han Baling did have a point and could not help but consider the possibilities of initiating guerilla battles, sabotaging facilities, and utilizing decapitation tactics behind enemy lines without fixed bases.
The more they thought about it, the more fascinated they were. All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators were nodding, their eyes glowing.
"Yes. I've been studying the arts of universal war that Heiye Lan mentioned over the last couple of days. The greatest strength for the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators is agility and mobility! We really shouldn't just stay on a single planet and wait to be besieged!"
"Instead of relying on the support of our own people, we might as well march to the enemy's rear and consider the large cities in the Star Glory Federation as our shields! If the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators such as us go on a rampage, I believe that we can turn the cities upside-down. We can easily drag millions of people to die with us if they set traps for us!"
"Also, the large cities with tens of millions of inhabitants must be very chaotic and murky. With our expertise, it may not be as difficult as we imagine to disguise ourselves and sneak in!"
"Wait and observe at the frontline of the war until we decide whether the Imperium's bid is higher than the federation's and they have a greater chance of winning or the other way around! We will not make any decision until we gather tremendous intelligence and learn the most advanced, state-of-the-art techniques in the universe. It will certainly be much wiser than a hasty decision right now! Excellent! Excellent! Lord Wang, how exactly did you come up with such a delicate solution?"
"You are flattering me!" Long Yangjun waved her hands modestly and looked at Li Yao with a smile. "I was as befuddled as everybody else just now and almost decided to recklessly surrender to the Imperium. Thankfully, at the last moment, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture reminded us and offered me new insights! If such an infiltration plan does work out, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture will certainly be the greatest contributor! We can't thank you enough, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture!"
"You're welcome!"
"Huh. Why do you look so awful, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture? Your face is pale, your eyelids are cramping, and all the organs on your face are slanted. Have you lost your cool? Are you about to be mentally deranged?"
"Not exactly! I'm just deeply astounded by your marvelous solution and inferring the subtle changes that can happen later, Lord Wang. The more I think about it, the more spectacular it appears. The consequences are unbelievable. So, I'm only feeling excited!"
"That explains a lot. I'm relieved now. Please do take care of yourself, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture. If the infiltration plan is to be carried out later, you will hold the most critical role. Nobody will be able to replace you!" Long Yangjun said confidently. "As for the deductions, I have run some of them myself. Please correct me if I'm wrong!
"If I may remind everybody, you must not think that it will be more dangerous to march into the Star Glory Federation on our own. In fact, cooperating with the Imperium right now entails even more dangers!
"Why do I say that? You will understand it after some preliminary deduction! If we accept Heiye Lan's offer right now and surrender to the Imperium of True Human Beings, we will certainly be obliged to send the specific location of the Ancient Sages Sector through Heiye Lan and allow the Black Wind Fleet to dock on our planet!
"Long-distance expeditions can be very tricky. The Black Wind Fleet has been sailing in the sea of stars for a hundred years. It's not unreasonable to assume that they are exhausted and short of supplies, right? Then, according to the fundamental military knowledge, before they launch a final strike on the Star Glory Federation, they are bound to find a stable base and set up a camp to rest for a while!
"Won't the Ancient Sages Sector be their best camp? Should they discover this place, our home will certainly be modified into a huge military camp by the Black Wind Fleet!
"By then, not only will the Ancient Sages Sector be utterly deformed, a lot of resources will also be dedicated to the war against the federation!
"Yes. For steadiness in the rear, the Black Wind Fleet may not openly rob us of the resources. However, if they propose the exchange of starships and crystal suits for resources, and if they stuff us into a few starships in the joint cooperation later and demand that we attack a certain planet of the federation, can we disobey their orders?
"Military laws are ruthlessly. Once the war begins, we will not be able to be picky anymore. However, what if the planet happens to be a critical place for the federation and it is heavily-guarded by tremendous soldiers of the federation?
"Think about it, everybody. If any of you were the commander of the Black Wind Fleet, would the idea never interest you that you should make the locals of the Ancient Sages Sector die together with the locals of the federation?"
The more Long Yangjun analyzed, the more flabbergasted everybody was.
The eyes of many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were bulging. Those who did not have much strategic knowledge and barely knew anything about the military such as Ba Xiaoyu and Master Bitter Cicada were greatly enlightened!
Han Baling slapped his thigh and said, "Your words do make sense, Lord Wing. For a universal war of such a large scale, the Black Wind Fleet will have to find a place to set up camp. After the Ancient Sages Sector is stationed and savaged by them, our world will certainly not end well!
"I feel embarrassed that I didn't think through such a simple logic earlier!"
Long Yangjun smiled and said, "Heiye Lan confessed everything so straightforwardly and offered such enticing terms probably because she also realized that the Ancient Sages Sector could serve as a camp for the Black Wind Fleet. When they do set up a camp in our world and their great army moves in, we will not be able to make decisions for ourselves!
"Therefore, surrendering to the Imperium is not entirely undoable, but we must not surrender right now. We must not allow the Black Wind Fleet to claim the Ancient Sages Sector as their military base or give them any chance to dispatch us freely and even send us to the perilous lands in the Star Glory Federation!
"We can surrender, but we must do it at the most favorable moment for us. What do you think, fellow Cultivators?"
All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators nodded in approval.
"After studying Heiye Lan's intelligence for days, I spent most time pondering what matters most in a universal war," Long Yangjun remarked. "I'm afraid that it is not a magnificent army, or an unparalleled expert, but one's own coordinates!
"Once the coordinates are exposed, chances are that the enemy may show up and assault our base anytime. We will be caught in a very passive position.
"On the other hand, as long as the coordinates of our base are not exposed, we can always run away if we can't defeat the enemy, considering the vastness of the universe. If we can't win a head-on clash, we can harass them from the rear. With the combat abilities of the twelve of us, there is no way that we can fail!
"Therefore, we must not expose the coordinates of the Ancient Sages Sector or our very existence. Darkness is our greatest advantage. We must not attract either the Imperium or the federation to our world!"
Everybody nodded again.
"Let's review the plan to infiltrate the Star Glory Federation again!"
Her eyes glittering, Long Yangjun said, "The greatest advantage of this plan is its secrecy. The coordinates and the intelligence of the Ancient Sages Sector will never be exposed. Also, we will be taking the absolute initiative. We can choose when, how, and who to surrender to freely!
"If we discover that the Star Glory Federation is a thriving, promising force after investigating the politics, economy, culture, law, military, and all the other aspects in the Star Glory Federation and figuring out their combat ability in comparison to the Black Wind Fleet's, and if the federation is willing to offer irresistibly tempting terms to us, we will join the federation and help the federation fight the Imperium!
"On the other hand, if the Star Glory Federation is useless, doomed, and merely drawing its last breath, and if the expedition army of the Imperium is too powerful to be stopped, we will get in touch with the Imperium in secret and sabotage the heartland of the Star Glory Federation. We will destroy the strategic locations in the federation, assassinate the high officials in the federal government, block the transportation routes among their planets, and raise never-ending mayhem!
"In such a way, we will prove our loyalty to the Imperium and making our contributions to the war. Also, we will be able to loot the starships, magical equipment, and even national treasury in secret while the country is caught in the fire of war!
"By my calculations, we will even have a chance to rescue all the leadership of the Star Glory Federation in the middle of the chaos. Then, following the precedent set by the Star Ocean Republic, we will help them establish a government-in-exile of the Star Glory Federation, while we are in fact taking control of the resources that they carry with them in the hope of resurrecting their country. Their own lives and the future of their country will be in our hands, and we will certainly be able to do anything we want!
"In such a case, the greatest benefits in the war between the Imperium and the federation will be swallowed by us. The Ancient Sages Sector will expand crazily on the dead body of the federation and rise rapidly, covering the gap of thousands of years in the civilization evolution!"
"F—Fantastic!" 'Heaven Battering King' Qi Changsheng, a leader of bandits and a master of looting, could not help but slap the table hard. "Lord Wang, your plan couldn't suit me better! I totally agree with it! I can't wait to go on a rampage in the Star Glory Federation together with everybody right now!"
"What do the rest of you think, fellow Cultivators?"
Smiling, Long Yangjun glanced at everybody, and her eyes eventually stopped on Li Yao's face.
