Mage Veigar

Chapter 306 Convinced
Concealing the truth.

This is the first of the Thirty-Six Stratagems. Concealing the truth is only a means, while crossing the sea is the ultimate goal. These four words are a metaphor for using lies and disguises to hide one's true intentions from the enemy, but acting secretly in secret.

First, hand over the letter of surrender.

This was to create the illusion of a desire for peace and lower the Kingdom's vigilance.

Imagine that the dynasty army is now surrounded by enemies and ambushes on all sides, with no reinforcements or supplies, and even the meaning of fighting is meaningless. It is no exaggeration to say that the only option is death.

Therefore, anyone with normal thinking would think that the dynasty army would definitely surrender, and no one would doubt the reliability of this letter of surrender.

Besides.

Opening the four city gates and placing the war airships outside the gates, exposing all of their actions to the sun, was also to remove the kingdom's last bit of scruples. As the victorious country, Vega was betting that the kingdom would not attack the disarmed opponent again before the surrender ceremony.

When the enemy completely lets down their guard.

Veigar suddenly launched an attack on the eve of surrender, when the enemy was at their most arrogant and might even celebrate victory in advance. Using this unexpected method could not guarantee anything else, but at least it could catch the enemy by surprise and maximize the chance of victory.

And none of the generals here are fools.

After hearing what Vega said, they certainly understood that although they could not guarantee that they would be able to break out successfully, they could take advantage of the unexpected and increase the success rate of this breakout to the maximum.

need to know.

Before Vega said his last words, even they thought that Vega was ready to surrender. This method could deceive even his own people, let alone the Kingdom’s troops who were completely in the dark?
Therefore, the Dynasty Army began to cooperate with Vega's actions.

In the evening of the same day, Kerison delivered a letter of surrender to the commander-in-chief of the Kingdom Army, Tanier Rheinberg.

"Hahaha."

Tanier laughed and opened the meeting: "My dear colleagues, everything is just as General Ingril expected. The Dynasty and Imperial armies can no longer hold on and are ready to surrender."

"This time, the last nail was removed without any effort."

"General Ingrier's strategy of surrounding the enemy without attacking is ingenious."

"It looks like the situation in the east will be completely stable in five days, and our army won't suffer any more casualties."

"..."

No one doubted the reliability of this letter of surrender, and there was no precedent of false surrender in Jialan's war history, so they all praised Ingrir highly, saying that he was able to force the dynasty to surrender in such a bloodless way, which at least reduced their troop losses by half an army group.

But that's it.

A staff officer in his 20s with the rank of lieutenant colonel asked a question: "Commander, could this be a fraud?"

"Hahaha--"

The answer was a room full of laughter. A major general looked at the young staff officer with a caring look and said, "Since you said it was a fraud, please tell me why the Wang Chao army pretended to surrender? Was it for ridiculous beliefs and oaths?"

The young staff officer was speechless.

"Quiet, quiet."

Commander-in-Chief Tanniel stopped the crowd from bombarding the young staff officer and said, "Today is a happy day. Let's not discuss this matter anymore. I will hold a banquet tonight to share the fruits of our victory. Please enjoy yourselves."

The kingdom's top leaders held a banquet.

The generals completely let go of the urgency of the war, and even Ingril picked up his glass and drank heartily.

But at this time of shared joy, the young staff officer made an inappropriate suggestion to Tanir: "Commander-in-chief, although the dynasty has submitted the letter of surrender, the formal ceremony will be held in five days. Shouldn't our army maintain basic vigilance? If the dynasty attacks our army at this time, we will suffer heavy losses."

"Lieutenant Colonel, stand down!"

The chief of staff saw that his subordinates did not understand his intentions. He let it go the last time, but this time he could not help but stood up and stopped them directly. There was some embarrassment on his face. After all, it was his subordinates who did not understand the atmosphere.

"It's okay, it's okay." Commander-in-Chief Tanniel tried to smooth things over: "Lieutenant Colonel, this is a manifestation of fulfilling your duty. Maybe the Dynasty Army is just pretending to surrender, hahahaha."

At the end, even Tanniel himself was amused by his own words.

There was laughter at the banquet.

But at this moment, a scout rushed into the banquet: "Urgent report from the front line, the Dynasty Army has made new moves."

wow-

The lively banquet fell silent. Everyone was startled by the scout. At the same time, they looked at the young staff officer. They couldn't help but wonder if the crow's mouth had come true.

"What's happening on the front line?"

Hearing the anxious voices of several generals, the scouts did not dare to neglect: "The four gates of Tully City suddenly opened, and all the enemy's air forces took off and landed in the open space outside the city."

"Have any enemy troops launched an attack?"

"That's not the case, but..."

The first half of the scout's words made everyone feel relieved, but the second half made everyone nervous again.

However, the scout's third sentence put their minds at ease again: "But the Dynasty Army is only conducting night training around the city with weapons. They have no intention of attacking, and the training troops are no more than two regiments."

"Is there any other information?"

"Reporting to the generals, these are the only movements of the enemy."

After the scouts left the banquet, Tanier raised his glass again and smiled awkwardly: "Hahaha, look how nervous you all are. The Dynasty Army is just expressing their determination and sincerity to surrender to us. There's no need to make a fuss."

Although he said this, the cold sweat on his forehead betrayed Tanniel's nervousness.

However, the other generals were not much better. They were all frightened by the young staff officers and scouts. But it was this "crying wolf" that made them, from top to bottom, firmly believe in the sincerity of the Dynasty army's surrender.

As for that ignorant young staff officer?

Unfortunately, this only discordant voice has been exiled to the frontier by the Chief of Staff.

In addition, there is no such thing as an impenetrable wall in the world, and the Kingdom Army Command did not control public opinion, so the news that the Dynasty Army would immediately surrender had spread throughout the army, and the gossip at the banquet was even known to everyone through the mouths of scouts.

At this moment, everyone from top to bottom let down their guard.

They were even accustomed to the dynasty's daily increase in training troops, and would even say hello to the dynasty soldiers who occasionally passed by. After all, their tense nerves relaxed and no one did not desire peace.

This harmonious atmosphere continued until the fourth night.

That evening, the kingdom held another banquet to make up for the previous banquet which was almost ruined by the young staff officer and scout. Besides, there was a surrender ceremony tomorrow, so there was nothing to worry about.

For this banquet, the Chief of Staff even ordered that scouts be prevented from entering.

If this is the case for the top brass, what about the lower-level soldiers?

The soldiers on duty at night have already started to gather for gambling. As for the patrolling war airships, there is not a single one. There is no one to supervise them anyway.

And it was at 00:00 in the early morning when the banquet reached its climax.

Vega began to order the magicians to secretly board the magic airships parked outside the four city gates. The main force was also assembled and broke out towards the north gate.

Vega didn't know whether this war could be won.

But he has done what he should do. Whether he can succeed depends on whether the royal army from top to bottom has given up its vigilance.

(End of this chapter)