Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 762 Those who play strategy have dirty hearts.

The idea of ​​being wiped out is actually quite uncommon in the eyes of most people in Middle-earth, because it involves large-scale military operations. Since it's a large-scale military operation, there will always be some people who manage to break through. Even in the most terrifying massacre of a city, it's impossible to say that there are no survivors.

However, if the same thing happens in a small place, it's hard to say. In a small skirmish involving fewer than 10,000 people, once the enemy forms an encirclement, the outcome is often that one side is wiped out.

The Japanese elite samurai corps has been completely wiped out, with not a single survivor. Therefore, their rear has no idea what happened; they only know that none of the men they sent out have returned.

They hadn't really taken these pirates seriously before, because of their limited access to information and the fact that the southern region wasn't something they valued much. So they didn't care much about the pirates occupying a few hundred square miles of land.

But this time they realized something was wrong. Both the first routine annihilation and this time the elite warriors disappeared without a trace, which proved that this matter was probably not so simple.

This put considerable pressure on Soga no Iruka, who was currently in power in Japan. There weren't many truly foolish people; anyone with a modicum of common sense would know that these so-called pirates must have received reinforcements and support from Middle-earth.

"You shouldn't have done that in the first place!"

Inside the Japanese imperial court, someone sternly rebuked Soga Iruka, but this young but ambitious fellow remained completely unmoved.

Only when the voices criticizing him grew louder did he finally speak: "Do you think that bowing and scraping to them will bring peace? Ha, they will only slaughter us like pigs and dogs. Can't you see that at your age? Other people's envoys are equivalent to fifth-rank officials, but our envoys are only seventh-rank. Our Emperor is only a fourth-rank or even fifth-rank official. This is a blatant insult, don't you understand? In the hundreds of years since our two countries established diplomatic relations, have they ever sent a single envoy here? You have flattered them time and time again, but what have you gained? Now they have issued a letter of state, taking the initiative to declare war, and not even giving us any chance to negotiate. Isn't this just looking for an opportunity to exterminate our race? How long will you remain so stubborn?"

His voice was loud and clear, tinged with anger. No one else spoke. Although they all knew that the Great Empire had declared war on them because of pirate raids, wasn't the implication of going to war over a few pirates exactly what Soga Iruka had said?

Everyone present fell silent, and they all understood that there was no room for negotiation now. The Great Empire had closed all channels of negotiation, meaning that it had left them no room for maneuver whatsoever.

What else can we do but fight?

At this moment, the pirate army's vanguard had moved back twenty miles. According to standard wartime deployment, each camp was guarded by one hundred Imperial Guards, and the time for mutual reinforcement would not exceed fifteen minutes. This skirmisher formation could effectively prevent being wiped out by means of fire or water attacks, and could also confuse the enemy to the greatest extent. Moreover, retreating twenty miles would leave the enemy confused. If the enemy was suspicious, they would not dare to advance, giving them more time to prepare. If the enemy was reckless, they might make a mistake and lead their men into the encirclement of the skirmishers, where they could be wiped out in a very short time.

It's important to understand that the people who came this time weren't ordinary generals; they were led by students from the first and second classes of the Fuliang Academy Military Academy. Bao Wu was an outstanding senior from the first class, the kind who could win scholarships. Seriously speaking, the prestige of this group is almost on par with the first and second classes of the Whampoa Military Academy.

The first lesson they learned at school was to strategically despise the enemy while tactically respecting them. Even if they were to venture deep into another country's territory alone, or even just go to Mount Emei to catch monkeys, they would still need a complete tactical plan.

In the words of the commander-in-chief, every soldier is precious, and they should only be sacrificed when necessary. Any sacrifice caused by the commander represents the commander's incompetence, and this requires accountability.

After all the deployments were completed, they entered a relatively peaceful period, because their duty was not to attack. Offense required coordination with the navy, otherwise, if the battle lines were stretched out and the supply lines couldn't keep up, they would be in trouble. After all, the Fuliang army was good at everything and awesome, but it was too reliant on supplies. Now that the weather was getting colder, the supply fleet would not arrive until the spring, so they dared not rashly mobilize their reserve grain for the war.

Meanwhile, the immigrants were in a relatively peaceful place in the rear. After several months of adaptation, many of their newly established settlements have now stabilized. The pioneering groups have begun to find some scattered gold and silver mines. Although the output in this area is not high, it still brings hope to these immigrants who came to pan for gold.

Of course, besides these, there are also abundant minerals such as sulfur, lead, zinc, and copper, which are quite valuable. Therefore, the pioneering team is currently full of energy and is doing their best to explore.

Large tracts of leveled land have appeared around each settlement, and many people are taking advantage of the gradually getting colder weather to stock up on fertilizer and nourish the land, waiting to plant crops on this virgin land next spring.

The first snowstorm finally arrived in late September. According to local elders, such weather is uncommon. Based on past experience, about one-third of the people would starve to death in such weather because they could not find food.

But this year, things seem different. The locals don't know anything about civilization or justice; they only know that the tall, burly soldiers will include their share when distributing food—something unthinkable in previous years. In such severe weather, local lords, dukes, and nobles would force them to pay taxes early, depleting their savings and ultimately causing many ordinary people to freeze or starve to death. Now, the hairy man who initially became their guide has become a respected figure among the locals. Besides continuing to provide language support, he also helps mediate conflicts between the locals and the immigrants.

Actually, it's not too bad. There isn't much conflict between immigrants and locals. The bigger conflict is between the local Japanese and Mao people. These two ethnic groups often clash and see each other as a thorn in their side. However, they are very mild and restrained when facing the people of their colonial father country.

His main job is to coordinate the contradictions and conflicts between different ethnic groups in the area. But no matter what, he is now a hero of the Mao people, because from their perspective, he brought the mighty army of the Heavenly Kingdom to this place and rescued the Mao people who had been enslaved by the Japanese for hundreds of years.

The Japanese also held him in high esteem. Although he was a hairy man, he wore Hanfu and spoke Han language, and could even communicate directly with the generals of the Heavenly Kingdom. It should be noted that the warriors of the Great Wei were like gods to these Japanese, and this hairy man was the high priest who could communicate directly with the gods.

The high priest brought them a great heavenly army. The heavenly army not only did not rob them of their food and daughters, but also distributed food to them when the weather was bad. This was far better than the noble lords of the past. There was even a saying among the Japanese that it was better to be a dog for the lords of a superior country than to be a beast of burden for the noble lords here.

The problem is that the conflict between the Japanese and the Mao people seems irreconcilable. The Japanese feel that these Mao people are nothing more than inferior slaves, so why should they eat the same food and do the same work as them?

The Mao people felt that before the Heavenly Army Lord arrived, you Japanese bullied us, and now that the Heavenly Army Lord has arrived, you still bully us. Wasn't the Heavenly Army Lord's visit in vain?

The resentment between the two sides had reached a point where it was almost about to erupt, which ultimately led to them being artificially divided into two groups and relocated to the two most distant settlements.

“It seems the offensive will cease with the arrival of winter.” After analyzing the intelligence from the front, Bao Wu looked up at the snow-covered landscape outside. “The immediate priority is to get things sorted out internally and consolidate this region.”

"The commander-in-chief's order is to kill everyone above the lamp base, so why are you giving these people special treatment?"

Hearing his companion's question, Bao Wu laughed: "Use barbarians to control barbarians. I've roughly calculated that Japan's population is around eight million. Who can kill eight million people? If it really comes to that, who will dare to surrender easily in the future? The commander's order is correct, but that's only if the other side resists. What if they don't resist? If they are killed even if they don't resist, then things will be troublesome in the future."

"So your plan is to let them fight each other?"

"There has been a conflict between the Mao people and the Japanese for thousands of years. All we need to do is be a good guy and treat them normally. Occasionally let the Mao people govern the Japanese, and occasionally let the Japanese govern the Mao people. Regardless of who governs whom, there will inevitably be personal grudges involved. We will handle it impartially when the time comes. They will fight each other to the death and divide this area into two factions. Let them fight among themselves, and they will naturally not be our enemies."

After listening, Liu Changsheng nodded slightly and said, "As expected of someone from the first strategic team, he is truly filthy."

Bao Wu laughed and said, "Your special agent class isn't much better; none of you are exactly clean. Don't laugh at someone who's no better than you."

Just then, a personal guard knocked on the door and entered: "Reporting, a letter from the commander-in-chief."

"Oh?" Liu Changsheng quickly stood up: "The ship is open to navigation?"

"The anti-Japanese warships have arrived."

"Oh...it really is that ship that can get through." Liu Changsheng took the letter and smiled, "It seems the commander-in-chief has new orders."

(End of this chapter)