Chapter 1009: Kill the Dragon?
No longer coming across any scattered Sacks troops, the Fickle Army got to enjoy a rare break, which they didn’t expect to last for several hours.
“Why aren’t they doing anything?” asked Tan Xin impatiently as she could no longer sit still.
“They probably realized that they weren’t our match in street warfare, so they’ve all gone to guard the gates and hope we’ll be worn out to death in here.” Bai Xiaofei saw right through the Saintess’s plan, but he didn’t look relaxed at all.
“Wear us out to death? Their granaries have been destroyed while we have enough food to last us for ten, fifteen days,” Zhu Chunyang voiced his doubt.
“So they will definitely make new moves. We can only wait and see.” Bai Xiaofei sighed. He did not like this situation, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. No matter what, they had completed their first stage mission beautifully…
The Saintess didn’t keep them waiting for long. However, the news that Bai Xiaofei got made his heart lurch.
This woman is too cruel!
Through amplifiers around the fortress, the Saintess’s voice reached every corner. The content could be summed up in one sentence: ‘Everyone needs to get out of the fortress before 10 o’clock tonight, anyone who fails to leave will be executed!’
“Boss, what does this mean?” A confused Zhuang Shuo didn’t realize how fatal this was for the Fickle Army.
“The reason why we have the advantage is that besides us being good at small-scale skirmishes, the Sacks soldiers can’t just unleash their full strength in their own place. Once all the irrelevant people in the fortress leave, they can have no scruples at all and just besiege us because, by that time, they don’t have to think about anything and can just kill any living person they see,” Bai Xiaofei explained.
Everyone gulped.
“Can’t we just blend in to get out?” asked Ye Qingtong. In her opinion, this was not difficult for the Fickle Army.
“Impossible. You think this ‘get out of the fortress’ is as simple as it sounds? The gate guards will definitely conduct detailed investigations on everyone. In addition, our energy will be sealed, so we can only disguise ourselves. I bet that Saintess even expects us to be muddle-headed and try that,” Bai Xiaofei analyzed.
Hearing this, everyone’s expression grew ugly at once.
“So to speak, we can only wait helplessly for them to come and handle us?” Tan Xin frowned, her tone dejected.
“Yes, that’s what it looks like at the moment. However, I have good news and bad news,” said Bai Xiaofei, giving everyone some hope just as they started to look despondent.
“What’s the good news?” Ye Qingtong immediately asked. She had heard enough bad news.
“If everything is going according to my previous arrangement, then by now, Moonlight should have deployed troops to Colorful Star. As long as they arrive before we are forced to show ourselves, then we can just swagger out.”
Sure enough, this was good news. Everyone’s eyes lit up with joy.
“What’s the bad news? Don’t tell me it was just a joke,” Ye Qingtong questioned.
“Of course not, or else what’s the point of the good news, right? The bad news is that if this Saintess is composed enough, we will have to persist for at least three days before the pressure reaches this place.”
“What pressure and what not? Don’t play word games at a time like this,” Tan Xin immediately went straight to the point.
Bai Xiaofei took a deep breath. “Alright, since we have nothing to do anyway, I’ll be specific.”
He raised his hand, and a stone stool rose from the ground. Clearly, he really meant ‘specific’ in its most literal way…
“This started with a talk between me and the emperor. She told me about her two most difficult problems, which you should already know. Of course, the main problem is still those small fortresses, while the prejudice of Moonlight people can just be solved conveniently while we handle it. Since then, I have been thinking about how to wipe out all those small fortresses in one breath!”
At this point, all ears had completely pricked up. Our boss is as formidable as ever. He’s not interested in solving problems in more than one step!
“I finally realized the core problem. The reason why those small fortresses are a headache lies in their troop size. Several tens of thousands, which is neither a big nor small number. As long as they are dealt with, those fortresses will become vulnerable!”
“So, I organized a ‘friendly’ contest with those three generals. By taking down that first small fortress, we made our name and actions known and coupled with the three general’s actions, the Sacks would think that Moonlight wants to wipe out their temporary fortresses, so the first thing they did would be to send reinforcements.”
“This is also the first step of my big plan. As Colorful Star is the nearest fortress to those temporary fortresses, it will definitely be the transit station for the Sacks reinforcements and itself will be mobilized. Under this premise, we did the opposite and passed those small fortresses to come here directly. Since the majority of the troops were dispatched, Colorful Star was bound to be quite empty.”
As Bai Xiaofei paused to catch his breath, everyone started digesting his words and recalled all of their actions so far. Then, it all became clear and they realized that no move they made had been unnecessary!
“Using this opportunity, we snuck in. Since Colorful Star is their transit station, we’ll pull the rug right from under their feet. The defensive force in Colorful Star Fortress is insufficient so the chaos we stir up will fluster them, but since it’s unrealistic to demand reinforcements from other forts at a time like this, they have only one choice – recalling their own troops!”
“It was outside of my expectations how highly the Sacks regard us. If my guess is not wrong, their Saintess must be right here, and she knows me quite well, so she recalled the troops before we even started causing trouble.”
“However, recalling their own reinforcements isn’t enough for me. I want all those small fortresses drained! So we burned down the granaries and gave them the impression that we want to prolong this little infiltration. I bet that Saintless is having a headache now.”
Finishing his words with a smirk, Bai Xiaofei took out a gourd and drank a mouthful.
“Why is she having a headache?” Ye Qingtong gulped. The lesson she learned today had been too vivid.
“At first glance, we came just to cause some trouble and should have fled after we succeeded. However, when our stay prolongs and we don’t seem to be in a hurry, they will have to reconsider this idea. If right now, Moonlight suddenly deployed all of its force to Colorful Star, do you think they would panic?”
“Before we came here, I had sent the emperor a letter, stating what she should do to cooperate with us. Without incident, the Moonlight army should have been deployed for quite some time, giving them the impression that they are fully targeted. If they endure this pressure from Moonlight’s main force to continue this grinding game with us, then they will probably be sandwiched very soon and their chances of defending Colorful Light will be next to zero.”
“Coupled with the problem of lacking food, they will have to summon troops of those small fortresses to replenish personnel as well as supplies while facing the decision between either killing us quickly or letting us leave.”
“But this is our secret, the Moonlight army will not come here. Once they drain the small fortresses to aid Colorful Light, the Moonlight Army will immediately make a turn and quickly clean up those small fortresses. That period is the only gap we can exploit. Before the Moonlight Army makes a turn, we must get out of this place while the Sacks are caught in a dilemma!”
Bai Xiaofei finally finished his lesson. At this point, the chess game of ‘pretending to kill the dragon to cut off its claws’ had fully revealed itself in front of everyone.
“Boss, you are a pervert!!” Zhuang Shuo broke the long silence with heartfelt praise, successfully making the group of people laugh.
“Shut up if you don’t know how to correctly praise others, otherwise, I don’t mind sewing up your mouth!” Bai Xiaofei rolled his eyes at Zhuang Shuo before letting out a sigh. “What I’m worried about now is that we won’t make it through before the pressure from the Moonlight army reaches this place. From the Sacks’ action, they are going to put all their eggs in one basket.”
Bai Xiaofei had considered everything he could, but he still underestimated how high of a threat the Saintess considered him to be!
“You seem to forget one thing,” Ye Qingtong suddenly said.
Bai Xiaofei immediately looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you say that the person behind the Sacks knows you very well? So, have you considered how much she is willing to sacrifice to capture you?” Ye Qingtong asked, shocking Bai Xiaofei silly.
Shit! No way it can be that serious, right?!!