Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1158 – Zhang Liang’s Persuasion
Shanhai City, Xia Palace.
The atmosphere in the Imperial Reading Room was really depressed. When the video of Alvaro choosing death instead of joining the enemy was sent over through the communication compass, Ouyang Shuo’s eyes flushed red, and he clenched his fist.
“I’ll take revenge!” Ouyang Shuo gritted his teeth.
Ouyang Shuo had already forgotten how long it had been since Great Xia had taken such a loss. This was a huge blow to the series of new policies that were about to bring Great Xia to new heights.
“The enemy took down the Atlantic Squadron, so their next step will be to attack Morocco Province. As for how to fight this war, all of you discuss your thoughts!” Ouyang Shuo said in a low tone.
Great Xia had never had its territory occupied by others, and Ouyang Shuo did not want to break that record.
Baiqi, Han Xin, and the other generals were all furious. All of them expressed the desire to move heavy troops to Morocco to go all out against the enemy. Han Xin even suggested to declare war on them.
On the other hand, Zhang Liang did not say a word throughout the process, as he had other thoughts.
Just as everyone was locked in a huge discussion about how to fight the Battle of Morocco, many emergency letters were sent up, making the bustling reading room tense up.
3rd month, 4th day.
Silver Hand’s alliance squadron had just destroyed the Atlantic Squadron. Algeria declared war on Great Xia, saying that they wanted to regain Morocco for the Morocco royal family.
Algeria was not the only country that joined this war.
Based on the intel from the Black Snake Guards, a small half of the territories in the Mediterranean was moving soldiers. The forces of those who were near like Spain had already arrived in the imperial city Algiers.
Preliminary estimations had their overall numbers at no less than a million.
“That’s great, we were going to attack Algeria, and now, they jump out.” Although Ouyang Shuo smiled, everyone could feel the rage within him.
That was not all.
Pretty much at the same time, the enemies around Great Xia started to move.
Great Zhou Dynasty, Johor, Piao Country, Java, and Romanov Dynasty; they all sharpened their blades and started to move their troops to the border.
Even the Peacock Dynasty was showing interest in Maldives.
The only thing was that the African countries around Somalia were not traditional powers, so they were not under Silver Hand and Azure Badge. Furthermore, the Mediterranean Lords were focusing on Morocco, so Africa was temporarily let off.
Silver Hand had learned from the failures of the Yanhuang Alliance.
Looking back to the past five years, the Yanhuang Alliance’s actions against Great Xia failed because they were too self-sufficient and loved to use surrounding powers as chess pieces to fight Great Xia.
In the end, Great Xia counterattacked and grew stronger instead.
Till now, the Yanhuang Alliance was suppressed by Great Xia instead, what a tragic counter-teaching material.
This time, be it the naval battle or the Battle of Morocco, Silver Hand was going all out right away. Members went to war personally to have a close combat war with Great Xia, not giving them any space to survive.
“For a presence like Great Xia, the moment they manage to take a breath, there would be huge repercussions,” Number 1 said.
In a short few days, Great Xia was in a war on all four sides.
With the situation developed to such a stage, Ouyang Shuo became calm instead. That was because there would not be anything worse than this. Now, what he needed to do was to solve this situation.
“Move!”
Ouyang Shuo got up and brought them to the map.
“The Romanov Dynasty is not a problem.” Ouyang Shuo pointed to the north of the map, “The Siberia region Liaojin Province is connected to is vast with little people, a true wilderness. It is also winter, and even if they want to send troops to attack Liaojin, it would be impossible.”
The core of the Romanov Dynasty was in Europe.
Following which, Ouyang Shuo turned his eyes down south and pointed at Southeast Asia, “Without the help of the navy, Java poses a limited threat to us. The key is Johor and Piao country. One is neighboring Siam and Hanoi Province, and one can directly threaten Xingzhou Prefecture where the Nanjiang Governor-General House is located.”
Thinking about that, Ouyang Shuo gritted his teeth toward Azure Badge.
If it were not for their actions at the last minute, these two countries would have been under Great Xia.
This bad blood was remembered by Ouyang Shuo.
“Then what about Great Zhou?” Baiqi asked.
Great Zhou and Great Xia were connected in large areas, and they had large amounts of soldiers. They were also fighting on home ground and had enough reason to start a war. As a result, Great Zhou was the biggest threat to Great Xia in Baiqi’s eyes. Why did the not king mention it?
To use the power of the organization to turn the tide, Great Zhou definitely would not miss this chance.
Even to say that Great Zhou might go all out in this battle and try to reclaim everything when it seemed impossible. It seemed like Di Chen had been waiting for this chance for a long time.
If Great Zhou participated, they could at least hold up four legion corps of Great Xia, which would be really deadly.
Ouyang Shuo smiled and took out a card. It was the war exempt card that Ouyang Shuo had kept till now.
War Exempt Card: When the territory is fighting outside the territory, has a chance to exempt war to prevent surrounding territories from attacking, lasting for one month. Friendly Reminder: War exempt is only effective within the country and is effective immediately.
When Baiqi and the others saw that, their eyes lit up, and they smiled, “With this, we can truly make good plans.” Thinking about how the Great Zhou army would come over happily and excitedly but would get stopped by a card, it was easy to predict how annoyed they would be.
Han Xin said, “So we have the conditions to fight in the Battle of Morocco?”
Ouyang Shuo was just about to nod. His character was really firm. There was no reason to back down like a turtle when Silver Hand was already at the door. There was no reason not to counterattack.
He wanted to use this chance to have a good battle against Silver Hand.
Who knows, he might be able to take down Algeria and make the plans of Silver Hand backfire.
At this very moment, Zhang Liang suddenly said, “My king!”
“Zifang, what plan do you have?” Ouyang Shuo smiled.
Zhang Liang’s expression was not relaxed as he solemnly said, “I beseech the king to give up on Morocco Province.”
Ouyang Shuo’s smile disappeared, “What did you say?” Everyone could feel the anger accumulating, which made Baiqi and the other generals shake.
Seeing that, Shi Wanshui stepped up, “Elder, why are you so pessimistic and making them look good?”
Zhang Liang did not reply.
Ouyang Shuo stretched his hand out to stop the impolite words of Shi Wanshui. He looked at Zhang Liang and said, “Since Zifang has said that, you must have some worries. Why not say it?”
Baiqi and the others looked at him curiously.
Zhang Liang nodded. Currently, his palms were sweaty.
Of the rulers in history, how many of them could listen to disagreeing opinions at the crucial moment?
When the king was really pumped up but was suddenly challenged, one would instinctively fight back. However, at such a juncture, giving up the fight was simply a risk.
However, as the dynasty’s top strategist, Zhang Liang had to mention it because it was his role. Even if he could die for it, he did not mind.
“From the destruction of the Atlantic Squadron and the intel from before, Silver Hand and the Yanhuang Alliance are two different opponents. If we choose to fight them at Morocco, will the enemy back off?” Zhang Liang asked.
“No!”
“Since that is the case, the Battle of Morocco will be one where both sides throw in millions of troops. With the grain storage there, can we support such a huge war?” Zhang Liang asked once more.
Morocco was a lone island overseas and did not produce its own grain. Usually, it was barely self-sufficient, so it naturally could not support the usage of a million troops.
“….”
The Imperial Reading Room fell into an uncomfortable silence.
When Zhang Liang saw that, he continued, “If we dare to spend and dare to pay the price, the grain problem can in fact be solved. The problem is whether the dynasty bear this price?”
“Is it worth it?”
Ouyang Shuo was expressionless, “To protect our land, anything is worth it.”
“The king is right.” Zhang Liang did not retort, “But then the Morocco battlefield will be a pit that the dynasty sinks into until we drown in it.”
“Silver Hand has many members, and they can afford the usage of resources. But the dynasty cannot afford it.”
Ouyang Shuo wanted to disagree, but he could not.
That was right, half the Lords of the Mediterranean Ocean were sending in their troops. The Dawson Dynasty and the House of Tudor had not even acted, yet they managed to push Great Xia to the edge.
In the end, Great Xia did not have the ability to go straight up against such a giant.
Thinking about it, Ouyang Shuo clenched his fist tight and felt really aggrieved.
“Once we are greatly hurt in this battle, Great Zhou, Java, Johor, Piao, Peacock Dynasty, and even the eight imperial cities in China will start to move.”
Zhang Liang’s words were not false.
Great Xia had not established absolute authority in China, and Mongol and the Turk khanate were not the only ones that wanted to challenge Great Xia’s orthodoxy.
Who knows what ambitions the people who acted like they yielded had.
An injured lion could not lead a pack and would only be attacked.
Thinking about such a scenario, even Ouyang Shuo could not help but feel a chill run down his spine, “Silver Hand has simply plotted too deeply, and they had a grasp of Great Xia’s lifeline. Their grasp of timing was also really accurate.”
“So apart from giving up Morocco, is there nothing we can do?”
Ouyang Shuo’s eyes were filled with unwillingness and was aggrieved to the max.
Zhang Liang shook his head, “That’s not so. The king has analyzed that we still have a trump card that can be of great use on the precedence that we give up Morocco.”
“Even to say that turning the tables might be possible.” Zhang Liang was confident.
When Ouyang Shuo heard that, he felt refreshed and better in his heart, “Please elaborate!” Looking Zhang Liang in the eye, Ouyang Shuo was filled with admiration and excitement.
Having a calming needle like Zhang Liang was the good fortune of Great Xia.
