Chapter 304: 304, The goal, Haiyan City! _1
Hearing Lance’s suggestion, the other generals and staff members present voiced their agreement:
“What Lance has said makes sense.”
“Nemesis, the army has just gone through a major battle and needs rest, it’s indeed inappropriate to engage in another long-distance combat.”
“I too think we could consider Lance’s suggestion.”
This operation is time-consuming and exhausting, and most importantly, it is likely to offend people. Considering their own interests, these generals all tended to avoid major conflicts.
However, Tina did not support Lance. She smiled as she glanced at Su Yu, waiting for his decision.
Su Yu quieted the room with a gesture of his hand.
Then he leaned forward over the conference table, his palms flat on its surface, and smiled at Lance:
“Lance, let me ask you, if the royal families and nobilities of these small countries shift the pressure of tribute to the common people through heavy taxation, what should we do?”
“If they shift it, they shift it.” Lance looked puzzled. “What does the fate of the common people in their country have to do with us? As long as we reap the benefits, shouldn’t that be enough?”
Upon hearing his reply, Su Yu’s gaze gradually turned dangerous:
“Your words do not align with the principles of governance upheld by the Princess. The Princess highly values people’s livelihood and always puts the interests of the people first. It’s precisely because of this that she has gained the support and endorsement of the vast majority of common people.”
“But we no longer need the support of common people!” Lance patient explained to Su Yu from his experienced disposition:
“When the war began, we indeed needed the support of the common people, so we pacified them with nice words. Now that the war has ended, who cares about the life and death of these common folks? Isn’t it enough to provide them with a basic living guarantee and to ensure that they won’t cause trouble?”
Upon hearing Lance’s words, the other generals and staff members nodded understandably.
Although the Princess had always been kind to common people and issued various policies that are beneficial to them in education, healthcare, and finance, they all felt that the Princess was putting on a show.
They believed that once the common people no longer had any value to be utilized, the Princess would slowly repeal these policies.
Emperors, kings, and nobles in history were all like this, claiming to work for the people at first, but in the end, they always put the interests of their own ruling group first.
Seeing the attitudes of these generals and staff members, Su Yu shook his head with a smile.
It seemed that Alyssa was going to disappoint them.
Su Yu looked at Lance, crossed his arms, and said with a smile, “Your thoughts seem to be out of sync with the national policy… In that case, why don’t you go back home and reflect on where you went wrong?”
Su Yu gave Tina a meaningful look.
Understanding his gesture, Tina stood and said, “Lance, you’ve been relieved of your duties as a ‘Senior Staff Officer’, you may now leave the camp.”
“What?!” Lance had a shocked expression.
Just because he told the truth, he was being expelled from the camp? What sort of military order was this?
Just as he was about to argue his case, Tina’s deputy, Fiona, pulled out a ceremonial sword and pointed it at him, the chill from the blade made him shudder.
Faced with Fiona’s intimidating stance, Lance immediately backed down and rushed out of the camp.
Seeing Lance being expelled from the tent, the other generals and staff members were so surprised they were at a loss for words.
This man has quite the temper. Just one disagreement and he dismisses a high-ranking officer?
Su Yu’s gaze swept across the tent at the right time: “Does anyone have any objections?”
“None! Absolutely none!”
“Nemesis, you’re absolutely right! This man should have been dismissed long ago!”
“Lance dared to utter such outrageous comments, he is indeed not fit to be a staff officer any longer!”
The generals and staff members present hastily responded one after another, not a single one willing to speak in defense of Lance.
They were afraid that if they spoke up for Lance, they too would be kicked out of the tent by Su Yu, utterly bewildered.
“Hmm, that’s good.” Su Yu nodded in satisfaction. “From now on, everyone needs to follow the commands of Tina and myself closely and diligently study the policy instructions of the Princess. Anyone who dares to question my plan like Lance did, will suffer the same fate!”
“Understood, Nemesis!”
“We will certainly study hard when we return and we will not let you down.”
The generals and staff officers responded one after another, not even daring to let out a breath.
Now, Su Yu was the law. Whatever he said, was.
A short while later, Fiona’s subordinates brought in a large map, more than a person’s height.
The map detailed depiction of ten kingdom states and over a hundred city-states.
Whether it was mountains, rivers, routes, main cities, or troop deployments, all were detailed marked on the map.
Su Yu, Tina, and the generals and staff officers present discussed in detail on how to deploy troops, how to arrange military force, the action routes of high-ranking warriors, and what goals were expected to be achieved, amongst other items.
An hour and a half later.
Su Yu pointed to a coastal city on the far west of the map and said, “I’ve made my decision. This will be our first target, [Haiyan City]!”
“Nemesis, isn’t this a bit too aggressive?” Vice Marshal Lucas of the Empire queried:
“[Haiyan City] is the capital of the [Hills Commercial Alliance], there are seventh-class warriors stationed there.”
“And most importantly, [Haiyan City] is too far from the Empire. We would have to cross Kunke Kingdom to get there, and even a mixed elite unit of second and third-class warriors would need at least seven days of marching to arrive.”
Vice Marshal Lucas, who had acted as Marshal for some time before Tina’s ascension, was seasoned and prudent in the use of military force, always preferring modesty and steadiness. He had never been fond of such adventurous and aggressive attack strategies.
The strategy proposed by Su Yu seemed like leaving out the first three bosses in a dungeon run, using speed to evade them and go directly for the last boss.
Too risky, too aggressive.
After hearing Su Yu’s words, Tina’s eyes lit up: “Nemesis, I understand what you mean. You’re afraid that the nobles of other kingdoms will transfer their assets, aren’t you?”
Su Yu snapped his fingers: “Correct! Tina, you’re so clever!”
[Haiyan City] is located on the far western side of the continent, almost symmetrically aligned with [Pearl City] of the Goldfinch Empire.
If most of the maritime trade on the eastern side of the continent goes through [Pearl City], then more than half of the maritime trade on the western side of the continent passes [Haiyan City].
If Su Yu adopted a conservative marching strategy from east to west, the kingdoms and nation-states along the route would transfer their assets through [Haiyan City] to other continents for safekeeping. Consequently, Su Yu’s task completion rate would certainly not be high.
If Su Yu directly took out the enemy’s “heart”, firstly defeating [Haiyan City], then the assets of these nation-states and kingdoms would have no way to be transferred and would fall into Su Yu’s pocket.