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The speaker was Hong Tao, who, like Fang Tianlong, had succeeded his father to become Vice Leader. Hong Tao had not fared well in the last Leader competition, resulting in a rather poor ranking. However, since his father was the Vice Leader, after his defeat, he took the opportunity to reflect and diligently trained alongside his father for a long time. Now, Hong Tao's strength had significantly improved.
Upon hearing Hong Tao's words, Ma Xianglong, who was standing nearby, spoke up: "Vice Leader Hong's approach is inappropriate. If we launch a strong attack, it will harm the civilians, and we do not have a numerical advantage; the casualties from a direct assault would be too great."
Hong Tao looked at Ma Xianglong and said, "Then what does Vice Leader Ma suggest?"
Currently, Ma Xianglong was no longer just the steward of the New World. After uncovering the issues with the Chu Family Father and Son, Zhang Diba led his Underworld to eliminate both of them. When it came time to select replacements for the Chu Family Father and Son, Liu Guanfeng remarked to Zhang Yuru: "Ma Xianglong is honest and has been diligent in his duties for your New World. He is often by your side; you should know him best. It would be a waste to limit him to just being a steward."
Thus, Ma Xianglong transitioned from steward to Vice Leader, filling the void left by the Chu Family Father and Son. Once in position, he showcased his talents and quickly regained all the soldiers who had previously served under the Chu Family Father and Son, turning them into his personal guards.
Ma Xianglong also managed affairs that were typically handled by the Chu Family Father and Son with great efficiency. Initially, there were some objections to this new Vice Leader, but seeing how swiftly Ma Xianglong integrated the former Chu Family forces silenced most dissent.
Zhang Yuru looked at Ma Xianglong and asked, "Vice Leader Ma, do you have any good ideas?"
Ma Xianglong sighed and replied, "I haven't thought of a solution yet; I'm just considering how to reduce the number of soldiers in the city or instill a sense of war-weariness among them. If we can achieve that, it would make our siege much easier."
After hearing Ma Xianglong's words, Zhang Yuru couldn't help but admire Liu Guanfeng's insight; Ma Xianglong was indeed very clever. Although he hadn't come up with a specific plan, his thoughts aligned with Liu Guanfeng's: how to make the soldiers inside the city feel weary of war.
"I must say that my thoughts align with Vice Leader Ma's," she continued. "I've also been contemplating how to induce war-weariness among the soldiers in the city. Ideally, we could incite a mutiny; that would make our siege much simpler."
"Then Big Leader, do you have any good ideas?" Ma Xianglong asked as he looked up at Zhang Yuru.
"I do have some suggestions; let everyone listen and see if they are feasible." Zhang Yuru then shared Liu Guanfeng's plan with all the leaders present.
As she spoke, Ma Xianglong's eyes widened. By the time Zhang Yuru finished explaining her plan, Ma Xianglong looked as if his eyes might pop out of his head. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "Big Leader, this plan is excellent! Why didn't I think of it? This approach will definitely work!"
The other leaders nodded in agreement after hearing Zhang Yuru's proposal; only Hong Tao looked at Zhang Yuru with confusion: "Big Leader, will this plan really work? I still think a direct assault is better."
Zhang Yuru smiled slightly: "Vice Leader Hong, you are too anxious. We have just arrived here and are quite exhausted. If we attack now, victory will be difficult. Instead, let's allow our soldiers some time to rest and recuperate while we use this period for other activities. This way, we achieve two goals at once."
Hong Tao saw that Zhang Yuru was determined, so he could only say to Zhang Yuru, "In that case, everything will depend on Big Leader's arrangements."
After seeing that Hong Tao agreed, Zhang Yuru began to arrange the next steps, and everything started to be implemented according to plan.
The next morning, a guard rushed in and said, "President, look." The guard held an arrow that had no tip, and a small note was tied to the shaft.
The note read: "Winter Thief has conscripted countless people for personal gain, imposing various harsh taxes. Today, the New World leads everyone to overthrow the Severe Winter regime. We hope you can find your way back; your family is still waiting for you at home. Please do not resist needlessly."
"When did you find this?"
"Just now. President, there are still many arrows being shot into the city," the guard replied.
Liu Guanfeng stepped out and saw that the entire street was filled with arrows, each with a note attached. Liu Guanfeng picked up another note from an arrow that said: "Put down your weapons and go home; your parents are waiting for you."
Moreover, Liu Guanfeng faintly heard someone outside the city shouting something. Upon listening closely, he realized it was a list of accusations against Severe Winter or pleas for them to return home, all shouted according to Liu Guanfeng's instructions.
That evening, Liu Guanfeng sent instructions to XP, asking it to tell Zhang Yuru that it would be best to arrange for some people to play instruments or sing in the evening, creating some music that evokes longing; this might have a better effect.
After hearing this, Zhang Yuru followed through with the plan. Outside the city, everyone was diligently executing Zhang Yuru's arrangements. Only Hong Tao believed that everything Big Leader was doing was meaningless and merely wasting time. So when Zhang Yuru assigned tasks to him, he casually delegated them to his subordinates. Fortunately, the tasks did not require much skill, so his subordinates performed well.
Thus, days passed by. When the first batch of arrows carrying messages shot into the city, Summer City was thrown into an uproar. Lei Ding immediately dispatched people to collect all the messages and forbade anyone from reading them; however, it was too late. The news had already spread among the soldiers. Although they dared not speak openly due to Lei Ding's pressure, privately everyone was already aware.
Additionally, every morning, noon, and evening, soldiers from the New World shouted or sang or played music outside the city walls, causing those soldiers on the city towers to suffer greatly. Gradually, emotions of longing for home and resentment surrounded all the soldiers' minds.
Moreover, many soldiers had their families in the city. After learning about what was happening outside, many family members came looking for their relatives serving in the military—fathers, sons, or others—pleading with them not to serve anymore and to come home.
As time passed, the emotions of soldiers in the city began to change. Many soldiers transitioned from mere longing into action; gradually, the number of deserters began to increase. Some climbed down from the city walls during night duty. When soldiers from the New World learned that these were deserters from within the city, they not only did not stop them but even provided them with fare for their journey home.
All of this was clearly visible to those on the city towers. Consequently, more people began to flee. To prevent further desertions, Lei Ding replaced local soldiers with outsiders for night watch duties; however, this did not prove effective either. Not only did those confined in the Barracks want to go home but even local soldiers began attempting to escape. Many who fled would hide immediately upon returning home. Lei Ding sent people out searching but could not find them.
Seeing that this situation was becoming increasingly severe and that forceful suppression was ineffective, Lei Ding sought out City Lord Wang Huancheng.
"City Lord."
"It turns out to be General Lei. How are things outside?"
"City Lord, the situation is not optimistic. The number of soldiers fleeing has not decreased; in fact, it has increased significantly."
"Then how many soldiers do we still have in the city?"
"Replying to the City Lord, nearly ten thousand soldiers have fled from our city. We currently have ninety thousand soldiers left. If this continues, we will soon have no soldiers left in the city."
"What should we do? Should we charge out now?"
"We can't charge out now either. The soldiers are all thinking about how to escape and cannot engage in battle. Moreover, what we lack the most right now is a general. The rebels outside are very brave, and we cannot defeat them."
"What should we do then? You are the City Defense General; think of a solution."
"City Lord, I have come to you for discussion because I am also at a loss."
Wang Huancheng glanced around and lowered his voice to speak to Lei Ding: "General Lei, if it really comes to it, should we abandon the city and surrender?"
Upon hearing this, Lei Ding was taken aback. It could be said that both of them had arrived at the same conclusion. When they could no longer suppress the fleeing soldiers, Lei Ding had already thought of surrendering. There was no other reason; they simply could not hold out any longer. What they needed most was reinforcements from Severe Winter, but for several consecutive days, their orders had been to resist to the death. Meanwhile, their reinforcements had yet to arrive. At this rate, in a few more days, there would be no soldiers left in Summer City.
If that time came, not only would the city be breached, but even his own head as a general would not be safe. If they surrendered now, there might still be a glimmer of hope for survival. He had originally intended to suggest surrendering to Wang Huancheng but did not expect that Wang Huancheng would say it first.
In fact, Wang Huancheng had been quite loyal to Severe Winter initially. His loyalty began to waver when Severe Winter withdrew all their soldiers from Summer City. From that moment on, he realized that Severe Winter had already begun to abandon them. Coupled with the recent incidents of desertion, his resolve to surrender became even stronger.
Moreover, during these days, he received inexplicable letters every day urging him to surrender quickly; otherwise, they would take their lives at any moment. He had asked who delivered these letters, but the guards could not clarify. No matter how many bodyguards he arranged around him, he would find such a letter the next day. All these factors forced him to consider surrendering.
Lei Ding looked at Wang Huancheng: "City Lord, I have also thought about surrendering as you mentioned, and I believe it seems to be our only feasible option."
"Then let’s contact them now and open the city for surrender."
"The Lord of the City disagrees."
"Didn't you also say you wanted to surrender? Why is it not agreeable now?"
"How about this, my lord? Even if we surrender, we cannot do so too easily. We need to put some pressure on them; otherwise, if we just surrender, they won't take us seriously."
"Then General Lei, do you have any good plans?"
"I have a plan that isn't really a plan."
"Let's hear it."
"My lord, tomorrow I will take people out to engage their Leader in battle. If we win, we will force them to retreat. If they win, we will open the gates and surrender. This way, even if His Majesty investigates later, we will have an excuse. Otherwise, if their uprising fails again, neither of us will survive."
Wang Huancheng nodded. "Then everything will be done according to General Lei's wishes. I will prepare the documents tomorrow. If you truly suffer defeat, I will immediately open the gates and surrender."
Lei Ding thought to himself: You never had faith in me from the start. But then he realized that given the current situation, no one could be optimistic about him.
After the two reached an agreement, Lei Ding returned to the military camp to prepare for the next day's events, while Wang Huancheng worked through the night to draft the surrender documents and other related paperwork that the Lord of Summer City should prepare.
The next morning, after breakfast, the North Gate of Summer City was opened. Lei Ding led his two thousand soldiers out from Summer City and stopped at a position five hundred meters from the New World military camp. He turned to a guard beside him and said, "Go tell their Boss to come out and fight me to decide the fate of Summer City."
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