Chapter 1916 Disaster
After learning from his experiences in the previous timelines, this future Meng Chao chose to trust Lu Siya without reservation.
He handed over all of Dragon City"s internal affairs, including the construction of the new Dragon City, to Lu Siya.
He was able to get rid of many trivial matters that he was not good at or interested in and put all his energy into military affairs.
Lu Siya did not disappoint him.
Everything she touched turned to gold, and of course, she was also unscrupulous when necessary. Whether it was Dragon City"s economic system or the relationship between the Azure Alliance and the nine great families, she had handled them well.
Therefore, Meng Chao was immensely satisfied when he saw a Dragon City civilization that was several times stronger than the ones in the previous timelines.
Such a prosperous and powerful civilization naturally brought more stable logistics support to the front lines. This allowed the flood of steel under Meng Chao"s command to unleash their firepower to their heart"s content.
No magic tower could withstand a carpet bombing that lasted for three days and three nights.
If there was such a tower, then he would wait it out for another three days and three nights.
With multiple memories of the future, Meng Chao learned a lesson from those timelines. He had been too eager for quick success and had cared too much about conquering cities and seizing territories. In the end, he never paid attention to building good relationships with his allies.
Since there was a master of internal affairs like Lu Siya now, he was determined to fight steadily.
He did not care about the gains and losses of a city or a place. He was not in a hurry to start a decisive battle with the Holy Light faction either. In terms of the latter, he was considering more than just the outcome of the battle. He wondered whether the Holy Light faction would launch a s.p.a.ce-based orbital strike if they lost too quickly and too miserably.
Hence, Meng Chao placed the main focus of his grand strategy on opening up the communication lines between the various Chaos tribes and helping them raise the level of their civilization. In addition, he made use of their talents and technology to feed Dragon City"s civilization. That was his way of shaping the Other World"s fate.
His initial surprise attack had caught the Holy Light faction off guard. After he occupied a large area of land, Meng Chao ordered his army to stop rushing forward since the enemy might have cut off the logistics supply line. They patiently familiarized themselves with the newly occupied area and established three three-dimensional defense lines that were more than a hundred kilometers long.
"We should work on our internal strength first before we slowly suppress the Holy Light faction. We should even wait for the Holy Light faction to cave under internal pressure and take the initiative to attack us.
"After all, defense is always better than offense."
Meng Chao used this justification, along with the flood of steel that Lu Siya had provided him, to temporarily convince Doomsday Wolf Ka.n.u.s and his subordinates, Picturesque Orchid Lake"s proud soldiers.
This strategy worked.
Due to Meng Chao"s secrecy, the Holy Light faction in this timeline never learned the true nature of Dragon City"s civilization and its true strength until more than a year into the war.
Meng Chao controlled the battle line perfectly and gave the Holy Light faction hope that they could break through the enemy"s defense line. Yet, when they gathered their army and charged at it once more, their elite warriors—whether human, elf, or dwarf—would be covered in blood. They would fight for nothing behind and beyond the defense line that was filled with mines, barbed wire, and heavy machine guns.
While the Holy Light faction"s attention was focused on the attacks in the southern battlefront, Meng Chao increased his secret a.s.sistance to the Chaos faction in the north. He quietly helped them learn new military techniques and war theories so that they could transform their weapons.
When the armed northern tribes of Chaos began to attack the Holy Light faction from the rear, it was too late for the priests, lords, sorcerers, and knights of the Holy Light faction to regret.
Meng Chao had made the right choice.
This shaped the best situation for the Dragon City civilization in this timeline.
The vanguard of the Chaos faction had gotten infinitely close to the location of the Holy Light Temple"s highest altar several times. The location was Holy Light City.
Lu Siya had even helped Meng Chao build a large team of spies and special agents. They were responsible for infiltrating the enemy"s rear, gathering intelligence, splitting up the benefits, and even a.s.sa.s.sinating, setting fires, and creating large-scale terrorist incidents.
As the balance of victory tilted more and more toward the Chaos faction, many of the Holy Light Temple"s believers abandoned their faith and surrendered to the Dragon City civilization.
Therefore, Meng Chao tried to rely on them to figure out how to activate the s.p.a.ce-based orbital strike.
He would first deal with the sword of Damocles hanging high above the Other World before he launched his final attack.
However, Meng Chao did not realize that his conflict with Lu Siya had been brewing, growing, and expanding in secret. It had already expanded to the point where it could not be ignored or removed.
To be more precise, it was not him and Lu Siya who had a conflict.
Instead, it was the interest groups that surrounded him and Lu Siya.
To put it more clearly, it was the military group by his side that had been attacking cities and seizing territories on the front lines.
Then, there was the civil servant group on Lu Siya"s side that provided them with economic and logistical support. They helped maintain the operations in the entire civilization.
The struggle between civil and military officials had existed since ancient times.
Usually, martial arts would be valued over literary skills during war, and battle achievements would determine the outcome.
However, the Dragon City civilization"s war to conquer the Other World was special.
This was because the differences between the races were too great, and Dragon City"s initial strength and core population were too small.
Most of the time, attacking the heart of a nation was more important than just pure violence.
Besides, even if it came to brute strength, the monster in Lu Siya had been hiding for decades while she had been gradually recovering her strength. She was not inferior to anyone except Meng Chao and a few other super elites.
She was ambitious and not willing to just be Meng Chao"s woman.
Meanwhile, the nine great families were not willing to play a role in economic construction.
Therefore, with the excuse of establishing a Secret Intelligence Department, expanding the secret armed forces outside of the army that Meng Chao commanded became a common need for both Lu Siya and the nine great families.
To be clear, the secret armed forces that were similar to ancient a.s.sa.s.sins, ninjas, and even spies had not been formed to target Meng Chao.
Most of the time, they helped Meng Chao complete many missions that the military, Battle G.o.d Palace, or Broken Star Club struggled to complete.
They ensured that the war on the front lines went smoothly and also allowed Meng Chao to maintain a righteous as well as upright image.
However, just like any organization that had a lot of money, violence, and secrets, once it grew to a certain stage, it turned into a monster. It wanted to break free from all restraints and control its master instead.
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