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When Chen Yucheng moved the prisoners back to Xuanwu Pass, news about the fall of Xuanwu Pass had already been spread. Ouyang Shuo, who was still touring Shaozhou Prefecture, had decided to give Chen Yucheng a special reward.

After taking down Xuanwu Pass, the Leopard Legion Corps was still not satisfied. The two legions gave the impression that they could enter Guilin Prefecture through both the Weiwu Pass and the new Guiping Pass.

With the P1 Type Cannons helping them, the fall of these two passes was just a matter of time.

...

Both Chuanbei City-State and Xiangnan City-State had received the news, and they were not as calm.

Shanhai City had just taken down Lingnan City-State with lightning speed, and their troops were at their sharpest. As their neighbors, the two City-States felt extremely terrified and were worried that someday the flames of war would burn into their territory.

However, Shanhai City had made it very clear that they wanted to first get rid of Yunnan City-State, which gave them some breathing room. Who knew that at such a sensitive time, Shanhai City would suddenly take down Xuanwu Pass?

The Lords from the two City-States gathered together once more to discuss their plans.

”What is the goal of Shanhai City? Are they trying to divert our attention once more when their true goal is to attack both of us?” The Lords were terrified.

”No way, with their current soldier numbers, there is no way they can deal with us both at the same time.”

’Then, what if their goal is actually just one of us?”

”....”

The situation instantly quietened down, and the Lords all exchanged glances with one another.

The atmosphere of the entire hall instantly became rather queer.

If Shanhai City was truly going to choose from one of them, they would naturally wish that Shanhai City would choose the other party.

The Lords of Chuanbei City-State were even more terrified.

After all, the one that the 2nd legion attacked was their Alliance Army.

Just at this moment, someone stepped out and said, ”It’s impossible, Shanhai City definitely would not start a war with us at this moment.”

”What makes you think so?”

Seeing that the one that spoke was Zhang Liang, they did not dare to take his words lightly. The strength and intelligence of Zhang Liang was something they had all witnessed before.

At the current moment, the two City-States desperately needed some news to lift their spirits.

”The time is not right, the location is not right, and the tactics are not right.” Zhang Liang said three reasons that were not right.

”Let’s mention the time. Currently, the Shanhai City Army is organizing itself, and the three new legions have not been formed yet. At such a time, it is really stupid to fight, and it does not fit the style of Shanhai City.

”Let’s talk about the location. After taking down Lingnan City-State, the Shanhai City Army could have used Shaozhou Prefecture to directly attack Xiangnan Province, but they did not do that. They could also use Kunming Prefecture to attack Chuanbei Province. Why would they choose a central location like Guilin Prefecture and alert both of us?

”The last one would be the tactics. Looking at how they fought, each battle they would use many legion corps. This time, only the 2nd legion was sent out, and not even the 1st legion was sent out to attack Guiping Pass. If they really wanted to attack us, they definitely would not do this.”

”Furthermore, the 2nd legion did not chase the win to attack Weiwu Pass. If they were really going to take us down, why didn’t they continue to use their cannons?”

Zhang Liang looked around at the various Lords and said confidently, ”So Shanhai City definitely would not fight here.”

The moment they heard his words, the Lords could not help but clap. All of them were fully energized, like they had placed down all the weight on their shoulder. The gloominess from before was swept away.

”Well said, it could not be more correct!”

”That’s right; this must be the case!”

The various Lords did not hold back their praises.

The emotions they were feeling was something only someone they could understand.

When Xuanwu Pass had fallen, everyone present had panicked; they felt that their world had become much darker.

Only after going through a real war did they truly feel so much fear toward Shanhai City. Unknowingly, Shanhai City had become a giant mountain that was making it hard for them to breathe.

The Lords who had now regained their senses once again asked Zhang Liang respectfully, ”Mister, since Shanhai City has no intentions to fight, what is their goal in taking down Xuanwu Pass?”

Zhang Liang’s expression was rather complicated, ”According to my expectations, they want to take back Guilin Prefecture.”

”....”

The Lords all realized that they had no way to fight back.

A year ago, when they had taken down Guilin Prefecture, they were all gleeful. How would they have expected that in just a year, Shanhai City would have already become so strong?

The originally beautiful Guilin Prefecture had instantly become a hot potato.

”Then, should we just return it to them?” Some Lords asked carefully.

”What return? They are our sworn enemy. If we give it back to them, what face do would we have left? Before Zhang Liang even said anything, some of the Lords had already opposed the suggestion.

”If you do not return it, they would just take it. At that time, when the Shanhai City Army charges into Guilin Prefecture, what troops do we use to block them?” A Chuanbei City-State Lord retorted.

”If they want war, let’s have war. What can they do to our two City-States?”

”It’s easy for you to say that. Did you forget how Lingnan City-State was destroyed?”

...

The Lords debated, and the whole situation was an unhappy one.

Furthermore, Caiyun Zinan, West Gate Big Offical, and the other top Lords of the City States did not make a clear stance. Zhang Liang as a strategist did not have the right to speak, so the entire situation was chaotic to the extreme.

In the end, everyone left unhappily.

Just as the two City-States were unsettled and had conflicting views, on the 24th day, the Nanjiang Governor-General House Honglu Temple sent out their envoy to the two City-States to send out the last warning by their Monarch.

Ouyang Shuo announced:

’A year ago, you two took the opportunity to use unscrupulous means to take down Guilin Prefecture. A year later, Shanhai City is ready to take back Guilin, so I hope you two will not make any useless resistance.

If you two City-States are willing to return Guilin Prefecture peacefully, not only will we not take any action, we are also willing to open up trade channels with you to and allow the two City-States to use our naval trade routes.

If you two reject to return Guilin Prefecture, the Shanhai City Army will protect the honor of our territory and use force to take back Guilin. Even if we have to pay a heavy price, we will still take action.

You two do not need to doubt our determination and honor we hold to defend our territory.

As for what choice you make, we give you three days to give a reply.’

...

This warning used both hard and soft methods, hanging a carrot on a stick for them.

In the words of Caiyun Zinan, ”This is shameless to the max. Them attacking Lingnan City-State was logical and fair, but us taking down Guilin Prefecture is unscrupulous?”

When Zhang Liang heard Caiyun Zinan’s words, he frowned. Does his Lord still not understand till now that as a Lord, especially in the wilderness, being shameless was a virtue?

Shanhai City knowing when to use the moral high ground was in itself a smart act.

If a normal citizen said such words it could be understood, but Caiyun Zinan was a famous Lord in the wilderness. It was really childish to say such words.

Shanhai City’s act was truly ingenious.

Just as Zhang Liang had guessed, Shanhai City had no intentions of fighting with the two City-States. Occupying Xuanwu Pass was just to make a cushion for this diplomatic act.

The real goal was to take back Guilin Prefecture without spilling a single drop of blood.

With that, not only would they wash the shame of losing Guilin Prefecture, they could also stabilize the north and help clear a ticking time bomb for the upcoming Battle of Yunnan.

More importantly, it would bury seeds of doubts in the two City-States that Shanhai City could not be stopped and give them the psychological advantage.

This was killing three birds with one stone.

The current Shanhai City could be considered to truly have the power of an overlord. It did not just use force to settle matters and instead used various methods.

Meanwhile, the two City-States were still having internal conflicts.

Zhang Liang had less and less hope for the future of Xiangnan City-State. However, since he had already gotten on this boat, he would not get off it.

Even if it sinks, he was going to sink with it.

As for the opening of trade channels, and the reconciliation mentioned, it was obvious that Shanhai City had set some traps inside; it would not be that simple.

However, such bait was something that the Lords would find extremely hard to reject.

Any person could have the mentality of an ostrich, and the Lords were no exception. Since they could reconcile with Shanhai City, they could survive without trepidation and even engage in ocean trading. Such bait was one that they would find truly hard to reject.

The truth was just that.

The first to break was Chuanbei City-State.

During the Battle of Xuanwu, Chuanbei City-State lost at total of 26 thousand troops.

Heart pained!

But terrifying!

Facing the troops of Shanhai City, they had no confidence at all to defend Guilin Prefecture.

Thanks to the attacks of the Honglu Temple, the internal circle of Chuanbei City-State had many Lords that were friends with Shanhai City and had limited animosity for them.

The current Shanhai City had reached out with an olive branch, so why wouldn’t they accept it? Not just them, even top Lords like West Gate Big Official was hesitating.

The huge profits from ocean trading were something that very few Lords could reject.

Under the support of people with intentions, along with the persuasion from the envoy, Chuanbei City-State agreed internally to back away from Guilin Prefecture.

The situation was proceeding just as Ouyang Shuo wished.