Chapter 143 Joint Operations
The news of Red City mobilizing troops not only left the peripheral tribes breathless but also cast a gloomy atmosphere over Zhuang Yu and the other four major forces.
In order to counter Red City's forces, each force had to frequently mobilize troops and deploy them to the border. Their scouts were also crazily active, constantly roaming around.
Crimson City was no exception. Although Zhuang Yu was currently with the Faceless Tribe, the people from the Four Seasons War Tribe sent battle reports to him every day, sometimes even more frequently.
The recent news Zhuang Yu received was that Red City's scouts had started frequenting these peripheral tribes.
Zhuang Yu knew what they were up to; it was the same as his own goal, to woo these peripheral tribes.
With the impending war, although these peripheral tribes were in chaos, once unified, they formed a force that couldn't be ignored. Everyone feared that in the midst of fighting tooth and nail, they might end up being taken advantage of by someone else. Therefore, these peripheral tribes couldn't remain neutral and would inevitably be drawn into the war.
However, Zhuang Yu's way of wooing the peripheral tribes seemed very kind compared to Red City.
When their scouts contacted these peripheral tribes, it was just one sentence: either submit to Red City or be destroyed.
Red City normally looked down on other tribes, so how could they lower themselves?
In their eyes, if these peripheral tribes didn't submit to the number one power, Red City, who else could they submit to? Did they think they could wait to be destroyed by Red City?
Before the start of the war, the peripheral tribes were the first to face the choice, and each peripheral tribe had to make a decision.
Because, as Red City said, the consequence of not submitting would probably be becoming a sacrifice before the war between the Five Great Powers even began.
In the past, they had almost no choice. It seemed that Red City was dominant, and even if the other four major forces united, they could only barely support themselves.
But now, considering Red City's oppression and the fairness and justice proclaimed by Crimson City, as well as the development of the Faceless Tribe after joining Crimson City, this choice became difficult and arduous.
Because joining Red City would likely mean being used as cannon fodder in battle, and Red City wouldn't treat them equally. These small tribes couldn't resist Red City's decisions either.
The conditions for joining Crimson City were good, but Red City was just too powerful.
Zhuang Yu didn't force them to choose because Red City would force them. Let Red City be the bad guy.
Now the situation had become urgent. Zhuang Yu visited the Devouring Blood Tribe as planned, helped them plan the construction of the horror theme park, and then hurried back to White City. This exchange with White City might have to end early, but before it ended, there must be a coalition among the various forces, and now they had to establish the foundation for a joint operation.
The news of the Devouring Blood Tribe joining Crimson City also caused a huge stir among the peripheral tribes.
"Another tribe has joined Crimson City."
"Aren't they afraid of Red City's strength?"
"Even if Red City ultimately wins, it will be their victory, not ours. What connection do we, these peripheral tribes, have with them? Even if we join them, will they share any benefits with us in the end?"
Amidst these discussions, it was easy to see the anxious mood of these peripheral tribes, which was like ants on a hot pan. Their survival or demise depended on how they chose.
At this time, Zhuang Yu had already returned to White City, because the long-awaited representatives of Cyan City and Dark City had finally arrived.
From Cyan City came Princess Yao, and from Dark City came the Great Young Prince Fuxi. They were both future leaders, which showed how seriously Cyan City and Dark City viewed this joint operation.
And they had to take it seriously because everyone understood that if Red City unified the land, no one, including the four major forces like them, would be spared.
Princess Yao was stunned when she saw Su Nu standing among Zhuang Yu's students, and she even secretly checked on Su Nu. This wasn't the time for reckless behavior, and she was afraid that Su Nu might do something crazy at this moment.
Moreover, given Su Nu previous personality, it was really possible for her to disregard the overall situation and do something like that.
Princess Yao wanted Su Nu to return with her to Cyan City, but Su Nu replied, "I am now a student of Crimson City School, and I don't want to leave."
Princess Yao: "..."
Su Nu: "I'm not the same Su Nu as before. I love peace and enjoy everything now. Anyone who dares to destroy everything now is my enemy, including Red City... and also, you."
Men are like a hammer, but women have to be self-reliant and strong. Right now, she was... hmm, that's right, the new era intellectual young woman spoken of by the students.
Princess Yao was completely bewildered by Su Nu's transformation; the change in her was too significant. However, as long as Su Nu didn't disrupt their alliance, Princess Yao didn't pay much mind to other matters.
She simply said, "Since you enjoy being at the school in Crimson City, I won't stop you. But don't forget, Cyan City is your home. Visit Cyan City when you have the chance."
Meanwhile, before the start of the Four Powers Alliance meeting, Zhuang Yu also found the Great Young Prince Fuxi from Dark City and inquired, "How is Pang Jiang doing?"
Pang Jiang had been back in Dark City for a while now, but there had been no news from him, which worried Zhuang Yu.
Fuxi sighed, "Pang Jiang seems like a different person now, often lost in thought and secluded in his residence, not participating in anything related to White City."
"But at least he's alright," Fuxi added.
Zhuang Yu nodded, knowing that Shao Yu's son, that Birdie, had even come looking for him, asking where his dad had gone.
Zhuang Yu knew Birdie wasn't referring to Shao Yu, as he was still in White City.
Zhuang Yu didn't know how to respond. Perhaps letting Birdie forget all this would be best, so he wouldn't burden himself with things he shouldn't when he grew up.
But some things, even if one is young, are not easily forgotten.
Zhuang Yu and Fuxi chatted for a while until the alliance meeting began.
The purpose of this meeting was clear, and the alliance proceeded smoothly.
However, with the alliance set to engage in joint warfare, each party's responsibilities needed to be clearly defined.
"Regardless of which party is attacked by Red City, the other three factions must unconditionally send troops to support."
This point was not in question, as everyone understood that if one faction fell to Red City's attack, the other three factions wouldn't stand a chance against Red City alone.
"Now the biggest issue is that Red City's weapons are too powerful. We're at a disadvantage in a direct confrontation, but if we don't fight back, we'll only suffer defeat after defeat."
Just as this was said, the people from White City looked towards Zhuang Yu.
Because White City had helped Crimson City defend several mines, the weapons sent to White City had been of a considerable quality for some time now. Even now, White City was still amazed by the quality of those weapons, wondering if they were even better than Red City's. They had a small amount of Red City's weapons on hand, making comparisons easy.
Zhuang Yu said, "The issue of weapons can be resolved by Crimson City, but it will require a significant investment of manpower, which will inevitably affect the number of troops Crimson City can send out."
This was an undeniable fact; if a large number of people were employed in weapon forging, fewer would be available for deployment on the battlefield.
Yao and Fuxi looked at Zhuang Yu in surprise; they were not aware that Crimson City could forge weapons.
Zhuang Yu said to Fuxi, "You'll need to have your people bring the weapons for both of you to see."
Seeing is believing; without seeing it for themselves, others wouldn't know the true extent of the weapons available to them.
Fuxi nodded, and soon, people from White City brought up a batch of excellent weapons.
Yao and Fuxi's eyes lit up as they saw the quality of the weapons, comparable to those of Red City. They hadn't expected Crimson City to have mastered weapon forging.
At least for their alliance, this was a huge boon.
Then they looked at Zhuang Yu and said, "If you can provide a large quantity of such weapons, they will be much more useful than your people on the battlefield."
With only fifteen tribes, including Crimson City and the Golden Centipede Tribe, the Faceless Tribe, and the Devouring Blood Tribe, Crimson City was vastly outnumbered compared to White City, Cyan City, and Dark City. This was an unavoidable circumstance; situated amidst the Boundless Crimson Land, Crimson City's population had never been able to grow significantly due to environmental factors and its impoverished past.
Seeing that the representatives of the other powers understood the need for investment in weapons but were concerned about insufficient military support, Zhuang Yu nodded. "Crimson City will spare no effort in providing these weapons to the alliance."
This needed to be made clear; otherwise, others might think that Crimson City was timid and had ulterior motives.
The biggest challenge was closing the gap with Red City's weapons. Addressing this issue might give Red City a particularly big surprise.
However, determining how many weapons could be provided and how much time it would take required detailed discussion.
The meeting lasted a long time. This joint meeting was the most confidential of all; besides them and some tribal leaders, no one else knew about it.
From the evening the meeting started until the next morning, to ensure the formality of the meeting, Zhuang Yu even took the trouble to record it on paper and compiled it into a written contract divided into four parts, which left others stunned.
Luckily, students from all four powers' schools were present and knew quite a few characters. Therefore, the specially designated students confirmed the contents once again, and each person placed their handprint on the contract.
The meeting officially concluded at this point.
Yao and Fuxi didn't dare to linger, as Red City could attack them at any moment. They left White City immediately.
Zhuang Yu also began to return to Crimson City with his students. With the war already underway, the Boundless Crimson Land would no longer be an absolute barrier. If Red City went mad and disregarded everything to send its army through the desert, Crimson City wouldn't be able to resist either. He had to go back and oversee the overall situation.
Shao Hao looked at the departing Zhuang Yu. As the Great Young Prince of White City, he had his own mission and couldn't go to Crimson City with Zhuang Yu at this time.
Zhuang Yu said, "After the war, you can come to Crimson City. After all, you're illiterate; you can't even recognize a few characters."
Shao Hao had learned a few words from Little Mushroom, but Zhuang Yu couldn't agree with Little Mushroom's Mushroom script.
Little Mushroom, perched on Zhuang Yu's shoulder, seemed to sense the sadness of parting and called out to Shao Hao a few times.
Shao Hao said, "Take care."
Zhuang Yu nodded, then headed towards Crimson City without hesitation.
He was Zhuang Lu, the Crimson Prince, and he also had his own mission to fulfill.