I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 501 - 276: Reorganizing the Army, Preparing for War, Cutting off Supplies_2

Chapter 501: Chapter 276: Reorganizing the Army, Preparing for War, Cutting off Supplies_2

And then, after covering the official documents, each department received their orders, and only then was the meeting adjourned.

They certainly weren’t going to fight now; things like grain, forage, heavy supplies, military equipment, and mounts all needed to be mobilized and arranged, essentially initiating a large planning meeting. Now that the plan was approved, it could be implemented.

Otherwise, without proper legitimacy and smooth words, mobilization was impossible.

How could a matter of military importance be taken so lightly?

Gu Shanhai also disliked this trouble, which is why he had become a hands-off shopkeeper.

This time, the chief general was Zhang He, also known as Second Elder Brother among the sworn brothers. Besides him, Zhan Yan also had to set out with the troops, along with other leaders of soldiers, assembling two hundred thousand Daoist Soldiers.

Then Cui Feng and Wu Yan partnered with Gu Shanhai to defend Liang State, as their base, two provinces might not be seized, but Liang State absolutely must not be lost.

As for the servicemen, there were still five hundred thousand in Liang State. These servicemen were not ordinary, all being reserve Daoist Soldiers, who could become Daoist Soldiers in the shortest time if needed, serving as a reserve military force. They were not to be used lightly but rather stay in Liang State to maintain order.

For this, Gu Shanhai couldn’t help but marvel at the vastness and richness of this world. Just one remote state could support a million full-time soldiers; more importantly, among them were five hundred thousand transcendent beings, whose consumption of food and necessities was enormous.

The higher the world’s power level, the more vast and rich it was.

Fortunately, the leaders and Daoist Soldiers of this world could not live forever; otherwise, it would cause too much chaos.

"Mr. Gu, do you have anything else to add?" Zhan Yan hadn’t left but instead stayed to consult Gu Shanhai.

"No, why are you asking me these things?" Gu Shanhai was somewhat puzzled.

"Is there anything you would like to instruct?" In Zhan Yan’s eyes, Gu Shanhai might not have found it convenient to speak directly, especially since maintaining his dignity in front of many was important.

"Let me see..." Since the other party had asked to this extent, Gu Shanhai could only perform a Prophetic Divination.

’Just divining the success or failure is so costly, too expensive...’ Gu Shanhai directly consumed three hundred years of his lifespan, he knew that such cost was normal, because his action revealed not just information about one person, but about two massive powers entangled with all their people.

Three hundred years was relatively small in this context.

Mainly because this time, Gu Shanhai wasn’t properly paying with money but rather crudely reaped some benefits using methods from the Evil Path.

"Be mindful of the grain and forage, if you want to defeat the many with the few, cutting off their supplies is a very effective strategy," Gu Shanhai saw that their own supply lines were cut, though Min State was still taken down, it also undesirably generated unnecessary complications.

As for other issues, they were normal victories and losses; Gu Shanhai couldn’t possibly divine and predict every city one by one, even using a cost-minimizing tactic, it would still consume a large amount of lifespan, better to just address the key issues directly.

Hearing this, Zhan Yan also frowned, he obviously knew about the importance of grain and forage, but just how much emphasis needed to be placed, he was unable to grasp that balance.

"Please teach me." It didn’t matter if he himself didn’t understand; there was someone who did right in front of him, at this point, guessing blindly was meaningless.

But the problem was that Gu Shanhai also couldn’t grasp the exact measure, and in the end, had to perform a simple logical calculation through the Four Sacred Beasts System.

The data and information he had was somewhat insufficient, resulting in the Four Sacred Beasts System also being unable to completely derive the solution, it was like solving 1+1=2, but if you remove the two ones from the equation, leaving only a plus sign and equals two, who could tell what it equals, it could be 0.9 and 0.1, or 0.98 and 0.02, who knows.

Fortunately, Gu Shanhai knew the answer, and finally marked a certain location on the map.

"Twenty-seven days from now, have Cui Feng lead his fifty thousand Wind Seizing Daoist Soldiers to ambush here, kill anyone who comes to cut the supplies," Gu Shanhai didn’t beat around the bush, directly giving out spoilers, he had spent his lifespan, so he might as well make it count without fuss.

"Remember, have him set out on the night of the 26th day, not disturbing anyone, and this matter must not be leaked. You should also not interfere with the transportation of supplies, follow the normal procedures to avoid any accidents."

Listening to Gu Shanhai’s instructions, Zhan Yan was shocked, "You shortened your lifespan again?!"

"That’s not your concern," Gu Shanhai said very calmly.

"Mr. Gu, this makes it difficult for me to explain to Marquis Liang," Zhan Yan’s face turned sour; he was sure to take the blame.

"You don’t tell, who would know, right?" Gu Shanhai implied that the fool simply needed to keep quiet.

"General Cui knows..." Zhan Yan said bleakly, as the executor was his disciple. It was okay not to hide it, but if they hid it and Jiang Lu found out, he would be skinned, then added, "Mr. Gu, please tell me how many years of life this will take, so I can decide whether to resign or hang myself to protect my family."

"Three..."

"Three years?"

"Not, it’s three hundred years," Gu Shanhai bluntly replied.

The reason Zhan Yan did not guess thirty years was that under normal circumstances, few could remain robust at eighty years old, so the more likely scenario was three years.

"Mr. Gu, don’t jest, how long really?" Zhan Yan was somewhat helpless.

"Three two-hour periods, what are you afraid of? You don’t think a mere Min State can compare to your abilities?" Gu Shanhai switched the unit of time.

"You have spent ten years of my time because you have the talent of an excellent advisor. Min State, can it compare to a Dalong?"

Gu Shanhai’s words were merely appeasing Zhan Yan, who indeed had the capability, but truly could not compare to Min State.

"Mr. Gu, you..." Zhan Yan was very touched.

"Stop this ’you, you, you’ and get to work," Gu Shanhai interrupted the emotional continuation, wondering why people were emotional.

"Of course, Mr. Gu." Zhan Yan dared not say more and quickly left to prepare for the subsequent work.

"These people, making it seem like I want to seize a throne," Gu Shanhai recalled the situation. If he were to call to arms, it indeed seemed possible.

However, that thought was fleeting. His ambition did not align with this world’s; his was to continually grow stronger, while the world’s was focused on power, and they were incompatible.

He walked a path of individual might, while the world valued collective power.

"Let’s continue to refine my strategy," Gu Shanhai considered. Besides his completed Daoist Soldiers, he still lacked armaments, military momentum, and strategy.

He had nearly completed the armaments, relying mostly on new Spirit Plants, forming synergistic effects beyond the Five Grains Spiritual Plant.

As for military momentum, relying on the White Tiger was still in its early stages.

But regarding strategy, he had many thoughts.

He once thought about modifying "The Art of War by Sun Tzu" but found it unsuitable as it didn’t match his style and was more suited for a traditional military commander. His profession wasn’t truly that of a military commander, as Heart Demon Dao Soldiers were his Divine Skills, not real Dao Soldiers.

So, he chose "Thirty-Six Stratagems," mainly because it was simple and somewhat aligned with his style a bit more.

For instance, the strategy "Slough off the Cicada’s Golden Shell" under Gu Shanhai could turn into a spell-like ability, allowing Heart Demon Dao Soldiers to escape and even leave a decoy to provide cover, preserving both the form and the momentum.

Or "Feign Madness but Keep your Balance," capable of creating a trap to annihilate small enemy units.

Combined with Arrays, Divine Skills, etc., it formed a military-level spell with considerable power, low cost, and adaptability to most situations.

Certainly, there were downsides, for the "Thirty-Six Stratagems" could only be initiated using Heart Demon Dao Soldiers; otherwise, they couldn’t be deployed.

Now, Gu Shanhai’s "Thirty-Six," consisting of strategies for victory, enemy, assault, chaos, combined, and retreat battles, saw the last of the retreat strategies, "Beauty Trap," raise the enemy’s desires and emotions to enhance the Heart Demon Dao Soldiers.

The first three sets were to be used during advantageous times; the latter three during difficult times. Gu Shanhai, always planning for failure before success, began directly with the last in challenging situations, studying the "Beauty Trap."