CHAPTER 427: CHAPTER 206: WE’RE ON THE SAME SIDE

Several hours later, Han Shui City.

In the temporary operation command room, He Shuo looked at the updated tactical map on the projection screen, and spoke to Li Xian who stood beside him:

"Our Penetration Company has already dealt with most of the remaining monsters in the southeast direction and has received supplies through an aircraft drop."

"They will rest in Huangshan City for 24 hours before continuing to advance southwest, forcing a shift in the Beast Tide by cutting through its line."

"Monsters from the southwest direction will be restricted within the Jiujiang and Yuzhang line."

"Or more accurately, they’ll be confined to the plains north of Yuzhang City, southwest of Poyang Lake."

"This will be our main battlefield for the decisive battle against the southwestern Beast Tide."

"The Penetration Company must play the role of the hammer, launching continuous attacks on the monsters from the flanks and rear."

"Meanwhile, we, Han Shui City, must deploy at least a 300-person team to establish a defense line along Duck Lake, Benghu, and Poyang Lake, playing the role of the anvil."

"We need to block the Beast Tide’s assault and create at least a 48-hour attack window for the Penetration Company."

"Only with enough time can the Penetration Company utilize its high mobility and firepower advantages to achieve sufficient results. Then, we might quickly dismantle the Beast Tide that poses the greatest threat to us in a limited time."

"So, what you need to do is quite clear."

"I need you to organize a team with basic combat capabilities within two days."

"Two days later, we will depart for Jiujiang."

"After receiving equipment there, we will continue downstream and establish a defense line at the designated operational position."

As the words fell, Li Xian frowned with difficulty.

"Two days?"

"Commander, isn’t this requirement too... stringent?"

"After the mutiny in Han Shui City, I have less than 200 available troops, most of whom are untrained new recruits."

"Do you know what this implies?"

"It means that the potential combat force in Han Shui City has almost been exhausted."

"Otherwise, I wouldn’t be using such personnel to form the Church Protection Army, let alone sending them out to die in vain."

"I do wish to recruit more, but just look, does Han Shui City have any soldiers left to recruit?"

After Li Xian finished speaking, He Shuo nodded thoughtfully.

He knew Li Xian wasn’t lying to him.

Indeed, Han Shui City’s situation wasn’t optimistic.

During the repeated battles with monsters and humans, its size, which was already small, has been repeatedly subjected to damage far beyond its self-healing capacity.

The population gradually dwindled, from over five thousand at the start to now just over three thousand, a reduction of nearly half.

And among these three thousand, managing to recruit 300 soldiers was already beyond He Shuo’s expectations.

Even if the ratio increased slightly, Han Shui City’s production operations and life order might stall or even collapse.

For Li Xian, his requests were indeed rather excessive.

The reason is simple.

He must not only be responsible for the Huaxia Army’s operations but also for Han Shui City.

If he removes all of Han Shui City’s combat personnel, he must continue recruiting within the city to maintain basic security.

The total number of recruits might exceed 500, which wouldn’t simply "disrupt production" but could directly lead to city-wide upheaval.

Therefore, his reaction was quite normal.

If he hadn’t reacted this way, He Shuo would have questioned his intentions.

However, since the request was made, He Shuo wasn’t aiming to force him into a corner.

He waved gently and began to speak:

"Rest assured, do you think I’m a Saint from the Mechanical God Sect?"

"Since I’ve made the demands, I will surely provide you with the operation guidelines."

"Look further and more broadly."

"You aren’t relying solely on Han Shui City."

"In theory, the entire region centered around Yellow Stone City is our territory."

"Now, with Han Shui City added, can population resources really be insufficient?"

"From today onwards, you can issue notices in my name."

"All surrounding towns and small settlements, including Yellow Stone, Wuxue, Xishui, Huangzhou...etc., must migrate to Han Shui City within the specified time."

"There’s only one reason: cooperative defense."

"These populations will make up for the gaps after Han Shui City’s recruitment, maintaining the city’s operations."

"And what you need to do is simply pull together a 300-person team for me within the designated time."

After He Shuo finished speaking, Li Xian was dumbfounded.

"Everyone? Migrate??"

"This is impossible... I don’t even know whether to call you bold or crazy."

"Not to mention the difficulty of migration, we can’t even get past the Holy Hall."

"Han Shui City’s rebellion has already caught the Holy Hall’s attention. I’ve heard a Supreme Army is ready and prepared to reclaim Han Shui City."

"Under such circumstances, if we make any big moves, they absolutely won’t tolerate it, nor will they show leniency..."

"They will."

He Shuo interrupted Li Xian with a raised hand, then said:

"If you were the owner of Han Shui City, they certainly wouldn’t relent."

"But soon they will learn we’ve helped them quell the rebellion in Han Shui City."

"They’ll also realize we are the true owners of Han Shui City."

"Zhang Tao isn’t foolish; he’ll understand what this means."

"Even if the ’Ready Supreme Army’ truly exists, he wouldn’t risk opposing us."

"You mean he’s scared?"

Li Xian asked in confusion.

"Scared?"

He Shuo chuckled.

"How could he be scared?"

"He’s never been afraid of us."

"I mean he’ll be pleased."

"He’d rather get rid of Han Shui City this burden sooner. Now that we’ve given him the excuse, how could he even consider shouldering it again?"

Suddenly enlightened.

At that moment, Li Xian realized that the man before him had strategized not just against the Supreme Army, nor just with himself, but with everyone including the Holy Hall.

He saw everything clearly long ago.

He wasn’t plotting anything; he was simply... going with the flow.

Li Xian let out a long breath.

"Understood, I’ll get on it immediately."

"I will quickly gather the personnel for you, but their equipment and training..."

"You’ll have to solve it yourself."

"We."

He Shuo corrected him:

"It’s we."

"We’re on the same side."

Li Xian was stunned for a moment, then he smiled with understanding:

"Yes, it’s us."

"We are on the same side."