Douluo: Law of Heaven and Earth

Chapter 1040 Preparing for War
Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?
Zhou Qing thought it was possible.

With the guidance of the Red Society, the output of small towns and villages along the border is increasing every year. If he were to put himself in the shoes of Emperor Xueye, he would also want to control everything himself, rather than letting an organization with "fallacies and heresies" control it.

But what is the reason for going to war?
If they have no legitimate reason to attack, then even if they cause a ruckus in Heaven Dou City, no one in the Soul Master world will dare to say anything against them. On the contrary, they will gain the support of a large number of Soul Masters.

"It was Li Ai who did this!"

Upon seeing that Zhou Qing and the others had just met Li Ai and already knew the reason for Tian Dou's military expedition, Romanaq also marveled at their quick wit. He then revealed that Emperor Xueye had previously increased taxes, but Li Ai had concealed this fact, resulting in the people in this area still paying the usual amount of taxes.

This gave Emperor Xueye a sufficient reason.

“Although Xueye is not a great ruler, he wouldn’t come up with such a petty and outrageous scheme.” Zhou Qing was certain that this plan was definitely Li Ai’s idea.

But so what?
Even if Xueye knew the truth, she wouldn't stop the fighting; instead, she would choose to perpetuate the mistake.

“Prospective son-in-law, why don’t we rebel?” Romanack shouted.

Zhou Qing glanced at Romantina, who was shouting "What are you talking about?" and whose face was flushed, and then looked at Romanaek speechlessly, seriously suspecting that the guy had broken Li Ai's spine on purpose.

But what if we don't do that?

The troops have already set out on a snowy night!

So Zhou Qing didn't care about being called "future son-in-law" and said, "Uncle Roman, you can't say that. Rebellion and such sounds too awful. Our mission is to free the common people from the oppression of the nobles!"

Who is the leader?

Zhou Qing asked Li Ai.

"Marshal Goron!"

Li Ai sneered, "I advise you to surrender quickly. Even if each of you has superhuman fighting power, you can't afford to lose! The army he leads is elite and fearless!"

Goron?

Zhou Qing knew this person.

In the original work, Golong is described as a Soul Douluo in his fifties, whose military expertise is the best in the Heaven Dou Empire. He has a great deal of influence and prestige in the army, and his power is second only to Avalanche. However, at this stage, he should only be in his forties, and his soul power should be around level seventy, which is not yet a Soul Douluo.

However, judging from the military prowess displayed by Goron in the original work—

Zhou Qing really couldn't see much.

But he could understand it. After all, Tian Dou and Xing Luo had not fought a war for more than two hundred years, only engaging in small-scale conflicts. When Ge Long appeared in the original work, he was only in his fifties. His so-called high military expertise was probably only theoretical.

War is the best way to hone a person's military skills.

The two empires haven't fought a major war for so many years. A marshal with only rich theoretical knowledge might only be able to think of charging into battle when leading troops into battle. He might know about other issues such as logistics, preventing troop mutiny, and provisions, but the gap between theory and practice makes him too overwhelmed. He even completely failed to think of the role of Soul Masters in the war when formulating tactics in the original work.

As I said before, war is the best way to truly make a general a general. Without experiencing real war, Goron is nothing as a top military expert.
The number one armchair strategist!
That's Goron!
But frankly, when it comes to military matters, I don't think I can even be considered a theorist.

“Gorlon? I heard about him when I was in Heaven Dou City. He is said to have extremely high military expertise.” Seeing Zhou Qing’s thoughtful expression, Tang San thought he was troubled and said, “But the army cannot be composed entirely of Soul Masters, and we will definitely have the advantage in terms of weapons.”

"Indeed."

In terms of the gap in combat weapons, the Heavenly Dou Army could not compare in any way. However, military operations are not entirely dependent on weapons, at least not until the development of the level nine fixed-position soul-guided artillery shell that could destroy a city with a single shot.

Zhou Qing acknowledged this. However...

Military operations are not simply a matter of comparing the gap in weapons and equipment. If the quality of one's own troops is far inferior to that of the enemy, they will become the ones who "build" guns and "send" artillery to the enemy.

Therefore, everything must be carefully considered.

"Then, let me proceed with the battle plan."

Then, Zhou Qing began making arrangements. "I don't know much about military expertise, but at this point, I can only do what I'm told."

First of all.

This matter cannot be kept secret. We must tell everyone in the Workers' and Peasants' Council the truth, and let the residents of the small town and township where the Red Society branch is located know the situation.

Seeking truth from facts is key; they also have the right to know the truth.

The propaganda work must be done well, as it relates to people's support for us and whether they are willing to spontaneously and proactively help us in the process of resisting the Heavenly Fighting Army.

Of course, statements like "Without our Red Cross Society, they will no longer be rich" are unacceptable; this is a form of moral blackmail. We can gain public support through concrete actions, but we cannot use them as a threat, even if it's for their own good. As the saying goes, "A thousand-mile dike is breached by an ant hole."

Wang Sheng currently works for the council and is aware of the simplicity and honesty of ordinary people, but he also understands their timidity, cowardice, and fear of death. He is somewhat worried: "Will this affect our preparations for war?"

“Wang Sheng, you also came from humble beginnings.” Zhou Qing’s eyes were serious, and his tone was extremely earnest. “So, please try to trust them.”

"understand!"

Wang Sheng realized he had made a fundamental mistake, immediately agreed, and promised to do it perfectly.

There's no need to strive for perfection.

Zhou Qing's tone relaxed, and he smiled, "We'll do our best. The level of trust the common people have in us will be revealed this time."

Afterwards, Zhou Qing brought up the real preparations for war: "Since Xueye is going to attack us, in addition to the troops commanded by Golong, we also need to guard against another place: the Kingdom of Barak."

The Barak Kingdom possesses formidable military strength, and in a critical moment, it might very well support Goron to demonstrate its resolve to the Heavenly Dou Empire.

Have to guard against it.

"In addition, the Kingdom of Hagendas borders the Kingdom of Barak and is located near the Star Dou Great Forest—"

"Xiao Wu, your true form is in Star Dou Town. If things get really dangerous, hire Di Tian and others from the Beast Alliance to intimidate the kings of the two kingdoms."

Xiao Wu nodded and said, "With our strength, we could easily deal with even a million-strong army, right?"

The implication is that there's no need to go through all that trouble.

"It can be easily dealt with, but we are just the last resort. The key is still people's own decision. The purpose of being a protective umbrella for the people is not to truly treat them like children forever, but to hope that they and their descendants can one day grow up to come to our side and prove the truth with us."

Zhou Qing cautioned, "In terms of personal interests, our personal cultivation and improvement also require the collective wisdom of all people to collide and spark inspiration."

Just as I invited Lu Qibin to observe the stars, it was precisely because I needed to use the acupoints throughout my body to correspond with the movement of the stars in the outside world and to perfect my inner vision, which is not something I can accomplish alone.

On this point, there's no need to worry about resources. The universe is infinite, and so are resources. Energy is constantly being transformed and circulated; it's just a matter of whether we have the wisdom to develop it. It's that simple.

(End of this chapter)