If Heaven hadn't given birth to me, I would be arrogant.

"Huh?" Upon hearing Zong Ze say there were at least two methods, everyone's eyes lit up. For the past three years, no matter what the issue, there was always something Zong Ze couldn't do. This had instilled in the entire Shenji Battalion a blind reverence for him!

"The first method," Zongze smiled at everyone's expectant eyes and said, "Our soldiers are far superior to the enemy in stealth and assassination. They can definitely render the enemy's bunkers and sentries useless, mere decorations! So as long as we wait until night falls and begin our stealthy attack, we will definitely be able to reach their lair within one night!"

"Great idea!" Graphite clapped his hands and said happily, "As long as we sneak into their lair and occupy advantageous sniping positions, they will definitely not notice us. With the power of the pulley bow, killing their nine bandit leaders will be a piece of cake!"

Zong Ze shook his head: "But in this way, a large number of these bandits will escape. Our method cannot completely annihilate them. If too many bandits escape, this bandit suppression will still be considered a failure. Our task is to suppress bandits, not just kill their leaders! Moreover, without their leaders, these disorganized fleeing bandits will bring even more suffering to the people on the border!"

"General, didn't you say there was a second method?" Camor agreed with Zong Ze's analysis: "Now that you mention it, the first method really won't work. What if we fail to suppress the bandits and instead bring disaster to the local people!"

"Hmm!" Zong Ze nodded and said, "The second method I'm thinking of can perfectly avoid the shortcomings of the first method, and even completely annihilate all the bandits with zero casualties in our army, but it will threaten the security of the empire's borders!"

After a moment of contemplation, Zong Ze continued, "The second method is for us to bring back all the hot air balloons that have been deployed to the coast, and have our soldiers carry them full of oil to douse the entire mountain forest from the air, setting it ablaze!"

Upon hearing Zong Ze's suggestion, everyone was startled, then overjoyed, their gazes towards Zong Ze filled with even greater reverence! The main reason was that Zong Ze proposed a fire attack.

The idea of ​​using fire as a weapon has never been considered before in this world. To put it simply, the current level of human technology and thinking is still far behind that of ancient China. Back in the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang repeatedly used fire to achieve victories, and he was also hailed as a genius.

So when Zong Ze proposed burning the border forests, everyone's eyes lit up. Just think, without losing a single soldier, all the bandits could be wiped out with just a fire, and 50,000 enemy soldiers could be annihilated with zero casualties. What a great achievement that would be!

“General!” Graphite said, “This method is absolutely feasible, but why do you say it would pose a threat to the empire’s borders?”

Zong Ze knew that if he explained the concepts of afforestation, desertification, and even sandification to these people now, they would not understand at all. However, Zong Ze himself knew that if this huge forest were burned down, the entire northern part of the empire would likely become a desert in the future.

"I have a question for you!" Zong Ze asked after thinking for a moment: "What is the purpose of the Empire spending so much money to create the White Tiger Cavalry Legion?"

“Naturally, it’s to guard against the Dragon Empire!” Camor replied. “Although our Rune Empire currently appears to be friendly neighbors with all the countries along its borders, no one can be sure when war might suddenly break out between the two countries!”

“That’s right!” Stantu picked up the conversation: “Looking at the wars in the history of our Rune Empire, whether it was with the Dragon Empire, the Light Empire, or even other duchies, they all started because of some small interests. Even the last war with the Dragon Empire was caused by two children fighting on the border!”

“That’s why I’ve considered all this,” Zong Ze nodded and said. “The Longteng Empire is just beyond the border forests. If we go to war with Longteng, they will only be able to land by sea or cross these border forests.”

Previously, due to the presence of these border forests, the Dragon Soaring army could only land by sea, giving us ample time to prepare our defenses. The Dragon Soaring Empire's cavalry simply dared not cross these border forests.

But once we burn down this forest, the Dragon Empire will have another route of attack. Their cavalry could then easily cross this forest at high speed and launch a blitzkrieg against our empire. At that point, the entire north will be devastated!

After listening to Zong Ze's analysis, the entire camp was silent for a long time. Indeed, if the border forests were destroyed, it would undoubtedly give the Dragon Empire another route to attack. Even Zong Ze, the grandson of the Empire's Grand Marshal, could not bear this responsibility!

After a long time, Graphite slammed his fist on the table and said, "If only we had magicians! We could just set up magical traps around the border forests near our empire and then use the first method: decapitate them first, then divide and conquer them. We can guarantee that not many will escape. Even if some do manage to escape, they will flee towards the direction of Dragon Ascension!"

What was said in jest was taken to heart by the listener. Upon hearing Shi Mo's last sentence, Zong Ze instantly felt as if he had grasped an inspiration. He reached out and interrupted Shi Mo, beginning to try and seize that inspiration.

After a while, Zong Ze finally thought of something. "Shi Mo, I remember you used to belong to the Northern Legion. Let me ask you, are there any magical beasts in this mountain forest?"

“Of course there are.” Shi Mo nodded. “And they are all high-level magical beasts of level five or above. Back then, many of our brothers lost their lives to these magical beasts while on patrol.”

After hearing Shi Mo's answer, Zong Ze immediately asked Xiao Hei, who was sleeping next to his legs, in his mind: "Xiao Hei, I'm asking you, do you have a way to make the monsters in the forest surround all the bandits after our soldiers storm into the forest? They don't need to attack, just prevent the bandits from escaping!"

"No problem," Little Black said smugly. "Who do you think I am, Brother Pig? Even celestial beasts have to obey me, let alone these newly awakened magical beasts!"

"Hahaha!" After hearing Xiao Hei's promise, Zong Ze laughed heartily. After laughing, Zong Ze said decisively, "Order the entire army to continue resting. When the moon rises tomorrow night, we will begin the attack and implement the first plan!"

"Yes, sir!" The five battalion and regimental commanders stood up in unison to receive the order!