Guo Chunfeng's sweat congregated into two puddles below his feet. He seemed to have lost quite a few kilograms in the blink of an eye. Tapping quickly on his portable crystal processor, more than ten light beams popped up. "Brother, look. After the 'expedition motion' was suspended, Speaker Jiang immediately issued an 'order' in the name of the 'supreme commander of the Union Army', ordering all the troops stationed on the Grand Desolate Plateau to withdraw from the 'highest combat readiness' and return to the base! The troops from the south of the Grand Desolate Plateau to the Giant Blade Pass are being recalled! The troops participating in the drill from the north of the Grand Desolate Plateau to the Dark Desolate Domain will finish the drill as soon as possible and return to the war base, too. "
"How can you be sure that the military will carry out the order?" Li Yao asked.
"The order has been sent directly to Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao and the first-level commanders of the legions," Guo Chunfeng said. "The Iron Commander was greatly shocked. Duanmu Ming, the commander of the Dragon Horse Legion and a Child of the Nether World in the army, has been put under control! The commanders of the legions have also said that they will obey the order and will not attack without permission.
"However strong the Patriots Partnership is, and however prestigious Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao is, it is impossible for dozens of commanders to disobey the order together!"
Thinking quickly, Li Yao continued asking, "How is the inland connected to the Grand Desolate Plateau right now? As I recall, the Spiritual Nexus on the Grand Desolate Plateau has never been stable, has it? Ever since the Union Army implemented the 'scorched earth strategy', there are barely any towns on the Grand Desolate Plateau, only military camps. How can the Spiritual Nexus be connected? "
The communication between the inland and the Grand Desolate Plateau had always been the greatest headache for the Federation.
The Spiritual Nexus was established by the spiritual waves released by the 'spiritual towers', a piece of special magical equipment.
The reason why the Wasteland was called the Wasteland was because it was both 'big' and 'wasteland'. It seemed to be nonsense, but in such a vast and boundless wasteland, it would consume an astronomical amount of resources to build a spiritual tower that could form a network and maintain its daily operation.
It was needless to say that the Grand Desolate Plateau was also plagued by natural disasters. Tornadoes, thunderstorms, earthquakes, beast tides … Any of them could seriously damage the spiritual towers.
Therefore, the Spiritual Nexus on the Grand Desolate Plateau had always been intermittent and unstable.
After the Union Army implemented the "Scorched Earth Policy" and exchanged space for time, the Federation almost gave up on the Grand Desolate Plateau and allowed the Coalition Army of Demons to march in.
The first thing that the Coalition Army of Demons destroyed was naturally the most important communication nodes, the "spirit towers."
Right now, although the Coalition Army of Demons had retreated to the Blood Demon Sector, the hundreds of thousands of spiritual towers scattered on the Grand Desolate Plateau had been destroyed and could not be repaired so easily.
At the north of the Grand Desolate Plateau, the Dark Desolate Domain, where the two worlds collided, the situation was even more serious.
The spiritual towers would emit tremendous spiritual waves, which were like natural lightning rods. They could easily attract all kinds of violent spiritual energy. Few spiritual towers could survive more than a month in the Dark Desolate Domain.
Therefore, the closer one was to the north of the Grand Desolate Plateau, the more difficult the communication would be. When one reached the Dark Desolate Domain, the Spiritual Nexus would be cut off most of the time.
Li Yao had once been mired in the Thunderous Sound Mountain in the Dark Desolate Domain. It was because the Spiritual Nexus was cut off that he had wandered for ten days and ten nights by himself and narrowly escaped the hunting of the silver-blood demon squad.
"For the joint drill, and for the purpose of marching into the Blood Demon Sector in the future," Guo Chunfeng said, "the Union Army has developed a batch of super-large spiritual towers on their own. They are distributed to the Dark Desolate Domain and the north of the Grand Desolate Plateau as' communication bases'. Right now, sixteen communication bases are working and responsible for the communication of messages."
"So, controlling the sixteen communication bases means controlling the 'information throat' between the capital city and the frontline," Li Yao said. "Whoever controls the communication bases will be able to block all the messages sent to the troops in the drill for a short amount of time and falsify the responses of all the commanders of the troops in the drill?"
"Theoretically, it is very difficult," Guo Chunfeng said after pondering for a moment. "The commanders of the legions in the drill all have their own unique identification stripes. Other than them, there is only …"
"Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao is the only one who knows, isn't there?"
Li Yao's voice was cold.
Guo Chunfeng was silent for a long time. Then he shook his head slowly and said, "I don't believe that Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao is a schemer. It has nothing to do with his moral standing but his personality.
"Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao is best known for his bravery and toughness in the Union Army. He is certainly not sophisticated enough to set up such a complicated scheme!
"Don't tell me that he pretended to be a simpleton for a hundred years in order to realize his ambitions. It must be noted that he couldn't have guessed that the arrival of the Imperium of True Human Beings would lead to the peace talks between human beings and demons one year ago. Was it necessary for him to hide his real personality for more than a hundred years?
"Iron Commander does not need to be a schemer."
Li Yao pointed at the corner of the prison cell with his chin. "Because there is already a super schemer in the Patriots Partnership!
"Lu Zui is in charge of the planning, and Iron Commander is in charge of the implementation. When the scheme is exposed, they will take all the risks in their desperation!
"Of the two of them, one is good at thinking, and the other is good at fighting. They both have their shortcomings, but they also have their specialties. The two of them make up the two cores of the Patriots Partnership. They are the real masterminds behind the curtain!"
Guo Chunfeng's face was even more awful. "An hour ago, when you woke up, Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao just sent a telepathic thought back from the edge of the Dark Desolate Domain. He said that the drill troop encountered a rarely-seen super thunderstorm. Three communication bases were destroyed. Most of the transmission of spiritual waves was jammed. Perhaps, it would be a long time before we could reach out to the inland. He asked us to be patient. He would repair the base as soon as possible and send out signalmen to contact the rear …"
Guo Chunfeng could not go on. He looked at Li Yao and saw the shock in each other's eyes at the same time.
Gritting his teeth, Guo Chunfeng said, "If what you said is true, it will be terrible!
"Right now, the 'scorched earth strategy' has been implemented on the Grand Desolate Plateau. There are no towns or sects. The Cultivators scattered on the Grand Desolate Plateau almost all belong to the military. We don't know who is on Zhou Hengdao's side and who is not!
"The elite forces of all the sects inland have been mobilized to the south and the East Ocean. Even if they are summoned back immediately, it will take time!
"The communication with the drill troop in the Dark Desolate Domain is probably under Zhou Hengdao's control. Under the interference of the super thunderstorm, even Burning Prairie cannot be reached out. Our message cannot be sent in at all!
"The thunderstorm was probably directed and performed by the 'weather troop' under Zhou Hengdao's control. The thunderstorm will last as long as he wants it to!
"Unless we send someone over right now, it will take at least two to three days before we can reach out to the drill troop, not considering the interception of Iron Commander!
"Two to three days is enough for Iron Commander to go all out!"
The two of them shuddered at the same time. They looked at Lu Zui as if he were a viper that was even more dangerous because of its dying struggle!
"What — what do you want exactly?"
Guo Chunfeng could not help but bellow.
"Hehe …"
Lu Zui turned his white eyes back to the two of them. Gloominess and coldness were gathered in his eyes again as he said casually, "Everything is just your speculation. I will not admit to anything without any proof. If you are capable, why don't you cross the entire Grand Desolate Plateau and ask Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao yourself?
"However, as a game of thought, I would like to deduce with you what will happen next, assuming that what you said is true."
Lu Zui stood up and warmed up his body slowly. He had completely broken free from the madness, desperation, and frustration a day ago and regained the calmness, indifference, and determination of the past. Not only did his level not plummet, his belief was even firmer. He walked to Li Yao and Guo Chunfeng and smiled.
His smile made Li Yao and Guo Chunfeng's pupils constrict at the same time.
"First of all, as you said, the elite forces of the Cultivators have all been transferred to the south and the east ocean. It is impossible for them to return in a day or two.
"The news on the Grand Desolate Plateau is completely blocked, too. It is impossible to communicate with the Spiritual Nexus directly.
"We can only send someone to the Dark Desolate Domain with the 'ultimate order' to search for the troops. But how many days will it take?
"Until then, Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao may have found a suitable excuse to attack the Blood Demon Sector!
"Too many troops are not needed. Four Crystal Suit Legions and twenty regular legions are not needed. A few, or even one or two, legions only need to listen to his orders!
"Whatever the reason for the one or two legions to enter the Blood Demon Sector, what can the reinforcements do when they are engaged in a battle with the Coalition Army of Demons? Are they going to watch their brother troops being besieged and annihilated by the Coalition Army of Demons while doing nothing?
"No. They won't. No member of the Union Army will watch their brothers being killed miserably by the demons!
"The reinforcements will have no choice but to follow. Even Burning Prairie, the warship of the Flying Star Sector, will enter the Blood Demon Sector to rescue the trapped compatriots of human beings!
"Alright. When four Crystal Suit Legions, twenty regular legions, and the best warships of the three Sectors enter the Blood Demon Sector, what will the Union Army in the rear do?
"It must be noted that the troops in the drill do not have enough ammunition and supplies. If the rear does not replenish them soon, they will definitely be annihilated after they run out of ammunition and supplies!
"Therefore, the rear does not have a choice but to reinforce them!
"Hehe. It is like a giant that is mired in a swamp. Maybe it is only one foot at the beginning, but the more he struggles, the deeper he sinks until he is completely drowned!
"The lords in the capital city, after learning the matter, what can they do even if they know that it is the scheme of the Patriots Partnership?
"The war has already begun. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed. Maybe dozens of villages, cities, and countless soldiers in the Blood Demon Sector have been massacred by us. At such a time, can they stop and say 'I'm sorry, it's all a misunderstanding' shamelessly?
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