As Li Mu withdrew, the battle at Guiping Pass came to an end.
The first appearance of Shanhai City's flying team had shocked the wilderness and frightened countless people.
When Han Xin led the first army to enter Guiping Pass, what he saw was an isolated city with only the city wall left. All the buildings within the pass were engulfed in the sea of flames and transformed into ruins.
Broken walls and buildings could be seen everywhere.
Occasionally, one could see burnt corpses of the allied soldiers who could not retreat in time. Fortunately, there were no civilians living in Guiping Pass. Otherwise, it would be another tragedy.
After taking Guiping Pass, the Bao Tao Army had a wide open field.
Military observers once again asserted that with the cooperation of the P1 cannons and the flying team, no city in the entire wilderness could withstand the attack of Shanhai City's army.
The wilderness was silent.
Unknowingly, the technological level of Shanhai City had surpassed that of other territories.
"If we don't catch up, we will never be able to raise our heads again!" Di Chen said, trying his best to persuade the members of the Yan Huang Alliance to set up a common research fund to share technology.
At the same time, Di Chen and the others set their sights on overseas for the first time. If they wanted to break the technological bottleneck, without the foreshadowing of western technology, it would be useless no matter how many top scientists they had.
The limitation of the technological tree was a curse.
In silence, a technological competition was quietly taking place in various territories in the China region. In this round of competition, the one who fell behind would not be able to be the future overlord of the wilderness.
The butterfly effect of Ouyang Shuo's rebirth was slowly expanding and gradually brewing into a storm.
...
The war ended, but the aftermath was endless.
Li Mu led his troops to Guilin County and after meeting up with the 30,000 troops stationed there, he reported the situation in Guiping Pass in detail and waited for further instructions from the city.
The two major cities, which were already surging with undercurrents, were in complete chaos when they learned that Guiping Pass had fallen. Moreover, the two envoys sent by the Office of the Grand Herald took this opportunity to operate frequently, making the situation even more turbulent.
Lobbying, assassinations, conspiracies, betrayals, sowing discord, etc., took turns in the two major provinces. It was very lively. Under the night sky, there were no less than seven bloody battles between the Shanhai Guards and Spring Dawn.
The lords of the two major city-states were involved in this chaotic whirlpool, unable to stay out of it. Between war and peace, between Shanhai City and Rising Sun City, they had to make a choice.
Chuanbei City-State was the first to collapse.
With the fall of Gui Ping Pass and the loss of this natural stronghold, Guilin County was like a defenseless young girl that could be ravaged by the Shanhai City army at any time.
What was even worse was that the allied forces stationed at the Mighty Pass might fall under the blades of Shanhai City's army at any moment. In the battle of Xuanwu Pass, they had already lost more than 26,000 soldiers. They could not afford such losses anymore.
On November 1st, [North Sichuan City State] withdrew the coalition forces stationed at Weiwu Pass to the North Sichuan Province without notifying [South Hunan City State].
The army did not even stop at Guilin County and directly returned to the border of North Sichuan Province.
Upon receiving the news, Zhang Han didn't hesitate to lead his troops into the Weiwu Pass. At this point, the four passes that connected Guilin County and Shanhai City had fallen into the hands of Shanhai City.
The situation in Guilin County became clearer and clearer.
The withdrawal of the allied forces meant that [North Sichuan City State] had completely given up on Guilin County. That was the truth. When the army retreated, the officials of Guilin County that belonged to Chuanbei City-State also retreated.
The relevant personnel and materials were all withdrawn from Guilin County in a short period of time.
[North Sichuan City State] did not go to the extreme. When they withdrew, they only took away important items. They did not burn down the territory, nor did they do anything that would anger the heavens and the people.
This was a great help for Shanhai City to take over Guilin County in the future.
[North Sichuan City State]'s actions sent a clear signal of reconciliation. They did not want to fall out with Shanhai City and hoped to use this opportunity to reach a relevant trade agreement.
As soon as the news came out, all parties were shocked.
The sudden "defection" of [North Sichuan City State] was like a strong medicine. It further intensified the division of [South Hunan City State], which was originally wavering and had constant internal friction.
The lords who supported Shanhai City had already made a threat. If the city-state still did not agree to withdraw from Guilin County, then they would withdraw on their own.
The danger of the city-state disintegration was imminent.
At this time, South of Rosy Clouds, who had been silent all this time, had no choice but to stand up and personally meet with the envoy from Shanhai City. They expressed their agreement to withdraw from Guiping County and reached a compromise with Shanhai City.
Maintaining a complete city-state was the bottom line of South of Rosy Clouds.
Once the city-state was divided, then in the future battles, South Hunan Province would no longer have the capital to resist. It would either be taken over by Shanhai City or completely become a puppet of the [Yan Huang Alliance].
With South of Rosy Clouds' statement and the fact that [North Sichuan City State] had already withdrawn, Lord Chunshen's chess pieces in [South Hunan City State] could no longer do anything.
Withdrawing from Guilin County was already the general trend of the two major city-states.
If they continued to resist to the end and resolutely declared war, then they would be going against the general trend. It was no different from hitting a stone with an egg. Without the support of other allies, they could no longer jump around.
Under the emergency cooperation of the Chamberlain of Dependencies, the Black Snake Guards and the Shanhai Guards, all kinds of methods were used. The chess pieces that [Chunxiao] had painstakingly planted were dismembered one by one.
In the end, there were only three or four stubborn elements, but they could not cause any more waves.
The only thing they could do was to follow Lord Chunshen's instructions and cause trouble during the withdrawal from Guilin County. They would kill people, set fires, and create some additional trouble for Shanhai City.
These kinds of tricks were really not presentable.
Lord Chunshen's actions fully exposed his narrow-mindedness. He had already lost, yet he still played such petty tricks. He was ridiculed for no reason, and became a mockery of the Wilderness.
Because of this, Lord Chunshen was even more furious.
Dan Yang City, the City Lord's residence.
Lord Chunshen pointed at Xiao's nose and asked, "Damn it. Speak, who leaked the news?" For no reason at all, he had become a mockery of the Wilderness. This caused the prideful Lord Chunshen to be flustered and exasperated.
"Your subordinate is currently investigating." Xiao was rather calm. This was not the first time Lord Chunshen had lost his temper like this.
It was fine once one got used to it.
"Investigate, investigate, investigate. Have you found anything?" Lord Chunshen's anger had not yet subsided.
Xiao said, "There are signs that it should be Shanhai City's intelligence agency spreading rumors, wanting to use this to smear our name. Who would have thought, who would have thought that by a stroke of luck. "
"…"
Lord Chunshen was taken aback, his accumulated anger stuck in midair. It was extremely strange, and his face was completely red.
"What is this called? Lifting a rock to smash one's own feet. "
Lord Chunshen wanted to cry, but no tears came out. He really reaped what he sowed. If he had known earlier, he would not have made such an unnecessary move.
"Fine, fine, you can leave!"
Looking at Xiao, Lord Chunshen felt a wave of pain. Investigating was not as good as not investigating.
"Your subordinate takes his leave!"
With a whoosh, Xiao disappeared, hiding in the shadows.
In the large study, only Lord Chunshen was left, his face cloudy and uncertain. After a while, Lord Chunshen muttered to himself, "Hmph, even if we reconcile, how can you say you have no clothes? I won't let you off easily."
"Didn't you generously allow Xiangnan City to use this route to carry out ocean trade? Fine, I will borrow the shell of Xiangnan City and secretly carry out ocean trade. Let's see who wins and who loses. "
When it came to doing business, Lord Chunshen was indeed an expert. He was worried that he could not find a market for his territory's goods. With the convenience of ocean trade, he could naturally make a fortune.
Thinking of this, Lord Chunshen suddenly felt secretly pleased, his previous gloominess swept away.
November 5th, Guilin County.
On this day, the two major cities completely withdrew from Guilin County, handing over the 'strategic buffer zone' that they had painstakingly occupied to Shanhai City, accepting the olive branch extended by Shanhai City.
The matter of Guilin County had been completely resolved.
A year ago, no one would have imagined that such a scene would occur. Shanhai City's resolution of the Guilin County had become a classic example of the struggle for hegemony in the wilderness, and was discussed enthusiastically by various experts.
Some people joked that Shanhai City's comprehensive use of military, diplomatic and other methods, relying on their crushing superiority in science and technology, was able to reclaim a county with practically no losses, and also greatly eased the security situation in the north. It was truly brilliant.
Such methods were enough for the various lords to learn from.
The people inside all understood that everything else was just nonsense. Shanhai City's reclaiming of Guilin County, whether it was military action or sending out envoys, were all methods, just appearances.
The real reason was Shanhai City's powerful strength supporting all of this. It was precisely because Shanhai City had the confidence to resolve the matter of Guilin County through military means that the Chamberlain of Dependencies had the leeway to play.
"Send the other lords to try, and see if they will pay any attention to you!"
That was why there was a saying: Weak countries have no diplomacy.
… …
The two major cities withdrew from Guilin County. Under Ouyang Shuo's instructions, Guilin County was temporarily under the control of the Leopard Troop before the officials from the Protectorate of Southern Border arrived.
Another layer of meaning was that they hoped to use the Leopard Troop to carry out a purge of Guilin County. After all, the two major cities had operated in Guilin County for a year. Who knew how many spies and foreshadowing they had laid down?
If one really believed them when they said they would withdraw all of them, then one would really be a fool.
Other than the remnants of the two major cities, Ouyang Shuo did not forget that Guilin County was the route of retreat that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had prepared. Countless remnants of the Taiping Cult were hidden within.
How could he feel at ease if he did not eliminate them?
Other than military action, more important was the covert operation at night. The Military Intelligence Department, the Shanhai Guards, and the Black Snake Guards would work together again to carry out a thorough investigation of different groups of people.
In the past year, the three major intelligence agencies had not been idle. They had never stopped infiltrating and monitoring Guilin County. The people or forces that were blacklisted by the three major agencies became the main targets of this operation.
This kind of work that offended people naturally had to be dealt with before Ouyang Shuo arrived at Guilin County. When Ouyang Shuo arrived at Guilin County, it was time to buy people's hearts.
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