The World Online

Gaia 1st year 2nd month 24th day, also the fifth day of the first lunar month, Cloudy.

_“System Notification: Congratulations to Di Chen for the successful establishment of the second town in China; special reward of 1000 merit points!”_

_“System Notification: Congratulations to Di Chen…”_

_“System Notification: Congratulations…”_

There was a burst of system announcements happening just right after Ouyang Shuo logged in.

Ten days after Shanhai Town’s upgrade came the second town. Di Chen, once again proved his strength, defending his name and honor as the lead position in the Six Tyrants of Handan. Even though the reign of Six Tyrants have ended long ago.

Without the requirements of indexes limiting him, there would be no more obstacles for Handan Town to get to grade 2. If Di Chen were to be more radical, he could definitely chase up Ouyang Shuo and his Shanhai Town, upgrading Handan Town to grade 2 town faster than Ouyang Shuo.

Of course, Ouyang Shuo would not allow Di Chen to disrupt his plan for Shanhai Town, and he continued his training on his spearmanship and Bajiquan as usual.

3 PM in the afternoon, Military Intelligence Secretary, San Gouzi, came into the Manor, reporting his intelligence to Ouyang Shuo.

He reported with an excited tone “Sire, we have finally found the raider’s camp!”

“Perfect! Where is it?” Ouyang Shuo, excited by the news, hastily asked.

“Heh…Sire, it is a place you would have never thought of. This time, the raider’s camp is located at the coast upstream of the Friendship River, it took us a great effort to located the camp’s location.”

Ouyang Shuo’s eyes shined, “That said, they are a bunch of water bandits, how many of them?”

“According to my intelligence, the kiosk is around 1 square kilometer. Well about their numbers, I have sent my men to investigate, they should be back with detailed information in two days or so.” San Gouzi answered in a very low tone, ashamed by the imperfection of his intelligence division. Reporting to a superior with incomplete intelligence is one of the biggest taboo in the Military Intelligence Division.

San Gouzi’s report made Ouyangshuo frowned, without the details, he could not analyze the situation. Based on the area occupied by the bandits, the camp should have around 1000 men and worst come to worst, it would be a high-level stronghold. What puzzled him the most is that with such a huge number of bandits, why did they not invade Shanhai Town? With their overwhelming number, the tides of war will be on their side if they intent to invade Shanhai Town.

“The Military Intelligence Division had derelict in their duties. When it was first established, I had said- It is the utmost responsibility of the Military Intelligence Division to ascertain threats and its sources; prevent it from happening and prepare for what is coming. Yet none of you had detected such a large threat before this. Honestly, I am very disappointed.” Words came in a serious tone from Ouyang Shuo.

“It is all my fault sir, please punish me!”

“There will be punishments, but not now. The bandits are large in numbers, their threats to the town are big. Therefore, I need to remove them as soon as possible. However, the navy of Beihai Village is not ready yet, a battle on the water is unfavorable to us. This is the time for your division to shine. Get me every detail of the bandits, I want to know why they did not invade us before. Otherwise, blinded by the lack of information, it would cause us nothing but our petty death.” Ouyang Shuo knew what’s more important as of now, at this moment of crisis, the help of the Military Intelligence was much needed, it was still not the time for punishment yet.

San Gouzi nodded heavily, answering aloud, “Thank you, sire! For giving me, and the Military Intelligence Division a chance to atone for our sins. I promise with my life, if the results are not satisfying, I will bring my head to you!”

“I will be waiting for your good news, now go! Remember, you only have 3 days.” Ouyang Shuo gave them 3 days to do it. The investigation before might have already alerted the bandits. If they had more time to prepare themselves, it would become even harder to win the battle. He could not afford to risk this.

“Yes sire!”

After San Gouzi left, Ouyang Shuo requested the 3 directors in his manor, he then made an announcement, Shanhai Town now enters Level 1 Alert State, any activities and movements outside of the town shall be reduced, and curfew would be applied during night-time.

2nd month 26th day, intelligence information about the stronghold came in one after another onto Ouyang Shuo’s table. Informants took great risk to dive through the Friendship River into the stronghold for first-hand information. The stronghold have over 900 bandits, among them 500 were combatants, right enough to form a battalion. Of the 500, There were 400 of level 25 ordinary bandits and a hundred of level 30 elite bandits.

It had 3 leaders, their head- BlackDragon, second-in-command- WaterSnake, and following by Pei DongLai, the third leader. Among the three, the most notable one would be Pei DongLai. It is said that he was a navy general, saved by BlackDragon and was brought back to the stronghold. Proficient in army training, he soon became the third leader of the bandits.

In the intelligence, the reason why the bandits took no action was revealed. It was due to an internal conflict. The infighting arose from WaterSnake’s unhappiness with Pei DongLai’s rapid promotion, it had affected his interest and benefits. He gathered the original cadre, claiming that Pei was an officer as a propaganda, and requested BlackDragon to get rid of Pei.

Yet, Pei had his own supporters too. Almost half of the bandits, amazed and subdued by Pei’s army training capability, stood firm along Pei’s side. Both sides fought and condemned each other like fire and ice, cats and dogs. BlackDragon tried his best to reconcile the conflicts and return the harmonies but it did not work. As things escalated quickly, a war between the two factions seemed inevitable, what thoughts could he have in the Shanhai Town?

Having these detailed pieces of information in his hands, Ouyang Shuo was excited. Immediately he promoted the brave informant as the Military Intelligence deputy secretary, along with a reward of 5 golds.

He knew the key to eradicate the bandits lies on Pei. But how? It is another problem he needs to figure out. At this moment, he realized the importance and the need of a strategist.

Without any second choice, he summoned Fan to his manor, he would like to listen to Fan’s opinion. After all, Fan did lead an army to war before.

Briefly, he told Fan about the stronghold and the information they had. “Do you have any good plans in mind, Director Fan?” Ouyang Shuo asked.

Fan pondered for a moment, “Pei comes from a military background, it is not a surprise at all he and the bandits did not get along. Shanhai Town is an official territory acknowledged by the government, same line as the navy officer. If I am Pei, I would choose Shanhai over the bandits. As such, my lord can send a man to Pei, show him that we are the only righteous path. Have him inspire a defection from the inside and we will attack from the outside, the bandits will be eradicated in no time.”

Ouyang Shuo shook his head, “I am afraid it will not be that easy. BlackDragon saved Pei’s life, so he would not easily betray his savior. From the infighting, one can tell that the reason Pei is able to stand firm is due to BlackDragon’s support from the back. Thus, it is not easy to have him turning his back on his savior, at least, not in the near future. ”

Fan gave a mysterious smile, confidently he said “My lord speaks the truth, however, what if the letters between Pei and us were fallen into BlackDragon’s hands? His skeptic personality would have determined that he will not trust Pei anymore. Therefore, we have met our goal, only if Pei joined us had he a chance to live.”

Honestly, Fan’s plan really tempted Ouyang Shuo for a moment. However, as soon as he thought about it, he had to give it up, “Indeed it is truly a brilliant plan, however, if we followed this plan. Pei may be forced to stand on our side, but he will never be one of us, not when he is unwilling to. This is definitely not something I am happy to see. I am sure you know the importance of a navy general to Shanhai Town.”

Fan smiled and said “My lord thinks ahead of us, you have grasped the king’s way. If this is the case, if my lord desires the best of both worlds, then there is only one way to do it.”

“How?”

“Instigate their relationship between WaterSnake and BlackDragon. WaterSnake leads the senior cadre in the stronghold, they are unhappy of BlackDragon’s favor over Pei. Find just the right timing, and make them both turn against each other. When the snipe and clam grapple, Shanhai Town can watch the fight behind the ramparts, and be the fisherman that profits.

Ouyang Shuo nodded his head excitedly, “You must have a good plan in mind, please show me how!”

“My lord you only need to send a trusted and skillful spy, sneak into the stronghold and spread the words. Say, WaterSnake is about to riot, and replace BlackDragon in his position as their mighty leader. Ensure the words reach to the skeptical BlackDragon, plus these days such news are really sensitive to them. Even if he finds the news abnormal, he will still choose to exterminate WaterSnake. Naturally, WaterSnake will not stand still and do nothing, the battle between the two is inevitable.” Fan calmly analyzed the situation.

“Furthermore, to ensure the plan goes smoothly, there are two more things needed to be done. One- Disable Shanhai Town’s state of alert. So the bandits can let their guards down and cast us aside, only focusing on the battle that is about to come. Two- Continue our contacts with Pei, show him our sincerity and goodwill, in that case, he will most probably stay out of the infighting. Thus weakening BlackDragon’s strength, keeping the balance between WaterSnake and BlackDragon.” Fan continued on with two more measures, one inside and one outside, making the plan seamless.

Shou clapped his hands and praised Fan for his excellent plan. “Your plan is brilliant and excellent, the stronghold will be eliminated in no time! There is another thing I will need you to do, the letter to solicit Pei.”

“It is my obligation to write it!”

After Fan left the manor, Ouyang Shuo summoned San Gouzi and the new Deputy Secretary Leng Qian. He briefed them about the plan, “It lies upon the Military Intelligence Division to make the plan work. Selection for the spy must be of strict rules- Reliable and flexible-minded.

San Gouzi and Leng Qian looked at each other and nodded.

Leng Qian stood up and said, “I will personally sneak in myself, and will not disappoint you, my lord!”

“Then, I have no worries.” Ouyang Shuo nodded his head.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap