Chapter 152: Hidden Agendas

The current situation was extremely unfavorable for the Western Kingdom, a fact of which William was well aware.

Sitting alone in his tent that day, William was consumed by bitterness.

"What is happening? My luck is truly wretched, to have crossed paths with a demon like Chen Mu."

"Alas—"

William heaved a long, heavy sigh. When he had first sought to fight in this campaign, his ambition was merely to earn effortless military glory and return home to be elevated among the high nobility.

Never had he imagined he would strike an iron wall, encountering a formidable figure like Chen Mu. Here, his forces were bled dry, and countless soldiers under his command had already perished.

If he failed to secure notable victories, upon his return to the Western Kingdom, he might very well find himself thrown into a dungeon; the Western people would never spare him.

Just as William was pondering how to wage his next move against Chen Mu, one of his staff officers came in to report.

"Grand General, I know you are deeply troubled right now, but I have a brilliant solution."

The staff officer looked at William and said with an air of excitement.

William was momentarily stunned. "What is this brilliant solution? Tell me at once, I am in urgent need of answers."

Abandoning all pretense of composure, William barked directly at the man.

Startled by this fierce reaction, the staff officer had not anticipated William's intense urgency.

Yet, a surge of secret delight immediately followed within him: since William was this terrified, it meant that if his proposal were adopted and successfully executed, he would achieve monumental merits.

Without wasting a moment, the staff officer blurted out, "Grand General, if we rely solely on our current troops to fight a decisive battle against Chen Mu, we simply do not have enough strength."

"Therefore, I believe we can seek reinforcements. There are various city-states to the west. While those city-states are ignorant of how formidable Great Xia truly is, they are well aware of our immense might."

"Why don't we win them over and make them serve our purposes? Ideally, they can play a decisive role in the final battle; failing that, these people can at least serve as cannon fodder."

The staff officer said this with a sly grin. Hearing these words, it felt to William as though lightning had flashed across his mind, as if a tightly bound chord had suddenly snapped open.

"Brilliant! A truly magnificent suggestion. You are remarkably clever; I would never have thought of this."

"Those western city-states have always lived in dread of us. If I command them to join, they will certainly comply."

Frictioning his palms in anticipation, William decided to have his main force hold their ground temporarily.

Taking several hundred elite guards with him, he rode out personally to negotiate directly with the western city-states.

Upon hearing of William's personal arrival, the lords of those city-states hastened out to welcome him.

Bypassing all superfluous pleasantries, William resorted straight to threats of force.

"My purpose here today is singular: a host of Great Xia troops has arrived from afar, threatening the vital interests of the Western Kingdom."

"Now, I require your intervention and assistance. Should this campaign prove victorious, I shall grant you all the spoils of war plundered from the Great Xia army, alongside tracts of land as your reward."

William spoke with blunt candor. Terrified of the Western army on one hand, and enticed by the prospect of lucrative rewards from the war on the other, the lords readily agreed.

"Splendid! Since the Grand General has come in person and offered such terms, we shall most certainly lend our aid. But tell us, is this Great Xia truly formidable?"

A lord inquired with cautious curiosity. Hearing this, William let out a hearty laugh before replying.

"They are merely a band of barbarian tribes; how formidable could they possibly be? Led by me, our forces will sweep through them like falling leaves and shattered wood."

Without doubting the veracity of William's words, the lords unanimously agreed to dispatch troops.

William then returned to make brief preparations, readying himself for the decisive clash with Chen Mu on the morrow.

Just then, however, another subordinate hurried in to report ill news.

It was said that the lord of a certain central city-state had flatly refused to assist them.

William’s expression darkened slightly. He demanded of his staff officer, "What is the meaning of this city-state lord? How dare he defy our glorious and magnificent army?"

With a wry, bitter smile, the staff officer replied, "That city-state has past grievances with us; they regard us as villains, while believing that Great Xia will bring peace to Rome. Our envoys were not even allowed past their gates."

William snapped, "Scoundrel! I shall lead the grand army to their doorstep and compel their surrender. At the same time, I will permit my men to pillage that city-state thoroughly, so my brothers know that following me brings rewards."

A man of prompt action, William immediately led his forces—consisting of five thousand Latin musketeers, five thousand sword-and-shield infantry, and several thousand troops from allied city-states—to the vicinity of this central city-state.

He surrounded the central city-state and issued a chilling ultimatum: unless the lord surrendered unconditionally, he would unleash his troops to put the city to fire and sword, reducing all its citizens to chattel slaves.

Finding resistance impossible and driven to frantic desperation, the lord racked his brains until an idea struck him.

"Why shouldn't I feign compliance with their demands while secretly dispatching envoys to seek aid from Great Xia and the current Roman Senate?"

The lord first sent word to the Westerners, requesting a day of grace to appease the populace within the city.

Seizing the moment, he penned a letter brimming with eloquent and evocative prose:

"You and we are like the teeth and the tongue; if we are destroyed, you too shall be threatened. If we endure, you shall find protection."

"We implore the master of Great Xia, we beg you to come to our rescue. We beseech you."

Having finished the letter, the lord hurried his swiftest riders to gallop at breakneck speed to deliver it to the Roman Senate.

Chen Mu laid eyes upon the contents of the letter almost immediately.

Nodding in approval, he remarked, "This city-state lord is indeed a clever man."

Chen Mu straightway summoned a meeting of the Senate, determined to deliberate upon an effective strategy to counter the ruthless Westerners.

Opinions among the assembly were sharply divided. Some argued for holding off on a direct assault, using the city merely to drain the enemy's strength through attrition.

Others suggested staging a surprise raid directly against the Westerners' rear strongholds, a classic strategy of besieging the state of Wei to rescue the state of Zhao.

Yet scarcely anyone advocated for meeting the Western coalition forces in direct combat.

Surveying the gathered officials with a cold smile, Chen Mu stated:

"You still fail to understand military strategy. Some battles are simply unavoidable."

"We are duty-bound to march directly to the relief of that city-state. I called this council to discuss how we shall deploy our forces, not to listen to you cower and shrink from difficulty."

"If we stand idly by while a friend faces mortal peril, countless others will conclude that we of Great Xia lack honor and integrity in both word and deed."

"Such an outcome would impose an unbearable burden upon our future political and military undertakings."