Chapter 153: Roman Military System

Chen Mu said, "If we act decisively right now and defeat the enemy, those people will know that we, the people of Great Xia, always keep our promises to our vassal states. We said we would protect you, and we will certainly protect you."

"As a result, many other tribes or cities will surrender to us in the future. This is subduing the enemy without fighting," Chen Mu said calmly.

His words won countless rounds of applause, and many people thought from the bottom of their hearts:

"Chen Mu's current wisdom and strategy far surpass ours. We still failed to realize that this is not just a war, but also a political battle."

Immediately after, the Roman Senate began a formal discussion on how to dispatch troops and where to station garrisons for defense.

Then, Chen Mu personally formulated a tactical plan. He decided to deploy his forces around that specific city-state.

First, he hurriedly sent messengers to instruct the lord of the city-state to prepare his defenses. Following that, Chen Mu led a mobile force to set up an ambush directly behind the mountains.

His intention was very simple: to have the city-state lord temporarily stall the enemy's forces, thereby facilitating Chen Mu's subsequent operation.

Upon receiving the letter, the city-state lord did not hesitate and carried out Chen Mu's plan accordingly.

By the following day, William led his troops right outside the gates of the city-state.

William had someone shout loudly, "We have given you time to consider whether to surrender or not. Have you made up your mind today?"

Standing atop the city wall, the lord looked at William with righteous indignation and said, "I will never surrender. Even if I commit suicide, I will never hand over my life and my dignity to you demons!" the lord shouted angrily.

Hearing this, William shook his head.

He waved his hand and issued a military order.

"All troops, prepare to storm the city! Once we take this city, we will allow you three days of plundering. Whatever gold and silver treasures you want, whatever women you want, whatever slaves you want—just go and grab them."

Hearing General William's words, the soldiers below became restless, their eyes glowing with greed.

They set up siege engines, picked up their firearms, and prepared to launch a fierce assault.

Yet, they were unaware of the old saying: the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

At that moment, Chen Mu had already led ten thousand musketeers, riding on a thousand tracked electric vehicles, positioning themselves not far away from the enemy.

Observing from a distance, Chen Mu saw that all of William's troops had already launched a fierce attack against the city.

Their rear was completely undefended. If Chen Mu chose to strike now, he could achieve the maximum tactical outcome.

"William, oh William, crafty though you are like a fox, you can never escape from me, a clever hunter. Today, I have got you firmly in my grasp."

Chen Mu sneered and issued a new order.

"All soldiers, launch your fiercest attack! Unleash all our fury upon them."

At Chen Mu's command, the ten thousand soldiers under his command charged toward the Western men.

Having spent this recent period resting and building up their strength, the Great Xia soldiers were currently possessed by a morale as high as a rainbow, eagerly wishing to kill a few more enemies to earn extra rewards.

Thus, their charge into the Western forces instantly shattered the enemy's formation.

It was only then that William realized Chen Mu was launching a sneak attack from behind.

"What! Good God, I've fallen into Chen Mu's trap again."

Trembling with rage, William was barely able to stand.

Falling into Chen Mu's trap the first time could perhaps be blamed on bad luck.

But falling into Chen Mu's trap a second time—what could possibly be said for that? Was he truly that much more foolish than Chen Mu? Was he truly no match for Chen Mu at all?

In his fury, William reached for his side sword, contemplating suicide on the spot.

His staff officers quickly rushed forward to stop him, and one of them blurted out, "General, you cannot die! If you die, the brothers are completely finished. Let's retreat first to preserve our remaining strength, and we can settle scores with Chen Mu another day."

The other staff officers chimed in with desperate advice. With a long, heavy sigh, William realized that dying was utterly useless—it would only grieve his friends and gladden his enemies.

Left with no other choice, William waved his hand and fled in haste, leading his elite Western soldiers and Latin cavalry.

As for the auxiliary city-state armies under his command, William could no longer afford to care about them.

Consequently, those city-states that had submitted to William now abruptly discovered that William had abandoned them and fled.

"Damn those Westerners! How utterly shameless of them!"

Lords of several city-states let out angry, frantic shouts. Some of them still stubbornly desired to fight a decisive battle against Chen Mu.

However, they now realized that the combat power of Chen Mu's forces was simply too overwhelming; they were no match whatsoever.

One city-state lord hurriedly seized the moment to surrender. His surrender triggered a cascade of surrenders among the others.

Before long, Chen Mu broke the resistance of all remaining enemies in one fell swoop.

Seeing the surrendering lords, Chen Mu chuckled coldly.

"We of Great Xia are benevolent at heart, and I will not kill you. But remember this: starting from today, you are no longer lords, and your towns will now be taken over by me."

Hearing this, the lords looked at one another. In their hearts, they felt a mixture of relief and bitter grief. They felt relief because they believed they would at least save their lives.

They felt bitter grief because they knew that from this moment onward, they would lose all power and status, effectively being erased from the history of this land.

Chen Mu then summoned the lord who had steadfastly defended his town. After offering a few words of encouragement to the brave warrior, he had a large quantity of gold, silver, and silk brought out as a reward.

However, the lord shook his head and said with deep emotion:

"I do not need these things, for I already have all I require. I wish to distribute all these rewards among my subordinate soldiers and officers. I wonder if Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince would approve?"

"No problem at all, that is only fitting. You are talented and your performance has been outstanding. You may dispatch two trusted representatives to join the Senate and voice your opinions," Chen Mu said with a smile.

Immediately afterward, he convened another meeting.

During the meeting, he put forward a proposal: "From now on, there is no need for any city-states to maintain standing garrisons; they will all be converted into security brigades."

Everyone present was shocked. Looking at each other in dismay, someone immediately asked:

"Then what should we do if there is a riot among the common people within a city?"

Chen Mu let out a cold snort and replied directly:

"I already said that some security brigades will be retained. These forces should be more than sufficient to deal with riots among ordinary people. As for the elite troops from the various city-states, I intend to integrate and incorporate them into a unified force."