Chapter 123: Provocation and Concepts

"General and soldiers of the Yellow Turbans, I hope you can recognize the current situation and surrender early."

"After experiencing so many defeats, you should finally realize how insignificant your Grand Peace is, how weak your gods are, and what a waste, idiot, moron, and piece of garbage your leader was—the one who went around curing others yet died of illness himself!"

"We are not the Han army, but a revolutionary army striving for the people. Therefore, we are mercifully giving you one chance. Surrender early, and you will live; otherwise, all of you will die."

"Lay down your arms and surrender your cities and supplies. I will allow the officers among you to return home and give your soldiers the opportunity to join the revolutionary army. Each person will receive twenty mu of land, a house, and an ox."

After crossing the river, the soldiers were busy setting up camp, cooking meals, and resting. At that moment, Wang Luo gathered all the contractors accompanying the army into the central camp and had a soldier read this letter aloud.

"What do you think of this?" Wang Luo sat squarely in the middle, wearing a smile as he asked them.

"You aren't persuading them to surrender; you're trying to provoke them into a decisive battle."

While most of the Wuzhou members remained silent, Red Electric replied.

"Correct, that is precisely the point. Do you like it?" Wang Luo said frankly.

This response sparked a commotion. Many people whispered to each other, expressing their own opinions.

"There's no need for that," Charles said. "Provoking the enemy might bring even more pressure and needlessly increase the difficulty."

"The rewards will be higher, too," Wang Luo said. "Right now, when they see this letter, they will be furious and eager to fight back. But after we defeat them on the battlefield, fear will begin to spread in their hearts. They will blame themselves, reflect, and in their panic, seriously consider these exaggerated words, which will accelerate their collapse. Some people will take the promises made at this moment as their ultimate straw to grasp."

"To disintegrate them, this is the right task for this stage. Perhaps this is the first time you are seeing something like this, but in the future, within our new team, you will encounter this kind of situation often."

The clamor rose once more. Approval, contemplation, disdain, confusion, appreciation, and suspicion—all mingled together. This is my new team.

"Alright, if you have nothing else to say, go back and prepare for battle."

"You have also seen the rules of the new team. Whoever performs better gets more quotas and a chance to get better equipment. Whether you are willing or not, most of you will have to stay here for three scenarios. So, perform well!"

With that, he waved his hand to signal them to leave. "You go back first! Call in all the officers of battalion commander rank and above!"

---

When most of the contractors stood up and left, Lin Feirui remained seated, and Wang Luo paid her no mind.

As the officers entered one after another, Charles, Rank, and a few others walked up to Wang Luo and spoke in low voices.

"Do as you wish," Wang Luo nodded. "But no one is allowed to make a sound while I am speaking."

"Understood."

They wanted to stay as well. But why report it? He wouldn't care about such things.

She looked at them with contempt; clearly, these people did not understand what was important to Wang Luo and what was trivial.

The officers of the revolutionary army did not understand either. After listening to the letter being read, although they were somewhat excited, they raised many questions.

"Sir," an officer—originally called Wang Da, whom Wang Luo had later renamed Wang Chu—stood up and asked, "Are you deliberately provoking the enemy?"

"You could say that," Wang Luo replied.

"If so, the enemy will surely attack with their entire army. Is this really the best strategy?" another officer named Wang Meng stood up and asked.

"This is what we call despising the enemy strategically," Wang Luo said. "For a long time, we have been fighting the more elite Han army and taking passive beatings. Now, facing the Yellow Turban army—which, although numerous, is poorly equipped, low in morale, and lacks training—we must project sufficient momentum to let the soldiers know that the enemy is insignificant and can be defeated."

"At the same time, we must take the enemy seriously tactically. I called you here to remind you: you must strictly enforce military discipline, hold your formations firm, support one another, and anyone who violates military orders will be executed on the spot!"

"Understood!" the officers stood up together.

"Also, spread the contents of this letter. Find someone who isn't afraid to die, or someone with a deep grudge against the Yellow Turbans, to deliver the letter. Make sure the cause and effect are explained clearly. Sun Qiao, you will be responsible for this."

"Yes, General."

---

The officers did not stay long before leaving, and Charles and the others also walked out of the main camp.

One must mind the technique; neither getting too close to him nor staying too far away. Thus, Lin Feirui walked over to Wang Luo's desk, pulled up a chair, and sat down. "Are you trying to strip away the soldiers' last remaining sense of belonging to the Yellow Turbans?"

"After you do this, to the Yellow Turbans, the revolutionary army will become a mortal enemy even more hateful than the Han army. This letter wasn't written for the enemy to see; you wrote it for the soldiers here and for us."

Wang Luo raised his head, looked at her with a surprised expression, and smiled. "Why do you say that?"

"After spending so much time with you, I can figure that much out," Lin Feirui narrowed her eyes, her voice husky and seductive, like a lazy cat. "You intend to swallow up these Yellow Turban soldiers, but you don't like them being religious—if you recruit them by surrender, the influence of religion remains; if you rush into a decisive battle, there are still former Yellow Turban officers and soldiers in the ranks who might harbor lingering affection."

Such a topic was too solemn, yet it probably brought her closer to him. "So you did this to sever the relationship between the two sides, making the revolutionary army stand completely on your side."

"Perhaps," Wang Luo said. "And then?"

"Win a few more victories, and your prestige in the hearts of the soldiers here will reach its peak. There is a saying in the realm: if your prestige is high enough, you can bring soldiers to other scenarios to continue fighting. I don't know if that's true..."

"What a coincidence, neither do I," Wang Luo said with a smile. "I haven't thought about such things."

"Fine, whatever you're thinking... you still have to win," Lin Feirui stood up. "Things might not all go the way you wish."

Wang Luo flipped through the items on his desk, found a piece of paper, and handed it to her.

"Groups gathered together in the form of religion are naturally fanatical."

"Those who believe in gods do not need outsiders to save them—we are not qualified to save them. Anyway, once saved, they will only thank their gods, not us who endured the sweat and labor—so what right do mortal beings as small as us have to save them? What right do we have to protect them?"

"Therefore, content like this is appropriate. The time of choice has come. Either they abandon that foolish cult and those weak gods, and I will welcome them; or they choose to stay with those trash and persist to the very end. Very well, then let them see just how insignificant and weak this god truly is."

"You see," Wang Luo waved his hand, "this is my train of thought. Fragmented and perhaps not entirely accurate... but there it is."