Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

"If you want to kill them all, I can do that too, and my soldiers are more efficient!" said Commander-in-Chief Honjodo.

The chief priest looked at Honjoda, a trace of gloom flashed across his cloudy eyes. He was a serious person and hated doing things that would lead to unnecessary matters.

Honjodo knew the Grand Priest's concerns, but one must always think for oneself, so he continued:

"The group of Chinese aliens in Jiangqiao are very united, and there are several very powerful ones among them. They caused huge casualties to the imperial army."

"Some of my capable aliens have been transferred away by you, Lord Gongsi. The remaining ones are simply unable to deal with those Chinese aliens."

"This is a very important reason why we have been unable to capture Jiangqiao for a long time."

"There is an old Chinese saying: Soldiers fight soldiers, generals fight generals. Lord Gongsi, it's time for the powerful aliens under your command to go out."

The Grand Priest shook his head and said, "It's not time yet. Everything should proceed according to plan."

Honjodo took a deep breath and continued, "How about this, Lord Palace Master? I don't want you to take action, nor do I want all the aliens under your command to take action. I just need you to send a few powerful beings to help me deal with one person."

"Two of my master warriors were killed by a Chinese alien. Through some inside information, I learned that the man's name was Wu Gensheng, and he was the leader of a sect called Quan Xing."

"Quanxing is a big sect. This person has a very high status, even higher than that little Heavenly Master. Killing him will also be very beneficial to the empire."

……

Because of the withdrawal of the Grand Priest, the number of aliens in the Japanese pirate army is roughly the same as the number of aliens fighting against the Japanese, and the strength of both sides is not much different.

But because the anti-Japanese aliens had Wu Gensheng, they always had the advantage in every fight between the aliens.

Although the Japanese pirates arranged several targeted attacks on Wu Gensheng, the guy who destroyed the balance, they were all easily resolved by Wu Gensheng.

Although Wu Gensheng's divine ability is single, his life cultivation is very strong. Even without using any means, he can suppress the ordinary second level of Ni Sheng in terms of strength and speed. Ordinary assassinations have no effect on him at all.

In order to solve the problem of Wu Gensheng destroying the balance, considerable force is needed.

This part of the force was withdrawn by the Grand Priest of Ise Shrine to ambush Zhang Zhiwei. Now Honjodo had no choice but to ask the Grand Priest for help.

Honjo stared at the Grand Priest. Now that things had come to this, he thought that this stubborn old man would agree.

Unexpectedly, the Grand Priest was not moved at all and shook his head and said:
"Quanxing is not a peaceful sect in Shenzhou. It is not a bad thing for us that their leader is alive."

Honjoda said in a deep voice: "Master Palace Master, Quanxing is indeed a restless sect, but that is their internal struggle."

"They are united in facing us. They are the enemy of the empire and should be eradicated."

The Grand Priest continued to shake his head and said firmly:
"My biggest purpose for this trip is to eliminate the Little Heavenly Master. This Wu Gensheng is something that was not planned."

"The harm done to the empire by the Little Heavenly Master is a hundred times greater than his. I don't want to cause any more trouble. Everything should proceed as planned. You guys step up your offensive and lure out the Little Heavenly Master!"

"you……"

A frown appeared on Honjo's forehead, and he really wanted to curse the old stubborn man in front of him, but due to the other party's identity, he could only keep his dissatisfaction in his heart.

There is no way, the Japanese have always been known for their rigorous approach to doing things.

As for how to be rigorous?

That means everything is done according to regulations!
If there is no rule for what to do, then they will make a thorough plan in advance and then everything will proceed according to the plan.

Rules and plans, this is the source of the Japanese people's rigor.

But this will make things very rigid when something goes wrong.

On the other hand, the Chinese people's style of doing things is much more flexible and efficient than that of the Japanese pirates.

For the same thing, Shenzhou’s approach is most likely to draft a plan first to try it out, and then make changes at any time during the trial process.

The Japanese pirates first made a very comprehensive plan, and then did everything according to the plan. Even if they found problems with the plan during implementation, they would continue to follow the plan.

The most typical example is the world-renowned rescue operation they launched in later generations to save an old man whose car fell into a pit.

At that time, the rescue workers arrived at the scene and formulated a rescue plan as usual.

The plan was very simple, which was to use a crane to lift up the old man and his car together.

As a result, something unexpected happened halfway through the plan.

Because the old man's car was a truck, it was too heavy and the steel wire broke during the lifting. Seeing this, the old man climbed onto the roof of the car and waved for help.

At this time, anyone with a normal mind would think of temporarily giving up the crane truck and rescuing the old man first.

But they were stubborn and still chose to proceed according to the original plan.

They asked the old man to stay in the car and then lifted the truck again.

As a result, a landslide occurred when the truck was halfway through being lifted because it was too heavy.

In desperation, the rescue was terminated again.

Even at this time, they still did not choose to lift the old man up first, but insisted on using the crane.

After a lot of effort, the car was finally lifted up, but the front of the car had fallen down and the old man was still trapped underneath.

At this point, the original plan has been completed, but people are still down there, so what should we do?
Let’s go back and make a new plan first.

Then they get stuck in a vicious cycle of planning failure, re-planning, planning failure, and re-planning.

In the end, a simple rescue mission that could have been completed in an hour or two was turned into a national project that lasted more than three months and affected the lives of 1.2 million people in 12 surrounding cities. Most importantly, after all the time and effort, they only managed to rescue a highly decomposed corpse, becoming a global laughing stock.

That's their rigor.

The current situation is somewhat similar.

The Japanese pirates clearly ambushed the most elite foreign troops in the country here.

But they were lying in ambush to deal with Zhang Zhiwei.

Wu Gensheng is not in the plan!

Should we change our plans because of such a variable?

If the plan is changed, what will happen to the various variables that may arise? Who should be held responsible?

Between two evils, the Grand Priest chose to ignore Wu Gensheng and continue with the original plan.

If he wants to take action, the little master will have to appear as planned.

Either the Jiangqiao battle is over or it is confirmed that the little master will not appear.

If the little master does not appear, the previous plan will naturally fail, and then he can formulate a new battle plan.

Zhang Zhiwei had no idea what the chief priest of Ise Shrine was thinking.

He just did as his master said, and from time to time he released some seemingly groundless false news to provoke the Japanese pirates.

During this period, the battle of Jiangqiao intensified. The news of the defenders' victory in this battle spread all over the country through major newspapers in the past few days, causing a huge sensation.

For a time, people all over the country were enthusiastic about resisting the Japanese invaders. This enthusiasm even spread to Mount Longhu, and many Taoists would go down the mountain to buy newspapers and pay attention to this matter.

Zhang Huaiyi had the Yin-Yang paper given by Zhang Zhiwei on him.

These days, although Zhang Zhiwei did not contact Zhang Huaiyi, Tian Jinzhong would chat with Zhang Huaiyi every day using Yin-Yang paper to get first-hand military intelligence on the battlefield.

As a little fanboy of his senior brother and the second biggest mouth in Longhu Mountain, Tian Jinzhong was the one who spread the latest information in Longhu Mountain.

Even Zhang Jingqing would secretly eavesdrop on what Tian Jinzhong was saying to learn about the military situation.

Zhang Zhiwei didn't listen. He had his own spies on the battlefield. He even used the power of immortals to provide a logistical supply line for the defenders. He knew as much about the overall situation on the battlefield as Zhang Huaiyi.

Moreover, Tian Jinzhong would also come specially to report to him.

At this moment, Tian Jinzhong was holding a latest newspaper and said:
"Brother, look, the newspaper said that people from all over the country are supporting Hecheng!"

"Donations of money and supplies are being made everywhere. A company in Shanghai even launched a brand of Ma Jiangjun cigarettes, saying that part of the profits from the sale of cigarettes will be used to support the front line."

Zhang Zhiwei nodded: "People across the country have moved, but it's not enough!"

"It's not enough, senior brother, you really don't want to go?" Tian Jinzhong asked again.

"It's useless for me to go. It's just a temporary solution. We have to solve the problem fundamentally," said Zhang Zhiwei.

Tian Jinzhong knew what Zhang Zhiwei meant by curing the root cause. He narrowed his eyes and said, "How about you, Senior Brother, just use your magical powers to forcibly cure the root cause and let them fight the Japanese pirates?"

Zhang Zhiwei glanced at Tian Jinzhong with some surprise: "You are a very wild boy!"

"Brother, don't you often do this?" Tian Jinzhong said, "The three tycoons of the Magic City, and those profiteers who made a fortune from the national disaster during the flood... To you, there should be no essential difference between these."

"There are some!" Zhang Zhiwei said, "They have powerful alien guards around them, and many of them are very powerful. For example, the big head on the coin you often use is quite powerful."

"No matter how strong I am, can I be stronger than you?" Tian Jinzhong looked unconvinced.

Zhang Zhiwei said: "Unless it is voluntary, the stronger the person, the more important their own power, the harder it is to influence them."

"Of course, the biggest problem is that this doesn't work. If you try to control one, what will happen if the others notice it?"

Tian Jinzhong stopped talking. Even a dumb person would know that this would not work in a second. In history, it was not uncommon for the imperial court to carry out large-scale crackdowns on foreigners.

Zhang Zhiwei continued, "Besides that, it will make the situation even more chaotic. Although the warlord forces in various places are surging undercurrents and the situation is treacherous, at least there are no more disputes. If I come in and mess around, maybe the Central Plains War will start again. There is really no need to force myself to do these thankless tasks."

"So what do you mean, senior brother?" Tian Jinzhong asked.

"If we want to completely resolve the internal strife, we need an external enemy to come in and crash the market. When the nest is overturned, no one will be left unharmed. Only then can we unite," said Zhang Zhiwei.

"So, we're going to let the Japanese pirates in?" Tian Jinzhong said.

"It's not that we let them go. It's that the Japanese pirates are ambitious and are going to come in anyway!" Zhang Zhiwei looked into the distance. "If we can really block the Japanese pirates outside, that would be great, but no one is going to block them. General Ma is a man, but he can't block them. Even if I take people with me, I can only have more guerrillas."

at the same time.

The three-room position.

When the Japanese pirates received reinforcements, they drew out two more brigades and, with a force several times greater than that of the defenders, launched large-scale attacks on the positions one after another. However, they were defeated every time after more than ten attacks.

What was even more unexpected was that General Ma, with his cavalry brigade mixed with strangers, once again attacked the enemy's rear and regained part of the position.

On the second day, they attacked the headquarters of the Japanese pirate division and killed more than 30 officers, but the Japanese pirates had too many troops and the two sides were engaged in a fierce battle.

And at this critical juncture, the so-called support from above finally arrived.

Because General Ma fought bravely, he was awarded the rank of general, appointed as the supreme commander of Heilongjiang Province, and was allocated 100,000 national dollars.

There were no ammunition, medicines or other supplies, let alone military aid, only a bunch of empty verbal commendations.

General Ma was extremely angry. What was the use of this false reputation at this critical moment?

As for the 100,000 national currency allocation, it was only 30,000 silver dollars at most. This amount of money was not as much as what they had robbed that time. What was the use? Moreover, he was fighting a war now, and the surrounding areas were blocked by Japanese pirates. He couldn't use the money even if he was given one!

General Ma was very angry, but to make matters worse, something went wrong on the position again. Some of the positions that had been recaptured before were lost again, and the brothers suffered huge casualties.

"What's going on?" he asked quickly.

Before the war, he set up three lines of defense. The first line of defense was on the bank of the Nenjiang River, but that line of defense had been lost.

The second line of defense is three rooms, which is the current one. Due to the tense situation of the war, he ordered the people stationed in the third line of defense to come to support four hours ago.

There is a whole regiment of people in the third line of defense, so they should be able to hold on.

However, his adjutant told him that a regiment of reinforcements had just arrived at the third line of defense, while the battle on the front line had temporarily ended and the Japanese pirates had been repelled.

"I asked him to bring his men here four hours ago!" General Ma was furious and asked the commander of the third line of defense to come and see him.

Soon, the regiment commander came to the headquarters. When he saw the furious General Ma, his heart skipped a beat and he didn't dare to breathe.

"Where have you been? Huh?!"

General Ma shouted angrily, "You walked forty miles in four hours. Are you a cuckold?"

The team leader stammered and couldn't say anything.

The people around him couldn't help but talk about his glorious deeds.

It turned out that the regiment commander had married a third concubine some time ago. When he received the order to set off today, the third concubine's relatives insisted on giving him a farewell banquet. He was polite and agreed to go along with it. The whole regiment waited for him to have the farewell banquet before setting off, which made it too late.

General Ma was furious and slapped him fiercely:
"You bastard, you married a concubine while you were at the battlefront. Do you know how many of your brothers died just because your reinforcements were late?!"

"Take him out and shoot him!"

Amidst a cry of begging for mercy, the regiment commander was dragged out, and a moment later, a gunshot was heard.

General Ma sat in the command center angrily and remained silent for a long time. Wu Gensheng and others were also speechless. After fighting for so long, they had no hope for support.

Brother Zhiwei, is this the result you have expected long ago... Wu Gensheng thought to himself.

At this time, another telegram arrived, but it was from the Japanese pirates. The caller was the Prime Minister of the Japanese pirates. He came to seek peace, hoping to cease fire and resolve the issue through diplomacy.

Everyone sat there feeling lost. After fighting for such a long time in this meat grinder-like battlefield, they didn't receive any support from their own side, but instead received a request for peace from the enemy.

It was also on this day that the defenders fought to the limit. Even though troops were drawn from the third line of defense, the second position was still lost.

Even though they took it back that night, they had suffered heavy casualties and were out of ammunition and food. Continuing to defend would only mean suicide. He thought for a long time and finally ordered to withdraw from the front and abandon Hecheng.

If he saves the land but loses the men, both the land and the men will be lost; if he saves the men but loses the land, both the land and the men will be saved. He could not let these brothers, who had run out of ammunition and food, become living targets for the Japanese pirates.

Seeing this, Tamon Saburo, who was in charge of the general attack, breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to see the chief priest of Ise Shrine:
"Master Gongsi, the Chinese troops have been defeated, and the little Taoist priest has not appeared. It's time for you to send someone to take action!" (End of this chapter)