A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1374: The Northern and Southern War (VI)

At Tawantin’s war council, Great Sage Gong Fu said, “This is clearly a risky move. But it is also a good move.”

Pointing at the map, he continued, “They say we should defend beyond our borders. We cannot always fight on our own land. We can fight on theirs as well. The Holy Court’s mechanized forces are undeniably powerful. Without cities to anchor us, we cannot resist them. But they have a major weakness. They rely heavily on logistics. San Antonio is their largest supply hub, with materials from St. York and San Francisco concentrated there. If San Antonio falls, their main force becomes mere scrap metal. This council is to affirm our determination to take Laredo and seize San Antonio.”

Qi Xuansu and Huangfu Ji were also present at the meeting.

Great Sage Gong continued, “Of course, many are concerned about the enemies at Monclova and Del Rio. That concern is valid. But we will ignore them, focus on Laredo, and then seize the lightly defended San Antonio. Once San Antonio falls, we hold the advantage.”

No one expected the usually cautious Gong Fu to become so aggressive.

Instead, the usually aggressive Huangfu Ji raised a concern. “If this turns into a prolonged siege and we fail to take San Antonio quickly, with supply difficulties and enemy reinforcements arriving from two directions, we’ll be caught between fronts. The consequences would be disastrous.”

This was not surprising. It reflected their respective positions.

After the Daoist Order made its stance clear, Great Sage Gong, who was in charge, faced immense pressure, somewhat like Milton. But unlike Milton, he remained composed. He was simply weighing whether the risk was worth taking.

Now, he needed to prove one thing to the Daoist Order—the Western Daoist Order was respecting its stance and choosing not to escalate, not because they were incapable. Therefore, he could not merely defend and had to counterattack.

After all, the Western Daoist Order did not want to be looked down upon. If they kept being suppressed and only waited passively until the Holy Court withdrew due to financial strain, what would the Daoist Order think of them?

The Daoist Order would inevitably reassess their standing and might even refuse future funding because their value would have been lost.

Thus, this battle must be fought brilliantly to generate greater value.

Likewise, despite severe financial pressure, the Holy Court insisted on attacking because the destruction of the Evangelical Ministry headquarters was a massive humiliation. They had to restore their reputation.

This was a political issue, not purely a military one. Or rather, war was an extension of politics.

Huangfu Ji was not directly engaged in battle but handled logistics and intelligence. With no room to escalate the conflict, he focused purely on military calculations. His current caution was meant to enable greater aggression later.

It could only be said that the two operated on different levels of thinking.

Gong Fu replied, “Attacking San Antonio is indeed risky. But taking it could fundamentally shift the entire situation, not just on the battlefield, but also perceptions in Jade Capital and the Holy Court. I think it’s a risk worth taking. At such a critical moment, we must cast aside hesitation and act decisively.”

Meanwhile, Joseph and Robert were discussing the same issue.

“For Gong Fu, this is indeed a risky move,” Robert said, pointing at the map. “Laredo itself isn’t the key. Behind it lies San Antonio, a major railway hub with flat terrain and no natural defenses. If Laredo falls, Tawantin’s army can take the steam trains north and quickly reach San Antonio’s outskirts.”

Joseph nodded. “I see. It’s both a dangerous move and a good one.”

He paused. “Your concerns are valid. But it depends on the commander. If it were Huangfu Ji, who favors unconventional tactics, I’d expect him to risk attacking Laredo and push toward San Antonio. But the commander is Gong Fu. He’s always cautious. I doubt he has that kind of boldness.”

Thus, Joseph set the tone, and Robert could only comply.

In the following period, the contest between Milton and the Daoists continued.

As troop movements increased and operations grew larger, the Evangelical Ministry began noticing irregularities.

Alex came to Milton’s office and reported, “Based on other intelligence, nighttime steam train traffic from Monterrey to South Laredo has suddenly increased, more than triple the usual. There are also nighttime departures of ships from Brownsville. Could there be new developments? Or was Mr. Abraham right? Does Tawantin actually intend to attack Laredo?”

Milton was startled and stepped to the map. “What do you mean? Are they really going to attack Laredo?”

Milton immediately ordered, “Notify Cuckoo. Have her investigate and report back at once.”

An archbishop hurried off to carry out the order.

Irritated, Milton slammed his palm onto the desk.

A rustling sound followed as the entire desk disintegrated into ash, along with everything inside it, as if it had never existed.

Milton’s order naturally ended up on the desks of Qi Xuansu and Huangfu Ji.

Qi Xuansu spoke first. “This was expected. The Holy Court isn’t blind or deaf. With such large-scale troop and supply movements, it’s nearly impossible to avoid detection entirely.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Huangfu Ji asked. “The tone is quite harsh. Milton must be getting desperate.”

Qi Xuansu studied the map, deep in thought. “There’s no railway between Monterrey and Del Rio. Claiming such large-scale rail transport is for attacking Del Rio doesn’t hold up. Brownsville’s movements don’t align with an attack on Del Rio either.”

After a pause, Qi Xuansu thought of an idea. “We originally feigned an attack on Del Rio as a diversion to conceal our real objective—Laredo. So let’s reverse it. We’ll say the movements at Monterrey and Brownsville are deliberate decoys to draw Del Rio’s attention, luring them to reinforce Laredo, while actually covering a real attack on Del Rio.

“Then we deliberately expose a few flaws, making them think we’re feigning one move while striking elsewhere. That way, they’ll believe Laredo is the decoy and Del Rio the real target. In truth, it’s the opposite. Laredo is the real objective, Del Rio the decoy.”

Qi Xuansu inverted the truth, blurring what was real and what was false.

Huangfu Ji clapped his hands. “Good. Let’s do it. Don’t reply immediately. Delay it. Let’s get our forces moving and set up the deception. Once the Holy Court detects these movements, then send the intelligence. It’ll be far more convincing that way.”

Late at night, the Evangelical Ministry’s temporary headquarters remained brightly lit.

Milton sat behind a newly replaced desk, his face dark. None of his usual composure remained.

At that moment, an archbishop rushed in. “Cuckoo has replied.”

Milton perked up. “Read it.”

The archbishop obliged. “The troops at Monterrey and Brownsville are intended to mask the movement of their main force and mislead the Holy Court.”

Milton exhaled slightly and murmured, “That actually makes some sense.”

The archbishop presented another report. “Our agents have spotted what appears to be a Diviner Corps unit near Del Rio. They seem to be constructing a large-scale teleportation gate.”

This reaffirmed Milton’s wavering confidence.

In truth, Milton had already grown suspicious. But now, he had no way out and had no choice but to believe it. He could not overturn his earlier conclusions, so any piece of intelligence that supported them felt like a shot of adrenaline.

He was like a gambler with bloodshot eyes, going all in and hoping for a miracle.

At the same time, Qi Xuansu and Huangfu Ji were wrapping things up.

With preparations complete, all that remained was a single order from Great Sage Gong. Once approval was given, the battle for Laredo would begin. At that point, Tawantin’s true strategic intent would be fully exposed, and there would be no need for further concealment.

In other words, the grand performance by Qi Xuansu and Huangfu Ji was about to come to an end.

From the results so far, the Holy Court had not reinforced Laredo. Instead, they deployed a mobile force between Laredo and Del Rio, intending to support either side at any moment.

At present, railways connect Del Rio to San Antonio, and Laredo to San Antonio. But there was no railway between Del Rio and Laredo, only the Rio Grande.

Without railways, the Holy Court’s steam army was slower than cavalry.

Trying to cover both fronts likely meant failing to cover either.

This could be considered a completed mission for Qi Xuansu.

For this, Great Sage Gong formally commended Qi Xuansu on behalf of the Western Daoist Order. Since Qi Xuansu was not under their jurisdiction, they could not reward him through official channels, so they chose another way. They gifted him an exclusive technique—the latter half of Tantai Yun’s Tantai Fist Intention, known as the Three Sacred Fist.