Chapter 773 If you want to deceive your opponent, you must first deceive yourself

  Chapter 773 If you want to deceive your opponent, you must first deceive yourself

  . The North Island Naval Command.

  There were hurried footsteps and conversations, and people were busy.

  Since the Shazhou Island incident, the powder keg in the southern waters has been ignited, and now it only needs a spark to ignite it.

  This “quiet” war has entered the most critical stage. The chips on the table are getting higher and higher. Both sides are on edge and holding their cards tightly.

  Especially the command center of the entire federal navy, many people have been working overtime for a month in a row. Charas even moved his office from the presidential palace to here, throwing some complicated and insignificant daily chores to the puppet vice president he appointed. No matter how

  bad the governance is, it will not affect his position as president, but if he loses the war, everything will be gone. He knows what is more important.

  Time has passed from September to October, and the new destroyer will be launched in a few days.

  It will be the newest and most advanced destroyer in the history of the federation. Although it is not enough to affect the entire war situation, it can at least add a chip to his hand.

  Just as Charas was patiently waiting for the opportunity for a decisive battle, the situation suddenly took a new turn.

  And it was in a direction that was favorable to the Federation!

  The Reef, which had been captured by the South China Sea Alliance before, suddenly sent a telegram. It not only revealed its patrol route and the relevant situation of the South China Sea Alliance in the telegram, but also expressed its dissatisfaction with the South China Sea Alliance’s extreme distrust of itself, and its desire to return to the Federation.

  Here we have to mention the South China Sea Alliance’s strategy for dealing with this “captive ship”.

  Because the South China Sea Alliance’s officer reserve is insufficient and there are no experienced sailors who can completely replace the crew on the Reef, the South China Sea Alliance authorities retained 80% of the original establishment and replaced the remaining 20% ​​with South China Sea Alliance monitors, who controlled the destroyer’s communications, radar, and daily security, etc.

  At present, the Reef is equivalent to being under surveillance, like a blindfolded donkey, and can only unilaterally receive the combat orders of the Anle Island Command. It can neither participate in the discussion of combat plans nor have any right to speak at combat meetings.

  The safety of the lives of all officers and soldiers on the entire destroyer could not be guaranteed. Even the “monitors” who monitored the destroyer Reef felt deeply uneasy and dissatisfied with the arbitrary and tyrannical Commander Li Minghui.

  Anyway, they are all dictators, so why not choose a stronger one?

  Zhang Ruowen, who was still the captain of the destroyer Reef, successfully bribed a monitor who operated the radio and sent this secret telegram to Beidao during his break.

  From a logical and reasonable point of view, it makes sense.

  The captain of the destroyer Reef did not surrender voluntarily, but was captured by the frogman force of the alliance. Although he still sat in the position of captain, he was only forced to do so. It was normal that he was not trusted.

  If the Southern Alliance had a substitute general who could serve as the captain, he would definitely replace him without hesitation.

  Maybe he would even be sent to a military court for trial.

  Of course, the Beidao Command did not reply to the secret telegram immediately, but waited patiently for a few days to confirm that the destroyer Reef was indeed patrolling according to the route map in the secret telegram, and then contacted according to the contact method mentioned in the secret telegram.

  The two sides communicated a series of operational details including the rescue route and even blocking the pursuers in the communication, ensuring that the Reef destroyer could return to the North Island military port intact.

  Once this is successful, it will undoubtedly be a great boost to the morale of the North Island military and civilians!

  Charas can be said to be in charge of the entire rescue plan himself, and he has conducted a detailed review of every detail of the plan, striving to make it foolproof.

  However, at the moment when he was about to take action, he still had a trace of uneasiness in his heart, and looked at the staff standing beside him and repeatedly confirmed.

  ”Is the intelligence reliable?”

  The staff immediately replied.

  ”It should be correct.”

  Charas nodded, but felt his eyelids twitching violently, and couldn’t help asking another question.

  ”Will there be a fraud?”

  ”It should be–” The staff wanted to say “It shouldn’t be”, but after being asked too many questions, he couldn’t help but doubt himself. After hesitating for a long time, he said, “This possibility is very small.”

  Charas suddenly said.

  ”That is to say, it is not impossible.”

  That is for sure.

  Eating a meal can choke people to death, let alone such a complicated action plan.

  ”Yes.” The staff officer nodded, staring at him intently, waiting for his order.

  Charas frowned, lost in thought, and suddenly became indecisive.

  Things have not been going well during this period.

  First, the Sand Island was lost, and then the Reef was lost. The entire Northern Federation was in a panic.

  What’s more terrible is that the various forces in the wasteland that had never interacted with each other suddenly united. It is said that even the natives of the Borneo Province ran to the Ten Peaks Mountain to join in the fun. The situation is becoming more and more unfavorable to the Torch Church.

  Although I don’t know what the situation is in the north, the war has burned into the sea. No matter how you interpret it, it is difficult to understand this as an advantage.

  The Torch Church is delaying and trying to increase the power in the southern waters to open up strategic space to the south.

  The same strategy is applied to the South Sea Alliance.

  Although their fleet strength is slightly inferior, they can completely delay themselves and maintain the situation. When the Torch War is over, everything will naturally end.

  The pressure from the south was all on him…

  Even for his own sake, he had to help the Torch Church open up strategic space to the south.

  Just when he was about to make a decision, a deafening voice suddenly came from his ear.

  ”Idiot! That’s a trap!”

  Arzu suddenly appeared beside Charas, startling the latter.

  Only he could see the pale golden figure, and others cast confused glances at him, wondering what happened to him all of a sudden.

  Charas suddenly woke up, and a drop of cold sweat slowly slid down his forehead.

  It was a close call ! He

  almost got fooled!

  In fact, he should have reacted earlier, and he had faintly sensed something wrong before Arzu spoke. In

  the previous landing operation on Shazhou Island, Zhang Ruowen, the captain of the Reef, clearly refused to carry out his orders. He did not bomb the settlement, but instead dropped the shells on the suburbs outside the settlement.

  The mutants who landed on the shore were subjected to concentrated fire from the Alliance airborne troops, and an entire thousand-man team was wiped out.

  That guy had already had a precedent of pretending to obey his orders, so how could he change his mind at this time?

  He is afraid of going to the South China Sea Alliance’s military court, but isn’t he afraid of facing his own accountability?

  Seeing that Charas didn’t speak, Alzu, who stood beside him like a ghost, spoke slowly.

  ”I planted the Holy Domain in Zhang Ruowen’s body… He has already turned to the South China Sea Alliance. The so-called defection is just a bait. They plan to lure your Haiya battleship out of the port, and then use their new equipment – a giant submarine that can take off and land carrier-based aircraft to sink it.”

  The Holy Domains are independent of each other, but when the network is unobstructed, information will be exchanged and it is not controlled by the host.

  Just now, when the Beidao Military Base and the Reef destroyer were in regular contact, he sensed the message from the chip on Zhang Ruowen’s body – the

  so-called defection was actually a bait.

  The fleet of the South China Sea Alliance is lying in ambush not far away!

  Charas narrowed his eyes and glanced at Alzu.

  ”When did this happen?”

  Alzu replied calmly: “Recently.”

  Charas continued to ask word by word: “What I’m asking is, when did you plant the Holy Domain in my officer’s head?”

  Facing the questioning eyes, Alzu laughed and raised a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth.

  ”He was already the Apostle of the Torch before the Federation fell apart… Why are you questioning me in this tone? And if I hadn’t made arrangements in advance, you and your fleet would have crashed into the trap of the South Sea Alliance Fleet like a headless fly. You should thank me for saving your life.”

  Charas sneered.

  ”I don’t need you to remind me. I can guess that this is a trap.”

  ”Really?” Arzu smiled noncommittally and disappeared from the command table quietly, as if he had never been there.

  A pair of eyes stared at Charas, and all the officers were waiting for the order of this boss.

  After restraining his fluctuating emotions, Charas cleared his throat, looked around at the people standing in front of the table, and said in a slow voice.

  ”This is a trap!”

  There was a commotion in the command room, and the officers looked at each other, exchanging surprise in their eyes.

  ”It is indeed possible…” The fleet commander touched his chin, his expression gradually solemn.

  The staff officer beside him also nodded.

  ”I think so too…”

  The people who were discussing the details of the battle a second ago suddenly turned 180 degrees and felt that there might be a trick, and their analysis was well-reasoned and logical.

  Seeing these guys turning around like the wind, Charas’s eyebrows twitched fiercely, but he didn’t say anything.

  He was actually clear-headed in his heart. This was a problem that almost all dictators would inevitably encounter.

  Once a person is stamped with the idea of ​​”not disobeying”, he is doomed to lose the ability to think in reverse. It is impossible to maintain unity like worker bees, while expressing different opinions from the queen bee on the issue of casting a honeycomb.

  Even if it is an opinion in a professional field.

  He became a dictator, and was destined to only hear what he wanted to hear.

  People would only follow his words, whether consciously or unconsciously, even in the “professional field” where he hoped to get different opinions.

  Therefore, when he said he wanted to save the Reef, even the most experienced officers did not dare to think in the opposite direction. They only thought about how to save it, and did not think about whether it could be saved.

  Fortunately, he discovered it in time, otherwise he would have almost fallen into the pit dug by the opposite side.

  ”Do you want to abandon the Reef?” The commander looked at Charas and cautiously asked the boss’s opinion.

  Just like the original rescue, now “the Reef is a trap” has become a new indisputable thing. ”

  Give up? Why give up?” Charas smiled faintly and continued slowly, “In order to attack more conveniently, the South China Sea Alliance fleet must be ambushed somewhere near the Reef, including the submarine that can take off and land carrier-based aircraft that appeared in the intelligence.”

  The officers exchanged glances and whispered to each other.

  This is indeed possible.

  Or, it is almost certain.

  Looking around at his generals, Charas clenched his right fist, put it heavily on the command table, and said excitedly.

  ”Everyone! This is a trap, but it is also an opportunity! The traitors in the south don’t know that their tricks have been seen through by us, and our daggers are already at their throats!”

  ”New combat plan, codenamed ‘Running on the Reef’! Carry it out simultaneously with ‘Tropic of Cancer’!”

  ”Reply to the Reef! Tell them that we are ready! Let them go to the coordinates designated by us to join us!”

  The officers stood at attention and saluted.

  ”Yes!”

  …

  On the rough sea, a lone ship was slowly moving towards the northwest.

  Zhang Ruowen suddenly felt that this ship was very much like himself, or he was very much like this ship.

  He didn’t know where he should go.

  This confusion was even more so after Charas issued a new declaration.

  In the past 200 years, the survivors in the southern waters have done many things, but it seems that everything is in vain. In the end, they are still repeating the mistakes of 200 years ago.

  The Federation was born in flames and fell apart in even stronger flames.

  They fell to the torch because of the opposition of the enemy, but this overly hot energy burned all of them.

  So what is all this for?

  ”…Your confusion is normal. The root of all mistakes lies in the human species itself. This is the limit determined by physiology. The old humans belong only to the earth and are only suitable for living on the earth. If fish want to go ashore, they must evolve limbs, but only limbs are not enough to reach the more distant starry sky. We still lack a transformation of our own life form.” A

  peaceful voice came from the depths of the sea of ​​​​consciousness, just like the gospel from heaven, which gave him a moment of peace.

  Zhang Ruowen slightly sideways, looking at the old man standing in the captain’s room, but smiled faintly and said.

  ”Then why don’t you just give up your flesh like your kind.”

  He knew that this guy was a high-level member of the Torch Church.

  And he is the only apostle who has obtained the authority of the Holy Land without becoming a pioneer.

  ”That’s too extreme.” Alzu shook his head and said slowly, “They hurriedly drew a line between themselves and others, but put themselves in a disadvantageous position. If it were me, I would make use of people’s identities, recover the legacy of the old civilization to the maximum extent, and then implement the final change.”

  If it were to follow his method, the Torch would not be able to deceive the college, but it could still deceive the enterprises.

  The residents of Ideal City still feel a little guilty about what happened 150 years ago, otherwise they would not spend money on the wasteland, let alone try to correct the mistakes they made in the past.

  As for the Legion, it can be bought with the technology that the Weilants desire and the promise of ruling the Great Rift Valley. Even if the Eastward Expansion Faction fails, there are still a considerable number of Weilants outside the Eastern Legion who are eager to “retaliate” against the Construction Committee.

  Subverting the Great Rift Valley and getting rid of the shackles of the overlord are also what the Free State desires. They can form an unspoken community of interests like they did during the Bone Chewing Rebellion.

  In this way, even if the Alliance uses all its tricks, it is difficult to pull up a siege like the current one.

  However, the forerunners think too highly of themselves, believing that “advanced ideas and concepts” will definitely defeat the old things, but mistakenly regard things that have not yet become history as a historical necessity.

  And the final result is like this.

  In the end, it depends on him, a human who still retains his flesh and blood, to turn the tide.

  Alzu sighed softly in his heart.

  Fortunately, he used some tricks, otherwise the situation would have been irreversible.

  The self on the other chip should have reminded Charas, and now the North Island should have known that the whole operation was a scam.

  The South China Sea Alliance would not have thought that the captain of the Reef was actually their apostle. And the apostle would not have thought that he knew all his secrets.

  The two were silent, each with their own thoughts, looking at the surging waves outside the bridge.

  At this time, footsteps were heard outside the corridor, and the adjutant pushed the door in and saluted, saying with a serious expression.

  ”Report to the commander! As you ordered, we have sent out the ‘signal’… The North Island Naval Base replied to us that they have received the request, and the Flying Fish destroyer is on its way to the designated area coordinates for reinforcement.”

  ”Well.” Zhang Ruowen nodded, “Everything will go according to plan.”

  The bait plan is highly confidential.

  Except for him, no one on the entire destroyer knew the code name “Laken”, let alone that he was a bait.

  His close associates only knew that he was going to defect to the north, and most of the grassroots sailors didn’t even know that the ship had deviated from the patrol route, let alone that the whereabouts of the ship had been exposed to the sight of the Northern Federation Fleet.

  Everything is part of the plan.

  Looking at the expressionless Zhang Ruowen, the adjutant hesitated slightly and whispered.

  ”Sir…”

  Zhang Ruowen said casually.

  ”What’s wrong?”

  The adjutant was silent for a while and continued.

  ”Is it really appropriate to do this?”

  Zhang Ruowen looked at him and raised his eyebrows slightly.

  ”What do you mean?”

  ”I don’t think Charas will trust you more than General Li Minghui… After returning to the North Island, we may be welcomed in name, but the actual situation may be worse. And…”

  The adjutant hesitated, as if he was hesitating whether this was something he should say.

  But after a moment of silence, he finally gritted his teeth and said what he thought in his heart.

  ”And I think… compared to Charas, the declaration advocated by the Southern Alliance is what we really need.”

  What they need is not false peace and unity, but real union!

  Hearing this, Zhang Ruowen was silent for a while, as if he was waiting for something.

  At the same time when the hour hand and the minute hand overlapped, he suddenly laughed twice and said in a very light voice.

  ”Not bad, that’s good.”

  The adjutant was stunned.

  ”Very good?”

  Zhang Ruowen nodded, smiled faintly and continued.

  ”You have begun to think about our future, which is good… Although I haven’t figured out where to go in the future, at least someone is thinking about it. Maybe my confusion is only temporary.”

  Looking at the confused adjutant, he continued.

  ”The reason why I chose Charas is that I don’t know what to do. Maybe a tough guy with some ability can think for us… At least he won’t be as indecisive as Mongo, and like our cabinet, he will argue from dusk to dawn but can’t make any sense.”

  ”Maybe that guy is not bad… I thought so at first, he might be able to lead us to a brighter future.”

  ”But I suddenly realized… It was just my laziness and illusion. That idiot is not smarter than any of us. He will make the same mistakes we made in the quarrel, and he will make them again and again, without making a sound.”

  I heard that the survivors of the southern sea area have also left one after another recently, bringing the legacy of the prosperous era to change other people in the wasteland and unite more people.

  If it were Charas, he probably wouldn’t allow them to do this.

  That guy also wanted to build a huge sea power empire after solving the alliance, and use the biological technology provided by the Torch to compete with the legions, enterprises, and colleges, and use the survivors in the southern sea as his chess pieces and chips.

  It’s so small…

  both in ability and ambition.

  He has become the president of the Federation, but he doesn’t even dare to dream bigger!

  There is a wider sea of ​​stars above their heads, but that guy can only see the pond under his feet.

  If they follow that guy, they will never go back to the place they have set foot on in this life!

  Zhang Ruowen’s mouth curled up a smile. He was very glad that he made the most correct choice at that time, which was to hesitate for two seconds when he received the order from Charas.

  However, looking at the smile on his face, the adjutant asked with a wry smile.

  ”Since you think Charas is unreliable, do you still choose him in the end?”

  He did not agree with the commander’s defection, but it seemed too late to say anything now.

  The Reef has entered radio silence and cut off all contact with the South China Sea Alliance.

  Even if Commander Li Minghui was slow, he should have realized that the Reef had mutinied.

  Currently, only the Beidao Command knew their location and direction, and they could only go down this path.

  At least that’s what he thought.

  ”You only saw the surface… It’s normal to think so,” Zhang Ruowen took out a telescope, glanced in the north, paused and said, “There is no need to keep it secret now… I can tell you clearly that we are just bait, and a decisive battle codenamed ‘Laken’ has begun!”

  ”Pass my order! All ships enter the first level combat readiness state! Prepare to fight the ships that come to support us!”

  As he expected, the adjutant’s face showed a stunned expression as he looked at the piercing eyes.

  Including the other officers in the bridge, they were caught off guard by the sudden change. They never thought that a routine patrol or defection would become the final decisive battle with the Northern Federation!

  Except for one person.

  That was Alzu, who only Zhang Ruowen could see.

  The latter’s facial muscles gradually twisted, revealing a grin like the sea beast Laken.

  Sure enough!

  This guy really surrendered and led the way! This guy

  finally showed his hand!

  Before entering the radio silence state, he had already notified the Beidao Navy Command that as long as these guys continued along the original route, what was waiting for them would not be the Flying Fish destroyer, but the Laken cruiser!

  That was an anti-ship ship designed specifically for destroyers!

  In the past century, Shelter No. 70 was not only afraid of the legion that subverted the War Construction Committee, but also the survivors in the southern waters. For this reason, a series of equipment that checks and balances each other was designed to prevent them from using the technology brought by the shelter to oppose the shelter.

  At the same time, the Haiya battleship will face the ambush forces of the South China Sea Alliance at sea and under the cover of the Flying Fish and Defender destroyers at the same time! No matter

  how powerful the submarine carrier and carrier-based aircraft are, they can never be the opponent of the destroyer designed for anti-submarine warfare.

  Of course, it will be even more doomed if it floats to the surface!

  As for the Harpoon cruiser and the other two destroyers that provide cover for the submarine, they are a joke in front of the main gun of the Haiya battleship!

  Alzu smiled at Captain Zhang Ruowen, but he didn’t expect the latter to be looking at him.

  There was no ripple on the expressionless face.

  However, at this moment, Alzu found that the corner of the calm mouth curled up an unusual smile.

  This guy is laughing!

  He can still laugh?

  Suddenly, Alzu suddenly thought of something, and the empty pupils suddenly shrank.

  Wait –

  code name Laken! ?

  The code name of the South China Sea Alliance’s bait plan is actually called Laken!

  This is definitely not a coincidence!

  There is only one explanation, this group of people went for the cruiser Laken from the beginning!

  They predicted their own and Charas’s predictions, and calculated that Charas would not believe in the Reef, and even calculated that they could read the thoughts in the apostle’s mind and leak the secret… even though this secret torch had never been revealed to anyone!

  Even Charas didn’t know!

  ”I guess you must be surprised now, how did I hide the code name of the operation from you, right?” Looking at the smile that gradually changed from ecstasy to fear, Zhang Ruowen said in a very light voice.

  Without disconnecting the connection of consciousness, Alzu’s Adam’s apple moved. He nodded slowly.

  Zhang Ruowen didn’t care and continued casually.

  ”If you want to deceive your opponent, you must first deceive yourself… To be honest, I just found out what the code name of this operation is.”

  ”How is it possible!” Alzu stared at him, but mistakenly found that he was not lying.

  A terrible guess emerged in his mind, and a drop of non-existent cold sweat fell at the same time.

  Zhang Ruowen continued.

  ”You already know this is an ambush, so the one coming to ‘pick me up’ must not be another destroyer. The Flying Fish and the Defensive are impossible, because it will take a while to produce results, and it can’t be a battleship either… Chalas won’t risk letting his only treasure leave the protection of the fleet just to destroy a destroyer.” ”

  So it can only be the Laken. After all, you have clearly stated that the one coming to ‘pick me up’ will be an anti-submarine destroyer, and if we are sure that the plan has not been exposed, we will definitely not let any submarines follow the Reef, but will definitely ambush farther away.”

  ”In this way, even if the Laken’s anti-submarine capability is weak, it will have enough time to turn around immediately after sinking us, and merge with your fleet ambushing nearby, and attract the South Sea Alliance’s surface and underwater fleets into your ambush circle.”

  If this is true, it will undoubtedly be a disaster.

  The South Sea Alliance’s submarines have no power to fight back in front of the Northern Federation’s destroyers, and the South Sea Alliance’s only Harpoon cruiser cannot be a match for the Sea Edge battleship.

  The whole battle will end as cleanly as rock-paper-scissors, without the slightest suspense.

  However, it is precisely because of this that they can take advantage of this point in turn, taking advantage of Charas’s prediction of the “South China Sea Alliance”!

  If he guessed correctly, there must be a South China Sea Alliance submarine lurking near him at this moment, and it has already aimed at the “Laken” that is pretending to be the Flying Fish and approaching this area!

  ”Li Minghui did not tell me the code name of this operation, so all this is my guess. If the code name of the operation is actually Flying Fish or something else, it proves that I made a wrong bet.”

  Looking at Alzu with a panic-stricken look on his face, Zhang Ruowen’s eyes passed through the empty face and looked at the rolling waves outside the bridge and the “Laken” hidden behind the waves, with a faint smile on his face.

  ”But your reaction tells me that I probably guessed right!”

  (End of this chapter)