Chapter 882 Protracted War

  Chapter 882: Protracted War

  Although the Heavenly Capital of the Bharata Kingdom was defended, the collapse of the Heavenly Palace brought a lot of troubles to Abuseik.

  It was not only because of the rumors among the people and the factions’ exaggeration, but also largely due to his own reasons.

  Like most Bharata people, he was superstitious in his bones, but after he took the position of the commander-in-chief, he did not admit it, and even followed the trend and learned from the alliance to recite the scriptures of materialism and atheism.

  This was somewhat useful at the beginning. Any sentence read too much will give people the illusion of “that’s it”.

  Especially when carrying out educational reform, Abuseik once regarded himself as a real materialist fighter, and even mistakenly regarded Kabaha, a guy who could not read the air, as a comrade-in-arms, forgetting that those reformist officers were his real comrades-in-arms.

  However, the practice of self-consolation is ultimately a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.

  Even though he deliberately avoided sitting on the emperor’s chair, and even specially built a command mansion to emphasize to everyone that his legitimacy had nothing to do with the sky palace, he was still “broken” when the sky palace collapsed.

  In fact, this cannot be entirely blamed on his poor psychological endurance, and part of the blame is also on the academy.

  In his cognition, no survivor organization in the entire wasteland understands science better than the academy.

  As a result, the academy just assured him that the sky palace could still float in the sky for more than ten or twenty years, and it fell to the ground in the blink of an eye.

  It is difficult for him not to doubt the academy and even science itself, and thus doubt himself.

  Is there really a certain existence in the dark, manipulating all this with an invisible hand?

  In this way, his paranoia relapsed.

  He had nightmares almost every night, and Janusz’s devilish grinning face would definitely appear in his dreams.

  It was Anwo who shot, but the evil ghost seemed to know who killed him.

  That guy didn’t come to seek revenge, but just stood outside the window, torturing him with those intermittent noises.

  Sometimes Abusek couldn’t sleep all night, and the next day he went to the Commander’s Mansion to review documents with red eyes, or he couldn’t stand it until the second half of the night, so he snored until noon.

  He didn’t dare to complain to anyone about this. After all, if there were rumors that the commander-in-chief was targeted by ghosts, he might be used by the opposition within the Federation. The

  only person he could talk to was the envoy from the Alliance.

  First, the other party had no interest in interfering in the internal affairs of the country of Borneo, and second, he could feel that they really believed what he said and were true materialists.

  However, after hearing about his troubles, Eagle also had a helpless expression on his face.

  ”…Excuse me, you are suspicious.”

  ”I know, I tried to think so, but it’s no use. It’s like there’s a person living in my head…” Abusek sighed, and suddenly something moved in his heart. He said nervously, “Do you think it could be the influence of the mind interference?”

  Looking at the suspicious Abusek, Eagle shook his head and explained patiently.

  ”The effect of that device on humans with complete minds is minimal… Although it is not completely ineffective, it can only transmit one or two sentences of information at most. It is impossible for you to dream about a specific person.”

  And that thing is not targeted, it usually covers an entire area.

  If it is really the influence of the mind interference device, then it is impossible for him to be affected alone.

  In other words, this is his own inner demon, and he can only rely on himself to overcome it.

  Thinking for a moment, Eagle asked tentatively.

  ”How about… you go see a psychologist?”

  There are many psychologists in the alliance.

  There is a threshold for that thing, but it is not high, and the market demand is not small at all.

  Not only the wastelanders who have returned to civilized society, but also the survivors rescued by players from the dungeons of the plunderers, most of them have the experience of consulting a psychologist. This is not a shameful thing, and medical insurance can even reimburse them.

  Abusek heard this, but he smiled bitterly and shook his head without thinking and refused.

  ”Come on… If I go to see a doctor, I guess some rumors will spread again.”

  Eagle sighed.

  ”I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t help you with this.”

  Looking at the regretful Eagle, Abusek laughed and joked.

  ”Not at all, after talking to you, I feel much more relaxed, and maybe I can sleep well tonight.”

  He didn’t actually expect anyone to help him, so he just wanted to find an outsider to talk to.

  Seeing his distress, Eagle suddenly thought of some priests of the Silver Moon Sect who had recently come to Tiandu to rescue refugees and preach, so he had an idea and spoke.

  ”… If you don’t want to find a psychologist, you might as well talk to the priests of the Silver Moon Sect.”

  Abusek was stunned for a moment.

  ”Priest?”

  Eagle nodded.

  ”Although we are atheists, we never deny the value of faith as a spiritual sustenance. If you are interested, you can learn about it… Of course, this is just a suggestion.” It is not feasible

  to persuade people to quit smoking by saying that smoking is harmful.

  Similarly, it is only wishful thinking to persuade superstitious people by saying “there are no ghosts in this world”.

  Instead of letting him fight against his inner torment, it is better to let him believe in something less harmful. This is also a way to face his heart calmly.

  Old Eagle suddenly felt that he was a genius.

  Not only did he have the ability to be a diplomat, but he could also do the work of a psychologist.

  Abusek seemed to be moved. After thinking for a while, he nodded seriously.

  ”…I’ll think about it.”

  The meeting came to an end.

  After sending off the envoy of the alliance, Abusek paced back and forth in the office for a few times, and finally picked up the phone and gave an order. On the pretext of discussing the matter of rescuing refugees, he invited the pastor from Silver Moon Bay to the Commander’s Mansion.

  The two met in the reception room.

  After some pleasantries, Abusek did not beat around the bush and asked with a smile.

  ”Does your Silver Moon sect have a pope or something like that?”

  This was what he was most concerned about.

  Although he wanted to find something to rely on spiritually, he did not want anyone to ride on his head.

  Not knowing the concerns of the commander, the priest just smiled warmly and said,

  ”We are different from our compatriots who believe in the spirit of the sea of ​​sand. We do not serve living people, so we do not have a pope.”

  The Silver Moon Sect itself was a new interpretation of the Sand Sea Spirit doctrine by merchants in Silver Moon Bay in order to be lazy and not attend church services, and to go out to sea legally. Therefore, it is relatively relaxed in terms of etiquette and organization.

  Although the Camelback Kingdom has a pope, he is not the pope of the Silver Moon Sect and Silver Moon Bay, but the pope of the Sand Sea Spirit Sect and Camel City.

  ”No, it’s good to have no… that’s still pretty good.”

  Abusek nodded approvingly, and suddenly changed the subject and asked again.

  ”What about the doctrine? Do you force others to believe in you, or brainwash people, or use the name of faith to make money and persecute dissidents?”

  Abusek asked all the questions he was worried about, but then he felt that the question was too sharp, so he smiled and said in a relaxed tone.

  ”Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Pastor. I’m not saying that you have these questions. I’m just asking just in case… After all, the people of the country of Borneo are simple and kind, and I’m afraid that they will be deceived by the cult.”

  ”I understand,” the pastor smiled gently, paused for a moment, took out a “Holy Book” from his arms, and handed it to Abusek. “Although I can answer your confusion, I can’t relieve your concerns. Since you have so many concerns about us, why don’t you find the answer yourself?”

  Abusek took the “Holy Book” and weighed it in his hand.

  ”Through this book?”

  The pastor continued in a gentle tone.

  ”If you want to fully understand a person, you must not only listen to what he says, but also observe his actions. If you really want to fully understand us, the content of a book is certainly not enough, but it can at least be the beginning of our understanding of each other.”

  Abusek raised his eyebrows slightly, and then smiled and put the book into his arms.

  ”It seems that I have to keep a cat.”

  Listening to the funny tone, the pastor smiled gently and continued.

  ”Although cats are our sacred objects, we do not force every believer to raise one. In fact, on the contrary, rather than keeping them in captivity and worshipping them, our doctrine encourages believers to get along with those elves as friends. That is, only provide them with necessary help when they need us.”

  Abusek touched his chin with interest.

  ”Is there any mystery in this?”

  The pastor said with a smile.

  ”It’s not a mystery. It’s just that in our doctrine, cats are the pets of the Silver Moon Goddess, and they are also her eyes and her incarnation in the mortal world. We believe that she yearns for freedom when she wanders all year round, so unless those elves take the initiative to stay with us, we generally won’t take the initiative to take them in.”

  Abusek was overjoyed when he heard this.

  The incarnation of the mortal world!

  Doesn’t that mean it can ward off evil? !

  Thinking that there was finally a way to break the ghost that tortured him all day long, he stood up excitedly.

  ”That’s great! I like cats too! Sir, can you tell me how many cats I should have?”

  The priest stared at the guy blankly, not knowing why he was so happy all of a sudden, but he calmed down and continued.

  ”Well… there is no such thing as a certain number of cats. But if you like cats, I can give you one… it’s more approachable.”

  Abusek looked eager.

  ”It doesn’t matter whether it’s approachable or not, as long as it can ward off evil spirits!”

  Priest: “……?”

  …

  Since Abusek met with the priest of the Silver Moon Sect, there have been many more cats in the Commander’s Mansion.

  Abusek claimed that it was a gift from the Silver Moon Sect, but some people said that there was only one gift, and most of the cats were bought from merchants in Silver Moon Bay.

  Although everyone was puzzled, they didn’t say anything. After all, who doesn’t have a hobby?

  Duwata likes women, Shahrukh likes gold and silver, and Nigley likes to collect artworks from the Alliance. At least the hobby of Lord Abusek is more economical.

  Cats always eat less than people, and those cats don’t look like precious breeds.

  At least not for the time being.

  And since he got a cat, Abusek, who was originally in low spirits, suddenly became energetic again, as if he had a second spring.

  Now even Duwata, who laughed at his thing behind his back, couldn’t make up his mind.

  As the saying goes, what the leader likes, the people below will follow suit.

  Since the commander-in-chief himself likes to keep cats, some officials also followed suit, so that keeping cats became a fashion in the upper class of Tiandu for a while, and cats temporarily escaped from the local people’s diet.

  Only Commissioner Kabaha shook his head and sighed, still scolding Abusek for spending

  money in public. There are still many people in the country of Borneo who can’t eat.

  As the commander-in-chief, he should at least restrain himself a little, not to mention setting an example.

  Abusek was not angry after hearing this, but just laughed. Instead, he asked the internal affairs staff to send him a clingy little cutie to keep, and ordered him to make sure not to let the cat die, and to report every week, otherwise he would be punished.

  Kabaha gnashed his teeth in anger, but he had no choice but to swallow his anger because the pen could not be used as a gun.

  A week had passed since this happened.

  Abusek looked at the report handed over to him by Internal Affairs Commissioner Wadia and couldn’t help but grin.

  There were only two words “alive” on the report.

  It can be seen that Commissioner Kabaha was still angry with him.

  But Abusek didn’t care, he just smiled and praised Wadia.

  ”Cats are good things… Since I raised this thing, my temper has improved a lot.”

  Wadia said with a wry smile.

  ”What the commander-in-chief said is right.”

  Abusek smiled and continued.

  ”I’ve been thinking recently whether I should send some to the soldiers on the front line.”

  Wadia was stunned when he heard this and said hesitantly.

  ”This… is a bit inappropriate.”

  Abusek said with a smile.

  ”It’s not inappropriate. Our soldiers are human beings, not machines. It’s not enough to keep them alive. We also need to pay attention to their mental health.”

  Wadia: “But… I’m worried that doing so will affect their combat efficiency.”

  Abusek suddenly adjusted his expression and looked at his internal affairs committee member.

  ”Mr. Wadia, have you ever been in a trench?”

  Wadia shook his head and answered truthfully.

  ”No…”

  ”I’ve been there,” Abusek narrowed his eyes as he looked out the window. “That place is simply hell. The slightest movement can make you tense. After two months in there, I guarantee that even if you stand in front of your own mother, she may not recognize you.”

  Sending a batch of cats to the front line was not an idea Abusek came up with on the spur of the moment. He had consulted people from the Alliance before and heard that there were precedents for this in other places.

  Soldiers who stayed in the trenches were in a state of tension for a long time and had no spiritual sustenance. It was easy to have psychological problems over time.

  In fact, the officers of the Alliance had reflected this situation to them a long time ago and suggested that they at least equip each 100-man team with an “instructor”, and if conditions permit, it would be best to equip them to the level of a 10-man team.

  He is indeed doing this, but the training of instructors takes time, and things involving the reform of the entire system cannot be completed in one day.

  In comparison, sending a batch of cats to the front line is a good emergency solution.

  Besides, it is good to have a cat to catch mice.

  The dead bodies were infested with rats. The first two pairs of leather boots he owned were damaged by rats, which caused his feet to soak in water every time it rained.

  If Alaiyang had treated his brothers as human beings, they would not have risen up.

  Just think of it as winning people’s hearts, and it is worth the money.

  ”…Cats breed quickly and are not expensive. Just follow my instructions.”

  Seeing that the commander-in-chief had made up his mind, Wadia stopped trying to dissuade him and nodded with a smile in his heart.

  ”Yes!”

  …

  As the defense of Tiandu came to an end, the war between the Xilan Pseudo-Empire and the countries of the Borneo Province entered a new stage.

  Both sides of the war and the chess players behind the scenes completely abandoned the fantasy of “quick victory” and prepared for a protracted war.

  First, Emperor Akbar issued a mobilization edict and a manifesto to fight against the rebels, listing twelve crimes of disloyalty, unfilial piety, unkindness and injustice against the rebels of the Borneo Kingdom, and angrily accused Abusek of causing the wrath of heaven and people, and incurring divine punishment, vowing to mobilize one million troops from Lion State and Dog State to kill the enemy.

  Then Borneo was not to be outdone, first listing thirteen crimes of the pseudo-emperor, and then abolishing the agreement between the old empire and the legion on Xifan Port, and once again mobilizing 600,000 reservists, vowing to fight the legion to the end.

  The reason why only 600,000 were mobilized was not because Borneo’s manpower pool had bottomed out, but because Abusek had other plans.

  Due to a series of reform measures taken by Borneo and the victory achieved on the front line, the industrialists who had previously had concerns about investing in Borneo’s industries have changed their minds.

  The priests sent by the Silver Moon Sect are an obvious signal.

  Although the priests funded by the merchants of Silver Moon Bay are indeed here to spread the gospel of the Silver Moon Goddess, they are not just doing charity and preaching. They will also investigate the local customs and business environment. After

  all, the charity money they get is not for free.

  If the sponsors behind them want to build a church, they must pay attention to whether the local area has the soil that can “let the seeds germinate”.

  This is like throwing a stone to test the water.

  After all, religion itself is also a kind of business model, and it is one of the most brilliant business models.

  In addition to the merchants of Silver Moon Bay, the alliance industrialists who have made good profits from their previous investment in the Mammoth Country are also full of interest in this Feng Shui treasure land without alien invasion.

  The local area has abundant human resources, and there is red soil to ensure the lower limit of the “living cost” of the locals. There is no place more suitable for opening a factory than here.

  Especially labor-intensive factories.

  In addition, there are merchants from Golden Gallon Port, French Fries Port and Youtiao Port.

  Especially the Moon Tribe merchants.

  Although Wu Tuo deeply hurt their feelings, they still have some feelings for their homeland.

  Moreover, Janusz restored the reputation of the Moon Tribe before, and won a lot of goodwill for the Heavenly King Army among the Moon Tribe.

  Even if the reformist officers headed by Abusek cut ties with the Heavenly King Army, it did not affect the inheritance of this goodwill.

  On the contrary, because all the black spots were washed away, those reformist officers were better in the eyes of the Moon Tribe.

  With so many cards in hand, even a pig would not play too badly.

  Abusek was obviously not stupid enough to be worse than a pig, and he saw the opportunity at a glance.

  Therefore, compared to mobilizing all the young people to the front line, he naturally preferred to guide them to work in factories.

  Therefore, after referring to the advice of the alliance, Abusek designated the White Elephant City in the central part of Borneo Province as the Central Industrial Zone, and invested a full one-third of the fiscal budget to build railways and power grids in the local area, while focusing on the development of heavy industries such as steelmaking, chemicals, and heavy machinery manufacturing, in order to complement the industrial zones of Tiger State, Leopard State, and Lowell State in the future.

  Compared with the fragile agricultural economy of Borneo, this is undoubtedly a grand project.

  But if this plan can be realized, the local survivors may really have the hope of igniting the flame of industry and getting rid of the embarrassing situation that even bicycles have to be imported from Golden Port.

  And this is also beneficial to the alliance.

  In the context of some feudal lords, cake is an eternal thing. The more people cut it, the less each person can get.

  However, there is another context in this world. In this context, cake is not born, but something that can be made bigger and bigger.

  As long as you don’t chop it randomly, there is always a way to let everyone get a little, at least it won’t be cut less and less.

  Just when this ancient empire was slowly waking up, the officers on the front line of the Southern Legion were also completely awakened.

  They gradually realized the horror of the alliance.

  Not only because of the high fighting spirit of those volunteers, but also because that high fighting spirit would be contagious like a virus, and the locals also became beasts that they needed to go all out to deal with.

  Since the airship was destroyed by an unknown weapon, General Gullion, in the name of Akbar, set up a spy agency composed of local people to investigate the five crashed airships.

  At the same time, Captain Ryan, who served as the commander of the eastern front, completely changed the previous offensive strategy of “adventurous maneuvering” and changed his strategic style to a steady and steady one.

  The most obvious point is that he took the initiative to abandon the hills on the northeast side of Akal County, withdrew from the bend of the river to the border between Lion State and Niu State, dug trenches, built artillery towers and bunkers.

  Doing so is equivalent to giving up the floodplain that was previously under the control of the Southern Legion.

  For the Southern Legion, this means that their clamor of “blitzkrieg” and “annihilation of the rebels in two months” has completely declared bankruptcy.

  On the other hand, they can consolidate their positions to make the supply lines in the rear more stable and avoid being infiltrated and harassed by the guerrillas of the Borneo Kingdom and the Mammoth Kingdom.

  This is obviously not a good thing for Borneo, which is in a disadvantaged position.

  On the one hand, this shows that the Southern Corps has begun to take it seriously, and it is no longer so easy for them to pick up bargains.

  On the other hand, the Southern Corps has begun to consciously want to digest the occupied territories and is trying to turn the occupied areas into their own territory.

  However, in contrast, the army of Borneo has become more and more mature in this continuous battle, and many outstanding generals have been born during this period.

  For example, the captain of the 30,000th team, Ishel.

  Another example is the captain of the 110,000th team, Yokale, and so on.

  Especially Ishel, this guy was particularly honored to receive the nickname of “Jungle Rat” given by the Willant people, and a bounty of 1 million dinars for his head.

  This guy is as cunning as a mouse, and he has used guerrilla warfare and psychological warfare to perfection.

  The Weilante officers who had fought him even said that if he was given a cannon, he could have the effect of two cannons. If he was given a team of ten, he could be used as a team of a hundred, especially in the jungle and on the hills, making it hard to defend against!

  Another person who was given a “title” by the Weilantes was Captain Pickley of the 700,000th Squadron.

  However, he became famous not because of his outstanding achievements, but because of a photo published in the “Survivor Daily”.

  The soldiers of the Weilantes privately called him “the butcher”.

  Compared with Ishel, his nickname is obviously much more domineering, and he even appeared in the “Southern Legion Victory Newspaper”.

  In terms of admiring the strong, the Weilantes actually have many similarities with the Boros.

  Compared with the “Jungle Rat” who is good at conspiracy and intrigue, the grassroots soldiers and officers of the legion obviously appreciate the captain who charges with a bayonet.

  Even if the head in his hand belongs to their compatriots, it does not prevent them from appreciating the strong.

  After all, the jungle culture concept of “the strong are respected” actually contains another metaphor –

  that is, the weaker kind are not worthy of being called compatriots.

  They will be indignant about the massacre in Xifan Port, because it is a contempt and humiliation for the abstract concept of “Wilante”.

  However, the suffering of a specific person or a certain type of people will only attract their ridicule.

  This has nothing to do with the number. After all, the number of 40,000 is much greater than 3,000 no matter how you calculate it.

  That night, every Willante soldier who died or surrendered as a loser received no honor, only shame and ridicule…

  As both sides showed their true abilities, the whole war fell into a stalemate.

  A lot of things happened every day on the front line, but for those outside the front line, it seemed like nothing happened.

  Time soon came to August, and the sultry rainy season gradually came to an end. Waiting for another two months will be the dry season.

  It was at this time that a fleet from the Death Coast approached Yongye Port, the southernmost port of the Great Desert.

  The changes here were so great that Alman almost thought he had come to the wrong place.

–

  (PS: Collecting several IDs.)

  (End of this chapter)