After Xiao Chen took over as acting chairman of the committee, the transition was unexpectedly smooth. He found that he encountered no opposition either inside or outside the committee. When the attack was notified to major cities and strongholds, most places expressed anger and condemnation of the attack, and also recognized and congratulated Xiao Chen's acting as chairman.
This slowly dissipated his initial uneasiness. Xiao Chen did not change the format of committee members being nominated by various departments, nor did he rush to add formal members to the committee. Instead, he discussed with the departments that suffered casualties in the attack and added a number of alternate members to temporarily replace the injured and wounded members in performing their duties.
Basically, two days after the attack, the operation of the committee returned to normal. However, at this time, Xiao Chen received an urgent report from Suero.
Wang Jiyuan and Luo Ling were on the communication line. The news they brought to Xiao Chen also surprised him.
"You said that the imperial people formed a team with patients suffering from blackwater disease and carried out raids on the towns under our jurisdiction?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Yes. Originally, we were planning to kill him while he was sick, and we were ready to start the battle to retake Heimuguan. But we didn't expect the enemy to be so cruel as to release all the patients. Some of these teams are large, and some are small. The large ones often have fighting spirit warriors, bloodline warriors or mages, which are not easy to deal with. The small ones have no combat power, but even if a few unarmed patients rush into our town, it will cause a catastrophic blow. Our scout team intercepted and destroyed several such teams, but more have slipped through our defenses and are heading into our territory." Wang Jiyuan's voice sounded surprisingly serious, which showed how bad the situation was. "The enemy clearly wants to use human lives to buy time, not only the lives of civilians in our villages and towns, but also the lives of their own soldiers. It depends on how we respond."
"Do you have any plan?" Xiao Chen asked.
The other side of the communication array suddenly became quiet, and after a few seconds, Luo Ling's voice was heard: "From Suero's side, we actually want to choose from two options. The first option is naturally for us to split up into small groups and send troops to chase these people. Especially our cavalry troops, high-level mages and great magicians, they are definitely faster than these infiltrators. We have the advantage of the number of mages, and we can use the Mage's Eye to search for traces of the enemy's movement on a large scale, and then catch up and destroy them one by one. And as far as we know, the enemy's largest action unit is the Imperial Detachment, which has more than 100 people. Such a team cannot be resisted by small villages and towns relying on militia. But a cavalry company, a special operations team led by a high-level leader, or a great magician can defeat such an enemy army. But those small enemy forces that originally set out in a scattered manner, or were defeated and collapsed, are a bigger problem. It will take too much time for our team to catch and destroy these enemies one by one. By the time we eliminate the internal enemies, the best time to attack Heimu Pass will have passed."
After listening to it, Xiao Chen did not give a direct comment, but asked: "What about the second method?"
This time it was Wang Jiyuan who continued, "The second method is the one proposed by someone in our military. Simply put, you fight yours and I fight mine. Our main force in Suero will not care about these sick soldiers who have infiltrated, but will concentrate on attacking Heimu Pass. According to the battle plan, it will take at least one week to ten days from Suero to attack Heimu Pass, clear out the enemies inside, and consolidate the defense of Heimu Pass. There are many enemies in Heimu Pass, and we should not have any extra forces to deal with the infiltrating enemies except for the defensive forces."
"So what arrangements do you have for our town in this plan?" Xiao Chen asked.
Wang Jiyuan said: "Since no additional troops are sent for defense, the villages and towns under our jurisdiction should immediately organize a retreat and head towards large towns with defensive capabilities. Given the characteristics of Blackwater Disease, we expect that most of these soldiers will become ill within a week and lose their mobility and combat effectiveness. As long as we don't give them the opportunity to spread the disease, this tactic will collapse without a fight."
After listening to Wang Jiyuan's narration, Xiao Chen asked, "But have you considered that not all residents will have time to evacuate? Even if they evacuate, they will definitely bring their families with them, and their movement speed will be very limited. Such a team will be easily caught up by the soldiers, right? How many people will be sacrificed in this process?"
"This is difficult to estimate in advance, but it is an inevitable sacrifice in war," said Wang Jiyuan.
"Then... how many of our guards' families will bear such sacrifices?" Xiao Chen asked sharply. "On the other hand, even if they escape to the town, what about the farmland? What about the mines? What about the factories? They can't take their family businesses and our industries with them. The enemy can burn, smash, and rob everything, and they will all go bankrupt. When they return, they will only see a destroyed village. In this way, the previous construction results of the central and even southern regions of our territory will be destroyed, and we will fall into a long-term economic recession."
Wang Jiyuan on the communication array fell silent.
Xiao Chen pressed on: "If we do this in the end, how will these residents view us? We said it very well that the guards are the people's soldiers, who can defend their country and protect their lives and interests. But when the time comes, the guards are busy fighting, and they are asked to flee on their own. If this battle is won, Black Wood Pass will be won, but the people's hearts will be lost."
Luo Ling said, "Actually, this plan was not proposed by Commander Wang. It was proposed by several staff officers, but Commander Wang did not agree to it."
Xiao Chen said: "I understand, but the person who made this plan must have forgotten that the purpose of the Guard is to protect our people. As long as the people are in danger, this will always be the first priority to be solved. Otherwise, one day, it will gradually degenerate to the level of its enemies."
Luo Ling said: "But the problem of Heimuguan is indeed difficult to solve. According to the plan proposed by our civil affairs system, by the time we attack Heimuguan, I am afraid that Emperor Alfred will have completely solved the Black Water Disease, and those patients should have recovered."
Xiao Chen said: "All the solutions are thought out. Both of you have your own advantages and difficulties. It's just that our strength is not enough and we are stretched to the limit. Speaking of more manpower, I have an idea." (To be continued)