The teleportation of more than 300 people consumed the entire monthly output of all the crystal mines in the China Tower territory. This meant that if teleportations of this scale were to happen a few more times, many factories and equipment would be left without crystals. Therefore, Xiao Chen's action was extremely costly.
Even someone as carefree as Ji Yijun, who doesn't think too much about many things, felt the tremendous pressure from Xiao Chen.
If this operation fails or suffers heavy losses, it will deal a heavy blow to the prestige that Xiao Chen has just begun to establish.
Ji Yijun, Mei Tiantian and Xiao Chen were teleported in the same batch. After walking down the teleportation array in Baishu City, Ji Yijun glanced at Xiao Chen beside him and found that although his face was calm, there was an indescribable sense of seriousness.
He said, "Xiao Chen, don't be too nervous. You have already tried your best. I heard the news yesterday that we have already arrived at the front line tonight. What else do you want?"
Xiao Chen said: "I know, but there are too many things that will not have a good result just because you have made enough efforts. It is not that you can just say I have tried my best after the results come out and then explain it away.
Since yesterday, every choice I make has affected the lives of millions of people, and the pressure is enormous."
Ji Yijun said, "Tsk, this isn't your first time. What have you done before that didn't affect the lives of many people? Don't tell me that you won't be calm now that I've given you a job?"
Xiao Chen patted his shoulder and said, "You are really good, kid. I am really comforted by you."
Xiao Chen and his companions walked out of the teleportation room and met an old acquaintance who came to greet them, Ye Zi, who was in charge of the city defense in Baishu City.
Ye Zi saw Xiao Chen and smiled, "Senior, oh, no, Chairman Xiao, I didn't expect you to lead the team here by yourself."
"Don't call me Chairman Xiao, senior is fine." Xiao Chen said.
Ji Yijun said: "Xiao Chen is worried about your work here, and he must come to inspect it in person before he will give up."
Ye Zi was not fooled by him, and retorted: "I think it's more like I'm worried about you."
"You're right to say you're worried, but I'm not confident in my plan. I'll be able to solve the problems I find in time by taking a look with my own eyes." Xiao Chen said, "Besides, I'm a great magician now, and it shouldn't be a problem for me to deal with a small team of enemies by myself. With me, the chances of stopping the enemy will naturally be a little better."
"A new chairman brings new atmosphere. I never thought that the chairman of the committee would come to fight alongside me." Ye Zi said.
"As the acting chairman, I can't sit quietly in my office and wait for reports. You will definitely see me more often outside Hewan New City than in the city. I would rather be a wheel than a rubber stamp." Xiao Chen said self-deprecatingly, "By the way, after notifying you of the intelligence yesterday, how was your notification to the various villages and towns?"
Ye Zi said: "Since you gave us the action plan yesterday, we have arranged for people to send out notices to the village committees of each village. To be honest, according to the feedback from the correspondents, most villages still feel unsure and are very worried that the imperial people will cause disasters to their villages.
In the larger villages, the militia teams are well built. We send politically qualified and technically competent veterans to serve as representatives of the guard and militia captains. We have basically built a militia team of two squads to one platoon. Since before the war with the empire, they have basically trained four or five times a week. They are generally equipped with air rifles and have live-fire training every week.
If a dozen sick Imperial warriors attacked a village like that, they should be able to handle it themselves.
But those small villages do not have such conditions. The population of those villages is small, and there are few young and middle-aged people of the right age. Even if all the women are recruited to serve as militia, they may not be able to form a squad. The smallest village may only have one militia captain and three or five militiamen. Because the labor is heavy, there is a lack of training time, and the combat effectiveness of these people is also very limited.
In fact, some villages wanted to evacuate the entire village after hearing about the situation. Our correspondents comforted them and said that we would send a team to their village, but at that time even we ourselves were not sure how many people would be stationed there.
I saw the team you brought today. There are actually several mages in each team. I didn't expect that. If we send a team like yours, the villagers can rest assured."
Xiao Chen said: "It seems that the village also needs our people to stabilize the situation. I plan to allocate the villages and teams immediately. Our team will set out overnight. The sooner we reach the villages, the sooner we can calm the people's hearts."
"Okay. But..." Ye Zi looked at Mei Tiantian and the others, "Are these children also here to protect the village?"
Ji Yijun asked, "Hey, how did you know that? Don't you think they are too young?"
Ye Zi said: "He is not that young. If you have dealt with the militias in the village, you will find that there are quite a few young men like him."
Ye Zi arranged for the soldiers here to take the teleported blocking teams to a square outside the teleportation room. Torches were lit around the square, and crystal searchlights were arranged. A large number of tables and chairs were placed in the middle of the square for the soldiers to rest. There was also hot food and water around, so that everyone could replenish some energy here.
She brought Xiao Chen and his party to an office where seven or eight people gathered and were sorting out information on various villages and towns.
Ye Zi pointed to a large map on the wall and said, "Between the north of Baishu City and Suero, there are a total of 37 villages under our control. Another five villages are still in the hands of local nobles. We don't have the energy to deal with them now. The other three villages are now in a state of autonomy. They are all villages formed by free people or slaves who escaped from the nobles' territories. They don't pay taxes to others and basically live a self-sufficient life. So they are also more resistant to our rule. How should we deal with these villages?"
Xiao Chen saw that villages of different natures were marked with different colors of flags. The red ones were villages they controlled, mostly around Baishu Town or close to the main road, the blue noble affiliated villages were often bordering the territories of other nobles, and the green autonomous villages were mostly in remote areas.
He said: "Of course, we will prioritize protecting our own village, but for the other two villages, this is an opportunity to control them." (To be continued)