The World Online

Chapter 1009 – Squadron That Covers the Sky

“Sir, we cannot agree to Great Xia’s request.” Le Loi was insistent.

“What if Great Xia uses it as an excuse to start war with us?”

Le Loi took in a deep breath; his eyes were filled with confidence, “Sir, this war is unavoidable. Since they want to fight, let’s fight!”

“Well said!”

Ruan Tianque’s words were really crisp. However, helplessness flashed across his eyes.

Although war was unavoidable, if Annan went to war because of his rejection, how could the adventure gamemode players defend Haiphong City without any terms?

“People might use this chance to find trouble!” Ruan Tianque smiled bitterly.

Setting his mind to it, Ruan Tianque met the Great Xia ambassador and rejected Great Xia’s diplomacy with the reason that this was their internal affairs, and Great Xia did not have the right to interfere.

…

The hesitation of the Annan royal family and Ruan Tianque’s outright rejection was undoubtedly a bad signal.

When Great Xia received the report, they sent out an even more fierce diplomatic document that said that Haiphong City had broken the global trade ecosystem, stepping on the trading rules of the northern bay. Great Xia would give Haiphong City a week to return the ships and prisoners. If not, they would have to start a war to protect the freedom of trade.

The moment the news spread out, the Annan players all reacted differently.

Some were furious, as they felt that this was Great Xia insulting and provoking Annan; some scolded Haiphong City, saying that they should not drag the entire Annan down for their own selfishness.

Not everyone craved war, and not everyone wanted to be enemies with Great Xia.

Before Great Xia’s war motives were revealed, Annan had many players who had hoped for peace and did not see the situation as clearly as Ruan Tianque did.

This was normal.

All of a sudden, hidden currents moved in Annan.

The diplomatic battle between Annan and Great Xia had also spread out across the world through various forms of media.

…

Handan City, City Lord’s Manor.

Any action of Great Xia was of utmost importance to Di Chen. Naturally, he got the news right away.

“It seems like the old fox is determined to take down Annan.”

Juedai Fenghua smiled, “For the old fox to wait until now is already quite remarkable. His actions were not surprising but just a little despicable.”

Di Chen did not agree, “Schemes are just schemes, there’s no difference between smart ones and despicable ones, only effective ones and ineffective ones. The old fox has made a brilliant move.”

‘Puchi~’

Juedai Fenghua suddenly laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” Di Chen was confused.

Juedai Fenghua gazed at Di Chen, “Haven’t you noticed that the old fox is doing the exact same things you’re doing and becoming really good at playing such schemes?”

Di Chen gave out a long sigh, “That’s what worries me.”

“A beast that only knows how to charge randomly will not shake our foundations. A beast that stands on the same level as us is what we have to worry about.”

“….”

Juedai Fenghua kept silent.

Di Chen waved his hands, wanting to dissipate the seriousness in the air. He changed the topic, “Annan is a tough one to swallow. Since the old fox has made his decision, our plan needs to be executed soon. This is a great opportunity, and we cannot miss it.”

“Do not worry, the preparation work has always been underway.”

“That’s right.”

While others fight, it was the best time to scoop up rewards.

To do that was not a simple matter because many times when you felt that you had won, you had actually fallen into a set up trap. In such a scenario, they became prey for the hunter.

…

Dawson Dynasty, Free City.

When Jack got the news, he felt anxious and muttered, “He is about to take down another one, I cannot fall too far behind. North America cannot have so many Lords.”

…

Japan, Sanli City.

Since the country war system was released, Sanli City Lord Keisuke Honda had been paying attention to China.

Although he did not want to admit it, under the lead of Great Xia, the China region was terrifying. It was the strongest region in the world. During the 6th month country war, Japan would have to defend.

Hence, since the first month, the entire Japan region had been preparing.

If China crushed them, it would undoubtedly be a huge humiliation.

As the only Lord left in Japan, Keisuke Honda would be responsible for that defeat.

Japan had no way out.

Hearing that Great Xia was about to go to war with Annan, Keisuke Honda was originally really delighted. After all, this would reduce their strength and was really beneficial to the chances of Japan winning the country war.

Following which, he was really furious, “Asshole, he is looking down on us.”

One could only say that their way of thinking was different from normal people.

Them as a race was really self-abased while also really intense; these two personalities conflicted with one another and mixed together, forming a unique culture.

…

Zhenla, Nanzhang, Java, Luzon, and other ASEAN countries were also paying close attention to this.

Java.

Uwais understood what was going on, “Shameless! It was a scheme by Great Xia.”

So what?

Before the situation became clear, Uwais could not do anything.

A dark cloud that covered the sky slowly loomed over the entire ASEAN.

A storm was brewing.

…

In the blink of an eye, another week passed.

Facing the strong approach from Great Xia, although many players ran to Haiphong City to beg and request for Ruan Tianque to release the Tongchun Chamber of commerce people, Ruan Tianque was unmoved.

The situation got totally out of hand, which made Ruan Tianque really annoyed.

Le Loi supported Ruan Tianque, “Since the matter has reached such a stage, we cannot back off and can only go to war. Turn all the anger and conflict within our country on our opponents.”

Ruan Tianque was enlightened.

Just like this, even at the deadline that Great Xia had given them, Haiphong City still rejected it.

Not only that, but Ruan Tianque even directly executed the members of Tongchun Chamber of commerce, including the second son of Boss Chen.

Ruan Tianque did so to ensure that he would have no other choice.

If not, he was worried that he would face pressure from various sides in the country.

This time, the ambassador from Great Xia was really calm. After getting a clear reply, he politely left. His calmness terrified everyone.

…

4th year, 1st month, Great Xia used seeking vengeance for Tongchun Chamber of Commerce as a reason to declare war on Haiphong City.

The moment the news spread out, it was like smashing a huge stone into a calm lake.

Although players felt that war was coming, they did not expect Great Xia would do so in such a crisp manner.

“Dominance! That’s how they should do it.”

The China region players were really excited for two reasons.

First, their declaration of war on Haiphong City proved that Great Xia was not willing to start an internal war before the country wars.

In the country war leader vote, Ouyang Shuo led by a huge margin.

Secondly, the moment Great Xia took down Annan, they would obtain more honor points, which would be of great help for the upcoming country war.

Not long after the global auction ended, the Japanese region started to ask for donations to pay back Keisuke Honda for purchasing the country war buff card.

The moment the news spread out, the China players naturally heard about it.

During that period, there were many words pointing right at Ouyang Shuo, Di Chen, and Feng Qiuhuang, saying that they were traitors to the country.

China had never lacked keyboard warriors that said they loved their country. But if you truly asked them for gold, they would run far away, “Isn’t Great Xia rich? Do they have the face to ask us for money?”

Mankind was ugly.

Luckily, these clowns were not the majority, and most of the China region players could accept it rationally.

Great Xia had obtained 30 honor points for the China region, causing Ouyang Shuo to face lesser attacks.

The China region players were excited but other people were not.

…

Annan Region, Haiphong City.

Ruan Tianque was really calm. The moment that Great Xia declared war, he ordered the north border troops to return.

Haiphong City had 300 thousand troops, apart from 20 thousand guards defending the imperial city, they had four War Fighting Legions. One was housed in the south at Cholon, while one was housed at Danang.

The remaining two were at the north border so one could see that Ruan Tianque was really wary of Great Xia.

At the same time, he ordered his only navy forces to patrol the surrounding region around Haiphong City, forming a defensive chain.

As an ocean city, what worried Haiphong City the most was an attack from the seas. Furthermore, Great Xia had a really formidable army, so Ruan Tianque had to go all out.

Some of the Annan players were watching on while some started preparing.

After all, Great Xia was just going to teach Haiphong City a lesson and might not start an all-out war against Annan. Hence, before the situation became clear, a portion of them held onto that hope.

The various ASEAN states did not move their troops; it was a situation of total silence.

…

The moment the war order was given, the Great Xia Army that was waiting to go immediately set out.

The first was naturally the navy.

On the 4th month, 1st day, with the Emperor Squadron at the lead, along with the 1st division of the Pacific Squadron and the Yashan Squadron, they all set out from their ports.

They gathered up at the Gulf of Tonkin.

On the 4th month, 3rd day, morning, the alliance squadron had gathered up. 280 main warships and thousands of support warships covered the entire ocean as it filled up the entire gulf.

The white sails dyed the entire blue ocean surface.

Much more terrifying was the 800 large merchant ships that were in charge of delivering resources and army soldiers behind them.

If one did not personally witness this, they could not imagine how oppressive it felt.

In front of such a squadron, everyone would be ripped to shreds.

Great Xia had already bared its fangs and was charging right at Annan, and the war between the two sides would start at the ocean.