Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 147 - 49: Strategizing Behind the Scenes

Chapter 147: Chapter 49: Strategizing Behind the Scenes

On the other side, within Anqing City.

As rumors continued to spread and after the first small wave of wandering Terror Demons attacked, the atmosphere of panic inside the city intensified.

The inn where Chen Jian and the others were staying was nearly empty, as all the merchants couldn’t wait to leave Anqing City.

This situation was almost identical to what Zhou Qin described happening in Han Shui City; Chen Jian couldn’t help but sigh at how predictable the choices of these profit-driven merchants were when faced with life and death.

Of course, Chen Jian didn’t think their behavior of fleeing was something to disdain.

After all, Anqing wasn’t their home, nor were they any sort of professional fighters.

They had no reason to fight for this city, nor the ability to do so.

However, as he watched the merchants leaving with their goods, he couldn’t help but feel a trace of helplessness.

What kind of world is this, after all?

Even though humanity hasn’t completely escaped the crisis of survival, social structure has already formed a distinct stratification, to the extent that the merchant class has begun to enjoy privileges, showing class attributes completely different from their essence.

Sick, deformed...

If no one changes this, Chen Jian doubted whether, even if all threats disappeared, the people here could sustain human civilization in a reasonable way.

---- However, this problem was too grand and too distant.

What he needed to do now was not to think about these matters but to quickly present his "irresistible condition" to the two major forces in Anqing City.

Thus, under the innkeeper’s surprised gaze, the four-person team renewed their room fee and returned to their room.

Chen Jian instructed Ji Xing to stay outside the room and keep watch, then closed the door, signaling Zeng Yi and He Shuo to come closer to lay out his plan.

"...The situation is now basically clear."

"From the results of this reconnaissance battle, the Terror Demons in the Anqing Ruins exhibit two quite extreme characteristics."

"First, the good news is that their command efficiency is low, their organization is weak, and they lose effective command quickly after being attacked, with their combat power dropping significantly as a result."

"Secondly, the bad news is that they have quite a sturdy underlying command logic. Even without effective command, most Terror Demons will follow their leader towards the most central area to protect the critically important Central Hospital facility."

"The former reduces the difficulty of our frontal combat with them, but the latter significantly increases the difficulty of our decapitation strike."

"Theoretically, with sufficient combat manpower and logistical support, we could choose to exploit their weakness in combat strength to engage in frontal combat."

"Unfortunately, we do not have that."

"Even if we pull all the fighters from Yellow Stone City, we’d only gather a team of less than 50 people."

"And among this team of less than 50 people, most are untrained and just ordinary people who’ve been to the battlefield."

"In defensive battles, they might achieve good results."

"But if they were to take the offensive, complex commands couldn’t be executed, and their combat power wouldn’t be much higher than those of the Terror Demons."

"Terror Demons at least have their bloodthirsty instincts driving them, but once these people fall into fear, they’d be completely useless."

"Therefore, this combat approach must be eliminated, and the only tactical option we have is to utilize the existing personnel and resources to carry out a precise decapitation strike."

"Thus, our tactics are essentially decided."

"We need to leverage the City Defense Army of Anqing to act as a covering force, creating opportunities for us to execute the decapitation strike."

"Do any of you have any objections to this decision?"

"If there are objections, you can raise them now."

"No."

"No."

The two present, including those on the other end of the radio like Lei Jie, responded, and Chen Jian nodded, continuing:

"Based on this tactic, our next steps are also clear."

"We need to create a powerful motivation for the City Defense Army, guiding them to initiate an attack on the Anqing Ruins."

As his words fell, everyone fell silent.

After a long silence, He Shuo finally spoke:

"That’s very difficult."

"The pressure Anqing City is currently under is already significant, and the greater the pressure, the more its leaders tend to passively defend."

"If we want them to take the initiative... only a fight to the death could make that happen."

"Yes."

Chen Jian said slowly:

"We must create a reason for them to fight a battle with no retreat."

"How to create it?"

He Shuo asked with a frown:

"You know, a fight to the death only occurs at a moment of life and death, but for Anqing City, such a moment would only occur under one condition."

"That is, if the Terror Demons in Anqing Ruins launch a full-scale attack on Anqing City."

"But if that happens, the City Defense Army would inevitably choose to defend."

"This is essentially a paradox..."

"It’s not a paradox."

Chen Jian interrupted He Shuo, then continued:

"We have at least already disseminated three pieces of information directly or indirectly to the outside world."

"First, there are a large number of Terror Demons in the Anqing Ruins; they are powerful and could potentially threaten the survival of Anqing City."