472 Hiding from Everyone (1/2)

”Everyone!”

Yuan Ping stood up, attracting the attention of all the people in the hall. Many of them thought that Yuan Ping was planning to personally create problems for Hefu.

The atmosphere in the hall grew more and more serious.

”Everyone.” Yuan Ping looked around, ”Everyone, please listen to me. Now is not the time to chase responsibility. The most crucial question is, what do we do now?”

The moment his words sounded out, the hall fell silent.

All of their moods instantly became heavy, and they all lost the mood to quarrel.

That's right, what should the alliance army do now?

At this point, they had two choices.

Firstly, they could continue to reinforce the troops and go all in against Shanhai City.

Although the alliance army had suffered heavy loses, they still had deep pockets after all. The 110 thousand troops that remained were twice the numbers of the Shanhai City Army.

If they gritted their teeth, they could take the fight.

Secondly, they could accept the defeat and escape.

The back side of the alliance army was still stable for now. As such, if they chose to retreat, the Shanhai City Army could not do anything about them. However, this had a downside—if they did so, South Alliance could never raise their heads again.

Apart from the problem of face, there were also strategic considerations.

The moment the alliance army retreated, the fall of Zhaoqing would be imminent. The moment they lost this barrier, the other few prefectures in Lingnan Province would be at risk.

Hence, in a long term standpoint, retreating would not be a good idea.

Unexpectedly, the majority of the Lords decided to retreat. Baiqi and Han Xin’s two strikes had blinded these Lords, causing them to lose all their courage.

They only saw the actual threat in front of them. As for the long term implications, there was still time, so who knows what would happen?

Typical ostrich mentality.

”Everyone, the longer this war drags on, the more beneficial it is for them. They will have enough time to gather more troops to attack us. At that time, even if we want to escape, it would be too late. Why not just leave now and keep our losses to a minimum? Our side has low morale, so if we leave, we can wait till the spirits rise to have a final fight with them. This strategic retreat will give us the chance to deal a heavy blow to Shanhai City in the future. No matter what, we have taken down Cangcheng County in this battle and forced Baiqi to escape, so we have already attained good achievements.”

”Well said!”

Yuan Ping's words gained the approval of everyone.

This fellow's eloquence was truly commendable. Based on Yuan Ping’s’ words, the alliance army had not lost, and they had won this encounter instead.

Although Yuan Ping hated Ouyang Shuo to the core, he still supported the decision to retreat. He had his own plans. Despite their side losing this battle, it was not all bad for the alliance.

From this battle, it was enough for them to realize the terrifying strength of Shanhai City. When they returned to their territory, they would definitely increase their preparations.

Apart from that, they would band together.

Under the suppression of Shanhai City, not only would South Alliance not disband, it would even grow closer, increasing their cooperations with one another. For example, the city-state system that Hefu had used in the last life might come to work.

With this, Yuan Ping would have a chance to rise up. In the alliance, the prestige of Hefu had plummeted to the ground. Naturally, Yuan Ping now had a chance to win the position of alliance leader.

If he could lead the alliance and successfully build up the city-state system, he could solidify his position. Not only in Lingnan Province, but even the entire China region.

Most importantly, only this move could grant him the capital to go against Ouyang Shuo.

Hence, Yuan Ping resolutely decided to retreat.

Thanks to Yuan Ping rallying and motivating them, even some neutrals chose to join the retreat camp.

Of course, there were obviously some who insisted on staying, like Hefu for example. His territory had already fallen, so he had no way back. Taking down the south of Zhaoqing was his only hope.

The moment his territory fell, Hefu had already lost the way of return.

Unfortunately, Hefu's words held no weight now.

As time moved on and both sides continued their debate, the people who supported leaving gradually gained an overwhelming advantage.

Just as Yuan Ping was ready to enjoy the fruits of this small victory, a shout jolted everyone's senses.

”We cannot leave!”

This shout was incredibly loud, so it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Looking over, the ones who spoke up was one of the Zhaoqing Prefecture Lords, who had not made a sound till this point. For South Alliance to retreat, the Zhaoqing Prefecture Lords would naturally not agree. If they left, that meant that they would be left alone against Shanhai City.

”This brother, it seems like you do not understand the situation.”

A member of the South Alliance stepped up and mocked, ”In the end, our South Alliance came down as a form of humanitarian help. Why? The Lords of Zhaoqing Prefecture still dare to order us around? We will leave if we want to. Can you even stop us?”

”That's right; we only came to help!”

The attitudes of the South Alliance members were atrocious, and they instantly angered the Lords of Zhaoqing Prefecture. The honeymoon period between the two sides was about to end.

”Sh*t teammate!”

When Yuan Ping heard these words, he shook his head.

It is okay if you want to back off, but why sprinkle salt onto their wounds?

That is so stupid.

The Zhaoqing Lord that had spoken up stepped out once again, his tone similarly mocking, ”The way I see it, you're the one that does not understand the situation. If you want to leave, we will not stop you. However, our teleportation formation is reserved for friends only. If you are not our friends, you can just walk back yourself!”

”....”