Inside the military headquarters building on Woll.
“Very good, repeat this a few more times.”
A large circular virtual screen descended in the conference hall, with data and images flowing on it like water.
The rebel army from Blue Mother Star, as well as several newly surrendered generals from Woll Star City, stood there listening to Aslan’s voice coming through the communicator.
“This will be a protracted war. Given enough time, the star city’s defense shield may inevitably develop gaps, but as long as the enemy is confused and hesitant, we will have enough time to maneuver.”
The commander’s tone was always gentle and calm, unhurried. Even though he wasn’t present in person, it gave everyone a sense of reassurance that everything was under control.
Luther remarked softly, “I see, this is the strategy of interweaving truth and deception.”
Chen: “That’s right. Over time, even if the defense shield truly shatters one day, the enemy will be too afraid of falling into a trap to rashly attack the star city. It might even achieve the effect of an ’empty fort strategy’.”
However, the newly surrendered General Zhou frowned, “Commander, forgive my frankness, but relying on such petty tricks, a small star city like Woll might hold out for a month or two, but it’s impossible to last six months or a year.”
Behind him, several newly surrendered Woll generals also nodded in agreement.
These people still harbored some skepticism towards this young, frail commander who always claimed illness and never showed his face.
General Zhou snorted with a stern expression. “If the commander can only teach us to be cowards, I think it’s better to surrender early. At least we can save the lives of our soldiers and civilians.”
These words were harsh. The rebel army generals could barely contain themselves. Tang Ren respected the commander the most and had already raised his fist with furrowed brows.
But before he could speak, they heard a calm voice from the communicator.
“Woll had just fallen when you surrendered to the rebel army; now with imperial troops at our doorstep, you want to surrender back to the empire.”
“In that case, if Woll Star City changes hands repeatedly, is the general planning to… open a hotel here?”
Instantly, General Zhou’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, his face turning the color of pork liver.
“Pfft.”
“Hahaha…”
A few stifled laughs quietly came from various corners.
While trying to hold back their amusement, many people thought to themselves: Their usually calm and steady commander turned out to have quite a sharp tongue when it came to sarcasm.
“All you need to do is follow orders,” Aslan said softly. “As for the rest, you can rest assured. If we hold out for a while longer, reinforcements will come to help us.”
Reinforcements?
Everyone stopped laughing and looked at each other in confusion, not understanding his meaning.
The rebel army only had this small group from Blue Mother Star, while the enemy seemed endless. Where would reinforcements come from?
Did the commander mean to continue training new troops from Blue Mother Star? But that couldn’t be done in just a few short months…
Soon after, the meeting ended with most people still puzzled.
In the official residence of Woll, Jiang Jianming reclined on the bed, staring at the video and data flashing on the light computer, and removed the tiny microphone hanging by his ear.
… By rights, when addressing several important generals of the rebel army, he should have been wearing a military uniform, sitting upright in the center of the conference room.
Not like now, wearing warm cotton robes, lying in bed with an IV drip.
Beside him, Ryann reached out to hand him freshly cut apple pieces. “Who are the reinforcements?”
Jiang Jianming’s right hand still had an IV needle, and his left hand was holding the microphone he had just removed, so he could only open his mouth and take a bite directly.
Ever since the Battle of Woll, he had learned his lesson: he really couldn’t casually appear in public anymore.
Who knows, one day he might have to perform a “disabled person having an attack and collapsing” in front of all the officers and soldiers. How could he continue being the commander after that?
At first, Ryann expressed great dissatisfaction with Jiang Jianming’s attitude of “hiding away”.
Jiang Jianming could only plead with him, saying at one point. “But dealing with those meetings every day, running back and forth, my body really can’t take it.”
Then at another point saying. “Where could I hide anyway? Isn’t it Your Highness who’s sheltering me… You will shelter me, won’t you?”
His Highness Kaios initially put on a stern, unfeeling face, but after being worn down like this over and over, it only took a few days for him to soften.
“Has Your Highness heard of the saying ‘timing, terrain, and support’?”
Jiang Jianming saw that the time was about right, so he stopped the IV drip and sat up straighter to talk to Ryann. “This was summarized by scholars in the old Blue Mother Star era as three conditions favorable for warfare.”
“I’ve heard of it before.” Ryann skillfully helped him remove the needle, applied a hemostatic IV patch, and then held that cold hand in his palm, rubbing it to warm it up.
Jiang Jianming tried to pull his hand away but failed, so he had to let it be. “The empire has been tyrannical for a long time, and now they’re adopting a strategy of full-scale bombardment regardless of the lives of the Woll people. The rebel army inherently has the advantage of support.”
Ryann pondered. “Then what about the so-called timing and terrain?”
Jiang Jianming: “Although modern interstellar warfare has long since moved beyond the influence of climate and topography within a single star city, fundamentally: timing essentially refers to external factors that change with time; terrain essentially refers to external factors that change with space.”
“Woll is far from Yongle Garden, its spatial environment is easy to defend but difficult to attack, large fleets have trouble maneuvering, and the star city’s defense system is very robust – this is our terrain advantage.”
“And our timing advantage is about to arrive.”
…
In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and Woll Star City remained unbroken.
As the siege entered its second month, the imperial army began to face new pressures.
— The season of frequent alien creature activity had arrived.
Woll, known as the “Border Huge Wall,” had been harassed by alien creatures year after year. The local military and civilians were accustomed to it and had their own systematic way of dealing with it.
But now the situation was different. The imperial army had surrounded the star city so tightly that no water could leak through. No matter which direction the alien creatures came from, they would first attack the imperial fleet.
The imperial army was caught off guard, like hunters aiming their guns suddenly bitten on the backside by a snake. They had to temporarily divert forces to turn and face the alien creatures.
Below, Woll Star City added fuel to the fire by emotionally broadcasting on loop through loudspeakers.
“We are grateful! We are thankful! We are grateful for His Majesty the Holy Emperor’s merciful heart, and thankful for the brave and fearless Great General for sending troops to defend Woll Star City against calamities. We’ve lived in Woll for decades, and this is the first time we’ve had such peaceful days!”
It was on the fifth day of the imperial army being run ragged by the alien creatures that the rebel fleet, which had been hiding in space, suddenly launched an attack, fiercely assaulting the relatively chaotic First Fleet.
The forces that had been steadfastly holding Woll Star City suddenly sallied forth. Kaios personally led the main force in a fierce attack, coordinating with Lin Ge to form a pincer movement, repeatedly charging and killing. Pitifully, the First Fleet’s formation was breached more than ten times, with large numbers of soldiers fleeing in defeat.
Meanwhile, the rebel army collected a large number of alien creature corpses during breaks in their attacks. The extracted real crystal ore would be processed to become a new round of energy to support the star city’s defense system.
After this battle, General Zhou and a group of surrendered Woll generals were thoroughly convinced, and no one ever questioned the commander’s abilities again.
The imperial fleet had no choice but to withdraw, changing from a tight encirclement to a long-range blockade.
After the failure of their quick victory strategy, they were caught in a dilemma, forced to drag on, hoping for the day when Woll Star City’s defense system would completely give out.
But when it came to attrition, it was hard to say who was wearing down whom.
Lin Ge laughed and said, “A million-strong army has come all this way, initially intending to win a quick victory. We can certainly worry about whether they’re going hungry or not.”
“We’re in Star City, with land and factories, beds to lie on and homes to live in. Woll’s resources are sufficient for the army to be self-sufficient, and it wouldn’t be a problem even if we dragged this out for a year or two… but it’s different for them.”
Indeed, the longer it dragged on, the more the Imperial army found itself at an impasse. In the later stages, they even had to transport resources from Eden Star City. Morale became increasingly weary, and they were mostly just hanging on for the sake of saving face.
At this point, the masses of people in the Empire had already been exploited by the continuous “national defense tax” to the point where their cries for help went unanswered.
If in the first month, the lower classes were still hoping for the Imperial army to return victorious soon to appease the Emperor’s wrath.
Then by the third month, the fourth month… as Woll Star City became almost an unbreakable myth, as the noble lords were forced into panic, another thought began to quietly sprout.
People started to secretly think: What if Woll Star City could really hold out? What if the rebel army could continue to win?
If one day, Prince Kaios could truly break through Yongle Garden, would it mean they could escape their days of deep water and raging fire?
This dragging on unexpectedly continued until the 56th year of the Old Imperial Calendar.
Yongle Garden didn’t receive news of victory, but instead received another earth-shattering shock.
That year, the White Dove Red Leaf Society rebelled.
Perhaps inspired by the Blue Mother Star uprising, the long-silent White Dove Red Leaf Society members raised their battle flags and ignited the flames of war in the Empire’s main star system.
In the same year, under the leadership of Joshua Song, the second-generation leader of the White Dove Red Leaf Society, they captured Angel Hall Star City and renamed it the Glorious Dominion.
Angel Hall was built on a semi-artificial planet and had always existed as a satellite to guard Yongle Garden.
If the fall of Woll was like being hit in the back with a stick, then the fall of Angel Hall was like being slapped hard in the face, leaving Andrew Odin seeing stars.
The Empire’s military force immediately shifted entirely towards Angel Hall. The large army besieging Woll gradually withdrew, but was chased and beaten several times by the rebel starships along the way, barely managing to pull themselves out of the quagmire.
They had come with fierce momentum, but returned with their tails between their legs.
The defense of Woll Star City, after persisting for a year, ended in victory in a way no one had anticipated.
It was on the returning victorious starships, after finishing the pursuit of the Imperial army.
Amid the wild joy of the soldiers, no one realized that just a few meters away, their commander was cornered by His Highness Kaios.
The young monarch was already noticeably taller than his commander.
His back was broad and powerful, his arms long and tense, his emerald eyes sharp and wild, like a newly adult lion king on the grasslands.
If he wished, he could easily subdue the weak disabled person under his palm or body, even without using the power of crystal bones.
The monarch did just that. The starry sky outside the porthole witnessed two figures entangled together, their rapid breaths also intertwined.
“Aslan…”
Ryann’s eyes were slightly red at the corners, his voice almost overflowing with possessiveness, even tinged with a kind of pain from having restrained his desire to the limit.
“I love you.”
“Can you let me love you?”
He repeated these words, using both soft and hard tactics to make Jiang Jianming agree.
But by this day, both of them actually had the answer in their hearts. Whether it was spoken or not, it was the same.
“…” Jiang Jianming was forced to raise his head, his eyes misty. As he breathed, his delicate Adam’s apple bobbed, stretching a patch of pale skin.
Just as he had long known that Ryann would come to profess his love at this moment… Ryann must have also long known that he wouldn’t agree.
The evidence was that whether he gently refused or remained indifferent, His Highness showed no signs of disappointment or anger, but instead kept pestering him coquettishly like a spoiled child.
It was only when he accidentally let slip “I can’t accompany you for too long” that he truly angered Ryann.
He knew, and Ryann knew too.
Jiang Jianming closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling.
Without realizing it, they had already reached this level of mutual understanding.
And since the emperor and his general could not truly part ways, what exactly could his refusal refuse?
Love.
Jiang Jianming really didn’t know if what he felt for Ryann could be considered that kind of emotion.
But in his more than twenty years of tainted life, he seemed to have always been struggling through endless darkness, trudging through cold hardships.
He had attended the funeral of his mother who had gone mad and beaten him. He had raised a little ingrate into a female general.
He had lit campfires month after month in the wilderness. He had called upon the downtrodden people to raise spears of rebellion.
He had actually saved many people, lifted up many people. Though he was just such a weak and tired spark, he had presumptuously tried to illuminate a long night.
But no one could save him.
He had never expected that any being could save him.
Jiang Jianming knew his heart was cold. He felt he should die alone under the starry sky, his body lying on the path of chasing dawn.
So that night, facing the young boy of mysterious origins, he had only tried to share a handful of his fire, as he always did.
But things were different afterwards.
The boy returned, saved him when he was on the brink of death, lifted him up when he was weary, ignited a powerful blaze, and rekindled the weak candle flame.
People are not grass or trees, hearts are not made of stone. How could he truly feel nothing?
“Are you angry again?”
In the dim, intimate corner, Ryann narrowed his eyes to observe him.
Jiang Jianming silently fingered the platinum curls cascading into the hollow of his neck, gazing at the stunningly handsome youth… perhaps soon to be called a young man.
He couldn’t tell Ryann “I love you.”
But he was even less able to say to Ryann “I don’t love you.”
He slowly opened his mouth and said, “If you didn’t love me so much…”
If Ryann didn’t love him so passionately, he actually wouldn’t mind… allowing the young prince to pull open his collar and do whatever he wanted to do next.
But Ryann immediately said, “Not possible.”
Jiang Jianming sighed. “Then my answer is also not possible.”
He had actually already compromised. If Ryann could love him in a different way, he would be willing to try being the emperor’s secret male pet in bed, letting this subtle emotion and desire be buried in secret history.
But Ryann said it wasn’t possible.
Jiang Jianming understood him too well. With Ryann’s temperament, if he became emperor, he would definitely want to be a pair of emperor and empress that would go down in history with the person he loved.
And it would absolutely be as equals, ruling the country together, completely different from the “mother of the harem” during the old Blue Mother Star era.
As a commander, Jiang Jianming believed he could manage with his abilities, hiding his presence a bit more to suppress rumors.
But being an empress was truly impossible.
His lifespan, his physique, his race, his background… all of these could generate enough chaos to shake the rebel army, or even harm Ryann himself.
So it wasn’t possible.
“Let’s go, we should head out,” Jiang Jianming shook his head. He had completely regained his composure. “Your Highness has been missing for too long, the soldiers will be anxious.”
“Wait, don’t run away.” Ryann grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back. “Let’s not talk about that anymore, let’s discuss official business.”
Jiang Jianming sighed, knowing the other just wanted to linger by his side a while longer. “…Go ahead.”
“The White Dove Red Leaf Society chose a poor location. The Glorious Dominion is too close to Yongle Garden. At this rate, they won’t last long.”
Ryann hinted meaningfully, “…Without our support.”
Jiang Jianming chuckled. “Your Highness is bolder than me.”
“Can it be done?”
“As you wish.”
