Chapter 950: Chapter 512, Prestige Strategy
Gu Hang personally took Alliance ships to the Menghe Star Domain.
His actions, of course, were detected by Tie Nu Shi.
Humphrey Paoloâs reaction was quite significant.
He personally summoned the Alliance Ambassador, a lady named Wu Yang.
As an Interstellar Warrior and the Battle Group Leader of Iron Armor, his stature was, of course, not something mortals could compare to.
Seated on the throne in the warshipâs bridge, Wu Yang looked up at him as if she were beholding a deity.
It wasnât baseless that many places referred to Interstellar Warriors as demigods.
"Gu Hang has personally led a fleet into Menghe, have you decided to become enemies with me?"
Paulâs voice was neither loud nor harsh; it was also not frivolous, just universally plain.
But even so, standing below, Alliance Ambassador Wu Yang, despite being mentally prepared, still felt very nervous under the immense pressure.
She had been in the Princess Star Domain for several months already.
In fact, when the Fury Flame Battle Group was driven out of the Dragonhawk Star Domain, the Alliance had already sent an ambassador to the Iron Armor Battle Group.
âTo uphold the representation of both sides as imperial regional powers and maintain exchanges.â
In reality, the Iron Armor Battle Group also had an envoy at Flying Wing Star. That previous handwritten letter from Humphrey Paolo was personally delivered to Gu Hang by the Iron Armor Ambassador.
And later, when the Iron Armor Battle Group officially raised the flag of rebellion, ambassadors from both sides actually did not withdraw.
Arguments with officials from the other side, and being used as a venting tool, squabbling over who is the empireâs traitor... such were their official duties.
Of course, if it were merely for this, it definitely wouldnât be worth sending ambassadors to each other. For Iron Armor, it didnât matter, but for the Alliance, it was politically risky.
If it were completely useless, the Alliance definitely wouldnât do so.
Essentially, the mutual sending of ambassadors indeed played the role of conveying messages and confirming each otherâs positions and attitudes.
And Wu Yang, as a fairly experienced diplomat within the Alliance Foreign Affairs Department, was assigned this important and especially hazardous mission.
Should the sides turn against each other, who knows if they might kill the ambassadors in anger?
But even so, Wu Yang still had to maintain a sufficiently firm stance.
She said, "The Alliance is a member of the Empire, and it cannot tolerate traitors to the Empire, nor will it fail to act. Whatâs happening now is merely the beginning of our actions."
The attitude had to be made clear.
But the main point still had to be addressed:
"In the future, the Alliance will certainly enter the Spiderweb Domain to execute the Empireâs commands, but not now. For now, and for a long time to come, the Allianceâs focus will remain within the Eastern Cosmos Domain, staying in the Menghe Star Domain."
At this point, Wu Yang added, "This is at the Empireâs request."
The subtext was also very clear: the Alliance did not wish to wage a major war at the moment.
Entering the Menghe Star Domain was partly to push the Allianceâs front line forward to avoid being immediately invaded in their core area when the war starts, and partly to fulfill the Empireâs commands.
This is to avoid a misjudgment by the Iron Armor Battle Group, thinking that the Alliance intends to attack them and therefore undertake some rash action.
Of course, if the Iron Armor does decide to react this way, thereâs nothing the Alliance can do; they might as well have it out in the Menghe Star Domain.
The Alliance is indeed not prepared for war and does not wish to engage.
But...
Is the Iron Armor prepared for this?
Humphrey Paolo already got the answer he wanted.
He lost interest in conversing further with Wu Yang, an âambassadorâ like her, and waved her away dismissively.
After Wu Yang left, Humphrey sat alone on his throne, silent and wordless.
It was only after a long while that he heaved a deep sigh.
...
Gu Hang also sighed.
His sigh had little to do with the Iron Armor Battle Group.
Wu Yang had informed him about the details of her meeting with Humphrey, including the subsequent verbal sparring with officers from the Iron Armor, and their ongoing threats to move south, to destroy the Alliance, just as Iron Armor had obliterated numerous world powers of empires.
However, in reality, Gu Hang didnât believe that the Iron Armor would move south.
Itâs not guaranteed, but itâs highly likely.
Gu Hang roughly calculated the strength of the Iron Armor Battle Group; if they wanted to maintain their current unbeaten prowess, they would not be capable of opening a third front.
Especially considering that the Alliance is a tough nut to crack.
And if their recent yearâs myth of being unbeatable were to be shattered, that would be a very, very bad situation. If those many worlds no longer see the Iron Armor Battle Group as invincible, and begin to resist more, it could spell big trouble for the Iron Armor.
That would significantly increase their conquest costs, and not so many worlds would choose to surrender without resistance.
So, really, is Iron Armorâs base so much stronger than the Allianceâs? The basis of the Alliance is the Dragonhawk Star Domain, and doesnât Iron Armor just control the Princess Star Domain? The only difference is that they have controlled their entire star domain for a bit longer than the Alliance has controlled the Dragonhawk Star Domain.
To swallow an entire Cosmos Domain and to turn the war into a tide, one cannot conquer one world at a timeâwho can withstand that?
How did Solakiumâs Solar Expedition conquer tens of thousands of worlds? It certainly wasnât by fighting one world at a time. The Sun Lord also made a name for himself in a key battle, then influenced dozens to hundreds of surrounding worlds to surrender directly.
And as this reputation grows stronger with each successful battle, campaigns become smoother. Often, the mere arrival of a fleet prompts immediate surrender; sometimes, it only takes a single envoy to prompt the surrender of ten worlds in an entire star sector.
This is the main method employed in conquering three worlds in two days and tens of thousands over decades of expeditions.
Reputation.
If you truly possess unbeatable strength, then nothing more needs to be said; you donât need to rack your brains.
But usually, thatâs not the case. Even during the early stages of the Solar Expedition when Sun Lord Solakium hadnât fully established his reputation or garnered the complete support of the Empire through that reputation, he still needed to wage war sufficiently âsmartly,â achieving enough victories to pave the way for future developments.
And now, Gu Hang could see that Iron Armor was attempting to replicate this approach.
Of course, they are still in the early stage, still building their reputation, and so far, they are beginning to see initial success, but there are still several key hurdles to overcome.