Chapter 612

Chapter 612: Surrender After Victory

"We definitely need to fight, but…"

Once the warmongering elders quieted down, an elder from the Flowing Horse Tribe hesitated to speak.

The entire hall grew even quieter.

Everyone understood the elder’s meaning.

What happens after we win?

Normally, after a victory, there should be joyful celebrations.

But the issue is, winning means only defeating the three hundred million soldiers of the Great Flame Empire.

The Great Flame Empire possesses the terrifying strength to defeat the Alliance of the Sixteen Tribes head-on. With the strength of the Flowing Horse Tribe, it would be impossible to withstand an invasion from the Great Flame Empire.

The Flowing Horse Tribe still faced only two choices.

One is to leverage this victory to show the Great Flame Empire the strength of the Flowing Horse Tribe. Surrendering could gain them better treatment.

The other option is to use this victory to reach out to the surrounding tribes, joining forces against the invasion and expansion of the Great Flame Empire.

The first choice seems somewhat embarrassing and would invite ridicule from the various tribes.

Even looking across the entire Tianling Star Cluster, instances of a tribe surrendering after achieving a great victory are exceedingly rare.

The tribe members would also find it hard to understand.

However, this choice would only affect their pride but could secure the greatest benefits for the Flowing Horse Tribe.

The second choice became extremely difficult due to the complete defeat of the Alliance of the Sixteen Tribes.

After the Alliance’s downfall, the leaders of the surrounding tribes had not been without contact.

In fact, the Flowing Horse Tribe secretly made agreements with many tribes.

But these agreements were merely verbal and did not involve a united front against the Great Flame Empire; they were more about preparing for the day when they might need to surrender out of desperation.

In the future, the various tribes planned to unite to negotiate with the Great Flame Empire for better policies.

Though no one among the Flowing Horse Tribe’s high-ranking members voiced it, most leaned toward the first choice.

With one great victory, they could negotiate for surrender and even consider becoming a subordinate to the Great Flame Empire, striving for better policies and treatment.

"No matter what, let’s first win this great war!"

Seeing that no one was willing to bring up surrender, the leader of the Flowing Horse Tribe chose to put the matter aside.

The elders all nodded in agreement.

One elder spoke up, "In this battle, we must take advantage of the Great Flame Empire’s overconfidence and end it quickly, achieving victory as swiftly as possible."

"While winning quickly, we must also minimize the casualties of the Great Flame Empire’s army as much as we can."

As soon as this was said, the warmongering elders felt dissatisfied.

They wanted to retort, but each chose to remain silent instead.

They understood what this elder was implying.

The races conquered by the Great Flame Empire have a hierarchy.

They may not understand the vast difference between the first and second ranks, but they do know the distinctions between the third and fourth ranks.

This is because the benefits for the third rank are hundreds or even thousands of times inferior to those of the second rank, similar to how the Undying Race treated the various tribes during their rule over the Tianling Star Cluster.

The fourth rank directly results in annihilation.

Even the surviving tribe members will be treated as slaves.

Refusing to surrender and causing significant casualties and losses to the Great Flame Empire’s army will place a tribe into the third or even fourth rank.

This is also the reason why the elder subtly suggested that they cannot inflict too many casualties on the Great Flame Empire’s army.

The warmongering elders did not refute this, and that is why.

Though it feels embarrassing and frustrating, there is nothing to be done.

Even the warmongering elders do not believe that the Flowing Horse Tribe can genuinely resist the invasion of the Great Flame Empire.

In this situation, they cannot allow the Flowing Horse Tribe to fall into the ranks of possible third or even fourth rank surrendering races.

If that were to happen, the Flowing Horse Tribe would truly have no hope of rising again.

"Time is pressing; let’s discuss the specific battle plan!"

Seeing that all the elders agreed to this matter, the leader of the Flowing Horse Tribe directly moved on to the next topic.

"It’s actually quite simple. We just need to form a strike force and suddenly surround the Great Flame Empire’s army!"

One elder spoke up, "If the Great Flame Empire’s strong long-range attacking army mobilizes, we can use underground warfare to strike or control this long-range attacking army."

"No, no, no, I think we can target this long-range attacking army right from the start."

"According to the data, the Great Flame Empire always uses this long-range attacking army as their vanguard when launching attacks. This way, we can easily determine the location of this long-range attacking army!"

"Exactly. I think controlling this long-range attacking army is much easier and safer than trying to control the entire Great Flame Empire army."

"Moreover, if we can manage to control this long-range attacking army, the effect would be just as good as surrounding the entire Great Flame Empire army. After all, this long-range attacking army is one of the Empire’s key strategies for conquest and expansion."

"If we successfully control this long-range attacking army, it would suffice to demonstrate the strength of our Flowing Horse Tribe to the Great Flame Empire."

"Once we control this long-range attacking army, we can later encircle the Great Flame Empire army."

The elders of the Flowing Horse Tribe began to get enthusiastic.

In their view, the Flowing Horse Tribe’s strength definitely could not compare to that of the Great Flame Empire.

After all, the Great Flame Empire had proven its might and terror by forcefully conquering the Alliance of the Sixteen Tribes.

No matter how confident the high-ranking leaders of the Flowing Horse Tribe were, they could not be confident enough to think they could defeat the Great Flame Empire.

However, they believed that against an army of over three hundred million, the Flowing Horse Tribe still had a very high chance of winning.

The main reason lies in the Flowing Horse Tribe’s expertise in underground warfare; they do not fear the Great Flame Empire’s long-range attacking army as other races do.

In fact, the Flowing Horse Tribe even possesses a counter against this formidable long-range attacking army of the Great Flame Empire.

Within just an hour, the leader of the Flowing Horse Tribe and the elders discussed and finalized the entire battle plan.

With a command from the tribe leader, all the high-ranking members took out their communication stones to issue orders.

They all knew the three terrifying aspects of the Great Flame Empire.

One is its powerful long-range attack ability, another is its elusive assassination teams, and the third is its astonishing quick troop mobilization ability.

To guard against potential attacks from the Great Flame Empire’s assassination teams, the elders had to command the battle through long-distance communications.

In fact, aside from a few commanders who could operate independently, most of the strong members still needed to be notified to gather.

Otherwise, if the Great Flame Empire’s assassination teams acted, constantly attacking the strong members of the Flowing Horse Tribe, they too could dominate the outcome of the war.

As each order was given, within the Flowing Horse Tribe’s stronghold, the army began to mobilize urgently.

Elite armies quickly gathered together to prepare for the attack.