"Check the answers?"
Zhou Zhenguo frowned as he looked at the officer.
"So you feel that doing problems in this situation is the same as doing problems when there are no answers to check?"
The officer opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to refute, but stopped halfway through.
He seemed to understand what Elder Zhou was trying to say!
The people around them remained silent as well.
Offering an idea is ultimately different from making a real decision!
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many retainers and strategists in ancient times, and the number of people they served would have been greatly reduced!
However, this problem also seems difficult to solve!
"Alright, we'll talk about this later!"
Zhou Zhenguo withdrew his gaze, turned a page of the document in his hand, and his tone became serious:
Are you satisfied with these casualties?
"Two points more than one, under limited conditions, isn't this casualty rate already quite good? I've heard that in other Erosion Zone, the casualties are much higher than ours!" an officer said.
Several figures sitting on the side nodded unconsciously.
Shen Heng silently looked at the documents in his hand, his intuition telling him that this wasn't what Elder Zhou wanted to say!
Sure enough, Zhou Zhenguo immediately spoke:
"I'm not talking about the casualty ratio; I'm saying, don't you guys feel this casualty rate is too high?"
Everyone paused, their expressions darkening considerably.
One battle, more than 5,000 people... To be honest, this casualty figure is extremely heavy, whether in ancient or modern times, in China or abroad!
It's not that they don't care about this, it's just...
"There's nothing we can do about it, isn't there?" said an officer sitting slightly back, his brow furrowed.
"If we can reduce the casualties among our soldiers, then of course we'd be willing!"
"But the problem is, it's almost impossible to do!"
"Whether it's low-level, mid-level, or high-level, the number of Calamity Beast is greater than ours. In other words, our raw strength is inferior to theirs!"
"Under these circumstances, the fact that the field battle has lasted this long is a miracle in my opinion!"
There was no one echoing the sentiment, but many people around nodded in agreement, clearly sharing the same view.
"I don't mean to criticize you. In fact, I quite agree that you achieved a very good casualty ratio under these conditions, but..."
After a pause, Zhou Zhenguo's serious gaze slowly swept over everyone.
Do you think this casualty figure is insignificant for the country?
Everyone paused and fell silent.
Although the casualties were only a little over 5,000, it was still a significant loss for the Great Xia Dynasty!
After all, this was just one battle in Shuofang City this month!
After this, there may be another one this month; excluding this month, there is also North-Pacifying City outside Shuofang City; excluding these two cities, there are two other Erosion Zone under the jurisdiction of the Great Xia outside the Plateau Erosion Zone!
If you take all of these into account, there are at least 60,000 to 70,000 casualties every month!
That's seven or eight hundred thousand a year!
In some small countries, this number would be tantamount to the annihilation of the nation!
In other words, the Great Xia, relying on its accumulated strength, is able to hold on!
But stubbornly holding on is ultimately just stubbornly holding on!
Shen Heng turned his gaze to Zhou Zhenguo.
"What does Elder Zhou mean?"
Upon hearing Shen Heng's question, everyone present turned their gaze towards him.
"We need to learn from the battles at Eagle-Sorrow Ravine and Frontier-Pacifying City, actively seeking opportunities for battle and then ambushing the enemy along the way. Only in this way can we achieve significant results with minimal casualties!" Zhou Zhenguo said.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a voice rang out from opposite Shen Heng.
" Elder Zhou, I disagree."
Shen Heng looked up and gazed over.
Li Boyuan raised his hand and tapped it on the table, saying:
"The previous Eagle-Sorrow Ravine and Frontier-Pacifying City were opportunities that couldn't be seized. As you've seen, out of so many battles, only those two truly yielded such results."
He paused for a moment, then continued:
"Furthermore, we have no idea when the Calamity Beast will arrive or from which route. Replicating those two successes is far too difficult!"
"The timing is uncertain, but where they'll come from is manageable." Zhou Zhenguo narrowed his eyes as he looked at Li Boyuan, seemingly assessing how to persuade this former deputy to Zhang Weijun, now his subordinate.
"Hmm?" Li Boyuan. "How should we handle this?"
"We can send people out to scout ahead and find out the movements of the Calamity Beast. Once they enter the designated area, we can send out a small force to lure them into the ambush!" Zhou Zhenguo said.
Upon hearing this, Li Boyuan's brows furrowed subconsciously, his eyes flickering as he pondered.
"Reconnaissance, luring, ambush..."
After a moment, Li Boyuan looked up at Zhou Zhenguo and shook his head, saying:
" Elder Zhou, this is too risky. What if a small force goes out to lure the Calamity Beast and gets bitten and can't get back? What if the ambush doesn't work as expected? What if the Calamity Beast doesn't fall for it? There are too many uncontrollable factors involved!"
"What war doesn't involve risks?" Zhou Zhenguo said in a deep voice.
Li Boyuan didn't respond, but his expression clearly said, "I disagree."
"I think Elder Zhou's idea is good. After all, continuing with the current method of 'sending scouts to discover the beast tide, then reporting back, and then mobilizing the main force' is just too cumbersome!" someone nearby chimed in in agreement.
"Not only is this inefficient, but it would also be virtually impossible for our large force to conceal their arrival!"
"The reason we've fought so many battles before is because of this; that's why we've always had to confront the Calamity Beast head-on!"
"If we continue in this manner, the casualties will not decrease. In fact, if the Calamity Beast devise strategies that are difficult for us to counter, it's not impossible that we could be defeated outright!"
Immediately, someone nearby began to refute this.
"But this is the safest approach. If that tactic fails, not only will we lose personnel for nothing, but it might even allow the Calamity Beast to successfully establish their Anchor Point because we don't have enough manpower to return in time. And then..."
"But the casualties are indeed too high. We can't keep dragging this out without making any changes..."
"Change is necessary, but we can't change it like this. What if something goes wrong..."
The discussion gradually grew louder.
However, overall, the majority of respondents were still opposed.
Zhou Zhenguo sat at the head of the table, his brows furrowed as he stared at the scene before him.
Although he anticipated that many people would oppose the plan when he proposed it, he still couldn't help but feel a little annoyed after seeing it.
These guys, what kind of war is it if you don't take some risks?