Although the battlefield is ever-changing, the changes before their eyes were truly incomprehensible to Hou Xiaoping and the others.
The situation had just deteriorated to the point of near collapse. Once the Buddhist School defensive formation was melted away, he couldn't imagine how his side could stop the opposing wizard team.
Just as the Buddha statue was almost completely melted away and the situation was about to turn completely one-sided, the opposing soldiers suddenly retreated like a receding tide.
Before they could react, the AI relayed the commands from higher management.
"General Hou Xiaoping, the enemy special forces have been completely annihilated. Please launch a pursuit immediately. Take advantage of this opportunity to destroy as much of the enemy's armed forces as possible. Note: destroy as much as possible. The Supreme Command Center grants you unlimited firing authority. Before the four Federation submit their surrender documents, push the front line forward as much as possible. Don't worry about insufficient troops; reinforcements will arrive immediately!"
The series of commands left his brain unable to process them for a while.
Have all enemy special forces been wiped out?
Are you kidding me?
This time, the Western camp sent three top special operations teams, along with various subordinate dangerous special operations personnel, such as several terrifyingly powerful Black Witchcraft from the wizard team, the Duchess's poison Dragon Knight, and Sita'er's super-powered gene warrior squad.
With the West China Region shut down and the top-tier combat force led by Zhang Zhengyuan missing, there was simply no way to deal with any one of the special operations forces, let alone have several forces join forces.
So now you're telling him to annihilate them all? How are you supposed to annihilate them?
Could it be that some kind of illusionist or illusionist infiltrated the upper echelons, causing them to be controlled?
This might be utterly absurd, but Hou Xiaoping felt it was more real than the complete annihilation of the top-tier combat forces from the four major regions.
But soon, an urgent report came from the front: General, the enemy's wizard team has collapsed, and the large-scale witchcraft has begun to backfire.
"How could this be?" The officers with Hou Xiaoping were all astonished. One of them couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that General Hou Xiaoliang... succeeded in the assassination?"
Hou Xiaoping smiled bitterly upon hearing this. Even he, as the older brother, didn't believe it. His younger brother was indeed strong, but to say that he could successfully assassinate the legendary wizard on the other side was an exaggeration, even if it was one in ten. Even if he did manage to succeed by sheer luck, it wouldn't cause such a collapse. At most, the opposing wizard team would be thrown into chaos, their spells would fail, and a lower-level wizard would simply take their place.
Moreover, the super-gene warrior Sita'er was on the front lines. With his speed, even if his underling succeeded in the assassination, he wouldn't have been able to escape. How could such a massive rout have occurred?
Something must have happened up ahead that he didn't know about.
"Pass the order: launch a full-scale counterattack! Engineers are also ready. Once the battle goes smoothly, immediately advance towards the cyber domains of the four major Federation!"
The officers were taken aback. Really?
"Quick!"
--
"Damn it, what on earth happened?"
At this moment, the councilors at the front lines panicked as they looked at the battle reports.
Sita'er's vital signs have disappeared, the Duchess's vital signs have disappeared, the legendary wizard Wo'er Beili's vital signs have disappeared, the wizarding team is almost completely wiped out, and the four Dragon Knight...
"Those idiots on the front lines, how could they possibly lose in a situation like this?"
"They even signaled a full retreat? Are they crazy? Are they spies planted by the Central Federation?"
"Enough!" Seeing the flustered councilors, the North District Speaker cut off their conversation and quickly asked, "Is there anything else from the front lines?"
"Contact was lost during the emergency retreat. The enemy counterattack was too swift; even the senior officers who had contacted us just five minutes ago have stopped replying."
Some of the lawmakers were getting restless. What exactly happened?
Just an hour ago, they were all having their secretaries draft official declarations about the victory in the war.
This is not an invasion, but a just self-defense, a military operation launched solely to ensure the safety of all Federation citizens and to stop some mad, ambitious individuals.
To prevent the same thing from happening again, all high-ranking officials in the Central Federation will be investigated, and their eligibility to govern will be determined by a public vote.
Citizens of the Central Federation will continue to enjoy the same citizenship rights as before, without any change. The public should not panic about this. The Western world has always advocated peace and democracy, and this military action is for the sake of order, not destruction.
In any case, they were all just high-sounding words, partly to appease the anti-war elements within their own Federation, and partly to avoid provoking a complete rebellion by the vast masses of the Central Federation.
After all, that massive number of engineers represents the best cheap labor force. Once we control the Central Federation, there are plenty of ways to exploit them. The correct approach is to gradually weaken them; being too aggressive will only provoke a backlash.
Of course, how to distribute the spoils became the focus of the subsequent power struggle among the regional councilors. From the perspective of those above, this was almost a battle they were sure to win, so they had already begun discussing the distribution of the spoils after the battle.
They are even considering whether to restart the project in Central China that has been kept under wraps.
But unexpectedly, in such a short time, a battle report from the front lines came in that was almost magical!
News of the deaths of all top-tier combatants came one after another, the front lines collapsed completely, and even basic communications were disrupted, leaving them utterly bewildered.
Looking at the chaotic parliament hall, the Speaker of the North District was ashen-faced. He couldn't believe it either. That morning, the Duchess had invited him to a sensual gathering that evening. To be honest, he was really looking forward to it. After all, she was a legendary woman, and he would never forget spending a wonderful night with her.
The news that came so quickly was that the other person had died.
Just as things were getting chaotic, suddenly, the members of parliament from various countries received some news, and their expressions changed. The entire chamber fell silent instantly.
The North District Speaker, seeing the blank expressions on the faces of the councilors, immediately understood that they had received the same message as he had.
The fact that high-ranking officers from the northern district have already fled back definitively proves that the battle report of the recent rout was true.
The fact that everyone received this message proves that high-ranking officers in all districts must have used teleportation devices to escape back.
High-ranking officers abandoned the battlefield and fled for their lives, a move that would have resulted in a military trial, yet they still did it. This shows just how dire the situation was.
"There's no need to stay here any longer." The North District Speaker immediately packed his briefcase. "I'm sure you all know the result. We lost, and we lost completely. Now, let's think about how to use public opinion to stop that despicable Central Federation from making things worse!"
--
"Mr. Kaidi, you're back?"
In the North District's council hall, Speaker Kaidi teleported back and rushed to his own council without stopping. At this time, well-known political figures and even some financial tycoons from the North District were present, clearly indicating that even a single government could not control the situation.
Because everyone is discussing a draft proposal that is a very humiliating but the only one that can stop the Central Federation's military attack.
Can you tell me what happened?
While on the road, Kaidi was already receiving intelligence.
The shutdown of West China in the Central Federation was fake; it was just a network censorship. They even kept their own people completely in the dark, risking huge domestic unrest. Apart from a few individuals, even high-ranking military officers and members of parliament were unaware of it, and even frontline commanders didn't know it was all a charade.
Kaidi had suspected this outcome when the front lines collapsed, but what he couldn't understand was, even if the Central Federation had staged it, how could they have achieved such results?
Even if Zhang Zhengyuan were alive, even if the strongest Jade Dynasty Sword Formation in the Central Federation were still intact, the fighting shouldn't have turned out like this.