Arms X Tactics X Vassal Forces

Iron Wall opened his eyes and raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

He thought for a moment before answering, his voice still slightly heavy from training.

"Our weapons are mostly melee weapons."

"Iron rods, machetes, and daggers."

"As for guns... six in total."

"Two pistols and four old-fashioned long-barreled rifles. We don't have much ammunition."

He paused, choosing his words before continuing.

"As for tactics... you can hardly call them tactics."

"When Dodge was around, if we had fewer people, we'd charge in all at once. If we had more, we'd surround them and start hacking."

"If we ran into someone we couldn't beat, we'd retreat and wait for another chance to fight."

There was a barely perceptible trace of embarrassment in Iron Wall's voice.

That approach really was too reckless, with no intelligence behind it at all.

Jiang Ye listened without laughing or frowning.

He simply listened in silence, then nodded.

He knew perfectly well that in a place like Meteor City, an armed force of more than forty people with six guns was already enough to qualify as a mid-tier power.

Melee weapons were the norm in Meteor City, while firearms were scarce.

One could buy them from the weapons shops on Central Street with enough Jenny, but maintaining a midsize gang required Jenny for all sorts of things.

There simply wasn't enough to support owning better equipment.

But compared to the weapons, the charge-in-all-at-once approach was the bigger problem.

Jiang Ye didn't speak immediately.

He stood by the window, looking at the uneven tin roofs in the distant scrap district.

The dim daylight stretched his shadow from his feet into a thin, dark line, lying quietly across the floor.

The only sounds in the room were the deliberately softened breaths of Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye.

After a moment of silence, he turned around.

"The wasteland has its own way of fighting."

Jiang Ye's tone was calm.

"Iron rods and machetes alone are nowhere near enough."

"Make as many sheet-metal shields as you can."

"Molotov cocktails: fill empty liquor bottles with waste oil, stuff strips of cloth in them, light them, and throw them. They can set an area on fire."

"Traps: dig shallow pits between the scrap heaps, plant iron spikes in them, and cover them with rags."

"These things are cheap and effective."

The three listened without speaking.

They pictured the scenes Jiang Ye described.

Sheet-metal shields held in front to block melee weapons, Molotov cocktails smashing into crowds and causing chaos, and traps catching those who charged fastest first.

The Rust Bone Gang had never thought to use any of these things before.

When Dodge was around, fighting meant charging in with superior numbers, looting if they won, and running if they lost.

"The tactics need to change too."

Jiang Ye raised his right hand and pointed toward Iron Wall.

"Iron Wall will lead a group to pin the enemy down head-on."

"Your sturdy men, the ones who can take a beating, will stand in front and use shields to stop the enemy's charge."

"Don't worry about killing them. Just block them."

Iron Wall nodded, his fists tightening slightly as the muscles in his arms bulged.

"Gray Beak."

Jiang Ye turned to the lean Gray Beak.

"Take a group and sneak around the side."

"Once the fighting starts up front and Iron Wall's group has drawn all their attention, cut in from the flank, slash them, and run."

"Don't get bogged down. Pull back after you strike."

"Kill them if you can. If you can't, cut their arms and legs... make them unable to keep fighting."

Gray Beak licked his cracked lips, a glimmer flashing in his eyes.

The tactic was very much to his liking.

"Shattered Eye."

Finally, he looked at the short man with the extremely pale eyes.

"Take a group around to the rear and farther out."

"Have the fast runners and sharp-eyed men under you harass them from a distance with thrown weapons."

"Don't get too close. Throw and leave."

"Who's about to buckle, who's trying to escape, who's hidden reinforcements nearby... you need to know before I do."

Jiang Ye paused, placing greater emphasis on his final words.

"Remember three things."

He held up three fingers.

"First, retreat when you meet a stronger enemy."

"If you can't beat them, don't fight to the bitter end. Fall back and regroup."

"Second, wipe out weaker enemies."

"If you can swallow them up, do it in one bite. Leave no one alive to carry word back."

"Third, never pursue too far."

"Stop once you've chased them two hundred meters."

"In Meteor City, chase too far and a third party will swoop in and take advantage."

When he finished, he slowly lowered his fingers and swept his gaze over the three men's faces.

"Watch out for traps."

"Watch out for other gangs hiding nearby, waiting to profit."

"When you fight a battle, don't just watch your opponent. Look to see whether anyone nearby is waiting for you to fall."

As his final words faded, a deathly silence fell over the room.

Iron Wall was the first to speak.

"Boss, we never thought of fighting like this before."

His voice was somewhat low, as though he were digesting what he'd just heard.

"When Dodge was around, fighting meant throwing people at the enemy."

"If we won, we'd divide the spoils. If we lost, we'd each run for our lives."

"No one ever thought... we could divide the work and fight like this."

Gray Beak chimed in.

"With equipment and tactics working together... the Rust Bone Gang could be a lot stronger than it is now."

Shattered Eye didn't say much, only nodding, but his pale eyes held a seriousness rarely seen in them.

It showed that he was already considering whom to pick for his team.

Jiang Ye noticed the change in the three of them.

Iron Wall had trusted him for some time, but Gray Beak and Shattered Eye's admiration had only truly emerged after what he'd just said.

He didn't dwell on it.

He turned around again, looking past the dust on the windowsill at the gray-black wilderness of scrap iron and broken rubble outside.

"Now we'll continue expanding."

"With everything we're doing, there's no way the Shattered Iron Group and the Gray Rat Squad don't know about it."

"They're neither blind nor stupid."

He tilted his head and looked at Iron Wall.

"How are the applications from the vassal forces coming along?"

Iron Wall cleared his throat and stood a little straighter.

"Since we put the word out last night, nearly thirty people have chosen to join."

"Some are individual drifters, and others are small groups of two or three."

"They've settled around our headquarters and put up shelters of their own. They haven't caused any trouble."

He paused, weighing his words before saying what was on his mind.

"It's just... they joined too quickly."

"I'm worried..."

Jiang Ye didn't wait for him to finish, because he knew what Iron Wall was worried about.

A drifter who had wandered Meteor City for years, even a decade or more, suddenly found a gang willing to take him in and immediately became loyal and devoted?

That would be unrealistic anywhere.

In Meteor City, it was even more of a fairy tale.

They could join you today for a bite to eat and sell you out tomorrow for the same.

Jiang Ye understood that perfectly.

But he also understood something else.

The people of Meteor City didn't recognize loyalty, but they did recognize profit.

Give them the means to survive, and they would work for you.

To make these hyenas truly submit, two things were needed.

The deterrence of absolute force and a sufficiently generous reward.

One firm, one lenient; neither could be missing!

"Later, take a few people and visit them one by one."

Jiang Ye's tone remained unchanged.

"Tell them... if they want something, they can earn it themselves."

"The Rust Bone Gang needs people, but not trash."

He put a little extra emphasis on the last few words.

"Remember, give them special attention."

Iron Wall's pupils contracted slightly.

He understood what those words meant.

They weren't going to give gifts or offer reassurance.

They were going to make them understand... who owned the ground beneath their feet and who had given them the food they ate.

"Yes."

He acknowledged the order without asking further.

Jiang Ye looked away from Iron Wall and turned to Gray Beak.

"Gray Beak, take a few others and find a place."

"An open, hard, level stretch of ground, with no bodies of water or narrow gaps."

"The bigger the better, and the flatter the better."

Gray Beak was taken aback, clearly not expecting such an assignment.

"Boss, what will this place be used for?"

"Keep it in reserve."

Jiang Ye offered no further explanation.

Gray Beak glanced at him but didn't press the matter. He lowered his head and accepted the order.

"Yes."

Finally, Jiang Ye looked at Shattered Eye.

"Shattered Eye."

"Have your informants keep a close watch on the Gray Rat Squad and the Shattered Iron Group."

"If their people make the slightest move... even if they send just one extra person out on patrol, I want to know."

Shattered Eye pressed his lips into a line and nodded.

"Understood."

Seeing that all three had received their assignments, Jiang Ye waved for them to leave.

But none of them moved.

Iron Wall stood where he was, his feet rooted to the spot.

Gray Beak's fingers were still rubbing lightly against the side of his leg.

Shattered Eye's gaze rested on the floor in front of his toes.

Jiang Ye watched them without urging them on.

He simply waited in silence.

The next second, Iron Wall moved.

He stepped forward and lowered his right knee to the ground.

Almost at the same moment, Gray Beak and Shattered Eye followed him, dropping to one knee.

The three knelt side by side before Jiang Ye, their right hands pressed to their chests.