The subsequent development of this war exceeded most people's expectations.
The first thing to be conquered on Kezan Island was the Andemi Bay, Gryzlik's sphere of influence. After it was occupied, it became the headquarters of the alliance.
After taking charge here, Li De did not blindly order the offensive, but instead asked the troops to slow down the offensive pace, which puzzled everyone else in the headquarters.
"Li De, I remember you said before that you would pursue the victory. We have just completed a heavy damage to the goblin airship troops. Why don't we take this opportunity to completely capture Kezan in one go?"
Dai Lin raised the question bluntly, and Li De was not surprised by this. Maritime war and land war are completely two different things. Compared with land war, naval war has a long period, slow pace, low frequency, and high intensity. It can be said that every
Every naval battle is a great war.
Dai Lin, who is accustomed to the logic of naval battles, is naturally puzzled by Li De's decision-making.
Not only Dai Lin, but also the dragons and elves looked at Li De curiously, waiting for his answer.
"So far, most of Kezan's military power has been destroyed by us. But the Venture Capital Company, the Tinker Guild, and the Alchemist Guild still have a certain number of ground troops. If we want to take down the entire Kezan, we must fight with them.
They started fighting in the streets.
Kezan is different from Ratchet City in that the city's infrastructure is much more complete. With the help of locomotive steel runways extending in all directions in the city, goblin bombardiers can create explosions anywhere in the city on locomotives.
So even if you want to fight street fighting in the city, the first step must be to destroy all those steel runways. In the previous battle with the goblin airship troops, the dragon and chimera troops also suffered a lot of damage, and it will take a certain amount of time to recover.
.
But even then, I still don’t recommend engaging in street fighting with the enemy, as this will cause us to suffer heavy losses.”
After hearing this explanation, everyone suddenly realized that although there were still some people who were skeptical about whether goblins could adopt the combat mode mentioned by Li De, they thought they did not understand goblins as well as Li De, so they did not dare to put forward their opinions rashly.
"Protector Li De, I personally have some opinions."
At this moment, Boris, who was sitting outside and had always kept a low profile, suddenly spoke. As a bridge between the front line and Lordaeron, this guy insisted on coming to the front line as a civilian official, which made everyone admire him. Now they all want to
Let's hear what he thinks.
"I am a layman in the military field. I just heard you all talk about air supremacy during this period. Now that the goblin airship troops have been disabled by us, air supremacy should be completely in our hands, right?
So there is no need for us to fight in the streets, and we can just use our flying troops to bomb the city of Kezan?"
After Boris finished speaking, he immediately gained some resonance, but Li De sighed and turned his attention to Crassus.
Krasus nodded with a serious expression and spoke in a very rare solemn tone.
"The Red Dragon Legion does not agree to do this. Most of the goblins on the island are just civilians. Indiscriminate bombing is tantamount to an act of genocide. Rapidly erasing a race in a short period of time will cause the energy of life and death in Azeroth."
of imbalance.
Moreover, those who committed crimes during the war were high-ranking tycoons such as Hotsand and Bilgewater. They only constitute a minority among the entire goblin race. Morally, we cannot allow all goblins to be implicated."
Li De spread his hands on one side.
"That's it. Not only this war, but all future wars must take this into consideration. This is also the order we want to establish when we agree to the dragon's intervention in the mortal world. But when it comes to the original power, there are always mysteries.
And there are mysterious things inside that most people can’t intuitively feel.”
Crassus' tone was still serious.
"By the time most people can intuitively feel it, it will be too late. We are in a physical world of the living, and most people don't know how terrifying death is, the opposite of life.
When death is far from a supernatural law, it is very likely that death will materialize. The first disaster in history caused by the materialization of death was the ancestral undead dragon Galakrond, which killed a large number of ancestral dragons and
Devouring their corpses, the strong death power made them decay and become violent.
Although I was not a witness to the ancient times when Galakrond harmed the world of Azeroth, even just looking at Galakrond's huge skeleton many years later was enough to make me tremble."
Crassus' words made everyone present have different expressions, and Boris was even more embarrassed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it. I just considered the issue from the interests of the alliance..."
The Red Dragon Prince waved his hand to indicate that he should not take it to heart, and the matter was revealed.
"Commander, you don't agree with indiscriminate bombing, and street fighting with goblins is not worth the gain, so what should we do?"
Among the four regiment leaders, Bolvar, who had always been quiet, rarely took the initiative to ask questions. This was because his regiment was the last one to land ashore during this landing operation.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the next step is the final battle with Kezan, and how much success can be gained depends on this last moment.
"wait."
Li De's answer was only one word.
"wait?"
Everyone was in an uproar for a moment.
"Yes, I have no intention of fighting in the city. As long as we destroy roads, water supply and other infrastructure, and show that our purpose is only to sanction the chaebols who cooperate with orcs and black dragons, more and more goblins will stand by us.
This side."
…
At the time when Li De made such a conclusion, many people were still highly skeptical, but just two days later, the skeptical voices completely disappeared.
Because a large number of goblins tentatively walked out of their homes, holding white flags in one hand and leaflets dropped by the Alliance from the sky in the other. This kind of surrender spread from the periphery of the city, block by block, to the core area.
Everyone expressed their admiration to Li De in great amazement, and the most puzzled among them was Deer Helm.
"Why is this happening? Is it that simple to win this war in the end?"
"Oh, it's not simple at all."
Li De corrected Lu Helmet with a smile.
"First of all, to achieve this step, you must have the ability to really attack Kezan Island. This step alone is already quite difficult.
The heavy damage to the Kezan airship force was a battle that took place in the sky. All the goblins on Kezan Island clearly saw the fate of the Resistance Alliance.
At this time, we are saying that military operations are not targeting all goblins, and a large number of goblins will consider making a cut with the upper-level goblins."
"If this is possible, wouldn't it be better to just propagandize like this when the war begins? Winning a large number of goblins on our side will save the war a long time."
Grashina said somewhat naively that this time Shandis could give the answer without Li De's answer.
"That's definitely impossible. Even goblins don't have the habit of surrendering to others without any reason.
Moreover, the Trade King has very strong control over the goblins. Before our army reaches here, even if there are goblins who really want to surrender to us, it will be impossible.
Therefore, the army's attack on Kezan not only made most goblins aware of our strength, but also forcibly cut off the trade king's rule over the civilians on the island.
To sum up, the truth is still the same, but people will not accept it easily without going through a few battles."
Li De nodded happily and added at the same time.
"Yes, true peace is achieved.
Now that so many goblins have surrendered to us, do you think they have woken up and decided to stand on the side of justice?
Of course this is impossible, they just stick to the safer side. This is the truest reaction when life is threatened.
We don’t need to be harsh on the majority of people who swing like this. We just need to recognize that they may fall to the other side at any time and keep their heads clear.
Our real enemies are still those chaebols. If we win over the majority of people in the city and don't cause any trouble for us in the next actions, we can take the next step."
Shandis and Li De sang and talked in harmony, and Graxina couldn't help covering her mouth in joy.
"Shandis, the way you talk now is more and more like Protector Li De."
Shandis, who had always been calm and generous, showed a bit of shyness at this moment. At the same time, she felt a bit happy in her heart, because this meant that she and Li De were becoming more and more spiritually compatible.
…
The next move mentioned by Li De is to open a road in the surrendered neighborhoods and lead directly to the most important area of Kezan Island at the moment: the rich mining area in the south.
So far, all the war potential of Kezan can be said to have been completely drained. The coal and oil on the island have been completely exhausted. The only energy that can be used for war is the Kaya crystal and Azerite produced in the mining area.
As long as they successfully seize the mining area, the Goblin Plutocrats will be unable to make any trouble at all, and there will be no other option but to surrender.
In fact, there was no need for the Alliance to actually capture the mining area. It was just that one of Bolvar's regiments was stationed outside the mining area. Several trade kings were completely unable to sit still. After struggling for a long time, they finally decided to send envoys to the Alliance to request negotiations.
As for the goblins' request for negotiation, most people in the alliance disagree.
Now it is an absolute advantage for the alliance. The rich mining area is different from the urban area. There are not so many worries about fighting here. I believe it will not take long to win the mining area. This is already a must-win situation.
Why negotiate with the goblins?
However, what the alliance did not expect was that after the goblin envoy failed to request negotiations, he acted extremely arrogantly and said, "If you don't agree to negotiate, you will definitely regret it!"
Although Li De believed that the other party was most likely committing fraud, he was afraid that the other party would do something wrong again.
Besides, even if they go to negotiate, the decision of war or peace is still in their hands. In this case, it is better to try to talk and see what kind of medicine they are selling in the gourd of Hot Sand.
…
The negotiation location was set at the junction area controlled by the two parties in the city, and it was here that Li De met his old friend Streamwilder Hotsand again.
"King Hotsand, my old friend, how are you doing recently?"
As soon as the two parties met, Li De greeted him angrily, and his neck felt thick with heat.
"What do you think? Protector Li De asked questions knowingly. Now that Kezan has become like this, I owe everything to you."
Li De laughed and said nothing more. After the two parties shook hands, they sat down on both sides of the negotiation table.
"If I remember correctly, there seem to be five trade kings in Kezan at present. Why are four of them here today?"
Looking at the group of goblins sitting opposite, Li De immediately noticed that the chairs occupied by the four goblins headed by Hot Sand were different.
Goblins have a strict hierarchy and attach great importance to status. They will never make the stupid mistake of treating any trade king differently. Then there is only one possibility: one trade king did not come.
"Ha, it's like this. Chairman Mogul Razdunk of the venture capital company is unable to be here today due to some special reasons.
But please rest assured, he has entrusted me with full authority to participate in negotiations on behalf of the interests of the venture capital company."
Resha smiled and explained, but Li De dared to conclude that there was definitely something fishy in this.
After a simple opening, the negotiation officially began. Because it was the goblin side that requested the negotiation, Li De asked the goblin side to put forward conditions first.
As a result, when Resha opened his mouth, Li De and the others almost thought they had heard wrongly.
"The two sides signed an armistice agreement, requesting the Alliance troops to withdraw from Kezan and return the occupied colony Ratchet City.
Corzan can not be held accountable for the Alliance's unreasonable war."
Li De looked at Resha's expression as if he was looking at an idiot.
"I knew there was no need to agree to your request for negotiation! You have absolutely no sincerity in negotiating!
I came to this negotiation with the intention of giving you a chance, but you betrayed my trust!"
Li De snapped the case and denounced Hot Sand angrily, but this cunning guy was all smiles.
"Please don't be angry. These are just our conditions. You can also put forward conditions for the alliance."
Li De had no desire to continue the conversation and said with a sneer.
"You want to hear our terms, right? OK!
First, Kezan must declare his unconditional surrender to the Alliance!
And because of his actions such as funding the orcs in the war and cooperating with the traitor Black Dragon of Azeroth, he needs to sign a confession and hand over the war criminal Streamwilder Scorching Sand!
At the same time, Kezan will cede Booty Bay and Ratchet City to the Alliance, and pay 3 million gold coins as war compensation!"
As for the conditions proposed by both parties, it can be said that they are asking for a high price and paying back on the spot.
And when Li De put forward his own conditions, someone on the goblin side got angry first.
"Dream! Goblins will never accept ceding land and compensation!"
It was Gallywix who spoke, and Li De recognized him just now.
"Hmph, you, a little bastard, have made a name for yourself. What's wrong? You just became a trade king and you've lost your temper?"
Hearing Li De's ridicule, Gallywix was furious.
"You murderer! I will definitely avenge my father-in-law!"
Li De laughed dumbly, but he had no time to argue with this guy.
"This is our condition, and there is no room for negotiation! If you don't agree, I will immediately order the army to attack! Don't even think about going back, including all of you!"
Faced with Li De's pressure, Hot Sand didn't seem to be afraid at all.
"Sorry, King Gallywix just said that the goblins will never accept land cession and compensation."
"Huh, what an arrogant and stupid race. Don't you guys have a complete understanding of the situation?"
Before Li De could say anything, Lu Helm couldn't help but mock, while Rousha asked with a smile.
"If I'm not mistaken, you are a night elf, right?
There is no conflict of interest between Kezan and Mount Hyjal, so why do you appear here? There are also the Chimera troops who appeared on the battlefield before."
Staghelit never bothered to hide his true thoughts.
"You bold goblins who dare to touch the energy of Azerite are the enemies of the night elves! I am here to seal off your mines and prohibit you from digging into Azerite!"
It was incomprehensible that Resha actually let out a sigh of relief, as if he was just waiting for Staghelit to say this, and then he clapped his hands happily.
"Very well, since I mentioned Azerite, I will solemnly inform you of some bad news.
Do you know why Mogul didn't come? Because he was operating a big drill, ready to drill through the Azerite veins and create a big explosion in the formation!
Therefore, I now ask you to withdraw your troops immediately!"