My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 216

At that time, every country's representative in the United Nations and their own head of state will be Yang Hao's people. Even if they don't appear to be a unified country on the surface, wouldn't they actually become a unified country?

Then, through education, through decades or even centuries of education, they can instill a sense of belonging in people from all countries and regions to the United Nations organization. After a long period of time, Yang Hao can then completely transform the United Nations organization into a unified country... But there are two prerequisites.

1. Yang Hao must gain the support of those superpowers, and at the very least, the key figures in those countries must be his people.

2. Yang Hao must become an immortal, otherwise he will not be able to plan for things hundreds of years from now.

And most importantly, the third point: those key figures also need to be transformed into living beings by Yang Hao. This might completely solidify the core of the country, but at least it allows Yang Hao's future plans to proceed steadily—Yang Hao believes that, at least for ordinary people, a stable and permanent regime is always better than a chaotic and volatile one; his hometown, the United States across the sea, is the best example.

The previous four years were a republic, the next four years a democracy. The great achievements and measures painstakingly implemented by the previous president were completely swept away by the next president—Yang Hao disliked this, he really disliked it. He would rather the current Ursus Empire maintain its imperial system forever than have the people of Ursus face such a chaotic situation in the future.

So, isn't it great that the core leadership of the country is full of immortals or even eternal beings? Plus, Yang Hao himself has never stopped striving to become an immortal, so... is that acceptable?

Then only one question remains—how can he gain the support of those superpowers? How can he ensure that the core personnel of those countries are all on his side?

"Um..."

He turned to look at Miss Theresa, who was explaining something to Karina, without him even realizing it. She was the pioneer of Yang Hao's plan and one of his inspirations: wouldn't it be enough to just support his loyal subordinates as the head of state of another country?

But such opportunities are rare—although he can use a lot of political points, influence, and his [Puppet Stage] to make events in another country favorable to his plans, a talent like Theresa, who is hardworking, has a suitable family background, and the right foundation to become a leader, is still a rare find!

"It's like playing a game where you can never find a character with maxed-out stats; once you do, you have to treat them like a precious treasure... Ugh, it's really difficult. Can I train them myself?"

He muttered something under his breath, rubbing his stubble against the child's cheek, which made Hela puff out her cheeks and struggle out of his arms, then jump into Sonia's mother's arms to sulk.

As he put it, he had a second inspiration: to cultivate the right people himself.

But training your own talent? Sigh... It's easier said than done. It's incredibly difficult!

Even if Yang Hao is indeed raising the educational standards of the countries he controls, if he wants to cultivate suitable talents capable of ruling other countries... this is not only time-consuming and laborious, but more importantly, he may not be able to cultivate suitable people: this world still values ​​bloodlines. There are dragon bloodlines in Yan Country, lions and Draks in Victoria, royal bloodlines in Ursus, and Pegasus in Kazimierz... to be honest, even if Yang Hao cultivates dozens of Ursus people who can become rulers, so what?

Are these Ursus people really going to Victoria, Yan, or Kazimir to become heads of state? Of course not... So this isn't really a question of whether or not talent can be cultivated, but rather...

The question is whether you can find suitable people to "train". In other words, if you can find suitable people, that's the first inspiration—just make them my subordinates and then send them out.

Sigh! It's still difficult...

Yang Hao sighed helplessly. Just as he was racking his brains about his future, Teresa, who seemed to have gotten impatient, blurted out the following:

"To put it simply, Karina, you can think of it this way: if the boss marries the princess of Victoria in the future, then given his personality, Victoria will eventually become his ruling country! That's it!"

"...what?"

No, what are you guys talking about?

Yang Hao stared blankly at the two who, for some reason, were talking about his future marriage, but you know what...

Why do I sometimes need to train suitable talent myself?

I'll just marry her, won't that solve everything?!

He swallowed hard, his palms sweating, thinking that he absolutely had to win his bet with Miss Wange!

...... ......

"Ah Qiu!"

"—Lord Koschche? Did you catch a cold?"

"No, it's nothing. Monica, could you prepare some midnight snack for me? I feel like I'll have to work all night tonight... Um... Your Majesty, where were we?"

"Speaking of diplomatic issues with Yan State."

"Alright. We need to discuss Yan's diplomatic issues with our dear friend—although I have a general idea of ​​what he's planning to do, who knows what he's thinking right now if we don't discuss it with him? So we can't make this decision on our own."

“That’s what I was thinking too. But he’s not here right now, and the diplomat from Yan Kingdom—ah, that Princess Wei Qing—is constantly requesting an audience. If we keep stalling, it won’t work… Sigh, I’ll ask him tonight. I need at least some direction.”

"...OK."

"And speaking of which, Duke Kosichè? Why has your expression been so strange whenever you talk about communications since yesterday? Has something happened over there?"

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about some bad things."

In the conference room of the Duke of Kosiché's Palace.

Duke Kosiché—the white-haired, green-eyed Phydian woman—was chuckling dryly while gently stroking the rag doll of Miss Grin in her arms. Looking at Her Majesty Catherine, sitting opposite her, her belly already swollen, elegantly sipping milk in preparation for bed, Kosiché truly couldn't bring himself to talk about what had happened that day...

What? The little bat I thought was "nothing special" actually did whatever she wanted to her husband on the other end of the phone... Ugh.

...It's better not to say it out loud. Looking at Empress Catherine's belly, Koschche muttered to himself, "At least for the sake of that growing child..." Sigh!

One day, Koschke will make love to her husband in front of that little bat! That's it!

But then again, why did I have some strange premonitions just now? What exactly was that inexplicable sense of crisis?

Kosichek shook his head.

"Then, Your Majesty—I must return to work now. In a couple of days, regarding the issues of faculty and student recruitment at the Secret Teachings Academy..."

“I’ve already moved all the teachers from St. John’s Castle there. You know, we simply don’t have that many people who can go to university.”

"Well, that depends on the results of our dear basic education system in another decade or so—but at least we can train more professors first. That's all for now."

"Ah."

They reached a consensus. They still had to work hard for Ursus.

Chapter 107

On October 19, Yang Hao had been working all night and was having breakfast when Mr. Bozocasti came over with the plans prepared by the officers—and he also brought bad news: a Colombian in the distance seemed to be preparing for a full-scale attack.

"The officers' proposed plan is a decisive battle plan. If our advance team can deal with the enemy's new poison gas and bombs first, then our decisive battle will end in victory—after the battle, we can push the front line forward, recapture the city of Casimir, and at the same time try to capture the Colombian landships. But, sir, this plan... is very risky. Although we can win the war before December, the corresponding possibility of our failure is also very high."

"Don't worry, I've already requested more support and supplies from back home, and we also have a good relationship with Kazdel. They have two extraordinary warriors there who can provide us with tremendous assistance—do you know about the prophecy?"

"Yes."

“One of the Blood Demons possesses the ability of prophecy. She can help us; I'll introduce her to you later—besides that, what about the Colombians?”

"They are preparing for a full-scale offensive. Our scouts estimate that they have gathered about 4 men and three landships—but they seem to be waiting for a gas supply, so the main offensive should not begin for at least another three days."

"...Three days? I understand. You can go back to your work now."

"Yes."

After Mr. Bozocasti left, Sonia's mother, standing behind Yang Hao, gently took a handkerchief and wiped the breadcrumbs from the corner of his mouth, then said:

"Three days... the Colombians probably won't give us any more time to prepare. Mr. Yang Hao? What are you planning to do?"

“Margarita should be back this afternoon—I need them to predict the Colombians’ movements for us tomorrow or the day after. Then, I’m confident of victory, but I’ll definitely have to sacrifice one of the four: the remnants, the Sarkaz mercenaries, the War Knights, or the Ursus army… I plan to have the War Knights bear that loss.”

Yang Hao shrugged, letting Sonia's mother clean his mouth, then rubbed his bloodshot eyes and said:

"But we can't let all the knights suffer losses... Those who are practical can become Theresa's strength in the future, so we should preserve them as much as possible. Those who are good at strategy will only be an obstacle for us, so we have to kill them—I need to think about the plan carefully... Sonia? You might be very busy then, you know?"

"I'll be fine, but what about my child? What will you do if I'm not here?" Sonia accepted her future mission, but she still looked at her child with tenderness and worry, gently stroking his cheek.

"I am safe here, really."

"...But I hope you can assure me that you will not go to dangerous places."

"I assure you, Sonia."

"Ah."

... .....

That morning, after a short rest, Yang Hao brought Sonia back to the Great Knight Territory once again.

However, unlike his previous visit to the government market—I mean, the government meeting hall—this time Yang Hao went to the place where the practical combat knights were stationed, which was their military camp.

There, Yang Hao was greeted by the pragmatic warrior knights: although he was an Ursus, at least he was an Ursus who understood their predicament. After all, shouldn't they greet him with a better understanding than they would with capitalists or their superiors? Most of the pragmatic knights thought so, but they didn't understand why this lord had come to them.

In short, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, and after Yang Hao subtly sowed discord between them and his own people by saying things like, "You are not suited to be the pawns of your foolish superiors or those money-grubbing capitalists," he arrived at the military camp's meeting room, where some veteran knights were waiting for his arrival.

Yang Hao sat down in the guest chair. He looked around at the officers of the conquering knights—then he spotted a familiar-looking long rider from the Nearl family, and then he saw a knight sitting in a corner of the conference room holding a silver spear: it was said that he was a strongman from Kazimierz, the symbol of the Kazimierz knights, named Pegasus.

"I'm here mainly to discuss the upcoming military issues with you." Yang Hao looked at Picasso for a while before turning to the others at the conference table and saying, "The Colombians are launching a full-scale attack in three days—with the Great Knight Territory completely immobile, I simply cannot believe that the business entity alliance that might betray you at any moment, and those inexperienced youngsters who might sell you out at any moment, can ensure the safety of our flanks."

"—No matter what, they are still Kazimierzstans." The knight holding the silver spear looked up at Yang Hao.

"But those capitalists were planning to hand over the keys to your armory yesterday, hoping I would protect them and let them make a fortune in Ursus." Yang Hao dropped this bombshell on the faces of the knights, whose expressions had already changed drastically.

He no longer intended to use this key as leverage. After all, considering that Theresa's future administration couldn't rely solely on intrigue, using reputation and loyalty to restrain these pragmatic individuals was far more effective than using intrigue to blackmail them. Yang Hao understood the trade-off between ten years of stability and a century of stability, and intrigue could only guarantee a ten-year period of stability. More importantly, maintaining intrigue was quite troublesome, and he disliked that kind of hassle.

Love and loyalty are still more suitable for Theresa's future reign—that is to say.

Mr. Picasso? What are you planning to do by suddenly picking up that spear? Even if you really want to kill those capitalists right now, at least consider that I'm here, right?

Under the sudden alertness of Sonia and the Templars, who were also preparing to draw their weapons, Mr. Picassos ultimately withdrew his lance. He cursed the capitalists in the Casimir dialect, venting his anger by striking the floor with the butt of his lance. It was clear that the rift between the knights and the capitalists was widening.

This is truly a good thing.

Chapter 108

After a brief interlude, the knights finally got down to business with Yang Hao—the main topic of the upcoming military operation.

Yang Hao wanted his practical warrior knights to secure his flanks [while also bearing the brunt of the attack], so his army could then launch an attack on the Colombian core. This sounded like a normal task assignment, but as experienced and practical warriors, the knights naturally saw through Yang Hao's plan to use them as shields.

To be honest, they are now in Ursus's hands. In order to protect their homeland, they are naturally willing to accept the task of serving as human shields for their country and for victory. But the question is, can they really win?

Therefore, when the knights questioned him, "How can you guarantee victory in this battle?", Yang Hao shrugged and began to explain his thoughts.

"It's very simple—Colombians depend on their supply lines."

"...supply line?"

"Yes, it's the supply line. Whether it's their poison gas weapons or new weapons, whether it's their equipment maintenance tools, or even their food and clothing—they all rely on their own supply lines, which are the narrow passages between their front-line positions and their rear land-based ships or mobile cities."

Colombians are heavily reliant on their supply lines—not only because the supply of their new equipment can only be produced and transported from their own cities, but more importantly, because there is so much discord between the Colombian army and their mobile cities that their supply lines are now struggling to keep up with the pace of their military operations.

The lords of the mobile cities feared that the Casimirians would take advantage of their vulnerability and invade, so they dared not get too close. The Colombian army advanced triumphantly in pursuit of greater victories, but because their poison gas weapons not only harmed people but also polluted water sources and the wild ecosystem, they could only obtain food from well-preserved piles of packaged food within the cities of Casimir or from supply lines at the rear.

If the Colombian army only had a few thousand men, it would be passable—but now they have amassed an army of about 4. Forty thousand men, even if each only eats one bun a day, the consumption would be astronomical. Moreover, if these 4 men really only eat buns, they wouldn't even have the strength to go to the battlefield. Since the uncontaminated food in the city warehouses of Casimir cannot meet their needs, they can only rely on the food produced in their own cities that are getting farther and farther away.

Therefore, Colombians are heavily reliant on their supply lines. But their supply lines...

Like the rectum of a constipated person—narrow and long—the supplies were basically propelling the entire route forward at a snail's pace, and to make matters worse, the mountainous terrain near Kazimierz meant they only had one route.

“Look at the map—the Colombians’ supply lines are longer and narrower than the intestines of a constipated person. If a surprise force can cut off their supplies when the Colombians attack the Grand Knights’ territory, and then cooperate with the defenders to surround them under the walls of the Grand Knights’ territory, then these Colombians will be completely finished.”

Yang Hao pointed to the strategic map on the conference table and explained that behind the Colombian positions was a narrow, flat passage between two mountain ridges. The terrain there was such that moving cities would have to be dismantled and moved in sections. Although it was wide enough from a human perspective, it was still a bit narrow for supply convoys and landships.

If this passage can be blocked, then the Colombians ahead will basically be doomed—unless they can kill the surprise force that cut off the supply line before they die, or directly take down the Grand Knights.

After carefully studying the map, the knights of Kazimir agreed with Yang Hao's explanation. However, a few questions remained...

"...That's true, but has the Ursus side considered the possibility that the Colombians might see the situation is unfavorable and simply stop their attack and return to their camp?"

"That's alright. As long as we can cut off their supply lines, they'll either launch a surprise attack on our forces before they starve to death, or they'll just bite the bullet and attack the Grand Knights' territory—either way, we can support each other. If they split up, that's even better; our scattered forces will be easily wiped out by both of us. I don't think the Colombian commander is that stupid."

It's a minor problem—but it was started by the conquering knights.

"...But the problem is that our knights are controlled by our incompetent commander."

They looked up and exchanged glances, each seeing a helpless, bitter smile on their colleague's face. Silver Spear's Pegasus muttered that even the most foolish commanders couldn't be this stupid—but after the knight next door reminded him of the "results" of the previous gas attack, he fell silent.

Yang Hao also knew that this was the biggest problem: you may have the methods and theories to beat god-like opponents, but what the hell are you going to do with your own incompetent teammates?

Reality isn't a video game. In a game, you can simply kick your bad teammates away, but in reality, all you can do is endure the torment of having such teammates, try your best to be the best you can, or...

"So that's the core reason I came here—can you break free from your incompetent bosses and take a step towards victory?"

Let the incompetent subordinates stage a Showa-era-style overthrow—and then turn those overthrown subordinates into normal teammates.

However, Yang Hao also knew that it was a very difficult thing to make someone overthrow their superior. So when he saw the knights shaking their heads in unison, indicating that "...it's hard for us to answer," he simply shrugged and lay back in his chair, indicating that he could wait for an answer.

"Then I can wait until you reach a conclusion before I answer—I can wait for you for half an hour. Please do as you wish."

After that, Mr. Yang Hao fell silent.

He lay comfortably in the chair with his eyes closed, seemingly resting, but what was he actually doing? He was using the [Puppet Stage] to observe whether he could use his recently accumulated [Political Points] and [Influence] to give these conquering knights a push.

You guys seem so hesitant, aren't you? Why not just be more decisive?

He muttered to himself, deciding that it wouldn't be too late to make a decision when the conquering knights had almost reached a conclusion.

Chapter 109