The Eighteen Tribes had been unified under the Wolf King's banner for hundreds of years. The Wolf King family had a high prestige in the hearts of the tribespeople. It was a bit like the imperial family of the Central Plains. Those who had ambitions dared not touch Jia Lai Ying Huo, they instead made every effort to push the Second Prince out as a puppet. And if it was like the plan Chi Ku Yo had said, which triggered the Bone of Impurity in the palace and controlled Yan Wang, Great Liang would have to go straight to the hinterland of the Eighteen Tribes and ask the Wolf King to surrender the antidote. Jia Lai wanted to force the traitors to either fight Great Liang or hand the Wolf King out and bear the humiliation.

Cai Fen frowned: "Jia Lai Ying Huo is a mad dog, but he may not be mad to that extent. If he could still endure, he would. What does he have to depend on if he initiates a war now? The starving people in the Eighteen Tribes?"

Shen Yi was unable to answer this question.

Gu Yun went to the edge of the sand table and stood for a moment with his hands behind his back: "He actually had something to depend on — if the foreigners in Jiangnan want us to shift our strategic focus to the north."

Shen Yi and Cai Fen were both surprised.

Gu Yun stretched out his hand and swept across the sand table: "The supply routes were blocked, rations and resources were exhausted, if it continues, there is only death, either surrender, or fight till the end — unless the North and South both join forces to take this risk, not letting Great Liang have any room to rest. A sudden and unexpected penetration into the hinterland, launching a surprise attack, forcibly re-opening the supply routes, that way, there will be a way out. If I were to be Jia Lai Ying Huo, perhaps I would also be willing to take such a risk, if the foreigners are willing to cooperate."

Cai Fen: "Marshal means…"

Shen Yi suddenly came to a realization, "Westerners are occupying the fertile soil of Jiangnan, continuously using wars to feed more wars, scraping the ground three feet under to rob the civilians' hard work and also capture a large number of laborers to dig the mines for resources to transport back to their country in exchange for domestic support. They also have the intention of resting and recuperating."