Chapter 1174: The Final Decisive Battle

Yancheng.

The news of the Xitu Guo declaring war on Great Song passed through various channels and arrived here one month later.

Arriving at the same time were Great Emperor Nikolai of Ross, King Sinier of Persia, and Watusi of the Indian Nation.

In addition to them, the kings of Goryeo, the four Japanese nations, the Southeast Five Nations, and Luzon followed closely behind and gathered in Yancheng.

They were vassal states of Great Song; with their suzerain state under attack, they had an obligation to provide all support.

Zhao Xu was initially somewhat surprised by this sudden declaration of war.

But after thinking about it briefly, he accepted it calmly.

If he were in Britain's position, watching Great Song grow stronger day by day, he would also be unable to sit or sleep in peace.

Making the decision to go all-in was not strange; eliminating enemies in their infancy was the basic competence of any monarch.

Having accepted this fact, he calmly received Nikolai and Sinier to tour Yancheng.

These two naturally received news of the declaration of war earlier than he did, and their arrival meant they had chosen their side.

As this was a battlefield affecting the world, they chose to stand with Great Song to oppose the Western world led by Britain.

"Truly a shocking spectacle." Emerging from the industrial zone of Yancheng, Nikolai let out a long sigh.

He felt fortunate to have made the correct choice.

The machinery driven by Electricity in Great Song shocked him.

Only then did he have a clear understanding of Great Song's overall industrial strength.

He believed that if he had chosen the side of Britain, what they would lose would be more than just the region east of the Ural Mountains.

Sinier was even more so; he had instantly transitioned from the feudal era to the modern era, and the impact was even greater.

Subsequently, Zhao Xu led the two to tour the barracks of the Central Army.

There, they witnessed the Han-series Weapon of Great Song.

Only then did they understand that the weapons Great Song had given them were still far behind.

But even these outdated things were enough to suppress the Westerners.

This made their desire for cooperation even stronger.

There was no longer any doubt about who to lean toward.

The current Western world was nothing more than a spent force.

And Great Song was a rising new star.

Only by following Great Song could they live comfortably under the new order.

Returning to the Imperial Palace, the two took the initiative to reveal their thoughts to Zhao Xu.

"Respected Emperor of Great Song, on behalf of Ross, I am willing to join you to fight against the evil Western forces," Nikolai said.

Sinier said, "As the lackey of the West, the Ottoman Empire has bullied the nations of Zhongtu for too long. I have long been unable to endure it; let us use this war to make them groan in pain."

Zhao Xu nodded.

The two had come to express their stance, and the tour of Yancheng had made them even more confident.

He said, "Many thanks to you both. Once this war is won, you will receive the rewards you deserve."

Although Great Song's current weapons were advanced, he did not want to rely solely on Great Song's own strength to confront the Western world.

War meant people would die, and it would also consume national power.

Great Song would naturally win the final victory, but letting the opponent take a bite would also be troublesome.

He did not want to be injured himself after fighting a war.

Therefore, the most practical method was to do as Britain did: gather a group of people to fight a group battle.

Share the damage.

Nikolai and Sinier looked at each other, revealing satisfied expressions.

Having reached a preliminary understanding, Zhao Xu summoned the kings of the various Dongtu nations and held a banquet in the palace to host them together.

At the same time, the Cabinet was drafting a declaration of war.

When the banquet ended, these declarations of war were distributed, and every king signed them.

Goryeo, the four Japanese nations, and others were vassal states of Great Song; with the suzerain state entering a state of war, it was their duty to provide support.

The next day, the joint declaration of war was published in the Newspaper.

The total war between Great Song and the West officially began.

After the kings of the various nations returned, they began to mobilize their armies.

And Great Song's industrial production also shifted to a wartime state.

Since the world war had broken out,

one could no longer consider economic impacts.

Moreover, as long as the war was won, the economic benefits Great Song would gain after the war would be greater than at any other time.

"I originally wanted to slowly grind them to death, but since they are in such a hurry to seek death, we can only fulfill their wish."

On the sixth day after the declaration of war, Zhao Xu and a group of generals gathered in the Imperial Palace command room.

Here, a massive world Sand Table occupied more than half the room.

Everyone stood on the second level, looking down at the Sand Table.

After Zhao Xu and Chang Wei discussed the subsequent direction of the offensive, Chang Wei revealed a disdainful smile.

According to their plan, the direction of Sam Country would still be left to the Azure Dragon Army.

The Vermilion Bird Army, guarding the south, would lead their troops into the Dark Continent to expel the Western colonial armies there.

The Black Tortoise Army in the north would march west, enter Ross, and join forces with the Ross army to launch an attack on the Western nations.

The White Tiger Army stationed in Zhongtu would enter Persia to coordinate with the Persian army in combat.

The Central Army served as the reserve force, ready to support the four battlefields at any time.

He also divided the armies of the vassal states, deploying the troops of different nations in different directions to coordinate the offensive.

"Let us settle the fate of the world in this one battle!" Zhao Xu patted Chang Wei on the shoulder.

This time, he would be the supreme commander of the entire battlefield.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, this general will certainly not fail the mission," Chang Wei said in a clear, loud voice.

After lingering at the command post for a while longer to discuss some details, Zhao Xu let Chang Wei return to make preparations.

Over the next few months, the entire world fell into chaos.

The Xitu Guo had initially completed their mobilization, with a large number of young, able-bodied men entering the military, and their Steam Industry also shifted to a wartime footing, mass-producing guns and Artillery.

As for the Dongtu direction, although Da Song and its vassal states were not as hysterical,

the scale of their armies had also expanded by more than double.

The troop strength of Da Song rose to 800,000 men for a time.

The vassal states gathered a total of 1.6 million troops.

These armies set out for the various battlefields in batches.

Both sides stood in confrontation in the Dark Continent, the direction of Ross, and the direction of Tusman.

In the direction of Sam Country, the Indian Nation was also actively recruiting Indians to complete control over the West, while simultaneously extending its reach toward the East.

After more than half a year of preparation, both sides had stockpiled a massive number of troops near the front lines.

On a foggy morning in winter, the Bolan army launched the first attack toward the direction of Ross, and the total war officially began.

Afterward, the wars in the direction of Tusman and the Dark Continent broke out one after another.

Zhao Xu remained in Da Song, and apart from supervising logistics production, he spent his time reading the battle reports sent back.

Except for the direction of Sam Country, he could basically receive news from the front lines every two days.

Because over the past half year for the sake of the war, he had ordered wired cables to be laid from Tianzhu toward the direction of Persia, and toward the north in the direction of Ross.

What gratified him was that, just as he had expected, the Da Song side held the advantage from the very beginning.

The Westerners' armies suffered heavy losses in the first round of clashes.

Not to mention the Han-series Weapon with which the Da Song army was equipped.

Even the front-line armies of Ross, Persia, and the vassal states were equipped with the Qin-series muskets and Artillery that Da Song had phased out.

In terms of weaponry, they completely suppressed the Westerners' armies.

But the Westerners' armies also had an advantage, which was that they were close to their homeland and could replenish their troops in a timely manner.

Yet even so, they were actually just sending more young, able-bodied men to die on the battlefield, and could only manage to delay the speed of their advance.

The only thing that Zhao Xu found troublesome was that the Westerners had a relatively stubborn will to resist.

For a very long time, even if they broke into the homeland of the Xitu Guo, they might still have to face constant guerrilla warfare.

Only by crushing their will could the other side possibly surrender.

And this turning point arrived when the war had been going on for a year and a half.