Victory!

Guowei decided to take the initiative with a quick and highly fierce offensive.

With a mere motion of his hand, a large detachment of Ru cultivators sped towards the planet of Gong. The offensive force took on a drill-like formation.

Guowei had intended to defeat the Ming forces as quickly as possible; in this battle, a quick and ferocious offensive was the State of Ru's key to victory.

Both Zhongming and Guowei knew that what Ru needed to avoid at all cost was a war of attrition. Ru desperately needed this conquest to be over before the States of Yang and Fa could respond.

So, Zhongming responded in the most appropriate manner. Rather than meeting the charge head-on, he sent several smaller battalions to intercept the offensive.

The Ming battalions split into four groups and took on a four-pronged pincer formation.

As the Ming and Ru forces clashed, the Ming troops, in a manner akin to a glove, wrapped around the outside of the Ru formation.

As much as warfare had changed throughout the ages, encirclement was one of the advantages that had remained the same.

Guowei was neither idle nor passive as he quickly dispatched another eight battalions, each forming separate tendrils. The strategy Guowei had deployed was a straightforward one. First, he would use his troops to bait an encirclement and then counter with an encirclement of his own. This was an opening strategy Guowei had used to get a feel of his opponent.

Since speed was of the essence for Ru, it was worth it to use an aggressive formation and sacrifice a battalion of cultivators or two in order to bait out the enemy army.

Zhongming, of course, also understood this, yet rather than pulling back his troops back, he continued the offensive, trying to inflict as much damage on the enemy army as possible.

Against a military genius like Guowei, tactics were not enough to win this battle. With the advantage that the Ru army held over the Ming army.

Ru had more resources.

Ru had more cultivators.

Ru had higher-level cultivators.

Even a mediocre general would be able to control the flow of battle, needless to say for someone like Guowei.

Therefore, the deciding factor in this battle for Ming's victory could not be based simply on military tactics.

This battle would have to be decided instead by the superior defensive strategies and the defensive instruments of war that the Mo Sect would provide to the State of Ming.

Indeed the philosophy behind the Mo Sect was one that condemned aggression and promoted defensive warfare. Thus, in terms of understanding the nature and strategies of defensive warfare, there was likely no rival to the Mo Sect.

As the Ru army's counter-encirclement was about to occur, the entire Ming battalion was suddenly teleported to safety.

The conventional wisdom of warfare at the time would have considered this pure folly. The number of resources expended was worth much more than the amount that would have been gained from saving that battalion of soldiers.

Yet, in this specific battle, it was Zhongming's strategy. Using the Mo Sect version of the teleportation array drastically reduced the cost of performing such a feat. Of course, the price was still relatively expensive. However, the goal of this battle was not necessarily victory. It was attrition.

For a non-expansionist state, the most important aspect for survival would be the efficient use of resources.

Expansionist states like Ru had different considerations on the construction and design of their military weapons. Due to plentiful resources, efficacy has a lower priority.

The instruments of war that the Mo Sect designed were not renowned for their sheer power, but rather they were known for the efficient nature of the designs, which, in many cases, allowed smaller states to compete with larger states.

The small skirmish had diminished, however slightly, both the morale and the fighting power of the Ru army. Nevertheless, it was a good start and lure for the next state in Zhongming's plan.

Guowei was not considered a military genius for no reason. Quickly he regrouped his army. This time, the Ru army spread out into a wide net.

If Zhongming wanted to use hit and run as a delay tactic, Guowei would put a stop to that. Due to the domain of locality, teleportation had particular constraints. By surrounding the planet with this formation, he would drastically limit the efficacy and distance of enemy teleportation.

Slowly but surely, a large portion of the army constricted around the planet like a python around its prey.

Closer and closer, they squeezed, pushing back the Ming defensive line, leaving no room for even a single enemy cultivator to escape.

Before they could completely choke the Ming army into oblivion, a giant barrier sprung up around the planet preventing the Ru army from advancing further.

Quickly the Ming army pushed the offensive. The barrier seemed only to block enemy attacks as Ming cultivators could still strike down their Ru counterparts through it.

Thus suddenly, the tides of battle changed; the lure had worked, baiting the enemy into close range with the teleportation trick earlier proved to be very effective.

Hastily, Gouwei ordered his troops to retreat, saving as many as he could; simultaneously, the reserve Ru army that had yet to be deployed charged up a large amount of ordinance.

Generally, in warfare between states, using a high concentration of ordinance was considered to be the last resort. Warfare in this era was usually about acquiring more human capital; using orbital bombardment was typically opposed to achieving such a goal.

However, Gouwei had already lost more than he had anticipated for taking this first territory. Therefore, he needed to save some strength for further conquests.

Also, large barriers such as the one that Zhongming currently deployed were generally considered obsolete in warfare.

The area coverage, while all-encompassing, is usually completely unable to deal with the concentrated firepower of targeted ordinance. Ultimately, the barrier becomes a massive waste of resources that can be destroyed with a fraction of the cost it takes to create.

Yet, nothing happened as the Ru army unleashed fierce barrage after barrage of ordinance into the barrier.

Actually, this barrier was the brainchild of Mo Li and Zhongming and hence unique.

Rather than a simple force field that covered a large area, the shield came with a periphery sensor that could detect incoming attacks. For a brief nanosecond, it would create small and powerful barriers that were strong enough to block most incoming attacks.

Another benefit of this specific barrier over other variants was that the detection sphere was also programmed to allow attacks from allied cultivators to bypass the barrier. Indeed, the Mo Sect cannot be fought using conventional wisdom.

Zhongming being able to gain the upper hand against Guowei was absolutely not due to strategic prowess. It was because he was able to create a situation in which any military strategist would make the wrong assumptions. Quickly realizing that this match was already a lost cause, Guowei launched an all-out offensive.

Such a reckless move caused the Ru army to be eventually decimated.

Yet, Guowei had achieved his goal. He had figured out the limitations of the barrier.

As the Ming army exterminated the final vestiges of the Ru army, Guowei turned towards the emperor.

"Your Majesty, it is true what Mo Li has claimed... Even if we expend forty percent of our military power, it's hard to say whether or not we will be able to conquer Ming."

"Guowei, surely you jest!" Zhaohui exclaimed, "That final offensive that you made allowed us to all see the weaknesses of the Ming defensive strategy."

Indeed, one such critical weakness was the high cost of such a strategy. As efficient as the Mo Sect designs were, they were not magic. The longer the battle went on, the less effective the barrier became. Over time the Ru army was able to deal no small amount of damage to the Ming army.

"The problem is time," Guowei replied, "Yes, it is indeed an expensive style of warfare, and in a conventional war, the effectiveness of this strategy would drop drastically. However, for this conquest, time is of the essence. Without sufficient time there is no good method of dealing with this barrier. Overcoming this barrier multiple times with Brute Force would require us to sacrifice a good portion of our resources."

"Furthermore, the Mo Sect currently only has around three hundred members. Currently, we have no spies among their ranks, and it's not from a lack of trying. Dealing with the barrier swiftly is certainly possible, but how more does the Mo Sect have hidden from us? In my view, this conquest is much too risky."

"Gao Weiming, don't forget who your lord is." Zhaohui rebutted, "With the might of Ru army, the brilliance of the Ru strategists, the philosophical superiority of the Ru Emperor, there is surely a way in which we can take Ming swiftly."

"Asking whether or not you can take Ming is the wrong question." Mo Li interjected, "Your Majesty, even if you don't care for anything else, surely you care about your reputation? Currently, you are known as the Emperor who brought the State of Ru into a golden era. Uniting all the other states would no doubt boost your reputation."

"However, should you be unable to swiftly take Ming, you risk dragging your nation into a messy conflict with the States of Fa and Yang, potentially even Bing and Dao would join into the fray. In such a situation, the prosperity of Ru will surely be at risk as a large portion of the economy is redirected towards the war effort. This surely would not reflect positively on you."