Chapter 580: Chapter 361: I Am with You_2 Chapter 580: Chapter 361: I Am with You_2 Targeting civilians, the international community’s condemnation of the Jieke Group would likely skyrocket a hundredfold, even their allies would oppose them.

This was a decision he couldn’t make on his own.

But just then, a call came through from headquarters.

After Hao Guang answered, his previously taut expression relaxed slightly, and he turned to the other staff officers, “Commander Su ordered that Manchester be surrounded and that for now, there’s no need to engage in urban combat.”

With this order given, the first troops to arrive began to circle the city. Along with more forces continuously arriving, nearly 200,000 troops surrounded Manchester.

Instantly, the entire international community turned its attention here.

Since the end of World War II, there had never been an urban siege of such scale. Was it about to begin in Manchester now?

“We will turn Manchester into Jieke Group’s flesh and blood grinder. As many of their men as enter, that many we’ll take down. My brave citizens of Manchester, pick up whatever weapons you have and defend your homes. Let those invading bandits bleed dry and become the new Stalingrad. As long as we withstand Jieke Group’s assault, they will inevitably decline from prosperity to decay, and victory will surely be ours. I am your King, and I stand with you.”

Meanwhile, a video began to spread wildly online. It was a speech by the Siam King, Pupeng, from the Imperial Palace, calling for the people of Manchester to fight to the last drop of blood in a passionate and fervent tone.

However, shortly after this video appeared, Jieke Group officially released another video.

In the video, the Royal Palace in Manchester was deserted and eerily quiet.

“Using a pre-recorded video to deceive the citizens of his own country, he had already fled Manchester with his family. Is this your brave King?”

The video concluded with this line of text.

This video caused an uproar across the world, amusing onlookers immensely.

What a fearless and determined fight to the end. It turns out that King Pupeng’s idea of fighting to the last drop of blood was having the ordinary people shed blood!

Indeed, the scandal released by the Jieke Group had completely disgraced the Siam Royal Family.

In the face of Jieke Group’s mockery, Pupeng released several videos in quick succession, righteously stating that he was still in Manchester, had not fled, and accusing Jieke Group of doctoring the footage.

“You say you’re still in Manchester? You can come out at the Manchester city square to meet with the people and boost morale. Let them see and know there and then whether it’s true or false.”

Jieke Group’s response was simple, posting videos that blatantly contradicted him.

Pupeng’s side quickly fell silent, clearly struggling with this demand.

So, Pupeng could only deflect, claiming that if he were to make a public appearance, he would be assassinated by spies from Jieke Group.

However, few believed this assertion. People aren’t foolish and could easily see who was lying.

Though Manchester was surrounded, Jieke Group hadn’t cut off internet access, so the people inside were still able to go online.

But one can imagine how the citizens inside felt after seeing this video.

Massive demonstrations began, with people demanding that Pupeng return to Manchester to fight and resist Jieke Group’s invasion, and some directly called for King Pupeng to step down.

Morale in Manchester plummeted due to Pupeng’s antics, unstoppable in its decline.

After all, while they themselves were still holding their ground, their leader had already fled – it was infuriating!

The Siamese people saw through King Pupeng’s true colors and were greatly disappointed in him, but this didn’t mean they had any positive feelings towards Jieke Group.

No matter what, the Jieke Group had invaded their country, and the main ethnic group of Siam, the Thais, lived predominantly in Manchester and were very resistant to the invasion, even though not many were truly willing to take to the battlefield to confront Jieke Group. However, many were hostile towards them.

It was fortunate that Jieke Group wasn’t as brutal as it could have been, for if they had cut off water, electricity, food, and bombarded the city indiscriminately, they could have wiped them out in minutes.

A city with a population of over ten million consumes a staggering amount of resources daily, and they couldn’t last long on reserves alone.

Jieke Group’s 200,000 troops surrounded Manchester while the remaining forces moved on, encircling and decimating several Siamese Army units that had rashly attempted to break into Manchester. They then stationed troops around Manchester to continue their attacks and conquests.

The Siamese recruits were simply no match for Jieke Group, especially not with the Mechanical Army involved.

Siamese soldiers, already terrified by the spider mecha, would sometimes panic and disperse at the sight of just one such mecha, breaking ranks by the thousands.

Under the assault of Jieke Group, Siamese territory continued to fall, especially the areas close to Chan Country, which were almost entirely captured by Jieke Group.

……

“Who are these people?”

On the outskirts of Manchester, during the night, Hao Guyu was on his way to maintain the Spider Mecha with his teammates.

As they passed an open area, they saw a group of young men and women pressed to the ground, faces and bodies bruised and marked by footsteps. Despite this, many continued to curse loudly.

On the other side, their weapons were laid out, including homemade Molotov cocktails, crowbars, shovels, gasoline, and more.

“These young ones came to set fires; they’re uncontrollable, we catch a group and then another shows up,” one said.

The guarding soldier, with a cigarette in his mouth, handed one to Hao Guyu and lit it.

After accepting the cigarette, Hao Guyu said wordlessly, “I was wondering, it’s been so noisy tonight. Are there a lot of them by what you’re saying?”

“This is already the sixth batch tonight.”

The soldier shook his head and chuckled bitterly, a look of helplessness on his face.

After Manchester was besieged, the people inside did not stay quiet. They saw the Jieke Group as foreign invaders. Knowing the terrain well, they often ran out to set fires, sabotage roads, and create chaos.

The Spider Mecha, as the ace unit of the Jieke Group, was particularly targeted by the people of Manchester, who desperately wanted to burn the Mechas.

However, such attacks naturally never succeeded, they did not even qualify as harassment, and were merely conversational pieces for the Jieke soldiers during their breaks.

“You invaders, as long as you don’t leave our land, we will keep coming to attack you every day,” said a young Siam man, shouting and spitting bloody saliva towards Hao Guyu, who was among the onlookers. He was quickly beaten up by the Jieke soldiers, rolling on the ground.

“Brother, stop, you bastards, don’t beat him anymore!” a young girl cried torrentially as she saw her brother being mercilessly beaten.

“How old are you to learn to riot and set fires like others?”

Hao Guyu squatted down, looking at the twenty-something-year-old girl in front of him–she should be in university at that age.

“Don’t touch my sister.”

“Akitu, run!”

“If you dare to touch a single hair on Akitu, I won’t let you off.”

The group of young men and women were unceasingly scolding Hao Guyu, completely agitated.

Hao Guyu touched his nose and asked, “Do I look like a bad guy?”

“Pretty much,” a nearby soldier could not help but snicker.

“Alright, stop beating them. Take a few photos and post them online tomorrow so their parents can pay a ransom; otherwise, send them to the mines to dig for a few months to see if they still have so much energy.”

Upon hearing this, many of the young men and women looked completely despondent, but some continued to glare angrily at Hao Guyu. The young girl named Akitu shouted, “Invader, don’t think you can break us with these methods.”

“Invader? I find it weird you calling me that–wasn’t it your own country who initiated this war?” Hao Guyu blew a ring of smoke into the girl’s face, causing her to frown and sneer, “You guys should have internet, right? The evidence we released showed your own king was killed by his people, yet you framed us and started the war. Now you call us invaders?”

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Struck by these words, Akitu was at a loss for words, and after a while, she resentfully said, “Even… Even so, you are too cruel, you killed so many of our people and still occupy our land.”

“What do you think war is, a child’s game? Losing a war naturally comes with consequences. We need to teach you a lesson, or what if you provoke us again in the future.”

Hao Guyu curled his lips, speaking very realistically.

Akitu’s face turned beet red, unsure how to retort.

“Think about it carefully. The person you should truly blame is your king, who acted as pawn for the Beautiful Country and started the war,” Hao Guyu stood up, dropped this statement, and left with his teammates, leaving behind a group of young men and women looking at each other in dismay.