The Jiang family all lived on the warship above Wheeler Star's orbit.
Jiang Ye primarily focused on the war on Wheeler Star, with his days consumed by military meetings.
Cen Yemeng, in the adjacent office, oversaw the economic development and civilian affairs of various planets.
Jiang Senlin, meanwhile, began studying urban construction. In his bedroom, he devoured the ten-volume, 4872-page "General Principles of Urban Construction" from morning till night, his study notes piling up like mountains. After finishing each volume, a dedicated teacher would administer online assessments. These teachers were retired mayors from Jiang Ye Star or Bi Rong Star, possessing extensive practical experience and having managed cities with populations exceeding four million.
The family had two opportunities to meet: lunch and dinner. Each meal lasted twenty minutes, meaning the entire family spent only forty minutes together each day.
They did not meet for breakfast as their wake-up times differed.
Cen Yemeng woke up at five, ate a quick breakfast in the conference room, and then joined a video conference with ministers from the refugee planet. After the meeting, she began handling work for other planets, typically focusing on Jiang Ye Star and Bi Rong Star in the morning, and Spiral Star in the afternoon. Many tasks were originally Jiang Ye's responsibility, but with his focus on Wheeler Star, Cen Yemeng had to take over.
Jiang Ye usually woke up at seven in the morning. It wasn't that he slept late; rather, he often stayed up until two or three in the morning. Upon waking, he would head straight to military meetings, having breakfast with the division and corps commanders. Soldiers ate breakfast very quickly, chatting and reviewing battle reports as they ate. Breakfast concluded in less than ten minutes, but each had a hearty appetite. The hungriest division commander would eat ten large fried dough sticks, two steamed buns, and a bowl of soy milk for breakfast, while Jiang Ye could manage six meat buns.
Jiang Senlin slept until eight. His schedule was similar to his father's; he also went to bed at one in the morning but slept a bit longer. By the time he woke up and started eating, his parents had already been working for a long time.
A week passed quickly.
Hostilities on Wheeler Star resumed.
Yu Xiangyang's troops had replaced ninety percent of their soldiers with mechanical units.
With the mechanical soldiers, Yu Xiangyang's offensive style became bolder.
Firstly, the psychological and moral implications of a mechanical unit being damaged were vastly different from a living person being killed. Secondly, mechanical units possessed superior stamina, capable of sustaining high-intensity marching and combat for 24 consecutive hours, whereas humans, even with stimulants, could barely maintain stamina for more than ten hours.
Jiang Ye placed great importance on Yu Xiangyang and intended to test his capabilities. Therefore, in addition to prioritizing him with mechanical units, he granted him direct command of five hundred aerospace fighters. Yu Xiangyang could directly issue orders to the fighter squadrons, which would detach from the warships in orbit and proceed to designated locations for combat.
Yu Xiangyang decided to switch from defense to offense, launching four major offensives within a week and advancing a full 800 kilometers.
All four major offensives were successful, directly annihilating two divisions of the Gante army, routing six divisions and two reinforced brigades of the Gante army, and capturing Yifuli City. Instead of a direct assault, they besieged the city's 1.2 million inhabitants.
Yu Xiangyang prepared for a prolonged siege, leaving three divisions to surround Yifuli City. The remaining troops dispersed into the nearby rainforests, awaiting further offensives and guarding against any potential enemy counterattacks.
However, after only three days of siege, the outer defenses of Yifuli City began to surrender.
The highest-ranking commander of the defending forces was a brigade commander of the Gante army named Jeremiah Cecil, who was of mixed black and white heritage.
Cecil negotiated surrender terms with Yu Xiangyang. The conditions included guaranteeing the safety of the city's civilians, preventing a massacre, and ensuring the safety of himself and his officers – all relatively simple terms.
The negotiations were completed swiftly in just one hour. Cecil and Yu Xiangyang signed the surrender document and affixed their fingerprints. Half an hour later, the outer defense forces of Yifuli City began to lay down their arms and emerge from their defensive positions. Yu Xiangyang's mechanical soldiers then rapidly advanced into the city.
A small number of extremists in the city center offered resistance but were quickly suppressed by the advancing mechanical soldiers, with a total of 1,700 killed.
With this, Yifuli City fell entirely into Yu Xiangyang's hands.
Yu Xiangyang began organizing his troops to arrange for the evacuation of the city's 1.2 million inhabitants to the rear. Everyone in the city was to be relocated.
Cecil's troops were also placed under Yu Xiangyang's command, assisting in the evacuation of civilians and the transport of supplies.
As for Cecil himself, Yu Xiangyang dispatched him to the rear, escorted by a guard detail to Jiang Ye.
On Tuesday morning, Jiang Ye met Cecil in a small conference room. Cecil, wearing the Gante army's dress uniform and with handcuffs on his wrists, sat on a chair with an anxious expression, while two mechanical soldiers stood guard motionlessly behind him.
Jiang Ye was clearly in a good mood. Upon seeing Cecil, he smiled and gestured to his handcuffs, saying, "Remove them."
The mechanical soldiers behind him immediately produced wire cutters and, with a few snips, cut off Cecil's handcuffs.
Cecil stood up and saluted, looking at Jiang Ye with great nervousness. "Greetings, Commander!"
"Did Yu Xiangyang send you to see me?" Jiang Ye asked in a gentle tone. "Did he instruct you on what to say when you met me?"
"Yu Xiangyang's intention is that I am an old subordinate of the Gante army, bearing the guilt of my past actions. For the sake of peace, he accepted the surrender of my unit. However, whether I personally can receive a special pardon is something he, as a minor official, cannot decide. It requires the decree of a true dragon like yourself," Cecil said, his voice trembling slightly. His neck involuntarily tilted forward, his posture somewhat subservient. "Accompanying me are 418 tons of gold seized from the Yifuli City bank vault and two thousand artifacts from the museum. Yu Xiangyang asked me to deliver them to you as well."
A mechanical soldier behind him opened a small briefcase. Inside were several delivery slips and transport manifests, bearing the official stamps of the Yifuli City Bank and Museum.
Su Yueming quickly stepped forward, took the slips, and handed them to Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye glanced at them, nodded, and returned them to Su Yueming, who promptly put them away.
"Yu Xiangyang is quite protective of you. His implication is that by sending you along with the gold and antiques, you might earn my favor," Jiang Ye said with a smile.
Cecil's face instantly turned pale. Hearing his words, did this matter not go as smoothly as he thought?
"As a brigade commander of the Gante army, with significant military power, why did you surrender after only three days of being besieged? Furthermore, according to my battle reports, Yu Xiangyang's forces merely surrounded you and did not even attack," Jiang Ye scrutinized Cecil. "I hope you answer honestly, as this concerns your future."
"Our Yifuli City is a small, insignificant town. One could shoot a police-issue pistol from one end of the city to the other. I felt it was impossible to hold out. During the three days of siege, Yu Xiangyang's fighter jets continuously flew over the city at very low altitudes. Even traffic police standing at intersections could see the pilots in their cockpits. We had anti-aircraft weapons, but we dared not fire, fearing that if we did, the entire city would be bombed to rubble within minutes," Cecil explained. "After discussing with my officers, if surrendering could save the lives of the common people, then we would give all 1.2 million citizens a chance to live. Even if we officers were executed after surrendering, the common people would remember us fondly on Qingming Festival and burn paper offerings for us."