"Count, should we press on any further?"
Prince Noah asked.
Although he had previously led the army and won several "great victories," everyone who knew what was what understood they were inflated. It was one thing to fool others, but Prince Noah wasn’t arrogant enough to think he was a true Military God.
’Since my father sent Fernando over, I should make good use of him.’
Fernando placed his sword into a saddlebag on his mount.
"We can retreat now. If we keep fighting, the enemy might catch on," Fernando explained.
Although he said that, his expression clearly showed Count Fernando’s dissatisfaction.
It was understandable. A great deal of effort had been spent mobilizing two hundred Personal Guard Knights and several hundred Extraordinary Knights. All told, the scale of this Extraordinary force was close to a thousand strong.
Deploying an Extraordinary Team of this magnitude only to wipe out a few Goblin Tribes—and this was the "great victory" the governnt would be trumpeting in the future.
To be honest, Count Fernando himself felt it was humiliating.
’If the Prince could just bring himself to be ruthless, we could have smashed right through the Tiger Race position up ahead. Even if that ended up being a disgrace, it wouldn’t be as humiliating as this.’
Prince Noah nodded. He could see what Count Fernando was thinking.
Prince Noah had no choice. ’It’s not that I don’t want to keep attacking,’ he thought. ’But the Royal Family’s strength is more important than avoiding embarrassnt. Without the support of the great nobles on the Western Front, what can I do? Even if I work miracles with the small Standing Army the Crown sent, it won’t be enough.’
"Retreat! Pass the order to retreat!"
Prince Noah commanded.
The knights of the Knight Order were mostly gathered around Prince Noah. They had been briefed on their mission beforehand, and upon receiving the order, they filed out in an orderly fashion.
...
By the ti Ian arrived on his Flying Dragon, the battle here was already over. There weren’t even any fires. If not for the ground littered with goblin corpses, Ian would have doubted a fight had even taken place.
"Didn’t you say you saw the banner of the Dragon and Bear? The human King ca all this way just for this?" Ian’s tiger-like eyes widened as he roared at the goblin beside him.
Ian had been enjoying himself in his tent when he heard that the Frankish Royal Family’s banner was nearby. The news nearly scared him out of his wits.
Although the Franks were constantly being beaten down by the Beastn, the Frankish Royal Family still held considerable prestige within the Beastman Empire.
This was especially true for armies permitted to use the royal sigil; these forces were comparable to pure Beastman Infantry legions.
The term "Beastman Infantry legions" here didn’t refer to the general Beastn of the Empire, but specifically to the forces of the Beastman Imperial Family.
"My lord, it really was the Dragon and Bear! How could I mistake that banner? If it wasn’t them, we wouldn’t have been routed so quickly," the goblin leader hurriedly explained, terrified that Ian would end his little life right then and there.
Ian frowned and stepped onto the battlefield, finding a goblin corpse that was still emanating combat aura.
Although the goblin was dead, the combat aura radiating from its body indicated it had been at least Bronze Second Tier, perhaps even Third Tier.
Its entire body had been pierced by a single lance, leaving a clean, round wound.
Although Extraordinary goblins were no match for other races, it was still rare to see one killed instantly by a single strike.
If it were just this one case, it could be attributed to the enemy Commander. But across the entire battlefield, almost all the goblins, strong or weak, had been killed instantly in the sa manner. Among them was even a Bronze Third Tier Extraordinary goblin.
’Could it really be the Frankish Royal Family?’ Ian’s expression was perplexed. ’If it really was them, what was the point of such a aningless night raid?’
’To be honest, if a thousand goblins could tie them up for a whole night, the Beastn would be more than happy with that trade.’
The Tiger Race generally ignored things they couldn’t figure out.
...
By the ti the news passed through the chain of command and reached Prince Kase, it was already the next day.
At that mont, Prince Kase was in a particularly foul mood.
The battle report from the front had co back. The army he had sent to regain face had instead been put to sha by the enemy. Prince Kase had no choice but to suppress the news.
Originally, Prince Kase had expected Marin to win back his honor, but instead, Marin had gotten his ass kicked.
The military situation had not yet escalated, but once it did, he, Kase, would lose all face.
Winter’s Eve was fast approaching, and the Beast Emperor was constantly pressing him. The central front was at a stalemate; after breaking through Barol City, the Beastman Army was once again bogged down.
If he couldn’t produce results on the Western Front soon, the Beast Emperor would likely assign him so "helpers."
At that point, he would be sidelined internally while Dor ran rampant externally. Then he, Kase, would really be in for it.
Putting aside everything else, it would be nearly impossible to use this war to bolster his claim to the throne.
As Kase was thinking this, he flipped to the official docunt submitted by Ian.
"Hm? Dragon and Bear?" Kase raised an eyebrow, his expression surprised.
Kase handed the docunt to Zarik and frowned in thought.
"Zarik, what do you make of this?"
Zarik took the docunt, his expression quite puzzled.
"The Dragon and Bear? Could it be the Frankish Royal Family? But what are they doing?" Zarik couldn’t quite figure it out.
"Could it be that human brat?" Kase suddenly recalled the intelligence his subordinates had reported on the humans so ti ago.
There were collaborators everywhere. Even with a relationship as hostile as fire and water, like that between the Frank Kingdom and the Beastman Empire, there was still no shortage of human traitors.
Moreover, when Prince Noah set out on his expedition, the news had spread through every street and alley. The entire Royal Capital was singing praises of Prince Noah’s martial virtue; keeping it a secret would have been difficult.
Seeing Zarik’s confused expression, Kase took the initiative to explain.
"He’s the offspring of the human ’pretender king.’ I heard before that he was coming for a ’king versus king’ showdown with . It caused quite a stir among the humans," Prince Kase said.
"But would that human really co here? Given the current state of the war, does he actually intend to launch a counterattack?" Prince Kase wondered aloud, confused.
This was the difference between humans and Beastn. The harsh environnt of the Beastman Grassland had cultivated a practical nature in the Beastman Empire, and the two sides’ differing political systems made it difficult for their leaders to fathom each other’s thinking.
’If I were in his position,’ Prince Kase thought, ’I definitely wouldn’t have co out here. It’s an obvious suicide mission. As for my claim to the throne? How could the idle chatter of those peasants affect my succession? The real disaster would be showing up only to fail spectacularly.’
Zarik’s eyes, however, lit up. He was a rare scholar of humanity within the Beastman Empire.
"It’s very likely him! Your Highness, you may not know this, but for a human prince, the support of the dostic nobility and the populace is extrely important.
No! It must be him! Otherwise, there’s no explaining why a Human Knight Order of the Dragon and Bear Knight Order’s caliber would appear on this battlefield!" Zarik grew more certain as he spoke.
"Your Highness, we must act at once and launch an all-out offensive! We can dispatch the Flying Dragon Cavalry now to launch a surprise attack on the nearby Airelle Port, then send an elite force to cut the enemy’s supply lines.
After that, we’ll surround this area with a large force. If the human prince is really here, the enemy will definitely make a move.
Then we can force the enemy into a decisive field battle. We could even break through their entire line! If we take Devil City, we can cut the supply lines for seventy percent of the enemy’s army. We might even be able to push all the way to Thermopylae!" Zarik beca more and more excited as he spoke.
Although Prince Kase was moved by the proposal, his excitent didn’t last long before cooling down.
"What if this is an enemy trap? Zarik, we would be throwing away the Empire’s troops." Prince Kase was cautious by nature.
If he weren’t cautious, he wouldn’t have had the patience to keep grinding down the humans on the Western Front with low-tier races.
"Your Highness, Winter’s Eve is only seven days away," Zarik reminded him.
Kase took a deep breath. ’That’s right,’ he thought. ’Winter’s Eve is only seven days away. If I still have no achievents to show by then, the Beast Emperor will not let off easy.’
"Our original plan was to focus on breaking through O’Neil Castle. This is simply moving the plan forward," Zarik persuaded.
After a long silence, Prince Kase finally stood up from his chair.
"Alright. Notify Leman’s Flying Dragon Legion to move out. Have Curry take 500—no, 1,000 Wolf Cavalry and depart tonight.
Tell Rodman to have those Naga get ready. When they take Airelle Port, secure the human ships.
Notify Ian and Srika. The Tiger Corps and the First Beastman Infantry Regint are to travel light and force-march. They must reach Airelle Port by tomorrow night.
By the morning of the day after tomorrow, they should appear on the opposite bank of the Som River.
Notify Far that starting tonight, the goblin attacks must not cease. Starting at noon tomorrow, deploy the Fox Race, the Centaurs, and the elite Gnolls.
Have the Priests inform all fronts: the offensive begins tonight." Kase rattled off a long list of nas.
"Do you have anything to add?" Kase asked, looking at Zarik.
"What about General Dor? Should we inform him?" Zarik asked cautiously.
"Just tell them what’s happening. Nothing more."
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