"Lord, the Wilderness Alliance Army numbers between twenty-five and thirty thousand. Of those, only less than ten thousand are truly combat-capable. The rest are all vassals like Goblins and Kobolds, serving as Auxiliary Soldiers."
"In their camp, I also saw Pign, Harpies, and Bear Goblins."
Inside the conference hall, the Little Moustache Officer was reporting the intelligence his Scout Squad had gathered.
The Lord noticed that one of the officer’s hands was wrapped in cloth strips, and the blood that had soaked through them had dried and hardened.
Clearly, this intelligence hadn’t been easy to obtain.
While Levi didn’t know the cavalry’s exact casualties, the fact that even the commanding officer was wounded suggested they had paid a significant price, if not suffered heavy losses.
"They’ve established rows of animal hide tents on a low slope, with no defensive fortifications on the periter."
"Centaurs, Pign, Bear Goblins, Harpies... what a gathering of elites."
The Lord clicked his tongue in silent amazent.
’The Wilderness Races are countless, and these few can all be considered powerful warrior races. I can’t believe they’ve all gathered together now.’
Among them, Bear Goblins are cousins to Goblins. Compared to the average Goblin, who stands at about a blade and a half tall, these Bear Goblins are generally around two blades tall and naturally stronger.
To Levi, however, that was just a minor detail. What he was truly concerned about were the Minotaurs and Centaurs.
"Their main force is less than ten thousand..." Fulina tapped the table, musing for a mont. "And they have no defensive fortifications..."
In truth, she hadn’t expected a group of Wilderness Natives to build fortifications anyway. Although, wherever there were Bear Goblins, there were bound to be Giant Goblins—their distant relatives who possessed innate military talent—to lead them.
But for such a massive army, it was already a monuntal effort for these Giant Goblins just to keep them from breaking apart and to get them marching together.
How could they have any extra energy to command the entire army to build fortifications?
"A group of Wilderness Natives has already done well just to make it this far. We can’t expect too much from them, whether it’s ambushes or fortifications," Fujero remarked fairly, stroking an Erald-inlaid Ring on his finger. Although he was the Legion Commander of the eight-thousand-strong Thorn Corps, the crucial decision of whether to fight was no longer his to make.
If anyone else had been brought in to command him, he would have certainly harbored so doubts.
But Duke Fulina was a rare talent, exceptional in both Combat Qi and military strategy. He couldn’t compare to her in either area.
Naturally, he accepted her command wholeheartedly and wouldn’t say more than necessary.
"Have the vanguard clear the way. Fujero, you will lead five squads and advance as the main attacking force."
After only a mont’s hesitation, Fulina made her decision, issuing a series of commands.
"Levi, you and Si Kai will provide support. You will decide for yourself when to attack."
Levi slowly nodded.
Being in a support role was still a lot of pressure, but the part about deciding for himself was an inspired touch.
This ant that if Fujero’s main force ran into extre difficulty, Levi could choose not to attack. He would only need to say "the timing was not right" to fend off any subsequent criticism from the other officers.
To Fulina, although this Wilderness Alliance Army was stronger than expected, it wasn’t a major concern.
A ragtag group is called a ragtag group for a reason—their discipline and equipnt are both utterly abysmal.
Their individual martial prowess might far exceed that of her soldiers, but in a large-scale battle, even the most powerful individual can’t last for long.
After the eting was dismissed, Levi hurried back to the High Cliff Castle camp, flung open his tent flap, and went inside.
"How did it go, brother-in-law?" Mier asked, lowering the Hand Half-Sword in his grasp.
As the Lord’s personal tent, it was extrely spacious, easily large enough for Mier to practice his swordsmanship inside.
"We’re going to war. Go tell the Warriors to get ready to move out."
Levi walked over and kicked the sleeping Zat in the rear. "Still fucking sleeping? Get your ass up and get into my armor!"
Zat, who had been completely dazed, was instantly wide awake. He scrambled up from the ground and bellowed outside, "Where are my damn Auxiliary Soldiers? Get in here and get armored up!"
It was a perfect example of the pecking order.
The Lord of High Cliff Castle could crush him with his rank, so as Legion Commander, he could naturally crush these Auxiliary Soldiers with his.
Several Goat-n were rubbing their hands together, warming themselves by a stove where a few sweet potatoes were almost done roasting. The mont they heard Zat’s booming voice, they scrambled into the tent as if their lives depended on it.
"Lord Zat, we’ll help you into your armor right away."
Three Goat-n struggled to carry the various pieces of the armor. They climbed onto a stepladder to help armor the towering Zat, who stood a full two-point-eight blades tall.
With the help of several Rabbit People Auxiliary Soldiers, Levi was also gradually being fitted into his Three-Layered Heavy Armor.
This was why, although High Cliff Castle only had three hundred Official Warriors, its total numbers reached over seven hundred.
These Auxiliary Soldiers weren’t just for digging trenches, pitching tents, and building fortifications; their main purpose was to help the Warriors don their armor.
After all, the Iron Armor was composed of many individual parts. While it was possible for a person to put it on by themselves, it was extrely ti-consuming and difficult—not worth the effort.
Recently, Mier had been researching a type of integrated Iron Armor. A person would only need to stand in place, and a system of gears would automatically fit the armor onto them.
However, it was still in the early stages of developnt, with many problems yet to be solved.
Even so, the prospect made the Lord incredibly excited.
If the problem of donning armor could be solved, the logistics staff could be reduced by more than thirty percent, and the entire army would beco more mobile and less cumberso.
Shivering, Sam put on his Leather Armor by himself, donned a Felt Hat, and tucked the Stone Egg into the shoulder bag at his front.
He had spent the last few days praying that war wouldn’t break out, but that day had co after all.
"Brother-in-law, let’s go!"
Mier had changed into a flamboyant suit of bright Silver Plate Armor, a helt tucked under his arm and a Longsword hanging at his waist.
Combined with his nearly two-blade-tall fra, his appearance alone was enough to get him into the Rose Knight Order, which was comprised entirely of Rabbit People.
The Lord was secretly dying of envy for this suit of Plate Armor that Mier had designed and forged for himself. Outwardly, however, he dismissed it as too gaudy, claiming its defense was far inferior to his own black Iron Canister.
Most of the Cook and Assistant Soldiers were left behind in the camp. Accompanied by a small number of Auxiliary Soldiers, the Warriors, uniformly clad in black Armor, marched majestically toward the designated location under the banner of High Cliff Castle.
Along the way, Si Kai and his Knight Order joined Levi’s column.
They voluntarily took on the role of scouts.
The roughly three thousand n of the Thorn Corps, plus the three hundred from High Cliff Castle, began to spread out into battle formation as they advanced.
They finally halted five li from the Wilderness Alliance Camp, a position that ensured they were out of range of any ranged weapons or the Magic of the Wilderness Shamans.
Levi stood...
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