Chapter 1566: Chapter 57, Gossip
Blood Moon Defense Line.
Upon receiving the news of the fall of Cleston County, Hudson’s first reaction was that it was impossible!
The enemy had only launched their attack last night, and the city had already fallen. What were the fifty thousand defenders doing?
Refusing to believe it, Hudson even personally hovered over Cleston County. The dense swarms of centipede soldiers below shattered his last bit of fantasy.
The Centipede Clan is known for eating people, so the probability of the defenders surrendering is not high. The city’s swift fall could only prove that the Cleston County defenders were truly incompetent!
Noble strongholds are generally fortified with care; unless breached from within, their defense is usually quite robust.
Under normal circumstances, however poorly the battle goes, the defenders should be able to hold out for ten days to half a month.
Even if the enemy disregards conventions and deploys Sanctuary powerhouses, street battles after the outer city is breached should still hold for a day or two.
Perhaps they were constrained by the Black Forest Kingdom’s strongmen, or perhaps they were frightened by Hudson’s prior raid.
According to the intelligence gathered, the Sanctuary of the Centipede Clan did not take action in last night’s siege.
In a pure clash of secular power, to suffer such a miserable defeat, Hudson suddenly felt he needed to reassess the caliber of the Black Forest Kingdom.
If the subsequent Noble Lords are similar, what could have been a simple eradication campaign against the Earth Core race might turn into a defense of the Capital.
With allies like these, Hudson realized that his previously drafted strategy for the annihilation of the Orcs was indeed too hasty.
Placing the Kingdom’s rear security in the hands of such allies is truly unreliable.
With a sigh, Hudson directly returned to camp. The plan to ambush the Centipede Clan’s rear must be expedited.
No matter the reliability of the Black Forest Kingdom, the structure of the Five Nations Alliance cannot collapse. The Black Forest People may be weak, but they cannot let the Different Races perceive their weakness.
Puffy as they are, they must bluff day by day. As long as they hold out until the Frank and Iberian people digest their gains and launch another grand assault on the Different Races, the situation will take a sharp turn.
The fall of Cleston County is only the beginning of a deteriorating situation. Subsequently, the Black Forest Nobles exemplified with their lives what it means: there is no worst, only worse!
A complete defense line was constructed, along with military fortresses that were supposed to play key roles in the plan, yet they fell one after another.
Looking at the battle report in his hand, Marquis Simon’s blood pressure rose sharply, and his face turned red.
Deep down, he vaguely regretted how vigorously he had suppressed the minor Nobles earlier on.
The Nobles of the Black Forest Kingdom are not incapable of expanding military preparedness, but under the heavy pressure of these Major Nobles, the minor Nobles dare not expand their forces.
This top-down suppression ensured upper-class stability but at the heavy cost of the Kingdom’s decline.
After the last continental war, the Black Forest Kingdom, having suffered great losses, realized this approach was outdated and initiated a top-down reform movement.
However, while they wanted to change, the minor Nobles below did not dare to follow, fearing exposure of their ambitions, inviting disaster onto themselves.
Facts proved that subservient little brothers are also a disaster.
When trouble arises and the little brothers can’t cope, it’s up to the leaders themselves.
Realizing that relying on counties to construct a defense line to block the enemy’s assault was futile, Marquis Simon immediately decided to conduct a strategic contraction, concentrating the defense on his own stronghold.
This decision further accelerated the rate of county falls.
With the Governor’s military order, nobles from the counties near the front line painfully abandoned their fiefs and rushed to the provincial capital for the Provincial Defense Battle!
Simultaneously, pleas for aid flew like snowflakes towards the Capital. A minimum of three a day, and up to more than ten a day when it was the most.
Since the Communication Magic Array was activated, it had never been shut down.
With such a series of troublesome operations, even Alexander V was kept awake.
When the leader can’t sleep well, the subordinates shouldn’t expect a good night’s sleep either. They were summoned to the Royal Palace for a meeting in the middle of the night.
“The war has only erupted for three days, and already three counties have fallen in Gutland Province. At this rate, the Kingdom will lose an entire province in less than half a month.
Tonight, a response plan must be drafted no matter what!
Marquis Krasner, you first. What’s happening on the side of the Alpha Kingdom? How long before they can dispatch troops?”
Alexander V asked wryly.
Initially placing hope on allies, the defenses for the Black Stone Mountain Range extended only to mobilization in adjacent provinces.
The Kingdom Government’s attention was insufficient, and the lower level’s execution was even more lacking, resulting in no reinforcements arriving at Gutland Province over a month after discovering the Earth Core race.
No reinforcements were bad enough, but the mobilization speed of Gutland Province, situated at the front line, was also excruciatingly slow.
A series of compounded issues led to successive losses at the front line.
“Your Majesty, the Department of Foreign Affairs has completed the coordination, and the Alpha people have agreed to send troops.
However, the speed at which the front line is collapsing is too rapid; the Alpha Kingdom’s military orders might not have even reached the front line yet!
Now, given these unforeseen developments, hoping for allies to dispatch troops might be too difficult.”
Marquis Krasner answered with a face full of grievance.
His Department of Foreign Affairs was not taking the blame for this!
The rapid fall of the front line clearly points to the incompetence of local nobles.
It’s the same province, and yet the neighboring province can fight the Giant Foot Centipede Clan to tears, while here they are being trounced, the reversal is just too drastic.