387: Chapter 41, Gold Bimon Luoyeiya_2 387: Chapter 41, Gold Bimon Luoyeiya_2 The fall of the Bertelli Fortress had resulted in a gaping hole in the once-sturdy defense line.
From this point onward, the Orc Army could make an unimpeded advance through here.
Although the armies on both sides could stage attacks on the orcs’ supply lines from within the fortress.
The problem is, the orc army doesn’t rely as heavily on supplies as the human army does.
Aside from a few strategic materials, they can procure most necessities locally.
“Haley, send a message to the Capital at once, inform them of the fall of Bertelli Fortress.
Tell His Majesty the King, we don’t have sufficient mobile troops on hand, and are unable to close the gap in the defense line in time.
The construction of backup defense lines is still underway, they are incapable of halting the orc’s unimpeded advance.
I propose His Majesty to broaden the scope of the scorched earth policy.
Ideally, we should include all the provinces in the northern duchy, to leave no room for the orcs to exploit.”
As Marshal Hodge spoke, his expression gradually grew gloomier.
The scorched earth policy sounded easy, but implementation was far from straightforward.
The most tangible issue was, what would people eat after implementing a scorched earth policy and completely destroying production?
The nobles on the frontline, unlike everyone else, had experienced orc tribe looting and had a heightened sense of crisis.
They had stored food in their castles early on.
With subsidies from the duchy, they quickly implemented the scorched earth policy.
Now, expanding the scope of the scorched earth policy meant circumstances had changed.
For one, it would be difficult for the duchy’s subsidies to reach everyone.
Even if the treasury could bear the burden, it wasn’t possible to magically produce enough food instantly.
Even if there were enough food reserves, there was no guarantee it would reach the castles of numerous nobles before the orcs’ arrival.
The wealthy nobles, who were mindful of crisis management and had stored food beforehand, might be able to pull through.
But most nobles hadn’t even considered this or didn’t have the funds to stock up, even if they had thought about it in advance.
In fact, after the war broke out, there had been a wave of panic buying of food in the northern regions, but only the wealthier nobles had the ability to participate.
Poorer ones had almost no chance of stocking up with two or three years’ worth of food.
After all, as the lords, they need to feed both themselves and their domain people.
Autumn harvest hasn’t even been completed yet.
If a full-scale scorched earth policy is implemented, cutting off food production, perhaps people will start running out of food before the next year.
Unable to address the food crisis brought on by the scorched earth policy could make further orders from the king difficult to enforce.
Realizing this, Marshal Hodge still found himself powerless.
Who could have predicted that the first to fall would be the least likely, Bertelli Fortress?
In his heart, aside from cursing Count Lanton and the Leibron Family as incompetent and all talk, there was nothing else he could do.
Even if he wanted to exact revenge later, he would need them to survive the ordeal.
Judging from the current news, there was no sign that Count Lanton had deserted his post.
As long as one didn’t desert and chose to live or die with one’s domain, any mistakes could be forgiven.
When the time comes to assign blame, as the Chief Commander of the front line, he would likely be the one to take the fall.
The charge would be clear — failing to provide reinforcements.
Punishment was unlikely.
As long as the king wasn’t crazy, he wouldn’t remove him as Chief Commander.
Regardless, Marshal Hodge was only handed this mess due to a crisis.
Upon his appointment, although he didn’t make any impressive achievements, he at least completed the construction of a new defense line and held off the orc army for two months before it finally broke.
Compared to the previous commander of the Augustusburg Defense Line, he was top of the class.
If you wanted to replace him, you would need to find a more competent commander.
In the face of an impending extinction-level crisis, all conflicts needed to take a back seat.
Even his political opponents might only huff and puff at most.
If he were to put his foot down and quit, those who would be most anxious would be the nobles back in the Capital.
Everyone was sensible and clear about the current situation.
If escape was possible, a cross-border migration movement would have already been ignited.
The pity was that while commoners could flee, these nobles couldn’t.
Not only were they unable to flee, but their descendants couldn’t either.
Failing to fulfill their noble obligations, they would lose their ancestral properties and face the pursuit of the entire Human Alliance.
There was a chance to escape, but it would only be possible after the situation had completely collapsed, and they could retreat with the king strategically.
Theoretically, this strategic retreat usually involved moving to a more defensible province to continue the fight against the orcs.
Exile was possible, but until now, no king had ever set such a precedent in the face of orc invasions.
After all, three hundred years ago the Bright Empire ruled the north and could hold their own against the orc empire even if they weren’t suppressing it.
Then came the Alpha Kingdom, another tough nut.
The number of kings who died in battle was not small, but there wasn’t a single king who went into exile.
At most, they moved the capital from one place to another.
Even when they left the country under exceptional circumstances, they quickly returned to continue leading the resistance.
It was due to this never-surrender attitude that the Alpha Kingdom earned the respect of the Human Alliance.
With support from other countries, they managed to recover time and time again.