443: Chapter 62, Creating Opportunities_1 443: Chapter 62, Creating Opportunities_1 The disaster of defeat unrolled like a mound collapsing, marking the beginning of a catastrophe.
The war and flames swept towards the Orton Duchy, making the ancient duchy weep beneath the butcher’s knife.
“Quick, send the information back!
Immediately…”
Count Bernard trembled as he spoke.
As one of the frontline commanders, he wasn’t sure how to explain the situation to the King.
Negligence, overreliance on allies, these are just one aspect of the problem.
Ultimately, the Orton Duchy’s power was insufficient.
In name, the frontline had 150,000 strong troops, but in reality, it was more accurate to describe it as “140,000 civilians + 10,000 guards”.
The conscripted civilians’ main task was not to receive military training, but to build defensive works.
It wasn’t that they were stupid, quite the contrary, it was sensible.
Asking the serfs who had just put down their hoes to defend the city was manageable, but expecting them to pick up weapons and fight against orcs was unrealistic.
In essence, the problem was insufficient preparation.
They simply were not aware that the orc army would come.
Until the fall of the Augustusburg defense line, and the request for assistance from the Moxi Duchy, the Orton Duchy’s high ranks began to perceive the danger.
After much arguing, a resolution to build a defensive line was reluctantly passed.
When it came to execution, the nobles officials proved what bureaucratic inefficiency was by their actions.
Until the defeat of the Battle of Dachias, when the Orc Army approached Dapes and Moxi Duchy was hanging by a thread, the Orton Duchy started to take action.
The first national mobilization was initiated.
If nothing unexpected occurs, something unexpected will definitely happen.
Due to the time constraints, the nobles from Orton Duchy were not prepared for this new mode of warfare, and still applied the initial approach used to battle against other human kingdoms.
Because of internal power struggles, the command of the frontline of the Orton Duchy was divided into three parts to create distinct defensive areas.
If the frontline troops were elite forces, this division wouldn’t be much of an issue, apart from coordination during command being slightly troublesome.
However, the Orton Duchy’s forces were far from elite with the exception of the nominal guards of the aristocrats, the rest were stick-in-the-mud.
Without a complete defense line, when arriving at the frontline, the great army intended to defend the city only to discover anxiously that there were no fortresses capable of accommodating tens of thousands of soldiers.
Most of the noble castles could only accommodate a limited number of troops.
Impressive castles could accommodate up to eight or ten thousand soldiers.
What was worse was that most of these castles did not consider the issue of long-term water supplies during their design.
After all, human nobility plays by the rules during civil wars.
They rarely turn situations into definitive, unless a dire heritage feud was involved.
Human nobility needed reputation, but orcs did not.
Facing a new enemy, these shortcomings must be addressed.
To utilize new recruits as civilians was a last resort.
If these visible problems were not addressed, the castle was no better than a large coffin.
Count Bernard’s idea, alas, was in vain.
Gryphon Cavalry just airborne was intercepted by the Hawkmans.
It appears that messages can only be sent by relay on the ground.
People could escape in all directions, the Orcs can’t intercept everyone.
As to when the message could reach the Capital, it all depended on luck.
In the battlefield, the speed of the soldiers mattered.
Even a moment’s delay could result in serious consequences, let alone such an uncertain delay.
Disaster was destined to belong to the Orton Duchy.
The collapse of the frontline forces was firstly observed, immediately after, it was the civilians who suffered.
The orc soldiers who had been killing with the swing of their sword, once started, couldn’t stop.
Mortal Hell.
…
In the Jade Palace, the news of the Expeditionary Army’s victory had arrived.
The atmosphere in the palace had taken a turn for the worse, even more tense than the defeat at the Battle of Dachias.
The great Caesar III, although he always had a smile on his face in public, couldn’t help but sigh when he was alone.
Crown Prince Caesar’s performance was even worse.
His cold face could lower the temperature wherever he went by ten degrees.
If the mood of the two masters is not good, let alone the mistress of the house.
However, the excellent royal education required the Queen to maintain her image at all times.
Frustration, regret, resentment, all kinds of feelings were abundant.
Those resentful eyes made Caesar III avoid the Queen whenever he saw her.
…
“Enough!”
“You’ve been back for so long and haven’t recovered yet.
Have you learned nothing from the years of power politics you’ve been taught?”
Caesar III couldn’t help but reprimand.
Becoming a qualified king would not be possible without experiencing trials and hardships.
From the very beginning, arranging for his son to go to the Moxi Duchy was meant as an opportunity for him to face the storm and learn.
Initially, the idea was to let Little Caesar lead the Expeditionary Army to follow Moxi Duchy’s pace, losing slowly together, thereby honing their character and learning ways to face setbacks.
But plans didn’t change as quickly as the situation did.
What started as a wild opening, ended in a pig’s dinner.
What was even worse, the mess of the Expeditionary Army had just been tossed to others when an unbelievable turnaround happened.
The last cover was lifted, revealing that the Expeditionary Army indeed had the ability to fight.
The reason they lost was simply due to the incompetence of the commander, him.
Successive blows pushed Crown Prince Caesar to the edge of collapse.
His former confidence and arrogance had disappeared without a trace, replaced by deep self-doubt.