405: Chapter 48, The Importance of Luck_1 405: Chapter 48, The Importance of Luck_1 From his castle in Flying Bear Fort, Hudson could not help but furrow his brow while looking at the intelligence report in his hands.
He had initially thought the Orc army was amassing in preparation to breach the Teluns Defense Line, heading forward from there.
After all, the defense line was not sturdily constructed.
Having stayed in Teluns City, Hudson noticed more than one flaw.
The seemingly towering city wall had many unreasonably designed parts.
Normally, a strategically significant fortress should be capable of handling all kinds of sudden situations.
Any defects discovered during construction should be rectified immediately.
The finished product should not have design flaws.
If there could be issues in the design, then the quality of the project could be guessed.
Though it might not be a shoddy construction job, Hudson didn’t believe it to be very solid either.
Given the precedent of the Augustusburg Defense Line, it stood to reason that the Orc army would continue to press forward relentlessly.
This strategy would naturally include his own residence, the Flying Bear Fort.
Seeing the Orc army movements put Hudson on high alert, causing him to fully mobilize his forces.
As it turned out, he was overthinking.
The five great emperor courts of the Orcs had transferred their forces for a much larger strategic aim, rather than this pitiful defense line.
Just by considering the scale of troop deployment, Hudson immediately concluded that the Orc army was targeting Dapes City.
Although he had temporarily escaped calamity, Hudson was far from relieved.
If the Orc army had steadily pushed forward, with the veteran Marshal Hodge in command, the Teluns Defense Line could at least hold on for two to three months.
For well-prepared commanders like him, it would depend on the stubbornness of the Orcs.
If they did not insist on sticking around to act as obstructionists and had launched a major attack instead, the war could have been dragged on for some more time.
With a few additional months of preparation time, reinforcement troops from all the northern countries would have arrived, and the Moxi Duchy could again fight in the defense of Dapes.
The outcome didn’t matter, the key was to buy time.
As the First Kingdom of Human Race, they could battle fiercely enough to hold on for several more months.
Counting the days, it was now early August, by the time the defense of Dapes would end, it would already be next year.
The strategic task assigned to them by the kingdom would then be complete.
With the Orc army’s current movements, the defense of Dapes would be starting ahead of schedule.
The Teluns Defense Line, painstakingly constructed by the Moxi people, would now simply serve as decoration.
It wasn’t that the crumbling defense line was useless, but rather that it was ineffective against superior forces.
If the strength of the Moxi Duchy was a bit higher, splitting forces from the Orc army would have been the perfect opportunity to counterattack.
Especially considering the five royal families of the Orcs were currently fighting it out on their own and hadn’t yet united, they could be defeated one by one – a golden opportunity gifted by the heavens.
Reality, however, didn’t hinge on assumptions.
Even if the Orc army left their vulnerabilities in plain sight, the Moxi people didn’t have the strength to seize the opportunity.
Theoretically, gathering domestic mobile forces and reinforcements from many different routes, there should be a chance to encircle and wipe out one or two Orc armies on the way.
If they managed to wipe out one or two Orc armies, the defense of Dapes would be over before it started.
The Orc army wouldn’t rush in when they knew the danger.
Unfortunately, this was only theory.
Commanding large armies required tremendous organization skills.
Integrating one’s own army was already difficult enough, let alone coordinating with the armies of neighboring countries.
Hudson wasn’t sure whether anyone in the Moxi Duchy could accomplish this daunting task, but he knew he certainly was ill-equipped for it.
If there were people with such impressive organizational skills, the Moxi people wouldn’t have ended up as they did on the battlefield.
Frankly, Hudson didn’t particularly care how long the Moxi Duchy could hold on, but he was obliged to fulfill the strategic task given by the kingdom as best as possible.
Without the Moxi Duchy, the west entrance of the Alpha Kingdom would be wide open, allowing the Orc army to invade at any time.
The nobles of the western provinces were currently busily scrambling to repair their defenses, they could hardly establish a sturdy defense line soon.
If the city defenses were not strong enough and there were no natural advantages to rely on, it would come down to a direct competition of strength.
Hudson had no idea about the odds of victory, except that if the Alpha Kingdom crumbled, the flames of war would soon reach the Southeastern Province, and even the Mountain Domain would not be spared.
When faced with the choice of letting war touch his own territory or staying in the Moxi Duchy to aid them in defense, the answer was clear.
…
“We were fated to jointly accept the task of garrisoning Flying Bear Fort.
Having lived together for some time, we are no longer strangers, so I’ll speak candidly.
The Orc army has crossed the defense line, splitting into five routes deep into the Duchy, and their ultimate target is likely Dapes City.
I don’t know much about your country.
As to whether Dapes City can resist the invasion from the Orc army or for how long, I cannot make an accurate judgement.
As this concerns our upcoming fate, I hope you two can make the most accurate judgement based on your understanding of the situation.”
Hudson said seriously.
He was speaking the truth.
Having access to too little information, he honestly had no idea how long the defense of Dapes could last.
Given that it was the Extraordinary World, it was not enough to only consider the strength of the regular army.
The extraordinary power also had to be taken into account.
Perhaps these powers would not be sufficient to turn the tide of the war, but they could potentially slow down the advance of the Orc army.
Many established nobles had gathered in Dapes city.
Once these individuals started resisting, they would certainly not be easy to deal with.