485: Chapter 77: A Major Defeat_2 485: Chapter 77: A Major Defeat_2 Whether it was by accident or on purpose, it no longer matters now.
Without reinforcements, the Orc Soldiers exposed in the light soon realized something was wrong.
If their comrades had all fled, whoever stayed behind to fight to the death would be a fool.
One after another, they raced to escape.
After all, the cover of night would protect them from the enemy’s pursuit.
“Cease fire and recall the troops, treat the wounded!”
Hudson suddenly ordered.
It was pitch black, with only the faint light from the moon.
He dared not order his troops to continue chasing in this situation.
Reason told him that at this moment, sending soldiers to fight meant more would probably get lost tomorrow morning than die tonight.
Now that the battle had progressed to this stage, the scattered orc soldiers had fled to unknown places.
It would be no easy task to regroup them.
Besides, they had left all their siege weapons beneath the city.
Even if they managed to regroup, they no longer had the capacity to threaten Dapes.
Hudson was speechless at the Magic Crystal Cannons, mounted crossbows collected by his soldiers.
They indeed had the style of orcs, larger than anything he had seen before.
The amount they managed to transport here demonstrated the orcs’ determination.
Regrettably, these thick and heavy things were destined to serve no purpose in the Expeditionary Army, they could only be left for the Moxi people as city defense equipment.
The magic crystals and magic cores that served as energy sources have most likely been taken away by the orcs.
Not a single one was left behind.
After searching all the orc camps, they hadn’t found any valuable spoils of war, which disappointed Hudson greatly.
Scattered around were a bunch of useless scrap metal that didn’t spark any interest in him.
He resolved just to leave the cleanup work to the Moxi people.
“Your Excellency, the victory feast has been prepared in the Royal Palace, please…”
Before the advance guard finished speaking, Hudson interrupted: “I’m tired for today.
The orc’s reinforcements could appear at any time, and the Expeditionary Army still has work to do.
I won’t be attending the celebration feast, I beg of your excellency to thank His Majesty the King for his kindness on my behalf!”
The news of Chris the Ninth’s illness was tightly concealed.
Every decree was still normally released under the king’s name, even Hudson was kept in the dark about it.
Hearing the refusal, Reynato felt both awkward and relieved.
Refusing the banquet was a small matter, the important thing was that the Expeditionary Army hadn’t demanded to enter the city.
Army discipline these days wasn’t great, especially for guest armies.
If havoc was wreaked in any other place, it would be tolerable, but Dapes was the capital.
If it was troubled for a while, consequence would surely be severe.
Even though the Expeditionary Army was rumored to have strict discipline, the higher-ups in the Moxi Duchy didn’t dare bet on it.
They initially didn’t know how to refuse the Expeditionary Army from entering the city.
It never occurred to them that Hudson didn’t intend to let his troops into the city at all.
Having settled his worries, Reynato became more enthusiastic.
Unfortunately, Hudson was not a diplomat, he had no interest in discussing matters deeply with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Moxi Duchy.
He dismissed him with a few words.
Using this opportunity to deepen the friendship between the two nations?
That’s something for the King and ministers in the Capital to think about.
As the Chief Commander of the Expeditionary Army, his main concern was to win the war.
In his position, he was to focus on his obligations.
It wasn’t considered a good trait to be meddling in everything.
However, how could Hudson be anything but new to his current role?
He had fought for his current status.
His foundation in the Kingdom was extremely unstable, he didn’t qualify to be a minister in power..
If it were one of the experienced Major Nobles, they would likely already be in full control of the affairs of the Moxi Duchy, trying their best to secure a larger piece of the cake, leaving no opportunity for others.
In fact, Hudson was also making moves.
However, all his connections were made on a personal level and wouldn’t have immediate effect.
Harvesting fruits would have to wait until after the war.
Politcal benefits apparent to all, for now he wasn’t qualified to touch them.
It didn’t mean he could not get involved in the commercial interests hidden in the dark.
As a commanding general, acting aloof was necessary.
The more indifferent he was in public, the more passionate in private.
Intelligent people understood everything without words.
The siege on Dapes was only half lifted.
The true accomplishment would only come after they have withstood the orc’s counterattack.
After seeing off Reynato, Hudson was already quietly considering his plan to deal with the Bimon Cavalry.
This was also a battle against time.
The top five Orc courts all sent reinforcements; the fastest would arrive under Dapes City in five days.
The slowest are still fixing the road; it’s unknown when they might arrive, so they can be momentarily disregarded.
To seriously damage or even encircle the Bimon Cavalry, they’re only left with these five days, and it could potentially be even less than that.
News from tonight’s battle would quickly reach the Orcs’ Royal Court and they could possibly reconsider their decisions, and let the cavalry proceed sooner than the rest.
Then the original five-day march could be completed in two days at most.
If they dare to rush headlong, Hudson wouldn’t be surprised if they arrived within a day.
Of course, the possibility of this happening is extremely low.
If they go for long-distance raids, their combat effectiveness will inevitably be significantly reduced and they might suffer major losses if not careful.
Taking advantage of the different arrival times of the Orc reinforcements, creating a gap, is undoubtedly the best choice.
Hudson is confident about this plan.
The Orcs have reinforcements; the Moxi Duchy has them as well.
Although the reinforcements from the southern provinces were beaten badly by the Bimon Cavalry, they haven’t received news about complete annihilation yet, which means the situation might not be too bad.
Not to mention, the other two sets of reinforcements are still alright.
And their arrival time is a little bit faster than the Orc Army.
Even if we ignore the regular army, the several Elite Legions of the Moxi Duchy can definitely come in handy.
Especially those Knight Corps, they’re the main force.
By relying on the superiority in troops, creating a time gap for the enemy can turn the Orcs’ encircling strategy into “fueling tactics”, that would be perfect.
Regardless of whether it can be achieved, it’s always good to have a plan.
Although the success rate is low, what if the enemy is just stupid?
You would find in a history book that ninety-nine percent of legendary battles are filled with numerous fools.
On the other hand, peak confrontations rarely become legendary.
Unless there is a huge difference in abilities, the result of two powerful sides meeting would most likely end in mutual damage.
…
Bathing in the first rays of morning, and turning around to glance at the ready Bimon Cavalry, Prince Butzwieg waved his hand and announced: “The whole army moves out, let’s return to Dapes!”
Watching the grand Bimon Cavalry leave, Count Fidelis, who wanted to order an all-out attack to stab Bimon Cavalry in the back, finally managed to suppress his temptation.
Truthfully speaking, he can’t afford to provoke them.
With the current number of cavalry in his hands, if he provoked the Bimon Cavalry, few would manage to return alive.
It’s needless to mention the infantry, they won’t even get a chance to touch the shadows of the Bimon Cavalry, let alone cause trouble for them.
Suddenly, a hawkman descended from the sky, landing in front of the Bimon Cavalry.
From the redness hidden in his hawk eyes, it was obvious that he didn’t sleep well the previous night.
Even if the hawkman’s vision is good, he would still inevitably deviate in the darkness of night.
To quickly deliver the intel, all the hawkmans in the Orc Army embarked at night upon the encounter with the big defeat, to locate Prince Butzwieg’s camp.
In the end, it was the messenger soldier who had run two trips earlier, that found the Bimon Army first.
“Quick…
quickly inform Prince Butzwieg that the…
army…
ran into trouble last night!”
Having just finished his sentence, he fainted, successfully delivering the bad news to Prince Butzwieg’s hands.
“Sacrifice Shaman, quick, save him!”
Having received the news, Prince Butzwieg hurriedly ordered.
The life and death of a hawkman didn’t matter to him, but the fate of the thirty thousand besieging army, he couldn’t simply brush off.
Even if from the beginning, these armies were defined as cannon fodder, they couldn’t be buried without a clue.
The ancient Sacrifice song commenced, and the fainted hawkman gradually opened his eyes.
Just as he opened his mouth to say something, he started choking.
The Sacrifice Shaman who was responsible for the treatment shifted his expression, he only considered waking the hawkman up quickly but didn’t think that the side effect of the magic method was too great, it directly sent the hawkman away.
He constantly grumbled in his heart, however his face didn’t reflect his feelings as he said: “Your Highness, this hawk has been injured many times; his body was already exhausted.
Now, he has returned to the embrace of the Beast God!”
Not receiving any useful news and also wasting time, Prince Butzwieg didn’t look too pleased.
However, in the face of the fearless Sacrifice Shaman, he was helpless.
In these professional matters, he, an outsider, had no say.
“Keep moving!”
While speaking, he had already mounted his war beast.