King
Chapter 1019 - 1019 135 The Wind of Reform

1019: Chapter 135: The Wind of Reform 1019: Chapter 135: The Wind of Reform Central Continent, Black Forest Kingdom.

“Three days ago, the Allied Forces assembled an army of eight hundred thousand and launched a decisive battle against the Elf Race-led Alien Coalition Army.

The great battle lasted for two days and two nights.

Ultimately, due to the command center being ambushed by the enemy, including Marshal Angkot and dozens of high-level officers, died in the chaos.

After the loss of the command structure, the Allied Forces unfortunately collapsed yesterday afternoon, and Columbia fell entirely.

…”

As soon as Count Nicholas’s words hit the floor, the great hall fell silent.

Everyone wore a look of stunned disbelief, unable to accept that this was true.

The assembly of over eight hundred thousand troops from the nations of Central Continent had dissolved so quickly, collapsing faster than the previous fall of the Northern Continent.

The numerous small countries of the Northern Continent fought separately, but they still managed to hold the Elf Army at bay for half a year.

Of course, this included the time the Elf Race spent dragging their feet in the early stages.

War is ruthless, and no matter the cause, the performance of the Central Continental Allied Forces was unsatisfactory.

Blaming Different Races for not playing by the rules is pointless.

Because war on the Continent has never been about playing by the rules; here, everyone is judged solely by victory or defeat.

Besides, was the sudden collapse of the frontline really just because the command center was stealthily attacked by the enemy?

The people present weren’t fools and were acutely aware that the Allied Forces had been losing ground to the enemy, with their battle lines relentlessly forced back.

It’s less about the command center being ambushed by the enemy and more about the frontline troops’ poor positioning, which allowed the enemy to penetrate the command center.

After all, the location of the Allied Forces’ command center was very much to the rear, encompassed on all sides by massive armies, making it quite difficult to ambush.

The Minister of Defense mentioned that it was ‘the enemy’ who ambushed the command center, rather than specifically indexing it as ‘enemy masters.’

The subtle difference in language allowed a number of political survivors to instantly capture the key information.

Knowing is one thing, but no one came forward to disrupt the narrative.

With such a staggering defeat, if we don’t shift the blame onto the enemy, internal affairs would be difficult to manage.

After a long silence, people began to recover from this shocking news.

That the Allied Forces were made up of troops from multiple nations, mixed like fish and dragons, was no secret.

While the dispatches always mentioned the elves, in reality, the early losses were mostly due to a strong beating by the Ancient Remnant Allied Army, with the elves merely providing Magic Strikes.

The more one knew, the more one could grasp the urgency of the situation.

Without the Allied Forces to shield them, the flames of war would inevitably spread into the heartland of the Kingdom.

As one of the Continent’s Ten Kingdoms, the Black Forest Kingdom certainly wasn’t so fragile that a single defeat meant it couldn’t rise again.

The crux of the problem was that the Kingdom’s main forces were bogged down by the Stone People Race, and the troops that could be mobilized had just suffered a major defeat.

The specific loss of forces had yet to be tallied, but if the Allied Forces couldn’t withstand the enemy’s sharp edge, then relying on a bunch of beaten and battered soldiers was even more hopeless.

“What plans does the Military Department have next?”

King Alexander V asked with concern.

Indeed, he was at a loss, for his expertise was being a king, not a War God.

He did have some military knowledge, but that’s all there was.

To resolve the current adverse situation, King Alexander V’s reserve of military knowledge was clearly insufficient.

“Your Majesty, with the Allied Forces defeated, the Kingdom’s barrier is lost; we can only rely on ourselves now.

Looking at the current situation, it is almost certain that the Kingdom Army’s losses amongst the Allied Forces are heavy.

Even if some are lucky enough to escape the battlefield with their lives, their morale and fighting spirit would be severely compromised, making them ineffective in the short term.

In recent days, the Kingdom has established five new legions.

Together with the forces mobilized by various Nobles, we should be able to assemble twenty legions.

If only for the purpose of defending our cities, these new recruits should be somewhat useful and buy the Kingdom some time.

It primarily depends on the enemy’s next direction of attack.

Now that multiple countries share borders with the enemy, as long as we aren’t their main target, we should be able to hold on.

The Military Department plans to withdraw five more legions from the Stone People battleground, in addition to the twenty currently mobilized, to join the forthcoming defense efforts.

As for reclaiming lost territory, that would have to wait until after the Human Race wins this Continental war…”

Count Nicholas said with a lack of confidence.

For this unreliable contingency plan, he was nearly at his wits’ end.

The Black Forest Kingdom’s mobilization was too slow.

The Allied Forces had been battling the enemy for nearly three months, and this was all the force they had mustered.

What was worse, the two hundred thousand troops he mentioned were likely just a figure on paper.

The actual mobilization conditions in various places might be even more dire.

The King had issued a conscription decree, and many were baffled.

It wasn’t that people weren’t proactive; it’s that many Noble Lords had already gone to the frontline early on.

Inexperience was to blame, as many Noble Lords were called up to enlist and attack the Stone People Race soon after the war broke out.

If they had truly fought to the death, it would have been one thing, but the Black Forest Higher-ups wanted to use the opportunity to wear down the satellite nations’ strength, pushing their vassals to fight desperately.

The plan seemed perfect, striking the enemy while simultaneously removing a potential threat and consolidating one’s own position.

Unfortunately, the vassals weren’t fools – sending troops to battle didn’t equate to fighting to the death, and minimal effort was a given.

The direct consequence was that the well-prepared Kingdom Army, despite having the advantage, missed the best opportunity to strike and gave the enemy ample time to prepare.