King
Chapter 533 - 533 103 Modesty_2

533: Chapter 103, Modesty_2 533: Chapter 103, Modesty_2 Preliminary estimates show that at least over eighty thousand Orcs have left.

Judging from the direction of the enemy army, they seem to be returning to their base.

Perhaps there has been some change in the rear of the Orc Empire that necessitates them to divert troops back.”

The words of the middle-aged officer deeply puzzled Marshal Campbell.

A crisis occurring in the rear of the Orc Empire was entirely out of line.

There had been no such situation in the past hundreds of years.

Even though they knew full well that the Orc Empire was rife with internal conflicts, there were no significant upheavals throughout countless years.

Experienced commanders often get bound by their own rich experiences.

Faced with this unexpected event, Marshal Campbell’s first reaction was to increase vigilance.

“Issue orders to all units to heighten vigilance.

Slaughter livestock immediately and save the precious fodder for the war horses.

We need to be ready for a long standoff with the enemy!

Dispatch people to track the movement of the Orc troops and find out their real intention as soon as possible.”

…

Bathed in the spring light, the Southeastern Army set out once again.

By right, the Southeastern Army, having been in continuous combat for more than a year, should have been resting by now.

However, there are always exceptions.

With the kingdom in crisis, the Southeastern Army is playing the role of a lifeline, and naturally cannot retreat to rest.

The army advanced all the way, and the troops grew increasingly formidable.

Caesar III once again issued a mobilization order, including the severely wounded Fengyun Province.

The seven provinces in the southeastern region of the kingdom were all within the scope of conscription.

Due to the delay in dealing with prisoners of war, each province almost completed the mobilization.

Without any accident, the fourteen corps mobilized from the seven southeastern provinces were incorporated into the Southeastern Army.

With the addition of 140,000 troops, Earl Hudson did not feel any joy.

His intuition told him that this was just the beginning, and more rabble would be allocated under his command.

The biggest difference between having many soldiers and having few soldiers is: if the former loses a battle, the commander is considered incompetent; if the latter loses, it’s somewhat understandable.

If he is to reorganize the front line, these serf soldiers who have only undergone simple military training could still be of some use.

If he is expected to lead the army to rescue the Northern Expedition Army, that would just be treating him unfairly.

He could only hope that those guys in the capital wouldn’t get carried away and issue a foolish command.

Out of concern for the upcoming situation, Hudson decided to slack off decidedly.

Besides enforcing some discipline, he let things take their course.

The reorganized Southeast Army demonstrated perfectly what a rabble is like in terms of their marching speed.

Marching fifty or sixty miles a day is a thing of the past.

The current Southeastern Army’s marching speed has been halved.

With the snail-like progression, if it were in the past, Hudson would have ordered the supervision team to kill someone already.

Now, it’s fine to be slow.

It would be perfect if the first batch of Alliance reinforcements arrives just when they reach the front line.

If the Northern Expedition Army still can’t break through, it won’t be a big problem after merging the armies for rescue.

If the front line unfortunately loses, Hudson can only admit it.

With his own limited strength, he can only try to preserve the kingdom’s foundation.

“Count, the King’s Special Envoy is here again.”

Hearing the word “again”, Hudson felt uneasy.

Now he gets exasperated just by seeing Earl Laurent, who keeps urging him.

“Please let Earl Laurent in!”

No matter how unsatisfied he is, he has to meet him.

The person represents the king.

Hudson can’t be so “brave” to directly reject him.

Caesar III is not a person to be trifled with.

Once offended, he has a myriad of means to deal with people.

Many of the major nobles in the kingdom have been subdued by him.

With countless painful examples, Hudson did not want to take the risk.

“Honorable Earl Hudson, I’ve brought His Majesty Caesar III’s new orders.

From now on, the Southeastern Army will be reorganized as the Mid-South Army, with you serving as the Chief Commander, responsible for unifying the command of the newly conscripted armies in the central and southern provinces of the Kingdom.”

Having announced the King’s new command and seeing Hudson’s lack of reaction, Earl Laurent couldn’t help but remind: “Earl Hudson, what do you say?”

What do I say?

Heck!

At this moment, the fighting power of the newly drafted armies is the worst in the kingdom.

I don’t know who gave Caesar III the confidence to think that I could command so many rabble.

Just the hundreds of thousands of rabble from the seven provinces of the Southeast were enough to make him give up.

Now there are more than two hundred thousand more.

Does he want people to live?

“Earl Laurent, please convey my message to His Majesty the King: Hudson has limited abilities and is not capable of commanding the Mid-South Army.

Please select someone who is wise and competent!”

The sincerity in his tone left Earl Laurent dumbfounded.

Commanders who loathe having multiple soldiers are not absent, but there aren’t many.

Last time when the army of various provinces in the southeast was incorporated, Hudson didn’t show much interest.

But he eventually accepted it.

This time, he directly refused.

“Honorable Earl Hudson, you mustn’t say that!

The Kingdom is in difficulty, and we need good generals like you.”

Both were forced into the position.

For a king, the most crucial aspect is to maintain balance.

Originally, Caesar III did not intend to hand over so many armies to Hudson.

Previously, he separately appointed the commander of the Southwestern Army and Central Army, but those two simply did not perform well, causing a huge mess even before they set off.

“The army being like a flood” isn’t a joking phrase, especially for a rabble army, it’s destructive power is astonishing.

Not surprisingly, both the Southwestern Army and Central Army demonstrated the destructive power of the rabble through their actions.

The problem-less Southeastern Army stood out immediately.

A sharp contrast was made, and Caesar III decided to change commanders on the spot.

The discipline of the newly conscripted army was downright terrible, and apart from lacking training, there was another significant reason —— a severe lack of qualified officers.

In other words, there weren’t enough capable noble children available.

The remaining ones were a bunch of spoiled second generations which are now being forcibly conscripted into the army.

A group of useless officers with a group of rabble soldiers, they put on the tragedy of “army passing like a flood”.

Many noble families were tragically abused by the chaotic soldiers.

These nobles are still fighting on the front line, you know?

Faced with such a major event, the kingdom couldn’t stand aside.

As the person directly responsible, the commander naturally had to be dismissed immediately, and the accountability of the disrupting participants also had to be investigated.

After a series of troubles, the position was vacated.

Knowing it’s a mess, the big shots in the capital naturally took turns to decline.