King
Chapter 579 - 579 133 Meal Arrangement_1

579: Chapter 133, Meal Arrangement_1 579: Chapter 133, Meal Arrangement_1 Hudson shouted at the sight of the mighty departing army, “Oh, the chilling wind over the cold Yi River, the departed warrior never returns!”

He admitted to feeling bitter.

The majestic Tyrannosaurus, the agile and fearsome Velociraptors, and the elephant-sized Triceratops… they were dazzling.

In addition to the ones on the ground, there were those flying in the sky.

At any rate, the corner of the Allied Forces that Hudson was exposed to was enough to make him green with envy.

Leaving aside these beastly armies, the individual quality of the Allied Forces soldiers was also frighteningly high.

There was hardly any average soldier among them.

Even though he knew that these were only meant to put up a show, Hudson couldn’t help but drool with envy, and forced himself to look away.

He dared not continue watching, for fear that he’d lose himself in jealousy.

After watching the main force leave, Hudson, who had come to his senses, realized his inappropriate behavior.

Fortunately, everyone’s reaction was more or less the same as his.

Every noble dreams of commanding thousands of horses, and as high-ranking nobles, they aspire to command only the elites!

…

“Now, let’s assign each of your tasks: Marquis James, you will be responsible for the distribution of the army’s rations.

You must coordinate well to ensure timely distribution of supplies.

Marshall Borg, Count Martins, Earl Piers, and Duke Pias… you will be responsible for escorting the supplies.

Although the Allied Air Force will provide you with safety warnings, we are still in the Orc Empire, and there is a chance that the enemy could manoeuvre their forces to avoid the sight of our air force.

Everyone must remain vigilant and not give the enemy any opportunity.

Especially be wary of the enemy sending experts to disrupt our supplies through the use of the Evil God Sacrifice.

Duke Cavadia, Duke Yagailong, Duke Dias, Duke Arondo… your tasks are the most important.

Not only must you capture Moonwind Port, but you must also seize a functioning Moonwind Port, laying the foundation for our army’s subsequent attacks.

…”

After a series of task allocations, everyone was busy, with only Hudson left “idle”.

But this was only a superficial phenomenon.

As the Commander of the Army, his task was far from easy.

Given the Central Army’s control, everything is going smoothly.

However, if something unexpected happens at any stage, he will have to take the lead, to avoid the situation from worsening.

As soon as Hudson finished speaking, Duke Pias, who could no longer hold back, stepped forward to question, “Earl Hudson, why am I…in charge of escorting food and supplies, instead of attacking the Moonwind Port?”

Initially, he wanted to question why he was singled out from the other Northern Nobles who were attacking Moonwind Port, but altered his accusation at the last moment.

It was reckless enough to question Hudson, the Commander in Chief.

If he had included his colleagues in the complaint, he would have offended even more people.

Anyone with clear sight could tell that although they were all assigned tasks, they were not of equal importance.

Those who wanted to foster connections and were not bothered by the complexity of relations, should choose supply distribution.

Those who wanted to accumulate military exploits should obviously opt for attacking Moonwind Port.

After all, military achievements are earned through battle.

Aren’t contributions made through shedding blood in the battlefield?

Escorting supplies is akin to doing grunt work.

Unless they encounter enemies pillaging food, and successfully defeat them to preserve the army’s supplies, they could then consider it a military achievement.

There is almost no chance of encountering a major enemy attack when there is air force protection.

It’s estimated that as soon as they set out, the nearby Allied Forces will swarm over.

When the Human Alliance initiated this war, in addition to maintaining the dignity of the Human race, it was more about flexing their muscles.

Not only was it a show of power to the Different Races, it was also a competition, or a mutual deterrence, among the major powers within the Human Race.

No doubts were cast upon their fighting spirit, as all would actively participate as long as a war could be won.

With the Allied Forces holding the front, even if the Orc Army came out to loot food, they would most likely only send a small force to cause disruptions.

In the vast open plain, at most a few hundred men could be hidden at once, any more would be hard to conceal.

In an open grassland, there are often more than one route to follow.

Without prior intelligence, ambushing accurately is purely dependent on luck.

After all the eager preparations, Duke Pias had been given a tough assignment just when it was time to make significant contributions.

It was only out of respect for the King that he didn’t challenge Hudson to a duel.

“Your Grace, there is no distinction between the importance of military tasks, just different assignments.

We are all fighting for the grand cause of the Human Race.

Capturing Moonwind Port is very important, and so is the task of escorting supplies.

Especially in orc territory, transporting supplies is fraught with danger.

Common troops simply cannot meet the task, especially the high-risk supply routes that require pillars of the kingdom like you to shoulder this heavy task!”

Hudson retorted righteously.

He exposed the bitter truth while painting it in noble colours, almost causing Duke Pias to choke on his rage.

Yet, Hudson’s reasons were very sound, effectively blocking any previously prepared speeches by Duke Pias.

The others were taken aback too, – their seemingly gentle Commander in Chief could be so ruthless dealing with others.

For a moment, everyone looked upon Duke Pias with sympathy.

Sympathy is one thing, but stepping in to help is out of the question.

Someone has to do the dirty, exhausting work.

If it’s not Duke Pias getting the raw end of the deal, it would be one of them filling the pit.

Especially for Earl Piers on the edge, he was terrified to the point of turning pale.

As a potential competitor, what would he do if he were assigned a suicide mission?

Fortunately, this worry only lasted for a moment.

Unlike the dominance of the five major clans in the North, the remaining nobles are their vassals.

The Southeastern Province is still filled with big and small nobles.

The populous Koslow family has relatives and friends flying all over the province.

Although Hudson has reason to undermine the Dalton Family, he can’t trap the entire province’s nobles at once.

To assign the Rocknard Family’s army to the grain transport task is to sever their path to military merit; but assigning the Southeastern Province Noble Alliance Army to the transport task is a genuine favor.

The foundation of achievements is strength.

With the remaining soldiers rallied and the military power of the vassal nobles, Duke Pias still has over 15,000 elites in his hand, enough to fight on the battlefield.

The entire Southeastern Province Noble Alliance Army under Earl Piers only has more than 3,500 people in total.

They simply can’t afford losses.

“You’re settling personal scores!”

The moment Duke Pias spoke, he regretted it.

Being disadvantaged at most results in losing the opportunity to gain military merit.

The dangerous task according to Hudson is relative.

As a commander, as long as he isn’t out of his mind, he won’t deliberately send his troops to their deaths.

All the nobles in the Kingdom are watching.

If there’s anything wrong with Hudson’s military deployment, he won’t be able to justify it to everyone.

Revenge is important, but both sides suffering losses is not a smart strategy.

Without breaking the ice, even for his own reputation, the most Hudson would do is ignore them.

He wouldn’t assign them dangerous tasks.

“Duke Pias, you can’t just blurt out anything.

We hold no grudges from the past, and haven’t had any recent conflicts, so where is the question of settling personal scores?

Could it be that you’ve done something disgraceful behind our backs, and harbored a grudge against me in secret?”

Hudson asked feigning confusion.

The enmity between the Koslow Family and the Rocknard Family dates way back, and the details of the past encounters are unclear to everyone now.

The destruction of the Koslow Family was at the hands of the Orc Army.

The Rocknard Family merely facilitated it behind the scenes, deliberately left them to die.

They did not directly fight against each other.

The Rocknard Family has completely erased all evidence of their betrayal of the Koslow Family, and they have never admitted it publicly.

The well-known truth, ironically, could not come from his mouth, leaving Duke Pias flushed.

“Earl Hudson, please calm down, Pias just spoke out of turn.

You two haven’t had any contact before, so how could there be any personal grievances!”

Duke Cavadia said sincerely.

If not for everyone present being aware of the situation, perhaps they would have truly believed him.

But believing or not is not important, in any case, there must be no enmity between Pias and Hudson.

Aside from the untold story of the Rocknard Family, there was the previous battle where Hudson promptly dispatched troops to assist Duke Pias.

Even if this assistance had no substantial significance, they couldn’t expose the pact with the Orcs.

They had to acknowledge this favor.

After hesitating for a moment, in the end, Duke Pias had no choice but to step forward and say, “I’m sorry, Honourable Earl Hudson.

Please forgive my earlier indiscretion…”

Face cannot fill one’s stomach.

Without sufficient reason, it is a great taboo in the military to confront the commander-in-chief head-on.

“Forget about it, Duke.

I understand that you wish to establish merit.

If you don’t wish to take the task of transporting grain, there’s another combat task here.

It was originally intended for my own troops to carry out, but since Duke Pias needs it, I shall hand it over to you.

Before we attack Moonwind Port, we need a separate detachment to create chaos, draw out the enemy’s main force, and ensure the port isn’t damaged.”

Hudson said casually.

Those originally watching the show all widened their eyes and looked mockingly at Duke Pias.

You want a combat task, here’s one now.

It’s also attacking Moonwind Port, with the only difference being that you’ll be the vanguard attracting enemy fire.

There certainly are risks, but it would be an exaggeration to say it’s suicide.

It doesn’t involve going into battle to the death with the enemy, just to draw them out.

What’s tested here is the commander’s ability to lead.

Although he had intended to refuse, Duke Pias somehow couldn’t utter the words.

At this point, if he was still not aware he had been plotted against by Hudson, then he would have labored in vain for all these years.

In the prior communication with Duke Cavadia, there was no such task.

This means that this military task was tailor-made for him.

If he hadn’t made a fuss just now, nothing would have happened.

But now that he had caused a scene, he becomes the vanguard of the army.

Worse yet, he couldn’t refuse.

It’s one thing not to participate in the grain delivery task, he could argue that he wanted to go to the battlefield.

But to refuse the vanguard task thereafter would seem rather ungrateful.

Military orders are absolute and should not be alternated frequently.

At this point if he refuses, he fears even his allies would not support him.