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Chapter 996 - 996 126 Checks and Balances

996: Chapter 126: Checks and Balances 996: Chapter 126: Checks and Balances Chaos had erupted, the entire Warhammer Kingdom was in disarray.

Without the restraint of the Expeditionary Army, all the major factions began their frantic infighting.

Resistance forces across the regions first joined hands in defeating the Exile Faction, followed by a split within the resistance forces themselves, as the grassroots faction and the Noble Faction fought incessantly.

There was no doubt that behind it all, the Moxi People’s covert operations played a role.

Without external provocation, even if there were conflicts and contradictions, they wouldn’t have escalated so quickly.

After all, the great war that came before had eliminated countless old nobles, leaving large swaths of unclaimed land for the taking.

All this had nothing to do with Hudson, now on his way home.

For the Warhammer Clan, internal strife was genuinely fatal; but looking at the entire Continent, it had become nothing more than a minor disturbance.

The international impact this caused didn’t even garner as much attention as when the Elf Race raided camps to rescue prisoners.

It was merely attention, after all, the Warhammer Kingdom was again in a state of anarchy, leaving those who wanted to protest without knowing whom to address.

The journey back was as slow as a snail when they had arrived as swiftly as the wind.

It wasn’t that the quality of the Expeditionary Army had degraded, but rather that they had too many spoils of war.

The direct spoils weren’t much, but the gifts they received were plentiful.

Hudson didn’t hoard it all for himself; it was customary in the military to share the spoils.

To transport these spoils, the substandard mounts everyone used for travel were now harnessed to carts.

The Cavalry became infantry, and on top of that, they had to take on the work of civilians hauling their loot.

No one complained about the hardship or weariness of transporting their own battle spoils.

Everyone had bundles both large and small, creating the appearance of equal gains.

The difference lay in the value, where those with distinguished military achievements received more valuable spoils.

Spoils for the lower-ranking soldiers generally focused on practicality: fabric, salt, tea, Gold Coins…

It was clear that Hudson had also put effort into the distribution of spoils.

In addition to meeting practical needs, he strived for fairness and equity.

“Marshal, an urgent dispatch from the Northern Border!”

Taking the dispatch, Hudson scanned it briefly and said without expression, “Understood.”

He was startled, thinking it was a significant issue, but it turned out to be just the loss of a defensive line.

That hastily constructed line was good enough if it was usable—what more could one ask for?

If it was lost, then it was lost.

From the Northern Border to the Southern Frontier, the Kingdom still had countless defensives.

Not even the mighty Orc Empire at its zenith could break through the Kingdom’s defenses in a short time, let alone now.

The Kingdom’s Army, with their vast experience in enduring assaults, always managed to preserve their fighting force to the greatest extent possible whenever a defense was lost.

Numbers don’t lie.

If one defensive line could hold the Orc Army for more than a month, incurring forty thousand casualties, Hudson could completely accept that.

Of course, there was considerable exaggeration in these numbers.

The claim that the enemy was delayed for over a month was certainly an overstatement; the actual time they launched their attack must have been much shorter.

Hudson was certain that the Orcs were also uncertain, but in order to retain the newly recovered Great Plains, they had no choice but to continue the war.

In his initial plans, the full-scale invasion of the Kingdom by the Orc Empire would have resulted in the newly recovered provinces of the Northern Border falling, shifting the battlefield to the territories of the Five Great Dukes of the North.

This wasn’t about betraying allies; the Five Great Dukes were accustomed to being assaulted and had the most experience in facing Orc invasions, with the most comprehensive defense systems within their domains.

By contrast, the newly recovered provinces were not as prepared.

With little time for development and incomplete infrastructure, that area would be a logistical nightmare as a battlefield.

Without Hudson’s swift and decisive victories on the western front, the pressure of fighting on two fronts would have been too much for the Kingdom to bear for long.

The army advanced slowly, seemingly unaffected by the setback at the Northern Border.

But just because Hudson could remain composed, it didn’t mean the Northern aristocracy shared his calm demeanor.

Unlike common human nations, the Alpha Kingdom enforced especially strict measures when Lords lost their cities and territories.

Throughout the history of Orc invasions, countless Noble Lords perished on the battlefield, not because they couldn’t escape, but because they couldn’t afford to.

When the Orcs approached, it was a test of life and death for the nobles on the frontier.

In the Jade Palace, Caesar IV experienced a mix of sorrow and joy.

He had just received the good news about the ceasefire on the western front when pleas for help from the Northern Border began to pour in like snowflakes.

“How long before the Expeditionary Army reaches the Capital?” Caesar IV inquired with concern.

The “Expeditionary Army,” this special force, had been laden with the Kingdom’s hopes since its inception.

It had proven to be the right move for the Kingdom.

Relying on the high mobility of the Elite Cavalry to quickly defeat the Ancient Heritage Alliance and deter the Elf Race laid the groundwork for signing a non-aggression pact.

These were just the direct effects, with even more significant indirect repercussions.

After the battle on the Warhammer Great Plains, nations recalibrated their estimation of Alpha Kingdom’s strength, elevating their international standing invisibly once more.

Having just recovered from their weakened post-war state, the Kingdom’s status was restored overnight.

“Heroes” always draw special attention, particularly the Expeditionary Army, which was assembled from various Private Armies, with The Royal Family as a key contributor.

Nearly a third of the officers and soldiers in the Expeditionary Army came from The Royal Family.

Essentially, the youngest and most promising elf members of The Royal Family were all thrust into it.

The same was true for other families, who sent their best scions to gain experience and learn Hudson’s strategies of warfare.

More than the illustrious military achievements of the Expeditionary Army, what concerned them most was the safety of their own kin.