The Vastness of Magical Destiny
Chapter 981: Volume 31: A Hand Trying to Cover the Sky - 25: Taking an Indirect Approach

Chapter 981: Volume 31: A Hand Trying to Cover the Sky - 25: Taking an Indirect Approach

It turned out that Renta’s suggestion was extremely wise and correct, and the Bright Torrent Knights and Homer Knights had indeed become the two major knightly powers under his command. Formed on the basis of Poznan and Silesia Knights, and Homer Knights respectively, knights from both regions took pride and honor in joining these orders. Meanwhile, the Godeborg Knights were fully committed to catching up quickly, hoping to become another major contender in a short amount of time.

The strength of the three knights regiments recovered and even expanded quickly. In the real combat among the competing regiments, the knights discarded much of their past focus on superficial splendor. They adopted more practical combat experience, leading to a significant leap in the combat effectiveness of the three regiments.

While the strength of the knights regiments couldn’t decide the outcome of the war, having already possessed a significant advantage in infantry and mage power, the addition of these three knights regiment’s strength was undoubtedly like adding a significant weight to the scale of victory.

In fact, Komer had long been analyzing the composition of the Northern Alliance’s military power. Compared to Nicosia, the Northern Alliance’s knight power was much more formidable. However, their infantry power was far inferior to what he now controlled: the Rock Corps (Half-beastman Army) and the Furious Wave Corps (Barbarian Army). This was also the main reason why they were forced to adopt a grueling defensive stance when facing the beastmen’s overwhelming surges at the Northern Border.

Once the beastmen broke into the heartland of the Northern Alliance, the Northern Alliance’s army could use their relatively complete fortress defense system to restrain the beastmen’s impact. At the same time, they employed tactics of concentrating forces and choosing opportune moments to engage in decisive battles, which usually saw every beastmen invasion bring huge damage and losses, but ultimately, the beastmen were forced to retreat bitterly.

Komer had also compared his military power with that of the Northern Alliance before, and how to utilize his advantages to suppress the opponent and secure victory had always been a subject he and Fran studied. However, military confrontations were not solely determined by tactics. While considering how to suppress the enemy’s advantage and leverage their strengths, the enemy was also considering the same issues and thinking about countermeasures. The Northern Alliance had many outstanding military generals; otherwise, they would not have stood firm until now against the beastmen.

Many strategies designed in advance turned out to be futile in real combat. Komer could only say that he considered everything to the greatest extent possible, but when it really came to deciding the outcome of the war, it all depended on strength and momentary adaptability.

While Komer was fully focused on mobilizing as much military power as possible for this battle, which could be described as decisive for the fate of Nicosia and himself, Fran silently responded to the call and came to Komer’s study.

Komer’s gaze had been roaming around the Godeburg front. Godeburg was recently incorporated into his control area. Fortunately, Hoffman had cleanly withdrawn from the uncontestable struggle for supremacy, which relatively softened the hostile and opposing sentiments in this region. Renta, representing the Anson family, aligned with him, significantly alleviating many conflicts and promoting the armament and strengthening of the Godeburg Knights.

What should be done now? Should they passively wait until the Northern Alliance has fully controlled the Cartin region before taking action, or should they strike first now? The former approach seemed a bit slow, albeit advantageous for preparing his forces, while the latter could seize the initiative but might lead to a harsh counterattack from the already poised Northern Alliance.

"Fran, what should we do now?" Komer suddenly lifted his head.

"It depends on how you plan to fight this battle, Sir. If we just want to drive the Northern Alliance out of Nicosia, it’s best to strike first. As long as we can stabilize the initial phase and wait for our subsequent forces to catch up, with the current strength of the Northern Alliance, they are not capable of contending with our current powers, unless they continue to reinforce," Fran, who had immediately realized that the war was inevitable upon receiving Maha Gummi’s report, issued mobilization orders to the logistic and combat troops at the fastest speed before he came to Komer.

"If you want to engage in a thorough Great War and completely break the backbone of the Northern Alliance, let them come in. Cartin isn’t something they can swallow in one bite, and when the time comes, if we can unite with Basarabia to take joint military action, I believe we can give the Northern Alliance a severe lesson."

"That doesn’t depend on us but on the Northern Alliance." Komer frowned, sensing that Fran’s words held significant room for discussion.

"Exactly, so you don’t need to ponder too much, Sir. Since the scale of the war depends on the opponent, then we don’t need to strategize further. Whatever they bring, we fight. Whatever preparations we have reached now, that’s what we’ll commit. The Northern Alliance’s current commitment isn’t very strong. Attica and Knossos, two main cores of the Alliance, haven’t fully prepared for a total war. I doubt they are mentally prepared for a full-scale war, especially for Cartin. Even if their monarch has such intentions, convincing the nobles and the public in their own country would still take time," Fran remarked.

Fran’s tactically understated speech immediately made Komer resolve.

"Order Dragumo to lead the advance units into the Cartin territory first, followed by the Godeborg Knight Group and Homer Knight Order. Have the Furious Wave Corps and Bright Torrent Knights ready; they must reach the designated location within three days for assembly, and within a week I want to see our power compete with the Northern Alliance at the same starting line."

"Sir, I suggest we capitalize on the Nissai River’s navigability to transport a portion of the Half-beastman Army into Livonia ahead of others since it’s already the territory Her Highness Princess Katya has promised you. I believe before we formally declare war on them, the Northern Alliance will hold onto the illusion of avoiding direct conflict with us, and this is our opportunity. Establishing a foothold in Livonia will greatly benefit our efforts to fully reclaim Cartin by opening a new front."

Fran’s suggestion lit up Komer’s eyes—it was a good idea. The Northern Alliance had entered Cartin without proper justification or slogans for waging war against him, which clearly indicated that they did not wish to spark a large-scale conflict at this moment. They needed some buffer time, which was more advantageous for him.

"Hmm, very well, proceed as you planned. Have Dragumo take Livonia and make sure he holds it. Once we have Livonia, the Northern Alliance will eventually have to face the dilemma of fighting on two fronts. Fran, have the follow-up troops speed up their mobilization preparations; they must all enter the battlefield within three days." Komer decided with a clap of his hands.

Dragumo, who had just returned from the South Cordillera Wilderness, received the urgent order in a daze, almost without any opportunity to ask questions or gather information. He led three thousand soldiers onto a boat in the middle of the night from Plovdiv to the designated place and after landing, immediately embarked on a two-day forced march right up to Bruce Fortress, followed swiftly by boarding a ship one after another to start the journey upstream.

The back-to-back days of forced marching, despite being a mark of the half-beast soldiers’ pride in their resilience, wore them out considerably. Although they regularly trained with forced marches, they had never encountered such intensity, and strict military orders left them no room for bargaining. Naturally, the half-beast men were also not accustomed to haggling.

Fortunately, once on board the ships from Bruce Fortress, the half-beast soldiers had time to rest. Thirty large cargo ships of various sizes were temporarily conscripted, and even though they hadn’t been fully cleared of coal slag and ore slag, the anxious half-beast soldiers boarded. Soon, snores that could rival thunder rumbled through the decks.

Dragumo too was exhausted, as such intensive forced marching greatly drained his energy. However, as a commander, he of course had to give more than his soldiers, like now, fighting back the urge to sleep and contemplating the objective of this urgent march.

The military orders issued jointly by Komer and Fran were simple: control and secure Livonia, ensuring it was not lost within a week. Within that week, three thousand reinforcements were expected, but the enemy’s numbers, the specific units, or the commanding officers from the Northern Alliance were unknown.

Dragumo immediately sensed the mission’s difficulty—it was nothing like the nearly theatrical wars in the South Cordillera Wilderness. The lack of detailed enemy information required him to deploy scouts to gather intelligence as soon as he landed in Livonia. Being so far from Lord Komer’s controlled areas made reinforcements within three to five days out of the question. Dragumo knew that Komer’s main army was amassed at Godeborg, and that his three thousand men had been in Plovdiv awaiting another three thousand half-beast recruits from the Muscat Training Camp.

Dragumo took a cold breath—wait, could the three thousand reinforcements Komer mentioned be those rookie eggs from the Muscat Training Camp?!

The more Dragumo thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and it really was grabbing a hot potato. These three thousand new recruits had not yet been tested in war; although Dragumo had confidence in the quality of half-beast soldiers, this was a bloody war. Moreover, the dire command issued to secure Livonia clearly indicated a powerful enemy. He might face the most brutal and passive situation yet, and what would these inexperienced recruits bring?

This was really a big problem. (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com for more Chapters, support the author and authorized reading!)