Twenty-six, Reinforcements? Beggars' Sect?

  Twenty-six, Reinforcements? Beggars' Sect?

  "What shall we do next?" Governor Nye asked for the twentieth time that day, and was met with an embarrassed silence.

  Charlotte, Ferry, Ludwig, and even Major Torini, who had just rescued Rick, all lowered their massive bear heads, staring fixedly at the empty plates in front of them, as if they could find a large steak in the middle.

  After a nightmarish night, the Elven Army abandoned their camp and then Glory City, but used lead bullets and bayonets to break open the Imperial Army's camp gate. The ratio of troops changed from 3,000 vs 9,000 to 800 vs 3,000, with many Elves scattered across the grasslands - Idriel also had no way to gather all the defeated soldiers within a few hours. Phil couldn't help but sigh that this Idriel Lirien Lieutenant General was really a cockroach who couldn't be killed, and under such circumstances, he still managed to reorganize his troops and turn the tables. Whoever encountered such an opponent would have a severe headache.

  Due to the destruction of grain warehouses in the city, the food in the military camp fell into the hands of the spirits. From noon on, everyone's diet began to deteriorate severely. Now, each officer can only get a fist-sized black bread and a bowl of hot soup made from miscellaneous vegetables, offal, and bones, while soldiers and refugees can only drink thin porridge mixed with wild vegetables. Even such a diet, according to the calculations of the cooking class, can only be supplied for at most five more days.

  After a dinner that couldn't fill his stomach, Governor Niu left the officials to discuss their next move, and Fei Li was also among them. However, like the meeting after lunch, no one had any good ideas: the system was in disarray, food was scarce, ammunition was tight, morale was low, and there were many refugees to worry about. This battle really couldn't be fought!

  If the Elf Army returns to North Harbor with their spoils of war, the Giant Bear Corps, which has been thoroughly defeated, will likely let them go without a fight. In fact, it has been proven that these sturdy men, who were hastily trained by incompetent officers, have serious defects in both their military quality and combat skills. After a night of brutal fighting, many of them have developed severe psychological problems, and there have been numerous deserters and malingerers. The army chaplains had to work day and night to indoctrinate them with sermons and even used spiritual magic, but since these chaplains were mostly bottom-of-the-class students from the theological seminary, the effect of their ideological mobilization was far from satisfactory, and many of the chaplains themselves also deserted.

  Attacking the camp of the Elf Army with such an army is basically as difficult as using a toothpick to slaughter a dragon. Moreover, last night's battle paid so much price, both internally and externally, it has been completely justified, no one can blame the Giant Bear Army for being self-willed and indulgent.

  The problem is that General Idriel Liriaton doesn't seem to have the slightest intention of retreating, and instead presses on with an imposing momentum, transporting all the soldiers from the sandbank to the south shore in small boats, not to mention moving the camp and captured artillery towards Glorious City, as if preparing for another assault.

  Everyone does not understand how Eidreil thinks, but now the giant bear legion is absolutely unable to fight against the enemy. The dilapidated Glorious City can no longer be relied upon for defense, so there is only self-reliance and hard struggle.

  From the afternoon on, all those who could still stand up automatically became volunteer laborers. The original simple wooden fence at the port has now become a 5-foot-high earth wall, and a trench with spikes inserted at the bottom was dug in front of the wall. The artillery emplacements set up for the cannons that were rushed back were permanent obstacles made of wood and stone, which were the products of the last few mages including Phil using "mud to stone". To defend against fire attacks, most soldiers abandoned their tents and slept in temporary trenches like moles - originally prepared for burying corpses, now they had to lie down alive first.

  "Why isn't anyone speaking? Have you all become mute?" Governor Norm was getting annoyed, his face stern as he paced back and forth in front of the hanging map, looking like he wouldn't let anyone sleep until they came up with a solution.

  Ludwig looked around and found that no one had the intention of speaking up, so he had to force himself to say, "In my opinion, with our current strength it's hard to hold on, we must find a way to seek help."

  "Have you sought help? Of course, I have already done so. However, the transmission array has been destroyed, and there is only enough food for five days. Within these five days, which reinforcements can arrive? Are there any militia that can be gathered nearby?"

  "This... " Ludwig opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end didn't say a word. The inside of the tent suddenly became dead silent.

  Actually, everyone understands that Governor Nohm wants to make a desperate attempt and launch a counterattack. It's just that he doesn't want to say it himself, so as to end the current awkward situation of being neither dead nor alive. However, everyone also understands that whoever first proposes this suggestion under the governor's hint will immediately become a scapegoat, and may even become the public enemy of the whole army, or possibly be shot in the back.

  The meeting continued in a dull atmosphere, and everyone was about to fall asleep when Governor Norm finally let out a helpless sigh, rubbed his face with his hands, and stood up against the table. "Forget it, let's stop here for today, hoping that reinforcements will arrive tomorrow."

  Everyone was like a great amnesty, and they all bid farewell. As for the reinforcements? No one had any hope for that. Anyway, everyone had made up their minds to be turtles, holding on for another day, and if it really didn't work out, they could use wooden rafts to retreat by sea to the south or cross the river to the large camp on the north shore, where there were still some stored provisions. Anyway, everyone did their best, as long as they used "protecting refugees' safety" as an excuse, no one would be able to blame the frontline soldiers for avoiding battle. It's just that Governor Norm's plan to run for war zone commander might become more dangerous due to the loss of Glory City. No one wanted to risk a military coup to attack the enemy camp just to avoid this small price.

  Everyone has their own small abacus in their heart, but if the plan can be implemented 100%, it's not called a plan. Especially when everyone is awakened from sleep by the noise and opens the door with thick resentment, everyone fully understands what it means for plans to fail to keep up with changes.

  ****

  The current Northern State Army is a very distinctive team, so distinctive that Phil immediately thought of the Beggar's Sect when he first saw them, rather than any military organization in the classical sense.

  To be specific, there are more women than men in this team, more old people and children than young adults, more wounded soldiers than healthy ones, and more unarmed people than armed ones. Each of them holds a wooden stick with tattered clothes, looking pale and thin from hunger, they look like a group of beggars.

  These more than 20,000 long-distance travelers who had starved to death after traveling hundreds of miles immediately devoured the remaining food of the Giant Bear Army upon arriving in Glorious City, and a bout of wolfing down immediately eliminated half of it. Taking advantage of their desperate stuffing of things into their mouths, Governor Nohm found a few beggar gang elders, no, militia commanders to hold a small meeting, only then did he understand the origin of these guys.

  Originally, at the same time that the Elf Army took down Fog Town, the Northern State Militia also recovered the capital Stone Fortress, which was guarded by only 300 Elf soldiers. However, this good situation did not last long, and before the rainy season had even ended, thousands of Elf troops came from Fog Town to attack Stone Fortress. The militia in Stone Fortress were completely unprepared mentally, and they were almost driven out of the city without firing a shot.

  Afterwards, the elves who retreated from the south returned to the northern states one after another to participate in the suppression of the civilian groups. The days of these guerrilla troops became more and more difficult. In a recent battle, several civilian groups active in the coastal areas were destroyed by the elven army, with villages and stored materials all reduced to ashes. These homeless people thought of Charlotte, their nominal superior (Commander-in-Chief of the Three-State Volunteer Army), and came to seek refuge under her leadership, bringing their elderly and children on a long journey.

  Suddenly, there were 20,000 more mouths to feed, and the Giant Bear Corps was completely overwhelmed. If they continued to hold out, they feared that a cannibalistic tragedy would soon erupt. When they heard that large numbers of civilian troops had also gone to the north shore to devour the wealthy, the nerves of all the officers were finally shattered. They immediately went one by one to knock on Governor Norm's chest and ask for battle, with slogans shouting louder than one another.

  "Governor, my cavalry is willing to take the lead and charge into the enemy camp, opening a path for the main army!" This was Major Torini, who had always been taciturn but now shouted with full vigor, showing no signs of having suffered severe injuries. It seemed that his previous treatment had been remarkably effective.

  "Governor, as the commander of the volunteer corps, I also bear responsibility for the loss of our camp. I hope you can give me a chance to redeem myself." Charlotte's emotions were running high as she waved her hands wildly, but ended up tugging on her wound and gasping in pain.

  "Your Excellency, we are fortunate to have your patronage. Tomorrow, we will certainly fight bravely, but as for the weapons..." This was said by a certain beggar gang elder or militia commander, who also made a very practical request after asking to go to war.

  "Wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah……"

  ……

  The corner of Governor Norm's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to say "Why didn't any of you speak up yesterday", but in the end he held back. He turned around and walked back to the entrance of the tent that was serving as the command center, beckoning to everyone with his hand, "Alright, let's have a battle meeting now. Charlotte, go hang up the map. Everyone say something, what should we do next?"