Chapter 264 - 33: Beastmen’s Forced March
Chapter 264: Chapter 33: Beastmen’s Forced March
Just as Robson and his men received the news, a Thunderhawk arrived in the northern region of Ehrlich Province.
Ehrlich Province was generally divided into north and south by a river, with Bai Ma Ferry serving as the border.
「Clichy County.」
Prince Odoruo had just finished assembling his army.
An army like the one under Robson’s command was a rare sight, an elite force on the continent. Prince Odoruo, on the other hand, had always been ostracized, so his soldiers naturally couldn’t compare to Robson’s.
Moreover, Prince Odoruo now had tens of thousands of troops under his command.
As the saying goes, an army marches on its stomach. Robson had dared to set out so decisively because he had Valentino holding down the fort for the Fengman Clan, completely untroubled by logistical concerns.
Prince Odoruo was still studying the campaign map. If Robson were here, he would have undoubtedly cursed out the previous human army in a fit of rage.
The map in Prince Odoruo’s hands was even more detailed than the one belonging to Lord Robson.
SCREECH!
The Thunderhawk’s cry roused Prince Odoruo from his state of deep concentration.
"Put the map away."
Prince Odoruo handed the map to a Personal Guard assigned to protect it, then turned his gaze to the sky.
"Military intelligence? Have him come down. I want to see him at once." Prince Odoruo said to a nearby guard, pointing at the Thunderhawk in the sky.
After acknowledging the order, the guard immediately went to the rear to find the priest responsible for guiding the Thunderhawks.
The Thunderhawks of the Beastman Empire were quite similar to the griffins used by the humans. Both creatures were specially trained and were not permitted to cry out unless they had spotted an emergency.
That Thunderhawk had just cried out three times. The military situation had to be urgent.
In that instant, Prince Odoruo’s thoughts flew to Castro, who was currently locked in a fierce battle to the south.
To be honest, Prince Odoruo had been on edge ever since he ordered Castro to intercept the humans.
He, Odoruo, had always prioritized a cautious approach. His original plan was to lie low indefinitely, but the Beast Emperor had been pressuring him so intensely that he had no choice but to strike.
Prince Odoruo was now starting to have regrets. ’So what if the Beast Emperor is pressing me? If I don’t act, I’ll just get a reprimand. But if something goes wrong, the losses will all come from my own forces.’
He had built up his army, soldier by soldier.
The Thunderhawk landed quickly, and a short goblin was led before Prince Odoruo by a guard.
Beastmen were enormous, so the Thunderhawks needed to carry them had to be of a certain size and strength.
The flock of Thunderhawks under Prince Odoruo’s command were rejects, cast-offs from within the Beastman Empire. He hadn’t managed to acquire a single one of the true Thunderhawks, the kind strong enough to carry a Beastman.
Prince Odoruo had no choice. Having something was better than having nothing, so he had goblins ride the Thunderhawks instead.
"This humble servant greets..."
"Skip the introductions. Did Castro send you? What’s the situation at the front?" Prince Odoruo waved a hand, dismissing the formalities.
Right now, all he wanted to know was the outcome of the battle.
"As you command, Your Highness."
The goblin produced three dispatches from his pack, stepped forward, and handed them to Prince Odoruo.
Prince Odoruo grew uncharacteristically tense. ’What’s written on these pages will decide my future. It will determine whether I can finally touch the core of power, or if this is as far as I’ll ever go.’
Tec could clearly sense the excitement radiating from Prince Odoruo’s entire body. He scratched his head, confused.
The last time he had seen the Prince in such a state was on the eve of the campaign, when the various princes were being assigned their fronts.
"Excellent!"
Suddenly, Prince Odoruo let out a cry of praise.
"Excellent! That Castro truly didn’t disappoint me. He’s matured... he’s truly matured! He has his elder brother’s bearing now!
He seized this opportunity perfectly!
A heaven-sent opportunity! This is a heaven-sent opportunity!" Prince Odoruo looked at the battle report in his hands, unable to stop himself from crying out in exultation. The weight in his heart had finally been lifted.
Tec glanced curiously at the letters in Prince Odoruo’s hand, his own curiosity piqued.
Although Prince Odoruo never hid his true feelings—he was the type to wear his heart on his sleeve—he was rarely this stirred up.
"Your Highness, what did Castro do?" Tec inquired. Castro’s elder brother had once held Prince Odoruo’s deep trust, so for Castro to earn such high praise thoroughly aroused Tec’s curiosity.
"Something wonderful," Prince Odoruo said without hesitation, handing the dispatches to Tec.
"Guard, bring out the map," Prince Odoruo said to the guard at his side.
Tec opened the dispatches and read the news.
A great victory in Sri County. Castro had already broken the enemy formation into several pieces, even driving the human Commander-in-Chief up onto a hillside.
The entire human army was now completely paralyzed. They were making no moves and had lost all contact between their units.
In other words, the tens of thousands of troops along Wisley Path were completely trapped.
"When did Castro become so formidable?" Tec asked in astonishment.
"It’s not that he’s formidable, it’s that these humans are utterly foolish.
I was worried before that they were trying to lure me into a trap by marching deep into the mountains. It seems I was overthinking it..." Prince Odoruo said.
Tec scratched his head, still quite puzzled.
"But what if this is also a trap?"
Prince Odoruo looked at Tec. For a moment, he had almost addressed him as if he were Castro’s elder brother.
"Would you sacrifice the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers just to lure an enemy? That’s how foolish these humans are."
"So, what do we do now?" Tec asked, none the wiser, but he didn’t press the issue.
Prince Odoruo looked at the map and pointed his finger at a pass on it: Feiying Pass.
Several dozen kilometers beyond Feiying Pass lies Fengman City.
"I don’t know if this force we’ve trapped is the one containing the human Commander-in-Chief.
Let’s assume the worst-case scenario: we’ve only intercepted a detached force.
But this force is tens of thousands strong. The humans won’t just stand by and do nothing."
"Beyond this pass is the territory of the Fengman Clan. I’ve looked into them before. Their old Patriarch was killed by one of my Imperial Father’s great generals, and now some young, inexperienced girl is in charge.
The Fengman Clan has the Fengman Knight Order. On the battlefield, this Knight Order once numbered close to a thousand. When my Imperial Father’s forces encircled them last time, a good number managed to escape.
"Tell Castro to be on guard for this Knight Order attempting a rescue. He just needs to hold them off and wait for our reinforcements."
"What if they don’t attempt a rescue? What if that Knight Order chooses to charge to the rear of Wisley Path instead? Wouldn’t Castro become a sitting duck?" Tec said, voicing his concern to Prince Odoruo.
"The Knights can ride at speed, but the common infantry can’t keep up.
The biggest concern right now is whether the enemy will break out of Castro’s encirclement."
"You will take the Beastman Infantry Corps and the Dwarf Infantry Corps and advance at top speed to reinforce Castro.
Pin them down. If we can annihilate this human force, it will buy us more time," Prince Odoruo said.
"And with more time, we can study this map properly."
As he spoke, Prince Odoruo’s gaze fell upon a prominent mark on the map, a spot that had been circled in red by some unknown previous owner.
This was also the reason Prince Odoruo had chosen Clichy County.
Prince Odoruo had been an unfavored prince who, by all rights, shouldn’t have commanded a single soldier. The story of his rise to power was like something out of a storybook—it all began with a treasure map.
Relying on the treasure he found from that map, Prince Odoruo had successfully built his own army.
Prince Odoruo had thought his days of dealing with such things were over, but unexpectedly, he had made a new discovery in recent months.
And that was why Prince Odoruo always had his Personal Guard carry that cumbersome box.