Chapter 304 - 65: War Preparations
Chapter 304: Chapter 65: War Preparations
"Your Highness, it’s time..." his aide said, glancing at the magic clock inside the tent before approaching Prince Odoruo’s bed.
Hearing this, Prince Odoruo climbed out of bed.
Given Prince Odoruo’s exceptionally poor Extraordinary talent and his frail constitution, he could actually feel the chill of the early morning.
This was to be expected, however. Moonlight still bathed the world outside, and these were the final cold nights before the dawn of spring.
Perhaps it was due to anxiety, but Prince Odoruo hadn’t slept all night.
"What about Elder Linton? Has he risen?" Prince Odoruo asked, stepping off his bed as two Soldiers helped him don his princely battle armor.
The armor, which emanated a faint fluorescent glow, had been acquired through trade with the Dwarf Kingdom in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.
"Elder Linton has already left to assemble the army, Your Highness. We must depart," his aide urged.
Meanwhile, the Beastman Camp was a hive of activity, brightly lit by torchfire.
.....
"Urgent report! Urgent report!"
"Make way! Urgent report!"
"Urgent report..."
As Prince Odoruo had decided on a direct, head-on attack this time, he had no intention whatsoever of concealing his movements.
The Rangers Robson had sent out all discovered the Beastmen’s unusual movements at nearly the same time.
In an instant, the shouts of the Rangers and the shrieks of griffins blended into a cacophony, while several Thunderhawks streaked across the sky.
...
"My Lord! My Lord!"
As the officer on duty, Ais rushed to Robson’s tent the moment he received the report.
Upon arriving at the tent, he found Robson already in full armor, accompanied by several of his personal guards.
"What is it? What’s the situation?" Robson asked with a frown.
As a Golden Tier expert, Robson didn’t require much rest in the first place.
He had been up all last night in his tent, handling official business. Over the past few days, Robson’s First, Second, and Third Regiments had all arrived at the battlefield. Now, his army at Wayne Moutain was at its full, ideal strength.
"The Rangers have sent an urgent report. The Beastman Army is showing signs of movement."
"Movement? In which direction?!" Robson looked at Ais and asked.
"Straight for Wayne Moutain. Nearly ten thousand Beastmen to the front, and a Gnoll army of over two thousand at our rear," Ais replied.
"Wayne Moutain... Are there no other directions?"
Seeing Ais shake his head, Robson’s brow furrowed.
"That’s impossible. The enemy must be making other moves. Send the Griffin Knights out to scout!" Robson commanded.
"My Lord, but there are too many Thunderhawks in the sky right now," Ais said, pointing upward.
As if to prove Ais’s point, the shriek of a Thunderhawk echoed from the sky right on cue.
Robson looked up to see five or six Thunderhawks circling high above Wayne Moutain, already battling his Griffin Knights.
It wasn’t that scouting was impossible, but under these conditions, it would be far more dangerous.
The scene only strengthened Robson’s conviction. ’There’s definitely something more going on here!’
"Right now, we have that routed group of Beastmen behind us, along with a Jackal Wolfman Legion.
"After the beating they’ve taken, it makes no sense for them to continue attacking us. It must be for some other reason..." Robson muttered, his gaze fixed on the northern part of Wisley Path.
It wasn’t that Lord Robson was some kind of strategic genius for making these deductions; the situation was quite obvious. The eastern front wasn’t a particularly important theater, and the humans already held a clear advantage.
Furthermore, look at the Beastmen’s army composition: a rabble of around ten thousand, two to three thousand Gnolls to the north, and about a thousand recently regrouped routed troops.
The human side wasn’t limited to just Robson’s army. Count Sriphine was also hastening from Ancient Dumu Town in the south with several thousand elite infantry and cavalry. On top of that, the tens of thousands of soldiers at Wisley Path had already begun to consolidate.
The Beastmen were already struggling against Robson’s army alone. Once the reinforcements arrived, their only recourse would be a trip to meet their Beast God—unless the Beast God himself descended to save them.
The fact that the Beastmen were still pressing the attack could only mean one thing: the individual Robson had previously trapped to the north held the key to the Beastmen’s very survival.
"Huang Na, head north—no, on second thought, go drive away the Thunderhawks. Don’t let them interfere with our griffins," Robson said, glancing at Huang Na perched on his shoulder. Initially, he had thought of sending her to do the reconnaissance herself.
But on second thought, reconnaissance was a technical job. Robson didn’t know if Huang Na’s racial heritage included lessons in statistics. And besides, if there was real danger, he wouldn’t feel too heartbroken over the death of a royal Griffin Knight.
After hearing his words, Huang Na, still on Robson’s shoulder, looked at him in confusion for a moment before understanding his intent.
The five-tailed white bird leaped into the air, let out a long cry, and then transformed into a ball of silver-white flame that rocketed into the sky.
"My Lord, what do we do now?" Ais asked, looking at Robson.
Robson pictured the map of the area surrounding Wayne Moutain. He had become quite familiar with it thanks to the reconnaissance over the past few days.
"Sound the horns and wake the men. Have the First and Second Regiments defend the front, and the Third Regiment defend the rear. The Cavalry Team and the Fengman Knight Order are to assemble and await orders," Robson said.
"As you command!"
....
HUUUUUU... HUUUUUUU...
Not long after Robson gave the order, the sound of horns began to rise and fall throughout the entire camp.
It was early morning, and per Robson’s regulations, the soldiers were just beginning to wake.
Since nearly every regiment met the standard for elite troops, the entire camp awoke almost simultaneously.