Chapter 687 Impending Attack
"Alright."
Evan torched the plate he just used before pulling out a bottle of strawberry wine and pouring some for himself as he spoke.
"You guys may have taken Six states and have high momentum, but I'm sure you realise you have to consolidate your command over these states before you push further."
Of course.
We plan to form a defensive line around here."
Beluar pointed at the spots on the map and Evan looked at them while sipping his wine. He apported a pen into his hand and drew an extra line before speaking.
"Add Zhupus to that list, or do we not have enough soldiers?"
"We don't have enough soldiers to conquer Zhupus. If we do, our forces would be spread too thin and that's never good in any war book."
Evan nodded as he spoke, pouring another glass of wine before asking a question.
"But the current soldiers we have here are enough to maintain control over the states?"
"Indeed."
"Are they enough to defend against an attack from Zhupus this evening?"
"…what?"
Now, even the Major Generals who were giving orders to the Commissioners turned their heads in Evan's direction when they heard the boy's words.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. You didn't think Liegan would not have requested reinforcements after seeing you guys, right?"
"We are sure they did.
But it takes time to mobilize soldiers to cross state borders. I'm sure they'd also conscript some civilians, which would take even more time. They'd have to arrange for supplies as well which would also take more time.
The soldiers Marching would take time as well, and this is not factoring the shallow river that is South of Liegan that they need to cross. A river whose bridge I have on lockdown."
Evan nodded in affirmation as all Beluar said was true, then he pointed at Liegan on the map and asked.
"What if Zhupus sent reinforcements, let's say, a Division to aid Liegan and these reinforcements were meant to depend on Liegan for supplies?
Then what if they sent these reinforcements and then still conscripted the civilians after they'd sent the reinforcements, intending for the new conscripts to be reinforcements of the reinforcements?"
"First of all, sending the conscripts alone would not be wise as there would not be enough soldiers to make them properly fall in line.
As for depending on Liegan for supplies? That's very hopeful of them."
"Is it?"
Evan turned towards Aldric who was not too far from them and asked the same question again.
"Is it?"
Immediately, Aldric realised that Evan knew that he had indeed promised to handle the provisions for the soldiers from Zhupus in an attempt to make them come quicker.
The issue was this was a decision not even Governor Doulton knew about, so how did Evan find out?
Beluar quickly figured something was off from the way Evan was acting, and he questioned the boy about it.
"Wolfen has been hit hard by your sudden Invasion. You've captured six of its states, including a massive revenue generator like Liegan.
But its leaders are not entirely incompetent. Even if you had the element of surprise, it's been over 15 hours now.
They're sure to have properly reacted to the invasion and have sent out orders to all the Military bases across the country. They need to retaliate in some manner otherwise it'd affect their appearance on the international stage, reduce the public opinion of its citizens and most importantly, reduce the Morale of the soldiers.
So, I assume that they've definitely agreed to Zhupus' plan of action, and have probably sent over any few powerhouses they can send.
Funds would also be allocated to draw Mercenaries towards this part of the country and though Adventurers have restrictions when it comes to participating in wars, there are a lot of them who'd still find loopholes to defend their country."
Evan's words were based on his own deductions using the information he had, not from what had happened in the game. The War was already proceeding much differently than it did in the game so he wasn't going to be heavily dependent on the information from it.
He was also 100% sure the actions Wolfen would take would differ due to his presence.
"Long story short, Zhupus would probably be attacking Liegan pretty soon. The soldiers who're coming as reinforcements would see that Liegan has already fallen and change their plan of action to try and take the state back."
In the game, those soldiers arrived before Beluar invaded Liegan, and though Wolfen still lost this battle, there were a lot more casualties on the GEE's side.
The Armies of Liegan and Zhupus were decimated, Aldric died and the two states were captured in one fell swoop.
'In the game, Beluar attacked Liegan two days after the War began, since the soldiers who'd taken over Tomond needed to rest and reinforcements needed to arrive from the other cities.
But since I dealt with Firecrest and made it easier for Tomond to fall, the soldiers were not tired and could march to Liegan on the same day. They were able to capture Liegan who hadn't received reinforcements from Zhupus yet and there were a lot fewer deaths than there would have been.'
Evan's gaze scanned the map and he looked at the Southern Garrison of Liegan which was frighteningly close to the shallow river that flowed as the border of Liegan and Zhupus.
The banks of the river were not plains and had a bit of forestry on both sides, perfect for the Zhupus soldiers to hide behind as they moved towards Liegan, and perfect to obstruct the view of the river's bend from Liegan's Southern Garrison.
"I need to have a word with Sir Beluar. Please clear the room."
The Major Generals looked to Beluar for confirmation and he nodded in affirmation. Immediately, they got Aldric and the rest out of the room before clearing the area, leaving Evan and Beluar to discuss.
Evan then explained what happened in the game, citing it as what would have happened if not for him taking Firecrest and how he had made things easier.
"Sure, you would not be capturing Zhupus and Liegan in one fell swoop, but you'd have a lot more soldiers and still retain your high momentum.
If Zhupus attacks Liegan after seeing the change of flags, then we'd be able to deal with Zhupus' actual army and then when more soldiers come over, taking the state would be far easier."
"Since you're here, I assume you'd be looking for a means with no casualties?"
Surprisingly, Evan shook his head in response to Beluar's question.
"Not 0 casualties. That's impossible.
But the plan I have in mind would keep them to a minimum and would force Zhupus' soldiers to surrender."
When Beluar questioned the details of Evan's plan, the boy pointed at the river and explained the rough sketch of things.
The man was amazed that Evan thought about this, but there were some obvious flaws which he pointed out for the boy to see.
Evan didn't like Arlan Maddox much, but he had to admit that the man's memories of Warfare came in handy.
"A display of power that'd force them to back down. That may not work on the Mercenaries though."
"If they refuse to surrender then feel free to kill a few to make an example. They value their lives so when you make them see the threat of death is very real, then they'd behave.
"Now that's a contradiction if I've ever seen one."
Beluar jabbed at Evan's response which showed the boy's nonchalance towards the notion of killing the mercenaries, despite having spoken about reducing casualties earlier.
"Mercenaries and soldiers are different and I afford them different treatments. That's all there is to it."
'So, he's basically saying he doesn't count Mercenary deaths among the 'casualties' he wants to reduce…'
Such were Beluar's thoughts as he read between the lines of Evan's statement and derived his own meaning from it.
After this, Beluar called all his subordinate Generals and Colonels back into the room where he and Evan then proceeded to explain the plan of action.
Unsurprisingly, there were those who disagreed with it.
"We have no need to use such tricks! We can move our forces across the bridge before they get close and engage them in a head-on battle!"
Evan would not deny that he felt offended when a Brigadier General called his strategy a 'trick', but he remained silent to see what the others said.
War came with a chance for Soldiers to prove themselves and gain merits, with promotions and prestige as the reward.
"I disagree, sir. I believe we should wait for our reinforcements before we march in on Zhupus. Perhaps, another Division under a Lieutenant General."
Another Brigadier General spoke up after the first, and one of the two Major Generals nodded to show his agreement.
"What the hell are you on about? It's understandable if we're outnumbered, or we're facing a tough opponent but it's just the army of one State, a lot of which would be nothing when compared to our elite forces!
Despite this overwhelming disparity you want us to fight a defensive battle when they're the ones attacking us?"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢