The Abnormal Frontline

Hudson was filled with mixed feelings as he raced across the vast swamp.

Once such a vast territory is developed, the strength of the Mountain Territory will undergo a dramatic transformation.

Unfortunately, the development of the swamps has been a long-term process, and the vast swamps pose a significant challenge in establishing sea routes in the short term.

"Arrive!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the giant bear's body rapidly shrank. Caught off guard, Hudson nearly fell from the tree.

Looking at Beldens' innocent face, Hudson was furious.

It's okay to suddenly stop, after all, I was warned, but at least you should have a foothold on the ground, right?

Even if you like to perch in a tree, you should at least choose a bigger one. The tree Hudson is currently in could easily lead to an accident if you're not careful.

Looking around, Hudson regretfully discovered that, seemingly, the only thing within his sight that could be considered a tree was the thing he was standing on.

The ground was covered with shrubs and weeds, and experience told Hudson that this was a saline-alkali land.

As expected, coastal swamps rarely have low salinity.

The salinity of the swamps they developed was slightly higher than that of ordinary soil. However, the difference was not significant and did not affect crop cultivation.

These coastal areas are frequently impacted by seawater, and the plants that can grow here are all salt-tolerant species.

After a rough estimate of the distance, it was found that this place was about two hundred miles away from the territory.

The formation of such a large swamp area is likely related to the surrounding terrain, in addition to seawater erosion.

The Southeast Province receives ample rainfall, and the accumulated water from the Salam Mountain Range flows into the area that Hudson is now developing.

There is also a Black Stone Mountain Range nearby, which is also a rainy area, so there must be a lot of water flowing into it.

The origin of the swamp is not important; what matters is its current development and utilization. The man and the bear walked along the coast, the churning water causing Hudson to frown.

Even with his pitiful common sense, he knew that to develop the coastal area, a seawall had to be built first.

Without keeping seawater out, the salinity of the soil cannot be reduced. High-salinity land can only grow a small number of crops, making it extremely inefficient.

The port issue remains unresolved. Choosing a site based solely on shore observations without conducting on-site investigations of the area would be extremely irresponsible.

Beldens couldn't help with this either. The Earth Bear was only powerful on land; in the water, it was nothing.

Teaching a bear to swim?

The idea had barely formed when Hudson decisively nipped it in the bud.

The inherent qualities of a species must be respected. No matter how good a person is at swimming, they are still a land animal and cannot live in water for a long time.

It's probably similar for bears; perhaps after spending thousands of years by the water, they might evolve the ability to survive in water. But Hudson doesn't think he'll live to see that day.

"Let's go, Beldens. Let's circle the swamp once, and that'll complete today's task."

"Slow down, I need to observe the terrain."

Slow is relative; Hudson on the bear's back still enjoys the treatment of flying.

Aside from the difference in altitude, running Beldens and flying are essentially the same thing.

Hudson strongly suspected that Beldens could fly, having traversed hundreds of miles through the swamp without getting a single clod of mud on its feet.

Unfortunately, Beldens insisted that it couldn't do it, and its explanation for the flying bear incident was—talent.

In the Aslant Continent, talent is the most illogical thing. Many races possess peculiar talents that cannot be explained.

People usually attribute these inexplicable strange events to deities. They think it's either the work of a benevolent god or Evil God one.

Other theories only circulate among special professions such as magicians and Arcanist, while the mainstream view is that gods created all things in the world.

The Ronin Who Began with Douluo Continent

After rushing all the way to a mountain range, Hudson immediately concluded, based on his geographical knowledge, that it was the Black Stone Mountain Range.

This time it's a real mountain range; you can tell from its towering peaks that it's far superior to the small mounds in our own territory.

Mountains upon mountains, stretching endlessly. Hudson has no idea how vast the Black Stone Mountain Range are, but they certainly don't extend to the naked eye.

"Beldens, are there powerful magical beasts roaming these mountains?"

As neighbors, it's only right to show some concern. The Black Stone Mountain Range's ability to sever the connection between the Alpha Kingdom and the Black Forest Kingdom is definitely not just due to geographical factors.

Simple geographical difficulties, such as moving mountains and splitting rocks, make the extraordinary world not impossible to achieve.

Even if neither side has any ambition, opening a trade route shouldn't be too much to ask, right?

There's no need for either country to take action; profit-driven merchants will explore on their own.

"Yes! I can sense several powerful auras. No one knows how many high-level magical beasts are hidden in this mountain range."

You'd better not go and cause trouble.

"If a fight breaks out, I'll be fine, but your safety is hard to say."

"That's what Beldens said in a very old-fashioned way."

The tone was as if Hudson were a naughty child who had caused trouble and needed its parent to clean up the mess.

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Hudson immediately abandoned any thought of exploration. Warcraft creatures are territorial; recklessly intruding could easily lead to a firefight.

Beldens' words were harsh, but his strength was undeniable. Hudson certainly didn't want to provoke someone who could inspire such fear.

Having these neighbors blocking the way is, in a sense, a good thing. At least the enemies to the south who want to spy on the Mountain Territory will have to ask these local strongmen if they can pass through.

It's better to change targets than to push forward at great cost. The war-torn Aslant Continent has never lacked opportunities for expansion; what it lacks is strength.

After surveying the area, Hudson had a general idea of what it was like. The swamp in front of his house was no ordinary marshland; it probably covered tens of thousands of square kilometers.

The exact amount will only be known after the system is developed.

After all, Beldens' approach was irregular, and judging the area from the perimeter of just one curve would result in a very large margin of error.

With this newfound confidence, Hudson's desire to head out to sea grew even stronger.

Excavating a canal that stretches for hundreds of miles, even if it's all swampy land filled with silt, is no small undertaking.

Calculating the distance, it's roughly one-thirtieth the length of the Grand Canal. If it weren't for the extraordinary world, Hudson wouldn't even dare to entertain such a thought.

There's no need to calculate the volume of earthwork; it's an astronomical figure anyway.

The swamp is flat and can be developed into a large plain. Water is also not a problem, as the accumulated water from the Salam Mountain Range alone can fill the river channels.

Insufficient flow during the dry season is a minor problem; at worst, a lock can be built at the estuary to allow ships to pass.

The current considerations are the canal's width and depth, the amount of labor required, and the estimated time required to excavate the canal.

During wartime, such large-scale projects require careful consideration.

Once a large amount of manpower and resources are invested, it cannot be stopped.

If the project progresses slower than expected, and is subsequently affected by the war, there won't be enough financial resources to invest, which would be awkward.

Or should we first deploy a few thousand people and slowly begin excavation?

With the limited financial resources of the Mountain Territory, the fact that they could only allocate a small team to dig a canal had a limited impact on the development of the territory.

Or should we postpone the plan and consider this issue after the war is over?

The Emerald Palace has been bustling with activity since the outbreak of the war.

Military reports from the front lines kept pouring in. Overall, they were mostly bad news.

It was either a heavy loss here, or a loss of soldiers there, or a fortress being breached by the Beastfolk army.

The Kingdom Army did attempt to organize a counterattack, but their results were so poor that they were embarrassed to publicize them.

For example, the Kingdom Army at the front line won a great victory at Helan Castle, annihilating more than 5,000 Pigmen soldiers while suffering no more than 800 casualties on its own.

Numerically speaking, this was a resounding victory. Unfortunately, the enemy was Pigmen, so the kingdom could only refer to it as a Beastfolk army in its propaganda.

How many Beastfolk armies were annihilated? Without a doubt, those eliminated were the enemy's insignificant races.

If an elite Beastfolk is wiped out, it is usually named after the enemy's race.

For example, last week they killed a hundred Behemoth soldiers, and the battle report described it in detail.

It was all forced upon them. In order to combat the false reporting of battle achievements, the kingdom made a rule early on that all battle achievements on the front lines must be recorded with Projection Stone in order to be counted.

These are all genuine data points, so the battle reports naturally don't look that great.

Even with the best possible embellishment, the kingdom's higher-ups can still see right through it.

After glancing at the compiled battle reports, still unable to find a single classic battle worthy of extensive coverage, Caesar III said helplessly:

"Let the front lines deploy according to their actual conditions. There is no need to risk elite troops for political propaganda purposes."

For external propaganda, just use the total number of enemy troops killed!

After a month of fighting, the annihilation of 150,000 Beastfolk allies was barely enough to appease the people.

The issue of losing cities and territories is that the war is at a stalemate, and we are fighting for control of these areas.

Let's inform our neighbors about our predicament and prepare more Projection Stone to send over.

If they don't see the brutality of the battlefield, the support efforts probably won't be able to get going!

Ignoring racial factors, the Alpha Kingdom's army is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. Since the start of the war, they have suffered only about 70,000 casualties on their own, while eliminating over 150,000 enemy soldiers.

Unfortunately, everyone knows there's some exaggeration involved. For the defending side, achieving such a result is clearly unsatisfactory.

"Your Majesty, the brutality of the Northern Frontier Battlefield is common knowledge, and it is described extensively in the history books of various countries."

It was precisely because the fighting was so brutal that the nations were unwilling to expend their resources on the war against the Beastfolk.

Everyone's arguing about who gets to send troops, but in reality, they're all plotting to wear down the other's strength first.

It is unrealistic to expect reinforcements from various countries in the short term.

Refer to the reactions of various countries in previous wars.

Basically, reinforcements only arrive slowly when we have suffered heavy losses and are about to collapse.

Instead of asking for reinforcements, it's easier to make demands for strategic materials, which are more likely to be met by other countries.

Food, cloth, weapons, armor, Magic Crystal Stone... these are all things we urgently need.

In addition, we can also have other countries send experts to provide support.

Top-tier warriors have a high survival rate on the battlefield; as long as they are not surrounded by enemies, they are generally not in great danger.

"With the moral high ground of human rights at stake, and without sacrificing their strength, the various nations should agree."

Count Francis suggested.

As the Foreign Minister, he was so worried about seeking help that he almost went bald.

Unfortunately, the results were minimal. Each nation on the continent had its own agenda. While the greater good of humanity was important, hadn't the Alpha Kingdom held firm?

In the eyes of the various countries, the Alpha Kingdom alone was able to withstand the Beastfolk's onslaught in the past, and now with the addition of the Warhammer Kingdom and the Moxi Duchy, it is even less of a problem.

With the three kingdoms holding the line, they could easily handle their own affairs first and then slowly return to deal with the Beastfolk army.

The countries bordering other ethnic groups, in particular, have more complicated feelings now. They are more interested in resolving their own problems than in supporting the three kingdoms.

Knowing that reinforcements could not be obtained in a short time, the Foreign Affairs Department could only lower its goals and try to gain support from other sources.

Looking into the distance with disappointment, Caesar III said, "Let's do it this way for now!"

Keep an eye on the Warhammer Kingdom and the Moxi Duchy; they're too quiet there.

"It's clearly unusual that Beastfolk Five Great Royal Families have come to our side; there might be a huge conspiracy waiting for them."

They always pick on the weak, and this time, the orcs Beastfolk invasion, immediately targeted and brutally attacked the strongest Alpha Kingdom.

The front lines have been on the defensive and have not achieved a single major victory. It's not that the Kingdom Army is incompetent, but rather that the enemy is too fierce.

With the Beastfolk force arriving, the cautious border guards adopted the most conservative approach. Although they didn't achieve any outstanding victories, they ultimately held their line.

As is customary, if the defenses cannot be breached immediately, then a protracted war of attrition will ensue.

With each defensive line in place, the kingdom's reinforcements could be continuously replenished, slowly wearing down the Beastfolk army.

While the Kingdom Army suffered heavy losses in the process, it also honed a large number of elite troops.

The reinforcements from various provinces that had just arrived at the front lines were generally of average combat strength, but after the war lasted for a year and a half, most of these surviving soldiers had undergone a transformation.

If the generals are capable and the troops are trained, an elite force can be quickly formed.

The nation's overall strength weakens with each battle, but the army on the front lines generally grows stronger. Once fresh troops join the fight, the situation reverses.

In every Northern Frontier Battlefield, the Beastfolk were driven back to their homeland in this way.

After so many failures, there's no reason not to learn from them. Continuing to fight the Alpha Kingdom to the death is clearly not in the interests of the Orc Empire.