Everyone Got the Wrong Script

"What?"

"What idiot came up with the strategy of sending me to lead troops to support the Northern Expeditionary Army as they break through the encirclement?"

Hudson couldn't help but swear.

The Northern Expeditionary Army, huddled together in a defensive formation, resembled a hedgehog. If the Beastfolk wanted to devour the hedgehog, they would first have to endure the stings.

Even if they were able to annihilate the Northern Expeditionary Army, they would have to pay a heavy price.

Once they choose to break out, the situation will be different. A significant number of cavalry will likely escape, but the fate of the infantry depends on whether the Lord of Dawn will show them any mercy.

Anyway, if Hudson were the Beastfolk commander, after one interception, he would let the cavalry leave and concentrate his forces to wipe out the expeditionary infantry.

Leading troops out to provide support sounds simple, but the question is, where should we provide support?

The two sides were no less than 500 miles apart, and the enemy's air force was flying all over the sky. Hudson dared not lead his troops to sneak up right under the nose of the Beastfolk army.

A team of 100-200 people can be kept very secret. A team of 100-200 people can also be broken up into smaller groups.

But even if a six-figure army is mobilized and dispersed, it's still a large area, unless the eagle-men in the sky become blind.

"Count Lauren, please convey this message to His Majesty."

If the expeditionary force manages to break through and enter within a hundred miles of the defensive line, I will immediately lead my troops out to meet them.

Any further, and that would be beyond our capabilities. Anyone with even a little military knowledge knows how massive a military operation is.

If we launch a rash attack, the Northern Expeditionary Army might not be able to come to our aid, and the Border Defense Army might be lost first.

The kingdom is not well-off; we cannot be reckless.

"I suggest Your Majesty resort to diplomatic means to secure reinforcements from the Human Alliance!"

Hudson decisively refused.

This is a recipe for disaster; knowing it's a trap and still jumping in, he must be out of his mind.

"Your Excellency Count Hudson, His King is also in a difficult position."

The Human Alliance's reinforcements were nowhere to be seen, and the Northern Expeditionary Army's supplies were running low. To survive, those on the front lines had begun cannibalizing Beastfolk.

You are a master of military strategy, you should know what this means.

Led by the five dukes of the North, a group of nobles at the front lines launched a coup against Marshal Campbell.

Under pressure from the military, the marshal had no choice but to agree to the breakout plan.

After hearing Count Lauren's explanation, Hudson finally understood why the usually wise Caesar III would agree to such an idiotic plan.

As a joint-stock alliance nation, when the nation's nobles are united in their positions, the King's opinion becomes irrelevant.

The lack of reinforcements must have put immense pressure on a besieged army.

Everyone knows that holding out and waiting for reinforcements is the best option, but human nature is selfish.

Those who are willing to sacrifice their family interests, or even their own lives, for the sake of national strategy are ultimately only a minority.

Especially those nobles who had placed heavy bets could not afford to gamble.

Breaking out would result in heavy losses, but the core members would likely escape, which is better than staying behind to die.

For some reason, when Hudson looked at the five dukes of the North who were leading the breakout attempt, he always had a sense of déjà vu, like the military groups in Liaodong at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

They're mediocre at defending their country, but have a knack for betraying their allies and fostering bandits for their own benefit—a complete bunch of scoundrels.

The only difference is that the enemy is different; the Alpha Kingdom has the Human Alliance as its backing.

Many factions within the alliance wanted the Alpha Kingdom to decline, yet they could not tolerate it falling under the iron heel of the Alpha Kingdom Orc Empire.

It is estimated that once the expeditionary force is defeated, the alliance's reinforcements will arrive as quickly as possible to turn the tide.

Hudson was instantly relieved. Knowing that the five dukes of the north would not dare to betray humanity was enough.

"Count Lauren, I am well aware of His Majesty's difficulties. But the key issue is not whether he understands, but whether he truly can do it."

The army is all here. Hudson's abilities are limited. Whoever in the kingdom has the capability should be in charge. I am willing to abdicate and pass the throne to a more capable person.

Hudson retorted without holding back.

This isn't the first time he's refused to do something. If it were a petty King, he would have been sent home long ago.

Hudson didn't care; he would be secretly delighted if he could get rid of the trouble and go home.

Achieving success is not easy, but retiring unscathed is even harder. The more critical the moment, the more important it is to "play it safe".

Blindly accepting tasks beyond one's capabilities will only lead to disgrace and bring disaster to the country and its people.

Hudson vaguely suspected that asking for his opinion was a deliberate act by Caesar III to force him to play the villain.

"Kill!"

In the darkness, the Northern Expeditionary Army launched another attack. In order to create an opportunity to break through, the Northern Expeditionary Army had been launching surprise attacks day and night in recent days.

The targets of their attacks had suddenly changed to the Beastfolk cannon fodder race, a departure from their previous raids. Lately, after each attack, the expeditionary force had left behind numerous letters.

The book is written in multiple Beastfolk languages, detailing the dark histories of the Five Great Royal Families and the ongoing rebellion. To ensure the Beastfolk could understand it, all the writing is presented in a straightforward narrative style.

"Marshal, the preparations are almost complete. I reckon these Beastfolk races are mostly aware of the changes happening in the rear."

If sowing discord is possible, it should be working by now. If we drag this out any longer, the enemy will react, and our psychological warfare will fail.

Duke Pias said with a hint of excitement.

These are all the truth. The agreement with the Beastfolk doesn't affect his status as a high-ranking noble in the kingdom. Betraying his teammates is no big deal, but they don't have the guts to betray the human race.

They revealed not a single word of the Northern Expeditionary Army's specific breakout plan to the Beastfolk. This was mainly because they knew each other too well and had absolutely no trust in one another.

Marshal Campbell glanced at the group of generals and saw that everyone's face was filled with excitement. He sighed inwardly.

"Guard, bring me the wooden sticks."

"Breaking through requires someone to clear the way, and someone to cover the rear. It's unfair to assign such a near-death mission to anyone."

Each of these wooden sticks has a task written on it. You have to perform the task that is written on the stick you draw.

"I'll leave everything to the Lord of Dawn to decide. To be fair, I won't participate in the draw. Whatever tasks remain, I'll lead the troops directly under the Command Headquarters to complete them."

The five dukes, who had expected a vote as usual while everyone argued, were completely dumbfounded. This was unconventional!

Based on the lottery method, the probability of the five families being able to act together is infinitesimally close to zero. This means that their agreement with the Beastfolk has already failed before it even began.

Ironically, this is the fairest approach, and no one can find fault with it. To refuse without a proper reason is tantamount to writing "I have a problem" on one's own face.

On the surface, this is supposedly taking care of those five families. Drawing lots is about luck, while voting is about connections.

Given their poor reputation in the kingdom, if they didn't take responsibility for covering the rear, it would definitely be considered vote-rigging.

Offering to cover the rear would only arouse more suspicion. Everyone here is a seasoned fox; if someone suddenly becomes noble, everyone knows something's wrong.

After exchanging a secret glance, the five of them reluctantly joined the lottery line, hoping for a miracle.

Unsurprisingly, they were not assigned to the same group. The cunning Marshal Campbell not only assigned them the tasks of clearing the way and covering the rear, but also clearly specified the direction of their breakout.

With more different options, the probability of a faction being grouped together is greatly reduced.

Essentially, it was all about maintaining the kingdom's political balance. They were worried that if the troops that broke through all came from the same interest group, it would be a tragedy.

With this arrangement, regardless of which direction a breakthrough is successful, the team will be filled with multiple factions.

Everything was taken care of, except for the five survivors who wanted to betray their teammates. Their hopes of the Beastfolk going easy on them by acting alongside other factions were dashed.

After the recorder wrote down their respective tasks, Marshal Campbell waved his hand and said, "Go back and prepare. We'll set off after dawn."

There is no turning back in this operation. We either break through the enemy's blockade and return alive with our troops to the kingdom, or we stay here and rest in eternal slumber with the vast grasslands.

A fierce battle to break through the siege had begun. With the help of the Church, the Orc Empire's public relations efforts went much more smoothly.

The various races were reluctant to intervene in the mediation, partly due to the Beastfolk' poor international relations, and partly due to their fear of a backlash from the humans.

Faced with the continental hegemon, everyone must think carefully. If the human race were to retaliate later, would the allies be able to stand up for themselves?

The appearance of the Church undoubtedly dispelled their concerns. With someone within the human race sabotaging them, what was there to fear?

Apart from a major blunder involving the Dwarves, things were generally going smoothly for the other races on the continent.

One race after another stepped forward to mediate, and the pressure gradually shifted to the Human Alliance.

The continental hegemon is powerful, but not so arrogant as to look down on everyone. Faced with the combined pressure from various races, even Charles III felt the pressure.

The question of whether to accept mediation was once again brought to a climax in the Alliance Council.

Lutetia, the Alliance Council.

As the situation spiraled out of control, more and more people in Parliament advocated for resolving the issue through negotiation. Conversely, the Church, the original anti-war leader, was now constantly clamoring for war.

His identity as a troublemaker has been confirmed once again.

"Fellow councilors, as the overlords of the Aslant Continent, we must always maintain our dignity."

The other races have just announced their intervention in the mediation, and we've already chosen to make peace with the Beastfolk. If word gets out, won't they think, "We humans are afraid of them!"

Once this precedent is set, such unpleasant incidents will likely increase in the years to come.

I propose to take swift and decisive action to the Annihilation of the Orc Empire, so that all races will know the might of our human race.

The various races of the continent, scattered and disorganized, are not worth mentioning. Spread the word that anyone who dares to stand up for the Beastfolk will be the first to be suppressed..."

Bishop Montesol delivered a passionate speech.

Unsurprisingly, the northern nations all chose to support the Church's proposal for war. This included the Alpha Kingdom, with whom they had a long-standing feud, which now sided with the Church.

They were initially worried that jumping around too much would anger the Beastfolk and lead to their execution. But now that the Northern Expeditionary Army has begun its breakout, the Beastfolk have run out of options.

The Alpha Kingdom, which has always been a staunch advocate of "beast extermination," is naturally going all out to push forward the proposal.

Even if we are at odds with the Church, as long as the Church is willing to fight now, we can be friends for the time being.

"Your Excellency, the Dragon Race are leading this mediation. Are you sure you want to suppress them?"

Suddenly, a noise interrupted Bishop Montesol's speech and posed a fatal question— the Dragon Race.

Of all the races on the Aslant Continent, the Church had no reason to back down. The only race they truly feared Dragon Race, who had moved their strongholds away long ago.

"Your Excellency, there's no need for jokes. The Dragon Race has been withdrawn from the mainland for many years, living in isolation overseas. Now, probably very few people even know the exact location of Dragon Island, so how could there be any need to suppress them?"

The one who's stepping forward now is just a dragon; he can probably only represent himself. How could he be qualified to represent the Dragon Race?

Bishop Montesol vehemently denied it.

Just a few days ago, he was saying that he needed to consider the Dragon Race behind the Red Dragon, but in the blink of an eye, the same thing has turned into a different result.

"Bishop Montesol is right. A single Red Dragon does not represent everything, not even the Dragon King."

As far as I know, the five-colored dragons do not have much say in the Dragon Race, and there has never been a precedent of a five-colored dragon representing the dragon race throughout Dragon Race.

I specifically consulted the kingdom's Dragon Knight, and Dragon Island has not issued any decrees to the outside world for the past hundred years.

The Beastfolk are just bluffing, trying to get away with it; there's no need to take them seriously.

As soon as Charles III finished speaking, the morale of the pro-war faction soared, but the Bishop Montesol was dumbfounded.

Something's not right with the script!

How could Charles III, who should have opposed the war, speak up for the pro-war faction?

As the King of the first kingdom on the continent, his words would surely cause the councilors who followed the Frankish Kingdom to change their stance.

The pro-war faction, which was initially at a disadvantage, suddenly gained the upper hand.

Bishop Montesol was completely dumbfounded. If everyone was this fickle, how was he supposed to manage things?

The Church's order was for him to persuade the alliance to reject the war proposal while he was advocating for war. Given the current situation, if the argument continues, the parties might have to discuss how to deploy troops.

Upon glancing at the smiling representative of the Alpha Kingdom beside him, Bishop Montesol instantly understood.

Charles III's opposition to the war was only under normal circumstances. If external forces intervened, it was still possible for him to change his stance, for example, if someone offered him irresistible terms.

He had no idea what the specifics of the transaction were, but Bishop Montesol knew that things had gotten serious.

He had been outmaneuvered from the very beginning. The enemy had anticipated his sabotage and deliberately spread rumors that the Frankish Kingdom opposed the war.

What's done is done. No matter how shameless you are, you can't take back what you've just said.