Chain Reaction

Blazing flames rose as thousands of corpses were thrown into the inferno. Even Hudson, who considered himself hard-hearted, could not help feeling sorrow.

Though the daytime battle had been a resounding victory, the price had been heavy. Two hundred more were wounded, and over seven hundred had gone with the flames.

Over three hundred had died just besieging those five Silver Skeletons. Had Hudson not reacted quickly and made full use of his knowledge of physics, the losses would have been even greater.

Though they appeared to have won, the grain convoy had also been severely weakened. If the Rebel Army and the defenders had been equal in number, the outcome of this battle would truly have been hard to predict.

It was not that they could not defeat the Rebel Army. The main issue was that they also bore the vital duty of transporting provisions. Compared with victory or defeat on the battlefield, successfully delivering the supplies to their destination was the core of this mission.

Without the baggage train dragging them down, Hudson was still confident he could play a game of amateur pecking with the Rebel Army on the battlefield.

Everything stemmed from the Rebel Army's "superb" command abilities. He had thought the brainless charges of noble knights were stupid enough, but he had not expected the rebel commander-in-chief's command abilities to be equally pathetic.

Though the rebel commander-in-chief had no bottom line or principles and was capable of anything, his military competence was truly too embarrassing to show.

From this perspective, the noble ruling class's knowledge blockade and "value" indoctrination of the lower classes had been a success.

Even though rebel organizations had existed for countless years, they had still neglected the cultivation of military talent after being misled by the notion that "strength was supreme."

A priest should have remained a priest, yet he had insisted on fancifully commanding armies in battle. Relying on secret arts and potions might have been enough to bully equally ignorant lower-ranking nobles, but against an opponent with even slightly stronger military ability, his true colors were instantly exposed.

Theoretically, intercepting the grain supplies this time had been entirely correct strategically. Yet when it came to tactical execution, it had been a complete mess.

Their preparations had been inadequate, and they lacked sufficient military common sense, causing their plan to be exposed early. What should have been an ambush with the initiative in their hands had ultimately turned into a passive frontal assault.

Vaguely glimpsing a trace of this world's true nature, Hudson had already begun mourning for the Skull Society.

Not only were they struggling inside a massive pit, but they had also been thoroughly crippled by deception, yet still fantasized about turning the tables. They were simply dreaming.

To be frank, Hudson had never understood what the Skull Society wanted.

They were in the business of rebellion. Setting aside lofty things like a political platform, they should at least have had the support of an interest group, or represented the interests of some faction.

Judging by the Skull Society's actions, they regarded nobles as mortal enemies, serfs as grass, and merchants as blood bags... From the moment they raised their banner, they had offended every group.

Calling them the Rebel Army was already a compliment. An organization that opposed every normal person fully deserved the Skull Society's reputation as a cult.

Compared with the real losses, battle results could be handled much more casually. Hudson could not even be bothered to tally the exact results; a rough estimate based on the battlefield situation was enough.

"Routed four thousand rebel elites, annihilated two thousand five hundred and seventy rebels, killed eighty-one rebel leaders, eliminated five Silver Skeleton-level Undead, and seized various strategic supplies."

There was no helping it. The Griffon Cavalry were still watching from the sky. If the results were too exaggerated, the lie would be too easy to expose.

But he could not avoid exaggerating them either. The merit for suppressing rebellion was already at the bottom of the kingdom's military merit rankings.

If he did not exaggerate the enemy's strength or inflate his battle achievements, who would know how difficult this war had been? Who would remember the contributions of Knight Hudson?

To make it more convincing, Hudson heavily emphasized the importance of preserving the food supplies, directly elevating this small-scale battle to the strategic level.

How much effect that would have was uncertain, but Hudson had used the opportunity to report battle losses to legally skim off quite a bit of supplies.

He could not swallow the skimmed supplies alone. Most of them had to be used to grease palms.

A fake could never become real. If anyone looked closely, Hudson's battle report was riddled with holes. Unless he smoothed things over with the people above, there was no way to make those inflated achievements stick.

With these merits, added to the previous battle at Ethel Fortress, Hudson would most likely be able to obtain a piece of territory when the spoils were divided after the war.

As for the size and quality of that territory, it would depend on the Coslo Family's network of connections in Southeast Province.

At this point, Hudson's short-term efforts alone could no longer make a difference.

All he could do was maintain his relationships with every side. He did not hope they would help him; as long as they did not cause trouble, that was enough. In the end, it would still come down to the family's strength.

At the allied command headquarters, Count Pierce, who had just repelled a rebel sneak attack, felt as though he had ridden a roller coaster.

The Skull Society refused to play by the rules. Not only had they launched ambushes along the marching route, they had even sent troops to attack the grain convoy.

Fortunately, that youngster called Hudson had some ability and shattered the Rebel Army's ambush plan. Otherwise, he could only have led the main force home in disgrace.

At that thought, his resentment toward the Fifth Army surged once more. Instead of properly escorting the provisions, they had gone off to loot on their own. They clearly had no regard for him whatsoever.

Angry as he was, there was nothing he could do to those audacious bastards right now. Ever since they had left the main force, they had vanished from his sight.

The territory of two counties was no small area. If a small force of several hundred men truly wished to hide, even the Griffon Cavalry would not find them so easily.

Moreover, the Griffon Cavalry were limited in number. Their first priority was monitoring the Rebel Army's movements, and they had no time to search for them.

They could not even contact the men, so there was naturally no way to hold anyone accountable. If he wanted to settle the score, he would have to wait until they returned.

It was not just the Fifth Army that was outwardly obedient while secretly defying him. Even the nobles directly under his nose were hardly well-behaved.

The Griffon Cavalry responsible for reconnaissance had reported to him more than once that some people had privately left the main force to pursue personal business. Perhaps because they were under his watch, they had been somewhat restrained, always leaving and returning quickly.

Since no one had caused any real trouble, Count Pierce had turned a blind eye for the sake of the larger picture.

Though he had not taken action, he had remembered every account in his heart. Pierce knew perfectly well which nobles were law-abiding and which acted wantonly.

"Hmph!"

After a cold snort, Count Pierce gazed at the moon outside the window and muttered to himself, "It seems I have been too kind to them, to the point that every one of these fellows has forgotten his place.

It was one thing not to hold it against them, but they actually think there is nothing I can do to them. It is time to let them know who the true master of Southeast Province is.

If I had not feared arousing the suspicions of that fellow in the Royal Capital, Southeast Province would long have belonged to my Dalton Family..."