After making a round of the battlefield and looking at the consolidated casualty figures, Hudson let out a sigh.
One general's success was built upon ten thousand bones.
Last night's battle was the perfect illustration. The expeditionary force had fared fairly well. It had been a surprise attack against exhausted enemy troops, and its casualties numbered only a little over two thousand.
Compared to the brilliant record of routing three hundred thousand enemy troops, killing one hundred and twenty thousand, and capturing fifty thousand, it could be called an "epic victory."
The Kingdom Army's losses were not severe, but the Augsburg garrison had suffered terribly. As the bait Hudson had cast out, the garrison alone had lost seventy thousand men, while nearly every survivor was wounded.
If they had not been trapped in the inner city with nowhere to run, an army suffering such casualties would have collapsed long ago.
Of course, the seventy thousand dead also included the losses from the fall of the outer city during the day. Since the fighting had run together, the garrison had no way to tally the losses separately.
"Arrange for the victory report to be sent back. Everyone has been waiting anxiously. They need this news to steady their hearts."
Hudson said this expressionlessly.
War always required sacrifices. To win, any price was worth paying. Being able to secure victory at the lowest cost proved that a commander was qualified.
Hudson had no intention of comforting the wounded hearts of the Moxi Duchy officers. He believed they could all pull through.
Heavy casualties were not worth mentioning before a victory report. No matter how many troops they had lost, the Moxi Duchy would fill those gaps.
In the eyes of many princes and nobles, soldiers' losses had always been nothing more than