Defying Orders
After Karl gave the order, he waited as usual for Brendan to obey without hesitation, just like every time before.
However, this time, a brief, unsettling silence fell behind him.
"My Lord," Brendan's voice was hoarse but unusually firm. He pointed towards the outer city walls behind them, where shouts of battle were deafening, "Please go to the inner city immediately to organize the evacuation of the people and the deployment of defenses! The rearguard command here... will be my responsibility!"
Karl turned around in surprise to look at Brendan. He had not expected Brendan to raise an objection at this moment, or even to directly defy his orders.
Brendan gave Karl no time to refute, continuing rapidly in an extremely anxious tone, "My lord! The Sauron have breached the walls! Their archers will soon be taking control of the high ground! It's too dangerous for you to be here!"
As if to prove his words.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Several powerful arrows, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, suddenly shot from the outer city wall, which had been occupied by the Sauron, their target being the most prominent high point in the area—the gun emplacement where Karl was located!
The arrowhead embedded itself firmly in the wooden plank at their feet, its tail feathers trembling violently!
Because Karl had deployed his personal guard to the front lines, his Border defense were weak. If Konrad hadn't reacted quickly and instantly erected a pale blue magical shield in front of Karl, deflecting the subsequent arrows, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
"My lord! You've seen it! Leave now!" Brendan urged urgently.
Karl said coldly, "No! If I retreat now, what will my soldiers, who are fighting so fiercely, think? Their morale will collapse in an instant! If the outer city is quickly captured, not a single one of the retreating citizens will escape! I must stay here and hold the line!"
"My lord! You are mistaken!" Brendan interrupted Karl abruptly, stepping forward and staring intently at Karl, his voice trembling with emotion. "You greatly underestimate your warriors! To fight for you, to die for Carnford, is the duty and honor of every one of us!"
"No one will blame you for retreating to the safer inner city to command in order to save the overall situation! On the contrary, if you had stayed here and something had gone wrong while covering the retreat..." He took a deep breath, his tone heavy as iron, "That would have been irresponsible to everyone! That would have been the biggest blow to Carnford!"
At this point, Brendan, disregarding the long-abandoned customs of Carnford, suddenly knelt on one knee, pounded his right fist heavily on his chest, looked up at Karl, his eyes filled with utmost sincerity and earnestness:
"My lord! Your subordinates implore you to retreat, not out of fear of battle! It is precisely because you are more important than this outer city! More important than all of our lives! You are the soul of Carnford, the backbone of the entire army! As long as you are safe and sound, even if the outer city falls, we still have the inner city to defend! If the inner city is in danger, we can retreat to the Lord's castle! As long as you are here, the morale of the army remains, and so does hope!"
"The Sauron may seem fierce, but they are actually at their last gasp! They have suffered heavy casualties and their morale has been shattered! As long as we hold out with the fortified inner city walls, we will surely see a turning point! But all of this depends on you surviving! Surviving unharmed!"
"The future of Carnford needs your leadership to rebuild and move forward! I beg you, sir, to consider the bigger picture and not take any more unnecessary risks! Leave the rearguard action to me! Brendan... I would gladly die for you!"
His words were powerful and resonant, each one striking a chord in Karl's heart.
He looked at his subordinate kneeling before him, covered in blood but with a determined gaze, listened to the growing shouts of battle and the whistling of arrows around him, and then looked towards the panicked crowd beginning to appear in the direction of the inner city. Finally, his clenched fists slowly loosened.
He realized that Brendan was right. The old-style armies of the Goldflower Kingdom, including the elite troops of Fran City under Earl Rochefort, still relied on a small number of core retainers and personal guards as the vanguard to charge into battle, while the large number of ordinary soldiers recruited were more for show and cheering, and often collapsed at the first contact.
The bravery of the commander-in-chief and the ferocity of his personal guards are indeed key to maintaining the battle line; once the commander-in-chief suffers a setback, the collapse of the entire army is commonplace.
But the Carnford Army is completely different now!
At the heart of this army were Freemen had escaped slavery and gained land and dignity, as well as displaced people who had found hope for a new life in this land.
They were not fighting for the glory of some distant King or nobleman, but to defend the homeland they had built with their own hands, and to protect the Lord and the system that had given them new life!
This heartfelt sense of identity and the unwavering determination to defend their own interests endowed this army with a tenacious fighting spirit and organizational discipline far exceeding those of older armies.
They didn't need their Lord to constantly charge to the front lines and threaten suicide to maintain morale, because they knew that the fight was for themselves and for everything behind them.
A sense of honor and a spontaneous spirit of sacrifice are deeply ingrained in their blood.
Karl realized that his previous thinking was indeed still stuck in the old-fashioned war mentality of relying on the personal bravery of the general to lead the entire army.
For an army as cohesive and self-disciplined as Carnford's, his more important responsibility as supreme commander was to strategize, grasp the overall situation, and ensure the integrity of the defense system and the orderly retreat, rather than personally going to the front lines to act as a military man.
His safety was indeed related to the survival of the entire resistance movement, far more so than a momentary morale boost.
Brendan saw further and was more composed.
Having figured this out, Karl felt a sense of clarity and a surge of gratitude towards Brendan.
He took a deep breath, and the stubbornness and anxiety on his face gradually faded, replaced by a calm and decisive demeanor.
He helped Brendan up, looking at him firmly. "Brendan, you're right! The warriors of Carnford deserve my utmost trust! Good! I'm entrusting this place entirely to you! Make sure to hold the line layer by layer, retreat in an orderly manner, and preserve as many lives as possible! I'll immediately go to the inner city to organize the evacuation of the people and the deployment of defenses!"
"Yes, my Lord! I swear to complete the mission to the death!" Seeing that Karl had been persuaded, Brendan's eyes flashed with relief and determination, and he pounded his chest and bowed again.
Without further hesitation, Karl nodded to Konrad beside him, and the two quickly turned around and rushed down the gun emplacement, their figures soon disappearing into the steps leading to the inner city and the billowing smoke.
Brendan watched Karl and Konrad leave safely before his tense nerves finally relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
His biggest worry was that the Lord would be stubborn and put himself in danger, but now, that biggest threat has been eliminated.
He turned around and looked at the battlefield before him, a scene of carnage and deafening battle cries, his face regaining its usual coldness and determination.
He drew his sword, pointed it at the surging enemy army of Sauron, and with all his might let out a roar that echoed throughout the battlefield:
"All soldiers, listen to my command! For Carnford! For our Lord! Fight to the death! Kill!"