After that, Duanmu Huai arrived at the main camp outside the city of Mordheim. From the atmosphere there, it was clear that the camp had once housed quite a few people, but now it was bleak and desolate. There were still soldiers around, but no one needed to ask to see that morale was far from high.
As a warband, Duanmu Huai had been assigned a camp as a supply point. Of course, strictly speaking, it was of little use to them. Duanmu Huai could open a portal back to the Holy City at any time and enjoy delicious food and soft beds there instead of starving and freezing here.
However, before they could properly rest in the camp, a messenger summoned Duanmu Huai to the command tent for the next stage of the offensive planning.
"Alright, I know you all have plenty to complain about. So do I."
General Paster Roland stroked his beard. His gaunt face looked exceptionally grim, whether because of the weather or his mood.
"But orders have come down from above. The Emperor is very, very, very dissatisfied with our progress. So he has assigned another army to me. This time, we will learn from the mistakes of the previous operation and rearrange our plans!!"
Amid everyone's noisy complaints, Duanmu Huai finally pieced together the full story.
The reason the first operation to retake Mordheim had failed so completely was partly because they had indeed been unprepared, but another part of it had been the commander. The man in charge of leading the army at the time had been an aristocrat aligned with the First Prince. His innate arrogance had clearly kept him from taking the recapture of such a ruined city seriously. Thus, the orders issued by that simple-minded fool had been equally simple.