The Situation Above

Because individual strength played such a negligible role in war, Renard had not dwelled too much on his own abilities.

Just then, Robertson returned after delivering the orders and reported two important pieces of news. "Governor, according to the Gestapo stationed in Hailan Province, Prince White has pledged his allegiance to His Majesty the King."

"The Royal Army has now completely occupied three of the four counties, with the exception of Palm County. The Croning Family is trapped like a turtle in a jar. Its destruction is only a matter of time."

Renard remained calm at the news. He had expected this long ago and was not surprised.

But Robertson's next report made him frown slightly. "There's also bad news. Ten days ago, Pearl County was attacked by a huge number of demons. The situation is dire, and it may fall any day now."

Renard's expression finally changed. He asked darkly, "What have the defenders of Pearl County been doing? Were they defeated by the demons in such a short time?"

As far as he knew, Pearl County had originally had a garrison of twenty thousand. The Croning Family had later sent another twenty thousand to reinforce it. Add in the private armies of the local lords and nobles, and they should have had no trouble mustering sixty or seventy thousand troops.

Even if they couldn't defeat the demons, they should have been able to hold out for a month or so behind the sturdy city walls. How could they have lost Pearl County in such a short time?

Robertson angrily explained, "It's all the fault of those bastards in the Croning Family."

"When the demon army attacked Pearl County, they suddenly withdrew the twenty thousand Northern Army troops sent to reinforce it, leaving the right flank of the defensive