Doubts About the Dam (2)

"I never thought the general would actually order a retreat."

Jackson admitted a fact he had never even considered before, in the tone of a man.

"But things really have become difficult now."

The other senior officers lounged against the polished wooden table. Constant use had left its surface scarred, and the orderlies had only just cleared away the discarded dinner trays.

But in truth, no one had eaten much—only a few trapped rodents and a small amount of rations.

Mount Mishil was already at risk of running out of food. When Yushikin gave the retreat order, Jackson had already begun considering whether they might have to eat some Greenskins.

But for now, they had to face a challenge even greater than starvation.

How to safely lead the remaining sixty thousand men to the designated evacuation point.

The wounded had already been gradually evacuated through the underground passages, so the main force did not need to worry too much about casualties. But according to recent estimates, there were at least four hundred thousand Orks surrounding Mount Mishil, and they were all unusually elite troops.

Breaking through such a powerful force was nearly impossible.

Until today, when scouts discovered a gap on the northern side of the encirclement. At the boundary between the Goff Legion and the Blackfire Legion, there was a passage where only a very small number of Orks were active.

But Jackson could not determine whether this gap was the result of Orkish stupidity or some kind of trap.

He had learned at military academy that in ancient siege warfare, attackers often surrounded a city on three sides while deliberately leaving one side open for the defenders to escape. The besieging force would then lay an ambush along that escape route, hoping to wipe out the survivors once