"Have!"
" Practice More If You're Bad," he said earnestly, as if he had everything under control.
In reality, he didn't have any good solutions at all.
But he has Root Network and the network, which allows him and [ the Ginseng Rooster ], who are more than ten miles away, to simultaneously deceive the current boss.
Thanks to match-fixing, thanks to the internet, thanks to Ginseng Rooster.
Seeing his confident demeanor, Alfonso immediately perked up:
Tell me about it?
"If you just want military merit and don't care who you fight..."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] rolled his eyes:
"We can attack other fortresses—those without Theocracy Stained Ones stationed there. As long as the enemy is still made up of skeletons, we won't lose. Even if Stained Ones among them, we won't lose easily."
Upon hearing this suggestion, Alfonso fell into deep thought.
The suggestion of "[ Practice More If You're Bad ]" can be summarized very clearly, much like a holiday safety pact from another world:
Avoid going where there is danger.
Although this idea is incorrect for the military, it is a viable way to gain military merit in the short term before a major war begins.
In fact, Alfonso had already learned from his father that a new batch of provisions was being transported from the rear to the front lines.
After months of standoff and thousands of minor skirmishes, the first major battle between the two sides is about to begin.
That makes sense.
Alfonso:
Let me think about it some more.
The viscount began to ponder the current situation:
The initial battle was between the Imperial army and the Alliance's skeletons.
Then, because of that prince, the empire received secret help from the demons and thus gained the power of "demon servants".
As for the Skeleton Alliance on the other side, some Stained Ones humans had infiltrated them due to Sailesi's addition, and their strength had also been enhanced.
So now it's "Imperials + Demon Servants" versus "Skeletons + Stained Ones ".
That makes sense.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the fortress knight Colin was doing something similar.
However, Colin's final conclusion was: "Skeleton Soldiers + Soul Returner " versus "Imperialists + Soul Returner ".
Well, although neither of them had a complete understanding of the whole situation, at least...
They reached similar conclusions.
Alfonso finally made up his mind. He looked at his trusted confidant and asked:
So, what do you think we should attack, and where?
Sir Colin finally made up his mind. He looked at the strategist before him and asked:
"So where do you think the enemy will attack next?"
At the same moment, in different locations, [ Ginseng Rooster ] and [ Practice More If You're Bad ] both pointed their fingers at the same spot on the map:
" Sandcastle Number Thirteen."
The top floor of Sandcastle Number Thirteen, central border of the Skeleton Alliance.
The fortress-guarding knight Faulkner felt an itch on the hole in the middle of his face. He rubbed it, but it didn't help. He didn't know what was wrong...
A bad feeling crept into his mind, but he couldn't find any evidence to support it.
After all, he can no longer twitch his eyelids or sneeze.
"Bang!"
With almost a loud bang, the door to Sir Faulkner's room was kicked open, and a skeleton soldier with only one hand stumbled to the ground, groaning as he said to him:
"Grown ups!
"The enemy is coming! There are a lot of them, at least two hundred!"
"What?!"
He looked at the skeleton soldier in front of him and asked:
"Do you know where this imperialist came from?"
The skeleton soldier stammered:
"I saw it clearly; it was the same group of Imperial elites who attacked Sandcastle Number Fourteen!"
Faulkner then realized that the skeleton soldier who had come to deliver the message was the sole survivor of Sandcastle Number Fourteen.
He made the same decision, almost instinctively, as the fortress guard at the time:
"Quickly, go get help!"
"Until reinforcements arrive, my soldiers and I will do everything in our power to defend this sandcastle!"
"Yes!"
The messenger, though a novice, quickly learned to use his skills. He called for two helpers and charged out of the sandcastle on two horses.
Faulkner grabbed his weapon, donned his armor, and left the room to gather all the skeleton warriors to defend the sandcastle.
Directly in front of them, the dust kicked up by the imperial army was getting closer and closer.
This day marked the seventh day since the defeat of the [ Elderly and Children Fly First ] campaign. On this day, Alfonso Lange's "Devil Servants" were fully replenished.
Alfonso hasn't been idle over the past week.
On the very day that [ Practice More If You're Bad ] proposed the plan to attack Sandcastle Number Thirteen, he began to send scouts to conduct in-depth investigations into the terrain around the sand castle and the tactical habits of Faulkner's fortress knights.
By today, the intelligence has been fully gathered, and [ Elderly and Children Fly First ] has returned from the brink of death with a group of brothers willing to charge with him one more time.
Without further ado, the pre-planned battle unfolded instantly. This time Alfonso gambled everything, betting all four of his hundred-man squads.
The 100-person team consisting of [ Howling Pothos ], [ Retreat Drum Player ], and [ Practice More If You're Bad ] is responsible for the main attack.
The [ Elderly and Children Fly First ] team serves as a reserve force, constantly monitoring the direction of other sandcastles to see if reinforcements are coming.
Such an army size is nothing for a massive battle involving hundreds of thousands of troops, but it is more than enough for a sandcastle.
Even so, Alfonso once again experienced the cruelty of war.
He watched as many of his soldiers were impaled, severed, or even thrown off the city walls. Even knowing that these were demon servants who could be resurrected, he still felt quite distressed.
And the demon servants did not disappoint him. With less than four hundred men (without any Imperial natives), Sandcastle Number Thirteen was swept away as easily as a sandcastle on the beach.
This sandcastle is medium-sized, much larger than number fourteen which is only guarded by a hundred people, and it contains quite a few skeleton soldiers.
But the demon servants took less than an hour to conquer the place, and then Alfonso saw the Imperial flag flying over the sandcastle, and the head of Faulkner's fortress knight was brought to him, along with a large number of skulls that had been chopped off and piled up into a small, pointed hill.
Just as everyone was celebrating, a scout suddenly reported that reinforcements from the Skeleton Alliance were attacking from the direction of Sandcastle Number Fourteen.
Alfonso now has two options. The first is to move the entire army into Sandcastle and begin a defensive siege, which would inflict more losses on the Skeleton Alliance.
The other option is very simple – run away.
As a rising star of the Starlight Empire (in his own eyes), Alfonso quickly followed his heart and made a decision:
"Withdraw troops! Withdraw troops!"