Rookies Pecking at Each Other

The Goshawk Tribe.

"Grand elder, good news!"

"Moriarty, that fool, fell for it just as we expected!"

Cross said excitedly.

It was just what they had hoped for. They had only bribed an informant to pass along a message, and their old enemy had fallen for the trick.

"Don't celebrate too soon. Moriarty may be reckless, but he has some ability.

"Over the past seven or eight years, the Cors Tribe has prospered under him.

"Other than having a slightly smaller population than us, they're no worse off in any other respect.

"If he succeeds in swallowing up these routed troops and grows stronger, he'll surely become a major threat to our Goshawk Tribe in the future!"

Zander said gravely.

He worried that the enemy had a plot if he acted alone, but if he lured his neighbors into attacking first, he worried they would seize the chance to grow stronger.

Whatever decision he made, there seemed to be a problem. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Grand elder, didn't we already agree?

"Once they've fought the enemy and both sides have taken heavy losses, we'll go in and clean up the mess.

"The military merits and spoils will all be ours. How could the Cors Tribe possibly grow stronger?"

"If you're still worried, then let's be ruthless and leave Moriarty in the Dragonbone Mountains. That'll get rid of the threat once and for all!"

Cross proposed, brimming with killing intent.

From the Goshawk Tribe's perspective, the Holy Glory Empire was nowhere near as great a threat as the Cors Tribe right next door.

The Holy Glory Empire's northern expedition would leave after a few months. All they had to do was avoid its forces.

Their neighbors, on the other hand, were constantly competing with them for water and pastureland.

In years with good weather, that was fine. They could spare that little bit.

But when disaster and famine struck, the fight for the resources they needed to survive became a life-and-death struggle.

When survival was at stake, even the royal court couldn't stop tribes from fighting one another.

"Nonsense!"

"This is a critical point in the war between the royal court and the Holy Glory Empire. If we start a tribal war now, where does that leave the royal court?"

Zander immediately rebuked him.

Some things could be done, but not spoken aloud.

He wanted to get rid of Moriarty too, but it had to be kept strictly secret. Not a whisper could leak out.

Ideally, they would find a scapegoat to take the blame and keep the Goshawk Tribe out of it.

"Anything could happen in that godforsaken place, the Dragonbone Mountains.

"Without evidence, the royal court won't get involved!"

Cross said confidently.

The law of the jungle prevailed on the grasslands, and infighting between tribes had never ceased.

As long as they didn't bring the matter into the open, the royal court wouldn't interfere.

Besides, compared to their petty squabbles, the struggles among the khanate's upper echelons were truly bloody.

After losing a political struggle, the Deep Earth Tribe had been sacrificed in its entirety.

Although it had been announced publicly that the Holy Glory Empire was responsible, that was just to fool ordinary herders. The tribal leaders all knew the story didn't hold up.

"Enough. Don't say anything that undermines unity again!"

"Still, the enemy has always been cunning. It's possible they might see through the Cors Tribe's plan in advance and ambush them in the Dragonbone Mountains.

"Pass the order for our people to gather in secret.

"Moriarty is too young. If he falls prey to the enemy's schemes and becomes possessed by an evil spirit, we can't stand by and watch him go astray!"

Zander said with a righteous air.

Kicking someone while he was down also needed political packaging.

With the pretext of "possession by an evil spirit," they would have an excuse to shift the blame even if word got out later.

When the time came, they could offer a batch of supplies to the royal court's powerful figures, and the matter would be put to rest.

The Dragonbone Mountains, the Third Supplementary Army's temporary headquarters.

"Commander, we've gotten to the bottom of it.

"According to the prisoners we captured, they're from the Cors Tribe, neighbors of the Goshawk Tribe.

"The two tribes often clash over pastureland, and relations between them are terrible.

"The Goshawk Tribe has over fifteen thousand people, with about four thousand able-bodied adults among them. The Cors Tribe has over twelve thousand people, with more than three thousand able-bodied adults.

"Because of the war on the northern frontier, both tribes had a quarter of their able-bodied adults taken away.

"They took the bait we sent out for easy pickings and rushed to send out troops because they were afraid the Goshawk Tribe would beat them to it.

"..."

Captain Felix explained at length.

As an officer who had joined the force later, he had been entrusted with an important task by Victor as soon as he took up his post, and the criticism in the army had never stopped.

The others were manageable enough. At most, they grumbled behind his back, and if he didn't hear it, it might as well not have happened.

Howard alone showed him no courtesy. At the last military meeting, he had openly called him a good-for-nothing.

The commander of the reconnaissance battalion had been nursing his anger and had sworn to produce results.

Before, he couldn't move against the Tuwu People for the sake of secrecy, but now that the enemy had entered the mountains, the situation had changed.

He had personally led the operation to capture the prisoners this time.

"Commander, something's not quite right.

"Normally, the Goshawk Tribe should have found them first, but the Cors Tribe got here ahead of them."

Wyatt couldn't help pointing it out.

The operation to lure the enemy had targeted the Goshawk Tribe from the start, but they had hooked the Cors Tribe instead.

If the Cors Tribe and the Goshawk Tribe had been on good terms, the two might have joined forces. But judging from the intelligence they had gathered, the chances of that were practically zero.

"Of course something's not right!"

"Our people wandered around the Goshawk Tribe's pastureland. There's no way they didn't hear about it.

"There are only two explanations for why they still haven't sent out troops.

"Either the Cors Tribe is capable enough to have planted someone in the Goshawk Tribe and suppressed the news for the time being.

"Or the Goshawk Tribe deliberately passed the news to them, hoping to kill two birds with one stone.

"Whichever it is, it won't affect their plan.

"Felix, send men to keep an eye on the Goshawk Tribe. As soon as their people enter the Dragonbone Mountains, we'll close the net!"

Victor ordered with a serious expression.

They had prepared a tableful of dishes, only for two groups of guests to arrive.

It was impossible not to feel the pressure. Fortunately, the Golden Horde Khanate's royal court had conscripted the elite troops of both the Goshawk Tribe and the Cors Tribe.

The Third Army held an absolute advantage in numbers.

"Yes, sir!"

"Commander, who do we attack first?"

Felix had asked what everyone was thinking. Since there was friction between the two Tuwu tribes, they naturally had to take advantage of it.

If they could defeat them one at a time, there was no reason to take on both at once.

None of them could say for sure how well the Goshawk Tribe and the Cors Tribe could fight, but they all knew exactly what their own force was made of.

If they concentrated their superior numbers and surrounded the enemy, they still had a decent chance of winning.

But if they split their forces to fight on two fronts, no one knew what results they could achieve.

"There's no rush to decide. Let's see which of these two fish thrashes around the most and is most likely to jump out of the net. We'll deal with that one first!"

Victor replied with a smile.

It was his first time commanding troops in battle, and he hadn't expected the enemy to be so cooperative.