"Calling... connection established? Sanctus Headquarters, our magic-powered ally is sick, the report can only be maintained for a very short time, but I will try to report as much information as possible to the headquarters." Rody's voice came through, saying, "We regretfully saw that the orc troops arrived earlier than the human reinforcements, leaving us no choice but to evacuate. I suspect the enemy has grasped our method of magical communication, with the orcs, supported by the demon race, eavesdropping on our intelligence. Otherwise, our operations would not be so hampered, always losing the initiative."
"Indeed, that's a possibility." The Grand Marshal was startled, then thought to himself: If that's the case, then the problem is serious, because those who control this magical communication are all decision-makers, and magical communication has always been top secret.
"What?" The generals looked at each other, each having an epiphany.
"Report to headquarters, we are now very safe, although occasionally there are wolf riders hunting us, but we have almost no casualties. Although Lopek insists that it was the orcs who hurt his ankle, I saw that it was caused by him falling off the back of an orc's wolf, so I refused to credit him for bravery. Also, a few militiamen were stung on the soles of their feet by scorpions while walking, but they got better after applying some saliva." Rody's words made the Grand Marshal laugh so hard that he almost cried, and even the generals, after their initial shock, clapped vigorously.
Fighting against orc wolf riders was definitely extremely tough, everyone knew and had experienced it personally. If there were no casualties, then it meant this miraculous boy was truly extraordinary...
With a hundred logistics soldiers and six hundred militiamen, he was able to evade enemy pursuit and still eliminate wolf riders.
Even the proud generals had to admit their admiration.
"Our performance these past few days hasn't been good, having only eliminated five hundred seventy-one wolf riders and orc javelin throwers, and we've been constantly fleeing, with almost no time to report to headquarters. Of course, to prevent the military law office from questioning our claim of military achievements, we cut off the orcs' ears. Actually, some suggested keeping the heads, but that would be inconvenient, so I decided to cut off ears instead. I sincerely hope that this bag of bloody ears will be accepted by the military law office. As for some spoils of war, we had to abandon them due to the burden of carrying them, which is a loss for the armory. If there's to be a punishment for this from above, we hope it can be offset by our military achievements. Of course, it would be best if we could be absolved of any wrongdoing." Rody's voice was calm, but it stirred the Grand Marshal and the generals' blood.
Never before had there been such a boastful boy, complaining that there were too many spoils of war to carry.
Of course, the generals and knights all had plenty of logistics soldiers with them, not to mention spoils of war, they could even carry back a mountain. But, unfortunately, they usually had little in the way of spoils of war.
So, a little bit of spoils of war became their bragging rights.
Hearing this miraculous boy Rody's words, one can't help but feel so ashamed that they'd want to hit their head against a wall. His spoils of war are countless; with just a hundred logistics soldiers, six hundred militiamen, a few ancient camels, and some mercenaries, he managed to eliminate over five hundred wolf riders and giant javelin throwers, with zero casualties on his side. This is truly a miracle! An unbelievable miracle.
Any general, no matter how famous or capable, couldn't possibly achieve this.
"In a chance encounter, we came across the orc's Kodo Beast and Dragon teams," Rody's voice gently came back, saying, "Faced with the huge Kodo Beasts, we timidly chose to flee, because we found that the wooden spears issued to us were practically useless against their skin. We hope the gods will forgive our avoidance of battle. As for the Dragon team, we noticed that the main group had flown away, leaving behind only three dragons. So, we plan to ask the orcs tonight if they are willing to transfer these three dragons to us. I believe, surrounded by an army of over twenty thousand orcs, having three dragons to help transport things would make the retreat of the main force much smoother. Wish us luck!"
"This kid has nerves of steel!" exclaimed a general in amazement.
"I must be hearing things!" said another in disbelief.
In the war room, everyone was aware of the dragons' power. Even just three dragons were not easy to deal with.
Such an action could only succeed if they completely annihilated the enemy; otherwise, Rody and his team would be in danger of being discovered. If one dragon escaped, a large number of dragons would soon come, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
The generals could only worry helplessly.
Rody and his team were deep in the land of evil, with no teleportation array. Even if they wanted to go and lend a hand, it was impossible.
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Now, the generals were eager to see what strategy this miraculous boy Rody would use to kill the dragons. No one, not even the most experienced generals, could come up with a plan. Of course, they didn't believe that the spears in Rody's hands were really made of wood; this was just the miraculous boy's subtle protest to the headquarters.
Everyone knew from General Quentin that this miraculous boy had an enormous storage space capable of holding many weapons.
Moreover, the hundred students were elites from various countries, generally having storage space rings, at least capable of holding weapons. But no matter how much the storage space could hold, it couldn't possibly include bed crossbows or city defense crossbows, as only these could directly harm dragons. Ordinary swords, axes, and spears would hardly scratch a dragon's skin.
The hardest part was that dragons could fly and wouldn't just foolishly lie on the ground to be slaughtered.
"You don't need to return to the battlefield, just discuss it here! Whoever among you can come up with a way to kill three dragons under those circumstances, I'll not only promote you but also award you medals and allocate an additional twenty thousand troops to your battle zone. Come on, my generals, it's time to use your brains!" The Grand Marshal waited for Rody to end the call and excitedly pounded the table with his fist.
"Let's make some assumptions first..." As soon as the generals heard this, they immediately began a heated discussion.
Actually, the promise of rewards didn't excite them much; it was mainly a matter of military pride. As a general, it's not surprising if you can't defeat another general, but if you can't even match a logistics sergeant, it leaves a bad taste. Whether they could match the miraculous boy Rody or not, if they couldn't even think of what he could do, then their titles as generals would be in vain.
Some magic masters and grandmasters also joined the discussion, using their perspectives and thinking to guess Rody's actions. Thus, the entire afternoon was spent in intense debate.
The generals came up with dozens, nearly a hundred hypotheses, including terrain, weather, weapons and equipment, personnel deployment, enemy reactions, magic and combat qi damage, and so on. They designed at least ten combat plans, but in the end, they reached a frustrating conclusion: it would be difficult to annihilate all three dragons unless there were at least three warriors of the Sky Knight level or stronger.
The Grand Marshal sat motionless throughout, quietly observing the generals. He felt it had been a long time since his subordinates had discussed tactics so fiercely. Even in usual discussions, there was a lack of cooperation and nowhere near this level of full commitment to imagining victory.
"This won't work, unless we remove the limits," one general said, slapping the table. "I admit, I'm not as good in tactics as that miraculous boy. But I'm not convinced. Gentlemen, let's compete again. Under the condition of having sufficient resources, who can use the least resources to accomplish this task! Let's set a three-hour deadline. Whoever comes up with the quickest plan will be the king of tactics among us, but one thing, whoever's plan wins, it must be scrutinized and approved by everyone."
"If I had the resources, I could come up with the perfect combat plan within an hour," someone said, overjoyed at the prospect of victory.
Halfway through the three hours, their combat plans were still being refined.
Suddenly, a guard reported that Rody was calling Sanctus Headquarters again. The generals were all startled. How could the miraculous boy Rody be so fast? They hadn't even finalized their plans on the table, and he had already achieved it? What kind of brain did this guy have?
"I'm sorry, I told a shameless lie," Rody's voice chuckled through the receiver. "When the Dragon Camp secretly transported Blood Flower Axe Barbarian and Shaman Witch King, my companions and I attacked the Kodo Beast Camp. I know Blood Flower Axe Barbarian and Shaman Witch King must be very angry, thinking their ploy to lure the enemy was successful. Unfortunately, I'm a big talker who likes to lie. Haha, it's quite pitiful to see the mighty Blood Flower Axe Barbarian and Shaman Witch King disguised as ordinary soldiers getting drenched in the rain. I sympathize with you. Hahaha, to the orcs and demons eavesdropping on my communication, I want to say, don't think I only lie. Eventually, you'll understand my character. Sometimes, I do tell the truth, like how we indeed attacked your Kodo Beast Camp, killed dozens of wolf riders, and took away five of your Kodo Beasts."
"My God, I'm going to faint," a general said, excitedly smashing the table in front of him.
"The miraculous boy, truly incredible..." Many were stunned, jaws dropping. No one had thought of abandoning the dragons to attack the Kodo Beasts. This was what set the miraculous boy Rody apart.
"Don't ask me how I took your Kodo Beasts, nor how I fooled your guards and led my subordinates through your encirclement. Don't even ask me when I crossed the ruins of the fifth station's Holy Shield Camp, or why I sent six hundred militiamen back to the safe Justice Alliance and stayed in the Evil Forest myself. Just remember, we are always near you, everywhere. Want to capture us? Come on, I'm happy to play this game with you!" Rody hastily ended the call, leaving the generals somewhat baffled. What did all these words mean?
"Have General Quentin report in within five minutes," the Grand Marshal ordered a guard to send the message.
“No need, Your Excellency the Grand Marshal, I have already returned!” General Quentin strode in, accompanied by General Lot, who looked somewhat unwell. General Quentin saluted and reported, “Sir, General Lot and I led thirty thousand soldiers to prepare for a decisive battle with the orcs at a location 120 miles before the fourth station. However, the orc army was too busy hunting down Sergeant Rody to heed our call for a battle. So, when we retreated, we had to take back the six hundred militiamen who had crossed their lines with ancient camels!”
“You’ve done well, and so have you, General Lot,” the Grand Marshal nodded and said, “What about Sergeant Rody?”
“We didn’t see him, only some of his subordinates escorting the militiamen,” replied General Quentin. “Although they are my cavalry camp students, they refused my order to return and followed their sergeant instead.”
“Did you just watch them leave?” the Grand Marshal asked again.
“No, I gave them a military salute with the whole army,” said General Quentin solemnly. “I think these young men deserve our salute.”
“Didn’t that Rody bring me any gifts?” The Grand Marshal stood up abruptly, looking at General Quentin, “Setting aside his disobedience for now, I assume he wouldn’t falsely report his military exploits, would he?”
“Here are the orc ears you wanted!” General Quentin produced a large bag of bloody things from his storage space.
“Generals, this is the kind of gift I need!” The Grand Marshal grabbed a handful of ears from the bag and laughed heartily, “What is this? The best spoils of war. Don’t talk to me about treasures and magic crystals; they are all ephemeral. This, representing the honor of a soldier! These are the spoils of war earned through bloody battles, the most prideful and glorious thing for us!”
“Your Excellency, I want to tell you the real reason why Rody didn’t return,” said General Quentin with a grave face.
“You don’t need to say anything; I’m not blind,” the Grand Marshal snorted sharply, his gaze sweeping over everyone present like a sharp blade, and said authoritatively, “Regarding the traitor who leaked top secrets, no matter who he is, once I catch him, I will send him to hell, regardless of his background! I don’t care what Rody’s origin is, whether he comes from Felic, or whether he is a waste without magic or combat qi. What I need is a military genius, a human genius who can make the orcs grind their teeth in frustration and helplessness!”
“No, Your Excellency, I want to talk about something you don't know,” insisted General Quentin. “His subordinates refused my orders because a human powerhouse attacked Rody a day before, severely injuring him. Someone, under the guise of rescue, is committing acts that break our hearts. Thus, the soldiers fighting bloody battles with the orcs in the Evil Forest misunderstood us!”
“What?” The Grand Marshal erupted in anger upon hearing this.
“When I saw the young warriors, covered in blood, accusing us, I, a hard man of steel, nearly cried!” Quentin said, his eyes bloodshot. “All their wounds were caused by human assassins, not by orc weapons. This is what we gave them! Heaven bestowed upon us a genius like Rody, the bane of orcs, the nightmare of orcs! The orcs reached out to him without hatred, the Lionheart King of the orcs even willing to marry his most beautiful daughter to him! Yet humans sent assassins to stab him deeply in the heart... This is the gift we sent him! This is the 'assistance' we humans gave him!”