September 4th, 6 PM sharp.

Cornet had already disembarked from the command airship and begun receiving reports from officers of all levels at the ground command center, deciding on the next course of action.

"General, after hours of fighting this afternoon, we have successfully advanced three kilometers, further compressing the enemy into the outskirts of Oakenburg."

The staff officer pointed at the markings on the map and said, "The terrain there starts to become steep, and to the east is Karuk Forest, very close to the city center. We analyze that the dragon's minions will focus their defense here, with denser fortifications and artillery towers deployed. Furthermore, the bottleneck narrows, making it difficult for our legions to spread out. We may fall into a situation of 'one man blocks the pass.'"

There was no change of expression on Cornet's face as he combed back his golden hair with a brush. His military cap adorned with a golden eagle laid quietly beside the map on the table.

"What is the morale of the frontline soldiers?" he asked the soot-covered 9th Legion Commander beside him.

"General Cornet, although the soldiers at all levels are physically exhausted and fatigued, they remain full of fighting spirit. When I briefly inspected the front lines, they were discussing when the next round of attacks would begin, with some hardly able to wait. The Morey Reprisal Legion in particular is thirsty for immediate action, and our imperial soldiers are also greatly inspired."

Cornet nodded but still did not show a smile, instead focusing his attention on the signaling soldier using a communication orb not far away.

Soon, that soldier finished communicating, organized a large pile of paperwork, and came over to report:

"General! Karuks have responded! The reason they did not appear on the Morey Plain today was because at around 4 AM this morning, they were attacked by a military force coming from the northern Karuk Forest! Caught off guard, their defensive line was torn apart, with their logistics, organization, and command systems shattered, leaving them unable to meet our request."

Bang!!

"What!" Cornet shouted, violently slamming the table as he stood up!

The surrounding officers involuntarily shuddered, while the experienced 9th Legion Commander showed the same horrified expression as Cornet, shoving aside a staff officer to examine the map.

"The Tokas defense line of Karuk has been breached? An attack from the north…"

His finger moved from Oakenburg towards the Karuk Great Forest, then traveled all the way to Tokas Village, finally pointing directly at the vulnerable flanks of his own clustered legions.

"When was this breached!"

The 9th Legion Commander furiously questioned the signaling soldier.

"I'm sorry sir, the Karuks themselves were also uncertain, but the battle there seemed to end sometime between 11AM and 1PM."

Cornet instantly turned his head, his expression filled with unrestrained rage: "Midday? Then why are we only finding out about this now, right before dinner? And it's only because I went to urge them, otherwise they weren't planning to tell me at all?"

Although the signaling soldier was very afraid of General, he still dutifully answered: "I did raise this issue. The Karuks' response was - their garrison troops have no means of contacting us, so those garrison troops first reported to their military headquarters, the headquarters then submitted it to the council, and the council then had to discuss and come to a conclusion before informing the Karuk leader."

"A bunch of idiots!" Cornet could not help but insult them. "Calling them pigs is too high of a status for them! The old men sitting in the council are brainless, and the military staff are brainless too? Don't they know to send a signaling soldier to tell me?"

At this point, Cornet's entire clustered legion's elites were all compressed into the southern outskirts of Oakenburg, with mana cannons also advancing forward, and supply lines changing as well.

This resulted in the whole clustered legion being top-heavy and having an undermanned rear - inexperienced reserve legions were left behind, which was extremely dangerous.

But Cornet believed that with the Karuk army providing cover to the west, and friendly territory to the rear and east, there was no need to worry about being stabbed in the back, so he committed all his forces.

Now being told that the allied forces to the west had been annihilated, and that the cause was a mysterious elite force, was devastating news.

From Tokas Village to the Morey Plain was flat open ground with no defensive lines or fortifications. If the enemy struck with unexpected force, Cornet's army would be cut in two at the waist. The forward elite legions and artillery positions would then lose their supply lines, left to await death.

"Notify the western legions to immediately begin constructing defensive works. Also notify the eastern legions to withdraw and defend towards Oakland."

He quickly regained his composure and began issuing orders.

"General, this is a tremendous workload. Our weapons, ammunition and ration transports won't be able to keep up," the staff officer said, sweating profusely. "There are only a few transport routes from Oakland to the front lines. The military supplies and food stockpiled there can only partially reach here, as they've already been almost entirely allocated to the operational legions at the front. There aren't extras."

The Morey Plain had large swaths of farmland and pastures, and with the arrival of the rainy season, mud puddles were everywhere. Without motor vehicles or rail lines, supplies could only be hauled in by animal-drawn carts, which easily got stuck in the muddy fields with their wheels becoming mired.

Only the pre-established roads could provide stable back-and-forth transportation, but those had already been destroyed once by Raphael.

Now there were only a pitiful few routes that could be used.

"Moreover, the eastward redeployment of the eastern legions will also occupy some of the transport routes," the staff officer continued. "Most importantly, this will leave the front lines without reserve forces. If they suffer an ambush and are heavily damaged, there will be no way to replenish troops. The war effort will fail."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Cornet put the comb away into his spatial ring, picked up his military cap from the table and put it on. His attendants immediately draped his coat and overcoat over him.

"Maintain the current resource allocation ratios and do as I say!" he said firmly to the staff officer, whose face had turned pale with some desperation. "From Tokas to our positions is about 330 kilometers. Even marching at top speed, that's only 100 kilometers per day. Those enemies will take at least two days to arrive."

"Within that timeframe, I will break through the dragon's fortresses. Ryton's army has already successfully drawn its attention - with tens of thousands of legions under my command, there is no way I can retreat!"

It was clear Cornet believed he could achieve a quick decisive victory, requiring only simple defensive preparations.

He glanced at the people present and walked out, with the 9th Legion Commander following closely behind.

Outside, the sunset was shrouded by thick clouds, painted in dark red and golden hues with a few black clouds lurking.

"General, I still think this is a bit risky," the legion commander candidly advised Cornet. "None of us expected the dragon to actually have strategic thinking, unexpectedly not stubbornly guarding their fortresses like those backward orcs. Despite being outnumbered, they've still split off an elite force in an attempt to directly destroy our fighting strength."

"This is no simple matter. There may be deeper plots or details we haven't considered. How about temporarily retreating to repair the supply lines and bide our time? Wait until the various components of the clustered legions are secure, or for the Karuks to reinforce us before a decisive battle?"

"No, Binnie, you're thinking too simply," Cornet shook his head and patted the other's shoulder with a smile.

"You're older than me, have a longer military career, and more honors, but you've never been promoted to the General level. Guess why? Family status? Wealth? Money and power dealing? None of those - it's because your idea of warfare is too idealized."

He looked towards the distant opposite shore of the Molten River, thousands of miles away from the Natterian capital.

"Why did headquarters insist I must launch the attack on September 4th? Because they don't want any loss of face in this multi-national joint operation, not even a little bit."

Binnie squinted his eyes, carefully pondering Cornet's words, starting to understand. "You mean…they're considering the other nations?"

"Exactly," Cornet continued. "Over the past decades, friction between the nations has increased. Morey and Karuk have clashed, Ryton keeps complaining and increasingly coveting the Strife Plain lands. Our spies even obtained their plans for a surprise attack on Oakenburg."

"What!" Binnie was greatly shocked. "But…aren't humans already united as one?"

"Hmph, do you believe that? The Empire is resource-rich and has vast territories, keeping the other nations suppressed. Who doesn't want to rise up and become the big shot? The Empire's national policy is to pass off risks - let Ryton bear the pressure from dragons and exiles, let Chalaran bear the pressure from orcs, let Morey and Karuk exhaust each other through internal strife and perpetual hatred. Why do you think the Empire has always stayed out of the fray? It's to escalate conflicts, to ensure Morey and Karuk can never truly ally."

"They're all preoccupied, only the Empire enjoys peacetime development, its national strength continuously growing. This allows it to remain seated as the leader while putting on airs of peace."

Binnie realized with dawning comprehension, "So this isn't just a single war, it's also a show of muscle to foreign countries. We must perform perfectly and precisely in order to continue deterring the other nations."

Cornet said solemnly, "Correct, there can be no delays whatsoever. We must utterly crush the dragon's forces with thunderous might. This is the power a great empire should display, to keep Ryton, Morey, Karuk and Chalaran meekly serving as our buffers, granaries and garbage dumps."

"So we cannot possibly allow any reason to delay us. If Ryton conquers Oakenburg before us, wouldn't that suggest their military might exceeds ours? Ryton and the Empire can't realistically go to war to prove who is stronger. This would cause the citizens of other nations to waver in their hearts, harming the Empire's interests."

"This was also the reason I initially stayed put in Potan City instead of advancing - losing a battle isn't as simple as starting over from scratch. If humans lose internal control, we may revert to the chaotic era when the Midgard Empire collapsed a thousand years ago."

Realization dawned on Binnie like a tidal wave. "I see now…I see! If I had been ordered to retake Oakenburg a few months ago, I might have crossed the river into battle much sooner."

Cornet let out a long sigh. "So your responsibility is immense. The 9th Legion are the elites of the elites, hardened veteran soldiers who have seen fierce battles. You are also the legion lieutenant general with the best prospects for promotion to General. You must lay the foundations for victory tomorrow - the dragon's elite force likely won't arrive until the day after, so we need to conquer Oakenburg before then."

"Yes sir!" Binnie firmly assured Cornet.

...

At this moment, outside Pillar Mountain.

Raphael was desperately embroiled in combat with two Ryton dragon squadrons, while below were the dragon-kin warriors who had retreated back to Pillar Mountain from the lair's defeat.

In the afternoon, the dragon kin in charge of logistics and supplies had begun continuously evacuating important resources. Arnold and Old Flame went to assist the retreat to prevent human forces in the Bodoran Forest from intercepting them completely.

Despite their efforts, one-third of the dragon kin had still perished along the way. Raphael was too entangled with those two combat dragon squadrons to break free.

Now the last of the combat kin forces had to retreat.

"Roar!!"

Raphael madly spewed draconic breaths to suppress the human dragons from dive-bombing his kinsmen. His dark golden vertical pupils were bloodshot, and the areas vulnerable to spell grazing were bleeding profusely, dragon scales and gold coins lodged in the crevices raining down.

His outstretched wing membranes were also damaged to varying degrees, with streaks of ashen smoke tendrils fluttering in the wind.

"Huff…huff…"

Raphael was panting heavily. Since 4AM, he had only rested for about an hour, without any food or water. The physical and mental strain had pushed him almost to his limits.

This was different from the previous Battle of Pillar Mountain, where he had easily crushed the humans and reaped a massive haul, leaving the red dragon brimming with vigor and strength. Now it was a defeated retreat with heavy losses.

"I don't think I've seen these few dragons before," Raphael carefully observed the enemy during a lull after dodging several over-sixth-tier spells, noticing some unfamiliar faces.

"So they must have rotated in reinforcements? No wonder they've shown no signs of fatigue despite such a prolonged engagement," he thought grimly to himself.

The opposing Ryton dragons, on the other hand, were feeling even more anxious and shocked.

"This dragon is too monstrous! Up until now, we've used a total of one hundred and sixty-seven over-sixth-tier spells and nine hundred and twenty-five sixth-tier spells, and it dodged them all!"

Raphael's entire body was tensed in a battle stance, terrifyingly focused. In the combat environment, his brain could analyze every minute factor in the shortest time and predict the changes over the next few seconds. His flesh carried out each judgment without any delay or error, dodging the barrage of spells from unthinkable angles on several occasions.

However, the crimson dragon also found it difficult to injure the Ryton dragons. His straightforward lase breath could only repel and suppress, rarely inflicting actual damage.

Raphael noticed signs that the two human dragons were preparing to dive, so he immediately sprayed his lase breath in that direction. The arrays of spells were shattered along the way, forcing the two dragons to regain altitude and continue tangling with him.

"Arnold, Old Flame, and Milmos, I'm leaving it all up to you now!" he thought uneasily. The humans had easily tied him down with just a fraction of their forces - everything else could only be left to his subordinates.

...

"Eleven o'clock, open fire!"

From within the Bodoran Forest, the artillery line kept thundering through the dense trees towards a high point, attacking the dragon kin transport lines struggling to sprint towards Pillar Mountain.

The hammer drakes had already expended seventy cinder shell rounds in the previous defensive battles, losing their long-range capabilities and falling into a passive state of being pounded. They dared not separate haphazardly either, or the human infantry already prepared would use enfilading fire to severely wound or kill them.

With insufficient supplies, the dragon kin had basically lost their combat ability, relying solely on Arnold and Old Flame for cover.

In the air, the brilliant golden Arnold said to Old Flame as he surveyed the chaotic battlefield:

"Elder Surut, please handle the ground human forces. I'll go draw off those gryphon packs."