Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence-Chapter 432 - 178: Time to Settle the Score with One Blow
"Judging purely from the battlefield, we were overly optimistic. Our initial plan was to severely cripple the Green Dragon’s legion, thereby taking advantage of the forest forces’ weakness to push the battle line back into the forest, even going so far as to invade and completely destroy the Green Dragon’s nest."
Upon hearing this, Su Li nodded slightly. Before the battle, they underestimated the Green Dragon’s tactical abilities. Now, with significant human casualties, Su Li had little hope of completely destroying the Green Dragon’s nest. With only these remaining troops, if they were to venture into the forest, they might repeat the Green Dragon’s misfortunes, suffering heavy losses and being pushed back again.
If they were truly pushed back, the Hesse Territory’s army would be completely decimated, not even retaining a scale of 1,000 people. The remaining human troops wouldn’t even be able to defend the castle.
"However, judging from the Green Dragon’s personality, our assessment is extremely accurate. The Green Dragon’s attacks are so fierce, its troops launch relentless day and night assaults without regard to casualties, even after suffering a major defeat. Without any rest or reorganization, they enthusiastically initiate the next round of attacks. There’s only one reason for this: it is eager to end the battle quickly. Both it and all its Divine Chosen Guards have already gathered under Heisen Castle, having unleashed all its minions. The security of the Dragon Nest Treasure is its paramount concern."
This is beyond doubt.
As the saying goes, a leopard can’t change its spots.
The obsession with wealth is ingrained in a Giant Dragon’s bones. Their greed makes them absolutely intolerant of the risk of the Dragon Nest Treasure being looted.
Since the Green Dragon initiated this war, nearly three months have passed through stages of continuous attacks, probes, and decisive battles.
Three months—a time stretching from the withering of autumnal flora to the cold winds of winter; leaves turning from green to yellow, and from yellow to white, as a quarter of the year’s cycle passes.
One can imagine how restless the Green Dragon felt over this long period, though "haunting shadows" wouldn’t be an overstatement.
In its empty Dragon’s Nest, the threat posed by four or more casual thieves entering is much greater than that from Hesse Territory.
The Green Dragon had to both exhaust all its wits to contest humanity and remain fearfully vigilant about the emptiness at its rear.
This is something inherent in a Giant Dragon’s nature; it can’t be changed!
Su Li could risk everything, even draining the entire treasury, as long as victory was secured.
But no matter what, the Green Dragon could not bear it if it won the war but lost all its wealth to theft. That is something it would never accept.
Oerstein was precisely targeting this trait of the Green Dragon. With resolute determination, he clenched his fist and said, "We intend to rapidly exacerbate the Green Dragon’s ingrained greed and its dread of losing its wealth. Therefore, we plan to take a risky move by deploying the Elite Knight Order from Heisen Castle and, after leaving here, advancing ostentatiously towards the Blood Pine Forest!"
Advancing towards the Blood Pine Forest?
Su Li’s eyes brightened as he asked, "Are you planning to create the illusion that we intend to attack the Green Dragon’s nest?"
"Exactly." Oerstein straightened his chest and proclaimed with high spirits, "The Green Dragon absolutely cannot accept the catastrophic scenario of its Dragon Nest Treasure being looted by humans."
"There is no doubt about it." Su Li promptly endorsed Oerstein’s analysis, saying, "But what is our objective? To force them to withdraw?"
"No! It’s to mobilize their forces. The Green Dragon will surely desperately gather its troops to reinforce. Then we will ambush on their hasty return path and decisively launch a fierce attack when they are utterly exhausted! We strive to annihilate their forces in a single battle, even cutting down the Green Dragon, thereby completely ending the war."
Gasp—Su Li took in a deep breath and asked, "With only eight hundred Knights charging against tens of thousands of the Monster Legion?"
This indeed constitutes a decisively world-colored way of resolving the battle. When the war reaches a state of desperation, with countless human casualties and rivers running red with blood, the last remaining human knights gather together, erupting in unparalleled loyalty and courage, charging headlong against the monsters, towards death, and towards the end of the world.
Then, under the protection of the Divine Spirit, the spears of the human cavalry would shimmer with brilliant golden light, powerfully breaking through the monster legions numbering in tens of thousands, slaying the powerful Demon leader, thus completely reversing the course of the battlefield.
This could indeed be described as imbued with romanticism and a heroic aura.
But!
The genes deeply rooted in Su Li’s core didn’t believe in this; he trusts more in ’I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul!’ What if the Divine Spirit does not protect them?
What if, in this battle, the Sun Goddess did not intervene, wouldn’t that be a path to self-destruction?
Compared to the intangible Gods, he would prefer to hold Destiny in his own hands, fighting by the principle of ’First win, then fight’—the constant law of warfare.
Therefore, after a brief moment of awe, Su Li immediately expressed his concern by asking, "Isn’t this plan too risky? Our Elite Knight Order has battled with ferocity to the point where the heavens dim and the stars seem to lose color. The losses have been immense, with over 400 direct casualties, even the losses among Champion Knights and Half Griffins numbering in four or five each, not to mention countless injuries. The casualty rate is nearly 50%, can the mere remainder of over 800 Elite Knights truly be enough to overwhelm tens of thousands of the Monster Legion?"
The casualties on both sides are still relatively easy to calculate, thanks to Oerstein’s outstanding defense strategies, which several times shattered an entire Monster Legion with very minimal losses. With the Dwarves’ exceptionally sturdy and towering defensive structures, human losses fared far better compared to the outpost battles.
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