"... I've already taken over Whitechapel Town according to your request. Next, I will find an opportunity to break into Silver Valley County from Wolfbridge County, forcing the Oslar Clan's army to retreat and reinforce..."

"... As for the placement of these Mountain Knights, I will talk to them one-on-one during the raiding operation to determine their true intentions..."

"... However, I disagree with your notion of eliminating knights and nobility. You can at most eliminate the external form of nobility, but you cannot eliminate their inherent essence..."

"... Everyone desires to have more and own more, but the land and wealth of this world are limited. You are just wasting your efforts."

"... It's better to say this: look at the territories of your Battle Group. Don't they resemble Knight Manors? Those officers who only intermarry internally and establish affiliated primary and secondary military schools, don't they resemble knights?"

"... From now until the earthly heaven you speak of is established, a thousand years might not suffice. During this millennium, the nobility will continually rise up. Of course, you can keep suppressing them, but can you live for two hundred years, or a thousand?"

"... I'm pretending to be Jia Li because the Thousand River Valley is suffering calamities. I'm not protecting the Holy Union but the Thousand River Valley, though now the Thousand River Valley and the Holy Union are one..."

After finishing the entire letter, Horn showed no expression, simply folding the letter paper lightly and placing it back into the envelope. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Is Lady Jia Li's mission going well?" Petier smiled from the side.

Horn nodded, slipping the envelope into his pocket, then reached out to flip the grilled fish over the campfire: "Is everyone here? Call them over."

Petier nodded towards Horn and turned to call over the military police, who often also served as messengers during the war.

The cacophony of summer cicadas enveloped the Nao'an River at the end of June.

The sun had retreated three-quarters, leaving only its last glimmer.

On the border between golden and black, soldiers returning from afar were slowly entering a pre-constructed camp.

The sound of rushing water and the creaking of turning wheels rolled together, moving nearly ten thousand advancing soldiers and the Defensive Army.

Inside the camp, cooks had already prepared a thick broth of purple eggs mixed with vermicelli. The boiling meat paste was seasoned with black pepper and tomato sauce, and black rye bread was used to soak up the broth.

The sweet and sour meat broth melted away the fatigue off their faces by seventy to eighty percent upon entering their mouths.

By the time Horn had finished grilling the fish, a large number of senior officers and staff had gathered before the campfire.

At this time, Jeska, the Battle Commander of the Wild Wolf Battle Group, was controlling the overall situation on the front line and could not arrive.

The others, including Dass, the Battle Commander of the Chongxin Battle Group; Mengse, the Battle Commander of the Guard Battle Group; and Victor, the Battle Commander of the Black Crown Battle Group, were all present.

Besides these familiar faces, there was also Selomis' Shadow Crow Battle Group (part of the new army from Black Snake Bay) and Rudilo leading the Fire Lizard Battle Group.

Of course, there were also the Rangers and the regular cavalry led jointly by Grush and Mira.

Some were sitting on rocks, some leaning against barrels, others standing, hands on hips, scolding curious, peeking soldiers.

Horn had called them, not for small talk, but primarily for a meeting.

Although Petier had already sent the battle plans and strategic direction over, this meeting could not be skipped.

After having the grilled fish to fill their stomachs, Horn stepped to a chest-high wooden box, starting to speak without delay.

"Today is June 28th. About three weeks ago, Kenke Town, due to shoddy defenses, was breached by the Blood Knights."

On a carpet-sized map, Petier pushed the flag representing the Leia people onto Kenke Town.

"Near Xia Lvcheng, about ten thousand people are stationed under the newly formed corps led by Raffel. Since the majority are from Eagle's Claw Bay, we call this the Eagle's Claw Corps.

In addition, Kenke Town also has twenty thousand Kingdom Army troops stationed, divided into the First Legion and Second Corps, under the direct command of King Jiji himself.

The Kingdom's First Legion is formed with the 7500 King's Guard at its core, while the Second Corps is composed of 14 directive companies combined with Blood Knights.

In the Adan Castle direction, there's the northern corps formed by the Noble Alliance Army, primarily the Oslar Clan's coalition, about twenty thousand strong.

In the Haji Castle direction, is where King Jiji reorganized miscellaneous soldiers and surplus nobility into the Third Corps, roughly ten thousand strong.

Of course, there are some scattered vassal troops and mercenaries, also about ten thousand strong."

On this map, personally drawn by Petier, the staff pushed pieces representing flags to their respective positions according to Horn's words.

Soon, the deployment of the Leia army was clearly displayed on the map.

Even many logistical hub centers, wartime stables, and specific camp locations were included.

This was thanks to the Defenders who were still active in Hotam County at the moment.

Previously, Hotam County was definitely the most disloyal region within the Holy Union, or one could say it was the least attached to Horn.

After being occupied by the Leia people through pseudo-human activities and the efforts of the Defenders, Hotam County's devotion to Horn was instead continually increasing.

Even showing a tendency of "We'll never cause trouble again, just please come back soon."

"Currently, we've layered our defenses, concentrating our main forces on the defense line from Adan Castle to Haji Castle.

Adan Castle holds the Chongxin Army and Fire Lizard Army, while Haji Castle holds the Wild Wolf Army and Black Champion Army, totaling about twenty thousand troops.

Near Damp Dock is where the Guard Army and Shadow Crow Army are currently stationed, about ten thousand strong.

The Holy Grail Cavalry Corps has nearly a thousand, with the Kush Cavalry Corps numbering over a thousand, totaling thirty-two thousand combat troops. This should be the main force we can deploy at the front line."

In fact, after mobilization, the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance's troop strength had reached a level that was considered terrifying by the standards of the time.

Besides the six battle groups, there were also the Iron Fist Battle Group, Mountain Cavalry Corps, and Yihe Shu.

However, the Iron Fist Battle Group had to guard against the Norn people, the Mountain Cavalry was raiding Thorn Garden, and Yihe Shu had to handle escorting and water battles on the river surface.

Taking a sip of coffee from a tin cup, Horn assessed the current frontline troop comparison: "Currently, it's seventy thousand against thirty thousand, with the advantage to the enemy."

Looking at the troop distribution on the map, Selomis resisted the urge to kick a human-sized rock fragment: "After a year of fighting, how are we still at a disadvantage?"

"Now with Kenke Town lost and inadequate troop superiority, it seems the situation of this battle is precarious." Victor frowned as well.

"Maybe we should continue defending the Adan Castle-Haji Castle line?" After pondering the map for a while, Mira cautiously asked Horn.

With failureism rampant among the troops, Bernardo stood up: "If it were a doomed situation, would His Excellency still rush back from Shangruifo County?"

Seeing everyone focus their gaze on him, Horn took a flag and placed it in the direction of Thorn Garden, outside the map.

"An off-the-board strategy?" Rudilo asked.

"What off-the-board strategy!" Mengse glared at him. "It's a trade-off."

Horn explained with a smile: "Though the situation is unfavorable to us, war is dynamic.

Today's disadvantage might turn into the greatest advantage because the Leia army's biggest problem is their lack of unity."

The Leia army was originally an amalgamation of makeshift troops and leaders, sometimes ally forces were more troublesome than the enemy.

If Horn's army command system was a chain of command, King Jiji's was a tangled mess of chaos.

The internal interests were inconsistent, naturally leading to union by profit and division by profit.

"I predict..." Horn picked up the flag representing the northern corps at Adan Castle, "a gap will appear here. Even if they don't withdraw troops, their hearts will be unsettled, won't they?"

"Didn't King Jiji block the news?" Mira immediately understood, "Letting them know that their hometowns were raided?"

Dass couldn't help but laugh: "We used grenade launchers to deliver the message."

Now the news of their hometowns being plundered and the fact that blood knights are undead is spreading like wildfire among the Leia people.

The Truth Court is running at full throttle, revealing seven or eight "exposes" of the Leia Corps and blood knights each day.

"So, do you know what to do now?"

Dass pounded his chest heavily: "Understood."

"Good. So, it's a siege battle at Haji Castle?" Selomis clapped.

"No, it's the decisive battle." Horn tapped the map lightly with his right hand, although the sound was soft, it was like thunder in everyone's ears.

"After the northern corps leaves, our next step is to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Leia!"