A few hours before sunrise, Lux was woken up by Keane in his temporary tent within the Yelan Main Headquarters.
The face of the skinny swordsman was quite grave, which chased away the drowsiness that Lux was still feeling at that moment.
"What happened?" Lux asked.
"The Camp of General Fahad in the Marshlands has been overrun," Keane replied. "Go to the Main Tent. All the commanders are being gathered right now. Great General Watson and Great General Sherlock asked me to wake you up. Go. I'll wake up Cai and the others."
Lux nodded and hurriedly ran to the Commander's Tent to get a better understanding of what just transpired.
They had just accepted the Mission to support the Yelan Kingdom a few hours ago, and now, the situation had suddenly escalated to something that caught the Half-Elf completely by surprise.
Five minutes later, Cai and the others also arrived in the Commander's tent. Just like Lux, all of them had grim expressions on their faces because they didn't expect the circumstances of the Yelan Kingdom to change overnight.
"Everyone, I'm sorry for waking you up, but I received a report that the Marshlands' first line of defense has been breached," Watson said in a calm manner. "Because of the rapid development, General Fahad was forced to abandon their headquarters and regroup at the second defensive line, ten miles away from their Main Camp.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"If the Ammarian Kingdom manages to break past their second defensive line, then they can easily reach the Town of Larnwick, which is only an hour away by horseback. According to General Fahad's report, it is estimated that the enemy had mobilized over 80,000 troops when they assaulted their camp.
"Many of our soldiers sacrificed their lives in order to allow our comrades to escape. Currently, General Fahad only has a little more than 30,000 troops defending our Eastern Flank."
Gasps of shock were heard inside the tent, and some of the Commanders' faces became pale after coming to understand how dire their current situation was.
Right now, the Yelan Kingdom was fighting on four battlefields.
The Marshlands, the Forests, the Great Plains, and the Mountain Regions.
The Great Plains, which had easy access towards the territories that were being conquered, were being guarded by Great General Watson and Great General Sherlock. They were the heroes of the previous war, and because of this, they were assigned the hardest place to defend.
The Marshlands were their eastern front, and if over fifty thousand soldiers managed to break past their defenses, they could easily attack the defenders that were guarding the second battlefield, which was the Forest Area.
"General Carran who is the General in charge of defending the Glouswell Forest has already sent ten thousand of his men to help General Fahad hold their position," Great General Sherlock stated. "However, this is exactly what the Ammarian Generals are hoping for. We are already stretched thin, and the more men we send to reinforce General Fahad, the less we have to defend our own strongholds.
"I assume that their reinforcements are the soldiers that have just finished training after their recent recruitment campaign. My only fear is that more are coming, and once that happens, our defensive lines will become thinner from the repeated attacks until our weakest link breaks apart. By then, we will have no choice but to order a full retreat and return to the Fortresses along the borders of our Kingdom."
The Gnome Great General paused before heaving a sigh.
"I'm afraid that once they have retaken their lands, they will regroup and launch an all out attack against our Kingdom," Great General Sherlock said. "With our morale at an all time low, it is possible that they will be able to win this time around. Everyone, we can't let this happen. We must find a way to turn this situation around."
A deafening silence descended inside the tent as everyone looked at each other, hoping that someone had a good idea for how to turn the situation around.
The silence continued, until the Half-Elf raised his hand to offer a suggestion.
"I have a plan, but it is not an honorable one," Lux said. "It is rather a deplorable one. If you can accept this method, then there might be a way to turn the current situation to our favor."
"What do you have in mind?" Sherlock asked. "If it doesn't go below our bottom line, we can consider it."
Lux nodded and told the Great Generals the plan that he had thought of.
Immediately, the commanders inside the tent looked at the Half-Elf as if he was a cold blooded monster who didn't care what methods were used as long as he won.
"Y-You! Don't you even know the meaning of remorse?" one of the Commanders glared at the Half-Elf who had proposed such a nefarious plan.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"This is borderline madness! Unacceptable!" another commander shouted. "How can you even propose such a thing!"
"Great Generals, please tell this brat that what he said is madness!" one of Watson's closest Aides pleaded. "Even if we win this war, the cost is something that our King and our people will not be able to accept."
Watson and Sherlock exchanged a glance before shifting their attention back to the Half-Elf who was looking at the two of them with a solemn expression on his face.
"We will carefully consider your proposal, Lux," Sherlock stated. "Do you have other ideas?"
The Half-Elf nodded. "My Mercenary Group and I will go to the Marshlands and help General Fahad defend their camp. Also, I will leave my subordinates Diablo and Asmodeus in your care. Allow them to act freely in your camp and in the battlefield. Please, don't restrict their movements because they will play a crucial role in this war."
"I accept this proposal," Sherlock nodded.
"You heard that, right?" Watson asked the Commanders inside the tent who were glaring at Lux. "Don't touch his subordinates in the camp. Believe me when I say that you don't want to get on the bad side of these peop– I mean, persons."
Watson and Sherlock knew what Lux was capable of. If they were to really throw their morality and pride into the gutters then the Half-Elf could really reverse their current situation.
However, just as their Commanders had said, they might win the battles, but they would lose the war.
Their King, and their people, would not accept such an outcome.