Chapter 72

The Beldezus Fort is a stronghold situated on a small hill, protected by double moats and high walls.

The path leading to the center of Beldezus Fort is narrow and has many twists and turns, with gates and watchtowers strategically placed, making it difficult to attack and easy to defend.

Historically, the best strategy to repel the Bossum Empire's army has been to fortify Beldezus Fort and wait for the Bossum Empire's forces to become exhausted. However, the Western Governor has now proposed leaving the fort to engage the Bossum Empire's army in open battle.

Any military expert would immediately recognize this as a foolish idea, but the Western Governor and the Western nobles, who have no experience in warfare, have echoed the Western Governor's call for an open battle.

Usually, the Western Governor and the nobles would send representatives and never appear on the front lines themselves. Their presence has caused great confusion among the Sacred Bandam Kingdom's Beldezus Fort garrison.

The Duke of Brennan, the Western Governor, must repel the Bossum Empire's army early and even occupy their territory to clear his name, which has been tarnished by his previous mistakes.

To clear his name, the Duke of Brennan, who has little experience as a commander, cannot appoint a representative and is leading the Western Coalition Army himself.

Because the Duke of Brennan is leading the charge, other nobles have also refrained from appointing representatives and have come to the battlefield themselves, exacerbating the confusion.

The Bossum Empire's army numbers 70,000, while the Sacred Bandam Kingdom's forces consist of the Western Coalition Army of 60,000 and the Royal Black Army of 15,000, totaling 75,000.

On paper, the Sacred Bandam Kingdom has the upper hand, but General Sevan, who commands the Black Army, is deeply concerned because the 60,000 soldiers of the Western Coalition Army are poorly disciplined and have low morale, so their numerical advantage does not translate into combat effectiveness.

"General Sevan! Why don't you launch an attack?"

"That's right! Why do we need to fortify ourselves in the fort when we outnumber them?"

General Bitters, the deputy commander of the Black Army, looked at the nobles who did not understand the horrors of war with disdain.

Since General Sevan, his superior, was not saying anything, General Bitters did not speak either.

"This is unacceptable. The Bossum soldiers are exhausted from their long march. If the Black Army will not move, we will attack on our own."

General Sevan cannot stop the Western Coalition Army.

This was determined when the Duke of Brennan took command of the army.

The Western Coalition Army, led by the Western Governor, Duke of Brennan, has a different command structure from the Royal Black Army.

Fortunately, the Western Governor does not have command over the national army, the Black Army, and General Sevan had been able to reject the Western Coalition Army's calls for open battle.

Seeing that General Sevan would not agree, Duke Brennan, the Western Governor, decided to conduct an open battle independently from the Black Army.

Although the Western Coalition Army's 60,000 soldiers were at a slight disadvantage against the Bossum Empire's 70,000, the Western Coalition Army's lords were moved by the calculation that the Bossum Empire's army would be exhausted from their long march.

The result was a crushing defeat, with over 22,000 soldiers lost.

The Western Coalition Army, having lost a third of its troops, can be said to have effectively disintegrated.

Moreover, many of the surviving soldiers were injured, and the already low morale after the initial defeat had further declined.

The significant drop in morale after the initial defeat is a heavy burden on the Western Coalition Army.

General Sevan believes that in such a battle, the bravest soldiers die first, and the Western Coalition Army is already beyond redemption in terms of combat effectiveness.

"The food supplies will only last about 20 days even if we reduce the rations. We are surrounded by the Bossum army, so it won't be easy to collect supplies from the surrounding villages and towns..."

General Bitters was thoroughly disillusioned with the incompetence of the Western Coalition Army's lords, especially Duke Brennan.

To General Bitters, it didn't matter if the Western Coalition Army self-destructed.

He believed that the Black Army alone could hold the fort until reinforcements arrived, and he wanted the Western Coalition Army to at least lose in a way that wouldn't be a hindrance.

However, this defeat was the worst possible outcome.

The Western Coalition Army had lost almost all of their food supplies and now had to support nearly 40,000 useless soldiers, which would make even General Bitters want to complain.

"We need to break through the encirclement and request support from the homeland."

As General Sevan and General Bitters were grappling with this problem in the office, Duke Brennan and his entourage of nobles rudely burst in, opening the door without knocking.

Even General Sevan, who is usually composed, felt a surge of murderous intent towards Duke Brennan for his rude behavior, but he had to restrain General Bitters, who was about to explode.

"General Sevan, why are you just standing by? We need to march out and drive away the barbarians of Bossum as soon as possible!"

General Sevan and General Bitters were beyond anger and could only be speechless at the suggestion of another open battle.

However, with the food supplies running out in 20 days, some action was necessary.

"Western Governor Brennan, I would like you to arrange for food supplies. We lost our supplies in the previous battle."

Duke Brennan and his entourage were dissatisfied with General Sevan's request.

They blamed the Black Army for not sending troops for the defeat in the previous battle.

General Sevan and General Bitters were so enraged by this excuse that they almost attacked.

"It would be faster to destroy the barbarians than to gather food supplies!"

The discussions between the nobles and Generals Sevan and Bitters were going nowhere.