Two weeks later, at the Kingdom's expeditionary force camp.
Cumberland stared solemnly at the sand table in front of him, which was covered with markings.
"My lord, our scouts have basically completed their reconnaissance of the forest area ahead." Ackerman took the report from the snake woman Parly's hand and read it aloud as he looked at it: "The enemy has built a total of twenty-six strongholds, seven camps, and nearly a hundred outposts, with a total force of 37,000 men. We believe that this is the limit of the forces that the entire Papal States and its surrounding vassal states can mobilize."
Cumberland asked, "What about the troop deployment and the armament situation?"
"The enemy deployed their superior forces and artillery at the front, leaving inexperienced recruits in the rear."
Cumberland nodded and said, "This is the right thing to do. Only by withstanding our first and second attacks can we stabilize the morale of the entire army. If we put our weaker forces in front, the collapse of the vanguard will cause the morale of the entire army to collapse."
Ackerman asked, "On the other hand, does this mean that if we can break through the enemy's front lines, their rear will be thrown into chaos?"
“That’s absolutely right,” Cumberland sighed. “In fact, relying on the forest terrain and bunker trenches, the best deployment is to place the weaker forces on the front line, gradually lure the enemy deep into the forest, then use the terrain undulations and the changing of day and night to cover the march, send mobile forces to infiltrate our rear, and finally use a pincer attack to achieve victory.”
"That old fox Bromo couldn't possibly be unaware of this principle. The reason he adopted this troop deployment was entirely because the internal conflicts within the church's army had escalated to the point of being almost out of control, forcing him to deploy his elite forces on the front lines to maintain the battle situation."
Ackerman put down the battle report: "The next question is, how can we break through the enemy's front lines?"
Cumberland looked at the forest on the sand table and slowly said, "A sneak attack, a night attack, a feint, and a swift victory are the best ways to end this war."
"The Crusader scouts are responsible for clearing out enemy sentries and traps, while the Knights use dragon bones as the vanguard to absorb damage. Orcs and werewolves enter the trenches to fight the enemy in close combat, while elves and other ranged units provide support."
Cumberland paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "However, this battle plan will cause our army to suffer heavy casualties. It will be relatively easy when we capture the first few strongholds, but once the war starts, the enemy will react and switch to full defense. At that time, casualties will gradually increase, and we will have no choice but to defeat the enemy in the shortest possible time at all costs."
Ackerman nodded and said, "Once the enemy forces collapse and escape the forest, they can use spore bombardment to reduce the enemy's strength once they reach the open areas to the east. The Knights can also use speed and impact to encircle and annihilate the enemy."
Cumberland stroked his beard and pondered, "This is a last resort. His Majesty once told me that he has prepared reinforcements, and considering the timing..."
"Commander!"
A guard outside hurriedly lifted the curtain, walked up to Cumberland, and shouted, "South! A fleet is coming from the south!"
"fleet?!"
"That's right, they're flying our army's flag!"
Upon hearing this, Cumberland breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems that the reinforcements His Majesty spoke of have arrived."
Five hours later, on the shallows south of the expeditionary force camp.
A pure black warship, over a hundred meters long, was moored on the sea not far away. Sunlight shone on its black metal deck, reflecting a dazzling color.
Countless boats of all sizes gradually approached the beach, and the decks at the stern of the boats were slowly lowered.
"Is that the legendary alien warship?" The werewolf Aldnan looked into the distance, gesturing excitedly with his hands as he said to Carol beside him, "The one we saw before was like a small boat compared to this!"
Carroll gestured for Aldenan to calm down: "The cabin door is open."
To the astonishment of all the soldiers watching, what slowly emerged from the cabin was a giant wolf with bone spikes!
The giant wolf, eager to set foot on land, leaped from the cabin into the shallow sea with its hind legs and then dog-paddled to the shore.
Just as it shook off the seawater, a second, a third... countless giant wolves jumped out of the cabin and swam toward the shore.
Seeing this astonishing scene, the minotaur Bulville drew his giant axe from his back and roared, "Back off!"
Carol pressed down on the minotaur's arm, gesturing for him to look at the war beasts: "Those giant wolves all have collars around their necks."
Aldenan stared intently: "That's right, a metal ring. Why do I feel like I'm familiar with it?"
"The ship has docked," said Kellogg, the lizardman. "Someone has come out."
Several strangely shaped humans emerged from the cabins of each ship. They wore specially made keel armor, and on their backs, a parasitic limb stood upright like an antenna.
As the planks were lowered, these strange humans walked down, stretching their palms out behind them.
A dozen or so enormous lizards with horns on their heads and bodies covered in gray scales slowly emerged from the cabin. Their massive size, ferocious appearance, and heavy armor caused everyone to instinctively back away.
Alfonso, carrying a greatsword and clad in dragon-skin armor, stepped off the ship's deck and approached Cumberland, who was still in shock. He gave a crisp military salute and said, "My lord, I..."
Cumberland hugged Alfonso tightly and laughed heartily, "His Majesty has sent me a great gift!"
Alfonso finally managed to break free from Cumberland's embrace and pointed to the fleet, saying, "Let me introduce them. His Majesty has sent me with three war beasts this time: the Bone Spike Giant Wolf, the Spiny Tooth Poison Lizard, and the Shadow Terrorclaw."
"Among them, there are five battle groups of Bone Spike Giant Wolf War Beasts, each group consisting of fifty-four giant wolves and nine beast tamers..."
Cumberland interrupted Alfonso: "A beast tamer?"
"I'll explain that later. Let's talk about the battle beasts first. Each Bone Spike Giant Wolf has been enhanced with supernatural abilities, including speed, weakness, hardening, and so on. Moreover, when necessary, it can also carry one or two spore parasites inside its body."
“I brought six squads of Spiny Lizards, each squad consisting of three lizards and one beast tamer. These cumbersome war beasts possess superpowers such as steel skin, regeneration, and night vision, and can also spew poisonous mist, and can trigger a poisonous gas explosion after they die.”
Cumberland did the math and realized that Alfonso had forgotten to mention a war beast: "About that Shadow Claw..."
Alfonso scratched his head: "That war beast is quite rare. We only brought two this time, one male and one female. The Beastmaster Association didn't go into detail about its specific abilities, only saying that it would be very useful."
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