With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the crowd from hell, leaving only Todd and Cumberland on the vast, burning land.
The dragon lowered its head and said to Cumberland, "I've heard that the war has reached a stalemate?"
Cumberland was still reeling from the shock of what had just happened, and his words were somewhat slurred: "Ah...yes, that's right, Your Majesty..."
Todd looked around and sighed. "This isn't a good place to talk. Let's go upstairs."
After saying this, Todd flapped his dragon wings and rose into the sky.
Cumberland's consciousness began to move, slowly rising until it arrived at a temple ruin.
Unseen exotic flowers and plants covered the entire land like a carpet; the ruins of collapsed and damaged temples revealed the former glory of this place to the world; on the distant snow-capped peaks, rings of clouds nestled around the summits, adding a touch of mystery and solemnity to the scenery before our eyes.
Before the old knight, Todd slowly transformed into human form, picked up a blanket that had been prepared beforehand, draped it over himself, sat down on a large rock, and repeated his question once again: "I've heard that the war is not going well."
Having come from that terrifying hell filled with flames and sulfur to the land of birdsong and fragrant flowers, Cumberland finally breathed a sigh of relief and replied to Todd, "Before this war began, I miscalculated two things."
"First, I never expected the Church to actually persuade Bromer Hesmond, that old general who's practically on his deathbed. I heard he's been plagued by illness since the year before last and has long since stopped getting involved in military and political affairs. I never imagined the Church would hire him as the army's commander-in-chief..."
Todd asked, "Is this person a good military commander?"
"It's not just about being good; he is the chief military instructor of the Church of Heaven's Knights Academy and the dean of the Royal War Academy. He has led nearly a thousand wars against the southern barbarians, and the key is that he won every single one of them."
“Emerson, Alfonso, and I, whom you know, have all studied in his class. In a sense, we are all half his students.”
Todd pondered for a moment before speaking, "You just said there was a second thing."
"Secondly, I did not expect that the Church would be able to use the tactics of muskets and artillery so skillfully in such a short period of time and combine them with forest terrain and positional warfare."
"To the west of the Papal States lies a vast forest. The forest terrain can be used to delay the cavalry charge to the greatest extent possible, while also effectively reducing the impact of air power. The combination of guns and cannons with bunkers and trenches can maximize the sniping of our troops and minimize the individual strength advantage of the Holy Army."
Cumberland gave Todd a detailed account of the enemy's tactics, especially the use of muskets and artillery in positions.
Todd frowned and asked, "You mean, those orcs with hardened skin and regeneration all died from firearms?"
“If an orc is hit in other parts of the body, he can continue to fight, but if he is hit in the heart or head, he will surely die.” Cumberland said helplessly, “Although the dragonbone parasite can resist muskets, it is probably more likely to die than survive against close-range shotguns.”
Todd asked again, "So, what about the bunker? Besides melee attacks, we should have quite a few ways to attack from a distance, right?"
“I’ve seen the elves’ fireballs and ice blades; at most, they only blasted away some soil and rocks from the upper part of the bunker. As for the Valkyries’ spore bombardment, firstly, the forest terrain obscures the target and reduces the hit rate; secondly, to accurately destroy the bunker, the bombardment altitude needs to be lowered, while musket attacks will be the griffins’ greatest threat.”
Todd crossed his arms and looked up at the sky: "So, this war has indeed become a stalemate."
Cumberland said with distress, "My original plan was to use the Crusader scouts' abilities to gradually find out the enemy's deployment. Then, under the cover of night, I would combine the Knights, the Crusaders, and the Valkyries to launch a blitzkrieg, taking down all the enemy's strongholds in one fell swoop and forcing them to leave the forest. But now that the orcs have caused this disturbance, the enemy will definitely adjust their defenses, and everything will have to start all over again."
Just as Cumberland finished speaking, a clear, childlike voice appeared behind them.
"Don't run away! Come and play with me!"
Cumberland turned his head and looked on, his eyes widening in surprise.
With a pair of dragon horns on her head and a small dragon tail hanging behind her, Aurora, dressed in a pink dress, chased after a panicked manticore, shouting happily.
"What is Princess Aurora doing here?!"
Cumberland turned to look at Todd, only to see the King's helpless expression.
Todd yelled at Aurora, "Don't bully the creatures here! If you keep being naughty like this, I won't bring you next time!"
Aurora pulled her fingers up to her lower eyelids and made a face at Todd: "Father, I secretly followed you here this time. Even if you don't bring me next time, I'll still remember the way."
Todd rubbed his temples and muttered to himself, "I need to get Leviathan to find a way to hide the island..."
Cumberland asked Todd in shock, "Your Majesty, where exactly is this place?!"
Todd said, "This is where heaven and hell are located, and this is where all souls belong."
As Aurora happily ran towards him, Cumberland looked at her with doting eyes and reached out to pat the girl's head.
To Cumberland's surprise, his hand passed right through Aurora's body like a puff of smoke.
Todd looked at the astonished old knight and explained, "This place is different from the soul space you visited in the past. This holy land transcends reality and the spiritual realm. Right now, you are just a soul, so you can only sense its existence but cannot touch it."
Watching Aurora run further and further away, the old knight said with a frustrated look, "I'm a little confused."
You'll understand someday.
Todd stood up from the rock, dusted himself off, and said to Cumberland, "Regarding the stalemate, I will activate the alternative operational plan..."
Cumberland asked in bewilderment, "An alternative? Why have I never heard of it?"
Todd smiled at the other person and said, "War is never static; it changes unpredictably every moment. The ability to find victory amidst these changes is a talent that every excellent commander should possess."
Upon hearing Todd's words, Cumberland was stunned for a moment.
Then he grinned and laughed heartily, "Your Majesty, this was just something I said unintentionally in the past. I didn't expect you to remember it..."
Todd nodded: "Don't worry, reinforcements will arrive soon, and victory will ultimately be ours."
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