Faced with Duke Bass's desire, Jia Zhengyi readily agreed, promising the elves' help and even pinpointing the exact goal: to retake the fortress!
"Will this... will this really work?"
Duke Bass was somewhat surprised, as the front line had essentially fallen after the fortress was recaptured.
The reason he persisted in directing the remnants of his defeated army to launch surprise attacks on the orcish forces was simply a struggle, a way of showing the rear that he hadn't given up and was still trying to counterattack the orcs.
A substantial defeat and a declared defeat are two different concepts.
In politics, you can make mistakes in your actions, but you can't make mistakes in your attitude.
Even if he suffers another defeat, the label of "fighting to the death" is enough to give the Duke a relatively dignified way out.
As long as the Duke is still on the front lines, the human faction still has some control over this front. Even if the orcs' invasion of the rear will bring a lot of trouble and losses, these are matters of imperial interest and have nothing to do with my Duke.
According to the normal course of events, once news of the fall of this front reaches the Empire, His Majesty the King will surely dispatch elite troops from other fronts to reinforce it.
We can definitely fight back. After all, such a large-scale multi-front war between races cannot be settled with just one or two major defeats.
Although the fall of this front has essentially secured the Orc Empire's absolute advantage and will cause the Human Empire to slowly die in the quagmire of war, these are not things the Duke can consider now.
He only wanted to wait for the imperial army to arrive with their aid, then try his best to recapture the fortress or lost territory, and then make some arrangements to leave this front line.
Although there may be some punishment and damage to their reputation, at least their political status will not change in the short term, and they will not end up in the worst situation.
As for the future of the human empire, the final outcome of this war... no one dares to think about it, no one dares to predict it, it is something that all of humanity fears.
But at this moment!
The appearance of Jia Zhengyi and others showed Duke Bass another possibility!
If he could truly gain the help of the elven army, he could personally retake the fortress before the imperial reinforcements arrived!
The valiant Duke of the Lion proved himself; he experienced defeat, but rose again from where he fell! He struggled to wash away the shame from the flames of war and reclaim his glory!
Listen to this! What an exciting thing it is!
At that time, not only will he be blameless, but he will also gain a powerful political voice that can be associated with the elven army!
If we think about it more deeply... once too many elf warriors join the fray, the already disadvantaged human faction's situation might change drastically!
And all of this may have been orchestrated or participated in by me, Duke of Bath... This is an immense honor! Saving all of humanity from fire and water is the highest glory and achievement!
Thinking of this, the Duke of Bath was already very excited.
But he remained calm, even hesitant, and earnestly stated to Jia Zhengyi: "Captain Jia, I understand your courage and fighting spirit in saving the country and its people, but... that is one of the three great fortresses of the empire, with an unbreakable mythical miracle!"
"If it weren't for those orcs turning the officers inside the fortress against us, we would never have lost it. But now, taking it back is too difficult, really too difficult."
Duke Bass sighed deeply, his brows furrowed, his face filled with concern for the country and its people. He also expressed his worry for Jia Zhengyi: "You are still young. Don't be too rash. His Majesty the King and I do not want to lose a human warrior with great potential... or rather, a leader."
Duke Bass didn't say it explicitly, but Jia Zhengyi still understood: you don't have enough elves, so taking the fortress is definitely out of the question.
The elves are strong, but they should at least show some respect to the orc army. Three thousand elves may be able to move like the wind on the battlefield, but they are definitely not capable of conquering cities and fortresses.
Duke Bass's unspoken meaning was to ask whether Jia Zhengyi could still pull out even more elven troops.
Of course, he didn't care how Jia Zhengyi did it; what he needed was more and more elves! With even greater combat power, he could form an unstoppable battlefield torrent and crush everything!
Jia Zhengyi understood the underlying meaning, and feigning youthful folly and passion, he patted his chest without hesitation and assured them: "I understand that the fortress is impregnable, but we must take it back; it is our human territory!"
"Don't worry, Your Grace, I will definitely help you! Please give me some time. I can bring more elves, and I will do my best to persuade more elves to help our ally!"
Jia Zhengyi's words were exactly what the Duke wanted to hear, and he exclaimed with delight, "Oh! My dear Captain Jia, do you have such great prestige among the elves?"
"No, it wasn't me, it was my friend."
Jia Zhengyi pointed to Lyanna in the elven ranks. She sat quietly on her demonic deer, her back straight and her beauty divine, causing many human soldiers to steal glances at her frequently.
"See that? That's a pure-blooded elf. If she can bring three thousand elves, she can bring thirty thousand! Three hundred thousand! Even three million!"
"Oh no! No! Thirty thousand is enough, even twenty thousand would be enough!"
The Duke's breath hitched, and he quickly waved his hand: "Child, you may not yet understand the true terror of the elves. They don't need to be that many! Moreover... the entire elven race combined may not even number three million."
The Duke smiled wryly, for the elven race was long-lived and powerful, but naturally, they also had weaknesses.
The fatal flaw of this race is its insufficient reproductive capacity, resulting in an extremely small population.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com