219: Chapter 217: The Silent Forest Siege Begins, Zhang Mu's Trump Card

The undulating mountain range stretched toward the horizon, its lush forest blocking the rays of the setting sun.

Amidst the dim woods, the Kingdom Soldiers, having finally briefly escaped the pursuit, leaned against trees or found clearings with sparse bushes to sit down, gasping for breath.

"Officer!"

The Professional vanguard commander, wearing half-plate armor, stood by a tree, lost in deep thought, when a Soldier jogged over to salute.

"The headcount is complete; approximately 800 Soldiers remain."

The commander told himself to stay calm, but his composed expression still turned grim.

The pursuit had lasted from noon until dusk; his entire vanguard of ten thousand men had been reduced to less than a tenth of its original strength.

Although he understood that the straggling Soldiers were not necessarily all killed and might have simply become separated from the main force, given the enemy's combat effectiveness, they had no chance of escaping the subsequent mopping-up operations.

"Those bastards sitting in their offices! Can't they even verify the authenticity of the intelligence?!"

Every Soldier had been trained by him personally; seeing such heavy casualties, the commander's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Why did the Kingdom royalty allow a group of incompetent freeloaders to be responsible for processing all the Kingdom's enemy intelligence!

The information he received before setting out stated that the Gur Soldiers had terrible combat morale, almost no different from the old Soldiers guarding the city gates.

The officers' military capabilities were also essentially atrophied, posing no threat whatsoever.

Although they were equipped with a strange, unseen weapon, research and testing showed its power was limited.

The commander had even personally operated the actual item; the pointed projectile it fired couldn't even penetrate thick wooden boards, let alone armor forged from steel.

Yet the reality was that after marching at high alert the entire way, the moment they were about to step out of the Silent Forest and relaxed their tense nerves, they were ambushed by the enemy.

This was a meticulously set trap!

Ordering his Soldiers to take time to eat, the commander cursed furiously in his mind.

Soldiers with poor combat morale? Officers with atrophied military capabilities?

Combined with the terrifying attack he had witnessed earlier that sheared a thick tree in half, the commander realized the Kingdom had been played.

They had foreseen the Kingdom's sneak attack plan, accurately predicted their marching route, and chosen an absolutely perfect location for the ambush.

They even abandoned hiding their new weapons, boldly utilizing the enemy's WD, exposing weakened versions of the new weapons to lower the enemy's vigilance.

If anyone dared to say the officer who planned this combination of tactics was incompetent, the commander would absolutely chop off their head with a single sword stroke.

"Idiots!"

Venting his fury at the intelligence department again, the commander called over his personal Guard to inform the main force of their location.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

The Kingdom had not originally intended to split its forces.

Later, when they marched to about twenty kilometers from the edge of the Silent Forest, the commander had proactively suggested that he lead ten thousand Soldiers ahead while the main force waited in place.

Once he exited the forest and reached the plains with good visibility, he would notify the main force to move out.

The Legion Commander had initially felt it was completely unnecessary.

With Lord Brando scouting ahead, how could they possibly be ambushed?

But after the commander insisted repeatedly, the annoyed Legion Commander finally agreed.

It was this seemingly superfluous action that saved the Kingdom's main force and avoided the tragedy of total annihilation.

And Domit, who was sitting in the rear, only refrained from ordering the brigade outside the forest to flank them because he realized the Kingdom's main force had not yet arrived.

Otherwise, the Kingdom's ten thousand vanguard Soldiers would have undoubtedly died.

The commander's war instincts were also very sharp.

Although he had no evidence, he subconsciously felt that the ambushing forces of Lake were definitely more than what they had seen.

Therefore, the direction he retreated was not the way they came, but to the rear-right.

And even though casualties were heavy along the way, he still chose not to contact the main force, only notifying Lord Brando.

He was worried that if the main force rushed over without understanding the enemy's true strength, they would suffer greatly fighting in the forest where they couldn't form ranks.

By now, it was likely that the enemy's "arrows" had been exhausted, forcing them to give up continuing the pursuit at night.

The scouts sent out by the commander returned safely, reporting that there was no one around.

Only after confirming that Lake had not intentionally let them go did he feel at ease contacting the main force.

The distance between the two sides was not very far.

The commander's escape route was parallel to the main force; the other side only needed to make a 90-degree turn to quickly rendezvous with him.

And that was indeed the case.

About two hours later, scouts sent by the main force appeared nearby.

Another half hour passed, and light shone through the pitch-black woods ahead.

The light grew larger, and the commander saw clearly that more than a dozen mages, holding wands with glowing tips, were walking over, surrounding the Legion Commander.

"Lord Legion Commander!" He was covered in grass clippings and dried mud, looking somewhat disheveled, but his salute was still standard, full of spirit, with not a trace of the dejection of defeat.

There was no reason to be dejected.

The Legion Commander patted his shoulder: "Gideon, well done."

Sacrificing over nine thousand Soldiers, the Legion Commander did not blame him, because if not for his persistence, the casualties would have been far greater.

Without the pride of being praised, the commander kept a straight face: "The moment we were attacked, I sent a message to Lord Brando."

Hearing this, the Legion Commander was stunned: "You were attacked at noon?"

"Yes."

The implication was self-evident.

It was now seven in the evening; for seven whole hours, Brando hadn't arrived.

What had happened?

"Have you contacted him again since then?"

"The last time was half an hour ago." Pausing for a few seconds, he continued in a low voice, "This time, Lord Brando didn't even reply."

The Legion Commander's heart gradually sank to the bottom.

He couldn't believe that a lineup consisting of two Magisters, a Great Knight, a Sky Knight, and a Magister could be annihilated?

If Lake really had that kind of strength, would they have waited for the Kingdom to come and sneak attack?

If it were that Mr. Potter who had personally taken action, it might be understandable.

The problem was that Mr. Potter had been confirmed to be occupied with other matters and it was impossible for him to appear in the theoretically absolutely safe Silent Forest.

Moreover, if it really were Mr. Potter here...

The Legion Commander felt that he wouldn't be talking to Gideon right now, but preparing his head to greet Mr. Potter's famous magic, Meteor Fire Rain.

"Lord Legion Commander, I don't think things are as we fear."

Seeing everyone looking at him, Gideon explained: "It's true that the vanguard suffered heavy losses, but it wasn't because the enemy's numbers crushed us; it was due to incorrect intelligence."

"In fact, it's the opposite; their Soldier numbers are far fewer than ours. I estimate no more than ten thousand!"

"Do you have any basis for this?"

"During the retreat, I paid attention to the attack intervals of their weapons. There would be a loud bang, an arrow would be fired, and every 30 shots there would be a brief pause; they must have been reloading arrows."

"Based on this number and the number of times they stopped firing, only about 4,000 people ambushed us, with an error margin of less than 500."

"Lake's hidden troops cannot exceed 4,000. If it were more, we wouldn't have had a chance to escape with 900 Soldiers."

The logic was very sound, and the Legion Commander also believed this to be the case.

As for whether Lake had intentionally let some vanguard Soldiers escape, to annihilate Gideon at the edge of the forest and then launch an all-out surprise attack on his own main force—that would be the best tactic.

Lake didn't do that; were they stupid and didn't think of it?

Gideon, who had suffered a loss, certainly wouldn't think Lake was stupid.

There was only one possibility: they couldn't do it.

Pausing for a few minutes to let the Legion Commander and others digest the analysis just now, he said: "If the ambush was planned by the Lake royalty, then what awaits us is definitely more than just ten thousand Soldiers."

"But there are indeed only about ten thousand Soldiers, which means our enemy is only Gur."

The Legion Commander asked in confusion: "If Gur knew we would sneak attack by crossing the Silent Forest, why didn't they report it to the royal family, but instead chose to defend against the enemy alone?"

Gideon smiled: "I have been thinking about this question ever since I discovered the small number of enemy Soldiers."

"I thought of many possibilities, but because the reasons were too far-fetched, I overturned them myself."

"In the end, after excluding all possibilities, I arrived at an absurdly ridiculous answer."

"The Lake royalty didn't believe the Kingdom could traverse the Silent Forest, so the Lord of Gur City had no choice but to face the enemy alone."

The answer was bizarre enough that the Legion Commander and the mages holding their wands looked bewildered.

"Uh..." a mage hesitated for a moment, "Lord Gideon, would the Lake royalty be stupid to that extent?"

"They should at least send someone to verify, right?"

"I feel sorrow for that Lord of Gur City whom I have never met."

The smile on Gideon's face wouldn't stop: "The Lord of Gur City, I don't know through what channel or by accident, learned that the magical beasts of the Silent Forest migrate in summer,"

"And he discovered our WD in Gur, investigated and clarified our plan from him, knew that the Kingdom would raid Gur this summer, and used a sealing array to cut off his connection with the royalty."

"So he immediately reported it to the royalty, but obviously, the royalty did not believe the Kingdom had the ability to pass through the Silent Forest, which is filled with high-level magical beasts."

"The only evidence was the migration of the magical beasts."

Speaking of this, the Legion Commander understood: "It's too late."

"We launched our plan this summer, and even if the royalty sent people to verify whether the magical beast migration was true, they would be eliminated by Lord Brando."

"By the time the royalty realized something was wrong because they hadn't received any news, the Kingdom would have already been surrounded and finished by us!"

"Yes."

After hearing the explanation, everyone was a bit stunned.

They couldn't understand at all how the Lake royalty could be so lax.

"Of course, that Lord of Gur City is indeed very capable."

Gideon frowned tightly: "He was actually able to cut off the connection between Lord Brando and us; this is also something I can't figure out."

Hearing this, the Legion Commander asked quickly: "What should we do now?"

"Should we immediately march the army over to rescue Lord Brando, or..."

Borrowing the light emitted by the wand, Gideon looked at him.

The Kingdom was different from before...

In what could be called the most important battle in nearly a hundred years, they actually sent an incompetent Legion Commander known to the whole country, just because of his Grand Duke father.

Fortunately, he wasn't completely stupid; at least he was willing to seek and listen to the opinions of others.

Silently sighing, worrying for a moment about the future of the Kingdom, he composed himself and stated his thoughts:

"Send scouts to Gur to find out what happened to Lord Brando."

"The main force of the legion..." Gideon opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopping, and finally said it, "I hope that I can take over the command and attempt to annihilate the enemy in the Silent Forest."

"Hehe."

The Legion Commander must have seen his concerns, smiled, and patted his shoulder: "I am the most useless supreme commander of the Thorn Legion in the thousand-year history of the Kingdom."

"The entire Kingdom, I guess everyone has evaluated me like this behind my back."

Gideon opened his mouth to say something, but was blocked by his waving hand: "I do have this bit of correct self-awareness."

"It's just that Gideon, your military ability is indeed stronger than mine, but your political sensitivity is a bit lacking, and that will get you killed."

Seeing his eyes filled with confusion, the Legion Commander said: "Lord Brando is the Third Prince's man, do you know that?"

"We all pledge allegiance to the Kingdom."

"That's why I said..."

His mouth twitched twice, and the Legion Commander said helplessly: "Lord Brando lived in the Third Prince's palace when he was an Apprentice Magician."

"Except for the Third Prince, he wouldn't pay attention to even the King's orders."

"And the war attacking Lake is a very great merit, concerning which prince will succeed as the next King."

"But what does this have to do with me..."

"Listen to me finish."

"Yes."

"The two princes with the highest prestige among the many princes at present are the First Prince and the Third Prince; my father is a firm supporter of the First Prince."

"The sneak attack plan, the Professional part is led by Lord Brando."

"The First Prince cannot allow the Third Prince to take the merit for himself, so the legion executing the mission is the Thorn Legion where I serve."

"Half and half?" Gideon asked innocently.

"Something like that." The Legion Commander rubbed his head, "Now the situation has changed. To increase the hope of defeating the enemy, I must hand over the command to you, who was temporarily transferred here."

"If the war is won, Lord Brando will know you are not an officer of the Thorn Legion and will definitely try to win you over to his side."

"Then, I must also win you over."

"No matter who you stand behind, the other side will cause you trouble, and you will lose your life."

"If the war is lost, I will push the responsibility onto you, and Lord Brando will do the same; after returning to the country, you will be hanged."

After pondering for a while, he said: "Can I not take a side?"

"Uh, you can, but it's best not to."

"Why?"

"Because then both sides will target you."

The Legion Commander, who explained that he would shift the blame to him, showed no sign of shame and said happily: "Your only chance is to give up taking over command."

Lowering his head and remaining silent for a moment, Gideon raised his head: "I only hope to bring victory to the Kingdom."

"I express my highest respect to you." The unruly Legion Commander's face turned solemn, and he performed a knight's salute with a sincere attitude.

Then he took the Thorn badge, which represented the command of the legion, off his own chest and personally placed it on Gideon's right chest: "Please give the order, Legion Commander."

Running his fingertips over the thorn pattern on the surface of the badge, Gideon took a deep breath: "Send an elite team to Gur to find Lord Brando, and the remaining Soldiers, equip weapons and armor immediately!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

Time rewinds to noon.

A patch of forest about thirty kilometers outside of Gur.

Zhang Mu stood in the middle of the dirt outside the forest, his right hand held horizontally in front of his forehead, gazing toward Gur.

His left hand was continuously pouring potion into his mouth.

It had been an hour, and the potion had almost not stopped; Mihe in the forest was terrified, fearing he would drink himself to death.

"It's here!"

Seeing a small black dot rapidly enlarging on the horizon in the distance, Zhang Mu's spirit lifted, and he took out his Apprentice Level staff.

"Stras Falling Spirit!"