Chapter 632
Difficulty Adjustment
Chapter 632, Section 631: Difficulty Adjustment
Fungus Castle Puji Update Log: To provide the Imperial Army with a better combat experience, we have removed the newly added [Combat Intuition] and downgraded some Puji from Elite to Cannon Fodder.
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Duke Eugene dispatched over four thousand main troops, commanded by a general named Leonard, an old lizardman with hall-of-fame strength.
Renard was not a native of the Empire, but was born into a tribe. Because his tribe was near the border of the Empire, it was often harassed and plundered by the Imperial border guards under the pretext of training.
Unable to bear the harassment any longer, Leonard led his tribe in rebellion and even achieved some victories.
But when they finally caught the attention of Duke Eugene, they had no choice but to surrender when faced with a large army that had surrounded the tribe.
The duke admired his command and fighting skills and took him under his command. Now, thirty years later, the former tribal rebel has become one of the duke's most powerful and trusted confidants.
Duke Eugene sent him to command because he valued Eugene's greater experience with the North and the tribes.
In addition to Duke Eugene's troops, the demon race also sent a force of eight hundred men.
Although their numbers are small, the Demon Race, as a war race created by the Demon King, relies on the magic runes engraved at birth, coupled with attribute values that are quite outstanding even among demons. It is normal for a Demon Race of the same level to defeat two or three other demons, and even more than a useless half-demon.
If we also take morale and other factors into account, it can be said that these eight hundred demon descendants are in no way inferior to the team under Leonard's command.
Due to a command dispute, the two sides did not join forces but instead advanced side by side at a distance.
General Leonard's expression was not good at this moment; he had just received news that the vanguard had stalled.
He caught up with the vanguard after only two days of marching.
They were stationed on a treacherous terrain, backed by steep ice cliffs and surrounded by a frozen river. Their defensive fortifications were layered upon layered, giving them a show of fortification. One might easily mistake them for the ones being attacked.
"Harsen, you should be clearing the way for the army according to the plan, what are you doing now?" Leonard questioned the commander who came out to greet the vanguard.
Halsen lowered his head, offering no explanation, and simply led the general toward the camp.
The sights along the way were shocking.
Most of the soldiers sat silently around the campfire, many of them wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, their eyes vacant or filled with lingering fear.
The air was filled with the scents of herbs, blood, and a faint smell of corpses.
Back in the commander's tent, Halsen recounted the vanguard's ordeal.
Simply put, just one encounter was enough to deter Halson from making any rash moves.
The enemy's strength and numbers far exceeded expectations. After a Pyrrhic victory, the soldiers' morale plummeted. Fearing the risk of total annihilation if he continued to advance alone, he chose to set up camp here and wait to rejoin the main force.
"Hmph," the general snorted coldly, clearly displeased. "The war has stalled like this. Do you want those demons to laugh at us? Duke Dean's men are watching from not far away!"
Despite his dissatisfaction, Leonard took Halson's words to heart. He did not continue to reprimand him, but instead summoned all the officers.
After further discussion, Leonard abandoned his dismissive attitude toward the North and changed his initial plan.
First, the main force was ordered to join forces with the vanguard and reorganize, shortening the marching distance between units and increasing the density of flank patrols and scouts to ensure that if any point was attacked, neighboring units could respond quickly to provide support.
Secondly, the planned marching route was changed.
It's better to take an extra half-day detour than to avoid locations that might be suitable for an ambush or surprise attack.
Finally, and most importantly, he adjusted the strategic objectives. He temporarily shelved the main task of "searching for the cause of the abnormal cooling in the North" and made the primary objective "to find and defeat the resistance forces of the Northern tribes."
To avoid the situation where they split up to search in different places, and then the northern tribes find an opportunity to defeat them one by one, resulting in heavy losses.
After completing the deployment, Leonard thought for a moment and then sent someone to deliver the details of the skirmish, along with a summary of the revised marching plan, to the commander of the demonic forces who were marching some distance away.
Although there was an undercurrent of competition between the two sides, Leonard was not a hothead who couldn't distinguish between what was important and what wasn't.
Then, amidst this atmosphere of extreme caution throughout the army, they encountered Puji once again.
It's still four thousand "puji".
Upon encountering the puji, the centurion, following Leonard's instructions, immediately formed a defensive formation and notified other units for support.
The Puji charged forward in a dense white mass, and the demon army went from initial clashes to gaining the upper hand, ultimately annihilating the attacking Puji.
There was no hardship whatsoever; by the time Leonard arrived with his men, the battle was already over.
This force of a thousand men suffered only about ten casualties.
However, they only killed the Puji. The Puji masters of those tribes, seeing the unfavorable situation from afar, abandoned their Puji and fled.
Due to Leonard's orders, the centurion had no choice but to refrain from pursuing them.
Faced with this victory, all the officers couldn't help but glance at the vanguard commander, Halsen, whose face was flushed but who couldn't utter a single word.
Faced with the facts, any explanation will sound like sophistry.
Finally, Leonard stepped in to defuse the situation: "It cannot be ruled out that the enemy is deliberately feigning weakness. Those tribes want to rebel against the Empire, so they always have to play some tricks. All tribes should continue to be cautious and not make any mistakes for me!"
However, after encountering the Northern Puji forces several more times, the demons gradually lost their initial caution.
It would be a mistake to say that these northern troops are easily defeated.
The Puji are numerous and fearless of death. As long as they don't charge in headfirst and get themselves killed, they can be quite a nuisance to these demon generals if you use some tactics.
But apart from that, there's nothing else worth mentioning.
In particular, Puji's individual strength was not as great as Halsen described.
The reasonable explanation is that Halsen made some basic mistakes in command, which led to the vanguard's Pyrrhic victory. In order to cover up his mistakes, he deliberately exaggerated the strength of the Plut!
For a moment, everyone looked at Halson with a hint of contempt, and even Leonard no longer gave him a kind look.
The general could imagine how the demonic race would mock their incompetence after receiving their warning and actually fighting a few battles with the Northern Pluts.
It's only because they're still on the move and engaged in battle that he would have given Halson a good beating!
However, while Puji's strength is negligible, their numbers are quite outrageous.
Upon seeing the report that the Right Army had once again wiped out over a thousand Puji and repelled the Puji Division, Leonard frowned.
Over the course of several days, including both large and small battles, nearly 20,000 Puji have been wiped out.
In this frigid northern land, how many tribes are still alive?
(End of this chapter)