Chapter 1917: Chapter 1910: Preparing for Battle

Things ultimately developed in the worst possible direction. Although knowing peace was impossible, the outbreak of war still came so abruptly. Despite being prepared, it was still somewhat unexpected.

Gudelv at least had some international ethics, instead of detaining Kali and others, he directly expelled them from Holy Heart City.

Initially, Luo’er thought of eliminating that envoy to prevent Gudelv from focusing his attention on Lipei. But since things have developed to this point, eliminating him is meaningless, so Luo’er canceled the assassination order.

Anyone with a sense of the big picture knows that killing cannot solve all problems, and Luo’er is such a person.

He never believed that individuals advance the course of history; rather, it is the course of history that shapes individuals.

More importantly, he needed to find evidence that the United States supported Odelanqi in launching the war. Only then could Lipei finally have a protective amulet to avoid instability.

Thus, just a month after Lipei’s preparations, Odelanqi began military maneuvers. Gudelv gathered ten legions closest to Lipei, forming a forward grand legion of about a hundred thousand people, advancing towards Lipei.

The scale of one legion in the Aud Army is roughly similar to a division on Earth, with about ten thousand people. However, due to low mechanization levels, most are infantry-centric.

Among the ten assembled Aud Army legions, two are fire support legions, equipped with substantial artillery, and even long-range rocket launchers capable of launching rockets at Lipei’s main city from a hundred kilometers away, threatening Lipei’s safety.

In response to this situation, Luo’er immediately initiated deployments.

He ordered the reinstatement of the task force system, regrouping the original advance team into reconnaissance teams of five, dispersed throughout Lipei, responsible for reconnaissance and guiding artillery strikes.

Odelanqi’s response left him both happy and worried. Happy because only a hundred thousand Aud troops were dispatched to attack Lipei, worried because he had little confidence in definitely stopping these hundred thousand.

Lipei’s defense forces, even the elite subspecies troops, did not have superior equipment or training states compared to the Aud Army. Therefore, with more than a hundred thousand against a hundred thousand, Luo’er couldn’t guarantee the advantage would be his.

Moreover, among these more than a hundred thousand, most are temporarily drafted reservists, not even having warmed their guns, not to mention pulling them onto the battlefield. Truly considered regular troops are just a mere thirty or forty thousand, far less than the hundred thousand Aud troops.

In the absence of absolute equipment and training advantages, Luo’er’s strategy was visibly conservative.

This is evident from the initial deployment plans, Luo’er’s approach was to fortify strongholds and fight defensive battles, relying on continuous logistics and solid permanent fortifications to resist the Aud Army’s attacks.

He didn’t even dare to attack proactively, conducting mobility operations within Lipei’s support range. Because he clearly understood, at that time the Aud Army was no longer the feudal army that would collapse once morale was crushed, it was difficult to utterly defeat a hundred thousand troops with one or two effective campaigns.

With the changing situation, Luo’er finally left his office, arriving at the temporarily assembled wartime headquarters.

He looked at the huge map of the Lipei region on the wall, then turned back to the large sand table behind him, feeling overwhelming emotions. The spacious command room was bustling with people coming and going, hurriedly setting up communication equipment, tables, and chairs.

The tech department has yet to resolve the issue of routers operating in the Otherworld. Considering the point-to-point nature of magic communicators, more communication terminals had to be deployed to achieve independent communication. In principle, as many reconnaissance teams are sent, as many receiving terminals should be deployed.

Ten years ago, Luo’er was only a captain leading a four-person team executing missions, the most he ever had under him was just ten people.

Although in these ten years, Luo’er went through many wars, most were observed from the perspective of a bystander.

Now, he has to command more than a hundred thousand to defend Lipei. This transformative change weighed heavily on him, making him unable to sleep night after night.

Nina, the envoy from Ilanadale, had already returned to Divine Wood Down, and Luoya was also busy with promotional performances. People around him were busy rushing around. Many times, Luo’er had to bear this pressure alone.

Many only know that Cheng Ziang is good at planning and Luo’er is decisive. But they don’t know that when Luo’er makes decisions, he bears immense pressure, especially decisions determining the life and death of a collective, leaving him utterly exhausted.

Thankfully, most structural frameworks were set by the Headquarters, just needing personnel supplementation as necessary. Everyone followed procedures, systematically processing all incoming intelligence, collating and selecting the most crucial to report to Luo’er.

Because of this, Luo’er could save himself from the troubles of trivial matters, focusing all his energy on the military.

However, prolonged high workload also caused noticeable changes in Luo’er. The most direct impression people had was that Luo’er’s temper became increasingly worse.

Although his gentle side doesn’t result in cursing when angry, his tone became colder and more impatient. Even when the closest team members reported, he showed no restraint.

“Commander, here is the enemy legion’s troop strength and deployment situation, please review…” A staff officer carefully presented a document at Luo’er’s desk.

Luo’er roughly flipped through it and angrily said, “The main composition of the enemy legion, main officers, and command system are all unknown. What is the need to report this kind of intelligence?”

“Uh, these details are still under reconnaissance…”

“Then go investigate,” Luo’er threw the document onto the table impatiently, “If intelligence personnel are insufficient, increase intelligence efforts. If reconnaissance is lacking, send more reconnaissance teams. I need accurate intelligence, not this garbage!”

“Understood…”

Seeing the staff departure in embarrassment, Cheng Ziang shrugged, grateful he didn’t personally submit the document, or Luo’er might’ve even scolded him.

“These young lads, when will they truly become self-reliant and stop being so careless in their work.”

After the staff left, Luo’er murmured with his head bowed.

“It’s all about growing,” Cheng Ziang remarked, walking over.

“You, as the Chief, didn’t submit the report yourself. Were you afraid I’d reprimand you?” Luo’er asked, looking at him quietly.

“What else?” Cheng Ziang shrugged, answering matter-of-factly.

“Is my temper getting progressively worse?” Luo’er sighed, looking down.

“It’s tolerable, everyone can accept it,” Cheng Ziang thought for a moment and said, “After all, not everyone knows your gentle side, naturally they can accept such toned-down bad temper.”

Luo’er said nothing, merely sighed deeply again, appearing very tired.

“I know,” Cheng Ziang withdrew his gaze, smiled, and said, “You’re not having it easy, even though you’ve experienced wars, most times you didn’t have to manage affairs. Now, managing tens of thousands under you, with strong enemies pressing in, if I were you, I’d also lose sleep all night long.”

“Being a hands-off manager is great. If I could do nothing, and Lipei would run smoothly, how wonderful that would be,” Luo’er lamented.

“That’s rare, to hear you say something like this,” Cheng Ziang replied with a wry smile.

“Just venting.”

Luo’er rested his chin on his hand, looking melancholic.

“Sometimes, I always think, if there were some mysterious power to help us through this crisis, how wonderful that would be…”

Cheng Ziang, standing to the side, remarked to himself with a sigh: “When taking office, full of ambition, seeing the talented subordinates, we should be thriving. Yet a mere hundred thousand scares us all sleepless. Is it because a hundred thousand is too many, or our courage too small…”

“The Dongsheng Empire fights on two fronts with fewer than a hundred thousand. Can that still be considered little?” Luo’er said.

“So, we can’t use East Continent experiences to deal with Western Continent wars, right?” Cheng Ziang asked.

“That’s why I’m worried,” Luo’er sighed again, “Before the battle starts, no one knows whether it’s a hundred thousand troops or a hundred thousand pigs.”