Second World

During the reinforcement army's march, John continued to drill the player force every night. By the day before they arrived near Fort Garadhor, every squad had a decent speed in taking their positions once John issued the order. As for the larger forces, for example, when John wanted several battalions to form a single formation, they took more time to get into formation. More time than John was comfortable with, but he guessed this would have to do for now.

The production of War Fires didn't go as fast as John wanted. It took several more days before the quantity John asked for was completed. Then there was the matter of transporting the completed War Fires. The faction Dylan was in, provided transportation service for a fee. John had asked Dylan to arrange the service for transporting the War Fires once they were ready.

Dylan made an estimation. Calculating the distance of Sins Lair to Fort Garadhor in comparison to the transport caravan's speed, it should take a week for the transport to arrive. This meant that whatever ploy John was planning for, it could only be carried out then. They would need to survive until that time.

The night before they arrive in the area where Fort Garadhor was located, the native leaders convened to have a war meeting. Jack had been invited. He brought John into this meeting. The native leaders eyed John when he entered but otherwise didn't say anything.

"We are around a half-day journey from Fort Garadhor. By noon tomorrow, we should have made contact with our adversaries," Ahab informed. "This is the situation on-site."

He gestured to the 3D image above the war table. Fort Garadhor was in the middle. Surrounding it was a large number of red triangles.

"They are surrounded…?" Laurent asked.

"Prince Therribus is hell-bent on not letting Prince Alonzo escape," Ahab said. "But this can work to our advantage. If he maintained this encirclement, he will not be able to send his full force upon us."

"Will we be able to coordinate with the force inside Fort Garadhor so that we can pincer attack them from two sides?" Nicholas asked.

"No. The gate of Fort Garadhor will stay close. If they opened, Prince Therribus won't let go of the opportunity to storm into the fortress. We are on our own."

When no one asked further questions, Ahab said, "Everyone should make sure that they have enough rest for tomorrow's conflict."

"I advise that we don't meet them in combat yet," A voice was heard from the back. When everyone looked at the one who had talked, they found it to be the outworlder that Jack had brought in.

"If you are afraid, then you can just stay back," Ahab said with disdain. He then turned to Armstrong, "I told you we shouldn't have put too much hope on these outworlder troops."

"Lord Commander Armstrong," Duke Alfredo addressed the Lord Commander. "I suggest you listen to this outworlder. I have undergone a war situation with this outworlder before. At that time, we were battling an army from Verromor twice our number. It was all thanks to this outworlder's tactic that we have managed to beat them back without too many losses."

"Are you talking about the battle at Fulgur region eight months ago?" Armstrong asked.

"That is correct," Duke Alfredo replied.

"I have read the report. You are saying the strategy applied in that battle is his?" Armstrong asked again.

"That is true," Duke Alfredo confirmed.

"Hmph! What's so impressive about an outworlder's strategy?" Ahab uttered.

"Have you read the report?" John asked Ahab.

"I don't have the time to read every war report," Ahab replied.

"Then you shouldn't–"

"Then you should read it. It is a very good strategy, Lord Commander Ahab," Jack interfered before John could finish his speech. At the same time he sent John a message, 'If you try to antagonize anyone here, I will throw you out!"

"It is indeed a good strategy, I've read it," Armstrong said. He then looked at John. "Let us hear your opinion then."

Jack turned to John and gave him a look that warned, 'Be polite!'

John rolled his eyes at Jack before making an exaggerated bow to Armstrong. "Thank you, wise Lord Commander Armstrong," he said. When he rose, he gave Jack a look that asked, 'that polite enough for you?'

He then said, "There are two reasons why I advise we avoid combat for now. One, because the enemy is waiting. From the day they arrived until now. They only had one big battle on the first day. After that, there were only small skirmishes. With a few medium-scale battles which were pretty much meant to just harass the defending force. Even if we stay and watch, Prince Alonzo's force inside the fortress won't be in any real danger."

"How do you know all that?" Ahab asked.

"I have my scouts as well, I don't feel satisfied if I leave my information gathering to others who don't answer to me," John replied.

Jack was not sure if that was impolite. But from Ahab's expression, he was not too happy with John's answer. It was an indication that John didn't trust their information.

Ahab sneered and asked, "So what do you suggest? Do we just sit there and watch each other? You are right that our enemies are waiting. They are waiting for the defenders to run out of supply. So, do we also wait until that happens before we start engaging our enemies?"

"No, we will wait for another ten or twelve days top. By then, I will have the means to win this war," John answered.

Ahab laughed disdainfully. "That is one bold proclamation. What kind of means is that? Enlighten us."

"I'm sorry, I prefer to keep important strategies to myself. You never know who is listening," John said.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that one of us here might be a spy?" Ahab uttered. He was visibly agitated. Armstrong also frowned.

"Don't get offended, it's not that I don't trust you. It's that I don't trust everybody," John replied.

"That's true, sir Lord Commander. He doesn't even tell me," Jack said, trying to dampen the situation.

"Well, in any case, we can't just sit and do nothing," Armstrong said. "We will continue with our offensive operation tomorrow."

"And you outworlder force should attack as well. If you do nothing but only watch from the side, we will not let you off!" Ahab warned.

John touched his chin while pondering, he then said, "All right, if we must attack, then we must be given independence. We will do it our own way."

Armstrong's frown returned. He didn't like the idea where his army dividing into two and doing their own things.

"Don't worry, we will follow your lead," John caught Armstrong's mood. "We will attack when you do, but I request that we are allowed to pick where and how we strike. Oh, and another thing, I wish the left-wing of Duke Alfredo to join our side in our attack."

"That's ridiculous! The left-wing is part of ours! How dare you propose them to separate from us!" Ahab yelled.

"Lord Commander Ahab, please calm yourself," Duke Alfredo mediated. "I don't think his request is unreasonable. If the outworlder force is left to fight for themselves, they will be easily defeated considering their strength are mostly just at the regular soldier's standard. They will need some of us natives to help them take on the stronger enemies."

"Then they should just follow behind us, why take action separately?" Ahab argued.

"Because if you just clash directly with the enemies tomorrow, we will be doomed," John said.

"What did you say?!" Ahab yelled, smacking the war table. "How dare you demoralize us on the eve of battle!"

"I'm just telling the truth," John said.

"Hold!" Armstrong uttered, stopping the two from arguing any further. "If the situation is like this, I don't see there to be any good coordination between our native force and outworlder force. Fine, you have the independence to do what you want with your outworlder force, as long as you time your assault at the same time as ours. However, I can't spare you the entirety of our left-wing. You will get only the regiment that is commanded by your friend."

"Lord Commander Armstrong…," Duke Alfredo tried to argue, but Armstrong gave him a signal to be quiet.

"I have spoken," Armstrong said.

Duke Alfredo sighed, but John instead said calmly, "Thank you for the lenience, Lord Commander Armstrong."

"If there is nothing else, let us dismiss. We all need the rest to face tomorrow's battle," Armstrong said.

Everyone started dispersing until there were only Armstrong and Ahab remaining. "Commander, are you sure?" Ahab said once everyone was gone. He was disciplined enough to not question his superior's decision when in public, but now that they were alone, he couldn't help but express his disagreement.

"Ahab. Truthfully speaking, I'm not that confident of our chance as well. We are outnumbered. The majority of our force is outworlders. If they are useless, then this operation is as good as gone. Since the outworlder has offered themselves to let us see their capability, we might as well take them up on their offer. Tomorrow will be a good chance to see how they perform."