Divine Kingship

Chapter 645 Gentlemen, I Need Power

Rand arrived at the defensive line.

In the more than ten years since he came into this world, he has defended many lines of defense and also broken through many lines of defense.

Rand was already used to war, or rather, very skilled at it.

But now, all Rand can say is...

The breach of the front line was inevitable; trying to stop the undead army here was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Rand's requirement for the troops here was not to hold the line to the death, but to do their best to contain them.

Once the defenses are breached, it's a matter of "everyone trying to survive."

Rand arranged evacuation routes for the people on the defensive line and also stockpiled food inside the line. If the Scourge only pursued breaking through the defensive line without thoroughly clearing it, even if the line was breached, the death rate would not be too high.

After meeting with the King of Lionheart and the King of Champs-Élysées, Rand began to stroll around the defensive line.

The Lionheart Kingdom and the Champs-Élysées Kingdom are two relatively rational nations that believe in Rand.

However, when they met with Rand, they still subtly inquired about the hero.

Of course, Rand's reply was: "We can only rely on ourselves. Even if heroes exist, they cannot kill all the undead that fill the mountains and fields."

After that, Rand didn't talk much more.

The defensive line is still quite lively.

Those who move goods, those who repair the city walls, and those who train.

Many teenagers nervously familiarized themselves with their armor and weapons.

And even those veterans weren't able to relax much about the upcoming war.

After Rand finished walking around the defensive line, he felt relieved. Although the overall quality of the soldiers was not very high, they were mostly professional soldiers, with conscripts making up a very small percentage.

It should be able to achieve the tactical objectives.

Rand soon left the area to inspect other sections of the defensive line.

There are bad situations and there are good situations.

However, everyone was very nervous.

And this summer, finally, war broke out.

Rand was already used to his vision being filled with undead.

However, many soldiers from southern countries are not very familiar with the undead.

When the sky is filled with undead birds, the ground is covered with skeletons and rats, and all you see is rotting flesh and burning green flames, fear makes it hard to hold a weapon.

Indeed, if Rand hadn't been used to it, he would have found it hard not to feel fear.

Because it's the feeling of standing in the ocean, surrounded by the tide from all sides.

Now the soldiers are not facing a tide, but undead and rats.

"Don't stand there! Everyone get ready, don't put down your weapons!" A loud voice came from the commander's console.

These dazed soldiers instinctively obeyed the orders.

"The Torch Church's oil! Light it now!" the commander continued, issuing orders.

The oil was poured out and then caught fire.

Flames spread across the sea of ​​the dead, and soon, the sky and the ground were filled with flames.

The prepared oil burned the undead back a distance.

But the fearless dead still surged through the ashes toward the gathering place of the living.

This made the soldiers, who had just calmed down a little, tense up again.

Some soldiers had already dropped their weapons and fled, even though they knew they had nowhere to run.

Then, he died at the hands of the supervisory team.

Not many soldiers died while trying to escape, but this was not because they still had courage; rather, many soldiers simply didn't have time to react, and the soldiers on duty might not have been able to react either.

Fortunately, thanks to the oil from before, the undead didn't immediately climb back onto the city walls.

Rand observed everything on the battlefield.

He did not participate in command because, theoretically, he did not have command authority here. He had previously asked the commander to allow him to participate in command, but was refused.

Moreover, Rand did not see any of the members of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health who should have been there.

These are all somewhat intriguing.

Rand is observing.

In terms of macro strategy, RAND has nothing more to do.

The strategy has been decided, and Ellie will help Rand carry it out. The overall strategy cannot be changed overnight, so Rand stopped thinking about it.

So now Rand can observe the local battlefield to see if he can find any details, even flaws, or some problems on his side.

"The undead's combat strength is no different from what we've observed before, but the addition of plague infection has significantly increased their destructive power. Their combat intelligence remains unchanged. We are currently located some distance south of the New Holy City, where the density of high-level undead is relatively low," Rand continued to record.

"The intelligence from the new Holy City has also come in. The pressure to defend is immense, but they can hold out for a short time," Rand continued, taking notes as he spoke.

Then Rand looked at Olena, who was sitting beside him listening: "If you were the commander of the undead, what would you do?"

Someone unfamiliar with Rand might not understand what he meant, but Olena knew exactly what Rand was asking: "You suspect that the main force of the undead army has not yet shown up?"

Logically speaking, the new Holy City has strong defenses, so more troops should be deployed there; the outer defenses are weak, so fewer troops should be deployed.

In theory, there is no problem with this.

But this is from the perspective of human strategy.

In human warfare, as long as the disparity between the two sides is not particularly great, then cities standing in key positions are indispensable.

Because if these cities are bypassed, troops can be sent from the rear to launch a surprise attack at any time.

The defensive line established by Rand was not a long, continuous wall, but rather a series of small defensive units. Several sturdy castles occupying strategic locations would defend and assist each other, forming a single defensive unit.

From a macro perspective, countless such small defensive units together form a solid defensive line.

Building a long, continuous wall can actually make a city more vulnerable to attack because the defensive forces are dispersed.

However, the fact that humans do not bypass important cities in their strategies does not mean that the undead do the same.

The undead show no signs of needing supplies, and their numbers are overwhelming.

So theoretically, unless the undead has a "vital point" that would immediately wipe out the entire game if attacked, they wouldn't be too afraid of being backstabbed.

In other words, the undead could use their main force to overwhelm weakly defended areas and then strike directly at the heart of the human territory.

This is one of the reasons why Rand did not demand that the defense hold firm; the requirement for the defense has always been to delay, not to hold.

Of course, this requirement would only be known to the commander; if the soldiers below knew, they would immediately lose their fighting ability.

"So where is the main force?" Rand stroked his chin, looking at the map.

He didn't know the exact size of the undead forces, but somehow he imagined they were on such a scale—a super-elite main force that they could muster.

“So if I were the commander of the undead, this would be my target.” Olena pointed to a location on the map.

This location lies in the south of the Kingdom of Lenza, on a vast plain, the most fertile land in the south.

“I had a feeling it was coming,” Rand sighed. What’s meant to happen will happen. “Then we can set off. Let’s make some preparations beforehand and see if the undead have any other strategies we’ve guessed,” Rand said. “There’s another problem: in the current situation, these human soldiers who haven’t seen many undead will find it difficult to adapt to fighting them.”

"How do you plan to solve this problem?"

"I plan to establish a mental anchor."

"Forced church personnel to move in and preach?" The reason for using the word "forced" is that even now, many nobles or countries still adhere to certain principles.

"Yes, our Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health, our Church of the Torch, it is time for us to play our full role."

The fierce battle continued.

By daybreak, the undead finally retreated.

As the dead departed, the soldiers on this defensive line almost collapsed to the ground, breathing in the air thick with the stench of blood and decay.

The dead do not die immediately when exposed to sunlight, but being under the sun does accelerate their natural decay and destruction.

Therefore, the undead basically fight at night.

After the undead retreated, Rand and Olena left the place.

They still have a lot of work to do.

……

By mid-summer.

Rand returned to Crescent Moon City, the capital of the Moon Phase Kingdom.

Heads of state from many countries have gathered here.

In terms of prestige and seniority alone, Rand is inferior to the White King and the Crimson King. The Southern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom, united, also have many legendary and experienced old kings.

But now, everyone has come to Crescent Moon, the capital of Rand, for a meeting.

Because it is obvious that Rand is an expert in fighting the plague.

Now, no one doubts that the current plague and undead calamity are Rand's way of raising bandits to enhance his own power.

“During this period, I have inspected various key points of the strategy, as well as the combat zones on the front lines,” Rand said slowly at the conference table.

The conference room was filled with tables and chairs, and those seated there were either the king, the country's second-in-command, or the de facto leader who was not the king.

They are all at the pinnacle of power in the world.

The pinnacle of power in all nations watched Rand, waiting for him to continue.

“The crux of the problem is simple: everyone lacks experience, morale, and trust in one another,” Rand said.

"If this problem cannot be solved, our strategic goals cannot be achieved."

Rand did not provide any evidence, and none of the attendees had any objections.

Everyone is well aware of the current situation.

"The reason for this is..." Rand stopped speaking and paused.

Rand looked at everyone in the conference room; they were all dressed in fine clothes, but their eyes were filled with worry.

The conference room lights cast a hazy glow inside, a glow that seemed to embody sorrow.

Rand's hands rested on the solid wood table.

“It’s because I don’t have enough power right now,” Rand continued.

All the heads of state watching RAND frowned, sneered, or smiled.

Some hummed softly, while others remained completely expressionless and silent.

"His Majesty Rand means..." After a long silence, the king finally spoke up.

Rand began, “Leaving aside those countries that are still unwilling to attend this meeting, you all hope that we can pool our strength to solve the problem. But in reality, there are limits to what I can do. When I need to deploy troops or arrange special personnel, I need to give orders to you all, and then you will give orders to the general.”

"Otherwise, many nobles or noble generals would not wholeheartedly obey my orders."

"Furthermore, everyone's refusal to fully embrace the Torch Church or the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health makes it difficult to maintain the soldiers' morale when war comes."

"The root of all these problems lies in your distrust of me," Rand said slowly.

Of course, things have been somewhat distorted by Rand, and the reasons for the current situation are varied.

However, the wariness of various countries towards RAND is indeed an important reason.

That's why Rand made this statement.

"You're talking nonsense!" a hot-tempered national leader shouted.

But Rand paid no attention. He wasn't angry about it, since Rand was indeed distorting the facts and shifting all the blame to the lack of cooperation among the countries.

A silence fell over the room.

Rand continued speaking.

"I know you all want to cooperate with me, but what is needed now is not any cooperation that has happened in the past. In the past, if an alliance was needed, each country would usually be responsible for a section of the front, or each country would send some strong people to form a strong team."

"But now, this crude way of cooperation cannot help us deal with the problems we have today."

“I know you all have concerns. You worry that if the church’s power penetrates too deeply into the upper and middle classes, your power will be limited. You also worry that if you follow my arrangements completely, the interests of your country will be neglected.”

Rand could certainly understand.

"But if the war is lost, then everyone's power and interests, including mine, will naturally vanish."

"Rand played some photos collected during this period in the conference room."

That army of the dead seemed to fill every corner of the space, like a vast ocean.

Those trembling soldiers, their morale shattered by the undead.

Death, destruction, and the resurrected spirits.

"I'm sure everyone understands that the seriousness of the situation means we don't need these photos," Rand said calmly.

“We cannot entrust everything to you,” one of the kings said.

They knew the gravity of the situation, but they had complete faith in Rand's fairness and impartiality, and believed that if they won, all losses and contributions would be assessed and fairly rewarded.

This is ridiculous.

Moreover, RAND's strategy may not necessarily be the most correct solution.

However, the severity of the situation has made things difficult for world leaders.

"Ah, it seems everyone has misunderstood."

Rand smiled.

"I don't need everyone's support. Do you all think I want to build some kind of empire and then have absolute power?"

The crowd remained silent, clearly indicating that many shared this view.

Rand did have such ambitions, but such a power structure threatening nations at this time was bound to be impossible to achieve.

Let's wait until the crisis is resolved before having this idea comes up.

"All I need is for you all not to stop me."

Rand explained his needs.

(End of this chapter)