I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 197 Countermeasures and Troubles

John was unaware of the strange phenomenon occurring to him.

After a long period of thought and deduction, he quickly made his decisions:

Instead of blocking the enemy division headquarters to support the Imperial 2nd Division, we should preserve Will as a pawn and prepare for subsequent battles.

Meanwhile, Samuel was ordered to continue his advance toward Blue Lake, but upon arrival, he abandoned the attack on the poorly defended city and instead circled around to the western part of the Cocobia Rainforest and deep into the coastal docks to carry out the Crescent Fleet's port sabotage mission. Afterward, he was ordered to advance along the way to other ports to prevent the Crescent Fleet from returning to reinforce and quickly landing, which would leave his own forces unable to resist.

In addition, Hawke, who was in charge of the Silverstone Mine, arranged for the residents to deliberately spread the news to the allied forces that might be heading to Mad Fang City that the Imperial forces were mining in the mine, thus attracting the enemy to attack and forcing Dolan to withdraw. After obtaining the ore, he then attempted to assassinate the enemy general.

While revealing that their own assassination squad was located in the north, they also dispelled Roxie's suspicions about Will, making the latter's situation safer.

In addition, this can lower Roxie's guard against assassination, and by taking advantage of this, the assault company led by Igonila, which was supposed to participate in the next Dark Corridor battle, can leave the Dark Corridor through the tunnel ahead of time and turn to ground assault operations.

The attempt was to have Orion launch a surprise attack on the enemy command post after the Dark Corridor battle line was deployed, given that the enemy's garrison was insufficient and Orion was unable to use teleportation spells.

By utilizing the fact that the assault company's surface combat is unaffected by the Void spell, the poorly defended garrison can be overwhelmed, resulting in the killing or capture of Roxie, and ultimately ending the war.

Considering the possibility that the enemy might breach the rear lines to allow the heavy artillery regiment to join the battle, John transferred Cambert, a Plague Spell Holder and a Fire Mage of Super Rank, from his original frontline position to the rear lines.

They then arranged for the enemy to apply plague spells to the numerous monster corpses with medium to high magical power that the Imperial forces had killed during the previous exploration mission, and to transport them to the locations where the enemy was most likely to launch a surface breakthrough.

If Roxie really intends to launch an attack in this way, then he only needs to have Cambert detonate the plague spell, which, combined with the monster's own highly acidic mucus, will create a large amount of corrosive poisonous fog to destroy the enemy army.

As for the possibility of Roxie replicating his famous flooding of the Seventh Army and attempting to drown his own troops, John did not have a good solution at the root of the problem.

After all, if Roxie were to blow up the other tunnels leading to the surface, turning the Dark Corridor into a place with only an entrance and exit to the underground river, the walls formed by magic would not be able to withstand the massive flood for long before being completely washed away.

However, after extensive calculations and deliberation, John also found a less desirable solution, which was:
"The battle in the Dark Corridor must not last more than five days. Once the five days are up, regardless of the situation, we must immediately withdraw!"

John narrowed his eyes and stared at the spot on the sand table that represented the boundary between the source river and the underground water, his tone calm yet resolute.

This value was the result he obtained after performing a large number of calculations using analytical methods during his thinking process.

As the largest underground cave system in Faoken Bay, John has determined, after previous explorations, that the total volume inside the current Dark Corridor is an astonishing 3.5 million cubic meters.

Even if Roxie blows up the other tunnels leading to the outside world, reducing the space considerably.

However, if the enemy wants to flood our side, even with the support of the Allied forces' magical technology, they would need at least two days to build a super-large dam and three days to start the work of storing floodwater, in order to achieve this goal with the current daily flow of 1.1 million cubic meters of water in the Yuan River.

Of course, this data analysis is based on the assumption that there will be no heavy rainfall in the next few days. Otherwise, given the massive rainfall in Faoken, the time required for flood storage could be greatly reduced, and it is not impossible that it could be completed within two days.

However, during the data collection over the past few days, John, who regularly takes time each day to go out and use analytical techniques to monitor airflow and humidity, did not find any signs of rain cloud formation in today's analysis.

According to his calculations, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the next major rainfall event near the throat peak will arrive in seven days.

In other words, even if Roxie wanted to destroy them as quickly as possible, it would take them five days to complete the preparations for the flood attack plan.

All he needs to do in these five days is to use the previous arrangements to eliminate as many enemy troops as possible, and then he will have gained the upper hand.

At that time, he only needs to order his own troops to withdraw in advance so that they can safely evacuate from the possible flood and lead the main force to carry out the port destruction mission. At that time, Samuel's regimental troops, which are likely to be besieged by a division of the Fifth Army, will launch a pincer attack on the enemy and officially annihilate them, directly cutting off one of the Fifth Army's arms.

By then, the Fifth Army, which had already suffered considerable losses in the Battle of the Dark Corridor due to ambushes and numerous traps, would be even more vulnerable if the enemy subsequently reinforced it with another division.

The disparity in troop strength between the two sides will be significantly reduced, and it is even possible that they will become equal.

Most importantly, after capturing the Cocobia rainforest, John will be able to directly control the Crescent Strait. By deploying a large number of coastal defense guns and joining forces with the Third Navy, he will be able to achieve his ultimate goal.

By utilizing joint operations of the army, navy, and air force, the Fifth Army Corps and the Allied naval fleet, which may still be en route to provide support or have already arrived, will be completely annihilated.

This will bring this thorny war to a complete end!
"Tap, tap!"

Inside the command tent, looking at the real-time map provided by Marda, he saw his own troops, under his command, heading to their respective battle locations one after another, awaiting the arrival of war.

John unconsciously tapped the edge of the sand table with his index finger. His long fingernails, which had grown rather long from lack of grooming, struck the large folding table made of white birch wood, producing a series of crisp sounds that echoed continuously within the tent.

It was as if a countdown was underway for something that was about to happen.

After an unknown amount of time, John, who had been constantly thinking and making subtle adjustments to the ambush troops on various fronts based on feedback from the front lines from various branches, slowly stopped tapping.

As if to confirm his terrifying calculation and predictive abilities, almost the instant the knocking sound disappeared, Martha's solemn report suddenly echoed in his mind:

"Commander, the enemy has officially arrived at the Dark Corridor and is advancing into it."

"Frontline 1 is about to engage the enemy!"

"!"

……

"Brother Siegfried, this barrel of red wine is from the last batch of top-quality red wine produced by the Romanée winery in the Kingdom of France in 1882. It is now a full thirty years old, and can almost witness the rise and fall of a small family."

"The wines from the same batch have either been sold or become waste due to improper storage. Currently, the only remaining barrel of Romanée 82 wine in the world is this one you see. It has been preserved perfectly because of its proper storage and careful care, and it has become a truly unique piece."

"I spent a total of 10 d to buy this barrel of wine, and I almost got my leg broken by my dad."

"But none of that matters. After all, according to rumors, this barrel of wine, which has undergone 30 years of special fermentation and is regularly infused with magic by a beautiful 18-year-old female mage to improve its taste and purify impurities, has essentially transcended the category of alcohol. It can almost be called a super tonic." "Rumor has it that drinking just 500 milliliters of it can instantly elevate an ordinary lower-rank mage to a mid-rank mage without any side effects. Even ordinary people without magical talent can look several years younger after drinking it. That's why its auction price is so high."

"Of course, the reason I spent a lot of money to buy this barrel of red wine was not because of worldly judgments of its value. In my opinion, these additional features are not art at all. What really moved me was its secondary characteristics that most people don't care about."

"It is said that once this barrel of wine is opened, its aroma is expected to travel at least ten kilometers. The aroma is so strong that it will make people imagine a magnificent sea of ​​flowers."

"If you open your mind and accept the magical aura left behind by countless beautiful girls when they fermented wine with magic over the past thirty years, you can even glimpse the scene of chasing and playing with these girls one by one."

"Ah, truly, how magnificent, how breathtaking! It's simply the most perfect work of art. Any art enthusiast in the world would find it hard to resist buying it, even if it costs 10 d. Don't you agree, Siegfried brothers?"

At four o'clock in the afternoon, in a temporary military camp outside the Silverstone Mine in the western part of the Golden Lion Territory, inside a giant truck bed specifically used to store Dolan's precious collection.

Wearing a white undershirt and an Imperial military cap tilted at an angle, Dolan was excitedly pointing at the dark brown oak barrel in front of him, which was sealed by dozens of glass cases, and was explaining it to Siegfried beside him.

"..."

However, faced with Dolan's excited face as he shared his treasure, Siegfried, unable to express his bitterness, could only force a dry smile onto his face.

As a commoner born in Shidong Village, a remote and impoverished village surrounded by mountains, even after he went out to make his way in the world as an adult, he did some small business and saw a wider world than the young people in the village.

But ultimately, he did not escape the common people's class.

His status as a fugitive made it even less likely that he would serve the nobility.

Therefore, he couldn't understand or agree with Dolan's decision to spend a lot of money to buy a barrel of wine, even if the wine had the effect of significantly enhancing magic.

After all, that's a whole 10 D!
This is a large sum of money that could change the future development of a village, or even a town!

As a result, Dolan only used it to buy a barrel, and the effect after taking it was similar to drinking the water from the primordial lake of the Magic Lake.

What extravagance and waste!
If this money were given to Commander John, with his abilities, he could probably use it to develop a small town.

Indeed, apart from Lord John, the rest of the nobles in the empire who only knew how to indulge in personal pleasure and did not care about the lives of the common people were not worthy of my loyalty.

And I will never be loyal to those guys!

No matter what temptations they offer, they will never waver in their loyalty!

"But even so, when will these troublesome days finally end?"

Reflecting on the past eleven days, Siegfried couldn't help but sigh again.

In fact, ever since he was ordered by John to follow the other members of the troops to this place called Silverstone Mine, he had been forcibly conscripted into the other side's guard regiment under the pretext that he needed protection.

And because the former commander of the guard regiment, Toby, suffered a relapse of hemorrhoids, he was sent deep into the mines by the kind-hearted Lieutenant General Dolan to work as a foreman, where he was treated with the so-called 'claustrophobia therapy' to treat his serious injuries.

Under Dolan's arrangement, he inexplicably became the so-called acting leader and took over the task of protecting the other party's safety.

Therefore, for the past eleven days, he had to stay by Dolan's side almost every day, dealing with the other's almost undisguised recruitment intentions and ingratiating behavior.

At first, after he firmly refused, the other party was frustrated for a while, but later, he somehow learned that he had always longed to improve his strength.

Dolan then erupted with unprecedented enthusiasm, and for the next five days, the other party kept taking him to see various collections that could help improve magic power.

They also gave him many high-level magic potions that could enhance his magical power without any side effects.

This caused his magic power, which had been in a slow-growth state due to his inability to consume the water of the Magic Lake for a long time and could only rely on self-refinement, to increase significantly.

But this also plunged him into unprecedented distress.

After all, the current situation felt really strange to him.

He felt as if he wasn't the powerful high-ranking mage that Captain Leia had described, someone who would be considered strong enough in the mortal world.

He felt more like a top courtesan in a brothel, using his beauty to trick customers into spending more money, saying no but actually accepting everything.

And through this tug-of-war, the other person becomes more convinced that they are not swayed by material things, and thus becomes more and more eager to possess them.

The only difference is that prostitutes rely on their beauty.

What he relied on was the power he was so proud of.

And he never intended to pledge allegiance to Dolan; he was only doing what Commander John had assigned him, right?

Looking at Dolan, who was staring at him expectantly, waiting for his response.

A complex emotion flashed across Siegfried's eyes, but he ultimately declined the other party's suggestion with a blank expression.

"...Lieutenant General Dolan, I come from a commoner family and I am not very knowledgeable about art. If I have disappointed you, then I apologize for that."

……

(End of this chapter)