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

Chapter 218 Covering the Rear and Changing Commanders

"boom!"

As the fiery meteor hurtled towards the front of the goblin scouts, it was detonated under the control of magic, turning into countless raging flames and lava that engulfed the goblin soldiers who had no time to react.

At the same time, the venom that had been gushing out due to the extensive logging and the instinctive action of the tear vine plants had already gathered into a pool on the ground.

It also rapidly vaporized under the scorching heat, and under the mysterious magical wind, it was quickly blown towards the main force of the Allied forces.

In just a moment, it covered all the goblin soldiers who were serving as Allied reconnaissance troops.

"what!"

Scorched by the lava and corroded by the poisonous fog, the air was filled with the wails and cries for help of the goblin soldiers.

"Enemy attack! All troops, prepare for battle immediately!"

Upon regaining his senses, Zalga immediately roared angrily, his eyes fixed on Roderick, who had unleashed a supernova explosion in the distance, while he abruptly raised the metal spear in his hand.

Just as he was about to gather his magic power and throw the spear at the enemy soldier, he was shocked to find that the enemy soldier who had ambushed them turned and fled without hesitation after releasing the attack.

It was as if he were avoiding some kind of risk that even he himself would fear.

What is this...

Just as Zhalga was filled with doubt, the next second, he was suddenly startled to find that the ground beneath his feet had begun to tremble uncontrollably.

And this vibration becomes stronger over time.

It was as if countless terrifying beasts were rushing towards their location.

"The enemy has planted female alligator snapping turtle pheromones in the tear vines. Our troops are currently covered in these pheromones, and the tide of rutting male alligator snapping turtles is about to arrive. Why haven't we retreated yet? Order a retreat now, Commander-in-Chief Zhalga!"

what?
A horde of male alligator snapping turtles in heat?

"!"

Demis's desperate shouts startled Zalga awake. After hearing what he said, the scales on Zalga's body stood on end.

At that moment, he realized just how vicious a trap the enemy had set for his side.

However, just as he was about to angrily order the entire army to immediately retreat to other directions...

Behind the army, the panicked screams of countless soldiers, the cracking sounds of trees collapsing and breaking, and the furious roars of the giant alligator snapping turtle all reached his ears at the same time, instantly turning his face ashen.

But soon, after a moment of internal struggle, Zalga made a decision:

"Pass on my order: the wounded will cover the rear and buy time for the troops; the rest of the soldiers, proceed at full speed to the lower reaches of the Luoyue River in the east. Upon arrival, wash yourselves immediately, without fail!"

"!"

Upon hearing this, Demis looked at the other person with disbelief.

They seemed to have no idea that the other side intended to leave the Darkmoon Clan's troops behind to cover their retreat.

After all, nearly 80% of the goblin soldiers, who were scouts, had been blinded by the poisonous fog and it would take them at least two hours to recover on their own.

Unlike soldiers of other clans, goblin soldiers mostly rely on gunpowder firearms and special projectiles in combat.

Having lost sight and without the support of goblin artillery, wouldn't these goblin soldiers be waiting to die if they stayed behind to deal with the raging horde of land turtles?

Thinking of this, Demis couldn't help but feel an unprecedented sorrow.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that under the command of Zalga, that idiot general, and facing the enemy's commander whose strategies were terrifying, the Saga Kingdom would probably only face defeat this time.

Perhaps it's time for me to think about the future of the Darkmoon Clan.

As for covering this idiot's retreat, let's forget about it.

After all, under this idiot's command, let alone the fact that the opposing commander was a monster even stronger than the Morning Star.

Even if it were me, I could probably defeat it easily.

Rather than wasting the lives of the good men of the Darkmoon Clan on this fool's scheme.

He might as well lead his troops to withdraw from this shitty battlefield immediately and wait for the final outcome of this battle before making a decision!
Demis pondered to himself, but faced with the pitying or mocking gazes of the crowd, and Zalga's expression that seemed to say, "If you dare to refuse, I'll kill you right now," he thought.

In the end, Demis lowered his head in feigned humiliation, then responded in a hoarse voice:

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief Zalga. Demis Darkmoon obeys. I will lead all the soldiers of the Darkmoon Clan to cover our retreat and buy time."

"very good!"

"despair!"

……

After Zalga gave the order that the goblin troops would cover the rear while the rest of the troops immediately marched downstream along the Falling Moon River to the east, the allied forces, marching at full speed, arrived at the lower reaches of the Falling Moon River about half an hour later.

Because the dikes in the middle reaches of the river were breached by bombing, the already slow-moving river downstream is now flowing at an extremely slow speed.

Upon arrival, all Allied soldiers, under Zalga's orders, jumped into the river to wash themselves, removing the pheromones from the female alligator snapping turtles.

Without the interference of pheromones, the hundreds of male alligator snapping turtles that had caught up with them only paced back and forth on the opposite bank of the river for a while, before returning along the path they had come from under the anxious gazes of the Allied forces.

"Ugh, those despicable imperial rats, all they do is resort to underhanded tricks, they deserve to die!"

After watching the hundreds of terrifying monsters retreat, Zalga grumbled as he sheathed his spear back behind his back.

Just as he was about to immediately summon his adjutant to bring him the map so that he could plan the next marching route, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that the fish that had been swimming in the river they had just washed were now, for some reason, all of them, floating belly up.

It was as if he had been poisoned to death...

Wait, when did I gain some kind of magical power within me?

And why does this magic keep moving towards my intestines?
Is it possible...

As if sensing something, Zalga's expression suddenly changed. Just as he was about to loudly remind everyone to immediately use their magic to expel this strange corrosive force from their bodies...

The next second, a series of farts suddenly exploded inside the Allied forces:

"Pfft!" Almost simultaneously, all the soldiers began to fart uncontrollably, and in addition to gas, they seemed to bring out quite a few other things as well.

In an instant, the entire Allied force became unbearably foul-smelling, with large amounts of liquid and stench enveloping the entire force, and all the soldiers letting out weak groans.

It was as if I had entered a filthy hell.

Even some high-level mages, who had inadvertently swallowed some river water during the recent rinsing, were now squatting on the ground, their faces pale, trying their best to suppress the urge to defecate that was surging straight to their souls.

"The enemy has poisoned the water! Medical unit, quickly call the medical unit to detoxify everyone!"

Upon noticing the unusual behavior of his own troops, Gal instantly deduced everything.

He could even guess who was the mastermind behind all of this.

After all, within the current Imperial forces, apart from Cambert, the 'Plague Leader', using his unique spell, the enemy simply cannot release such a large-scale toxin in a short period of time, one that would even affect someone as powerful as him!

Our side had already lost nearly 17,000 men due to the enemy's three previous traps.

Because of Zalga's idiotic orders, our side once again fell into the enemy's trap, forcing the last 6,000 soldiers of the Darkmoon Clan to stay behind to cover the retreat. They no longer had any reconnaissance troops available and had lost their familiarity with the terrain.

Now, due to the subsequent synergistic effects, our side has once again fallen into the poison trap, falling into a state of collective poisoning. Even I, as a super-powerful being, almost couldn't resist the corrosive power and almost revealed my ugly side.

Not to mention the ordinary soldiers whose strength was far inferior to their own.

After this incident, even though they had immediately dispatched medical teams to carry out detoxification, the casualties on their side were already an inevitable result.

The current force of 47,000 men will likely be reduced by at least 10,000, or even more, due to this damned toxin.

With nearly 40,000 casualties, apart from the initial 800 enemy soldiers who attempted a surprise attack thanks to Roxie's strategy, our side failed to kill a single enemy soldier from beginning to end!
How utterly absurd and ridiculous!
And all of this was caused by a damn idiot!

Thinking of this, Gal immediately walked towards Zalga with a gloomy expression. After standing in front of him, before Zalga could ask any questions, Gal gripped the charged gauntlet in his hand and, to Zalga's astonishment, punched him hard in the abdomen.

"Oh!"

"puff!"

A dull thud was accompanied by the sound of vomiting blood and the unusual gushing of gas. Then, in everyone's shrunken pupils...

The three-meter-tall Zalga was instantly sent flying by Gal's punch, leaving two arcs, one red and one yellow, in the air.

Then he fell heavily to the ground some distance away.

"You...uh!"

With more air intake than exhaust, Zalga struggled to lift his head and looked up at Gal with an incredulous expression.

Immediately, under the intense impact of the poison's corrosive effects and the terrifying magic injected into his body by Gal, his eyes rolled back, and he immediately lost consciousness, sticking out his long, forked tongue.

At the same time, his lower body kept twitching and expelling a large amount of yellowish-brown liquid, and his whole body became smelly.

"Commander-in-Chief Zalga has fallen into a coma due to illness. Therefore, I, Gal Locken, will temporarily assume command of the Allied Forces. Do any of you generals have any objections?"

Gal slowly withdrew his right hand, which had been suspended in mid-air, and then looked expressionlessly at the major generals beside him, whose ranks were all higher than his.

Before these clueless orc officers could even speak, Gal, determined to seize power and lead his side to true victory, unleashed his full power as a super-ranked mage without a word.

"boom!"

In an instant, under Gal's pressure, a terrifying and scorching magical power rapidly burst outward from him.

It forms a tornado that cannot be ignored, and the almost tangible magic exerts a sense of oppression and suffocation on the outside in its purest form.

The moment everyone sensed it, their expressions changed drastically.

Before they could even question Gal about his meaning, a deep, murderous voice suddenly boomed in their ears:

"If any of you generals have objections, then I don't mind letting you all rest like Commander Zalga. After all, what I need is victory, not one or a few damned idiots who are holding me back!"

"!"

Hearing the other party's almost blatant threat, everyone's expressions turned somewhat grim.

However, under the influence of the toxins in their bodies and the overwhelming magical pressure from their opponent, after exchanging glances, the group obediently chose to comply.
"Your Excellency Colonel Gal, we have no objection to your appointment as acting commander-in-chief."

"Very good. It seems we've reached an agreement on replacing this idiot. This is a huge benefit for our army, isn't it?"

Seeing that no one was going against him, Gal did not continue to threaten them. Instead, he looked at everyone with a stern gaze, making sure that no one dared to meet his eyes. After being seen by him, they all lowered their heads and remained silent.

He then slowly withdrew the oppressive aura of a super-powerful expert, and spoke calmly:

"Commander Zalga's previous erroneous orders have now caused our army to lose nearly 40,000 men, but we haven't even seen a single enemy soldier."

"The above situation has proven that the other party is by no means someone who can continue to serve as the commander of this unit, but an absolute idiot!"

"Therefore, in order to enable our army to achieve subsequent victories, I have no choice but to intervene forcefully. If there is any offense, please forgive me. Of course, if you are unhappy, then you should bear with it, or try to convince me with your strategies that you are more suitable to be the commander-in-chief than I am."

"Otherwise, I will be in charge of all the actions our army will take from now on!"

Seeing the crowd looking angry but unable to speak out, Gal was not happy after confirming his control of the Allied Forces with just a few words. Instead, his expression became even more unpleasant.

Because within those few short minutes of the conversation, he sensed that soldiers in his own forces infected by the plague were dying at an alarming rate from massive blood loss.

Once the medical team completes the final treatment, the casualties will likely be greater than he anticipated.

But Gal also knew that now that things had already happened, there was no point in regretting it.

Instead of getting upset about this unchangeable fact, the best thing he should do next is to wait.

Waiting for the main force to finish resting and for the medical team to finish treating their soldiers.

Then, lead the army in a final all-out attack on that damned John Maslow!

Thinking of this, Gal immediately stopped hesitating and waved his hand, giving the order:
"All troops, heed my command, immediately set up camp and rest!"

"Yes, Commander!"

……

(End of this chapter)