The victory of a religion in another world is so easy?

This figure seems to be about to fight Elsa, but doesn't actually look like a real enemy.

But none of that mattered. After being exposed to the cold wind for a long time, the blushing thief girl covered her mouth, worried that her overly excited breathing would affect the duel.

She knew very well that she might never see a match of this caliber again in her lifetime.

Chapter 86 The Whip, the Dilemma

Elsa crossed her hands in front of her chest. If she were holding a dagger at this moment, the two hook-like daggers would intertwine in front of her chest to resemble the pincers of a soldier ant.

Although Elsa deeply resented that time in her family.

However, it must be said that the family's bloody education and such cruel training enabled Elsa to reach the highest level at such a young age.

"Be as light as a butterfly."

However, since it wasn't a life-or-death battle, Lysa was using unarrowed wooden sticks as arrows, and Elsa naturally had no intention of drawing her dagger.

Elsa disappeared from the spot once again.

When it reappeared, it was already quite close to the watchtower.

However, the clothes on his arms were somewhat torn.

Lysa fired another arrow, this time hitting Elsa's left arm and causing a minor abrasion.

Even without using any elven techniques or any ranger skills, and simply shooting arrows with uneven, unstable wooden arrows, he was still unarmed.

But they still managed to graz Elsa, who was moving in such an absurd way.

There might even be a few people here who show mercy.

Elsa disappeared once again, and since she had entered a blind spot, Lysa seemed to finally display some of her combat skills as a ranger.

In the moonlight, Lysa leaps from the top of the watchtower and fires as she falls.

Elsa, who originally intended to rush to the top of the watchtower to engage Ryza in close combat, reacted quickly, or rather, it was expected that Ryza would change her position. As if ignoring inertia, she stopped, turned around, and dodged.

But at that moment, she realized that this was a barrage of arrows, with six arrows blocking all avenues for escape.

It's already outrageous enough that it can fire arrows continuously at high speed, but this rapid-fire arrow can also be precisely controlled to block the direction of evasion.

Moreover, it seemed as if the cold night wind was providing cover for Lysa's arrows.

Elsa sighed softly. She hadn't wanted to use her weapons, but now it seemed there was no way to dodge.

Without further hesitation, he drew a dagger from his waist and sliced ​​through the wooden sticks that were about to fly towards him.

If it were normal arrows instead of this completely unsuitable wooden stick, she might already have several arrows stuck in her body.

Lysa, in the distance, shook her small wooden bow to indicate that she had run out of arrows, then beckoned with her finger in a provocative gesture.

Elsa once again sheathed her dagger in her waist sheath and rushed toward Lysa, who landed lightly on the ground. This time she was even faster than before, so fast that it seemed even the moonlight couldn't keep up with her figure. In almost an instant, she was in front of Lysa.

He reached out with one hand, shaped like a knife, and thrust it straight at Lysa's chest.

Ryza then took off the small whip that she always carried with her at her waist. This small whip was mostly used as a toy, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be used elsewhere.

With his other hand, he parried Elsa's hand chop, and the whip suddenly straightened, lashing towards Elsa's buttocks.

"Stop it." It was Olena who spoke. Although both sides were trying to restrain themselves, they were only barely managing to stop arguing.

However, Olena noticed the commotion outside from inside the tent, so she came out to mediate.

"Elsa, Lord Rand says he will punish you personally."

Elsa covered her buttocks; the brief and restrained fight ended with her receiving a lash on the buttocks, and it looked like she would receive additional punishment.

What Elsa found most unacceptable was that she couldn't even begin to grasp the limits of Lysa's power. As for the punishment after the theft, she admitted that she had brought it upon herself. Although she didn't know exactly what she had stolen, she had a feeling that it wasn't anything good.

After telling the thieves watching the battle to stop talking nonsense, Olena led Elsa and Lysa into the tent.

Rand poured himself a glass of mixed juice and said, "What did you steal this time? Something that made Lysa chase after you and beat you up?"

Elsa guiltily took out a sticky little toy.

Rand's breath caught in his throat upon seeing it, and even Olena, who had been quite composed, suddenly widened her eyes when she saw the item.

Rand knew that Elsa's kleptomania was extraordinary, and her thieving ability was equally extraordinary, but he didn't see anything like that in the CG.

He was extremely glad he hadn't drunk the juice, otherwise he would definitely have spat it out by now: "I'll make a note of this for now, and when we get back to the hideout, let Lysa decide how to punish you."

She looked up at Lysa, who seemed completely unaffected, then at Elsa, whose pants were torn at the buttocks, revealing a bloody gash and the surrounding fair skin: "You guys don't have any objections, right?"

Elsa wanted to speak, but when she met Lysa's gaze, she could only awkwardly say, "Okay, no objection."

"What's going on?" Rand told Lysa to go get her toys herself, and warned her that it was dangerous and she shouldn't play with them. He sighed for the nth time and then sat down in his seat.

He picked up the military documents Olena had just brought over and flipped through them.

The 5th Army Corps is now at a significant disadvantage due to its superior numbers, and this disadvantage is continuing to widen.

The reason is simple: the 5th Army consumes more food than the enemy every day.

Our side has less than 6000 men, while the enemy has less than 4000. Every two days, the enemy is essentially saving an extra day's worth of food.

This is a very serious problem. Although the military report said that our 2nd Army Corps would soon come to support us, and we could encircle and destroy the 2nd Army Corps of the Third Prince's faction from both sides, the current situation is that the 5th Army Corps is running out of food.

Rand was very curious as to why such a simple matter as food had not been properly calculated before the expedition.

Did the quartermaster learn math from the PE teacher?

They expected the war to last at least a winter, yet they only prepared enough food for half a month. Aren't they afraid of being held accountable later?

Oh, thinking about it that way, it might have been taught by his political science teacher.

Perhaps this isn't a math problem.

The issue of provisions has always been a key problem in the history of warfare. Rand had actually glanced at the grain reserves before setting off, and they seemed perfectly normal. But now, upon actual inspection, he discovered that the quantity of provisions did not match the records!

Whatever the reason, it did nothing to help Rand's predicament.

It seems the only option now is to try to break through the enemy's army and seize their food. However, the enemy is not only on the defensive, but also has the advantage of familiarity with the terrain and a smaller number of troops. A frontal attack would not be very successful.

Is it really the only option to abandon a portion of the population?

No, it's too late to reduce the population now. Because the food supplies don't match the records, Rand has too little time to react. Even if they reduce the population, unless only one-tenth of the population dies, they can't solve the food problem at all.

……

Meanwhile, the fourth prince, who was under house arrest in the manor, had already received intelligence.

The cult of the God of Struggle has begun its operations, and now war has broken out to varying degrees in the noble territories of both the Second Prince's and Third Prince's factions.

The fourth prince sat on a luxurious leather chair, took a sip of aged wine, and revealed a slightly manic smile. As an illegitimate child, he had been shrouded in a shadow since childhood. His brothers did not bully him, but ignored him.

It was as if his half-brother had never existed.

Now, the throne is no longer so far away. He only needs to find an opportunity: if one of the second or third princes dies, and that faction does not want to give up the resistance, they can only choose him, the fourth prince who has half royal blood.

The turmoil brought about by the god of struggle will create this opportunity.

Chapter 87 I'm a regular soldier, but I can also be a robber.

In fact, if the food shortage is not too severe, Rand could follow Cao Cao's example and use the heads of quartermasters or grain transport officers to reasonably reduce food rations and suppress the soldiers' resentment.

But the infantry regiment that Rand commands now is a completely different story. The ignorant conscripts under him have no right to complain because they lack the ability to mutini.

But the problem now is that the food shortage is too great, and unless Rand can conjure up food, the situation cannot be resolved.

Just as Rand was hesitating about whether to launch a full-scale attack, Count Black Brown returned.

They brought back a lot of grain, as well as furs, meat, and valuables.

With just one glance, Rand knew where all this wealth had come from.

robbery.

In fact, the nobles of the Frostmoon Kingdom are considered civilized. At least it is a proper monarchy, and the nobles have some moral boundaries.

Further north, those countries near the Ice Sea may have little to do with humans except for their human-like appearance.

Eating raw meat and drinking human blood were commonplace, and robbing people in longboats was even more commonplace.

If it weren't for the threat from orcs and trolls, these barbarians would have had no chance of uniting with other nations and becoming part of the Northern Union.

But this doesn't mean that the nobles of the Frostmoon Kingdom won't rob.

It is common knowledge that there is no money for participating in wars; at least, nobles do not receive wages until they achieve victory.

From the very beginning of the enfeoffment, obligations were established. In the event of war, if the lord summoned the vassals, the vassals were required to provide their own weapons and provisions to participate in the war, which naturally did not come with money.

However, it wasn't entirely without benefits. After the war ended, or even during the war, the nobles could begin to enjoy their military pay.

Yes, that is, robbery.

Perhaps in this era, every nobleman skilled in warfare is also a qualified bandit.

Rand, who was a modern person in his previous life, could not have thought of this immediately, but now, seeing the wealth and provisions brought back by Earl Black Brown, he immediately understood the key to it.

It seems the quartermaster's calculations on provisions were correct; there was indeed a shortage of food.

If these legions want to survive on the front lines, they either have to plunder or simply reduce their numbers like the opposing 2nd Legion.

But in that sense, the 5th Army now has a huge advantage.

Now, the 5th Corps is fighting on enemy territory!

Fighting on enemy territory means losing home advantage, lack of familiarity with the terrain, and the support of the people, but you can still plunder!

If everyone on our side is a robber, then Rand could be one too.

Even if Rand doesn't take it, their own nobles will. And if Rand does take it, it will give them a way out.

Because the stronghold doesn't lack food, it lacks people. The stronghold had previously been reduced to spending money to buy slaves to fill the population. Now, the people in the territory of some nobleman from the Third Prince's faction are also people!

Rand could easily rob people and money, though that still wouldn't be considered morally acceptable.

But Rand could convince himself that he was saving people. If the Black Brown Earl and his men were to rob them, the strong smell of blood and burning ashes on their bodies would prove that they not only robbed, but also burned, killed, and looted.

If Rand takes action, things will at least be better.

Even if he couldn't convince himself, Rand would still do it. Most of the time, Rand believed he was a good person, but on the battlefield, kindness and righteousness were meaningless.

The saying "a merciful general cannot command an army" is not just a saying. Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to one's own side. When it comes to the point where there is no other choice, Rand will give orders to do even the cruelest things.