This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

Dick's words at the military conference were highly praised by many generals present, because Dick was not just a guy who talked big and shouted slogans. He pointed out a way out for the Second Army Corps of the East, and his fleet continuously transported vital supplies to everyone.

Whether it was his personal strength or his military talent, Dick was recognized by all the officers and soldiers of the Second Eastern Army Corps. After all, when the Saint-level experts attacked, he really went to the front!

During this time, Reinhardt also continuously redefined his opinion of his fifth brother as he fought alongside Dick.

He didn't know whether Dick's outstanding leadership qualities were gradually developed after arriving in Laguge, or whether he had been hiding his talents in the capital. But without a doubt, Dick had become his teacher, and he could learn a lot from every word and action of his.

At first, Reinhardt was a little jealous, which was an old problem of his. Influenced by his mother's education, he always looked at his brothers with suspicion and regarded them as rivals.

Dick, almost like a savior, rescued the East Second Legion from its predicament. His several battles against Saint-level soldiers and his tactical brilliance earned him a great deal of respect from the legion's soldiers, and his prestige and popularity far surpassed that of the legion's commander.

This almost directly triggered Reinhardt's PTSD, making him worry about the loss of his position.

But as time went by, Reinhardt, who had been tempered by blood and fire on the battlefield, gradually lost all his jealousy as his character matured.

Reinhardt was full of vigor when he was first appointed as the commander of the legion by the Third Prince. He was eager to make a name for himself and achieve great things. He led his legion to charge forward and besiege the kingdom's fortress. Under his command, the hundreds of thousands of troops launched a very rapid offensive against the enemy.

But at that time, Reinhardt was always in the command post in a safe area, his clothes and horse spotless, commanding the huge and exquisite sand table in the center of the camp.

He couldn't see the fierce fighting on the front lines; the deafening roars were just distant noises.

In his intelligent and knowledgeable mind, there was only the desire to achieve results; the casualties of his soldiers were nothing more than a string of numbers recorded on paper.

However, with the sudden defeat of the other three armies, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. At this critical moment, the fifth brother, Dick, rushed to the front line, and Reinhardt wisely followed his advice, breaking out of the deadly encirclement before the enemy could complete the encirclement of his army.

In the early stages of the army's siege at Nameless Horn, Reinhard remained in his rear tent, frantically trying to decipher the enemy and friendly deployments on the sand table. Just then, Dick rushed in and dragged him to the front lines. At Dick's request, the engineers had already built a ridiculously conspicuous "command platform," and then made him sit on it.

It must be said that this high platform, which resembles a city gate tower, offers an excellent view. Not only can you see the situation of your own troops, but you can also clearly see the enemy's troop formation.

However, a good view also means being too conspicuous. Once the Kingdom's army discovers his position as the commander-in-chief of the corps, they will inevitably launch a targeted decapitation operation.

Sitting in that place, Reinhardt was terrified. He even thought for a moment that the Fifth Prince wanted to use the enemy to get rid of him legitimately.

Dick, however, looked at Reinhardt with unwavering determination, assuring him that he and his men could absolutely protect Reinhardt's life. The army's morale was currently unstable, and they desperately needed the commander-in-chief to be present on the front lines to effectively boost the morale of the soldiers.

Dick made that promise, and he certainly kept it.

But what shocked Reinhard the most was that after the fiercest battle of the first day, Dick insisted on dragging him down to inspect the area.

That was Reinhardt's first time among ordinary soldiers on the front lines. The hastily constructed trenches were dirty and chaotic, and it had rained later that day, making Reinhardt's cloak dirty after only a few steps on the muddy road.

What made this young master even more unbearable was the indescribable stench emanating from the trenches. This smell, a mixture of sweat, blood, and excrement, was affectionately known by the soldiers as "trench fragrance"!

Reinhardt had never imagined that the living conditions of the lower-ranking soldiers would be so bad, and that their food would be so terrible, since he knew very little about the systematic embezzlement by the lower-ranking quartermasters.

They then went to visit the wounded soldiers that Dick had specially ordered to be rescued from the piles of dead bodies on the front lines. At that time, the field hospital was still treating the seriously wounded, and there were screams and cries everywhere, along with a strong smell of blood. Many soldiers with missing arms and legs were lying in rows on makeshift stretchers.

The field nurses from Lagug moved back and forth between the beds, checking on the wounded soldiers. Every now and then, wounded soldiers who had stopped breathing would be covered with burlap and carried out.

Reinhardt stood there dumbfounded, the horrific scene leaving him speechless. Dick didn't lecture him at all, but simply handed him a silver-white chess piece representing a thousand-man infantry formation on the sand table.

Reinhardt clutched the chess piece, speechless for a long time.

Chapter 272: He Thinks He's Done Now

On a sand table, the overturning of a chess piece will not cause any emotional fluctuation in the commander, but on a brutal battlefield, the collapse of a thousand-man unit often means the death of hundreds and the injury of hundreds more. If we extend this further, it will bring grief to hundreds of families.

One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand... Reinhardt had never imagined that the "cost" he incurred in trial and error in troop deployment would be so enormous!

Dick brought Reinhardt to see these things, partly to help his older brother grow, and partly for his own sake.

If the rear lines are to be secured and held for a longer period, then Reinhard, as the commander-in-chief, must undergo a certain degree of ideological transformation and truly mature.

Otherwise, based on Dick's understanding of his older brother, what he couldn't accept the most was that his half-brothers were more capable than him. Many times, he was like a rebellious child. The more Dick helped him, the more likely he was to rebel due to jealousy.

Therefore, Dick had to make Reinhardt understand what a commander's shoulders bear, and that the battlefield was not a place for him to throw tantrums and act out.

Fortunately, Reinhardt was not the kind of arrogant and hopeless rich kid. After the unique and shocking education, Reinhardt became much more composed. He realized his responsibility and that every order he issued was related to the life and death of countless soldiers. The pressure forced him to stop being impetuous and to humbly accept the advice of those around him, and even take the initiative to seek advice from Dick.

This would have been absolutely impossible before.

In stark contrast to his elder brother's growth is his second brother, who spends his days complaining and blaming others. Despite clearly hating Dick, he doesn't even dare to look him in the eye.

That poor kid has been suffering ever since he was "voluntarily" sent to the battlefield!

The Nameless Horn Fortress is located behind enemy lines. The harsh living conditions there were unbearable for Farn, a true playboy. The terrible living conditions, the barely edible food, and the constant fear caused Farn to lose ten kilograms in just half a month. He visibly shrank and became incredibly haggard.

In contrast, Dick was in the best spirits and was hardly affected.

After all, he was a "noble mage," and the generals would rather starve themselves than let these humanoid heavy weapons deteriorate in condition, as they relied on them to save their lives in critical moments!

Dick did not order anyone to deliberately mistreat Farn. Farn continued to enjoy the same treatment as lower-ranking officers at the fortress and did not have to fight on the front lines. But Farn did not see it that way. His resentment towards Dick continued to accumulate and fester in his heart.

Farn secretly vowed that once he escaped, he would exact revenge a thousandfold, making that little bastard Lao Wu regret messing with him. But when he thought of Dick and the terrifying power of the women around him, Farn couldn't help but give in to his heart.

That's a Saint-level being! How can I possibly get revenge on them?

Dick was unaware of his second brother's dark and scheming thoughts, and even if he had discovered them, he wouldn't have cared.

Of the five Best brothers, Farn, the second oldest, was the most useless. He was neither intelligent nor talented in martial arts, and he had wasted his talent. If he had used half of the energy he spent indulging in sensual pleasures to hone his skills, he wouldn't be twenty-eight years old and only at the level of "half a foot in the advanced stage."

At this time, although Dick was on the battlefield behind enemy lines, he was more concerned about the negotiations between the two countries in the capital.

This war, which was initiated by the empire, has dragged on in a muddled manner, and now the empire is in a predicament where it can't back down.

The cabinet officials wanted to end this shameful war as soon as possible, but they were reluctant to admit defeat in such a humiliating way because of their own hegemonic status. So they were eager to salvage some dignity and even deliberately put on a tough stance at the negotiating table, making the outlandish demand that the Kingdom's army retreat 150 kilometers and give up half of the Linzao Basin to the Empire, otherwise the Empire would never stop the war.

It felt like a bully who was used to being arrogant started the trouble, trying to forcibly take things from his neighbor's smaller neighbor, only to be beaten black and blue by the prepared neighbor.

The bully, who had been beaten, wanted to make peace but felt he had lost face. So he demanded that the short man kneel down and beg him to admit defeat, and then give him half of what he wanted to steal.

Even though I started it, you're not wrong at all.jpg

Faced with such ridiculous negotiation terms, the envoy of Maple Dew naturally refused to agree.

From the perspective of the Maple Dew Kingdom, they are now in control of the pace of this war. The more anxious the Empire is, the more they need to remain calm!

On the one hand, they displayed a calm demeanor at the negotiating table, seemingly unconcerned about fighting the Empire to the bitter end. On the other hand, they carefully controlled the battle line. The nearly 300,000 troops on the border appeared poised to attack, but they never actually set foot on the Empire's territory, in order to prevent the Empire from becoming desperate and actually going all out to fight a full-scale war.

The empire is a force to be reckoned with. You can laugh at its weakness, but its health bar is truly massive!

In this context, Prince Heinz's actions are quite intriguing. The largest engagement between the Southern Allied Forces and the Royal Army, who had been sitting across the border for so many days, involved a combined force of less than three thousand men.

The fight was brief and to the point, highlighting the young man's strong sense of martial ethics!

This strange standoff did give the southern nobles a certain sense of security, but the cabinet in the capital was really worried sick.

Another half month passed in the blink of an eye, and a rather unexpected piece of news came: the Third Prince Bailey, who had fallen into seclusion due to the defeat, had actually perked up again!

He reorganized his forces in the Marquisate of Leodor and quickly raised an army of 30,000 men.

It is worth mentioning that the composition of this army is quite interesting. Among them, 20,000 were royal guards who were urgently dispatched from the capital. However, the mobilization of these 20,000 people was not approved by the emperor. Instead, they were equipped with non-standard equipment and secretly gathered in several batches in the Marquisate of Leodor, claiming to be "local militia" recruited by the Marquisate itself.

Without a doubt, this force was prepared by the cabinet to bolster the image of the Third Prince. Otherwise, it would be a bit too overconfident for Pelé, a commander without any real power, to go and seize military power from Prince Heinz.

Despite Bailey's apparent humiliation, as long as the empire remains standing and the royal family's prestige endures, his status as a prince still carries considerable appeal and can be used to intimidate others. Consequently, many opportunistic nobles have led their armies to join his cause.

Bailey was also extremely generous to these local minor nobles who took the initiative to join him, because in addition to sending him 20,000 elite guards, the cabinet also allocated a huge sum of money from the national treasury for his military expenses.

Anyway, Hesse VII doesn't care about anything now, and the cabinet bureaucrats are getting bolder and bolder!

Taking advantage of the abundant human resources in the south, the Third Prince expanded his army on a large scale. He recruited soldiers indiscriminately, even accepting some local bandits and hooligans who came to join him. He even appointed several powerful bandit leaders as "personal guard knights".

This title is not a peerage, but it is extremely prestigious because only princes can be granted it, and there are restrictions on the number of princes who can receive it. It is a direct subordinate of the prince. Once the prince ascends the throne, the knights around him can also rise through the ranks, entering the Royal Guard as officers, and are tasked with wielding military power on behalf of their masters.

There weren't many royal knights before Bailey, and Reinhardt was one of them.

However, when the three armies were defeated, most of Bailey's personal guard knights died protecting him, so he now urgently needs to rebuild a new force and cannot afford to be picky for the time being.

At the same time, Bailey also sent someone to contact Reinhardt, who was far behind enemy lines, asking the Second Eastern Army to cooperate when he launched a new frontal offensive and to take the initiative to attack the enemy's weak points on the flanks and rear.

Chapter 273: As long as Reinhardt launches an attack

Reinhard received a letter from the Third Prince. While he was happy that his friend was able to recover, he was also conflicted about the military orders the prince had issued.

Reinhard knew the current situation of the Second Eastern Army Corps. When the corps withdrew to Wumingjiao, it still had about 110,000 men. After more than a month of fighting, the number of combat casualties had exceeded 30,000.

Of these, approximately 9,000 died directly in battle, while the remaining 20,000 were wounded or sick to varying degrees.

The supply fleet could only transport an average of three to four hundred people to the rear each day, so there are still nearly ten thousand wounded people stranded inside the fortress.

Thanks to the effective field medical team from Lagug, most of the wounded were saved, and the numerous epidemic prevention measures implemented effectively prevented the outbreak of infectious diseases.

The main fighting force of the entire Second Eastern Army Corps is the Imperial Guard, which has only a little over 10,000 men left. If you add other scattered elite private armies, you can probably muster about 20,000 soldiers, with less than 2,000 cavalry.

As for heavy weapons, the large magic cannons were all destroyed during the retreat because they could not be taken with them. The remaining light cannons had less than half a basic load of ammunition. The musketeer team had about a thousand men, with each man having less than ten bullets left on average. Once the ammunition was exhausted, they would have no choice but to use bayonets as musketeers.

As for the local miscellaneous militia, they could only do some auxiliary work.

Given the current state of the Second Army Corps in its desperate struggle, it can manage to fight a defensive battle by relying on its fortifications, but asking them to launch an offensive is simply asking the impossible!

A little over a month ago, Reinhard, upon receiving the order, wouldn't have hesitated at all; he would have launched an attack without a second thought, fighting his entire corps to the last man. After all, the role of cannon fodder is to lead the charge under the supervision of the commanding officers, wearing down the enemy's ammunition.

To fight for the empire and die for the emperor—this is the glory of every Hessian!

But his fifth brother told him clearly that this was pure bullshit!

Soldiers may die gloriously in battle, and generals should not be swayed by sentimentality. But the precious lives of soldiers should not be wasted on meaningless matters because of the foolish decisions made by incompetent generals.

The Second Eastern Army Corps is currently surrounded by enemy forces, and the Maple Dew people on the other side are also frantically fortifying their positions. They are practically trapped in this place. Now, Bailey's order for the Second Eastern Army Corps to launch a preemptive strike is tantamount to sending them to crash their bald heads against a solid brick wall.

Even if everyone is wiped out, they might not be able to break through.

Reinhard, however, could not refuse his friend and lord to whom he had sworn allegiance, so he was caught in a dilemma and sought help from his fifth brother, Dick, wanting to hear his opinion.

“My opinion? My opinion is to pretend we didn’t hear it. Right now, have all the magical communication devices in the command center smashed, and kill all the carrier pigeons to make soup.”

"But...but this is disobeying military orders!"

“My dear brother, have you ever met a gambler? Especially the kind who has lost everything and is at the end of their rope. When these people get carried away, they lose their minds and don’t know what it means to cut their losses. They will frantically bet all the last chips they have on the table, hoping for a miracle that will allow them to turn things around.”

"Fifth brother, why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"What I mean is that the Third Prince is a gambler who has reached the end of his rope, and the Second Eastern Army Corps is the chip he put on the gambling table."

"But the empire is not yet at its end, we still have..."

"No, no, no, it is not the empire that is at its wit's end, but His Highness the Third Prince. I know you have always regarded His Highness as a close friend, but precisely because he is a friend, I would suggest that you speak frankly and offer your advice, rather than letting him act willfully and ultimately cause even greater mistakes."

Meanwhile, the Third Prince, having recovered thanks to the "Earth's Divine Medicine," was now preparing to avenge his previous defeat. His forces had expanded to 50,000, including 20,000 elite guards in disguise, giving him considerable confidence.

In contrast, although the Southern Allied Army organized by Prince Heinz was large in number, with nearly 300,000 troops, most of the soldiers were "private armies" hastily recruited by local nobles, who were mostly opportunistic and fickle.

Therefore, Pelé believed that as soon as his heavenly army arrived, many people would immediately side with him, who had the support of the capital, and easily seize Heinz's army.

After the Third Prince's troops set off, Marquis Leodor, who was not entirely at ease, also donned his armor and went on the expedition with him.

As for the acting Minister of the Army, he hurriedly returned to the capital to report back, while trying to find more support for Bailey.

On his way to the front, Bailey actively contacted his "old subordinates," especially Reinhardt, who was behind enemy lines, and General Malcolm, who was gathering defeated troops in Charles. The two men together commanded over a hundred thousand troops, including many elite guards.

To Pelé’s great displeasure, Malcolm, who was stationed in Charles, replied directly, refusing to obey his orders, and used very harsh language to list all the mistakes Pelé had made in previous battles due to poor command.

Malcolm is a veteran of the Royal Guard, but he is not a member of the Third Prince's faction. Instead, he is a direct descendant of the late Prince Charles and once served as the Prince's personal guard knight.

At the beginning of the advance into the basin, Malcolm strongly opposed Pelé's battle plan, believing that the strategy of advancing with four armies simultaneously was too risky. However, Pelé was stubborn and could not listen to any criticism, especially from old prince remnants like Malcolm.

Unfortunately, Malcolm's prediction came true. The three armies were successively defeated, but Malcolm's troops, under the command of the old general, successfully broke through the encirclement and retreated to Charles City with a relatively intact organization, without completely losing their fighting capacity.

After that, Malcolm tried his best to gather the fleeing troops who had returned from all sides in Charles, and managed to gather more than 70,000 men, which restored the city's defenses to some extent.

Having witnessed Bailey's "terrible" command abilities, the old general was so disappointed in the seemingly impressive but actually useless third prince that he completely disregarded his orders.

After reading Malcolm's reply, the Third Prince was so angry he was itching to get back at him, his eyes filled with resentment.

Reinhardt, who was behind enemy lines, had yet to receive a reply. However, Pele believed he knew his friend's temperament well and didn't think he would be as ungrateful as Malcolm.

In his envisioned "counter-offensive," Reinhardt's 2nd Eastern Army Corps, positioned behind enemy lines, was in an "excellent position" that could effectively cut off the enemy's logistics, just like the Kingdom's army had been in the past.

So as long as Reinhardt can launch an attack according to his orders, everything will be fine!

Chapter 274: Stubbornly Going His Own Way

In the communications room of the command center at the Nameless Horn Fortress, a heated argument could be heard.

Reinhardt heeded Dick's advice, hoping to persuade the Third Prince to abandon his idea of ​​launching a full-scale attack rashly. However, the prince was unusually stubborn and wouldn't listen to Reinhardt at all, so the exchange quickly turned into an argument.

Reinhardt vaguely noticed that his friend's temper seemed to have worsened; a few words could make him extremely irritable, and he seemed to have become somewhat neurotic.

While Reinhardt was trying to persuade Bailey, Dick was also in his tent trying to win over Frederick the Great, who had come from afar specifically to surprise him.

Originally, the Great Emperor's mother stayed in the north to guard the fjords and prevent the orcs from raiding their homeland.