This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

The task of these inside agents was extremely difficult: to connect as many prisoners of war as possible within two days, while ensuring that they were not detected by Maple Dew's guards.

Some of the prisoners of war didn't actually want to revolt because the guards at Fenglu told them that they could go home once this unjust war ended. The prisoners may not have fully believed it, but they couldn't help but harbor hope, thinking that the hard times would pass by, and they couldn't muster the courage to fight to the death.

In contrast, the captured guards were more resistant.

Two days passed quickly, and it was time for the POW camp to welcome the higher-ups for inspection.

The fortress commander-in-chief had made preparations well in advance, cleaning the fortress inside and out thoroughly, and personally leading mid- to high-ranking officers and an honor guard to wait at the entrance.

After waiting for a short while, a large procession of about three hundred people appeared on the road in the distance, carrying a banner symbolizing the Maple Dew royal family. Surrounded by numerous knights, the white carriage in the center of the procession was particularly conspicuous. The commander-in-chief looked at it from afar and thought to himself that it was indeed a member of the royal family, but he did not yet know which member of the royal family it was.

Soon, the royal procession arrived at the fortress gate, and the commander-in-chief immediately stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and saluted the carriage.

However, just as the commander-in-chief was rehearsing his lines, the carriage door opened, and the person who stepped out was not any of the royal family members he had ever seen, but a half-elf boy.

The other person was carrying a staff. After getting out of the carriage, he immediately spoke to the people around him.

"Let's do it!"

"???"

Before the commander-in-chief and the others could react to what was happening, the knights guarding the royal family drew their swords at them. The commander-in-chief, who thought he had the strength of a mid-level warrior, was kicked to the ground the moment his hand touched the hilt of his sword. His family's enchanted armor was crushed at the chest, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood, lying on the ground for a long time, unable to get up again.

To his relief, the other party did not finish him off with a fatal blow, but instead tied him up on the spot, presumably intending to capture him alive.

Since the welcoming ceremony brought together most of the mid- to high-ranking officers and generals of the fortress garrison, this sudden attack was tantamount to a clean and swift decapitation, plunging the fortress garrison into immediate chaos and leaderlessness.

After taking control of the garrison's command, these attackers, posing as members of a royal inspection team, seized the opportunity amidst the chaos to split into two groups. One group stormed into the fortress, preventing the guards from closing the gates and capturing the heavy weapons on the fortress walls. The other group headed straight for the prisoner-of-war camp, where an uprising had already begun at the same time.

The soldiers involved in the operation took out various "homemade weapons" that they had prepared in advance and fought by relying on their numerical advantage and fully armed guards.

Seeing this, the watchtowers around the camp were about to shoot the rioting prisoners of war when a blinding light suddenly appeared in the sky. Then, the watchtowers were bombarded one by one with exploding fireballs and blown to pieces.

The one who made the move was Dick. There were no Saint-level experts stationed in the fortress, so no one could stand up to oppose him.

Just like the saying goes, you may not need a Saint-level expert, but you absolutely cannot be without one.

The appearance of the Saint-level mage directly shattered the morale of the fortress garrison, while the morale of the rebelling prisoners of war soared. Without any prompting, those prisoners who had previously been wavering immediately grabbed anything within reach that could be used as a weapon and joined the battle with roars of excitement.

Chapter 283: Blossoms Behind Enemy Lines

The fall of Firewing Fortress was uneventful, and the garrison quickly laid down their weapons and surrendered on the spot.

There was nothing they could do; they had a powerful figure above them. Several high-level mages in the fortress tried to fight back, but they were instantly killed by the opponent in one move. This was definitely the power of a Saint-level mage. Ordinary soldiers were just mortals, and their mentality collapsed on the spot when they saw this.

I'm going to fight a Saint-ranked opponent! Really?

Soon, another group of men rushed in from the east of the fortress. It was the rest of the assault team. Reinhardt couldn't help but sigh as he watched the fortress, which was so sturdy, fall so easily.

If we had followed the conventional tactics and launched a large-scale frontal attack, who knows how many more people would have died!

Although the fifth brother's methods are somewhat unethical, they are undeniably effective.

Having learned from his inside contact that high-ranking officials from the kingdom would be visiting today, Dick devised a plan to ambush them, then disguise themselves as them and swagger into the city. When the fortress's high command came out to greet them, they could easily wipe them out.

Following this line of thought, the commando team ambushed the royal surveillance team on the only way to Firewing Fortress, successfully blocking their path.

Although the opposing side had an elite royal guard for protection, and even a Saint-level expert accompanying them, they couldn't compete with the assault team, which was an all-star lineup composed of the best of the entire East Second Army Corps and the Northern Volunteer Army. The Saint-level experts included Dick, Black Gunner Artoria, Black Jeanne, Queen, and another warrior.

Five against one, and he still managed to sneak in!

The kingdom's Saint-level expert was severely crippled in a single exchange.

This guy was riding in the same carriage as an important person when he heard a noise outside and tried to get out to check. He ended up bumping into Dick and his group. The scene was like Stephen Chow trying to escape the Shaolin Temple in "The God of Cookery," only to find the eighteen bronze statues waiting for him at the door – utterly desperate.

After successfully capturing the kingdom's important figure, the group pulled out a handsome middle-aged man with an extraordinary and refined demeanor from the carriage. He was neither a martial artist nor a magician; he looked more like an artist.

"Good heavens, we've captured Maple Dew Queen's husband."

Prince Kaylan Agasso, the consort of Queen Maple Dew, is a renowned musician and national idol in the Kingdom of Maple Dew, known as "Maple Dew's Number One Handsome Man".

Although this old man and Queen Maple Dew's marriage was a political alliance, the two were truly in love and had an excellent relationship.

Queen Maple Dew clearly wanted her husband to have a chance to prove himself, but she was afraid something might happen to him, so she didn't dare send him to a truly dangerous place. Instead, she sent him to represent the royal family to inspect the fortress complex along the second line of defense within the kingdom's territory. Little did she expect that he would run into a group of vicious imperialists there.

Despite his frail appearance, this prince was not weak-willed. When he discovered that the attackers were not ordinary bandits but imperial people, he almost immediately wanted to commit suicide to avoid falling into enemy hands and being used by the imperial people to threaten the kingdom.

Unfortunately, he was not a martial artist. Before he could draw his sword to commit suicide, he was tackled by a group of burly men and tied up tightly with ropes.

Dick, on the other hand, took out the image crystal to take pictures, intending to use them to threaten Queen Maple Dew.

He had even thought of the beginning of the letter.

"Your Majesty, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your husband, would you?"

After successfully capturing the fortress, the group quickly organized the rescued prisoners of war to clean up the battlefield and collect all usable supplies as soon as possible. At the same time, they ordered that no surrendered Kingdom soldiers be killed indiscriminately.

These Maple Dew soldiers, along with the prince who refused to stop struggling even when bound like a dumpling, are now their prisoners and bargaining chips in negotiations with the kingdom.

Dick flew in mid-air and used amplification magic to explain the situation to the Imperial soldiers below. They were still behind enemy lines, and the nearest Kingdom army stronghold was less than ten kilometers away. News of the fall of Firewing Fortress would soon spread, and all sorts of forces would flock to the area. Their only way to survive was to hold out in Firewing Fortress and wait for reinforcements.

Dick drew some veterans from the commando unit, along with some of the already respected officers among the prisoners of war, and quickly rebuilt the basic core of the army. Then he opened the armory in the fortress and prioritized arming the elite soldiers of the former Imperial Guard.

Firewing Fortress is stockpiled with a large amount of grain and military equipment, which were seized from prisoners of war in the Kingdom's army. This is enough to arm at least 20,000 people, and the grain is enough to sustain these tens of thousands of people for two months.

Just as they were making their preparations, the first royal army, having heard the news, finally arrived.

However, this reinforcement was small in number, consisting of only three hundred light cavalry and about one thousand infantry.

This private army of local nobles was originally heading to another assembly point when they encountered several fleeing soldiers who had escaped from Firewing Fortress and learned that a riot had broken out in the prisoner-of-war camp.

The young viscount leading the group was in his early twenties, full of youthful vigor. Upon hearing that the captured imperialists dared to cause trouble, he led his men and charged over without waiting for the fleeing soldiers to finish explaining the situation.

The young man was full of patriotic fervor, but he was easily defeated in a single charge, and his more than a thousand men were killed and scattered in all directions.

These hotheads were sent in three waves before the kingdom's regular army finally arrived.

The first troops to arrive were naturally the garrison near the fortress, numbering about four thousand. Upon seeing that the fortress had completely fallen into enemy hands, and knowing that their small force might not be able to take it by force, they set up camp first and did not launch an attack rashly.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Maple Dew Kingdom, the Queen received a letter from the enemy army and a crystal recording the video of her husband's capture from the powerful warrior whom Dick had deliberately let go. She felt dizzy and trembled with anger.

Originally, the Kingdom's army had a firm advantage at this stage of the war, but things went wrong on the second line of defense, which was far from the front line.

The Saint-level expert tearfully recounted his harrowing experience of being ganged up on by five other experts of the same level. He had truly given his all to protect the Prince, but the despicable enemy had played dirty tricks on him, which led to the Prince falling into enemy hands.

Although the Queen was furious, seeing the expert's miserable state, she did not want to punish him for his dereliction of duty.

Suppressing her anger, the Queen carefully examined the letter again. The Imperials who had seized Firewing Fortress wanted to use the prisoners in their hands to negotiate a way to return home.

The other side demanded that the Kingdom's army open Bluewater Port on the east coast of the Kingdom, allowing the Imperial Navy to dock there. They would then take their prisoners to the port, board ships, and sail south to return to the Empire.

Once they have all boarded the ship, all the prisoners, including the prince, will be released.

The letter was signed by Reinhard Best, commander of the Second Eastern Legion of the Empire, and Earl of Lagug of the Northern Territory of the Empire, Dick Best, a Saint-rank mage, along with several other names, all of whom were powerful figures with considerable reputation on the continent. It was a joint statement.

After reading it, the Queen's expression turned conflicted. Reason told her that she should prioritize the overall situation. Besides, the Imperials were notoriously untrustworthy, and there was no guarantee that they wouldn't go back on their word if she made a promise.

However, the presence of her beloved husband among the hostages forced Her Majesty to hesitate.

Chapter 284: The Empire Needs "Heroes"

Before long, news of the incident at Firewing Fortress spread throughout the kingdom, pouring cold water on the Maple Dew people who were originally celebrating their successive victories at the front.

The kingdom's high command tried to suppress the news to avoid causing panic among the people, but the imperial army occupying Firewing Fortress did not stay quietly in the fortress. The 1,500 cavalrymen of the assault team directly split into five groups and used their mobility to carry out guerrilla warfare everywhere.

Dick set rules for each guerrilla squad: focus on attacking the local nobles of Maple Dew, and try to avoid harassing ordinary people. If possible, it would be best to attack a few minor noble estates and then open the granaries to distribute food to the local people.

Admittedly, the nobles of Maple Dew are indeed more human-like in their manners than some of the beasts on the Empire's side, but they are ultimately the high and mighty elite class. Just because there are a few good people doesn't mean that all the nobles are so kind-hearted.

As a result, the minor lords around Firewing Fortress suffered greatly!

Although the five guerrilla teams were not many in number, each team had a Saint-level expert, followed by dozens of high-level and hundreds of mid-level martial artists and mages. Using this lineup to attack the fiefdoms of some minor nobles was even more excessive than using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

By targeting only nobles and not harming the common people, several guerrilla groups quickly gained a good reputation in the area. People suddenly realized that these imperialists were not so bad after all. Some ordinary people in Fenglu even took the initiative to lead them to fight against the local tyrants and gentry who were deeply resented by the people.

Meanwhile, the high-ranking officials of the Maple Dew Kingdom were still frantically busy mobilizing troops.

It's important to understand that at this point, the kingdom had already deployed most of its manpower and resources to the border, and the combined forces of both sides had exceeded one million. To support these millions of troops in battle, the entire logistical support system would require at least five times that number of personnel to barely maintain its operations.

The essence of war is burning money, and both sides are now fighting desperately.

Therefore, when Firewing Fortress was attacked, the kingdom was immediately caught in a predicament. The higher-ups estimated that to take back Firewing Fortress, they would need to gather at least 100,000 troops and more than five Saint-level experts. Otherwise, they would not be able to take it down at all, and it might even turn into a piecemeal tactic, which is a major taboo in military strategy.

So some ministers tried to persuade the Queen that it would be better to grant those people's request and "politely" send them out of the country. Otherwise, Firewing Fortress would be like a thorn in their side; it might not cause any major problems in the short term, but if it dragged on, it would inevitably fester.

"Those imperialists are so ruthless; they actually distributed food to civilians!"

Meanwhile, news of the trouble in the heart of the kingdom finally reached the cabinet ministers in the capital, much to the delight of the imperial propaganda department, which had been struggling with internal public opinion pressure and had to fabricate a "great victory in subspace" to deceive the domestic populace.

Soon after, reports of the Second Army Corps of the Eastern Front's deep penetration into the enemy's rear and its success were published in the newspapers. Reinhard, the corps commander, was deliberately portrayed as a brave and resourceful "imperial hero," while the Third Prince, who was touted as a "war god" for his brute-force tactics, was immediately discarded by the official media as a thing of the past.

Seeing that his "friend" had not only not suffered a crushing defeat, but had also overturned the table and stolen his own "trending topic," the Third Prince, who had made no progress on the front lines, flew into a rage.

"That Reinhardt! How dare he? How on earth did he dare? I am the Field Marshal, and I gave him the order to launch a counterattack, and he dared to disobey?! And that Franz, what exactly is he doing as the supervising officer?"

Inside the military tent, the hysterical third prince was wreaking havoc like a mad dog, his bloodshot eyes devoid of any rationality, his expression twisted as if he were possessed, terrifying the guards and advisors around him.

The Third Prince's mental state is extremely unstable. It's not just that he's irritable and easily angered; sometimes when he goes crazy, he kills people indiscriminately.

There was a newly arrived young advisor who was unaware of the situation. He happened to be there when the Third Prince went mad. He only said, "Your Highness, please reconsider," and was stabbed through the heart by this mad prince.

Everyone was genuinely scared and knew that the best course of action in this situation was to stand quietly to the side, not utter a sound, and simply lower their heads and silently repeat "Don't look at me" to themselves. Because the Third Prince's tantrum wouldn't last long before he succumbed to despair and started crying uncontrollably; once they reached that point, they could run away.

Sure enough! The other person was like a middle-aged person; they couldn't keep going for more than five minutes.

At this moment, Marquis Leodor gestured for everyone to leave first, and then took out a snuff bottle from his pocket and handed it to the Third Prince. The prince immediately grabbed it and took several deep sniffs, and his expression immediately relaxed a lot.

"I'm sorry, Uncle, I lost my composure again."

Having regained his senses, the Third Prince Bailey slumped to the ground, looking like a child who knew he had made a mistake but was at a loss, clutching his head in pain.

"Cheer up, Your Highness."

"Uncle, do you think I'm finished? I've made such a fool of myself. Now the whole empire must think I'm an incompetent prince. How can I ever become emperor?"

“My child, the most important thing for becoming emperor is never personal ability, but the support of the nobles. I will always stand by your side, as will many ministers in the cabinet. No one can replace you.”

"But there's still the fifth brother..."

Bailey knew that although he was the first in line to the throne of the empire, he was not the only prince.

Below him was the Fifth Prince, who, though still a minor, was fifteen years old this year. As the son of King Hessen VII, born late in life, he was deeply favored. However, the Fifth Prince's mother's family lacked power, and the old emperor hadn't truly raised him as an heir. Therefore, Bailey had never considered him a competitor.

However, times have changed. With the Third Prince's reputation plummeting, some opportunists have caught wind of this and have eagerly switched their allegiance to the Fifth Prince.

The Third Prince is so eager to launch a counterattack and achieve some results in order to reverse public opinion. Especially now, with Reinhardt as a foil, it will only make others think he is even more incompetent.

However, Marquis Leodore comforted the Third Prince, saying that Reinhardt's success was not necessarily a bad thing. Firstly, it's clear from Reinhardt's letter that he still considered Bailey a close friend, meaning Bailey was on their side, and therefore his success could also be considered Bailey's success.

It's not a problem for an emperor to be bad at fighting, as long as he knows how to use people well and has subordinates who are good at fighting.

Therefore, the Marquis advised Bailey not to harbor resentment (he was too embarrassed to say it was jealousy), and that it would be best to send Reinhardt a personal letter as soon as possible to congratulate him on his achievements and win him over.

After hearing this, Pele felt that there was some truth to it, but he was still somewhat reluctant.

While his own experience was unfortunate, the success of others was even harder for him to accept.

Chapter 285: Both Friend and Foe are Praising It

Inside Firewing Fortress, Dick and Prince Agassiz sat facing each other, playing chess.

After several days together, the prince had given up his suicidal thoughts. Knowing he couldn't escape on his own, he adopted a policy of non-violent non-cooperation. Dick, on the other hand, simply used him as a hostage to negotiate with the kingdom's higher-ups and had no intention of actually harming him.

When Dick had free time, he would play chess with him and chat to relieve boredom, and he would also try to extract some valuable information from him indirectly.

For example, the 40-year-old Maple Dew Queen is quite assertive. Although Prince Agassiz and she have always been very loving, time waits for no one, and he sometimes finds himself unable to handle her.

When discussing the war, Prince Agassiz would vehemently condemn the Empire's long-standing domineering behavior, showing no fear whatsoever despite being a prisoner.

Dick wasn't annoyed by this; in fact, he quite admired this spirited but frail musician.

However, the war has progressed to a point where the outcome is almost clear. The Kingdom's army has indeed fought well, putting the Empire on the defensive, but their war potential is clearly nearing its end.

The entire Maple Dew Kingdom has a total population of less than 20 million, yet it has to maintain a massive active-duty army of over 600,000. Of these, 400,000 are fighting the Imperial Army on the border, and in order to ensure the continuous supply of these 400,000 people, about 2 million laborers have to be conscripted and sent to the front lines.

It is no exaggeration to say that more than half of the young and middle-aged men in the entire Maple Dew Kingdom are serving this damned war, and it is impossible for industrial and agricultural production in the rear to remain unaffected.

A full week has passed since Firewing Fortress fell. Apart from a few reckless fools who came to their deaths at the beginning, the Kingdom's army has not sent out any formal punitive forces, only deploying some highly mobile cavalry to patrol the area.

This clearly demonstrates the kingdom's severe shortage of military manpower!

Therefore, Dick concluded that the war instigated by the Empire was nearing its end.