Chapter 95 Defense

"Ah...this is still a bit troublesome..."

"Ha, I'm just talking about ideal situations. There is always a difference between reality and things on paper." Berel laughed. "In short, the so-called famous general must have all kinds of opportunities to let him overcome all kinds of difficult situations that will cause harm to humans. Physical harm is secondarily, spiritual harm... If you suffer that kind of harm before the mind matures, you will basically lose the opportunity to grow into an excellent general. Even if you can still command the army, you are just a mediocre general."

"After gaining experience, will you become an excellent general?"

"It's almost done, and the next step is to accumulate experience. It's best to face one difficult challenge after another... Such experience, as long as there are three or five times, as long as this person is not particularly stupid, he will basically master the laws of war, and a new famous general will be born." Belle said. "How about it, the conditions are difficult, Robin?"

"General... But let's not mention it for now. How did Ashu Rufate achieve so many conditions you said? Didn't you say he is not inferior to you in this regard? But before commanding the army, he seemed to have not had as rich experience as you said. I remember he was a mercenary before, and at most he only did the first three items that General said. He has talent, education, and served as the middle-level army. He has absolutely no chance to command the war himself, and has accumulated experience through many small battles or something..."

"This...haha...I just meant an ideal situation. What I just said is just referring to the growth process of an ordinary person with a relatively ordinary talent. For example, Robin, you have insufficient experience and talent to make up for it. Ash Rufate is probably this kind of. He is born calm, brave, indifferent, and easy to think... Wait, Robin, don't use this expression. I'm not saying you can't do it, I mean you have a relatively ordinary talent..."

Robin looked at Beller, and his expression was so frustrated that the carefree Beller felt that he had said the wrong thing.

"Besides, Robin, you don't have to be a general of my type. I said before that you can become a general of another type... As long as you have three times the strength of the troops, you will never lose!"

"This means it's very mediocre, right?" It's okay if Berel doesn't comfort him, but the comfort makes Robin feel even more depressed.

"No, it's not very mediocre. Being able to gather three times the opponent's army means strategy... OK OK, Robin, I was wrong. Actually, there is still a good chance..."

It took a while for Robin's mood to calm down a little.

"By the way, when it comes to Ashurufate... General, that... Syvania..." Robin asked. He asked this. Maybe he asked this to change the subject, or maybe he was subconscious. Because he knew that General Berel had sent many people to the southern region recently. Berel has always attached great importance to spies and spies - this is no secret for Robin. In fact, Berel is the one who attaches the most importance to intelligence work among the people he has ever met. At least half of his previous income was used to buy spies. So far, Robin has not heard of a second person like Berel.

But as soon as this sentence was spoken, Robin realized that he had asked wrongly. Because Beller's eyes quickly dimmed.

"It's bad." Berel said softly. "It's worse than I expected."

"Oh?" Robin was slightly surprised. Although the general's expression was different, he also knew that the vampire who claimed to be the Blood Duke was always dormant in Sivania and did not come out. How to say... Although that vampire is a potential threat, at least it is only a potential threat for the moment.

According to human habits, there are three obvious indicators to measure the strength of a force: the size of the territory, the amount of financial resources, and the strength of the army. In fact, the third party is the key, and the first two determine the third party. Judging from these three indicators, vampires are really not a big problem. On the one hand, people today have admitted the fact that vampires are separating one side, but that is not that vampires are powerful enough to fight against, but because the unexpected failure of the Ryan people led to civil strife within the country, and they really have no spare energy to take care of vampires. Although the Bloody Duke is separating one side, the rabbit's tail cannot grow. By the time Ryan, the church and other countries recover their strength and get a chance to breathe from the mud pond of civil strife, the destruction of the vampires is only a matter of time.

Up to now, this is also the mainstream view of the entire seven central countries. After all, Kalean, who once occupied countless vampires, was also conquered by human power. What can a mere vampire do if the remaining vampire is?

"Some things... are hard to describe." Berel sighed. "Robin, you should have heard of the famine and plague that happened in southern Ryan?"

War can easily lead to famine and plague - this is a self-evident truth.

"Sir, you mean..." Robin thought for a moment. "The vampire awakened a large number of dead people from those places to strengthen his army?"

"I didn't say that. I really hope that the vampires did this. Because if they did this, the Ryans would definitely ask for help from the nations because of fear. Then they would be able to organize a coalition force to break up." Berel said. "No, the situation is different from what you said. The vampires did not use black magic to turn those who died in the civil war into their own undead legion. He used another method."

“Another way?”

"Yes, a much more secretive way. War leads to unrest and destruction...and unrest and destruction brings poverty and death. Vampires use supplies and money to win over the hearts of the people. There is evidence that more than one place has secretly been loyal to vampires. Those who survived the war were either forced or took the initiative to surrender to vampires. Because only vampires can keep them alive."

"Well, where are their lords? As long as the local rulers can..."

"They can't. vampires are also good at conspiring. If they don't obey, they will kill them. Besides, in that case, rulers who dare to be dissatisfied with each other will not be able to continue."

"How is it possible? No one... no one notices this kind of thing? General, you are just doing nothing? We should tell the nations immediately."

"The evidence is insufficient. Even I can only infer this from limited evidence. This level cannot be convinced by others. Besides, every country has something to do now... Even the archbishop of the church, the first priority now is not to eliminate vampires, but to find a way to raise funds to rebuild the holy city destroyed by the green skin - the city is half built and cannot be stopped. What can I do? Could I convince our Majesty to rely on the power of a country to send troops to eliminate vampires? Don't talk about whether it can win, the Ryan alone will probably not be welcomed." Berel sighed again. "I can't do anything now. Alas, looking back, I was really too lucky to go to Kalean."

"General." Belle's sigh made Robin feel a little uneasy. Because Belle has always been proud of his deeds of conquering Kalean and eliminating the vampire clan - although he sometimes doesn't admit it. Robin and Belle have been together for a long enough time, so he knows this very well.

"The reason why we can win is that when we think about it, the main intention is that the vampires are unprepared." Berel said. "They hid deep in the desert, treating the special terrain of the desert as their own turtle shell, thinking it was a set of armor that could not be broken. They were careless and did not consider the consequences of the desert from the beginning if the desert could not stop our army." He shook his head. "Robin, you have to remember that there are many natural terrain in the world, or natural mountains, rivers, deserts, swamps, or artificially built cities. These things are very favorable terrain that can stop the enemy's army. However, having these natural defense conditions does not mean absolute safety. In fact, perhaps it is better to have these things."

"Why?" Belle's sigh made Robin a little puzzled.

"Virtuality. Relying too much on the natural defense ability caused by terrain will numb the guards' vigilance." Berel said. "Only human vigilance is truly trustworthy and unbreakable armor! And, to be honest, in this kind of raid, because the attackers have been planning for a long time, draw elite troops, and the defenders are careless, it seems that the defenders' terrain is favorable on the surface, but in actual combat, the attackers take advantage of all kinds."

Deep in the dark swamp, there are terrain and landforms that are completely different from those in most places in the Chaos Realm. Here, lush broad-leaved plants grow, these large-segmented green plants have tree crowns that cover the sky like giant umbrellas, and even the summer sunlight cannot penetrate.

On the ground, dirty water puddles and mud ponds are everywhere. The dark green water covered with duckweed emits a stench that has accumulated for centuries. If the southerners come here, they may not need to fight. This smell alone can make people lose their combat effectiveness.

But even for the Chaos believers with better physique and adaptability, this swamp has never been a comfort zone. Although these quagmire puddles seem exactly the same, some can simply wader by, and some can directly cause those who have passed by to a disaster. In fact, let alone different places, even the same mud pond, there are differences in different locations. People who are not familiar with the marsh terrain and terrain may never have the chance to regret it if they make a mistake and are swallowed by the swamp.

However, this is just the smallest danger in the swamp. Here, strange poisonous insects are everywhere. Perhaps a completely unsensible intimate contact of a worm with a sesame size can make a strong man have a high fever for several days, or even die directly. A drop of inconspicuous sap dripping from a tree can make human skin inflamed and ulcerated, and it will be difficult to heal for life. In addition, there are various fogs that rise from the depths of the swamp and are everywhere. Legend has it that fog brings not only the danger of getting lost, but also fatal diseases. Under the daily pollution of this fog, there is no water or food that ordinary people can drink in the entire swamp.

Only the believers of the Father of the Plague are the exception. Under the blessing of the Father of the Plague, they can eat food that ordinary people cannot eat and drink water that ordinary people cannot drink, and are also not afraid of the threat of epidemic fog and poisonous insects. In fact, there are far more residents in the swamp than outsiders imagine. Some people once estimated that there were about 10,000 residents living in the swamp, but the facts proved that this speculation greatly underestimated the strength of the swamp. In the past twenty years of tug-of-war, Jacks, the Chaos Lord, who is known as the "Immortal Lord", once gathered more than 20,000 troops from the swamp at once. Moreover, even if he fought many defeats, he could quickly replenish soldiers and restore his strength every time.

Now, judging from the strength shown in the war, people from the outside world tend to believe another statement: there are at least 50,000 or 60,000 people living in the swamp, and maybe even 100,000.

Although this sounds a bit incredible, it is not impossible to think about it carefully. Because the first point is that this swamp is indeed big enough.
Chapter completed!