Arguing didn't solve any problems, but not voicing out would undoubtedly lead to a disadvantage. Knight Charles was clearly not cut out for verbal combat and soon found himself at a disadvantage.
Including Hudson, all the officers of the Fifth Army watched with frustration but due to their ranks, none of them had the opportunity to speak up.
Seeing the situation unfolding unfavorably, Earl Piers suddenly spoke out, "Enough! I brought you here not to argue.
You all participated in the battle that day. The enemy possesses the evil tool, Blood Moon Horn, which can turn the cannon fodder into an army without any training.
You can say that with each passing day, the enemy's numbers increase by tens of thousands. You should be clear how terrifying an enemy that has no sense of mind and only knows slaughter can be."
The art of balance is the essential lesson every commander should learn. Earl Piers may not be a famous general, but he possesses the basic military literacy.
Indulging subordinates in internal fights can indeed weaken the minor nobles, but excessive cannibalization will also hurt the army's strength.
Comparatively, the Fifth Army is easy to bully. But no matter how much they are bullied and exploited, they cannot speed up their march. This is due to objective conditions.
Upon calming down, the disgruntled Legion Commanders desisted. The workings of the military and politics are not the same.
Shifting the blame when problems arise is a typical political mindset, whereas the military mindset aims to solve problems.
For the entire Allied Forces, what's important right now is to solve the problem of slow marching speed, not to shift the blame.
The bickering was quickly quelled, and Hudson looked at Earl Piers in a new light. His military capability might be unknown, but his political acumen was very mature.
Over a few days, he managed to split the minor nobles, intimidate them, shift the contradictions, and defuse the political crisis sprung by the minor nobles against him. His strong political maneuvering could be seen.
Unfortunately, it's wartime now, and being politically savvy alone isn't enough. As long as there is one failure, the previously suppressed contradictions will burst forth.
"I don't care what reasons you may have, but within three days, you must reach Dardiel City and attack the Rebel Army's stronghold.
I dispatched the Gryphon Cavalry for reconnaissance and found that the enemy is conscripting. Both Layton and Wharton are the size of large counties. Together their population exceeds half a million. Even after a failure, the enemy will be able to mobilize tens of thousands of brave men."
"You all should be clear about the style of the Skeleton Society. They will recklessly conscript the brave, which will surely result in larger actual numbers."
"If you don't want the two counties to be devastated and don't want to face an endlessly emerging enemy, then we must speed up our march."
"Without affecting battle strength, we need to cover a hundred miles in three days. This is my minimum requirement."
"Speak your mind. If your suggestions are effective, I will not be stingy with rewards."
Earl Piers' words brightened everyone's eyes. This was a promise made before everyone. If the reward was scant, then he would be slapping himself in the face."
Seeing everyone deep in thought, Hudson's attention deviated towards the term "Gryphon Cavalry". They were a legendary air force troop and he didn't expect them to appear here.
However, judging by their deployment, there should be very few Gryphon Cavalry under Earl Piers. Otherwise, they would have been present in the previous battle at Ersel Fort.
Elite troops like the Gryphon Cavalry were as scarce as magicians and couldn't be squandered.
A grown Gryphon is a second-order magic beast that can effortlessly beat three Hudsons even on the ground. In the sky, their combat ability is absolutely top-notch.
As far as Hudson knew, the whole Alpha Kingdom only had one Gryphon Cavalry Regiment, which wasn't even at full strength, only slightly more than the Magician Regiment.
This is the result of the kingdom's centuries-long accumulation. Initially, the royal family had only two pairs of Gryphons. It took them two hundred years to reach their current size."
Of course, there would have been losses during wars. Anyway, the breeding rate of these creatures couldn't be too high. It wasn't like a porcupine which could have several litters a year."
While he had his attention on them, unless Hudson sold himself to them, he wasn't going to get any of these high-level mounts.
"Let's break up. Our four armies will proceed first with seven days' worth of rations while the Fifth Army follows slowly."
Viscount Orlan said coldly.
He knew this was a ploy of Earl Piers, but for the sake of benefits, he had to jump into it even though it upset him.
In fact, even if they leave the heavy load behind, there is still a great uncertainty about whether all four armies can arrive at the front in time.
After all, the Rebel Army is not going to just sit and wait for them to arrive.
The Skeleton Society, devoid of any noble burdens, always uses any means necessary to achieve their goals. They do not know the meaning of a bottom line."
Hudson, who was preparing to speak up and give some suggestions, eventually chose to keep quiet. Merits were important, but he would rather not butt heads with Viscount Orlan!
The military meeting soon ended. Besides the indignation of the Fifth Army, everyone else was quite satisfied.
The nobles usually need an outlet for their resentment. If they are deprived of opportunity, it must be compensated with wealth.
Separating from the main force is undoubtedly giving everyone a space for independent action. Under the concerted efforts of the nobles, a plan for looting was quickly drafted.
But when they came to the execution, they encountered a bit of trouble. After all, the Fifth Army was still responsible for transporting the grain and had to ensure progress.
The commanders looked at each other, waiting for Knight Charles, the "big brother", to arrange it.
"Military orders are as steadfast as mountains. We must complete our task of transporting the grain. Therefore, we need to leave the bulk of our troops to guard the grain, and only dispatch a fraction of the elite to reclaim territories for the kingdom."
"This requires a noble with prestige and respect, intelligence, and the courage to take responsibility, to stay behind and oversee the situation."
As he spoke, Charles looked expectantly at everyone, hoping someone would volunteer. Regrettably, everyone was very modest, each waiting for someone else to step forward.
In fact, they couldn't be unmodest either. They had made it clear this was about taking the elites to rob and leave the peasant soldiers to continue transporting the grain.
How easy could it be to control a group of more than four thousand without the help of basic officers?
Even Hudson, at this moment, backed down. It was already challenging to control the team solely composed of peasants transporting the grain, let alone if they were attacked by the Rebel Army.
"You all don't worry, whatever spoils of war we get, the one who stays behind won't get the lesser share."
Charles promised.
Compared to everyone else, he, a knight who was about to go bankrupt, was obviously more eager for riches. Unfortunately, no one still took him up on his offer.
"Knight Hudson has a good way of commanding his troops and possesses the capacity to lead. Moreover, as it was his suggestion, I think he should stay behind and oversee the situation!"
Baron Mitchell, smiling, suggested.