Most forget the effect that diplomacy, international politics and a nation's interests can shape a war as a nation may switch sides if the benefits they gain are enough.
Using the fears that allied nations who only come together for profit and not out of any sense of loyalty or trust have for one another can lead to decisive victories as allied armies who appear for these reasons lack the loyalty and cohesion that a centralised army that one single state or figure owns unless they have done extensive drills, training or have sufficient experience fighting together.
For this reason, a general in an army must always consider the international political situation and how others may switch allegiances or withdraw as they have lost too much already and want to cut their losses as much as possible.
Then make strategies to survive and thrive in the endless web of intrigue and competition between nations and their benefits.
Flintorus Rhalun, Prime Minister of Nathia, known as 'The Kings Fox.'
…..
Gerindin entered the Otuian command tent, his usual cunning smile plastered onto his face gazing into Wurgoths bright brown eyes. Looking at him closely, the orc general recognised a lighter half-plate armour similar to what the Chavarian knights wore but of slightly lesser quality and weight. On the cunning human's left shoulder was a splatter of blood that looked relatively fresh. The insightful skinny sly weasel noticed the light and excitement in the orc general's eyes, which allowed the man insight into the Wurgoths emotional state.
'The eyes of someone who has just seen a lifeline.'
Gerindin thought, making the job he was given easier.
"My lord Lindorus sends his greetings to the great general Wurgoth and congratulates him on finding the weak point in the Chavarian army."
Gerindin began by praising the orc to help placate him before continuing.
"However, his lordship expresses concern at your inability to kill that disrespectful peasant Lucius Aurellion even when his lordship provided you with the information on the positions of the Chavarian officers allowing you to lure Lucius to the front lines!"
"He would also like to remind you that this is the second time you have failed and that he will not tolerate a third."
Gerindin voiced the complaint of his master as any good diplomat would, sure that because he was still valuable enough not to die even if he rubbed salt into Wurgoths round, reminding him of his previous failure and loss in the battle.
"With the last chance benevolently given to you by my lord, he presents this which he and I obtained at great risk to our person to you in hopes that it helps you understand the now dire situation that you are in and hopes that you can work with him to achieve both our goals."
Gerindin said in a more arrogant tone, his cunning smile turning slightly evil as he respectfully presented a letter to Wurgoth.
Wurgoth pressed down a slowly boiling rage, not surprised anymore that Lindorus would betray the Chavarains as from the message that he had received, it is evident that the person he was dealing with seemed to be an incredibly prideful and arrogant person who would hold a deep grudge against Lucius after the Chavarian general beat and humiliated him.
It was also likely that he was from a mighty family within the empire, most likely a ducal house, each one a powerhouse within Chavaria and with a deep history, as only someone with such a background would have such a bad attitude as he was confident that no matter how arrogantly he acted because of his immense backing no one could touch him.
This was not an entirely wrong statement either, as these ducal houses had immense influence at the Chavarian royal court and throughout the kingdom. Unless they had a similar background, many generals would always treat these young masters with respect, as their careers and lives could be in great danger if they offended one of these houses.
Whether it was sabotage within their armies, falsification of reports, or assassination, the many ways that these noble houses used against those who offended them would make even the most strict and patriotic generals wary of offending these powerful dukes and their descendants, even if they had to deal with an undisciplined noble asshole within their army for a bit.
Of course, not all children and scions of these noble houses are like this; many, especially the successors, are decent people with integrity as the rulers of these noble houses know that if they don't look after their people and rule well, then not only would there be rebellions and loss of profits coming out of their territories but their rivals within the royal court would use this against them to take away some of their lands and titles.
Thanks to the founders of Chavaria making a precedent for purging and punishing nobles who extort or tyrannise their citizens instead of the noble class coming together to put a new dynasty on the throne, not that some hadn't tried, but the swift retribution, including the extermination of their families and loss of their land that the rebellious nobles suffered for committing treason, was enough to plant a seed of fear within them make them think very carefully on whether they can afford to pay such a price.
The mostly decent and moral nobles who established Chavaria at the time decided instead to use it as justification to fight political battles amongst themselves in the hope that any land taken away as punishment would be given to them who 'benevolently exposed the oppression of the kingdom's citizens and helped to deliver justice.' Whether their intentions were pure or not, this was used by the cunning Chavarian royal family to keep the nobles in check as they feuded with one another while exposing those that tyrannised their citizens to the royal court for punishment.
This, alongside the royal family's promotion of commoners into high places within the kingdom's military and eventually leading to the royal family giving many of these people noble titles, meant that the royal family at the moment held a tight grip on power as the new nobles and military leaders will be more grateful and loyal to the royal family forming a solid power base for them.
Ignoring Chavaria's internal politics, it was this pride that gave Wurgoth more trust in the person behind Gerindin.
Taking the piece of paper quickly and roughly, the orc's annoyance at Gerindins arrogance manifested itself as he read the letter. The orc player's face got darker and darker as he read on the hand, not holding the piece of paper clenching into a fist before he looked up at the cunning servant with a cold glare.
"Has the deal been done?"
The orc asked the feeble-looking man lifting his axe menacingly as a bead of sweat appeared on the face of Gerindin, trying to make sure that what he held was the truth and not a Chavarian trick aimed at having the two allied armies turn on one another. At the same time, the Chavarians could watch from afar eating popcorn before coming down to finish them both off while they are tired and exhausted from fighting each other.
With the hatred that Lindorus held for Lucius stemming from the Chavarian noble's vain pride, Wurgoth was inclined to believe the information given to him as breaking up the Chavarians general's scheme to work together with the Plurians to eliminate them was definitely something that he would do with the nobleman's prideful character.
But the orc player couldn't shake off the fear that something was wrong, but whether it was the contents of the letter in front of him or the intentions of the Lindorus, both were logical and reasonable.
The letter was an offer sent by Lucius and has his official seal on it. The letter laid out excellent terms for the Plurinas in their current situation, including vassal king status for their current royal families. Even if the territory they ruled were smaller, it would still make them a powerhouse within the empire and guarantees that while some nobles would lose some land and have their noble titles demoted, the major ones could maintain their current territories and power.
It even offered positions in court and even the military for notable members of the current Plurian court, and all that the Chavarains wanted in exchange was loyalty and submission to their current king who would become emperor, their land being incorporated into the new empire and help in the extermination of the orcs.
This deal was almost too good to be true for the Plurians, who were destined to be subjugated by The Kingdom of Chavaria the moment that Nadron was destroyed, as it guaranteed their lives, lands and holdings. Obviously, the Chavarians in this deal wanted to add nice, stable and loyal lands to their new empire, with this benevolent deal giving them the benevolent reputation to encourage others to join the empire to gain prosperity and safety.
The orc player could vaguely see a pelican-shaped seal at the bottom of the letter. Later that sigil would be burned into his mind inciting both fear and rage within the player whenever he saw it, but with the current situation and considering that the Allied army will have to face a grandmaster strategist like Drusus and the main Chavarian army after this fight, the chances of them winning are minimal as a result any non-prideful sane person would accept this deal in a heartbeat.'
These thoughts all flashed through the orc general's mind in a second, but he was reminded of the presence of the man standing in front of him by hearing the answer that he feared the most.
"While the deal has not been made, it is inevitable for it to be made soon! Please remember that what you are facing while are the elite of our Chavarian army, there are still nearly 70,000 soldiers besieging the Nadron capital even after we take into account the casualties from having to try to storm the walls to ensure the invasion of Nadron went smoothly the King of Chavaria has taken out all of the stops in total mobilising nearly 200,000 men in total for this war to put it bluntly if this invasion fails both Pluerus and Nadron will have the time they need to recover."
"Only a fool blinded by pride or anger would refuse such a good offer when it is almost guaranteed that they will be unable to save Nadron. Now, even if you managed to defeat us without about half your army intact, then it would be impossible for you to match Drusus' strategic abilities and army."
If you had half of your army, then it would be possible to work with the soldiers inside the Captial of Nadron and their scattered military outside to surround and pincer our army leading to us suffering enough losses to prevent us from taking Nadron down entirely and having to retreat.
"Unfortunately, you should have just a bit less than half your strength left, while for us, it's the same…."
Gerindin said, noticing the astonished look in the orc general's eyes that gleamed for a second as Wurgoth tried his best to control the micro-expressions that had appeared. However, the perceptive servant still noticed it as the large towering orc was truly disheartened by the tremendous amount of casualties he had suffered over the past few days.
Of the Orc general's original 70,000 men, he only had just over 20,000 left, taking massive casualties from fighting against the cavalry-based Chavarian army on a flat steppe. The technology gap made it even harder for him as even if he wanted to, his orcs had not only less manoeuvrability than the Chavarians on their fast horses but less range from their inferior bows allowing the Chavarians to fire on his orcs freely without having to risk themselves even if one of their arrows hit it would most likely bounce off the Chavarians steel armour.
On a flat plain like this, the advantage the Chavarians held was obvious when combined with his blunder at losing 5000 wolf riders to the ambush set up by Lucius and the 5,000 heavy infantry, not to mention archers and other men he lost in the night raid with the Chavarains taking only several hundred casualties by doing so drastically lowered the allied armes numbers.
If it were not for Bardornus and the Plurians dealing a large number of casualties to the Chavarian cavalry, then this battle would already be a foregone conclusion.
It should be noted that the Allied army started with only 100,000, so losing 10% of their army and only doing 1000 casualties max to the Chavarian army had dramatically lowered the chance of their victory.
"You mentioned a deal before. What is it?"
The orc asked, interested in what more Lindorus had to offer as right now, what was important to him was completing this quest and becoming a landed noble in the game because the map had 'The Chavarian Empire' and no mention of either the kingdoms of Pluerus, Nadron or Chavaria existing on the map or even the world.
From this, the orc assumed that no matter what he did, the Chavarian Empire would be formed, so all he had to focus on was winning the battle in front of him instead of focusing on the ramifications of his decisions and what came after.
This was the selfishness inherent in many players, with them sacrificing NPCs without a care in pursuit of their goals and to complete their quests, some of them even becoming surprised when the sentient AI betrayed them as, like any human, they had a sentient instinct to survive with some unwilling to become sacrificial pawns for a person who didn't even see them as an animal or a sentient being but a piece of code.
A mystery that would never be solved was how James Larant managed to create a world with millions of sentient AI, each having their own feelings and being born learning about the world, dying, and then having their existence erased like the death of a living being.
"Right now, even if you attacked the Chavarian camp, they would be vigilant against you, meaning that you would be in for a tough fight that you are unlikely to win due to their excellent defensive position and while my lord has influence too many of the soldiers are loyal to Lucius and Drusus so any commotion that my lord can make would be unable to help you."
"Not to mention, the Royal knights accompanying these armies are no laughing matter. I'm sure that in today's battle, you have seen their prowess. I would like to remind you that each one is a veteran of a hundred battles only the knights who act as the king's royal guards are stronger thanks to the leadership of their grandmaster-level fighter commander, allowing the royal guards to be trained to a higher level than normal."
"Also, if the Chavarians attack you from the front and their Plurian allies come to attack you in the back, then nothing can prevent you from being annihilated."
"If you can supply us with a poison, then my lord can arrange for Lucius to ingest it, leading to his death, and then my lord can take over command of the army fighting with you in a fair battle. In addition to this, the Chavarian army without Lucius' leadership will be stunned for a brief period of time."
"This would at least prevent the Chavarians from moving, which is what my lord proposes."
"The temporary locking of the Chavarian army and permanent leadership change should end in your favor no matter how you choose to use this time. My lord promises to fight you fair and square in the morning."
"The rest is up to you to figure out."
Wurgoth was thinking carefully and pondering over every word the cunning man said, trying to find any discrepancy with any of the explanations that he had just heard. Struggling to find one, he decided to temporarily dismiss this messenger while he thought for a bit.
"Wait outside for a bit while I think about your proposal. I will get back to you shortly."
After watching and hearing that the man had left, he called out to the two armoured orc guards outside his tent, his voice cold and severe as he called the only orc whose intelligence had impressed him throughout the Dynasty History event he was participating in.
"Get me, Captain Zugbu!"