"We have enough supplies for about a week," the adjutant replied.
"When can the supplies from the rear arrive?" Hank inquired.
"If things go well, it'll take about five days. If not, it might take a week," the adjutant answered.
"What's the matter? Why does it take so long?" Hank furrowed his brows.
As a seasoned commander, Hank understood that unexpected incidents could happen during warfare. Once an accident occurred, supplies that were supposed to arrive in five to seven days might take much longer. Unfortunately, their current stock of supplies wouldn't last that long.
"It's mainly because the supplies need to be gathered. Additionally, the people transporting the supplies are conscripts from various villages and towns. After they were called up, they underwent brief training," the adjutant explained.
"Hmph! The army and horses wait on provisions! Even the lowest-ranking soldiers know this. Yet those officials at court, especially Gem, the Ministry of Revenue Secretary, the man who controls the empire's food supply, seem oblivious. When I asked him for provisions at the start of this campaign, he kept evading. If it weren't for the emperor's order, he probably wouldn't have provided any provisions. At that time, I warned him that the supplies he provided might not be enough and urged him to continue gathering more. But he didn't take it seriously. Now that I need supplies, he can't deliver them on time. It's truly a case of being unprepared for success and excessive for failure!" Hank complained.
"These civilian officials are too much," the adjutant also grumbled. "They're dragging us down at a time like this."
In truth, the adjutant knew what was really going on. It wasn't just personal grievances between Hank and the civilian officials. It was a clash of interests between the military and civilian factions.
The YF Kingdom had always been a realm dominated by scholars. Since its inception, the ancestors had highly valued intellectuals while deliberately suppressing military personnel. This stemmed from the fact that the founding ancestor had been a military commander himself who had seized power through rebellion. As a result, he was wary of other military commanders, fearing they might repeat his actions.
This practice led to a higher status for scholars and a lower status for military personnel in the YF Kingdom. Officers of the same rank as civilians often needed to display deference to them, speaking with a lack of authority.
The power of the court had always been concentrated in the hands of civilian officials. Military officers had little say in the court, and in the minds of the emperor and civilian officials, these military officers were expected to lead troops in battle while leaving the task of governance to the literati.
However, this situation had gradually changed in recent years. The court's situation had deteriorated, with constant insurgent forces rising from within the kingdom. Although these rebellions were always successfully quelled, new ones emerged from different places in an endless stream.
Furthermore, the influence of the Demon Realm had been growing steadily. Whether it was demonic energy or the inhabitants of the Demon Realm, they continuously infiltrated the human realm, causing considerable trouble. And these problems could only be handled by military personnel.
Additionally, friction with neighboring nations remained a constant. All these factors combined resulted in an increasing status and power of the military in the YF Kingdom.
Contrastingly, the civilian officials who had long kept the military faction suppressed wouldn't be willing to witness the rise of military officers, who might strip them of their privileges and threaten their positions. They wouldn't want to see the military's status elevated, posing a risk to their own standing.
As a result, the conflict between the civilian official faction and the military faction intensified. There were often tensions and disputes between the two factions. In this case, it was evident that the civilian officials deliberately hindered the military faction's progress in the matter of supplies, leading to the delay in their arrival.
Of course, the civil official group doesn't dare openly refuse to provide provisions to the frontline generals, otherwise, if this matter reaches the Emperor's ears, they would face consequences.
"Also, what about those temporarily conscripted soldiers?" Hank asked, "Isn't the court still having plenty of untapped armies? Why resort to conscripting militia?"
"It seems that due to the recent instability within the court's territories, many places have witnessed uprisings. Thus, His Majesty is cautious about deploying troops to suppress these revolts, which is affecting the availability of troops for other purposes," the adjutant explained.
Hank had been stationed in the wilderness for a while and hadn't paid much attention to what was happening in other regions. Now he was learning about these matters. Hearing his adjutant's explanation, he coldly huffed, "It's all the doings of those civil officials. If it weren't for their mismanagement, so many commoners wouldn't be suffering and taking up arms in rebellion. They ought to be executed publicly."
As a veteran general, Hank had deep-seated conflicts with the civil officials. He had been battling them for years and held little regard for those self-proclaimed scholars.
"Nevertheless, this is only about transporting provisions. There shouldn't be much of a problem using temporarily conscripted irregular troops," Hank stated.
Transporting provisions didn't require soldiers to fight on the battlefield, nor did it demand high combat prowess or exceptional strength. It was suitable to employ commoners as these militia to perform this task.
"General, should we send someone to welcome them?" the adjutant inquired, "Lately, the situation within the court's territories hasn't been peaceful."
"I'd like to, but do you think we have any surplus troops that we can mobilize?" Hank retorted.
They had been locked in a stalemate with the denizens of the Demon Realm for quite a while now. With the added pressure from the influx of beings from the Demon Realm, Hank's forces were stretched thin. Additionally, they needed to be vigilant against incursions from other nations, which meant they couldn't afford to easily shift their forces.
The adjutant nodded in understanding and replied, "I suppose nothing significant will occur."
That was the only way to think about it. They couldn't mobilize troops to support the supply convoy, and simultaneously, they were in dire need of provisions. All they could do was hope that nothing would go wrong with the convoy.
After a full day of travel, as the sun was about to set, the group stopped and set up camp for the night, planning to continue their journey the next morning.
In this era, there were no streetlights, and many people suffered from night blindness, making it impossible to see clearly during the night. Moreover, wild beasts and monsters roamed, so unless absolutely necessary, people didn't choose to travel at night. Skylark Camp's commanding general, it seemed, had no intention of traveling at night.
In reality, the frontlines, represented by Hank, were in desperate need of provisions, but those responsible for delivering provisions from the rear weren't as concerned. Throughout Skylark Camp, the atmosphere remained relatively relaxed, as the orders from above indicated that they had one week to deliver the provisions. As a result, the commanding general of Skylark Camp wasn't in a hurry and naturally wouldn't risk traveling at night.