Chapter 441: Day of the Festival
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 441: Day of the Festival
- Slurp! Slurp! I hear a dog barking, so I can't just ignore it. Hey, you insane bitches and bastards! Who in their right mind would join an alliance that can't even feed meat to its soldiers before a battle? If you were here with us, tearing into some fine brisket, would you really want to go over to the Western Continent to stuff your face with gruel? You crazy bitch! Puhehehehehet!
As soon as Lee Wanyong finished speaking, cheers erupted for him from all around. It was a hard-hitting truth. I figured they wouldn't have a response to that.
- There's a limit to the bullshit one can listen to. I feel like opening a refugee soup kitchen for you bastards who are about to drop dead. Just look at yourselves, you crazy sons of bitches. Who would look at your faces and say you're soldiers ready for war?
- ...
- Anyone can see you've got the faces of beggars about to starve to death, you pathetic fools. Who would look at your faces and want to defect to the Western Continent? If some well-fed bastards dripping with grease came out and gave a fancy speech, maybe one or two lunatics might cross over... but look at your faces now, you bastards! Are there really psychopaths out there who would willingly join a bunch of guys who look like they're about to starve? You idiots! Puhehehehet!
- ...
- Slurp! Slurp! Then again, what fault is it of yours? It must be the fault of your incompetent commander, that fucking bitch Maria, and those stupid dwarves. I don't even have to see it to know. Under the excuse of 'low supplies,' they're feeding their soldiers shit that not even a stray dog would eat, while they're busy tearing into meat themselves. Of course, it's probably not even brisket. They're no doubt stuffing their faces with rat meat from some sewer.
- ...
- In our camp, we've got brisket that even Maria can't afford, and it's free, you sons of bitches!
“It's free, you sons of bitches!”
“Bwahahahaha! That's right!”
“That's right! It's free!”
“It's brisket you'll never taste even in death, and it's free for life! You sons of bitches!”
A smile crept onto my face as I watched the cheering soldiers. It was an incredibly childish tactic. No, it couldn't even be called a tactic. To be precise, it was entertainment. I knew that taunting people with food was one of the most irritating things you could do, but when you added the character of Lee Wanyong into the mix, the synergy was beyond imagination.
Not only were they filled with rage, but the expressions on the enemy soldiers' faces began to sink heavily.
It was a natural reaction. The ones who understood their situation best were the very soldiers confronting us on the continental front lines. This might be the catalyst for them to reflect once more on their current predicament and their poor supply situation.
‘Why?’
That single question would lead to another, and another, until they started searching for the cause. Of course, the publicly stated culprit was the Green Skins positioned throughout the Western Continent. However, if they dug just a little deeper, just a tiny bit, they might reach a different conclusion.
“The incompetence of the command.”
“You're right,” Jang Ye Ri said, nodding in agreement with my words.
From the enemy camp, there was still no answer to Lee Wanyong's taunts.
In truth, this wasn't the only evidence of their command's incompetence. One might think the problem was merely supplies, but that wasn't the case. When operating such a large-scale force, there were naturally many things to consider.
Conflicts between soldiers, relationships with other clans and guilds—these invisible problems undoubtedly existed.
‘They don't know the first thing about war.’
It was a very personal and subjective assessment. I couldn't be sure if any of them had served in the military back on Earth, but they were amateurs. The current Western Continent was the result of rapidly ending the war with the dwarves and then continuously expanding their forces after establishing harmony.
I could certainly understand their confidence.
Their weapons had proven their effectiveness against monsters and in dungeons, and they had entered a mass-production system using the dwarves to acquire firearms.
And it likely wasn't just simple firearms.
Information leaked from the Wilderness Forward Base confirmed that they also possessed things like cannons capable of battering down fortress walls.
The stamina to sustain continuous battle, the firepower to annihilate their enemies—in reality, the Western Continent had what it needed. Based on their thorough analysis of dungeon raids and monster hunts, they must have felt it to some degree.
‘Ah! We are strong.’
That's what they must have thought. But everything they had was based on their own standards.
To begin with, the way one operates troops on Earth is completely different from how one does so on this continent. The way of waging war is different, and the way of fighting battles is different. Even I, who am weak in this area, couldn't explain it precisely, but it was an undeniable fact that their army lacked the real-world combat experience of our soldiers.
Compared to us—the Green Skins and humans who had fought tooth and nail from the moment we arrived on the continent, hardened by the subsequent war against the undead—their troop management was so pathetic it made me sigh.
‘Well... I doubt they've ever heard of things like teleportation in modern warfare.’
They might not have even heard of it on this continent. They had no idea what an individual's strength could accomplish here. They were fools who had never experienced a proper war, killing and being killed, person to person. To my eyes, they looked like moths drawn to a flame.
- I believe that by now, even those mutts from the West and South are regretting their choices. Slurp! Slurp! I don't think they're stupid enough not to realize that much...
After eating nothing but gruel for days, it was only natural for them to think that way.
- Still, I hear they ate well and lived well when they were under the protection of the North and East. Slurp! I remember they led quite a safe life, even if it was inconvenient in some ways. I wonder how life is in the embrace of the Western Continent. Ahhh, it’s melting in my mouth.
It was an opportunity to not only drive up the soldiers' stress in a situation where they could do nothing, but also to plant distrust in their leadership. The effect was even better than I had thought.
- We will not respond to communications that incite, slander, and spread inaccurate information.
- How amusing. Inciting, slandering, and spreading inaccurate information is your specialty. Put your hands on your hearts and tell us what you had for breakfast this morning, you bastards!
- We will not respond to simple incitement and fabrication.
- 'Incitement and fabrication,' my ass! You morons! Look at you, tucking your tails and running because you can't win against logic and facts! Puhehehehehet! The meat is melting in my mouth today! Just melting!
- ...
No reply came. For a long time after that, the loud, magically amplified voices from their side fell silent.
The only thing that could be heard was Lee Wanyong's voice, repeating how the food was melting in his mouth.
*
“Is it happening again today?”
“Yes. The soldiers are reaching their physical limits. They aren't expressing it openly, but their distrust of the command seems to have crossed a line. We're seeing more fights, and everyone is on edge. What should we do...?”
“Letting yourselves be swayed by such nonsense is exactly what they want. Please relay that spreading baseless rumors and the gibberish heard from beyond the walls will be punished by military law. The same goes for the fights that are breaking out. This is wartime. It's not that we haven't considered the soldiers' hardships, but this is a difficult time for everyone. If we can overcome this, we will emerge even stronger.”
“Yes. I will relay the message.”
Maria nervously tapped her fingers on the table. She was well aware that the current situation was not good. They had belatedly started moving to secure a new supply route, but it was not enough to support such a massive army.
‘As quickly as possible.’
It was just as the elf, Eliane, had said. They were withering away. The assault on the Wilderness Forward Base and the Thornbush Valley had been halted. She didn't think the army would collapse so easily, but she knew that if they missed this one opportunity, they could suffer a major blow.
‘...’
It wasn't a blow to the alliance. It was a blow to her own image. Even if she won the war, it would take a considerable amount of time to recover the trust and honor she had lost. This was especially true for her, as she was poised to become the leader of the alliance after the war.
‘Damn it...’
Thanks to the constant provocations from that madman, all the officers were now eating the same gruel as the soldiers—food not even a dog would touch. Stress had piled up to its breaking point, and everyone's nerves were frayed.
‘When is the signal coming?’
Just as she was muttering to herself, another voice began to speak.
“When will the approval for the all-out attack be given...?”
“Not yet. We need more preparation. If we go in without being properly prepared, it will be incredibly difficult to recover our losses. The soldiers haven't eaten properly for days. It would be better to finish our preparations and then end the battle decisively.”
She had a prepared answer, but in truth, Maria herself was the most anxious. She wanted to smash down their walls and end the battle right this instant. In reality, their preparations were perfect, and they had been repeating the same briefing in every meeting.
‘When is it coming?’
The problem was that the signal hadn't come. This operation couldn't be launched with only one side ready. They needed someone to open the castle gates on the elf's signal to encircle and annihilate the enemy.
The elf, who had spoken as if they would be ready at any moment, had been telling her to wait just a little longer for several days now. After finishing the conversation, she stepped out of the barracks, and as expected, the same voice as always echoed through the air.
- Today's menu is hamburgers. Brothers and sisters of the Western Continent, can you believe the patties are made of brisket?
‘That damn brisket.’
- Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!
His voice had been ringing out for days. It would be strange if morale hadn't plummeted. The soldiers' faces were perpetually grim, and she could even see some of them shouting curses, despite her presence.
“You bastards!”
- The hamburger is melting in my mouth! Just melting! Who could have imagined patties made of brisket! This is something only possible in Garia of the East.
“What the fuck are they doing? What about our side? Shouldn't we be responding?”
“Don't you know we've already tried several magic bombardments? They were all useless. It looked like high-level defensive magic. I'm worried we're all going to get wiped out at this rate...”
- Everyone! Are you hungry? We made too much food, and we have some left over. If you come over here now, you can eat with us!
“You... son of a bitch...”
“I want some brisket.”
“Me too...”
When the command is incompetent, it loses its authority. There was a limit to what could be controlled by military law, a reign of terror, or appeasement. Just by stepping outside, she could feel the hostile glares. They were gazes that questioned how much longer they had to remain here and endure this treatment, gazes that rebuked the incompetent command.
‘This is the limit.’
It was no longer possible to maintain this state. It wasn't just them. She, too, was at her limit. She was thinking that if she didn't hear from the elf soon, she would have to force her way in, even if it meant taking losses. It was at that very moment.
“Lady Maria. It's the signal.”
The sign that the elves were ready appeared before her eyes.