Chapter 687 Impending Attack

Chapter 687 Impending Attack

"Alright."

Evan torched the plate he just used before pulling out a bottle of strawberry wine and pouring some for himself as he spoke.

"You guys may have taken Six states and have high momentum, but I'm sure you realise you have to consolidate your command over these states before you push further."

Of course.

We plan to form a defensive line around here."

Beluar pointed at the spots on the map and Evan looked at them while sipping his wine. He apported a pen into his hand and drew an extra line before speaking.

"Add Zhupus to that list, or do we not have enough soldiers?"

"We don't have enough soldiers to conquer Zhupus. If we do, our forces would be spread too thin and that's never good in any war book."

Evan nodded as he spoke, pouring another glass of wine before asking a question.

"But the current soldiers we have here are enough to maintain control over the states?"

"Indeed."

"Are they enough to defend against an attack from Zhupus this evening?"

"...what?"

Now, even the Major Generals who were giving orders to the Commissioners turned their heads in Evan's direction when they heard the boy's words.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. You didn't think Liegan would not have requested reinforcements after seeing you guys, right?"

"We are sure they did.

But it takes time to mobilize soldiers to cross state borders. I'm sure they'd also conscript some civilians, which would take even more time. They'd have to arrange for supplies as well which would also take more time.

The soldiers Marching would take time as well, and this is not factoring the shallow river that is South of Liegan that they need to cross. A river whose bridge I have on lockdown."

Evan nodded in affirmation as all Beluar said was true, then he pointed at Liegan on the map and asked.

"What if Zhupus sent reinforcements, let's say, a Division to aid Liegan and these reinforcements were meant to depend on Liegan for supplies?

Then what if they sent these reinforcements and then still conscripted the civilians after they'd sent the reinforcements, intending for the new conscripts to be reinforcements of the reinforcements?"

"First of all, sending the conscripts alone would not be wise as there would not be enough soldiers to make them properly fall in line.

As for depending on Liegan for supplies? That's very hopeful of them."

If Zhupus attacks Liegan after seeing the change of flags, then we'd be able to deal with Zhupus' actual army and then when more soldiers come over, taking the state would be far easier."

"Since you're here, I assume you'd be looking for a means with no casualties?"

Surprisingly, Evan shook his head in response to Beluar's question.

"Not 0 casualties. That's impossible.

But the plan I have in mind would keep them to a minimum and would force Zhupus' soldiers to surrender."

When Beluar questioned the details of Evan's plan, the boy pointed at the river and explained the rough sketch of things.

The man was amazed that Evan thought about this, but there were some obvious flaws which he pointed out for the boy to see.

Evan didn't like Arlan Maddox much, but he had to admit that the man's memories of Warfare came in handy.

"A display of power that'd force them to back down. That may not work on the Mercenaries though."

"If they refuse to surrender then feel free to kill a few to make an example. They value their lives so when you make them see the threat of death is very real, then they'd behave.

"Now that's a contradiction if I've ever seen one."

Beluar jabbed at Evan's response which showed the boy's nonchalance towards the notion of killing the mercenaries, despite having spoken about reducing casualties earlier.

"Mercenaries and soldiers are different and I afford them different treatments. That's all there is to it."

'So, he's basically saying he doesn't count Mercenary deaths among the 'casualties' he wants to reduce...'

Such were Beluar's thoughts as he read between the lines of Evan's statement and derived his own meaning from it.

After this, Beluar called all his subordinate Generals and Colonels back into the room where he and Evan then proceeded to explain the plan of action.

Unsurprisingly, there were those who disagreed with it.

"We have no need to use such tricks! We can move our forces across the bridge before they get close and engage them in a head-on battle!"

Evan would not deny that he felt offended when a Brigadier General called his strategy a 'trick', but he remained silent to see what the others said.

War came with a chance for Soldiers to prove themselves and gain merits, with promotions and prestige as the reward.

"I disagree, sir. I believe we should wait for our reinforcements before we march in on Zhupus. Perhaps, another Division under a Lieutenant General."

Another Brigadier General spoke up after the first, and one of the two Major Generals nodded to show his agreement.

"What the hell are you on about? It's understandable if we're outnumbered, or we're facing a tough opponent but it's just the army of one State, a lot of which would be nothing when compared to our elite forces!

Despite this overwhelming disparity you want us to fight a defensive battle when they're the ones attacking us?"