I, the Villain, Want to Save Myself, But the Yandere Heroines Disagree-Chapter 2 - I, Orson, Am Here With One Goal (/2)

Front lines, inside the military camp, Carlisle was looking at stacks of defeat reports, his brows furrowed.

As Lucius’s deputy, his greatest strength was his conservatism. But it was this very conservatism that caused him to waste the most precious first day at the beginning of the campaign.

When he received the battle report, he immediately sent it back to Antica City, hoping to get instructions from Lucius. He had only followed Lucius’s previous arrangements, ordering the front-line soldiers to hold the line and rotate defenses as much as possible.

But he hadn’t expected that Lucius, who had been attacked and fallen unconscious at the time, was completely unable to provide Carlisle with guidance. Feeling helpless, Carlisle, for the first time in his life, acted outside of Lucius’s command, beginning to fulfill the responsibilities of the highest military commander, attempting to stabilize the situation on the front lines.

However, the situation on the front lines not only failed to stabilize but continued to worsen.

After all, his ability to react quickly to changing circumstances was not as good as Lucius’s, and he also had relatively few options at his disposal. It was only thanks to his seniority that he could keep the subordinate officers in line. Otherwise, those officers would have already been fighting independently, and the situation would likely have been even worse.

“Forget it, I should convene a joint military council,” Carlisle thought, calling for his deputy to help him gather all the subordinate officers.

Currently, the Antica Duchy’s army consisted of three main parts.

The first part was the standing army and conscripts within the Duke’s directly governed territory. This group of troops was directly commanded by Carlisle, the Duke’s confidant, numbering around one hundred thousand.

The second part was the armies of the counts under the Duke. Each count could generally deploy an army of more than two thousand but less than ten thousand. These troops had independent commanders, either the count himself or the military governor under the count. The number of these troops also amounted to around one hundred thousand.

The third part, and the most troublesome for Carlisle, was the troops sent as reinforcements from other regions of the Empire. Basically, the other five Duchies and the Imperial Family’s direct territory each sent around ten thousand troops. The quality varied, but it was generally acceptable, except for the Napoli Duchy.

The Napoli Duchy, which had the worst relationship with the Antica Duchy, only sent five thousand militiamen. Carlisle got a headache just looking at these five thousand militiamen and could only assign them to the rear to maintain order and supply lines.

The number of troops in this part was around fifty thousand, but because they were troops sent by superiors, or even higher-ranking individuals, Carlisle could not command the officers leading them at all.

Normally, if Carlisle spoke to them politely, they might listen to him out of respect for Lucius. But now that Lucius was incapacitated and the front-line situation had deteriorated, these commanders did not trust Carlisle’s ability. Except for the troops from Prussia, who could still be directed, all other troops were staying in their respective defense zones, not seeking credit, but only seeking to avoid blame.

The reason why Carlisle convened the joint military council was also to get the armies of those bigwigs to take action through discussion and voting in the meeting.

Twenty-five thousand human soldiers on the front lines consumed a considerable amount of provisions every day. Although they had assistance from other duchies, if this continued, the economy of the Antica Duchy, which had just started to recover, would likely be dragged down by the war again.

Half an hour later, the joint military council convened.

Carlisle sat at the head of the table, looking at the officers below.

On his left were the representatives of the various count armies within the duchy, and on his right were the representatives of the foreign aid armies.

“I believe everyone should have heard that yesterday, three more cities were breached. We lost over ten thousand soldiers in a single day yesterday,” Carlisle said, his brows furrowed.

“Now, the troops under my command who can serve as reserves have already been sent to the front lines. My idea is that in some defense areas, regions that are not under heavy pressure, a portion of their forces can be appropriately redeployed to support the areas under heavier pressure. Otherwise, if the front line is breached, your armies will also be vulnerable to attacks from the flanks.”

“Heh, after all that talk, all you mean is that you’re unable to cope and need our help, right?” A representative from the Napoli Duchy spoke from below. “Our missions were already set before the war. We only take orders from the highest commander of the front-line army, Duke Lucius. Now Duke Lucius is injured and cannot come to the front lines. As the temporary army commander, you delayed the opportunity, leading to the breach of several cities. With your ability, how can we trust you?”

“...” Carlisle fell silent, listening to the words of the representative from Napoli.

The other party was right. He had indeed delayed the opportunity. But now that he was trying to implement countermeasures, the other party also refused to trust him.

The crucial point was that he couldn’t even use the soldiers under the other party’s command!

He clearly had only five thousand militiamen under him, yet he was stubbornly pretending to command fifty thousand elite troops. Even putting on a brave face wasn’t this ridiculous.

And the worst part was that they were there as “friendly aid.” If he reprimanded the other party, the troops from other duchies would also be disheartened.

Just then, a sound of footsteps suddenly came from the entrance.

Then, Orson appeared at the entrance of the military tent, Litte following behind him.

Everyone turned to look at the two who had walked in. Just as they were about to object to something, they fell silent upon seeing the family crest pinned to their chests.

“General Carlisle,” Orson said, looking at Carlisle, and walked forward.

Carlisle also stood up.

“Young Master Orson, what brings you here so suddenly?”

“To handle some matters for Father,” Orson said this, smiling. Then, he looked at the officers sitting around the long table.

“General Carlisle, who are these people?”

“Ah, they are members of the joint military council,” Carlisle said, explaining the contents of the joint council to Orson.

“I understand.”

Orson nodded upon hearing this.

Then, he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Carlisle.

“Hello everyone. Starting today, I will be taking over the responsibility of front-line commander-in-chief, replacing my father, Duke Lucius.”

Saying this, he scanned everyone present.

Hearing Orson’s words, everyone’s expressions varied, but most were ones of surprise and confusion.

They couldn’t understand why Lucius had entrusted the command of the front-line army to such a young person.

No matter how capable Orson was personally, it didn’t prove his command abilities were high.

“I know everyone might have doubts about my abilities. This is completely normal, because everyone is dedicated to the nation. If my ability is insufficient, the front lines are likely to suffer many losses because of me.”

“But please rest assured, I, Orson, am here with one goal, and that is victory.”