I, the Villain, Want to Save Myself, But the Yandere Heroines Disagree-Chapter 8 - The Troubles of Happiness (3/4)

“What’s going on?” Balu had been receiving nothing but bad news these past few days. At this moment, after hearing the scout’s report, he already had a bad feeling.

“The scouts in front report that the towns we occupied on our way back are now, for some reason, flying human flags!”

Hearing this news, all the beastmen present were astonished. Then, they all looked at Balu in unison.

“Chieftain Balu, what is going on?”

Balu looked at the gazes directed at him and instantly panicked.

Thinking carefully, how could a human army suddenly appear behind them like divine soldiers from the sky and harass them?

Were they mercenaries? Impossible. The number of mercenaries who had engaged the beastmen in combat these past few days had already been counted.

There were only a little over five thousand of them in total. He had stationed a full ten thousand beastmen to defend these cities in the rear. Even if they couldn’t defeat the humans, defending the cities was more than enough.

Thinking this way, there was only one possibility.

That was the human armies that were originally independent of Orson’s command, according to intelligence, had abandoned their garrisons and proactively flanked them.

But according to the intelligence provided by the informant, the human allied forces had already discussed among themselves, agreeing not to send troops and only hold their positions. Could it be that he had been tricked?

As this thought appeared in Balu’s mind, his heart felt as if it had plunged into an ice cellar.

Could it be that this attack, from beginning to end, was just a scheme, a scheme to lure the beastmen main force out of the desert and then completely surround and annihilate them?

Thinking this, Balu’s back was suddenly covered in cold sweat. His body trembled slightly from surprise and anger. He felt a pair of eyes, examining him with the gaze of someone scrutinizing a prey.

He had cooperated with the human informant for twenty years, from the last beastmen invasion until now, always maintaining some level of contact. Why would they betray him this time?

At this moment, the voices of others pulled Balu back from his suspicion.

“Chieftain Balu, you owe us an explanation!” Swin said this, his tone carrying a hint of anger. “Didn’t you say the other human armies would remain in place?”

Although the beastmen had stationed ten thousand troops on the periphery to contain the other humans, these ten thousand were mostly ordinary beastmen cobbled together. They didn’t normally participate in combat in their tribes. They were brought to the battlefield this time just to fill out the ranks and incidentally serve as a feint to delay the other human armies.

But now, their own scheme seemed to have been discovered, and even their rear path was cut off.

“...” Balu was silent for a moment, then asked, “Everyone, how much grain is left in our army now?”

“Less than three days’ worth,” a chieftain said. “According to our original plan, we could resupply directly at the cities in the rear, but now that the cities are gone, we must retreat to the deep rear and rendezvous with the peripheral forces to get supplies.”

“Then, why don’t we just attack the cities,” Balu said, looking at everyone.

“Think about it. The enemy just captured our cities, so they must have suffered considerable losses. Coupled with the containment by our peripheral forces, even if they split their troops, their numbers are definitely not large. This is the best time to attack the cities while the enemy hasn’t established a firm foothold and their forces are limited.”

“Otherwise, if we risk bypassing the cities, and the enemy attacks us from the cities, it would take us at least four or five days to link up with the peripheral forces. By then, our supplies would have long run out.”

“That’s easier said than done. So, whose troops will lead the main attack?”

At this moment, Tak asked.

As soon as Tak asked this question, the atmosphere in the tent instantly turned cold.

Everyone present remained silent.

Finally, Balu raised his hand.

“Since your troops have suffered significant losses, my military group will lead the main attack.”

As Balu’s words fell, the mood of everyone present eased slightly. frёeωebɳovel.com

...

On the other side, the small border town of Tralava.

This town fell on the third day after the beastmen invasion. It was also the deepest border city captured by the beastmen. And now, this town had become a bridgehead blocking the beastmen’s path of retreat.

“Thank you, General Shuvas,” Virgil said, speaking to a man in armor with gray hair on the city walls.

“You’re welcome. Both His Grace the Duke and Miss Olivia instructed me to follow the orders of the commander-in-chief,” Shuvas said, smiling. “But I didn’t expect our Duke’s son-in-law to be the commander this time.”

As Duke William’s most trusted officer, Shuvas had a good relationship with the Duke’s family, so much so that he often joked about the Duke’s family members.

“This is also a good thing, isn’t it?” Virgil said. “At least, this way, you will understand that Young Master Orson marrying into your family is definitely a great thing.”

“I admit that,” Shuvas nodded.

This time, Virgil’s mission deep behind enemy lines, besides gathering mercenaries to ambush the beastmen, also had another objective: to scout the terrain around the battlefield and, incidentally, contact the reinforcements sent by the Prussia Duchy.

As future in-laws, Prussia’s aid to the Antica Duchy this time was quite substantial. The troops sent alone amounted to over ten thousand, coupled with other material aid; it was by no means small.

Earlier, when Lucius was attacked and the front-line command was vacant, Carlisle temporarily took over as commander-in-chief. Some of his decisions caused dissatisfaction among the front-line officers, leading to the subsequent incident of collective disobedience.

But even so, Shuvas did not participate in the collective disobedience. Instead, he tried his best to help Carlisle, although he remained silent during the meeting, allowing others to assume he was also part of the crowd.

Of course, recapturing the border cities this time did not rely solely on Shuvas’s army. Virgil had also brought in troops from the Royal Family’s direct territory and the Orleans Duchy.

The armies from these two regions, whose masters had good relationships with Lucius, were also willing to send a portion of their forces to help Virgil.

Subsequently, everyone followed Orson’s plan. During the period of heavy rain and blocked roads, they surrounded the few cities on the border.

Then, they used the tactic of surrounding three sides and leaving one open, making the beastmen believe that the front-line army had been defeated, thus causing their morale to collapse, and ultimately leading to the cities falling without a fight.

After capturing these cities, the human side suffered only around three thousand casualties, while the beastmen suffered over half their numbers.

Afterward, after smoothly taking over the city defenses, the human army immediately reinforced them. The goal was to create an iron barrier. When the beastmen passed by, they would either have to go around or charge in and break their teeth.