This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 492.2: Spoils Of War

Just then, a laborer carrying a shovel emerged from an alley, followed by a ragtag group.

They’d been tailing the New Alliance troops from the castle for some time now.

Seeing what looked like an officer, a dark-skinned man called out. “What about us? Do we still need to finish building the barricades?”

“No need... There’s no need to waste any more time. Go home, all of you.”

“The castle’s been taken. What’s the point of building anything now?”

Those servants really lacked awareness...

When they heard they could go home, many had tears in their eyes. Some wept with joy. One even tossed his shovel and cheered, “Long live the New Alliance!”

Unfortunately, before he could finish, his companions covered his mouth and dragged him away.

The war was over, but the city hadn’t been renamed yet.

And the person sitting in the castle was still that same king. No one knew what the future held...

...

At the same time, on the eastern front of Oasis No.2, when Prince William heard the news of King Morgott’s surrender, he froze in shock for 10 full minutes.

Finally regaining his senses, he pressed his trembling index finger to his brow. After a long pause, he looked at his bodyguard.

“... Play it again.”

“Yes, sir.” The guard nodded nervously, activated the holographic device, and replayed the footage from Falcon City.

Amidst the pale blue particles of light, the elderly king’s voice was calm and slow. “... On behalf of the Falcon Kingdom, I hereby declare that the Falcon Kingdom’s land and air forces shall surrender, effective immediately...”

William stared at the hologram, searching the king’s face, his tone, even the individual pixels, for a sign, anything.

Too bad... He found nothing.

There was no doubt.

That man was his father, Morgott Falcon, king of the Falcon Kingdom.

William shut his eyes in pain. His noble brow furrowed.

Seeing him clench his fists, the guard asked solemnly, “Your Highness, what should we do?”

If Prince William refused to acknowledge the surrender decree, the guard would stand with him, to correct the old king’s mistake.

The border of Oasis No.2 was still under their control. Behind them stood the Army.

If Prince William chose to fight, they would not lose!

William remained silent for a long time. His knuckles tightened, but he eventually released them. At long last, his fury, shock, and grief turned into a long sigh.

“Milcatt.”

“Sir,” the guard replied seriously.

William paused, then said slowly, “... I never thought Falcon City would fall to the New Alliance.”

“We fought valiantly, for Griffin, for Triumphant City, for their Marshal. But the promises they made to us... None of them were kept.”

The guard stared, slowly beginning to understand what was coming.

William didn’t look at him. He was remembering that arrogant officer outside the City of Abundance, who had unilaterally declared his orders.

Whenever the war went poorly, the Wislanders sent them to charge. When retreating, the Wislanders abandoned them, tasking them to cover the rear.

It was the same, every time.

Even tonight, he only learned the capital had fallen when the surrender decree reached him.

The Falcon Kingdom had already lost hundreds of thousands of young men in the war. Countless others had fled...

Yet the Wislanders never saw them as their own.

William could seize the throne from his father, declare the surrender nullified. The soldiers answered to the royal family, but more so to him, as the kingdom’s marshal.

He could lead them in a final battle against the New Alliance and the Enterprise.

But even if he did, nothing would change.

If the Wislanders never treated them as their own, then every promise was a lie.

They would never receive reinforcements from Triumphant City.

And even if they did, it would be too late.

“Order everyone to break camp immediately... leave all weapons and ammunition behind. Shut down communications. Proceed to Bist Town and surrender.”

The prince’s words made the guard’s shoulders tremble. He looked at William in shock, but finally bowed his head. “Yes, Your Highness.”

It wasn’t only William or the scattered Falcon Kingdom’s forces who received the surrender order.

Naturally, the Army’s command headquarters, holding the highest authority over the frontlines, did as well.

Every movement of the vassal state had been under their watch. A message so big could not be missed.

Staring south for nearly half a minute, Griffin suddenly erupted, “Those treacherous bastards! Useless mutts! All of them are disloyal barbarians!”

He slammed his fist on the table, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the map.

His worst fear had come true.

From the start, the New Alliance's plan was to seize Falcon City, not just bomb it strategically.

But he never imagined a city with over 5,000 guards could fall to a mere 1,000 paratroopers.

Nor did he expect that obsequious old man to surrender so decisively...

The officers around the table were equally devastated.

Including the militias and garrison forces across the frontlines, there were eight divisions stationed along the 120 kilometer border of Oasis No.2... Three of those belonged to the Falcon Kingdom.

Once they defected, the carefully constructed defense line would collapse into utter disarray.

Unless they spread the remaining five divisions of clones across those vacated positions... but that would only worsen the situation.

One of the staff officers couldn’t help but sneak a glance at General Griffin and whispered a reminder, "If the New Alliance's armored troops set off now, we’ll be surrounded and cut off very soon."

"I don’t need you to tell me that!" Griffin cut him off coldly.

The officer’s expression froze slightly.

Several officers standing at the command table exchanged looks, and finally turned toward the adjutant standing closest to Griffin.

Their supplies had nearly arrived, but their professional instincts told them it would be meaningless. Their vassal state had surrendered. Now, they would face all the survivors in the desert, and the Expeditionary Forces from the East Coast all alone.

It wasn’t just an issue of ammunition anymore. Supplies like bread, beef, eggs, and milk were all cut off. Without logistics support, even if the New Alliance did nothing else, they wouldn’t last much longer.

Unless they turned their guns on the Falcon Kingdom and seized it completely, but that was impossible. Occupying a kingdom was far harder than manipulating one. They didn’t have the manpower to set up a puppet regime, especially with New Alliance troops breathing down their necks.

Whatever Griffin was thinking, they didn’t want to fight anymore...

Pressed by the silent stares of his comrades, the adjutant reluctantly looked toward Griffin and asked in a low voice, “General... what do we do now?”

Griffin remained silent for a long, long time.

Finally, under the hopeful gazes of everyone in the room, he spoke. “Withdraw to the military base 100 kilometers away... Our reinforcements will arrive soon.” He swept a glance across the officers standing at the table and declared, “The word 'surrender' does not exist in my vocabulary. As long as I’m standing here... don’t even think about it.”

He was ready to go to hell. For Triumphant City. For the lord Marshal. For the glory of never knowing defeat.

But the moment he said those words, the eyes that looked to him were instantly filled with disappointment, if not outright despair.

They had no idea what plan Griffin had in mind, and they were not ready to die with him.

The command table fell into a heavy silence. Feeling the weight of those stares, the adjutant lowered his head and muttered through clenched teeth, “... Yes, sir.”

The next morning, a strange scene unfolded along the border of Oasis No.2. From the heavily guarded positions, a large crowd of people walked away from their posts, empty-handed, heading into the desert.

Another group also left the trenches, but in the opposite direction, retreating.

Both sides, as if by silent agreement, ignored each other entirely.

“Holy crap... Are those Wislanders still trying to fight?”