Chapter 8: Recapturing Greenland (3)

"Set up camp here and wait for news from the other armies"

Lucias said as he stepped his foot on top of a severed head of a Duke. Making the soldiers in his command to nod their heads as they set up temporary tents to avoid the demons from recapturing this camp.

"Contact Grayfia. I want to know the condition of the other armies so we can decide on our next move"

He said, causing the soldier close to him to immediately set up the radio to connect a call with the other armies. Mainly because none of them but Anastasia and Yoshino have the earpiece that Lucias always used to communicate with the headquarters of the factions. That is the reason why they had to set up a radio, strong enough to resist the continuous bad weather of the country.

"You two did a great job out there"

Lucias said to the two girls who sat down close to where his tent was being set up.

"I'll naturally do a great job so there is no need for your praise, Master~"

Baobab Sith said with a wide smirk on her face. Unlike Rias who gratefully smiled at his direction.

"I don't really understand. If this Archduke demon is weaker than Tier IV and V Gastreas. Why can we easily deal with them while you panic from the mention of a Archduke demon?"

Baobab Sith asked as Lucias sat down on a small boulder with a tired expression on his face. 

"That's because Tier IV and V Gastreas are much easier to handle since they move alone and are much easier to hit with a powerful attack. Gastreas naturally have no sense of coordination and will only have one thing in mind if insticts takeover their mind, and that is to kill and feed. They also don't know how to dodge attacks so they're pretty much a walking target for all of our soldiers"

He said as the soldiers set-up a campfire that they could use to heat up the food that they brought with them. All of them were each given a simple meal of a few loafs of bread and a can of soup that they could easily prepare at anytime.

"Demons on the otherhand are much trickier to deal with since they are the ones that control the Gastreas. An Archduke controls at least a few dozens of Tier V Gastreas and leads a large army that is troublesome to deal with. But what makes them especially dangerous is there ability to steal the skills and strengths of anyone they eat. So as war continues for longer periods of time. Archduke demons and above only continues to grow stronger. That's why they are the first one that we focus on killing than anything else"

He said as he took out 3 cans of soups from his inventory and heated it up by covering his arms with small amounts of flames. Weak enough to nod disintegrate the can in his hand.

"Just rest for the meantime. I already sent some scouts around the area to monitor any strange movements from the two duke camps close to this one. So if they tried to attack us, we'll be ready to defend this camp"

He said as he placed the two cans of soup infront of Rias and Boabab Sith. Making Boabab Sith to look at the can with a strange expression on her face.

"Don't be picky, I didn't bring any cooking materials with me to cook you decent food. Just bare with it until we return back to the capital"

He said noticing the flash of hesitance in her eyes as she grabbed the can from Lucias.

"Lucias-sama, we have connected the call"

The soldier from before said, causing Lucias to walk towards his direction and wearing the large headphones on his head.

"Grayfia, can you hear me?"

[Yes, we just finished capturing the camp on our side. I'm also together with the 3rd army and the 5th army. We all just finished clearing out the camps on the borders at our side]

She said. Making Lucias sigh in relief before signalling for the soldier close to him to bring out the map that they brought along so that they can keep track of where the camps and who are in charge of them.

"All of them?"

[Not entirely, the 5th army has taken care of 2 camps in the east while the 4th and 3rd army cleared out one camp each. All lead by a Marquis rank demon]

She said as Lucias crossed the 5 camps from the northern to eastern side of the enemy base. Leaving a single Duke camp exposed to the 3 armies of the alliance while an Archduke camp was stationed behind it. In a distance enough for reinforcements from the Archduke camp to reach it within one day.

"... How many casualties did you all suffer?"

[In total... 800 deaths, and 6,000 soldiers are heavily injured. Most of the came from the 5th Army who attacked two camps in quick succession. According to Morgan, she gave up 40,000 of her own troops to the seventh army who went to the west to act as bait for the Gastreas. Leaving her with only 60,000 that somehow managed to decimate the 2 camps on their own]

She reported as Lucias began to think of how they should proceed in attacking the lone Duke camp located close to the borders. He still doesn't have any news from the 6th army at the south, but he wasn't too concerned since their is only one Archduke and one Duke camps located at the south. Unlike them who have to fight 3 Archduke together with the camp of the King ranked demon located close to the dimensional rift.

He assigned 100,000 troops to the south, and together with 7th army now at the west, they have a total of 200,000 troops. Knowing Zhuge Liang, he would definitely assist the 6th army since there are already 5 armies working together at the Eastern and Northern side of the enemy base. 

Their main objective is to weaken the opposing army until reinforcements arrive. Since Lucias know himself that attacking the dimensional rift with only 500,000 soldiers is suicidal. Especially when they don't have the advantage over a high ground unlike in China. That's why they're much easier to overwhelm and besiege. 

The opposing armies were also all strategically placed far from the mountains of the country. Giving the alliance no room to assume a defensive position. In case of Lucias, he could create an artificial wall and change it's composition to Mithril. But creating a wall that is high and wide enough to defend against millions of Gastreas and demons like in China would take days to complete. 

If they want to get rid of the camps. They had to act quick and not give the other camps time to collaborate with one another. That is the main reason why he splitted up the army into 7. To act as a distraction to the other camps while the main forces, specifically the 1st, 5th, and 2nd armies, attack and clear out as many camps as they can. Something that he didn't tell to the commanders of each army to make it look more convincing, and avoid alerting the enemies that the 4 armies only acted as a decoy.

"We still have 3 days left until reinforcements arrive... Can any of you contact the 7th and 6th army?"

He asked. Ignoring how Boabhan Sith entered his newly formed tent, and used it as her own.

[I can contact 7th Army, but the 6th Army wouldn't connect. Maybe there's still in combat with their assigned camp]

Grayfia said as she connected the 7th army into their line, causing the exhausted voice of Zhuge Liang to echo in their radios.

[Hello...]

He greeted in a grumpy and tired voice while the high-pitched voice of Jack was occasionally heard from the background of the call.

"Zhuge, you sound like you're having the worst day of your life. What happened?"

[I can't... this little girl of yours is always bugging me. I can't relax at all]

He answered as he glanced at Jack who was staring at his direction.

"You mean Jack? You'll get used to it. Do you have any news from the 6th army?"

[... The 6th army? I passed by them a few hours ago, and it looks like they set up camp close of the opposing camp. It looked like they were in a stalemate for quite a while now]

He said causing Lucias to sigh in response. 

[You don't have to worry. I already know what you want me to do, but that requires me to capture the Marquis camp a few kilometers away from it. So I'll borrow a few assassins in the northern coniferous forest, if that's alright with you]

"Sure, do whatever what you deem necessary. We already took care of a large quantity of Gastreas from their side so we don't need that many guarding the west anyway"

Lucias said, causing Zhuge Liang from the other side of the call to sigh in relief. Mainly because his job would be much easier if he had those powerful assassins by his side.

"Good, you can leave the call. Grayfia you stay and call Morgan and Anastasia to join you. We'll talk about our next actions regarding the Duke camp at your side"

He said causing Grayfia to immediately leave the call before calling the 2 commanders of the 3rd and 5th army ouside her tent.

[They're here, Lucias]

Grayfia said as soon as she reconnected the call with Lucias. While Morgan and Anastasia followed her from behind.

"Good, now then let me get straight to the point. If the 3 of you combined your forces. How long will it take to capture the Duke camp?"

He asked causing the 3 of them to look at each other before giving him a vague answer since they themselves don't know how long will it take. But based on how fast they captured the Marquis camps, they predicted that it would take...

[Half a day. That's probably all the time we need to capture it]

Anastasia said from the other side of the call.

"Half a day... That's fair enough. Morgan, Anastasia, Grayfia. The 3 of you will lead all of your forces and attack the lone Duke camp at your location, but don't immediately launch an attack. I'll flank them from behind and block the Archduke camp from bringing in reinforcements. Unlike the camps at the borders, the camps inside it don't have any walls protecting it. So it would be much faster to deal with them than before"

He said as he circled the spot where the Duke camp was located. Marking the best pathway that he could take that would avoid direct confrontations with another Archduke camp located a few kilometres away from their location.

[Affirmative]

Grayfia said in a respectful tone as the lieutenants of their respective armies entered the camp that she, Morgan, and Anastasia were currently inside of.

"Then let's end the call now, let your soldiers rest for tonight. We'll attack tomorrow in the afternoon"

He said before cutting off the call and giving the headphones to the soldier that was operating the station.

"You can go and rest, order 5,000 soldiers to be in a lookout for tonight. If you need anything or have any questions, you can go and call me from my tent. I'll probably stay awake for the rest of the night"

"Then, have a good rest, Marshall"

The soldier said as he watched Lucias enter the tent, causing the soldier to look at him in admiration. Remembering the two beautiful girls that entered his tent.

"For him to take those two beautiful girls at once, as expected from the Marshall"

-Meanwhile with Lucias-

"What the hell are you two doing inside my tent?"

He asked while looking at the two girls who laid down on his bed in a casual manner. Making Baobhan Sith to mischievously grin in response.

"I thought you needed help satiating that lust of yours. I thought maybe I could-"

"Get out"