The Garrison

After receiving the signal, Carl, who was already prepared, stood up:

"Our Morey is one of the countries that suffered the most from the Dragon Disaster. Our elite military forces were almost completely wiped out, leaving only garrison forces stationed in various cities and borders."

The garrison forces were the bottom line of the kingdom's sovereignty. Carl could not possibly mobilize these forces, otherwise Karuk could again forcibly station immigrants, which Natterian would not care about.

"So we only have two forces that can be mobilized, plus a temporary half-corps army, which is made up of scattered remnant soldiers who have lost their formations. This is Morey's strength."

Whisperings immediately arose around him. Carl's neck turned red, and he sat back down without a word. The Morey higher-ups around him unconsciously lowered their heads, feeling the terror of a weak nation.

A human core region, a kingdom inheriting the ancient Midgalter cultural circle, had less than fifty thousand people available for combat operations.

In the past medieval era, fifty thousand was not a small number. But now it was two hundred years after the magical revolution. Technological innovations had caused geometric growth in food production, resulting in a large amount of liberated labor and population explosion. A kingdom without several hundred thousand combat troops was simply unacceptable.

But Morey could not mobilize more. Unless it wanted to invest all its military forces and risk its very foundations to put up a strong front, the consequence could very well be the complete destruction of Morey.

Neither Carl nor Fraser dared to take that risk, so they had to endure the strange looks from other countries.

Lace, of course, also felt the gazes of others. She did not look directly into anyone's eyes, but was well aware that they contained ridicule, mockery, disdain and a sense of superiority.

"Your Majesty, please do not be saddened," a diplomatic adviser leaned forward to console her. "Although Morey has suffered heavy losses, we, your subjects, remain loyal to the Galoren family. Although the Natterian Empire is no longer a single imperial dynasty, it certainly will not allow the loss of the crown from the main bloodline. It will definitely aid you at the critical moment."

"Thank you," Lace forced a smile in gratitude, but only she knew what she really thought.

The discussion continued on the other side.

"Our Ryton Kingdom can deploy twelve corps, plus three air squadrons with two hundred gryphons each, and two battle dragons."

After consulting with the surrounding officers, Snyder stood up and gave these numbers.

One Ryton corps had ten thousand troops, roughly equivalent to six Natterian corps.

"So many?" The other nations were somewhat surprised. For such a localized conflict, the focus should be on precise forces like battle dragons. Only an empire with immense wealth could afford to deploy tens of thousands of ground troops. How could Ryton mobilize such a large force?

Lace also had the same doubts. She had some basic military knowledge and knew that the biggest problem for armies was logistics and transportation. The number of front-line troops was constrained by this issue. She had intelligence on Ryton's resources through spies and knew they were meager.

"Your Majesty, this is probably because they want to address their surplus labor issue," the diplomatic adviser leaned in again. "Ryton's economic structure is single-track. Unlike our Oakenburg, it has no financial centers or substantial merchant taxes. Because it is located in the land of the Three Wars, the survival risk is too high for handicraft industries to develop. Young people only have two paths: joining infrastructure construction or the military."

"But Ryton's military force has already almost reached its ceiling at six hundred thousand active troops and one and a half million reservists. With its meager food and manufacturing output, expanding its non-productive forces further would cause collapse."

"In recent years, Ryton's population has risen, leaving many able-bodied youths wandering idly within its borders. The royal family is unable to accommodate them, only watching as they leave their homeland to contribute labor to other countries."

"But now the opportunity has arrived. I guarantee these twelve corps are all expanded formations, with more than ten thousand troops each. There will also be many auxiliary personnel not counted, bringing the total cluster force to over three hundred thousand."

Lace couldn't help but question it: "How is that possible? How will they resettle all these people after the war? How will they solve the supply issues?"

The diplomatic adviser swallowed hard before giving his view: "They naturally don't need to worry about wartime supplies, with the empire and us providing. But I estimate they will use this cluster force as a pioneering troop."

"Pioneering? Pioneering what?" Lace instinctively asked, then her face suddenly turned pale.

The dragon's occupied territory was Oakenburg – of course they meant to pioneer and settle Oakenburg's lands. This force would be perfectly positioned to intimidate any Oakenburg residents unwilling to leave. In Natterian style, it would only take a couple of words before they were gone, with the weakened Morey powerless to take back its old capital.

Not only would Ryton then solve its surplus labor issue, it would also increase its foreign might and national strength, expanding its strategic depth while monopolizing the midstream water transportation of the Modon River.

For Morey to try rising again, it could only look to distant sea voyages.

"So this is why they are being so overt about deploying such a large force?" Lace gritted her teeth, her face reddening as she glared at the smiling Snyder. She never imagined this supposed brotherly neighboring nation would take such an opportunity from Morey's plight to devour a piece of its territory.

The adviser said helplessly: "There's no choice. Humans are inherently selfish. Even brothers will turn against each other for profit, let alone rival kingdoms? It's fortunate the Empire is keeping them in check, otherwise Ryton would have invaded us with arms long ago, not even waiting until now to put on this pretense. But this is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity they definitely won't let slip by."

Lace angrily turned her head away: "Is that so? Then I hope the Dragon teaches them a lesson, letting them know what it feels like to be utterly annihilated corps by corps!"

Her words were truly heartbreaking – Lace was effectively siding with the Evil Dragon, though fortunately only her own people heard it.

"The Kingdom of Ryton has certainly put in their wholehearted efforts," the chief of staff nodded, then looked to the next: "What about Karuk?"

"My apologies, our national assembly needs to deliberate before giving an answer. They have not reached a decision yet. When they do, they will notify me via liaison orb," the Karuk ambassador stood and bowed apologetically.

"No decision yet?" The four monarchical powers did not expect Karuk to still be undecided.

Snyder scoffed as he exchanged views with a nearby Ryton officer: "Hmph! It's a regime founded by descendants of criminals after all, lacking a glorious bloodline inheritance to represent the national will. It's full of nothing but private profiteers exploiting public interests through their positions! The Ryton high command all earned their posts through bloodshed and sweat - rewards for their personal sacrifices!"

The officers all voiced agreement: "Exactly! Even Your Majesty's Vitelsbakh family had to expend their entire fortune as a military fund to drive out the orcs here before ascending to the ducal seat. How could those Karuk mongrels who attained power through gab and bribery alone understand the meaning of glory? National affairs are controlled by a bunch of merchants. No wonder they can't agree on how to divide the spoils."

The other nations' prejudices against Karuk were deeply rooted and unshakable.

So they were completely unaware of Karuk's historical achievements like freeing slaves, building cities from nothing, and slaying the legendary evil dragon that had wrought such misdeeds.

The Karuk ambassador showed no excessive facial movement as he listened to those around him, his single gold-threaded monocle eye staring straight ahead at the Morey people.

"Finally, Chalaran."

Those few people wearing medieval-style breastplates and those in black linen robes conferred briefly.

One stood up and said: "I think Chalaran is simply too far away. We do not even border Pillar Mountain, so there is no need for us to deploy troops."

He then stated: "However, out of respect for the dynastic union established by the sovereign, Chalaran can provide meat, dairy and exotic game products to the other nations at cost. Premium beef, lamb, and various delicacies from magical beasts. As for milk…it is also extremely fresh, guaranteed by alchemists…"

"Ah? What did you say? Alchemy?"

"Yes! Alchemy ensures these foods will not spoil."

The Chalaran prince's eyes shifted around as the other four nations silently watched him. Below, Prince Eucerolot was lazily propping up his forehead, the corners of his mouth curled in a slight smile as he read a small book in his right hand.

"These provisions are enough to feed two hundred thousand people for a month. Once the meeting approves it, I can immediately begin preparations upon my return," he licked his lips as he finished.

...

The conference hall fell silent for a minute before the chief of staff broke the stillness: "Very reasonable. Now we all understand the forces our brethren are committing. Next, let's discuss the logistics issues."

"What do you all think is a reasonable way to ensure supplies?"

A Ryton officer immediately stood up: "We believe that since this is a multi-national deployment, it is impossible to concentrate all the forces together for distribution - that would impede each other and make flexible redeployment difficult. So we can only advance directly towards Pillar Mountain from within each nation's own territory."

He paused, gesturing with his eyes and hands that he wanted to come up. The chief of staff promptly invited him onto the stage and handed him the command baton.

"Look here." The Ryton officer pointed to a spot slightly left of center on the large map.

"This is Pillar Mountain. Our strategic objective is to occupy this location. Enemy resistance will come from the ground, air, and there is also the threat of extremely long-range strikes. We cannot huddle together to be taken out all at once."

"Our preliminary idea is to form three temporary cluster corps based on geographical convenience, advancing our attack from the most advantageous directions for each nation."

"The first." He pointed to the area just above and to the right of Pillar Mountain, across the Modon River. "The RytonKingdom will commit over 120,000 troops. We also have advanced and proficient military management systems. Rail lines connect the interior to the Natterian Empire and Chalaran. This is the town of Fers, the terminus of the rail line - Ryton's heart for repelling the Dragon Marshal and conflicts on the Plains. And now it must contend with the Red Dragon as well."

"This location has convenient transportation. Over the years, many fortresses and trenches have been built, anti-air batteries erected. The local people are simple folk, easy to recruit as labor and militia. There is also a well-equipped port and sailors to rapidly ferry troops and armaments across the Modon into battle. Ryton plans to use this as a logistics base."

He flourished the command baton outward, saying: "I also hope the other nations can establish bases according to this standard. What follows is my own immature suggestion for your reference."

The baton swung again, slowly arcing towards a spot within Karuk's borders: "This is the village of Tokas in Karuk. Dense, undeveloped forests lie to the north and west, 460 kilometers from Pillar Mountain, not on the border."

"But I still recommend your nation's relief forces be stationed here alone, as Tokas is the only village in the area connecting Morey's public courier road to your nation's main routes. The village is a rich producer of daystone, with many daystone mines. Morey happens to have no daystone deposits - alchemical work at night requires cold light, so daystone from here could be immediately shipped by wagon to Morey's interior, a shortcut."

The Modon River was like a dividing line - to the left, the two nations still relied primarily on animal-drawn wagons for transportation. Morey's elongated territory cooperated well with river shipping for efficiency. But Karuk was more troubled, relying solely on animal power across its complex terrain of forests, valleys and hills, making rail too costly an investment.

The Karuk people heard the veiled ridicule of their backwardness in the Ryton officer's words. But unlike the Morey, they showed no sense of humiliation, calmly looking down on his grandstanding.

"Third, I suggest the sovereign need not station troops in his own lands like we must due to our limited strength - the unique terrain prevents risking large combat forces too far from our territories. But the sovereign has close geographical and cooperative ties with Morey, whose own forces are extremely small. From a morale standpoint, I doubt they have the ability for independent operations."

"So the sovereign should directly send troops across the river to integrate with Morey's forces, demanding command authority. Take the riverside areas between Oaklund and Mercity as your base. You can properly utilize water transportation to the front lines. And if the Evil Dragon disregards its lair to attack, you can scatter and flee - I imagine the Morey have considerable experience with that."

He ended his speech with that veiled taunt, deepening Morey's resentment towards Ryton further.

But it didn't matter - they intended to directly occupy Morey's territory later anyway. For now, they only wanted to make their stance clear to avoid an explosions of outrage when the time came.

"Well said, General Ostvo!" The Natterian chief of staff took the baton, nodding in praise.

This analysis showed his extremely accurate grasp of the human regions, especially Tokas village in Karuk.

That route had only been completed a few years prior. Ryton and Karuk had virtually no commercial or geographical ties, yet he possessed detailed intelligence and route maps.

"Thank you."

Ostvo smiled in acceptance of the praise, calmly descending from the main stage back to his stepped seat.

"The imperial general staff accepts Ryton's proposal. As a nation long experienced in warfare, they are trustworthy in military expertise. Does anyone else have anything to add?"

The chief of staff directly endorsed this plan. Morey could not refuse to cede command authority to the sovereign, despite their frustration at having no choice.

"Ah, if only Hitaya and the others had succeeded in slaughtering the Red Dragon!" Lace could only sigh inwardly. She knew the dragon slaying squad had succeeded, but only in killing the Blue Dragon - not enough to cause a stir since the Red Dread had been the center of outside attention all along.

"No other objections? Karuk?" The chief of staff shifted his gaze towards them.

The Karuk ambassador was hunched over, seeming to urge the national assembly to pass the resolution quickly. Seeing the moderator's question, he wiped the sweat from his brow and forced a smile: "No problem! We will definitely commit troops, there is just some dispute over the numbers and formations."

"Very well, this meeting is adjourned. Next time we will discuss the specific allocation of funds and provisions. Be prepared, everyone - we must reach consensus!"

As those words fell, the gazes of the national representatives grew cold and sharp, like predatory eagles searching for prey.

Money - that is, profit - is the eternal core of conflict. The previous two conferences were mere storytelling and academic discussions. But now came the crucial point, its intensity no less than the front lines of battle.