Chapter 263: There's No Need to Be So Troublesome

"Our battle with the Bolante Bandit Group will not last too long. By my estimation, at the slowest it will take at most three or four days, and at the fastest, the outcome will be decided within a day."

Keruien put forward his view.

"The plans you've made are indeed fine, but if the war ends quickly, these tasks like digging drainage ditches and making simple latrines are a complete waste of time and the warriors' energy."

Luoning understood what the other party meant; it was nothing more than leading the men and horses to charge in and settle it directly.

While gesturing for the two Deputy Commanders, Feilipu and Suoerstan, to also look at the contents on the paper, he asked, "Baron Keruien, you just said that the outcome could be decided within a day. I wonder, are we the victors, or are we the losers?"

"Naturally, we are the victors!"

Keruien spoke with no room for doubt: "We have gathered so many troops now, how can the mere Bolante Bandit Group contend with us?"

"So my suggestion is to rest today and tomorrow, and launch an attack on them the day after, taking Chishan Town in one fell swoop!"

Luoning really wanted to ask what they should do in the event of failure, but considering his status as the commander, it didn't seem appropriate to speak of defeat before the battle had even begun, so he did not ask it out loud.

"I would very much like to hear why you, Baron, are so confident. Also, we are still unclear about the current strength of the Bolante Bandit Group, so I must trouble you to introduce it to everyone."

"My confidence stems precisely from the gap in strength between the enemy and us!"

Keruien's tone was extremely firm; this was a manifestation of having sufficient trust in his own side.

"The leader of the Bolante Bandit Group, Amikusi, is a Golden Knight. His strength might be a little stronger than Sir Tolu's, but as long as I coordinate with Tolu, dealing with him will not be a problem."

"Apart from Amikusi, the Bolante Bandit Group only has two Silver Grade left; one is their deputy leader Huoerdan, and the other is their capable warrior Gilbert."

Keruien's gaze swept over the several Silver Knights in the hall.

"And on our side, we have Mawen, Feilipu, Suoerstan, Talun, and my subordinate Bulisuo, five in total, and all are long-renowned Silver Knights. Dealing with Huoerdan and Gilbert is completely sufficient!"

After he said this, the eyes of the people in the hall lit up.

"The Baron is right!"

Bulisuo echoed, "Our high-end combat power now completely exceeds the opponent's; there is no problem at all in crushing the enemy head-on!"

"Indeed~"

"Indeed~"

Many people nodded secretly.

"What do you think?" Luoning looked at Mawen and Tolu.

As these two were deputy commanders, he wanted to hear their views.

Viscount Mawen pondered and said, "If the situation is truly as Keruien says, we can indeed attack directly head-on when we have a great advantage."

Tolu added a point: "As far as I know, the defensive works of Chishan Town are basically laid out on the south side to resist enemies coming from Kaxier Town; there are basically no defensive works on the north side."

Chishan Town was previously under Keruien's jurisdiction, and to its north is Jushi Territory, so naturally, there was no need to set up any defensive works.

"After the Bolante Bandit Group took control of Chishan Town, they didn't have time to set up any defensive works on the north side. If we attack head-on, we have an advantage in personnel and no disadvantage in terrain."

Mawen continued, "I think we can follow Luoning's method to reorganize and form the Noble Allied Forces; this is conducive to battlefield command. As for logistics, we can handle it simply. As for the attack time, we need to discuss it further."

It could be seen that regarding the attack, they were still more in favor of a direct frontal assault.

Actually, if the high-end combat power was sufficient and the intermediate combat power was also not lacking, Luoning would also be willing to attack head-on; the faster the battle was resolved, the better.

But was this war really that easy?

"Keruien, I ask you, how much do you know about the enemy's combat power losses in the battle on the night Chishan Town was seized?"

Keruien was stunned for a moment, his expression slightly hesitant, but after Along while, he still shook his head.

"The team I led hadn't arrived at Chishan Town that night before the battle had already ended, so I don't know much about the enemy's casualties."

Luoning immediately said, "As far as I know, of the five Knight Squads stationed in Chishan Town, besides Deputy Commander Haen, there were also two Bronze Knights, one of whom was at the peak of Bronze grade, half a step into the Silver grade."

Keruien's complexion suddenly became a bit ugly, perhaps feeling that Luoning was going to hold him accountable in public, which made him lose some face.

"These three led five Knight Squads, with the number of Professional Knights exceeding sixty. Relying on the terrain advantage and defensive works of Chishan Town, even if the enemy had one Golden Knight, it would be impossible to be defeated so miserably!"

Everyone's hearts tightened.

They had just followed Keruien's line of thinking to compare the troop and strength gap between the enemy and themselves, but had forgotten about the miserable defeat of the five Knight Squads of the Fifth Knight Order that were originally stationed in Chishan Town.

Deputy Commander Haen's strength is not bad.

"It is indeed a bit strange."

Mawen's expression became grave, "For the opponent to be able to crush Haen and his team so quickly, there should be more than just these three top-tier Professional Knights. Keruien, is your intelligence incorrect?"

"Impossible!"

Keruien retorted categorically, "Although we have been hostile to the Bolante Bandit Group all these years, we have also had trade exchanges during peacetime, so we know their combat power very clearly!"

"The reason Haen was routed, according to the soldiers who were lucky enough to escape, was entirely because they drank too much at night and were lax in defense. By the time the enemy crossed the line and killed their way inside, they reacted, but it was already too late."

"How much credibility do the words of the soldiers who escaped have?"

Luoning spread his hands, "However, this explanation of yours is indeed one possibility, but there is another possibility."

He paused, and seeing that everyone was listening quietly, he continued:

"That is that the Bolante Bandit Group hid their strength, or that stronger Professional Knights have joined recently, and Haen and the others were simply no match for them."

"There is that possibility."

Everyone could not help but nod.

"If the intelligence is incomplete, we do indeed need to be more cautious."

As this hypothetical viewpoint of Luoning's was thrown out, the subsequent discussion shifted to "what to do if the enemy has hidden their strength."

Although no good method was decided upon after Along discussion, Luoning's arrangements were necessary to implement.

Because everyone knew that it was unlikely that the battle would be resolved within a day or two as Keruien had said.

After another round of discussion, a tentative plan was finally determined:

Mawen, Tolu, and Ruidar were responsible for the reorganization of the allied forces;

Talun and Maiken were responsible for camp defense and security work;

The two Deputy Commanders, Feilipu and Suoerstan, led the cavalry to be responsible for peripheral patrols and reconnaissance.

Jushi Territory is responsible for the logistics work.

That Luoning's measures were able to reach a consensus and begin implementation so quickly was mainly thanks to Tolu, Mawen, and the others always standing on his side.

This was also thanks to Lulansi's arrangements.

If that Nigen had also followed him to Jushi Territory back then, I fear there would have been a struggle over who held more authority.

The bustling Jushi Castle fortress finally quieted down, and Keruien sat in his chair with a deep frown, not leaving.

"Bulisuo, do you think Luoning suspects me?"

His subordinate, Bulisuo, also had a grave expression, "I am not too sure either, but in several conversations, he did indeed make everyone subconsciously exclude your suggestions."

When the meeting began, Keruien's words were still able to resonate with quite a few people.

But after that hypothesis of Luoning's was thrown out, the effectiveness of his words was far less than before.

Even when it came to the final division of tasks, Keruien took the initiative to undertake the perimeter guard and reconnaissance work, yet he was refused by Luoning.

The reason was that Jushi Territory is shouldering a significant amount of logistics work, making it more appropriate for them to be responsible for logistics.

Keruien let out Along sigh, digesting the unpleasantness of the meeting, "I retract my previous opinion; this Luoning really has a way of doing things. No wonder he has regained the Marquis's favor."

Bulisuo laughed: "Then that proves the necessity of our actions even more!"

"Yes, it is very necessary..." (End of chapter)