Chapter 193: One Hundred Thousand Army! The Duke Personally Campaigns!

Morale was instantly shaken.

Originally, they were ordered to come and "suppress the rebellion," although they were scolded by Rocco as running dogs of traitors, there was always an excuse of "following the King's order" in their hearts. But now, their true "ally" behind the scenes was actually the blood feud of the Kingdom, which made them feel ashamed.

They felt like a huge joke.

However, the things that gave William a headache were far more than this one.

Just at this moment, another official responsible for logistics rushed into the camp, his face full of panic.

"Marquis! Not good! Something big happened!"

"What is it again?!" William felt his temples jump when he heard the words "not good".

The official said with a crying face: "Our—the grain price in the province has suddenly skyrocketed! In just these two days, it has risen—it has risen by a full five times!"

"What?!" William was shocked again, "How could this happen?!"

"It—it's the Commercial Alliance!" The official said trembling, "Don't know why, the Commercial Alliance suddenly started frantically buying grain in our province!"

"Buying as much as they can! Moreover, they also spread the news, saying—saying that you are short of military rations for this expedition and will soon forcibly collect military rations across the province, causing panic, and all grain merchants are hoarding, and no one is willing to sell grain to us!"

"Pfft!"

William couldn't hold it anymore, and a mouthful of old blood sprayed out.

He instantly understood.

All of this was a chain of schemes!

That damn Rocco! That cunning Silas!

They had long expected everything!

First, they burned his military rations with a fire, forcing him to rely on rear supplies. Then, the Commercial Alliance immediately took action in his rear, pulling the firewood from under the cauldron and cutting off his grain path!

Now, the Castilla people have invaded suddenly, causing him to be attacked from both sides and the army to be in chaos!

What a ruthless! What a poisonous strategy!

William felt like a monkey being played around, all his actions seemed to be in the other party's calculations.

He lost, lost completely.

Not lost on the battlefield, but lost under these interlocking conspiracies.

"Rocco Raymond, Silas—"

William wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes flashing with crazy hatred.

He knew that he couldn't take down Sunset City today.

He must return his army immediately to deal with the mess in his own backyard. Otherwise, before Rocco could attack, his own Silver Moon Province would be in chaos first.

"Pass my order!"

William took a deep breath and used all his strength to issue the order that made him feel incomparably humiliated.

"The whole army—break camp!"

"Retreat!"

On the city wall, when Rocco and Vittel saw the huge military camp outside the city really start to stir, one white flag after another was taken down,

and one military tent after another was dismantled, they still couldn't believe their eyes.

"They—they are really going to retreat?" Vittel muttered to himself, feeling like he was in a dream.

Just at this moment, Silas walked to Rocco's side, a smug smile on his face, and handed him two pieces of intelligence that had just been received.

"Master Governor, it seems that our 'good show' is even more exciting than expected."

Rocco took the intelligence and browsed through it quickly.

One was news about the Castilla Principality invading the Silver Moon Province.

The other was a report about the Commercial Alliance stirring up trouble in the Silver Moon Province and messing up its economy.

After reading it, Rocco couldn't help but laugh.

He looked at Silas and praised sincerely: "Master Silas, the power of your Commercial Alliance is truly—terrifying."

"We just did a little trivial thing." Silas said modestly, "What really made William decide to retreat was you, Master Governor, who held his main force here to death, making him unable to get away."

The two looked at each other and smiled, everything was understood without words.

This siege battle that seemed impossible to win actually ushered in a turning point in a way no one expected.

However, the smile on Rocco's face soon faded.

He looked at the enemy army that was slowly retreating, a deep light flashing in his eyes.

"No, it's not over yet."

He said in a low voice.

"William wants to leave so easily, it's not that cheap."

Marquis William's army began to retreat slowly.

That steel torrent that was imposing when it came, as if to trample everything, was now like a defeated rooster, looking a bit dejected.

The order to retreat caused a huge commotion and confusion in the army. The soldiers couldn't figure it out; clearly, they were pressing the enemy on the city wall yesterday and were about to break the city, so why retreat today?

Coupled with the news of the Castilla people's invasion and the skyrocketing grain prices in the rear, which were quietly spreading in the army, the morale of the entire army fell to the freezing point.

Everyone felt they had been deceived; they were bleeding and sacrificing here for the so-called "Royal Order," while their homeland was suffering from foreign invasion. Their families might be worrying about high grain prices.

What was the point of fighting this war?

Something called "resentment" spread rapidly in the Silver Moon Legion.

Marquis William naturally felt this change, his expression becoming increasingly gloomy, but he was powerless. He could only urge his troops to speed up the retreat, wanting to leave this place of right and wrong that had humiliated him as soon as possible.

However, Rocco clearly didn't intend to let him leave so comfortably.

On the city tower of Sunset City, Rocco put down the telescope in his hand, a cold smile curling the corners of his mouth.

"Want to come when you want, and leave when you want? Where in the world is there such a cheap thing."

"General Vittel!" Rocco turned around and shouted in a deep voice.

"The subordinate is here!" General Vittel stepped forward, although his leg was still wrapped in thick bandages, his spirit was unprecedentedly excited.

"You immediately select three thousand of the fastest soldiers, and bring all our archers!" Rocco's eyes flashed with the light of a hunter, "I want you, like a group of hungry wolves, to bite their tails to death!"

"What?" Vittel was stunned for a moment, a bit puzzled, "Master Governor, do you mean—pursuit?"

"No, not pursuit." Rocco shook his head, "It's harassment."

He walked to the sand table and pointed to the route of William's army's retreat: "They are now unstable in morale, low in morale, and anxious to retreat. Although our number is small, we are the victors, and our morale is high. I want you to just hang behind them at a distance."

"If they camp, you harass them within range. If they march, you use cold arrows

Vittel instantly understood Roko's intention.

This tactic was too ruthless!

This wasn't meant to inflict casualties at all; it was meant to completely shatter the spirit of an army already on the verge of collapse!

"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!" Vittel exclaimed with heartfelt admiration. "Rest assured, Governor! This subordinate guarantees the mission will be completed! If I don't drive them insane, I won't come back!"

"Go," Roko waved his hand. "Remember, safety first. Do not engage them in a head-on fight."

"Understood!"

Vittel accepted the order and excitedly limped away to assemble his troops.

Watching Vittel's retreating figure, Silas walked to Roko's side and said with some concern, "Governor, by doing this, won't you be pushing Williams into a corner? Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. What if he turns his guns around and fights us to the death—"

"He won't dare." Roko's tone was extremely firm. "He is more anxious than anyone right now. His base has been stabbed by the Castilians, and his rear economy has been turned into a mess by you. The thing he fears most right now is being dragged here by me."

"The more he wants to leave, the less I will let him leave comfortably." A cold glint flashed in Roko's eyes. "I want the name 'Sunset City' to become his lifelong nightmare."

Looking at Roko's young yet confident face, Silas sighed in his heart once again that his initial investment was truly the wisest decision he had ever made in his life.

III

Just as Roko had expected, Marquis Williams's retreat became an absolute nightmare.

General Vittel was like the most annoying fly, commanding his three thousand men to harass them day and night without rest.

During the day, when the soldiers of the Silver Moon Legion marched with exhausted bodies, cold arrows would shoot out without warning from the woods and hillsides along the road. Although the casualties caused were not great, the fear of being shot at any moment kept everyone in a state of high mental tension.

At night, when they finally managed to set up camp and prepare to catch their breath, the sound of war drums and battle cries would ring out outside the camp, making them think the enemy was coming to raid the camp, and they would scramble to get up and stand guard. But when they rushed out fully armed, they couldn't even see a ghost of an enemy outside.

After being tormented like this repeatedly for three or four days, the entire Silver Moon Legion, from the generals down to the soldiers, was driven to the brink of madness.

Everyone had dark circles under their eyes, their spirits were listless, and their morale had plummeted to the extreme. Deserters also began to appear in large numbers.

Inside the main tent, Marcus kicked over the brazier in front of him and roared in anger, "This is too much! This is simply too much!

That damned Vittel is like a bedbug! If he has the guts, he should come out and fight us with real blades and guns! What kind of hero does he think he is, pulling these low-down tricks from behind!"

The other generals also wore expressions of indignation and frustration.

Marquis Williams sat in the main seat, his face ashen, saying nothing. How could he not want to turn back and completely crush Vittel's annoying force?

But he couldn't.

Because, just a moment ago, he had received another piece of news that made his heart and soul shatter.

"Report!"

A scout scrambled in, his voice filled with despair.

"Marquis! Castilia—the main army of Castilia has launched a full-scale invasion!"

"What?!" All the generals in the tent stood up abruptly, their faces filled with shock.

"Speak clearly! What is going on?!" Williams grabbed the scout and asked sternly.

The scout looked miserable, almost wailing as he said, "The Duke of Castilia, Alvarez, is personally leading an army of one hundred thousand, under the name of 'helping the Bulake Kingdom clear out rebels and maintain stability in the west,' and has completely crossed the border!"

"Their vanguard has already—already reached the main city of our Silver Moon Province, Silver Moon City!"

Boom!

This news was like a bolt from the blue, leaving everyone in the tent stunned and charred.

An army of one hundred thousand!

The Duke is leading the campaign personally!

The enemy is at the gates!

It's over!

In everyone's mind, only these two words remained.

Marquis Williams was struck as if by lightning, his entire body frozen in place, all the luster in his eyes instantly fading away.

He finally understood.

What "Dragon Slaughter Plan," what "allies"—from beginning to end, he had just been a pawn in the hands of the Castilians!

The Third Prince, that foolish fellow, in order to obtain the throne, had actually invited the wolf into the house and sold the entire west of the kingdom to their mortal enemy!

And he, Williams, was the greatest sinner who had personally opened the door for the enemy!

He had previously been unable to figure out why the Castilians would suddenly make a move. Now he understood; the other party wasn't here to help him at all,

but to reap the rewards!

They wanted to take advantage of the time when he and Roko were both battered and bruised under Sunset City and the interior was empty to annex the entire west at the lowest possible cost!

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed wildly from Williams's mouth once again. This time, he could no longer hold himself up; he fell backward and crashed heavily to the ground.

"Marquis!"

"Quick! Call the military doctor!"

The main tent instantly descended into chaos.

The entire Silver Moon Legion, because of this earth-shattering news and the collapse of their commander, was completely on the verge of total breakdown.

Meanwhile, in the distant Sunset City, Roko also received this intelligence from Castilia.

The source of the intelligence was still the Commercial Alliance.

Looking at the words "one hundred thousand troops" and "Duke personally leading the campaign" on the intelligence, even Roko couldn't help but gasp.

"What a grand move!"

He muttered to himself, but his eyes were flashing with an excited light.

He knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Civil strife in the Royal Capital, the west in decay—the Bulake Kingdom had reached its most dangerous moment.

But for him, Rocco Raymond, this chaotic situation was the perfect stage for this flood dragon to transform and ascend to the heavens!

"Silas!" Roko turned his head abruptly.

"Present."

"Immediately issue a proclamation in my name to the three major provinces of the west—no, to all the nobles of the entire Bulake Kingdom!"

Roko's voice was sonorous and powerful, filled with unquestionable majesty.

"Say that the nation is in peril and foreign enemies have invaded! I, the Governor of Sunset Province, Rocco Raymond, will assemble the Western Allied Forces here and swear to resist Castilia to the death! Any citizen of the Bulake Kingdom may come to join the cause!"