[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-428":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338891,4572,"Chapter 428: The Kingdom Army Is Surrounded!","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-428",428,"\u003Cp>“What do you mean?” The Commander-in-Chief’s heart sank, a dark premonition creeping in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hah! Commander-in-Chief, look—you’re afraid, aren’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But fear won’t help—facts won’t change just because you worry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I originally sent my troops on a detour toward Red Stone City merely to guard against any stragglers!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But now, using them to sever your link to Red Stone City? Perfect. Hah! Commander-in-Chief, do you still think your grain supplies are sufficient?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sensing the Commander-in-Chief’s shifting expression, the Beast King laughed triumphantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, he never expected the flanking force to play such a crucial role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now it was clear—his foresight had compensated for the setback inside Lindongcheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoa!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What did the Beast King say? He stationed troops behind us to cut us off?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It seems so! Does that mean we’re completely surrounded by the beast tribes—and our rear communications are severed?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly. If the southern road is truly blocked by the beastmen, all contact with Red Stone City is cut—no request for reinforcements possible!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Requesting reinforcements is secondary—the real problem is food. Without grain, we’ll be starved to death inside Lindongcheng!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Beast King’s words dropped like bombs into the hearts of nobles and soldiers alike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just moments ago, each noble had been rejoicing over having foiled the beastmen’s plot last night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the reversal came faster than anyone imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Beast King, do you think I’d believe you? Your lie won’t work on us.” Hearing the gasps around him, the Commander-in-Chief knew he couldn’t let panic spread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hah! Commander-in-Chief, useless. I told you—the truth can’t be hidden, even if you try to cover it up now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But when your messengers return, you’ll taste despair! Hah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commander-in-Chief had intended to crush the beastmen’s morale—but it backfired completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beastmen resumed their assault, forcing the Commander-in-Chief to order full-scale defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dukes, do you think the Beast King’s claim might be true?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the war council hall, only the Commander-in-Chief and the two Dukes remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Shatterstone and Duke Hernade said nothing immediately—they couldn’t be certain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long pause, Duke Hernade finally spoke slowly, “Whether true or false, we’ll know for certain by evening. All speculation and worry now are useless!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commander-in-Chief nodded. “There’s no other choice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, time passed until evening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When several messengers who had set out at dawn returned in disarray from the south, the Commander-in-Chief and the two Dukes’ spirits plummeted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It meant the Beast King had spoken the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, these messengers would never have turned back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Commander-in-Chief, the number of Beastmen on the southern road is at least twenty thousand, and there are at least five hundred Wolf Riders.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If we hadn’t run fast, we wouldn’t have made it back to report!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Twenty thousand Beastmen? Five hundred Wolf Riders?” The Commander-in-Chief’s face darkened instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had assumed five or six thousand beastmen behind them was already the worst-case scenario.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now he learned there were twenty thousand—this completely sealed off the Kingdom Army’s retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Hernade and Duke Shatterstone finally frowned. The situation was truly dire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Commander-in-Chief, we saw clearly—the enemy’s numbers are accurate. And they’re advancing toward Lindongcheng!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good. Rest for now. Remember—this information must not leak to anyone!” The Commander-in-Chief nodded grimly and dismissed the messengers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, with a face full of worry, he turned to Duke Hernade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We have no choice now—we must hold the city. Wait until those twenty thousand beastmen reach the walls, then respond as circumstances demand!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the way, Commander-in-Chief, to prepare for a prolonged siege, food rations must be allocated immediately. All nobles’ grain stores must be surrendered!” Duke Hernade had no better solution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commander-in-Chief hesitated, then finally nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Issuing such an order now felt like an admission of defeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But food control had to begin at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, if the army remained trapped long-term without enough food, the consequences would be terrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commander-in-Chief’s order to seize grain was swiftly issued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the decree framed it as precautionary—foresight against worst-case scenarios.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet combined with the Beast King’s words that morning, the lesser nobles already knew the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, every noble in Lindongcheng lived in fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though ordered to surrender grain, nobles still secretly hoarded some.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commander-in-Chief knew he couldn’t push too hard—otherwise it would backfire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he turned a blind eye, content with what he’d already seized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least, if distributed properly, the collected food could sustain the army twice as long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, when will Lindongcheng crush the beastmen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s unlikely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? How? Our Kingdom Army has over a hundred thousand men inside, and towering walls—can’t we defeat them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And if we can’t defeat them, what’s the point of us being here?” Migen stared in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Migen, our purpose here is that Duke Shatterstone doesn’t want us to claim glory in Lindongcheng.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for why Lindongcheng can’t defeat the beastmen—according to Moonchaser’s scouts, last night the city was attacked by a beastmen raid!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The beastmen had secretly hidden elite warriors inside Lindongcheng. Had the army not discovered them in time, the gates would have fallen—and Lindongcheng would have been lost.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though the city held, part of its grain stores were burned. So the Kingdom Army inside Lindongcheng is now in dire straits.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, rumors say twenty thousand beastmen have circled around from Red Stone City—now the Kingdom Army is completely surrounded!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? How? We’ve only been away from Lindongcheng one day!” Migen felt his mind go blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Lei Meng, the Knight Captain beside him, looked stunned. “My lord… does this mean our removal from Lindongcheng was actually a blessing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Correct. In a way, being sent to Baron Kalle’s fortress has temporarily removed us from the center of the storm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But if the army is crushed, the beastmen will march straight through, seize Red Stone City, even Black Dragon City.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then our current position will become the enemy’s rear—our fate won’t be good.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So our safety is only temporary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, what should we do now?” Migen panicked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why does every campaign bring so much turmoil?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just yesterday, everything had gone smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>",1002,"2026-06-20T22:44:02.688Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6847943539b12e85627ee75f3119492618ee7ab75fd33f49afccb9771022800d","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-429","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-427",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]