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Chapter 742: Destruction of the Orc Empire
The volcano blocked the way, and the dwarves' bad luck could not be found for the time being, so everyone could only vent their hatred on the alien alliance.

Without the usual quarrels, the Terran Alliance quickly made a decision to increase its investment in the war.

The countries in the southern continent, which had been watching the fight between the Five-Nation Alliance and the alien races, were forced to become the main force in the war this time.

Hatred is one aspect, but the key is that everyone cannot afford to lose face.

Generally speaking, the Five-Nation Alliance performed well in the war, and it could even be said that they performed above average.

In contrast, the countries in the southern continent are in an awkward situation. Up to now in the war, no one has any record to show for themselves.

It doesn’t matter for the small countries. They are weak anyway, so it’s normal that they have no military achievements.

The pressure was put on the five major kingdoms of the southern continent, especially the Frankish Empire and the Iberian Kingdom, which bore the greatest pressure.

If they don’t produce some impressive results, the gossip from both home and abroad will ruin their reputation.

After the alliance made the resolution, the five kingdoms accelerated the pace of sending troops.

A large amount of strategic materials and troops were transported to the Central Continent by sea, and the scale of the war further escalated.

The countries in the southern continent were stimulated, and the three countries in the central continent became the direct beneficiaries.

The reinforcements that had originally required repeated requests now came to us on their own.

This shocking reversal made the Alpha Kingdom and the Moshi Principality very envious, and they also wanted assistance!
The Principality of Moshi, in particular, suffered heavy casualties and lost cities and territories in the great war with the elves.

However, they are a landlocked country, and even if the countries in the southern continent are willing to provide support, it is difficult for them to provide substantial help.

Up to now, the greatest support the war has received has come from the several legions sent by the Alpha Kingdom.

Because of the elves' strategic adjustment, when the reinforcements arrived, the fighting on the front line was basically over.

There is no such thing as a "counterattack" to regain lost territory.

The 400,000 troops deployed along the enemy line directly extinguished the fantasy of the Moshi high-level officials to counterattack.

Only after experiencing it myself did I realize how powerful the elf army is.

Unless the Alpha Kingdom can transfer its main forces over here, the Principality of Moshi will not be able to defeat them with its strength.

Compared with the fierce reactions from all parties, the two countries in the Northern Continent have remained exceptionally calm in this wave of changes.

After the news of the tragedy of the Southern Continental Allied Forces reached the Alpha Kingdom, it immediately became a topic of conversation among everyone.

The death toll is in the millions, which would definitely be a fatal event if it happened in a country.

After sharing the losses among multiple countries, the country with the largest number of military losses only suffered casualties of over 100,000 people.

Such a small amount of damage was really nothing to the Alpha nobles who were used to big scenes.

Up to now, every country in the Five-Nation Alliance has suffered casualties!
Even the kingdom's army, which swept all the way, suffered more than 300,000 casualties, one third of whom died in battle.

The three countries in the Central Continent that suffered the heaviest losses had casualties of over one million each, with the number of casualties starting at at least 500,000.

Millions of civilians died in the war.

In the past, when a continental war reached this point, it was basically over.

The situation this time is different. The strategic goal of the human race to unify the continent is directly laid out.

Once the human race wins a complete victory, then in the next hundred years, other races will gradually decline or even die out.

The tragic counterattack of the dwarves opened a new chapter.

As if infected, the alien alliance became more ferocious on the battlefield, and many of them chose to die together after being at a disadvantage.

On the prairie, the kingdom army led by Hudson also faced a counterattack from the orcs.

Either the seal here is broken and a demon jumps out, or a space crack there is opened, or some evil god suddenly descends.

All the means that the orcs used to threaten the human coalition forces in the past are now being used.

Unfortunately, times have changed. In the early years, when we encountered these guys, we had to be extremely cautious.

Now that there are powerful people from the Holy Realm in the army, these evil demons with bad brains will be quickly wiped out as soon as they show their heads.

"Marshal, the orcs are running away again!"

Count Gullen's words left Hudson confused.

The traces of orcs' activities are all over the grassland, so it is normal for a few tribes to run away.

The current tactic of the kingdom’s army is to divide the area, and then advance forward step by step, constantly compressing the enemy’s space for activities.

It is normal for some fish to slip through the net.

Even if the orc royal court that was preparing to encircle and suppress them ran away, there is no need to make a fuss.

"Your Excellency, please take your time to speak. The sky won't fall!"

Hudson said nonchalantly.

"Marshal, the orc tribes suddenly gathered and headed straight towards the Ula Mountains.

If nothing unexpected happens, they have reached an agreement with the invaders from the Kingdom of God and want to retreat to the mountains and forests to put up a last-ditch fight.

Once the enemy's plan succeeds, it will become even more difficult for us to destroy the Orc Empire!"

Count Gullen explained hastily.

It's a land of poverty, mountains and water, with harsh living conditions, but the living conditions of orcs have never been easy.

They were driven in once by the human coalition forces a few years ago, but they were not destroyed. If they are allowed to escape over there now, they might come back again in a few years.

"Count Gullen, please be patient!

The enemy was well prepared for this action. In recent times, all kinds of monsters that have appeared on the grassland are distracting our attention.

While we were not paying attention, they first dispersed the tribes and migrated there. Now that the time was ripe, they suddenly gathered their troops and launched an operation.

Judging from the map, our nearest troops are three days away.

It is almost impossible to gather a large army to intercept them.

Since we are doomed to fail to stop them, we might as well just let them retreat.

Without these guys, the remaining orc tribes probably have lost their will to fight.

We can take advantage of this opportunity to end the war on the grassland as soon as possible.

We will find a way to deal with subsequent issues in the future.

A bunch of stray dogs will never amount to anything!"

Hudson said without changing his expression.

In a sense, this Orc dungeon is a blessing for him.

The fact that he was able to rise from an inconspicuous baron to his current position was all thanks to the contribution of the Orc Empire.

Deep down in his heart, he felt a little reluctant to end the Orc Empire in one fell swoop.

Putting all this aside, Hudson had to consider how he should deal with himself in the kingdom after the war.

Being able to win battles is a good thing, but being too good at fighting is not necessarily a good thing.

"Peace is determined by the general, and the general is not allowed to see peace!"

This kind of case is not an isolated case in any world.

The biggest advantage of a joint-stock country is that it has a bottom line. As long as you don't fight to the death in the court, the worst that can happen is that you return to your territory and become a local emperor behind closed doors.

However, this is obviously not the best choice. Given Hudson's achievements, it is impossible for him to fade out of everyone's sight all of a sudden.

Even if he was willing, the military would not agree.

The current strength of the Alpha Kingdom was achieved through military efforts.

The reason why Hudson quickly became famous in the mainland was not just because his fame spread naturally, but also because there were countless people behind him who helped promote it.

On the surface, Hudson was in a high position because of his military achievements, but countless political games had also taken place behind the scenes.

However, Hudson did not personally participate in these political games, but pushed them behind the scenes.

The biggest landmark event was the military reform of the Alpha Kingdom.

Before the kingdom's military reform, he was just an ordinary commander; after the military reform was completed, the military merit faction headed by him began to take control of the kingdom's military power.

Today, the tentacles of this inconspicuous emerging faction have spread across the country.

The internal members include both old-established aristocrats and emerging aristocrats, making it difficult to divide them according to traditional positioning.

Initially, the power was concentrated in the military, but now it has gradually spread to local areas.

If nothing unexpected happens, most of the core power in the court in the future will come from this faction.

There was no way out. The best talents in the Alpha Kingdom had all joined the army.

According to the tradition of the kingdom, the direct heirs of the great nobles must serve in the army for training.

If you want to gain more military merits, you must get closer to Hudson.

Political deals are always made quietly. It seems like nothing has been done, but in fact everything has been done.

At least during their military career, they were tied to Hudson.

The destruction of the Orc Empire is an achievement that will be enough for them to brag about for the rest of their lives, and it must not be left unused.

Whenever the war between the kingdom and the orcs is mentioned, Commander Hudson cannot be avoided.

Taking it out to show off every now and then is fine in the short term, but over time it will be hard for Hudson not to become a thorn in the king's side.

For a monarch with a soft temper like Caesar IV, it would be okay. At most, he would curse a few times in private and the matter would be over.

If a strong monarch comes to power and does something unpleasant, Hudson will fight back.

It would be too tiring and laborious to just gather a group of people and oppose the king in the court.

It was just the right time for the orc remnants to run away.

If one day the king dislikes him and makes trouble, or if he dislikes the king, he can encourage the king to go and play the orc dungeon.

"The Marshal means that we should ignore them for the time being?"

Count Gullen asked thoughtfully.

Being able to serve as the chief of staff, he is certainly not a political novice.

The reasons Hudson gave seemed sufficient, but in fact they were untenable.

No one stipulated that the kingdom’s army could not continue to pursue the enemy if they entered the mountains.

The kingdom has a large number of troops gathered on the grassland, and it is not a problem at all to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to hunt down the enemy.

"Of course not!
The most important strategy of the kingdom at the moment is to occupy the prairie and turn the Orc Empire into history.

The few orc tribes that escaped must also be encircled and suppressed, but the decision will depend on the actual situation."

Hudson decisively objected.

There is no substantial change, but there are some things that can be done, but they must never be said publicly.

It was obvious that the core force of the Orc Empire ran away, but in Hudson's words, it simply became "several Orc tribes", and the political significance was completely changed.

The kingdom can let go of a few orc tribes, but it cannot let go of the main force of the orc empire.

The current destruction of the Orc Empire is obviously a bit self-deception, but this is what all sectors of the kingdom want.

The king needs the merit of destroying the Orc Empire, the officials in the court need this outstanding political achievement, and the officers and soldiers participating in the war also need this merit.

If the Orc Empire is to be destroyed in advance, it means that everyone can get what they want in advance.

If the kingdom persists, then for the sake of political correctness it will have to continue the war.

One year, two years, three years...

The orcs who have hid in the ravines cannot be completely wiped out in a short period of time.

Theoretically, the enemy could be killed by wearing out time, but this cycle is too long, and the money, food and supplies required would be absolutely painful.

The most important thing is that the benefits are not proportional to the efforts!
In the past, the kingdom could fight orcs not only to vent hatred but also to expand its territory.

After occupying the prairie, if the war continues, all that will be left is a pile of rotten land.

……

Everything happened as Hudson expected. After the Orc Royal Court and the King's Court fled with their main forces, the resistance of the remaining Orc tribes suddenly weakened a lot.

Wherever the kingdom's army went, there were surrendered soldiers everywhere.

However, whether they can surrender successfully at this time is not only a matter of attitude and position, but also depends on their luck.

The vassal army, eager for military merit, was now bloodthirsty and did not give them any chance to surrender.

Hudson simply pretended not to see this situation.

He knew this would happen from the moment he set the rules.

The group of vassal troops were actually forced into a corner.

We have gathered 200,000 tribesmen, but there are only 100,000 quotas. What should we do with the remaining 100,000 tribesmen?

Killing the enemy in exchange for a spot is always better than sacrificing one's own family members.

However, as they wandered around the prairie, the number of the tribe members inevitably continued to increase.

As a result, the military merits of the vassal army have never been enough since its establishment.

The naked conspiracy was before their eyes, forcing them to go out and fight.

Anyway, we are only killing foreigners, so there is no pressure.

As time went by, the number of orcs on the grassland began to decrease sharply.

It is impossible to count how many enemy troops were killed, but the size of the vassal army grew to 1.5 million.

The number of orcs dependent on the kingdom has reached a staggering seven million.

If the dark elves are included, the number exceeds eight million.

How to deal with such a huge force has become a new problem for Hudson.

If you can't solve the problem, then divert it.

A memorial appeared directly in the court, and the kingdom's high-ranking officials, who were originally immersed in the joy of destroying the Orc Empire, were suddenly confused.

"Prime Minister, how is your government going to resettle these orcs who are dependent on the kingdom?"

Caesar IV's questions gave Duke Becket a headache.

Preferential treatment is impossible!
Given the relationship between the Alpha Kingdom and the orcs, not slaughtering them all would be showing mercy.

If he really gave preferential treatment, the spit from the country would be enough to drown him, the prime minister.

If they are not properly settled, these orcs may easily become a bomb and explode one day.

If given a choice, he would rather the kingdom's army kill all these guys.

(End of this chapter)