章節 175: Defeat
Last night, when Hank was preparing to rest, his adjutant hastily returned to his tent and brought him some very bad news.
Except for the grain transport team from Pergamon County, all the other grain transport teams were unable to arrive here on time. They all encountered problems, troubles, and disasters. Either they encountered a large number of wild beasts contaminated by dark magic on the way, or they fell into ambushes set up by rebel forces, where their supplies were plundered. Some even ran into bandits and robbers. In short, all the grain transport teams were in trouble, and some of them were completely wiped out, with both the supplies and the people gone.
This not only shocked Hank but also left him puzzled. If it were just one grain transport team facing such a situation, it could be explained as an isolated incident. However, now all the grain transport teams were in trouble, including the one from Pergamon County, which also encountered difficulties on the way. This made Hank suspect that there might be a conspiracy behind this.
However, it was not the time to consider the conspiracy behind this. Hank needed to make an immediate decision - whether to continue holding the position here or to retreat.
Even with the grain support coming from Pergamon County, they couldn't hold out for long. In most three days, the supplies in the camp would be exhausted, and they would start starving. This could lead to chaos, with people starving and desertion becoming rampant. Therefore, Hank had to make a decision right away.
After consulting with several generals, Hank decided to launch one final attack on the city built by the inhabitants of the dark realm. If they could capture that city, everything would be resolved. If they failed to capture it, just as before, they would immediately retreat to the rear before the supplies ran out.
To ensure the success of this attack, Hank even wrote letters personally to the commanders of the three armies from different directions, hoping that they would join forces to capture the city built by the dark realm inhabitants.
The commanders of the three armies from the different countries, upon receiving Hank's letters, agreed to the plan. This gave Hank some hope for the operation.
However, Hank had no idea that what awaited him was not victory but a devastating defeat. This was something he could hardly accept, and it left him both shocked and puzzled. It shouldn't have turned out this way. They launched the attack early in the morning, and the enemy should not have been prepared. But the reality was that the enemy not only had been prepared but had also set up numerous ambushes around them. While they were busy with their attack, the ambushes on both sides immediately launched their attacks, resulting in a disastrous defeat for Hank's unprepared army.
Hank hadn't expected ambushes on both sides because there were the armies of Mapleleaf Kingdom and Tianji Kingdom on those sides. The inhabitants of the dark realm couldn't have quietly bypassed their defenses to set up ambushes. Yet, Hank had still fallen into the trap.
"General, the armies of those three countries did not follow the previous agreement!" Hank's adjutant reported this while they were fleeing.
"These bastards!" Hank clenched his teeth in anger.
Despite occasional conflicts among the four countries, especially in recent years when tensions had risen, their attitude had always been unanimous when it came to dealing with the inhabitants of the dark realm. This was the human realm, the world of humans, and no matter how many dark realm people came, they had to be driven out.
Hank had hoped that the armies of the four countries would cooperate to attack the city, even if they couldn't completely capture it, they could at least inflict heavy damage on the dark realm's army.
However, Hank hadn't anticipated that these people would break their promises and, moreover, do so simultaneously. When he recalled the ambushes from two directions earlier, Hank had reasons to suspect that the armies of Mapleleaf Kingdom and Tianji Kingdom had reached some kind of understanding with the dark realm's army, leading to the current situation.
If it were just the people from those three countries not willing to cooperate, Hank wouldn't have been so furious. The crucial issue was that those people had facilitated the dark realm's army, causing significant casualties on his side. This infuriated Hank because, in a way, although the direct perpetrators of their devastating defeat were the dark realm's forces, the armies of the other three countries were certainly accomplices!
However, now was not the time to vent his anger. The dark realm's army was pursuing them relentlessly, and Hank needed to find a way to lead the remaining forces away from danger and shake off their pursuers.
Hank looked at one of his commanders and said, "You lead a portion of the troops to stay behind and cover our retreat. You're also in charge of the prisoners we have from the camp."
At this moment of escape, they certainly didn't have the energy to manage the camp's prisoners. Rather than letting them escape and potentially cause trouble, it was better to leave them as cannon fodder, which could also delay the enemy's advance.
In reality, if Skylark Camp had not already started withdrawing, Hank would have considered leaving it as a rearguard. After all, in front of regular army forces, irregular troops had little standing. If sacrificing Skylark Camp could help more regular soldiers escape, Hank would have done it without hesitation.
However, Skylark Camp had already begun to withdraw, and it was not practical to stop them to block the enemy.
The commander stayed behind to engage the enemy, while Hank led the majority of the troops to break free from the enemy's pursuit and retreat quickly. Their supplies wouldn't last much longer, and after this failed attack, it was the right time to retreat.
On Jake's side, they were also in full retreat. The battlefield was in chaos, with people everywhere. Especially when the regular soldiers caught up with them, the situation became even more chaotic.
Jake and his team were also scattered in this situation. During their retreat, Jake himself drove a horse-drawn carriage, with his team members sitting on the carriage. Since Jake was the only one in the team who could drive a carriage, this task naturally fell to him.
Jake's recent equestrian training wasn't in vain. Although riding a horse and driving a carriage were different, Jake quickly adapted to controlling the carriage, maneuvering through the crowd like a fish, moving forward with agility.
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