Page 230

Looking at the white wolf phantom inside the gem, I felt a strange sense of emotion welling up in my heart. Ice Wind, I originally thought that you would be able to stand by my side and help me build an everlasting legacy. Now, although the form has changed, you have still remained by my side in a way.

PS: I originally didn’t plan to bring Ice Wind back into the story. However, there’s a scene later where Chen Xuanfeng leads a wolf cavalry into battle. If he were riding a dragon or an ordinary giant wolf, it would go against the author's original intention. So, in the end, Ice Wind returns under Chen Xuanfeng’s command as a ghost wolf.

It seems that the irreconcilable conflict between the author and the protagonist lies in their soft hearts.

Chapter Ninety-One: Prosperity Comes with Establishing a Household

Throughout the entire month of October, the Holy City was engulfed in arguments.

There were many causes for the conflicts. The spoils of the northern war needed to be distributed, and the prospects of the southern sea war were highly appealing. More importantly, with the impending war, the debates over the allocation of forces among the Viking Empire’s sea routes, the land route of the War God Corridor, and my own route through Fontainebleau had the entire alliance’s leadership in constant disagreement. Although Orc King Samanda held the title of king, he was not an emperor who could make unilateral decisions. Thus, he had to employ various strategies to coordinate the forces of the different tribes while carefully seeking more benefits for his own race and family.

Compared to the historically significant routes of the Viking Strait and the War God Corridor, the strategic importance of my controlled Fontainebleau was relatively minor. Even with the Devouring Swamp opening a passage, crossing the desolate and water-scarce Half-Orc Plains remained a severe challenge for large-scale military operations. The divine artifact “Tear of Gaia” could eliminate the residual energy of forbidden spells, but the altered terrain and mutated creatures were not so easily restored to their original state. For example, the Green Scale River, which once flowed directly into the sea, had become the inland Red River—a change that no artifact could reverse. While various tribes like the hardy Yak and the swift wolf cavalry could cross the plains in large numbers, logistical supplies lagged far behind troop movements. This campaign into the human world was not for plunder but to seize territory. To avoid a full-scale human counterattack, we could not slaughter humans to obtain supplies, making logistical support essential. Thus, the ultimate limitation on the campaign's scale was Fontainebleau’s own logistical capacity.

Therefore, aside from our own forces, Fontainebleau could only support a limited number of troops, with 100,000 being the maximum. This meant that much of the dispute in the Holy City had little to do with me. The temporary strategic command headquarters only tasked me with organizing troops and preparing as much military supplies and provisions as possible, without requiring me to join any major legion or be led by someone else. On one hand, this was because I held the title of “Sword Saint,” and aside from the Orc King, no one could command me. On the other hand, the forces under my command in Fontainebleau exceeded the maximum number of troops that could cross the Half-Orc Plains to attack the human world. If troops were to be deployed, I would have to lead them.

Currently, the forces I can deploy in Fontainebleau include 3,000 civilian Snow Wolf Knights, 12,000 Minos warriors, 18,000 mixed wolf cavalry from the Red, Gray, and Black Wolf tribes, and a mixed legion of various subordinate races like the Dog, Jackal, and Hyena tribes, totaling 30,000. Additionally, there are 8,000 human mercenaries and 100,000 Half-Orc warriors, along with the elite “Red Boar Imperial Guard” of 8,000 soldiers. The Snow Wolf Knights are a force of elite light cavalry trained in the martial arts I imparted, and they are incredibly powerful. The Minos warriors are arguably the world's strongest heavy infantry. The mixed wolf cavalry and subordinate races are not the primary forces in Fontainebleau, so their combat effectiveness is relatively weaker. As for the human troops, although many have followed me since my early days, I dare not heavily rely on them with the impending southern campaign.

However, the Half-Orc legion, with their strength and physical constitution just below those of the five major combat races, overcame their previous foolishness and cowardice under the control of my “Staff of Domination.” By practicing a combination of “Golden Bell Shield” and “Iron Shirt,” they developed copper-like skin and iron-like bones, making them formidable opponents on the battlefield. When wielding giant axes and large blades, they could overwhelm two or three times their number of human heavy infantry. The “Red Boar Imperial Guard” was originally the elite force of the Pig Tribe before they became Half-Orcs. After obtaining the testament of the former Pig Tribe’s Great Shaman, I selected talented young Half-Orcs from all my subordinates to fast-track them through a martial arts training program and systematically learn martial arts. It seems that after the Pig Tribe evolved into Half-Orcs and underwent harsh survival selection and mutation, the percentage of individuals capable of cultivating battle qi has increased. With the continuous efforts of both me and Katherine over the past three years, we have finally amassed this loyal elite force.

Due to the previous lack of intelligence work, Katherine has spent the last month personally organizing an intelligence network in the Holy City, which has finally established an effective information-gathering system. Therefore, even though I haven’t participated in many high-level meetings, the overall blueprint of the southern campaign plan has gradually unfolded before us.

The alliance’s strategic plan is not complicated. Simply put, it involves a full-scale attack with two main assaults and one harassment operation. The Viking Empire has lost half of its elite forces, and after a century of fierce battles, the Lion Tribe has gained a clear understanding of the Viking Empire’s internal situation. The navy under the command of Lion Heart City, in coordination with the North Sea Fleet, has already blockaded all coastal ports. Once preparations are complete, a large army will launch a beachhead assault into the heart of the Viking Empire.

At the same time, as the most direct passage between the alliance and the human world, the War God Corridor will become the main offensive route for the alliance’s forces. The northern end of the corridor is the “Heroic Fortress Group” of the orcs, while the southern end is the human-built “Iron Blood Fortress.” However, despite its famous reputation, the strategic importance of this fortress is far less than the orc side. The orc high command knows that this fortress, which has not suffered a strong assault for a long time, has begun to rot. Once the orcs launch an all-out attack, capturing it will only take a few days. Even though the Temple is aware of the alliance’s plans, there is no way to make up for centuries of neglect in just one winter.