Chapter 43: The Abandoned Georgia Kingdom
Although Arthur had no idea what Airael was thinking at that moment, he was quite satisfied with her response.
“What does Your Majesty want me to do next?”
“I’m hungry.”
Despite Airael’s desire to maintain her regal aura, her stomach was clearly not cooperating, leaving her to weakly express her need.
Having eaten little since morning and having exerted herself with much physical labor, she was both physically and mentally drained.
“Alright, please wait a moment, Your Majesty. I’ll prepare some food for you right away.”
After filling her belly, Airael felt somewhat improved.
However, she still hadn’t fully recovered.
Her entire body felt like it was falling apart; Arthur had made her go through quite the ordeal.
Thinking back to this, Airael shot Arthur a resentful glare.
This was hardly serving; it was practically a death sentence!
Arthur, meanwhile, wore an expression that said he saw nothing.
It was too late to blame him now; everyone had seemed quite comfortable back then.
Due to her exhaustion, Airael spent the remainder of the day languishing in bed.
She had no desire to go anywhere; all she wanted was to lie down and rest.
If she could, she wouldn’t even want to address her bodily needs herself.
So, this day of the holiday was spent with the two of them in bed—not wasted, shouldn’t call it that—they engaged in a rather sacred activity of creation.
It should be said that this was something very meaningful!
Time passed until the first day after the holiday.
On this day, Arthur and his army received an official order.
They were to head to the southern border of the Machia Republic to guard against the southern Georgia Kingdom, specifically, the dwarves that had already conquered the Georgia Kingdom.
Not long ago, the capital of the Georgia Kingdom had fallen to the dwarves.
Only a few northern cities were still resisting while the rest utterly lost the will to fight under the dwarves’ gunfire.
They submitted to the dwarves, recognizing them as their masters.
Upon hearing this news, Arthur felt a heavy heart.
This meant that if the dwarves moved north, they would not only face the dwarves’ new army but also a large number of human forces.
Fortunately, here he had also gathered a wealth of intelligence related to the dwarves.
For instance, about those new weapons of theirs.
During the march, after listening to Arthur’s description of the dwarves’ new weapons, Airael felt rather speechless.
She was no stranger to these weapons.
The so-called “Wrath of the Mountains” was just guns and cannons.
Of course, guns and cannons were quite powerful.
Especially when both formed a dense barrage.
On the battlefield, that was truly a meat grinder!
“Ailia, how do you think we should deal with the dwarves if we encounter this new army of theirs?”
“Just use cover and trenches!”
Airael responded.
Cover and trenches not only effectively defended against the early gunfire and cannon fire, but if the fortifications were well built, they could also withstand the later powerful cannon and gunfire.
“Cover and trenches?”
Arthur was puzzled.
Airael promptly explained their functions to him.
After a moment of thought, Arthur replied, “This method is indeed somewhat feasible, but we can only passively defend against the dwarves’ attack without effectively countering them. Moreover, setting up cover and trenches requires a lot of time. Additionally, in the trenches, visibility is blocked, making it hard for the soldiers to receive my orders, which could easily lead to a breakdown of morale.”
Hearing all the drawbacks Arthur listed, Airael shook her head.
This was the limitation of the times.
You may have methods that surpass this era, but the productivity of the times simply could not support implementing those methods.
In contrast, Airael believed the dwarves would be able to quickly put her methods into practice.
Yet, facing humans still in the cold weapon era, they had no need for that; it was as simple as lining up for mass shootings.
“There has to be a way!”
Arthur asserted.
Airael remained noncommittal.
A solution certainly existed; they just needed to figure it out.
“Let’s wait until we see the dwarven army first! Right now, we still lack a direct understanding of them.”
Airael continued.
“Mm!”
Arthur nodded.
That made sense; even though the intelligence described things objectively, it inevitably carried subjective views, and some things truly needed to be witnessed firsthand to be understood.
At the southern border of the Machia Republic, Arthur and Airael found the situation to be far worse than they had anticipated.
They not only had to guard against the dwarves but also maintain security along the border.
Many people had fled from the Georgia Kingdom to Machia, including several nobles with ties to the upper echelons of their own country.
These people were now gathered near the border.
Some were even plotting to use Machia’s strength to reclaim their homeland.
Little did they know, the Machia Republic currently had no intention of engaging the dwarves in battle.
The dwarves’ new weapons made the republic’s leaders apprehensive.
Moreover, it wasn’t just the republic; several other countries were wary as well.
Thus, they shared a common thought.
Until they completely understood the dwarves’ new weapons and found a way to counter them, battles with the dwarves should be avoided if possible.
In other words, as long as the dwarves maintained their current territory and did not expand further north, the neighboring countries would tacitly accept that the Georgia Kingdom had been mostly overrun by the dwarves.
Then, they would establish a new Georgia Kingdom with the remaining territory to placate the nobles of the Georgia Kingdom.
Therefore, Arthur and the others’ true purpose here was merely to bolster border defenses, making it sufficient to respond to any surprises.
And before those surprises occurred, they had to deal with these people first.
They weren’t afraid of fighting the enemy, but dealing with this situation was truly a headache.
Yet, they had no choice but to act.
Otherwise, if unrest broke out internally, it would be even more troublesome for them.
Having just managed to convince a group of people to leave, Arthur approached Airael and said, “Ailia, maybe I shouldn’t have come here. I should stay in the north. Even if it means sticking to the desolate Malong Fortress, I’d prefer that over being here.”
Airael chuckled, “Actually, I think it’s alright, Arthur. Don’t forget your ultimate goal. If you always stay in the north, you can only be a general and won’t be able to become…”
Though Airael didn’t finish her sentence, she knew Arthur understood.
With a heavy expression, Arthur nodded, “I know all this. I will handle it properly.”
