dmims Chapter 94 Ridicule and Diary
Chapter 94 Ridicule and Diary
After the crowd dispersed, Jules pulled Tiberius to a corner, the tragic and resolute expression on his face vanishing instantly, replaced by a world-weary cynicism.
"Blood war? Blood war my ass!" He practically spat out the words through clenched teeth, and casually slapped Tiberius on the back of the head.
"You're getting too caught up in the drama, aren't you? Of course Lisangluo is willing to fight to the death. His father, Lisangzhuo Luojiaer, is the governor of Ries! Behind the Bloodline Pass are their family's assets. They are protecting their family's foundation and clan."
"Besides, my father, Lisanzhuo Rogal, is the Governor of Rees, and behind him is the entire Rogal family! Every drop of blood he sheds here will become the most dazzling medal in his father's political career."
"And us? We're just mercenaries who get paid to do things! If we really bleed to death in this godforsaken place, will the men of Rhys remember who we are?"
Jules grabbed his water glass, took a swig, and curled his lip in disgust. "Well, to be honest, your 'I'll die for my country today' performance gave me goosebumps."
"Anyone who didn't know better would really think you had the blood of a Rissian flowing in their veins!"
Tiberius rubbed the back of his head, not angry at all, but instead chuckled, a slyness on his face befitting his age.
"Uncle, I'm just trying to cooperate with you and leave a good impression on our real benefactor, Governor Lisanzhuo," he said with a grin.
"After all, your nickname in this business is 'The Keeper of Faith' Jules. We can't be like those vulgar mercenary groups that always have 'more money' on their lips. We have to provide the emotional value, right? We have to make our clients feel that every gold coin they spend buys our 'loyalty'."
Jules chuckled and patted Tiberius on the head: "You slippery little thing! Listen, Tiberius, we're not here to be martyrs. We have to defend, after all, we took someone else's golden dragon. But... leave yourselves a way out, understand? If things really become unbearable, then we should retreat first! After all..." Jules paused.
"We are not to blame for this defeat! Besides, our retreat was justified... Our contract was signed with Lord Lisangzhuo Rogal, and it is written in black and white that we will protect the Rogal family's property and interests in the disputed territory."
"We are loyal to him, not to Rees and his bunch of empty-talking senators, and certainly not to that foolish General Mitrista of Mil who lost the war and disgraced the nation!"
He walked to the map and pointed precisely to several manors and mines that were highlighted, all of which were the private property of the Lisanzhuo family.
"When things truly reach a point where nothing can be done, we retreat, not in defeat." His voice was low, but carried an undeniable resolve.
"That's called a 'strategic retreat.' Our mission is to ensure that Lord Lisandro's manor, warehouses, and mines are not destroyed before the chaos engulfs us, and to safely transfer his assets to the rear."
"At that time, we will announce to the public that: Our Jules unit, in order to protect the core assets of Ries and avoid unnecessary sacrifices, has been ordered to move to the pre-established defensive position and continue to fulfill its duty of protecting the Rojaer family. We have preserved our strength and given a perfect explanation to our benefactor."
"As for the reaction from the Reese authorities?" He shrugged.
"Whoever gives us gold coins, we'll be responsible to them. It's that simple. Unless the Riess city government gives me the money right now, hold out here? Dream on."
Tiberius nodded to himself. His uncle understood better than anyone else: in this doomed war, to survive, and to live a meaningful life, was the greatest loyalty to one's employer.
As for Governor Rees's reputation and the unrealistic "strategic counter-offensive" in the minds of those allies, let those bigwigs sitting in the safe rear worry about that themselves.
-----------------
Vito's diary is filled with profanity and slang.
(Date unknown)
Wangbao is lost.
When the news arrived, I was oiling my bow and arrows. No one spoke; there was only deathly silence.
It's over, everyone knows it's over. The biggest nail on the other side of the river was pried off by General Marcus of Valantis.
Damn it, the initial promotional materials described it as an "insurmountable pass," an "impregnable fortress," "unbeatable," and "meticulously designed by Reiss craftsmen"...
Bullshit! It's all fucking lies!
These words only fool the wealthy merchants and citizens of Riss. There are no fortresses that never fall in this world. The only way to win a war is through open field battles! Crushing the enemy's manpower in open field battles is the only real, tangible victory!
The Three Taxes Office is a complete joke! The Mil and Tyrosian reinforcements arrived, but they couldn't even get a hair in the hole.
Those engineers from Valantis, supposedly from the Fourth Legion's "Iron Totem," are they reincarnated gophers? The trenches are layered upon layered, the low walls and makeshift fortresses are denser than a chessboard! Who's actually waging a siege?
I'm really impressed. Why do these Valanteans love doing civil engineering projects so much?
And what happened to the promised "blossoming from the center," a pincer attack from both inside and outside? And what was the result? Those well-dressed old men at the Three Taxes Bureau didn't even dare open the city gates! They hid behind the city walls like turtles!
Fight? What's the point of fighting here! Our army is as immovable as a mountain when in trouble, and as fierce as fire when the enemy retreats and invades, our army advances as slowly as a forest, right?
I'm just glad that Jules is a smart man and didn't listen to those Governor Reis's nonsense and lead us into that meat grinder. He insisted on holding the flank corridor, even if it meant turning against Reis.
Isn't it better to be alive than to be a foolish person who throws themselves to their death?
The latest news is even more alarming—Marcus's main force, which captured Wangbao, has marched south with overwhelming force and is heading straight for the Three Taxes Gate.
The scout said that the formation... damn it, there were war elephants, super-heavy cavalry like tin cans, and a full eight full-strength Tiger Robe Army legions! Eight! Just listening to it, I could almost hear the earth trembling.
May the seven gods protect us, and may the walls of Shuangqiao Town and Xuexian Pass be thick enough so that we have enough food and supplies!
-----------------
Tiberius's Diary. (The handwriting is messy, with numerous grammatical errors and corrections.)
(Written at the same time as Vito)
Wangbao was lost after all.
Honestly, when this news came, I didn't even bother to lift an eyelid. Wasn't this expected? If such a miracle could happen, the gods must have collectively drunk too much of that pale green fire wine from Myr!
I've been chatting with Mohata these past few days, and the stories he tells are truly shocking: the Valantean nobles in New Valantis and the Taxpayer Island are said to have gone completely mad—the noblewomen have even pawned their family heirlooms to get a mercenary contract and have one more steel knife forged!
What kind of desperate madness is this? They are not fighting a war; they are making a huge gamble, betting their entire bloodline and honor!
Valantis, truly worthy of being the absolute ruler of Essos! His spirit and energy are extraordinary!
On the other hand, what about our side?
Ha! I overheard some idiot officer from Lisbon spouting nonsense about how "the Valantis are exhausted, their offensive will inevitably falter, and the advantage is on our side"...
I really want to slap my stinky boots on his stupid face! Is he still dreaming, or is he still fast asleep?
The enemy is sharpening their knives, willing to sacrifice everything to kill us; yet our people are still yawning in self-deception, fantasizing that the Valantis are already on the verge of collapse, and that at the Three Tax Gates they will witness the unity and courage of the Kingdom of the Three Daughters…
Pooh!
I know best what the unity and courage of the Three Daughters Kingdom are: it's about betraying teammates and surviving!
What's the point of fighting? Surrender now and you'll at least have some dignity!
-----------------
Jules's Diary.
(Concise and to the point, without excessive profanity.)
Wangbao has fallen.
And the three customs checkpoints are about to fall.
This is not a prophecy, or the pessimistic expectation of those disheartened veterans. I am simply stating an undeniable prediction.
The Myr and Tyrothians who went to relieve the siege did not return. They were not defeated; they were completely trapped. Like an insect caught in a spider's web, they were unable to move, bound by the spiderweb of Valantis.
Initially, the soldiers of the Three Taxes Gate were locked inside by the first wave of Valantines' siege troops, who used trenches, watchtowers, and low walls to trap them. At that time, all the frontline officers were cursing, "Who the hell is waging a siege?!" They, the Valantines, had turned the attack into a siege.
Then, reinforcements from Myr and Tyroth arrived, and it seemed that the Valanthis were about to be overwhelmed by the center, caught between the soldiers inside the city and those outside, and the siege of the Three Taxes Pass was about to be lifted...
(The handwriting has become messy, suggesting that the author's emotions are very unstable.)
"A flower blooming in the center"? "A pincer attack from both inside and outside"? Looking back now, it was simply the most vicious joke of our war!
The Three Taxes Gate guards, supposedly the elite of the Ries, were terrified by the Valantis's might and didn't dare peek out! They just stood there watching and waiting, passively watching the Tyrosi and Myr launch one hopeless attack after another on the Valantis's camps and fortifications outside the city, only to be smashed to their heads and bleed!
As employees of the Reiss, from a military and purely military perspective, we must acknowledge that the Tyrossi and the Myr fought well, tenaciously, and exceptionally well, deserving of their pay and the honor they bore.
If the people inside the Three Taxes Pass were willing to leave the city to fight the enemy, perhaps the siege of the Three Taxes Pass could really be lifted. The first wave of the Valantis siege troops would then retreat.
But it was too late, because Marcus's main force leisurely descended the road from Wangbao.
They didn't directly annihilate the Mir and the Tyroth—that would easily allow them to escape. (The handwriting is darker, suggesting a very strong emotional fluctuation.)
They did something even more ruthless and humiliating: after achieving a local victory, the allied forces were forced to retreat back into their original siege camp. As a result, these guys were trapped inside by the Valantean cavalry, those swaggering cavalrymen, those super-heavy cavalrymen whose charges were like mountains crashing down—these guys forced the allied forces to refrain from making any rash moves.
Then their engineers and auxiliary troops began digging those damned trenches, watchtowers, and makeshift camps again outside the Mil-Tellosi coalition that had come to rescue them!
Yes, you are not mistaken.
While the allied forces dared not make any rash moves, they built a new and more solid earthen fortification outside the positions of the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Three Daughters!
Only an empire with a rich history like Valantis could afford to maintain an entire highly professional engineering legion...
Now, the battlefield has become a damned concentric circle: at the very center are the terrified defenders of the Three Taxes Pass; in the middle are the reinforcements who wanted to rescue people but were instead surrounded, and the first wave of Valantis besieging the Three Taxes Pass; at the very outermost center are the victorious Valantis army, rested and ready, sharpening their swords.
Our people, those they wanted to save, and those who came to kill them, were all locked up in this hell that only the most morbidly sensible people could conceive of!
With the seven gods above, that's a full ten thousand people!