Start with a core cabin

Chapter 1553: Border (It’s so hot in the house that I can only wear light clothes)

Basically in similar worlds, heroes fight against the devil alone or in teams, and the reason is very simple.

Humans are short of manpower and firepower.

Generally speaking, the demons have sufficient manpower and powerful firepower, or can drive monsters to fight for them. In comparison, humans can mobilize much less manpower. Especially in this era, there are no large-scale lethal weapons, nor are there easy-to-use weapons. In a battlefield where the numbers are the only way to win, the side with the largest number and the least fear of sacrifice will naturally have the advantage.

Therefore, in order to offset this advantage, the best way is to concentrate a small group of elite forces and launch a decapitation operation against the enemy.

No matter the opponent is Demon, Zerg, Greenskin or something else, this tactic is useful.

The prerequisite is that the hero must be strong enough.

So to put it simply, it’s not that humans don’t want to use the human wave tactic, it’s simply that they can’t afford it.

If they could afford it, they would have played it a long time ago.

So, can beheading the devil solve the problem?

The fact is………………it can’t.

Beheading the demon king will only lead to a leaderless group. The demon king's army may start a civil war to fight for the right to rule, which will give humans some time. Therefore, the best way is to completely destroy the demon king's army and kill them all without leaving a single one. Humans just can't do it, so they can only choose to assassinate the demon king as a second choice.

After all, it takes at least a dozen years to train a soldier from birth to being able to go to the battlefield, and the interval is too long. The level of human civilization in this world is not high, the population is low, and the birth rate cannot be guaranteed. What kind of human wave tactics are there...

Forget it. All in all, let’s first take a look at what the current situation is here, and then it’s not too late to make a decision.

It didn't take long for Duanmu Huai to reach the border fortress. With the king's handwritten letter and token, he soon met General Gross, who was in charge of guarding the fortress.

"Are you the hero who was summoned?"

General Gross was an old man over fifty years old. He looked very dignified, but when he saw Duanmu Huai, the old general was quite surprised—from another perspective.

"I heard that the hero summoned was not from another world?"

"So? What do you think a hero from another world should be like?"

Duanmu Huai folded his arms and stared at the old general, who frowned and thought for a moment.

"Wow... I don't know either, but at least it should be different from us, although you are indeed quite different."

"Okay, enough of the small talk, let's get down to business."

Duanmu Huai waved his hand and cut off the topic directly, and the old general did not say much. After all, the other party held the king's personal letter and token, and even had the power to mobilize the kingdom's army, so he could only do as he was told.

"I want to know about the current movements of the Demon King's army and their composition."

"That's not a problem."

It was obvious that General Gross was quite capable, or it should be expected that he was not an idiot who was just sitting there doing nothing. Soon, he unfolded the military map and began to introduce the current situation to Duanmu Huai.

According to Gross, the Demon King's army launched its first massive attack about a month ago. At that time, all the countries were caught off guard and fled in panic. They also lost their border fortresses and had to retreat here. After confirming that the Demon King's army had invaded, the capital immediately began the plan to summon heroes.

Duanmu Huai inquired carefully and confirmed that the Demon King's army was indeed composed of demons. At least from the old general's description, they were not even sub-humans, but pure aliens. Among them, there were monsters like ogres and gargoyles as the main vanguard force. And just as the king said, the Demon King's army would manipulate a large number of monsters to attack, causing them to suffer heavy casualties.

After all, for the Demon King's army, no matter how many monsters die, they don't mind, but for humans, even losing one soldier is a problem. Therefore, even if ten monsters are exchanged for one soldier, it is still a huge profit for the demons.

"………………According to intelligence, the brave team from the Kingdom of the Divine Protection seems to have eliminated one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Therefore, the Demon King's army is now more cautious. In order to avoid encountering brave men again, the remaining three Heavenly Kings do not seem to plan to appear on the front line like before. This is good news, right?"

After all, if you charge into battle and get hit head-on by a brave warrior, that would be a complete loss of both the wife and the army. I guess that's how the unlucky Four Heavenly Kings died.

But this does not mean that the situation has improved.

"It seems that the Demon King's army is planning to suspend its offensive against the Kingdom of the Protector and turn to our country."

"Oh? Why do you see it?"

"Because officially, only our country has not yet produced any heroes."

Gross hesitated for a moment, but still expressed his guess.

"Since the Kingdom of the Divine Protection eliminated one of the Four Heavenly Kings, it has been confirmed that a hero will appear. The first princess of the Kingdom of Magical Equipment is a hero who possesses a divine weapon. Only our country has not yet officially announced a hero. Therefore, from the perspective of the Demon King's army, as long as they can defeat our country in one go, it will be much easier to deal with the other two countries."

"It sounds better when you say it than when you sing it. It's not that easy."

Duanmuhuai snorted coldly.

"So, are there any problems now?"

“The biggest problem is naturally the lack of manpower.”

General Gross gave a helpless smile. "The Demon King's army is able to control thousands of magical beasts. It's really a cheating method. Moreover, those magical beasts themselves have powerful strength. Ordinary soldiers are no match for them at all."

"Have you ever thought about recruiting adventurers? Even if we can't have them fight on the battlefield, we can at least form a guerrilla team to conduct reconnaissance and harassment on the Demon King's army from the rear."

“We can’t pay them enough.”

The old general shook his head again.

"Besides, the ethics of adventurers are not trustworthy. It is hard to say whether they will become accomplices of the Demon King's army and attack us."

"Um……………"

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment again.

"Oh, by the way, on my way here, I saw the slave trade of demi-humans here... Can we let those demi-humans form an army to fight?"

"Now I can be sure that you are indeed a hero from another world."

The old general showed a bitter smile on his face.

"Your suggestion is something we would never even consider."

"Oh why?"

"Legend has it that these demihumans were originally the accomplices and subordinates of the first demon king. After the first demon king was annihilated by the first hero, they scattered and fled to various places. In fact, every time the demon king invaded humans, there were demihumans who became accomplices of the demon king's army. Therefore, we never consider asking the demihumans to help us fight the demon king. It does them no good at all. On the contrary, if our country is destroyed, they will be very happy."

"I see."

Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes, was silent for a moment, and nodded.

"Okay, I already understand the current situation. So what is the first combat goal you want to achieve now?"

"To be greedy, of course I want to destroy the Demon King's army... Hahaha, okay, just kidding. As of now, what I want to do most is to retake the occupied fortress."

Having said that, General Gross clenched his fists tightly.

"The attack of the Demon King's army came too suddenly, and the fortress was lost without any preparation. Strictly speaking, if we could have noticed the invasion of the Demon King's army earlier, we could have completely resisted the attack. Although this canyon is suitable for defense, it is only a temporary stronghold after all, and is not enough to resist the formal attack of the Demon King's army. Looking back now, the fortress was lost too easily. There must be a traitor..."

General Gross clenched his fists, looking unwilling.

Maybe he was really unwilling to accept this.

"Are there enough soldiers?"

"At the moment, as long as we take back the fortress, we will have enough soldiers to defend it. Of course, the premise is that the other side does not have any powerful demons..."

This possibility is basically non-existent. After all, the old general himself said before that the demons like to show their strength by charging into battle, which is why the Four Heavenly Kings will personally go to the front line to fight. After all, as long as they crush the resistance of humans with an unstoppable posture, it will greatly boost their own morale, weaken the fighting spirit of humans, and also show their own strength.

That is, one of them jumped too happily and was killed by the brave man, and then the other three learned to be cowardly.

But this does not mean that other powerful demons will also be cowardly.

Demons value strength, and as long as they show a stronger power than the Four Heavenly Kings, they may seize their position. It is said that the current position of the Four Heavenly Kings was obtained by defeating their previous masters. Not to mention that one of the Four Heavenly Kings is missing now, there must be many demons eyeing it, trying to show their strength to get this vacant position.

"Double the patrols."

Duanmu Huai finally made a decision.

"But this way, there will be fewer people on defense..."

"You said that the demons were just harassing me before. I have a feeling that they will not just be harassing me. They may launch an attack in the next two days. Therefore, I want you to send more people to be on guard. If there is any situation, notify me immediately."

"Okay, Lord Brave."

Although the old general wanted to say something, he said nothing in the end. Perhaps he also felt that if the Demon King's army really marched in full force, then the few men under his command would not be enough no matter how he maneuvered them. In this case, it would be better to learn about the other party's actions earlier, which might make it easier to guard against them.

After that, Duanmu Huai naturally stayed here. The simple checkpoint did not have a place for Duanmu Huai to stay, so the old general arranged Duanmu Huai to stay in the hotel in the village next to the checkpoint. He also told the village chief to take good care of this customer. Of course, the old general also emphasized Duanmu Huai's identity as a brave man, which naturally scared the village chief who had never seen the world and nodded repeatedly, and then arranged the best room in the hotel for Duanmu Huai.

"call…………………"

Lying on the bed and looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, Duanmu Huai let out a long sigh.

To be honest, up to now, Duanmu Huai didn't think this task had anything to do with pleasure.

But he has already decided that no matter what the world is like, he just needs to do what he wants. As for whether he will be happy in the end... he will tell when the time comes.

Maybe the other party will see that I am not qualified and directly revoke my position as the priest of joy?
If that's the case, it's a good thing.

After making the decision, Duanmu Huai closed his eyes and fell asleep.