Chapter 65: Movements of the Elven Empire

Upon a border-adjacent watchtower in the Istanbul region, Elf Colonel Gister, clad in the Elven Empire's distinctive patterned military uniform and grasping his saber, looked down upon the ground strewn with the corpses of human resistance fighters.

There were fully a thousand human corpses here—the main force of the resistance that Colonel Gister had lured out through deception. With fewer than a thousand ambushers, he had effortlessly surrounded and annihilated them.

Over the past two years, such battles had occurred frequently. The continuous construction of blockhouse chains along the routes made the Elven Empire's logistics increasingly secure. The human resistance forces in the Istanbul region found it harder and harder to strike at the Elven Empire's supply convoys. The resulting consequence was not only that the Elven armies possessed more abundant provisions to intensify their suppression campaigns, but also that the human resistance fighters, entirely devoid of an industrial system, faced the dire predicament of having no sources for ammunition and firearms!

Food could still be secured through hunting, but without any factories or handicraft workshops, weapons were depleted one by one with no replenishment in sight.

Consequently, several months ago, Colonel Gister had noticed that the harassment activities of the human resistance were dwindling, while every raid saw them muster as much force as possible in desperate bids to secure supplies. Capitalizing on this, Colonel Gister had slaughtered a massive number of desperate human resistance fighters. To this day, most of the human resistance members in the Istanbul region bold enough to fight to the death had perished under the butcher blades of the Elven Empire. Many of those remaining had abandoned this human wasteland, forsaking their ancestral homes to migrate toward the Three-Human Alliance.

Moreover, owing to his perfected logistical network and hands stained with the blood of human resistance fighters, Colonel Gister had won the appreciation of Marshal Aldo Gite, receiving a battlefield promotion to Brigadier General with the authority to command an entire division!

Centaur Colonel Malido rode the wave of his superior's success. The Elven Empire's unique dual-track military system meant that this steadfast partner of his likewise received promotions and pay raises, continuing as Brigadier General Gister's loyal henchman.

"Boss, I hear there is fresh news from the Song State. That formidable army of over 100,000 that made such a grand display recently turned out to be absolute trash! Tens of thousands of them suffered a pyrrhic victory at the hands of fewer than 2,000 men, haha. In my view, the combat effectiveness of those so-called Blue Shirt Army troops is about on par with these human guerrillas we've been butchering. It seems that butcher Sun Li is also at the end of his tether, hehe." Malido showed immense interest in the shattering of the Song State's myth of invincibility. One had to remember that when he first heard tales of Song soldiers strapping explosives to their bodies and hurling themselves into enemy ranks, he had shivered so violently he almost dropped his fine wine... He simply could not imagine what he would do if faced with such an enemy: run, run, or run?

The Elven Empire's ambitions regarding the European continent were an open secret, and these Elven officers naturally regarded the Song State as their primary hypothetical enemy. Upon hearing the news that the Song State's hundred-plus thousand troops were all subpar shams, Malido was in exceptionally high spirits.

"Although the regular army of the Song State—those Red Shirt troops—was nearly depleted in the war against the Dwarf Empire, we must not underestimate this rising nation. The Song State has something rather uncanny about it; their core citizenry seems to harbor an ineffable fanaticism toward their Emperor, Sun Li. Oh, I am not implying that the warriors of our Elven Empire lack loyalty and bravery, but the fanaticism of those Song madmen differs from our racial glory. How should I put it? They somewhat resemble the religious zealots of the Holy Light Kingdom, except the object of their faith is not a deity, but their Emperor?!

Fortunately, such soldiers are not overly numerous within the Song State's military apparatus. As can be seen from the Song State's recent pyrrhic victory, the majority of their armed forces still conform to 'reality.' Now that our logistical routes are secured, in a few days the mobilization orders should come down. Based on our performance, we might even secure the vanguard's honor. I wonder if this time we will form a coalition with the various human nations, or operate independently. Regardless of the scenario, the day of the Elven Empire's rise is not far off." Gister spoke to Malido with a smiling expression.

There was another untimely thought in his mind that he left unsaid: all of this was predicated upon the condition that Sun Li of the Song State did not miraculously pull tens of thousands of death-defying elites out of a hat once more!

"Haha, Boss, the two of us are brigadier generals now. Once the Elven Empire achieves victory, we can at least secure major general ranks. By then, the two of us will be big shots too," Malido said with an excited expression.

Gister smiled without replying. What he actually wanted to say was: perhaps so, if we manage to survive the upcoming battles...

*Oh, perhaps I am merely being too pessimistic. As a brigadier general, I won't even need to fight on the front lines, so how could my life possibly be in danger—unless...*

*No, under the invincible iron hooves of the Elven Empire's grand army, how could such a thing ever happen?!*

For some reason, Brigadier General Gister always felt in his heart that Sun Li's Song State would not collapse so easily. He harbored a persistent sense of crisis—a completely ungrounded sense of crisis, born of pure intuition.

With deep, contemplative eyes gazing at the Elven soldiers clearing away the corpses, Gister sighed inwardly: *I hope my intuition is wrong this time...*

Istanbul Elven High Command.

"Hahaha, I knew those Song bumpkins were all show and no substance. With a force ten times that of their enemy, they managed to pull off such a pathetic result against those short stature dwarfs. It seems it is time for that butcher Sun Li to crawl back to his New World! Hmph, a nation established less than ten years ago daring to covet supremacy at the center of the world—such sheer arrogance!

Orderly! My orders: all troops currently deployed in the peripheral suppression of the human resistance are to return to camp. Summon all officers of general rank and above; I am calling a military conference!" Marshal Aldo Gite commanded with a cold sneer as he held the latest intelligence report concerning the Song State.

"Yes, Marshal!"

In the Istanbul region, the human resistance fighters, who had been pushed to the brink of despair, were pleasantly surprised to discover that the massive and heavily armed Elven Imperial soldiers had vanished. The surviving humans of the Istanbul region soberly realized that their current strength could no longer shake the foundations of Elven rule. Feeling disheartened, numerous resistance members packed their bags and headed toward nations still governed by humanity.

Under two years of high-pressure policies, Marshal Aldo Gite had finally reaped the harvest he desired. Although the guerrilla forces throughout the Istanbul region had not been completely eradicated, after relentless massacres and pacification campaigns, this territory could no longer pose any threat to the Elven Empire.

The Elven Empire could now march forward toward its ultimate objective without a single worry in the rear!