Comparing the two sides now, the kingdom's intelligence was at an absolute disadvantage.
Because Xia Jin was a princess of the kingdom and had recent contact with them, she understood their situation perfectly.
But the kingdom had never truly understood how powerful the Zerg were.
They only knew that in the eastern part of the kingdom, along the shores of Clearwillow Lake, this power was actually fighting a war against the gnolls at the same time.
Every day, tens of thousands of locusts were like a chef slicing noodles from a block of dough, carving off fresh strips from the gnoll population piece by piece, forcing the tribe to constantly retreat.
Seeing this, the kingdom even dispatched a secondary force to launch a sneak attack on the swarm from behind.
A total of eighty thousand locusts were traded for a large number of the enemy's Tier 2 and Tier 3 warriors, though the locusts themselves were completely wiped out.
This approach was merely based on the judgment that the threat of the gnolls was far less than that of the Zerg.
What they did not expect was that after the humans defeated this locust force, the unwitting gnolls thought they saw an opportunity and gathered a massive force to viciously ambush the rear of this secondary kingdom force.
By the time the battle ended, that unit was nearly broken.
And the gnolls' own losses were also very severe.
After some analysis, these gnolls realized that the Zerg and the kingdom were actually at odds?
But it was too late. Their attack had directly turned the battle into a three way chaotic brawl.
The kingdom felt insulted and directly dispatched a main force legion stationed in the southern region, along with the private armies of several southern lords, totaling one hundred thousand men, intending to wipe out the gnolls in one fell swoop and drive them out of the kingdom's territory.
The swarm hosts specifically producing locusts in this area took the opportunity to slip away.
In fact, they had no choice but to leave now. A kingdom legion was already approaching this area, and Xia Jin would be very pained if she lost a hundred swarm hosts.
Led by some zerglings and hydralisks, these hundred or so hosts returned to the hive near Clearwillow Lake and began producing locusts there.
With forty eight thousand produced every day, they were dispersed directly into the kingdom heartland to engage the secondary forces in various places, draining their energy to prevent them from supporting the main force on the front line.
This tactic was undoubtedly very successful.
To appease the civilians, the secondary forces began to deploy on a large scale to fight against the locusts.
Although these units had many Tier 2 and Tier 3 soldiers, with Tier 4 making up a smaller proportion and Tier 5 being held for important positions, they were helpless against the elusive locusts appearing everywhere.
A few tens of thousands of small insects scattered into the countryside, cities, or any place you might not notice, taking the chance to launch sneak attacks. They were all completely fearless of death, and they also possessed ranged attacks and poisoning methods. No one could withstand such a thing.
...
On the kingdom's side.
News had already been received that two more legions might be facing a crisis. Lord Gor climbed out of bed in the middle of the night and convened all the ministers on behalf of the King.
“Contact has also been lost with the 8th Legion and the 13th Legion. Not long ago, an aerial reconnaissance unit went to search for news and saw the two legions engaged in battle with a staggering number of enemies.”
Gor pushed a magical communication document onto the massive long table.
The twenty ministers sitting on both sides of the table were all silent.
Documents were delivered to each person by attendants within the royal court, containing the specific details of this intelligence.
Of course, any extremely important secrets would not be seen by the ministers in such a setting.
“Does no one have any thoughts?”
Seeing everyone silent, Gor asked with a heavy expression.
“Lord Gor, if this enemy is related to the mythic magic beasts, I fear we must specifically contact the Empire,” one minister said uneasily.
“That judgment has no basis.” Another old man glanced at him. “If the mythic magic beasts truly wanted to launch a large scale offensive against humanity, it wouldn't be with such minor, petty probes. The heart of humanity is not here in this kingdom; everyone knows that. Moreover, the matter of a magic beast invasion is extremely serious to the Empire. I presume none of you wish for them to cast too many eyes in our direction.”
“Correct.” Gor nodded, seemingly agreeing with the old minister's viewpoint.
“Lord, the origin of this race called the Zerg is highly unusual. We have not sent a diplomatic team to them... or rather, there is no evidence yet to prove that the two sides are incapable of communication. I am inclined to believe there is the presence of humans behind the scenes. The risk posed by Amelo, who failed earliest, is undoubtedly great. Perhaps he provided the enemy with intelligence regarding the kingdom, or he might even be the mastermind behind this war. Other nobles might also be involved in such a conspiracy.”
A man wearing glasses stood up and surveyed the people below with a smile.
The others looked at his expression, but none of them gave any response.
However, this fellow was also the only one who dared to suddenly stand up in such a setting.
“The elites are all in our hands. Do these nobles still have the courage to rebel?” Gor narrowed his eyes.
“The nobles alone would certainly be impossible... but the current situation is too suspicious. Do you remember the rumors about the Princess mentioned in a meeting not long ago? Excluding His Majesty the King and a few of you lords, the only one with the authority to influence these nobles is likely... Her Highness the Princess, isn't it?”
“That little girl?” a minister suddenly burst into laughter.
“Sir, the Princess is already sixteen years old. In this kingdom, that is an age where one can marry and take on the responsibilities of a household. Furthermore, regarding the exile back then, you only personally delivered her to the inner forest. Who can guarantee what happened afterward? If there is even a one in ten thousand chance that Her Highness did not die, but instead convinced some nobles who had long wanted to rebel and reached some kind of treaty with the magic beast kings at the border—such as promising them territory after the war—those people and magic beasts might truly be tempted.”
“This is too bizarre.” Gor frowned.
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