Genius Mage in a Cultivation World - Chapter 227: Three armies

***Lone Forest, seven miles east from the Warcamp, Campsite of Generian Forces***

“Leader, their army is advancing into the desert,” one of the warriors reported directly to Ation. His rugged clothing and scars wounds covering every inch of his exposed skin proved just how difficult reaching the hidden camp of theirs was.

“Good job, soldier,” Ation replied, using the fancy new world that those other tribes they allied with liked to use instead of warriors. “Now, go get some rest while you still can. We might be advancing soon,” he said before turning his head to his direct subordinates.

“What do you think about this, guys?” Ation asked, moving his eyes back to the warcamp hidden right beyond the horizon. “Should we attack right away?”

“Leader, with our numbers?” Kaspar asked before shaking his head. “Even if they only left a small force that we could deal with, they are still well within the distance to come to their aid,” he said before taking a deep breath. “I say we wait,” he added once, thinking about it for a moment.

“I wish we could,” Leer replied, shaking his head in disagreement. He didn’t even bother to look towards the warcamp. He was too old for this kind of antics, reaching seventy of age. “If they manage to get even a single shipment of supplies, our brothers at the camp won’t have a chance. The only way to defeat them is to starve them out,” he said in a calm manner as if he wasn’t talking about massacring several tens of thousands of people.

“And now we have the question,” Ation whispered. “Do we risk our lives to go in for the supplies, or do we risk their lives by staying put?” he voiced out the troubling situation of theirs.

Ation’s forces consisted of all the people that Al left behind when venturing for the desert himself. By rallying up both Gener clansmen and the people they fought with, right as the disaster struck, they managed to bolster their number to a total of three thousand…

Which wasn’t even a tenth of the army that their enemy managed to gather. Not even their prolonged efforts at cutting off the smaller detachments before they could unite with the main force managed to bring the number of celestials to a manageable range.

“I say we attack,” Ation said after taking a long time to analyze the situation. “The main problem of the possible reinforcements come applies only if we attempt to take the warcamp,” he said, observing the massive cloud of dust rising above the horizon. It was the sight that the celestials started to cross into the desert, proving how little time they had to react.

“What do you mean?” Kaspar asked before moving his eyes on Leer, hoping to see the same confusion on the old man’s face as there was in his eyes. But to the young warrior’s surprise, Leer only smiled lightly.

“If we attack the warcamp, we will force those fuckers to make a decision. And they will only have three options on how to react,” Leer said before taking a quick look at Ation, nonverbally passing the baton to the highest leader of their small army.

“They can turn their entire force away in hopes of wiping us out. This would be the preferable scenario as we could simply set fires to the entire place and retreat,” Ation explained the first possibility with a heavy voice.

Even if they were on the holy crusade against Celestials, that didn’t mean they liked the idea of slaughtering civilians. Whether the kids, mothers, and old men and women were of celestial or Generian heritage didn’t matter.

‘Wars should be fought between those who are willing to fight them,’ Ation thought, tightening his hands into fists.

“Then the other option for them would be to ignore their rear and hope to resupply after conquering the camp,” Kaspar said, realizing the other possibility. “Wouldn’t that be bad?” he asked, yet he failed to get any reaction from his fellow warriors. “I mean, what are the chances they could be so stupid?” he fixed and turned his question to be more precise.

There was a massive difference between the three forces that were in the current play.

From the far side, there was the force of the camp. Consisting on a thin number of Generian elites, reinforced with whoever was daring and crazy enough to actually set the camp out in the nothingness of the desert. That side held the advantage of quality and mobility while losing heavily in terms of numbers.

‘If I were to guess, there is half of thousand of them all, at that’s at the very most,’ Antion thought, sending a small smile to the youngest of their trio.

“If they were to do that, our brothers at the camp could simply abandon the place and lead their army by the nose. And if the desert is anywhere as big as we believe it to be, the Celestial army would crumble due to the lack of supplies way faster than the camp force,” he said, crossing his arms at his chest before taking a step forward. “I guess that solves our trouble,” Ation said after a short pause as he grabbed the handle of his beloved ax. Just like Al, he considered this weapon to be both most versatile but also classy enough to impress all the ladies back at the tribe.

“Wait for a second,” Kaspar shouted despite following closely after Ation. Even though he requested a short moment, he was already in a state, fully prepared for the coming fight.

After all, their rule of war in the Gener clan was pretty straightforward. Once a commander orders something, there is no discussing it anymore. And since Ation decided that their problematic situation was solved, all Kaspar could do was to ask for an explanation.

An explanation that wouldn’t let him decide whether to follow the order or not. This part was already set in stone. Kaspar needed an explanation solely to grow as the future leader of one of Generian subsidiary tribes. After all, one wouldn’t learn much by following orders he or she didn’t understand at all!

“Let me guess,” Ation said, “it’s about the third possibility, right?” he suggested with a small chuckle. The eager look on his subordinate’s face only proved how willing he was to fulfill his duty as the successor of a smaller clan.

“Leader, the stupid me request to learn,” Kaspar said, lowering his head as he followed the man through the thick greenery of the deep forest.

“Their last option is simple,” Ation explained as they emerged from the dense part of the woods and entered a small valley hidden in the middle of the forest, where the entirety of their army amassed over the past week. “They could divide their forces and attempt to both push into the desert while simultaneously dealing with our attack on their camp,” Ation said as he twisted his lips in an ugly expression.

“Huh?” Kaspar gasped for air, unable to process what he had just heard. “Their only strength appears to lay in their numbers. By splitting the force, they would achieve nothing outside of losing their greatest advantage!” he protested, refusing to accept such an idiotic possibility.

“You never know how stupid people can act during a war,” Ation whispered softly as a set of old memories flashed before his eyes. Then, he raised his ax-bearing hand high into the sky before shouting, “MEN! I have one word for y’all!”

Hearing the powerful voice of their leader, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up the incline on which Ation stood. And even before he could actually say what he wanted, people started to gather up.

The message hidden behind the manner of his action was sufficient for the veterans, while the actions of more experienced brothers in arms satisfied the curiosity of the fresher troops.

“WE ATTACK!” Ation shouted, shaking his weapon in the air.

“How quickly do we want to attack?” Kaspar asked in a hushed voice. This time, he didn’t dare to speak up to the leader directly, opting to seek advice from the last leader of the Slevian subsidiary tribe of the Gener clan.

“You are unbearably naive,” Leer said but smiled instead. “As quickly as possible,” he replied, giving out the answer. “As quickly as the men can reach the camp.”