The maid squad is too strong, what use is there for me, the Demon King?

"Lord Albert, what should we do? Should we back out?" Arthur Wellesley asked hesitantly, noticing Albert's unwell expression.

Arthur Wellesley is the vice-general of Albert Lane's army, a sixth-tier warrior with excellent troop-leading abilities. As a professional, he is capable of taking on thousands of enemies on the battlefield, which is why he is highly valued by Albert.

Arthur Wellesley was not only a capable general, but he also had good judgment in politics, and Albert often consulted him on his actions.

Before the battle even began, Arthur Wellesley proposed to retreat and return the Silver Marrow Territory he had captured.

Perhaps in the eyes of the royal family, it was because General Ravend Black was wise and brave, winning battle after battle, and often able to defeat the enemy with fewer troops that Arthur Wellesley was so terrified.

But the real reason was known to Albert Lane, Arthur Wellesley, and the other feudal lords.

Was General Ravende Black's repeated victories really due to his incredible skill?

If asked such a question, Albert would definitely scoff dismissively.

Ravend Black's force of over 20,000 men was nothing compared to Albert's army of 40,000.

In a head-on confrontation, how could Ravend Black's small force possibly win against him?

In wars where both sides have high-level professionals, these professionals typically do not personally engage in battle to clear out ordinary soldiers.

A high-level professional's opponent is another high-level professional. To prevent the other side's high-level professional from making a move, one's own high-level professional often stays in the formation, so that one can react in time to confront the other side's high-level professional if there is any unusual movement.

The mutual checks and balances among high-level professionals can be considered a tacitly agreed-upon rule.

If two high-level professionals didn't confront each other, but instead wreaked havoc in each other's ranks, no faction would be willing to suffer such losses.

This is what established the general rule of mutual checks and balances among high-level professionals.

Unless one side's high-level professionals defeat the other side's high-level professionals and still have enough strength to go on a killing spree, it is unlikely that a high-level professional will personally go down to clear out the minions.

but……

If one side's high-level professionals are routed like this, the war can't continue. Should they just surrender, run away, and wait to die?

Under normal circumstances, the high-level professionals on both sides will either be too busy fighting to deal with the battles between their soldiers, or they will be constantly on guard against the other side's high-level professionals until the war ends.

With the high-level professionals on both sides keeping each other in check, the key to deciding the outcome of the battle has fallen into the hands of the ordinary soldiers.

Therefore, Albert's 40,000 men held a significant advantage over Ravend Black's 20,000.

In a head-on battle, as long as your commander isn't completely incompetent, it would be difficult to lose to Ravend Black's 20,000 men.

Most of the battles fought by Ravend Black were similar situations, where he would use one of the royal forces scattered among the troops to fight against the king's elite forces, which often resulted in Ravend Black leading a smaller force against a larger one.

Ravend Black often managed to win against overwhelming odds, not so much because of his own skillful command, but more importantly because the kings were simply unwilling to fight him.

In war, the fighting between ordinary soldiers will inevitably result in troop losses. Even in a one-sided battle, it is impossible to avoid casualties on one's own side.

The kings were unwilling to engage in direct combat with Ravend Black because they did not want to lose their own forces.

It's important to understand that winning the War of the Eight Kings in Westphalia wasn't simply a matter of defeating the ruler Edmund Celestio and his loyal hound Ravend Black.

They also need to win the competition among the eight princes.

If our side expends too many troops to fight the royal family, we will suffer a huge loss if we lose, and we will also suffer a pure loss if we win. The other seven princes will become the "fishermen" in the fight between the snipe and the clam.

None of the Eight Princes wanted to be the "snake and clam" (a metaphor for being exploited and harmed by others) by sacrificing their own troops.

This is the fundamental reason why General Ravend Black was invincible, and also the fundamental reason why the royal family of Westphalia was able to struggle for so long without collapsing during the War of the Eight Princes.

The struggle among the eight princes will be decided in a great war after the royal family's finances are completely depleted by the War of the Eight Princes.

Therefore, before the fall of the royal family, the eight princes were doing their best to conserve their strength, bide their time, and wait for the opportune moment.

Arthur Wellesley understood this, which is why he proposed the retreat to Albert.

Albert's face was somber as he slowly said, "We must retreat eventually, but we cannot retreat without any fighting at all, as that would affect morale."

Arthur Wellesley understood this, and his tone carried a hint of difficulty: "But it's still better than losing troops..."

“Wrong.” Albert shook his head upon hearing this. “There is a better way that satisfies both.”

Arthur Wellesley hurriedly asked, "I am foolish and would be grateful for your guidance, Lord Albert..."

Albert's eyes gleamed: "It's simple. Without deploying troops, I'll go and fight Ravend Black one-on-one."

Arthur Wellesley was startled by this and blurted out, "But Ravend Black himself is an outstanding fighter, Lord Albert..."

Realizing he had misspoke, Arthur Wellesley quickly swallowed the rest of his sentence, "I'm afraid we can't beat them..."

"Humph!"

Albert snorted coldly, which frightened Arthur Wellesley so much that he immediately begged for mercy.

"Please forgive me, Your Excellency!"

"Never mind." Albert waved his hand. "You're right. If we really had to decide a winner, I might not be his match, but it's not necessary to decide a winner."

Arthur Wellesley had a sudden realization and understood Albert's intention: "You mean... to fight to a draw and then retreat?"

Albert might not be able to beat Ravend Black, but that's assuming they fight to the death and Albert fights to the bitter end.

Even though Revend Black was slightly better at fighting than him, as they were both eighth-tier professionals, he couldn't force him to stay.

They fought day and night, but the battle was evenly matched rather than one side dominating. Ordinary soldiers couldn't tell who was better or worse; in their eyes, it was a draw.

Albert was somewhat relieved to see that Arthur Wellesley understood him, and continued:

"We can retreat once we've reached a draw, and we don't need to worry about pursuers."

He can't possibly linger here with me for this long. The other seven kings will take advantage of Ravend Black's absence to launch an attack, and he won't have time to pursue them.

"During the retreat, I'll spread the word among the troops that I love my soldiers like my own children and don't want them to die needlessly. That will help suppress any negative impact on morale."