Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

After more than ten days of continuous attacks, the allied forces successively recovered lost territory, which greatly reduced the defensive pressure on the towns around Huaijing. As a result, the military was able to send more troops to support the front line. At this time, the empire had recovered half of the western territory, and the vanguard of the allied forces had reached the line of Xiaohushan and Quannan City, where they had been defeated in the past, with their advance pointing directly at Yumo City.

Inside the allied forces' main tent, Chu Angjie was drinking and celebrating with the commanders of the other two countries. The commander of the Slivia Empire was William, a powerful warrior and a war-obsessed orc. During this period, he had always been at the forefront, and he had single-handedly killed the two commanders of the Demon Kingdom, Si Yun and Fang Xuerong. At this moment, he was drinking heartily from a small wine jar.

The commander-in-chief of the Kingdom of Delin, Yi Zhiyong, appeared much more somber. He sipped his wine, and his face seemed preoccupied. Chu Angjie asked in bewilderment, "Why does Commander Yi look so worried? We have now recovered half of our lost territory. At this rate, the complete defeat of the Demon Kingdom is not far off."

Yi Zhiyong gave a wry smile and said, "I just feel that the progress is too smooth. It's only been a month since we arrived, and the Demon Kingdom's troops are like paper, not nearly as powerful as rumored."

"Hey, you're just worrying for nothing!" William said, taking another big gulp of his drink. "In my opinion, the Demon Kingdom is only this strong. Didn't you see how two of its generals died at my hands a few days ago? If its commander is so weak, how strong can its army be? Hahahaha!"

"I hope so..." Yi Zhiyong seemed to dislike dealing with someone as carefree as William, shook his head, and silently drank the wine in his bowl.

Although Chu Angjie understood Yi Zhiyong's concerns, he also thought that William's words made some sense. In addition, the Empire's previous perseverance had indeed dampened the Demon Kingdom's spirit. Although he was slightly worried about the current smooth progress, he still thought the situation was optimistic overall.

While the Allied Forces were celebrating with songs and dances, a deathly stillness hung over Cai Ran's city, far away. Baron, Julian, and Chen Han had fought their way back with the corpses of Fang Xuerong and Si Yun, and now the three of them stood in the hall with their heads hanging low, waiting to be met with Cai Ran's wrath.

After a long silence, Cai Ran did not blame them, but asked in a low voice, "How many casualties were suffered in this battle?"

The three men looked at each other, none of them daring to speak. Finally, Baron spoke first: "General, in this battle... in this battle, more than 200,000 soldiers have died and more than 100,000 have been wounded. At present... at present..." He choked up a little when he said this. Julian, who was next to him, continued: "At present, our army only has about 150,000 soldiers left."

Cai Ran frowned and asked again, "What about the enemy's casualties?"

Julian looked at Chen Han, indicating it was his turn to speak. Chen Han nodded and then said cautiously, "The enemy's estimated casualties are around 300,000..."

Before he could finish speaking, a ceramic bowl was smashed in front of everyone. Cai Ran roared angrily, "Why?! Our army has suffered 300,000 casualties, and the enemy has also suffered 300,000! How have you been commanding at the front?! I told you that the enemy was prepared and not to engage in a direct attack, why didn't you listen to orders?!

The three men trembled with fear, kneeling on the ground, too afraid to utter a sound or offer any explanation. They could only wait silently for Cai Ran's anger to subside. After a long while, Cai Ran sighed, ordered the three men to rise, and then summoned paper and pen. He began writing something on the table. After finishing, he handed the paper to a servant and instructed, "Make a copy of this letter. Send one copy to the deliberation court, and one copy to..." The last half of his sentence was too soft for the three men to hear, but they knew that Cai Ran was probably seeking help from the Demon Kingdom.

As they had guessed, after the attendants left, Cai Ran said, "Hold the front line until reinforcements arrive, and do not retreat again! The three of you shall each order your deputy generals and captains to lead a thousand men to disperse and deploy in the area from Xiaohushan to Quannan City. Set up flags during the day and beat drums at night to disturb the enemy and slow their march. If this is ineffective, send a troop to harass them every two hours. Repeat this process until reinforcements arrive."

After the three men left to carry out their orders, Cai Ran walked to the door, looked at the moon hanging high in the sky, and sighed softly, "Am I, Cai Ran, going to fail the King's trust again...?"

The following afternoon, the Allied soldiers, just recovering from their hangovers, were slowly packing their equipment and preparing to set off, urged on by their centurions. The army marched side by side, moving slowly forward. Less than half an hour later, scouts reported: "A military flag has been raised in the distance."

The commander-in-chief hurriedly looked in the direction the scout was pointing, and sure enough, he saw several military flags swaying in the wind, and he could vaguely see the figures of people. He dared not make a judgment on his own, and immediately ordered someone to pass on the situation to Chu Angjie in the rear.

Upon receiving the news, Chu Angjie had already made his decision. He believed that the Demon Kingdom's fate was sealed, and with the vanguard advancing in unison, the enemy had no chance of launching an attack and lacked sufficient manpower. He immediately judged it to be a feint and was about to order a full-speed advance when Yi Zhiyong arrived and said, "General Chu, I believe there is an ambush ahead!"

"How did Commander Yi know this?" Chu Angjie asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The scouts just reported that our army's marching direction is flanked by flags on all sides. Our vanguard is advancing in unison, making it difficult to coordinate with the flanks. This leads us to believe that the enemy intends to launch a surprise attack while we are preoccupied with other matters." Yi Zhiyong explained his assessment in detail and advised Chu Angjie to slow down the advance, gradually withdrawing from the unison formation to form a more stable vanguard and flanks.

Chu Angjie naturally didn't believe it and shared his views with Yi Zhiyong, insisting on speeding up the process to achieve a breakthrough before the enemy regrouped. The two then argued about this.

“The vanguard includes not only soldiers from your Heavenly Fortune Empire, but also soldiers from my Kingdom of Delin. I am responsible for them, and I strongly disagree with your view.”

"General Yi, believe me, the Demon Kingdom has suffered no less than 300,000 casualties. They will definitely ask the Demon Kingdom for help now. These are just a diversionary force, their purpose is to slow our advance and hold us back," Chu Angjie advised.

"Don't forget, our army has also suffered heavy casualties. If we speed up the march, the vanguard and rearguard will become separated, and the Demon Kingdom will attack us halfway. We will definitely be in a disadvantageous situation. Do you want to repeat the scene of our great defeat in the past?!"

Chu Angjie was about to retort when a scout arrived on horseback: "Urgent report! Drums are sounding from the south! A small force of demonic troops has appeared!"

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhiyong said, "There must be an ambush! We cannot speed up our advance; we must slow down!" After saying this, he immediately summoned a messenger from the Kingdom of Delin and ordered, "Order the vanguard to slow down and retreat inward!"

Seeing that Yi Zhiyong had already issued the military order, it was too late for Chu Angjie to say anything. He could only cooperate and issue the order to retreat. In an instant, the entire allied army slowed down and gradually formed three armies: the front, the middle, and the rear, as well as the left and right flanks. This situation reassured Yi Zhiyong. He believed that as long as they maintained their formation and advanced slowly, they could achieve victory by setting up camp at their destination. Little did he know that it was precisely this that gave Cai Ran enough time.