When Anna descended to the underground headquarters, she immediately sensed the oppressive atmosphere in the room .
Everybody rose to their feet and bowed their heads as they saw her . "Your Royal Highness, ma'am!" they said in a chorus .
Iron Axe went down to his knee and said, "I'm sorry for having you come down here . I should have anticipated that the enemy would raid the encampment at night and take extra precautions accordingly . I sincerely apologize for my negligence . "
"Please don't blame yourselves," said Anna as she waved her hand . "I'm just concerned about the situation at the front like everybody else . I want to know what's going on . Is everybody . . . OK?"
Anna was still not accustomed to the fact that she was now the queen . She felt particularly embarrassed when Wendy, Agatha, and the other witches bowed to her . She actually preferred to treat all the other witches as her sisters, although she had never specifically said that aloud .
When the campsite had been attacked, she had immediately been escorted by both the God's Punishment Witches and her guards to the underground shelter . However, Anna would have rather fought with the others like she had done during the Months of Demons than being strictly protected .
Yet she knew as the queen, she had to accept some inevitable changes .
She just hoped that her presence could put everyone's mind at ease .
Iron Axe, surprisingly, looked hesitant . After a moment of silence, he answered, "Your Highness, the battle didn't go well . "
"Can you tell me more about it?"
"Certainly . We were actually just discussing it," said Iron Axe, who cast a glance at Ferlin Eltek . The latter gave a nod of comprehension and opened his notebook .
"Based on the reports from the field medics, 200 killed and 700 wounded in First Army," Morning Light replied heavily .
"However, these are just the initial rough estimates . We got those numbers in quite a hurry . The actual casualties will likely be higher, since Miss Nana . . . can't treat so many people at once . "
200 deaths . This number almost equaled the number of casualties the decisive battle against the Church . However, that massive battle was the final battle of the war with the Church . This was the very first battle with the demons after they started advancing north . There was still a long way to go before First Army reached the Taquila ruins .
No wonder Iron Axe was disconcerted by the outcome of this battle .
Anna had seen the wounded soldiers who were covered in blood, lying on the ground in a line . The air in the hospital was saturated with the smell of blood and the sound of inarticulate groans . Nana definitely could not cure all of the wounded at once . For the maimed soldiers and those who suffered severe internal organ damage, she could only cure five to six people at most in one day . Therefore, in order to save more people, she had to apply her magic power to the ones most in need .
For example, Nana would only heal fatal wounds for the soldiers who were wounded in the chest or abdomen . For those who sustained minor injuries, she would instruct the field medics to stitch up their wounds after the soldiers drank Cleansing Water . As for those who had relatively severe injuries, she had to leave their wounds open before she treated them the next day . The soldiers would thus rely on the medicine made from sleeping ferns and coltsfoot to reduce pain . As to whether they would survive the night or whether the liquid medicine would cause addiction, the field medics did not have time or effort to thoroughly think about these problems .
It was not easy to accurately apply magic power to a specific body part in such an intense environment . Anna was surprised at how much Nana had improved . Compared to the little school girl who used to faint at the sight of blood, Nana was now an experienced and professional military doctor .
"I'll advise His Majesty to persuade Countess Spear from Fallen Dragon Ridge to send us reinforcements," said Anna slowly . "She can help the field medics to save more people . By the way, how did the demons sneak in?"
"I guess . . . the enemy took advantage of the limits of my Magic Eye," said Sylvie, who apparently looked very frustrated . "The Devilbeast scouts they sent earlier were probably trying to learn how far my Magic Eye can see, and I was completely unaware they were watching me . . . "
"We should have thought about that," Agatha put in self-reprovingly . "After the battle at North Slope, the demons apparently noticed Sylvie's presence . They used Devilbeasts to first test out how far her Eye of Magic can see based on our reactions to them . Then, their army gathered outside that range and raided us after night fell . They started attacking us the very moment we retreated from Tower Station No . 1, when our encampment was the most unguarded . "
"That being said, this wasn't anybody's fault," Morning Light comforted . "If we really wanted to deceive the enemy, we'd have had to ignore the Devilbeasts when they approached us . This would be against the protocols we received during our training . Even if we knew the enemy's plan beforehand, it would be impossible maintain a scharade with thousands of soldiers and regular workers . In other words, the enemy would have learned the limits of the Magic Eye at somepoint anyways . Even if they didn't ambush us at Tower Station No . 1, they would have done so at No . 2 or No . 3 . "
"If I remember correctly, the shooting range of the Spider Demons is around two to three kilometers . Since they are fairly slow, it normally takes them quite a while to enter our firing range and be spotted by Sylvie . Is it just pure luck that they weren't spotted in the first place?" Anna asked in confusion . "I'm not really familiar with the operation . Correct me if I'm wrong . The First Army should have their own scouting team, shouldn't they? For example, they can use hydrogen ballons at the encampment . "
"You're always so attentive to details, Your Highness," Iron Axe replied while placing his hand on his chest . "Generally speaking, the First Army gathers information in three ways: through Sylvie, through Maggie and Lightning, and by themselves . However, the army scouts are just supplementary and only for contingencies . "
After hearing the explanation from the commander-in-chief, Anna finally had a basic understanding of the intelligence system of the First Army . During the Graycastle unification war, this system had worked pretty well . Yet when they fought against the demons, they soon noticed some big flaws in this system .
Nothing running on the ground could compete against the Devilbeasts flying in the sky .
This meant there was a limit in how much information the army scouts could obtain . Once they went beyond that limit, their mission could be highly risky and even life-threatening, and dead people can't bring back information . The Devilbeasts were able to hide in clouds, giving them an absolute advantage over scouts on the ground . As the Fertile Plains was flatter than a pancake, they could dive down anytime like a hawk snatching up a rabbit .
This disadvantage significantly restricted the amount of information the First Army could collect . In this situation, they could barely assist Sylvie . Meanwhile, the flying demons could prey on any soldiers sent out to scout while escaping the scrutiny of the Magic Eye . There was basically nothing the First Army could do about it .
A phrase suddenly flashed across Anna's mind .
A phrase that Roland had a mixed feeling about every time he mentioned it .
That was "air supremacy" .
The party who had the command of the sky dominated the war .
Apart from "air supremacy", there were also some other phrases beyond her understanding which Roland said from time to time, such as the Black Ribbon and Akiyama . . .
Anna shook her head, trying to put these thoughts behind her . She asked, "Based on your description, the Spider Demons should have reached the third layer of the defensive line by the time we saw them . Was it because of the poor lighting at night that we failed to notice them?"
"That's one of the reasons, Your Highness," Ferlin Eltek replied . "The General Staff believes . . . that those monsters were probably waiting for us there from the beginning . "
Anna blinked in mild surprise and asked, "Are you saying . . . that they were hiding right underneath us?"
"That's right . This is the only explanation that makes sense as to why these giant creatures suddenly emerged within shooting range," Ferlin confirmed in a grave tone . "I asked Miss Sylvie . She told me it costs her a lot of magic power to see through solid matter . When she does that, she can't see very far . It seems the Devilbeasts were also diverting Miss Sylvie's attention while testing out how far she can see . Once she focused solely on the sky, she would not have excess magic power to also monitor things underground . "
"So this is why the demons successfully raided the encampment?" Anna questioned herself in silence .
If both Sylvie and the demons were stationary, it would be a lot easier for Sylvie to notice the movement below . The blackness Sylvie had seen was probably not to cover the demons, but rather to distract Sylvie from the Spider Demons when they came out of hiding .
Now they knew they were dealing with a very difficult enemy . The demons had not only come up with a strategy that countered First Army's operation methods, but they were also extremely proficient in their use of magic power .
It was no wonder that a suffocating atmosphere had settled over First Army's headquarters .
This was definitely not a good sign .
What would Roland do if he were here?
While Anna was trying to come up with some encouraging words, Edith suddenly burst into a fit of laughter .
"Why all the long faces like you just lost a battle? We just gained a major victory!" She said while chuckling . "Am I in the wrong meeting?"
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