Chapter 298: Line in the Sand
"WE NEED TO PUSH FORWARD!" The dumbass of an Elder yelled and I scoffed for everyone to hear.
"You are a fucking moron, I have told you again and again, WE CANNOT PUSH FORWARD WITHOUT SUPPLIES!" I yelled.
"WE USE THERES!" He replied, which was the one weakness in my argument.
I sighed, pinched the bridge of my nose, and finally decided after hours and hours of this. "No." I declared, "I will not allow you to destroy our army."
"What?" Elder Redscale and I had been fighting for hours under the eye of every single elder and Isabelle. No one else had jumped in on it, and so I was the person who got to fight with them.
"I said, NO." I declared, making my stance clear, "As the leader, Supreme Commander of the Logistics army, NO. I will not support forward movement, and without my go, YOU CANNOT MOVE FORWARD!" My stance was iron-clad, and the tension in the air solidified.
"Supreme Commander," Isabelle jumped in, trying to calm the situation, "Please give us another rundown on the reasons why." I know we discussed it, but I think he needs to hear it again." The glare that Elder Redscale gave her was one that would kill a person if looks could kill.
"Fine," I said, taking on a professional tone. "Now, I am going to go through the reasons. The first reason I refuse to bring us forward is that we have an amazing position here," I said, pointing at the map before us. "We are stuck in the perfect position. After this point, we MUST engage in open fields. The Empire is not dead yet, they are just crippled too. They have defensive obligations to follow, and they used their mobile forces. The ones that they are free to use. Extras if you will for offensive operations. We bloodied their nose, busted their ribs, and stabbed them in the stomach. But they are not dead. Understand that? We will push them to the brink, and we will fight where they can maximize their advantages."
Taking a deep breath, I glared at Elder Redscale, "Second reason, there are more forces nearby," I said, pointing at the Grand Parries and the Kingdom of Chip. "If we push deeper, we will have borders with the Kingdom of Chip. Which means we will be surrounded. The Kingdom of Arlin, the Grand Parries, the Kingdom of Chip, and the Empire are all human nations. If the Empire starts screaming that we are killing all humans, then they might just want to grab some of the land we have conquered," I said, pointing at the map with each instance. "With no spare soldiers to guard the border with these nations, we are vulnerable at the back. We have no defensive line to buy us time to come back. We will be screwed by a small force. Worse still, all they have to do is cut off our logistics, which are barely keeping up with demand. The loot from the Empire helped, but we do not have the capacity," I finished with that line of thought.
"Which brings me to the Third reason, the logistics army is still in its infancy. It has barely been a year since I started the organization, and I do not yet have the necessary facilities to move forward. We are building as fast as we can, but we simply do not have the infrastructure and food due to looting. Looting will bring us issues in the long run, which means, as I have it now, we need to hold our current territory. Which, by the way, has a large population to manage. It is not easy to hold this land without uprisings."
"Which brings me to the fourth reason. What do we get for pushing deeper? More dead bodies? Some of the tribes have sent all their warriors and the most prolific breeders back to their tribes. The more of them we lose, the harder it hits their tribes. Us bunny-kin, and the Dragonic are not in a situation where that is a problem, but the other tribes are."
"Fifth reason, the Human A rankers are no longer asleep. They are awake and watching what we do. Every time we push in, the Elders like yourself have more land to cover and protect. We are already stretched thin! We have a finite amount of them and we need to defend the new border, the Kingdom of Arlin border, the Grand Prairie border and the damn Border City! That takes at a minimum one. Then there are the front defenses holding back the empire. Guess how many we need there to continue fighting the empire?" I asked bluntly.
I paused for a couple of moments as he glared at me, "WE NEED AT LEAST SIX!" I announced, "Then we have to defend the homeland, which needs a large amount." I did not mention that I did not think we needed that much back home, but something told me that the moment they lowered it further, human A-rankers would attack in force to loot our cities. "Which means, WE DO NOT HAVE THE A RANKERS TO PUSH FORWARD!" I yelled in his face.
"Then their is the sixth reason," I said and paused, "Our forces are getting tired, Their moral is up but the trenches suck to live in. We have been lucky that it has not rained; the moment it does, this place turns into a mud pit. Our fur will be matted, and we could get sick. We need to take time and set up better defenses. Establish borders with neighboring nations."
"Then there is one last reason," I began to finish, "WE ARE OUT OF FUCKING GOLD YOU FUCKING MORON! The Bunny-kin have been purchasing all the fucking food to keep these forces fed. Because you Dragonic," I announced pointing at him, "HAVE NOT BEEN FUCKING CONTRIBUTING!" I continued slowly, "THE BUNNY-KIN HAVE ALMOST BANKRUPTED OURSELVES!" I announced, and that brought the temperature of the argument up. "If you want to fight this war anymore, IT WILL BE WITHOUT OUR GOLD!" I announced, "Mother," I said, turning to her, and she turned to look at me, surprised. "We will be ending all contributions of gold until the Dragonic matches us in gold expenditure," I finished, and Isabelle and Elder Redscale looked at us, stunned.
The other elders looked serious, and silence took hold.
In this silence, my mother decided to add to it, "I agree."
The words were a silent declaration of intent, and a line had been drawn in the sand. We had directly called out the Dragonic, and I could see the fury in Elder Redscales' face. The other elders watched without expression to see what he would do, and we all watched him.
"Chelsea Loveknot, we will fund the movement forward," Elder Redscale said slowly.
"Nope, do not give a single fuck," I told him and everyone's head shot to me. "I do not care, you have not provided anything to show that you could purchase the gold. What happens if your treasuries are empty and you just want us all to think you are rich?" I asked, and that made everyone look at Elder Redscale, shocked.
This was a war they wanted to continue, but they never funded it. No one had mentioned that, but now, with that question out there, even the elders thought it might be possible. Isabelle looked stunned, and I could see her thinking that it might be true. Elder Redscale on the other hand reached a new level of red in the face and he yelled, "YOU SHUT YOUR FUCKING SLUT MOUTH LOVEKNOT! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Mana bore down on me, but it was quickly countered, and the other Elders easily held it back, glaring at him. "Elder Redscale," My mother said, filling the silence as tempers rose. "I believe you are no longer of sound judgment. We have delegated the control of the army to the next generation of leaders, and you have just attacked one of them again. I think you should be replaced by someone else in the rear with a clearer head.
He turned to my mother, stunned, and then he sneered, "Now you listen here, you-"
"Shut up," Elder Lily said finally.
"Please do shut up," Elder Kitty added in.
"For the love of the goddess, shut your mouth," Elder Greggory added in, and the rest were nodding their heads. "You have embarrassed us in front of our young. You have demeaned your station, and I believe that you should be replaced. The issue is that we are currently in a position where we need your services until your tribe can replace you."
"No, I will not back off, but I will be reporting this back to the Elder Council. Your insubordination will be noted," Elder Redscale said.
"Please note that you were the odd man out, Elder Redscale, as I will also be reporting back to all the councils and tribes. Many messages with a note of this victory will be heading back. I will ensure your message about wanting to push on for the Bunny-kin gold will be reported to everyone!"
With that I declared something that made everyone suck in air. Nothing but the truth would be reported, but if that were to be revealed, the political ramifications would escalate to a new level. Elder Redscale's eyes narrowed, and he started to step around the table toward me, only to be stopped by Elder Leon, "Elder Redscale, please rest. Until the war is in a ceasefire, peace continues, we need to remain civil and fight together. Then he turned to me, "You, too, Supreme Commander Chelsea Loveknot, need to keep your temper in check." I might agree with your analysis, but other opinions are needed to come to the best solution," The Elder said, his voice grave.
I bowed slightly, trying to suppress the sneer from appearing on my face. "I will take your wisdom to heart, Elder Leon," I said, and turned. "We shall send a group consisting of two elders, myself, and one more to see if we can persuade the Empire to engage in peace talks. With that, I am going; I cannot find myself in the company of one lacking so much brains," I said, looking at Elder Redscale as I did so, and walking out of the meeting room. I heard a roar of anger the moment I did.
Exiting the headquarters, I could not hide the smile on my face.
With the Empire being on the back foot, even if we sit at the front doing nothing, there were other battles to be had. It was time to start pushing my next plan; in the meantime, I needed to go check on the one that I would have to hurry on.
The Crown Princess needed my attention after weeks of being edged. I wonder if she was enjoying herself? First to send the message, then to go enjoy my visit to the human woman.
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