Upon hearing the shout of “urgent message,” little Reed immediately stood up, came before Jason, and faced the messenger directly. As he spoke, the personal servant gestured several hand signals. The New Federation’s assassination attempts against Gerard were endless. Impersonating messengers and using so-called ‘urgent messages’ to approach Gerard for assassination was not new; thus, Reed had arranged a set of ever-changing secret signals. A messenger could be impersonated. But secret signals could not. Because, even the messengers themselves did not know what today’s secret signal was. It could be a gesture. “Both can be trusted.” At this, Reed made a point to clarify. Jason looked to his personal servant. There are those who can be trusted. Naturally, there are those who cannot be trusted. In fact, it was just as Jason had thought. “Lord Bofute of the patrol army can be trusted as well,” “But his deputy, Gulate, is likely one of the New Federation’s spy leaders.” “We have not moved against him yet as we are playing a long game.” “The command of the Guard Army used to be held by my father, and now by me.” Reed kept talking as he turned and walked toward a curtain hanging on the wall. The personal servant pulled the curtain away in one swift motion. A map depicting Hans Port, Fort Swallow, and the inland areas appeared directly before Jason. Under Jason’s gaze, two black flags were placed outside ‘Fort Swallow’. “The first and second infantry legions of the New Federation are both fully staffed with 20,000 each.” “The first infantry legion has been through the previous ‘Old vs. New’ conflict, many of whom were once under your command. However, those who remained are inclined towards ‘Aymodun III’.” “The second infantry legion was formed at the end of the ‘Old vs. New’ conflict and was mainly responsible for cleaning up the battlefield,” Reed continued. “How many do we have?” Jason asked. “The Harbor Defense Army, our navy, has 88 sail battleships, including 2 first-rate ships, 36 second-rate ships, and 50 third-rate ships. There are about 20,000 in active navy service.” “Our army has a complete infantry legion of 10,000 men, well-equipped and well-trained, ready for immediate combat. That old general also trained a cavalry troop of 2,000, ready to fight any time.” “The Harbor Patrol Army has 2,500 men; they are used to daily tasks and wouldn’t be effective in direct combat.” “The Harbor Guard numbers 800. They can adapt to any battlefield and are your trump card.” Listening to Reed’s introduction, Jason’s gaze returned to the map. Hans Port had an absolute advantage in naval forces. But at the ‘Fort Swallow’ battlefield, the navy could not be deployed; only the army remained. A full tally of 12,000 men against two full-strength legions of 40,000, who had actually been through real conflict, left Jason, who had never participated in any major military combat, entirely unsure how to proceed. Furthermore, it was not possible to send all the harbor army forces. Therefore, the only option he could think of was to send part of the forces to reinforce ‘Fort Swallow,’ taking advantage of the terrain for defense, and then seek an opportunity to counterattack. Was he supposed to go cut them down himself? After giving it serious thought, Jason felt somewhat suffocated. “How many men does ‘Fort Swallow’ have?” “The Grand Duke of ‘Fort Swallow’ is not very good at military affairs. All the forces combined amount to about 10,000 men with ordinary weapons. However, with the Discover more novels on NovelHub - your gateway to endless stories. “Do you have any suggestions?” Jason asked. At such a time, Jason thought it best to seek advice from a specialist. “Fight a war of attrition!” Reed immediately responded. Then the personal servant pointed to the map and explained, “We have sea transport, which can continuously bring food and materials from the Southern Archipelago, and then supply resources to ‘Fort Swallow,’ just a stone throw away!” “Meanwhile, ‘Aymodun III’s supply lines are exceedingly long, requiring a tremendous amount of manpower to maintain. Out of ten pounds of grain transported to the front line, at most only three pounds remain. Moreover, General Anno’s cavalry trained to circle around to the space between ‘Fort Swallow’ and the inland can harass the enemy’s supply line and in conjunction with Guard Army’s elite, lure and kill the enemy’s ‘Dark Guardian’ squads.” “As long as the enemy’s supply line is cut, victory in this war will be ours,” Reed declared confidently. Jason nodded repeatedly as he listened. All of these were things he had never considered before. Then Reed started to inform Jason of some details that needed attention.