Melody of Strength novel

hapter 120

Carissa and her friends were huddled around a small fire, their cracked lips dry and chapped.

“Is there any evidence that she was among the troops withdrawing from Sandoria?” Carissa asked.

“No, but she chased a group of Westhaven soldiers when the battle started, and she hasn’t returned since,” Barrett said.

Then we should thoroughly inspect the city for her among the corpses,” Violet sneered icily.

“She’s not dead!” Barrett’s eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t curse her! As members of the same army. how can you curse a fellow soldier?”

Violet rolled her eyes, and snorted. “The war is over, and I’m done with being a soldier. Don’t drag me into being her comrade. She doesn’t deserve it!”

Barrett was infuriated by her words. He tumed to Carissa, and said seriously, “I’m the one who disappointed you, not Aurora. If it were another soldier captured, would you save them?”

Carissa countered, “If another soldier was captured, would you risk the lives of twenty thousand troops to chase after the enemy’s main force?”

Barrett was momentarily speechless. “Well…”

Carissa continued, “I trust you understand the value of a soldier’s life, General Warren. You have no proof that General Yates is among the retreating troops. Even if you did, you couldn’t be sure she was with the main force. Pursuing them through the border mountains would be risking the lives of the troops.”

Naturally, the others, particularly Travis, who always supported Carissa, were unsatisfied with Barrett.

“Exactly! Besides, there are many nomadic tribes in the area. They don’t belong to the Southern Frontier. Intruding on their territory could easily spark another conflict.”

Although Travis wasn’t well–versed in nomadic tribes, he understood that anyone intruding on their territory would face their wrath.

Barrett was visibly frustrated. “So you’re just standing by? Aurora wasn’t the only one captured–her soldiers were, too!”

“How can you be so certain she was captured?” Carissa retorted.

“When the battle started, I saw her chasing after a group of enemies. As soon as the battle began, there was a retreat, which was clearly a trap. She fell for it.”

“General Yates isn’t new to the battlefield. If she was fooled by such an obvious trap, it shows poor judgment. Do you want us to risk the lives of so many soldiers for her mistake?” Carissa replied calmly.

She looked at him sternly, and continued, “Also, why didn’t you stop her if you noticed it?”

Barrett had no answer for the criticism of Aurora’s poor judgment. It was indeed a lapse in judgment.

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As for why he didn’t stop her, he explained, “When I realized what was happening, I called out to her, but she didn’t listen. I was leading my troops in combat. If I had pursued her urgently, my soldiers would have followed me without knowing the situation. I couldn’t jeopardize the larger operation because of her.”

During the intense fighting in the city, with the chaos and confusion, it was possible for friend and foe to be indistinguishable. If he pursued Aurora amidst the intense battle, his soldiers might mistakenly think it was part of a tactic and follow him. That would have endangered the Hell Monarch Army troops, who were advancing behind them.

As the leader of the second siege unit, Barrett absolutely couldn’t afford such a mistake.

Carissa knew Barrett’s account was accurate. After Aurora was lured away, Rafael had judged that the enemy would soon retreat from the battlefield, so he had returned to the command camp.

As for why Sandoria didn’t immediately retreat after the battle was clearly lost, it was because there were stilLformalities to observe. They couldn’t just flee at the start of the battle; they needed to engage in a prolonged fight to show their king and people that they had done their best.

Victor had long been aware of Liam’s intentions to use the Southern Frontier battlefield to his advantage, which was one of the reasons for their lack of unity from the start. Even though they had later discussed unity, it was too little, too late.

The Sandoria troops were destined to lose.

Seeing that Barrett still maintained the awareness of a military general, Carissa said, “Barrett, it’s true that Aurora has been captured. However, we can’t rescue her and can only wait here.”

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