The Zoarinian Camp on the highland outskirts of Kingdom Pass the next morning
General Tessan stood looking out over the multitude of tents of the army he alone had been tasked to lead. It was the largest military force ever congregated together under one banner, even after they had lost so many in the fires and subtle tricanery of taking Kingdom Pass. They really hadn't taken the city behind the great wall. It had been given to them and they had paid for it in blood.
Over two hundred thousand men missing from the sea of tents before him bore testament to the price that they had paid to set foot on Valley Lander soil the night before. That wouldn't have been so bad if the enemy's losses had been high too, but they hadn't been. The assault last night had been a colossal error and now the whole army's morale was in question. Their spirit of optimism as to an easy campaign was shattered.
The Valley Lander army was gone and still intact and able to continue the fight, while they should have been slain to a man within the confines of Kingdom Pass. If they had only held off on the attack! He would not underestimate them again. The sounds of his aids and subordinate field commanders arguing behind him began to register in his consciousness disrupting the clarity of his thoughts.
"Enough! Stop this senseless chatter!"
Those gathered within the tent fell silent at the general's sudden outburst of anger.
"I listen to you and all I hear is whining and that what has befallen us was an unavoidable occurrence. What utter ridiculousness! We were beaten clear and simple! Manipulated masterfully to commit ourselves onward onto our own swords as it were. There's no going back! What's been done is done. We need to move forward and accomplish our primary mission's objective. Our force is still strong and more formidable than anything the enemy can throw at us. Prepare the army. We march for the Shrine at once!"
A longtime experienced field commander spoke up hesitantly, "But what about the cities Sir? We're not just going to leave them are we? This is the best opportunity we've ever had to crush the enemy once and for all!"
General Tessan didn't look unfazed for a moment at having his orders questioned, "Our primary objective is to secure the ships at the shrine. Once we have them secure we can return our attention to the systematic annihilation of the Valley Lander people. We need a quick victory to restore our men's moral and capturing the shrine does that, as well as securing our primary mission's objective. Should we be surprised further by our wily foe, we will at least have that accomplished. We will leave a discretionary force of eighty thousand men to keep the Valley Landers bottled up within their nearest city, which will secure our open supply line with the homeland through the pass should we need it. Our navy along the coast will off load what supplies we may need to us as well. The Valley Landers will not want to leave either their city fortresses or families unguarded with such a strong army nearby and we will have a clear path to the Shrine. We will take the rest of our force and march directly inland to the Shrine starting today. You have your orders, now go and see that my army is on the march within two hours or heads will roll!"