"Yes. Your Majesty." Upon hearing Zhou Yan's words, the generals knelt down one after another.
"Alright, all of you, get up. Our casualties are still quite severe. If we encounter the enemy now, we must stop them even if it costs us our lives. We cannot let those demons enter our national borders. These lands were bought with the blood of our ancestors, and we absolutely cannot let those beasts gain any advantage." Zhou Yan shouted in anger as he saw them kneeling again. These generals were truly becoming more timid.
"Yes, Your Majesty. We will not let them get close to our land, even if it costs us our lives." The generals stood up after hearing Zhou Yan's words, but their eyes were still fixed on the demon soldiers. They were worried that the demons might attack them at night.
Meanwhile, in the demon camp, the senior demon generals were gathered, discussing their next course of action.
"What do you think we should do? The strength of the human allied forces has increased considerably. They couldn't withstand our attacks before, but now their growth rate has exceeded our imagination. If this continues, it will be very difficult to capture their cities. I suggest we retreat for now. They won't be able to catch us anyway," said a senior demon general.
"I agree with this lord's opinion. The humans' strength is advancing by leaps and bounds. If we stay here any longer, we are likely to run into trouble. It's better for us to leave as soon as possible and not risk our lives. Besides, our mission this time was to capture those cities, not to annihilate all the humans in the Karta Desert. Since we have successfully transported the goods, we should leave quickly. Otherwise, it will be troublesome to leave once the humans react," said another senior demon general.
"Indeed, you are right. Our mission this time was to capture the grain and supplies from these cities. Now that we have obtained them, we should leave," said the senior general.
"We have already captured three human cities. If we capture five more, we will control the entire Karta Desert. Then we can cross the ocean. Those natives of America will not escape. Those natives have seized a lot of our land," said a mid-level general.
"Hmph, our soldiers are no fewer than theirs. Otherwise, those dwarves wouldn't dare to challenge us. I don't understand why those dwarves would rather surrender to those yellow-skinned monkeys than to us. These guys are simply foolish," said a low-level general.
"Enough, let's not argue now. We'll discuss it after we capture those five cities. Let's go and prepare," said the senior demon general.
The demons were also busy packing their belongings, needing to evacuate as soon as possible and return to their bases to recuperate.
"General, while the human soldiers were clearing out our scouts in human territory, they also eliminated some of our scouts. Now, human troops are gathering towards us. Should we avoid them to prevent them from posing a significant threat?" one demon general asked the mid-level general.
"Don't worry about that. Those human soldiers are no match for us. It's useless even if they gather together. The most important thing now is to retreat quickly," said the mid-level demon general.
"But I always feel something is strange about this. Under normal circumstances, humans shouldn't be so foolish as to confront us head-on. We haven't found any trace of them for so long, and now humans are actively approaching us. This doesn't make sense," said the demon general.
"Don't overthink it. Since they've come to us, we'll kill them all. We still have to go back and rule the entire continent. If we don't kill them now, it will be troublesome later when they discover our existence. Moreover, we attacked stealthily this time and didn't disturb the civilians. Even if the human kings and emperors want to retaliate, their strength will not be enough to deal with us," said the senior demon general.
...
Upon returning to his territory, Zhou Yan immediately led his soldiers to the village that had been invaded by demons. Although these villages had now become ruins, they were, after all, invaded villages. The houses in this village were still intact, and the surrounding farmlands were already planted with grain.
"Cut down the plants nearby. I want to store all this grain," Zhou Yan said.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The soldiers responded and began to chop down trees. Zhou Yan, meanwhile, started to inspect the houses for any demon corpses.
"No, Lord. They've all been dealt with. There are no dismembered remains," a soldier reported.
"Very good, let's go." After speaking, Zhou Yan led his personal guards back to the city wall. He had to defend against the demon attacks, so he hadn't visited the girls during this period.
His status was unusual now. If he were to wander anywhere casually, it might attract the attention of the demons. Therefore, he decided it was best to stay on the city wall.
"Lord, we have now captured four cities in the Karta Desert, and our supplies have been greatly depleted. We must take this time to rest and recuperate, or we will not be able to withstand the demon's attack," said Adjutant Hu Hao, rushing to the city wall as soon as he returned.
"En, I know. We have enough food here for several years, so there's no need to worry too much for now. Our priority is to secure this route and prevent them from passing through here to the outside forest," Zhou Yan said.
"But if they bypass us and go into the forest, it will be even more troublesome. The beasts in the forest are even more ferocious. We established our strongholds within those forests. I believe the demons will not choose to fight in the forest," said Hu Hao's adjutant.
"I know that too. So, I plan to build a new city on the outskirts of the forest. You will be in charge of this city. I require you to complete the construction of this new city within half a month. Additionally, dispatch scouts to monitor the surroundings. Once you discover demons emerging from the forest, report to me immediately. We need to be prepared in advance. I estimate these demons will emerge from the forest," Zhou Yan said to his adjutant.