Chapter 998: Volume 32: Dark Clouds Roll In, - 16: Stalemate
"So Boss, how do you plan to deal with the Basarabians? Their attitude seems quite urgent," Puber returned to the main topic.
"Let’s hold off and tease their appetite a bit. Is the marriage of one woman enough to win the support of us Nicosians? Aren’t we selling ourselves a little cheap then? The Basarabians must offer us support in Livonia, I mean direct military action. We need to drag them into this muddy water," Komer pondered, "You may take a firmer stance on your end, make our position clear. After all, Dragumo is doing quite well right now. Let’s keep dragging on the Cretans; I want to see how long they can hold out. The three thousand reinforcements have already gone up, and the following five thousand should immediately follow. Even if it means total annihilation, they must hold Livonia."
"Boss, Dragumo is fighting well, but the expense is huge. Continuing like this might completely devastate Livonia," Puber frowned, disapproving. In his view, it would be much better to recover Cartin at the least cost, without necessarily having to fight jubilantly on Nicosian territory.
"I don’t want it either, but the situation is beyond my control. If you can get the Basarabians to send troops as quickly as possible, we can give in on other conditions. You may decide how to proceed based on the specific situation," Komer understood where Puber’s concerns lay, after all, recovering Cartin was still a necessity for a thriving and prosperous Cartin was what they needed most.
"I’ll give it a try, hoping the Basarabian heads aren’t as stubborn as granite."
As Puber had predicted, the combat in Livonia was extraordinarily fierce and brutal. The Cretans suffered a big loss, being driven out of Livonia by the army led by Dragumo, who also gained a few days for regrouping. This significantly improved the defensive situation in Livonia.
When the Cretans came to their senses and readjusted their military power, Dragumo had nearly rallied the entire spirit of the people of Livonia. The three castles, once famed for their splendor, were quickly re-armed and transformed into fortresses with robust defense systems. Especially, once the posture of mutual defense was established, the Cretans had to guard against attacks coming from several other directions with every offensive attempt.