If the two corps of Nasri had occupied Emmis first, they would have been able to close the gates and beat the dogs. Bluefeather and the two second-rate corps of Aueras would have been trapped in Sidins' Emilia Plains and their annihilation would have been unavoidable.
However, in this era, both sides focused more on wiping out the enemy's forces. Occupying cities wasn't that important.
To the commanders of the alliance, as long as Bluefeather and the two second-rate corps were annihilated, the cities would be ripe fruits that would soon fall into their hands.
So, they didn't think there was a need to mobilize a corps to attack Emmis and disperse their forces for nothing.
Bluefeather's mistake was that they didn't know their enemy. They didn't expect that the enemy they were facing wasn't just 200,000, but 400,000.
Apart from Bluefeather and the two second-line corps that were about to face a bloody battle on the frontlines, Aueras had another second-line corps stationed in Sidins Duchy. However, that corps had been torn to shreds and the five anti-Aueras nations believed that it was stationed in Emis.
The second-rate corps that came to Nyaral was formed from recruits from the local garrison barracks and garrisons. They had four divisions as well.
However, after entering the Sidins Principality, two divisions were sent to the two new port cities occupied by the Bluefeather Legion to take over the defensive duties. Another division was sent to escort the seventy to eighty thousand captives back to their country, leaving only one division stationed in Amis City.
But this division was dismantled by Prince Wedrick, and was split into regiments and battalions under the command of the honorary officers who had followed the prince to the city of Emis. They were sent to various towns in the Sidins Duchy to collect war taxes.
As carriages after carriages of wealth were transported to Emmis, Prince Wedrick sent out more and more men. The journey also grew longer and longer. In the end, there was only one division left to defend Emmis.
If not for the fact that Bluefeather's 11th Field Battalion and the Royal Guard Battalion were only responsible for protecting Prince Wedrick's personal safety, they might have received the prince's order to collect war taxes.
The military commanders of the five-nation alliance didn't understand the situation. They thought that two divisions of the Chanaral Legion should be stationed in Amis, so it would take at least one legion to conquer Amis.
They were most worried that attacking Amis City would alert the enemy and attract the attention of the Bluefeather Legion at the frontlines.
If Bluefeather discovered that they were surrounded and immediately led the other two corps to break out of the encirclement, the other two corps of Nasri might not be able to stop them. If the enemy managed to break out, all their efforts would be in vain.
As a matter of fact, the alliance didn't know that there were only three battalions left in Emis. Otherwise, they could have just sent a single division to take over Emis and shut the door to Bluefeather's retreat.
A spy from Sidins who was hiding in Amis wanted to report the situation there, but he ran into a squadron on the way back from collecting taxes.
Because the horse he was riding was so handsome, the soldiers got greedy and robbed him under the pretext of inspecting his horse.
Due to the spy's resistance, he was beaten up again. Not only was he heavily injured, but he was also stripped naked and left to die in the wilderness.
Fortunately, the spy was saved by a farmer's wife. By the time he recovered from his injuries and came out, the battle of Efenasburg had already ended.
The first day of the battle was the morning of the 3rd of October. Bluefeather first suffered a fierce attack from the allied forces of the four duchies and took advantage of their defeat to launch a counterattack. They pushed the enemy back more than 10 kilometers in one go and forced their way back to Efenasburg.
That night, the battle report sent to Prince Wedrick stated that the enemy was, as expected, weak, lacking in training, and lacking in combat strength. In a single day of battle, the number of casualties was estimated to be more than 10,000, while the Bluefeather Legion had only suffered slightly more than 2,000 casualties.
With a casualty rate of 1: 5, the higher-ups of Bluefeather were confident that they would be able to defeat the enemy in less than 10 days and take Efenasburg.
Because of this battle report from the frontlines, Prince Wedrick specially held a grand celebration ball in Amis City and invited all the officers above the rank of lieutenant in Amis City to attend.
Prince Wedrick raised his wine glass at the ball and cheered for Bluefeather's great victory. He also wished for the conquest of Efenasburg and the destruction of Sidins.
The guests and host were all in a good mood and most of them got drunk.
Prince Wedrick wasn't someone who only knew how to play around. On the contrary, he had an extremely sharp intuition.
When a battalion from Chanyalar ran into two Nasrian corps that were hurrying to flank Bluefeather, only a few officers on horseback managed to make it back.
It was the afternoon of the 4th of October. The few officers who managed to make it back breathlessly reported their encounter to Prince Wedrick, who had just woken up. The prince looked at the map of Sidins for less than 10 minutes before making his decision. He ordered his attendants to pack up and inform the royal guard battalion to escort him out of Emis.
Hence, the soldiers of Bluefeather's 11th Field Battalion watched in bewilderment as Prince Wedrick's men and the Battle Battalion of the Royal Guards acted as if their butts were on fire. They left behind a large amount of supplies and brought nearly fifty carriages filled with valuables as they hurriedly left Emis City, speeding towards the Odin Mountains.
The 11th Battalion's commander, Major Jebson, rushed to the city gates when he heard the news and stopped Prince Wedrick's carriage to ask if his battalion wanted to follow.
In the end, Prince Wedrick ordered Major Jebson to preside over and defend the city of Emis, handing over all the affairs of Emis to him. Meanwhile, he was to escort the goods collected in the name of war taxes back to his country and hand them over to the national treasury.
Fortunately, Major Jebson was an outstanding soldier. Although he couldn't understand why Prince Wedrick had left in such a hurry, he could feel that something was wrong. He immediately rode his horse to patrol the four gates of Amis City. When he received a report from the guards at the east gate that a few officers had returned to the city in a sorry state at one o 'clock in the afternoon, he hurriedly returned to the city lord's mansion and found the officers of the Chanaral army who were at a loss because of Prince Wedrick's sudden departure.
After learning what had happened to the officers who had escaped, Major Jebson looked at the map and immediately understood the reason for Prince Wedrick's departure.
He couldn't help but curse. He wasn't scolding the prince for running away, but for only caring about himself. He had packed his belongings and forcefully collected the carriages and horses, wasting an entire afternoon, but he hadn't thought to send messengers to inform Bluefeather.
The three corps at the frontlines didn't know that an imminent crisis had befallen them, and that they would soon be surrounded by the enemy.
Major Jebson immediately sent three teams of messengers to the frontlines, requesting them to pass on the situation to Bluefeather no matter what. At the same time, the 11th Field Battalion was mobilized to set up a defense around Emis City, and several small teams of scouts were sent out to scout out the enemy's movements. They were also sent to inform the troops that were scattered in various towns to collect war taxes, requesting them to immediately return to Emis City to assist in the defense.
After issuing a series of orders, Major Jebson finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he thought about Prince Wedrick's departure, he felt the urge to curse out loud again.
Suddenly, he thought of a problem and hurriedly called for his guard to bring two men to the entrance of Odin Mountain Range to see if Prince Wedrick's carriage had reached the mountain.
The Eleventh Field Battalion immediately became very busy. The four brigades took over the defense of the four city gates and the four walls, so that the city of Emis would have a preliminary defense capability and would not be destroyed by the enemy.
Major Jebson then ordered the remaining garrison of Chaniaral to maintain order in the city. At the same time, he sent some experienced officers to reorganize the troops that had returned to collect taxes to serve as the 11th Battalion's reserve force.
In the midst of the chaos, Claude suddenly realized that the garrison of the infirmary didn't receive any missions at all and seemed to be doing nothing at all.
The main reason for that was that the officers in the battalion were well aware of the strength of the garrison and didn't take Claude's men into consideration when they came up with their defensive plans.
So, Claude decided to go to the battalion headquarters and ask Most about the arrangements for the garrison.
Claude believed that the garrison was equipped with the aubass mark 3 matchlock that focused on precision shooting. The soldiers were also trained in precision shooting, so they should be able to play a rather important role in a defensive battle.
However, when Claude went to the battalion headquarters, he realized that he had come at a rather bad time. The battalion commander and a few other officers were furious because of the unreliable Prince Wedrick.
Because when their group of people went up the mountain path, because the carriages loaded with valuables were too heavy and difficult to climb up the mountain, they lacked manpower to take care of them. The prince actually ordered a battalion of Chaniaral soldiers guarding the Odin Mountain Range to take care of these carriages and help them cross the mountain path, abandoning their duty of guarding the mountain path.
Fortunately, Major Jebson had thought of this and sent his own guards to check on the situation. In the end, the guards came back and reported that there wasn't even a guard at the entrance of the mountain path. Everyone knew that Prince Wedrick was holding his own people back again. He was simply a useless teammate!
The officers in the battalion couldn't help but curse when they heard the news.
Even though Emis was only four to five kilometers away from the entrance of Odin Mountain Range, controlling Emis meant controlling the entrance of Odin Mountain Range.
However, it was still quite a distance away and Prince Wedrick had taken the battalion stationed there with him. That meant that there wasn't a single soldier stationed at the entrance of the mountain path to the two defensive lines set up by Sidins.
If the enemy sent a small group to go around Emis and occupy the entrance to Odin Mountain Range before taking over the two empty defensive lines, it would be equivalent to cutting off all the Aueran troops in Sidins' territory.
If that happened, there would be no response from the heavens or the earth. Even if the enemy had very few troops on the mountain defense line, it would be the last straw that would tip the balance of the Kingdom's army. The possibility of the entire army being wiped out would not be low.
Some of the scouts reported that the Nasrian army that the few officers from Chaniaral encountered had already sent a division towards Emis.
The remaining troops in the city and the tax collectors that had returned didn't even amount to a full line. The main defensive force would still be Bluefeather's 11th battalion. As for Chaniaral, none of the officers felt that they were strong.
What troubled Major Jebson and the other officers was that they couldn't mobilize the 10th battalion to defend the entrance of Odin Mountain Range, not even a company of them.
As for Chaniaral's troops, none of them felt at ease. They were afraid that the soldiers stationed at the entrance would flee the moment the battle broke out. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to hold off the enemy's attack. Nobody believed that they were reliable in terms of combat power.
At that moment, Claude arrived at camp headquarters and happened to bump into the matter. Most's eyes lit up when he saw him. He pointed at Claude and yelled, "You're the one!"
Quite a number of officers had seen Fukby's Mountain Camp and realized that Claude's garrison company was the most suitable candidate for the job. They didn't take the infirmary's garrison company into consideration during the defensive battle anyway, so they were sent to defend the entrance of Odin Mountain Range.
Just like that, Claude received his first official order to lead the garrison company and a company from Chaniaral under Most's command to defend the entrance of Odin Mountain Range.