Prince Wedrick escaped Emis on the afternoon of the 4th of October. It was already evening by the time Jebson figured out the truth. Claude, on the other hand, rushed to the entrance of Odin Mountain Range with the garrison.
A division of Nasri's army had arrived at Amis in the middle of the night. The scouts had discovered that the city was heavily fortified with bright bonfires and cannons. Furthermore, the troops were exhausted from the long journey. So, the commander decided to rest for the night and decide whether to attack the city the next day.
Had it not been for the fact that they had captured a few soldiers from Chanaral in the morning who claimed that Emis only had a folk of their own army, Nasri might not have sent a folk to Emis.
According to the soldier's confession, it was said that there was a battalion of Bluefeather and a battalion of the royal guard stationed in the city. The interrogator was a little puzzled. After some more questioning, he found out that Stellin X's second son, Prince Wedrick, was holed up in Emis as an army overseer.
It wasn't uncommon to see an army overseer three to four hundred kilometers away from the frontlines, but the news caused a dispute between the commanders of the two standing corps of Nasri.
Some of the commanders felt that they should change their plans and head towards Emis to capture the second prince first. Perhaps that would be a prerequisite for Aueras to stop the war and sue for peace.
However, the other commanders were adamantly against it. They wanted to ignore the interlude and focus all their efforts on surrounding the three Aueran corps at the frontlines.
To the anti-Aueras alliance, annihilating one of Aueras's trump cards was far more important than capturing a prince alive.
There were three main reasons for the opposition. The first was that the two standing corps would turn to attack Emis. Putting aside the question of whether they would be able to take the city, it was inevitable that Bluefeather would be alerted.
When the Bluefeather Legion turned around and launched an attack, if they failed to take over Amis City, the two legions would be in danger of being pincered from the front and back. By then, they would be lucky if they did not get surrounded, let alone annihilating the Bluefeather Legion.
The second reason was that they didn't manage to wipe out the Chanaral battalion that came out to collect taxes. A few of the officers on horseback escaped.
They would definitely have gone back to report the news.
News of Cerulean's two corps flanking Bluefeather's three corps at the frontline had already leaked. They had to hurry to the designated location as soon as possible and block Bluefeather's path of retreat instead of turning to attack Amis.
This was because Emis City would definitely improve its defenses after receiving the news, and Prince Wedrick might have already escaped …
The third reason was that even if they caught Prince Wedrick, it wouldn't be of much use, as there was already a precedent for this.
When Stellin IX attacked Nasri a few decades ago, his eldest son led the army to attack Berkeley.
But in a battle, his eldest son was brave and fearless. He charged too fiercely and was wounded and captured.
Seeing that they had captured the eldest son of Stellin IX, Berkeley thought that they were a rare commodity and demanded many harsh conditions for a truce.
Back then, many Aueran ministers persuaded Stellin IX to swallow the humiliation and rescue the eldest prince first.
However, Stellin IX killed the envoy of Berkeley Duchy and tore up the truce. He led his army to attack Berkeley Duchy and annihilated it. Due to the death of the first prince, the grand duke and his family were exterminated. Most of the nobles of Berkeley Duchy were killed as well. Only a few survived.
That was why Stellin X, the second prince, was able to succeed him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to inherit the throne.
The objectors brought up this matter to show that capturing an Aueran prince was useless. Instead, it would draw all of Aueran's attention to themselves.
On top of that, the captured prince would have to be treated well to prevent his life from endangering the nobles of Aueran. It would be better not to capture him. Capturing him would only bring trouble upon oneself. It was a hot gourd.
Perhaps the objectors' arguments were so convincing that the officers who proposed to attack Emis had nothing to say.
In the end, the highest commander of Nasri's army decided to carry out the original plan. They would first surround Bluefeather and the other two secondary corps of Aueran before anything else.
However, in order to prevent the garrison of Emis from sending troops to reinforce the three corps at the frontline, the Nasri commander decided to send a division to restrain the garrison of Emis.
The division commander had been emphasized time and again by the highest commander that his mission was to restrain the enemy and prevent the garrison of Emis from leaving the city.
If the garrison of Emis was too strong, he could decide whether or not to retreat.
However, the closer they got to Amis, the more Chanaral soldiers they captured to collect taxes. In the end, the division commander finally received accurate information that there were only about three battalions of garrison troops stationed in Amis.
The division commander was one of the officers who proposed to attack Emis. He was immediately tempted. His division alone was more than enough to take Emis.
So, the division commander urged his men to hurry up and finally arrived at Emis before three in the morning.
Amis was heavily guarded, to the point that the division commander suspected that the captured soldiers were lying. Moreover, his subordinates were exhausted from the journey, so the division commander finally decided to rest for the night and test the waters the next day. He wanted to see how strong the defenses of Amis were …
Sometimes, opportunities could just vanish without anyone noticing.
If the Nasri division commander launched an attack the moment he arrived at Emis, they would still be able to take the city no matter how tired or how many casualties they suffered.
That would be a disaster for the Aueran army stationed in Sidins Principality.
Because for those soldiers who went out to collect taxes, they would definitely not return to the city if they were attacked by Nasri's army on their way back. Instead, they would throw away their loot and flee towards the entrance of Odin Mountain Range, hoping to return to their country from there.
In the end, the Nasri division did not launch an attack. Instead, they set up camp at the north side of Emis and prepared to rest.
This was good news for the soldiers of the Chanaral Regiment who were rushing back from outside the city. They bypassed the north gate and returned to the city through the east and south gates to be reorganized by the officers sent by the 11th Field Battalion.
So, in just one night, Amis City gained an additional regiment of soldiers.
Around ten in the morning on the 5th of October, the Nasri army finally launched an attack on Emis.
But because the division was traveling with light equipment, the cannons they brought with them were light and couldn't compete with the defensive cannons on the city walls. As a result, the soldiers were bombarded by the cannons on the city walls.
At the same time, when they entered the firing range of the defenders, they were also fired upon by the 11th Field Battalion.
After an hour of attack, not only were the Nasri army unable to get close to the city walls, they even suffered around five hundred casualties.
This result was out of the expectations of the attacking division commander. He believed that the defenses of Emis weren't as weak as the captured soldiers had said. He suspected that there were around three regiments in the city and his division wouldn't be able to take Emis.
So, the division commander withdrew his troops and stopped attacking. Instead, he fortified his camp and set up a defensive line, ready to carry out his mission to the end.
The defenders of Emis breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the enemy was no longer attacking. They had mobilized all of their defensive forces to repel the enemy's attack. Just like that, the attack on Emis came to an end.
On the afternoon of the 5th of October, the two port cities of Sidins that were newly occupied by Aueras were attacked by the combined fleet of the five anti-Aueras alliance.
The two garrison divisions of the Chaniaral Legion, who were blinded by the bombardment of the fleet, could not resist the attack of the two legions transported by the joint fleet. In less than two hours, they abandoned their armor and fled the port city.
In the end, less than two of them made it to Emis. The lucky ones were taken captive while the unlucky ones were killed by the citizens of Sidins who came out to capture them.
At around six o 'clock in the evening on the 5th of October, four signalmen under the command of Major Jebson, the commander of the 11th Field Battalion in Amis City, finally broke through the enemy's blockade and reported the situation to General Philips, the commander of the Bluefeather Legion. Out of more than 30 signalmen, only four of them were left to complete their mission.
Philips, who was dissatisfied with the progress of the battle during the day, was wondering why the enemy's resistance had suddenly increased. After receiving the report, he immediately understood that his three corps were in danger.
As the general of Bluefeather, one of the four trump card corps of Aueras, Philips was an excellent soldier. He immediately ordered his troops to retreat that very night and left a unit behind to make it seem as though they were going to launch a night attack on the enemy to confuse the enemy.
Although General Philips' prompt decision had bought the three corps a night to retreat, the enemy still discovered the fact that the Bluefeather Corps and the other two second-line corps had retreated the next morning.
The two standing corps of Nasri were already in position to flank them. The corps that occupied the two port cities in the west had also left behind a line of defense to attack from the flanks.
To Philips, one night was all he needed to get the three corps back to the starting point of the attack, the low hills of Amelia Fields.
Although there were some defensive structures and positions set up here, it wasn't a good thing to be surrounded by enemies with superior military strength.
Even if Bluefeather was confident that they could hold their ground, time was clearly on the enemy's side.
If they were surrounded for too long, they wouldn't be able to replenish their supplies and the only way out for the three corps would be to surrender.
If Bluefeather surrendered to the enemy, it would be an unbearable humiliation for the rest of their lives. It would also mean that Philips would leave a mark on his military career.
Even if he could return to Aueras in the future, he wouldn't be able to face his descendants.
So, after a short meeting, Philips and all the high-ranking officers made a decision to break out of the encirclement while the enemy hadn't yet stabilized their footing. They would use the blood and lives of their soldiers to carve out a path of retreat to Amelia.
After eleven days of fighting, the three corps were almost out of food and ammunition. They had to break out of the encirclement while fending off the enemy's encirclement from the other two sides.
But they still managed to break out of the encirclement. This was a path of retreat paved with the corpses of countless soldiers. Less than forty thousand people made it to Amelia in the end, most of them injured.
More than half of the officers of Bluefeather and the other two second-rate corps died on the battlefield. Even Philips was heavily injured after being hit by a stray bullet at the frontlines to boost morale.
Just as Bluefeather's main force and the other two second-rate corps were trying their best to break out of the encirclement for their own survival, Claude was feeding mosquitoes at the entrance of Odin Mountain Range.
When he arrived with the garrison platoon, he had Second Lieutenant Most lead the Chanaral platoon up the mountain to take over the two defensive lines. He then led the garrison soldiers to dig a trench on the hillside at the entrance of the mountain path. He also retrieved four cannons from the defensive positions on the mountain and placed them openly on the hillside.
After the short battle at Amis, only a few scouts from Nasri arrived at the entrance of the mountain path. When they discovered the four cannons on the slope, they immediately turned their horses around and left, never to be seen again.
So, the bored Claude counted the stars at night and dozed off during the day. He didn't see any enemies, but he did capture close to a hundred Chanaral deserters who wanted to return to their homeland and handed them over to Most for punishment.
Ten days later, news came that Bluefeather had broken out of the encirclement and arrived at Amelia.