Marshal Pilag Xi Ferriott sat on his favorite steed, a tall and beautiful white Bronte steed without a single strand of hair out of place. He looked at the endless marching troops on the road and sighed silently.
For some reason, he felt a little uneasy and uneasy.
However, the soldiers passing by on the road would burst into cheers when they saw their highest commander on horseback riding on a small hill by the road …
"Long live the duke!"
These were probably the people who had applied for the conscription from their own territory. Only they would call themselves that.
"Long live the alliance!" "Long live the marshal!" "Long live Shiks!"
The rest was just a mess of cheers.
As the new highest commander of the alliance, if not for his brilliant ambush with the light cavalry of Canas, he wouldn't have been able to deal with the enemy's repeated attacks at night.
Perhaps Marshal Pilag Xi Feriot wouldn't have established his prestige in the army, and Prince Ducklind of Nasri wouldn't have listened to orders to launch a frenzied attack on the enemy's defences the next day.
He had to admit that His Majesty had made the right choice. He had made Ducklind the heir of the Nasri Kingdom instead of the cowardly Vedario.
This was because Prince Wei Dalio had been bragging about the enemy's strength and terrifying combat power in the military camp. He had exaggerated the course of his battle with the enemy countless times, saying that the reason why he lost Zhan was not his fault, but that the enemy was too strong and could not be resisted …
Although Majid III had given him the authority to decide, after interacting with the two princes, he still chose Ducklind, whom His Majesty favored. He sent Vedario back to the kingdom, saying that he would be Nasri's envoy, but in reality, he was a hostage.
At the very least, Takkrind was willing to follow his orders and fight the enemy to the death. Vedalio, on the other hand, wanted to hide in the back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor.
However, Takkrind was also a ruthless fellow. He had to be wary of him doing anything shady in the future.
That way, he could get a better understanding of Thundercrash, an old enemy of Shiks, as well as the might of Aueras' Thundercrash.
In the end, Nasri's two attacks on Thundercrash's defences only used up the three corps that sided with Vedalio.
Most of Nasri's remaining troops were Ducklind's men. Only a few of them had joined Vedario's side.
Pilag Si Ferriott didn't want to bother himself with Nasri's affairs. He knew full well that the two princes were secretly scheming against each other for the throne.
Even though he despised the two princes for not sending troops to rescue Nasri VII and their families, His Majesty had made it clear in his letter that it was a great opportunity for Shiks.
The first supreme commander of the Alliance Army, the Earl of the Kingdom, General Norberton Pang Bellondi, was a very unlucky old fellow.
He was once sent by Majid III to Fochs Island's Bay Loducus colony on Nubissia to lead the kingdom's expeditionary force to attack the overseas region. Unfortunately, they were defeated.
In the end, he was dismissed by Majid III, who thought the old man was too old to be used in an important role.
However, the second person sent to take over the expeditionary force was the kingdom's most famous offensive general, Majid III's trusted aide, Marquis Clario de Sirios.
He was also a general of the kingdom's army, but he still failed. Even though he managed to launch a surprise attack on the region's capital, Lanu, at the start of the war, it was still neutralized by the region and the three corps that landed were wiped out.
Soon after, Marquis Clario de Sirios was sent back to the kingdom due to a serious illness.
Before the kingdom could send another person to take over, bad news came from Nubissia that all the expeditionary forces had been wiped out by the region's two corps. Even Bay Loducus was taken over.
That meant that Shiks had completely lost the colonial war. Majid III had been utterly humiliated and Shiks' national and military might was now looked down upon by the other nations.
However, Pilag Xi Feriot knew very well that regardless of the outcome of the war, His Majesty was the winner. He was a bystander.
Since he had never participated in the conflict between His Majesty and the kingdom's nobles, he understood why His Majesty and Aueras started the war.
If they won, His Majesty could transfer the nobles to the colonies. If they lost, it would be the nobles' strength and armaments that would be used up.
Which noble in the kingdom would dare to go against His Majesty now?
Not to mention the small feudal lord rebellion a few years ago, after the defeat of the colonial war, didn't His Majesty also use this defeat as a reason to reduce and confiscate the territories of several territorial nobles?
Now that more than half of the kingdom's territories were under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family, no one could join forces to oppose His Majesty's policies like before. His Majesty was a man of his word and had the final say in all matters of the kingdom.
Naturally, the defeat in the colonial war was rather embarrassing for His Majesty. That was also the reason Norberton Pang Bellondi was used by His Majesty again.
The old man presented His Majesty with a plan to take over Aueras' new territories and ally with the other eastern kingdoms to attack Aueras.
His reason for doing so was to help Sidins and Rimodran regain their territories, as the two dukes had fled to Shiks.
Majid III accepted the old man's suggestion and appointed him as commander-in-chief.
Everything went according to plan. Shiks gained a foothold in the east of the continent and Sidins and Rimodra were reinstated. Shiks regained its prestige in the neighbouring countries and no other monarchs dared to mock His Imperial Majesty anymore.
It would've been great if His Majesty had quit while he was ahead, but His Majesty formed an eastern alliance with the other four eastern kingdoms to target Aueras.
Nasri, on the other hand, wasn't willing to be Shiks' underling and formed their own faction in the alliance. They didn't listen to His Majesty's orders and started a debt war with Aueras.
It would've been better if Nasri and Aueras fought to the death. Yet, His Majesty wanted to use that opportunity to teach Aueras a lesson, so he formed an alliance to attack Aueras.
The war went smoothly at first. While there were some casualties, it didn't affect them too much. Aueras suffered a crushing defeat and even lost their famous royal capital.
So, His Majesty excitedly rushed to the royal capital and held a grand military parade to humiliate Aueras.
At the same time, His Majesty made a speech to use the opportunity to destroy Aueras and avenge their defeat in the colonial war.
After that, Aueras transferred the two corps of the autonomous region back to the kingdom.
Following that, the Alliance army was defeated by the Monolith Army of the Overseas Dominion in Ambrize County, losing almost half of their troops.
Thundercrash then landed at Port Floric in Rimodran and reclaimed their newly conquered territory. Rimodran and Sidins were wiped out and even Shiks lost their foothold.
Right after that, Thundercrash launched a surprise attack on the Nasri capital of Polivisia and the war took a turn for the worse.
Count Norberton Pang Bellondi, the highest commander of the alliance forces stationed in Aueras at the time, was afraid that their retreat route would be cut off, so he took the initiative to withdraw the alliance forces from Aueras and returned to Nasri.
In the end, he angered His Majesty and was stripped of all his authority and ordered to reflect on his actions.
After that, His Majesty came to his territory to make him the highest commander of the alliance.
Grand Marshal Pilag Xi Feriot was a legendary figure in Shiks. He took over the position of grand duke before the age of 20.
His family's territory was located at the northern border of Shiks and was often invaded by the barbarian kingdoms of the northern highlands. His father died in battle against the barbarian armies that invaded his territory.
After becoming a Grand Duke, the young Duke Pilag Xi Feriot began to work hard to manage his family's territory. He emptied his family's assets and built a 6,000-strong Family Flintlock Team. A year later, he led this Family Flintlock Team to sweep across several barbarian kingdoms in the northern highlands.
Under his command, the two barbarian kingdoms closest to his territory were annihilated. The other barbarian kingdoms were terrified of him and could only send envoys to apologize and beg for peace. They promised that as long as he was alive, they wouldn't dare to invade his family's territory again.
His contribution to expanding the kingdom's territory was too great. Coupled with the fact that he was a duke and was technically Majid III's nephew, he was given the title of Shiksan Marshal despite his young age.
Naturally, it was only a title in name and he only enjoyed an allowance and honour. He didn't take up any official position in the kingdom's army. Otherwise, Majid III wouldn't be able to sleep well at night.
Fortunately, Duke Pilag Xi Feriot was a man who knew his place. After avenging his father, he mostly lived in seclusion in his family's territory and rarely went out. He didn't join the Shiksan nobles to cause trouble for Majid III either.
Even before the rebellion, someone had approached the Duke, hoping that he would stand on the side of the nobles. The Duke had only replied that his family's armed forces would not participate in the civil war. This had also been conveyed to Majid III.
The reason Majid III invited him to be the supreme commander of the Alliance wasn't just out of kinship, but also because Pilag Xi Feriot was curious and wanted to see for himself how powerful the two corps of the autonomous region were after annihilating the twenty Shiksan corps that participated in the colonial war.
The first time he saw the new rifles and cannons, he realized he wasn't facing the traditional armies of Freia. Instead, it was an unfamiliar armed force that was completely different from his impression of a strong army.
But from a certain point of view, Duke Pilag Xi Feriot also noticed Thundercrash's shortcomings. They were arrogant and inexperienced in defensive battles.
Without the addition of the new weapons, they would just be a group of mounted infantry with a more powerful and elite combat power.
That was why he arranged for Canas' light cavalry to ambush Thundercrash's night raiders. Without the advantage of long-range shooting, Canas' light cavalry was able to hold their own against them and cause them to suffer a huge loss.
However, the most terrifying aspect of Thundercrash was their ability to learn and reflect. The first time the five corps of Nasri attacked, they made use of their advantage in numbers to overwhelm the enemy.
But the second time they attacked, they realised that the enemy's defences had been improved. The same method of attack resulted in a completely different outcome.
The attacking Nasrian army suffered even more casualties, while the defending Thundercrash responded in an orderly fashion. Even when there were casualties, the defending soldiers didn't jump out of their trenches and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Nasrians. Instead, they calmly fired their new rifles.
If it was possible, Duke Pilag Xi Feriot hoped that the five corps of Shiks would be able to return to the kingdom unscathed.
He could already see the urgency of military reform from Thundercrash.
To put it bluntly, he was risking the lives of Shiksan soldiers to fight Thundercrash who had mastered the new tactics. He didn't think that he could defeat the enemy with his superior numbers. Even if he could, the price of casualties would be too high.
However, Majid III had written him a letter requesting him to help Nasri drive out the Aueran army and ensure the independence of Canas and Nasri. He didn't want Aueras to unify the eastern part of Freia no matter the cost.
It was simple. As long as those two countries existed, Shiks would be able to meddle in the affairs of the east and even have a chance to retaliate against Aueras.
As long as the army led by Duke Pilag Xi Feriot could recover the royal city of Polisia and help Prince Daklind take the throne, Nasri would have to rely on Shiks to survive in the future. That was equivalent to Shiks gaining another vassal state.
In order to achieve that goal, Shiks watched as the two Nasri princes bided their time and Thundercrash transferred the captives away. That would have been the best opportunity to recover the royal city, but they let it slip by just like that.
Aueras was still holding on, relying on the two corps of the region. If Duke Pilag Xi Feriot could lead the army to deal a heavy blow to Nasri and force them to retreat, they would be able to bear the price no matter how great the losses were.
The next step would be to negotiate a truce with Aueras. In a few years, the kingdom would be able to replicate new rifles and cannons and equip them with new equipment. Then, the day of revenge would come.
While Majid III's letter didn't interfere with Pilag Xi Feriot's command of the alliance's army, the message was clear. They had to take back Nasri's Polivisia capital and help Ducklind ascend to the throne so that he would fully submit to Shiks.
No matter how unwilling Duke Pilag Xi Feriot was, he couldn't go against His Imperial Majesty's orders. He could only do as he was told and lead the army towards Polisia.
A few fast horses galloped towards the mound. The guards at the foot of the mound were about to stop them, but upon seeing them, they hurriedly saluted. However, the riders ignored the soldiers and directly rode up the mound.
"Your Excellency, you seem to be in a good mood. Are you looking for a good view from a high vantage point?" the leader of the riders asked in a loud voice.
Duke Pilag Xi Feriot couldn't help but laugh. It was Marquis Archburgh Wye Chalks of Canas, the corps commander of light cavalry. He was in high spirits after his successful night attack.
"Your Excellency's Bronte mount is really handsome!"
Archburgh Wye Chalks looked at Duke Pilag Xi Feriot's beloved horse and drooled. "Fine northern horses are much more noble than our Canasian steeds. They're taller, have longer legs, can withstand the wind and snow, can sprint fast, and can carry heavy loads …"
"Alright, that's enough. I can't give you my Baihong. I still have three Northern horses with me. You can pick one and take it with you. If you don't like any of them, I'll go back to the Northern Lands and find you a few good ones."
Naturally, Duke Pilag Xi Ferriott knew what Marquis Archburg Wei Chalkes meant, and hurriedly stopped him from praising him.
"The horses that are truly suitable for cavalry are your Canasian steeds."
Duke Pilag Xi Feriot shook his head, "Northern horses are too delicate. They get sick easily and need to be fed carefully. They don't have enough stamina for long distances, unlike your steeds. They're a little short, but they're adaptable and have enough stamina.
As long as there's moonlight, they can still charge at night. They're the best choice for large scale light cavalry.
"Northern horses aren't good. They're blind at night and irritable. They don't like to move and are especially afraid of the dark.
So the stables have to be bright, or it'll be so noisy you can't sleep. You're like a seven or eight year old child. Even a mouse running by will cause a ruckus.
Alright, let's not talk about horses. Did you get any news? "
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Archburgh Wye Chalks nodded, "Our scouts have reported that Thundercrash has retreated to Polyvicia's capital. Nasry's agent said that the enemy has no intention of retreating. It looks like they want to defend the city to the death.
Right now, there's still one Monolith Regiment and two Thundercrash Regiments.
When Nasry's spies saw Thundercrash entering the city, they were carrying close to ten thousand wounded soldiers … "
Duke Pilag Xi Feriot was silent for a while, then said with a solemn expression, "It looks like the enemy wants to fight us in the capital. We have to fight …"
Holy Light Calendar 601, November 7th, the Alliance's army arrived at Polyvicia's capital. War was about to break out.