"Our scouts have reported that Clyde and Jessica are working with the garrisons, nobles and officials of the southern coastal prefectures of Felkansi and Bengra to move their families to the western prefecture of Colvok," Borkal said as he drew a red line on the map hanging on the wall.
"How many people do they have?" Avitelli I of the Bleyot Kingdom asked.
Colonel Borkal glanced at the document in his hand. "Two standing corps with around 136,000 men. Together with the local garrisons, there's a force of around 20,000 men in four garrisons.
There are also the relatives of the local officials and nobles who left with them, as well as the southern citizens who left with them. That adds up to around 200,000 people.
We believe their destination is the four prefectures of the northwestern highlands. That's the territory of Duke Pilag Xi Feriot, Shiks' archduke of the north. "
"Duke Pilag Xi Feriot?
That name sounds familiar, "Claude said," The four northwestern prefectures are all his territories?
In that case, his faction should be second to none in Shiks. "
"Lord Marshal, Duke Pilag Xi Feriot is indeed someone you know," Borkal said with a smile.
Borkal chuckled. "During the second Eastern Regional War, he was the highest commander of the alliance's army, the commander-in-chief.
Towards the end of the war, he saw that things weren't going well for him and forcefully seized the 80,000 warhorses and four-wheeled carriages of the three light cavalry folk from Canas and fled back to Shiks with more than a hundred thousand wounded Shiksan soldiers.
Because he fled without a fight, he was stripped of his Marshal rank by Majid III when he returned to his country …
Pilag Xi Feriot had great prestige in the Shiksan military. Of the four northwestern prefectures in the highlands, apart from Wilmouth, which was his family's territory, the other three were taken from the highland barbarians.
As the three prefectures were frequently attacked by the Highland Barbarians, the royal court couldn't directly rule them or bestow them to other nobles. Left with no choice, they handed them over to Duke Pilag Xi Feryotte and the four prefectures became House Feryotte's sphere of influence.
The captains of the Army of the Clyde and the Army of the Jessica, General Humens and General Torrimoc, had been subordinates of Duke Pilag Xi Ferriott during the Second Great Eastern War.
When Pilag Xi Feryot led his troops back to Shiks, one of them was injured and the other was in charge of transporting the supplies back to Shiks.
Because Duke Pilag Xi Feriot alone bore the crime of fleeing without a fight, his subordinates and the two generals who followed him back were not implicated and punished for this.
They're very grateful to Duke Feriot. That's why the bureau determined that the Clyde and Jessica Corps were heading to the four northwestern prefectures. "
"Can we stop them?" Avitelli I asked.
Borkal looked at Avitelli I with a troubled expression. "We can stop them. If Thundercrash pursues them, we can delay them and force them to find a place to defend. Then, we can wait for the three Bleyot corps to rush over and surround them before launching an attack. We'll only have to pay a certain price to annihilate the two corps and the troops that followed them west.
But the problem is that if we go after them, we'll give the other four corps an opportunity to attack. If they find out that we're going after Clyde and Jessica, they'll definitely attack the royal capital. "
"Let them go," Claude said as he looked at the map.
Claude looked at the map and said, "Since they've left the battlefield, we can ignore them. Their departure actually helps us reduce the number of enemies we have to face.
Colonel Borkal, tell us about the movements of the remaining four corps. "
"Yes, Lord Marshal."
Borkal flipped to a new page. Since Claude had already made his decision, there was no longer a need to worry about the two corps' whereabouts.
He had to admit that the Clyde and Jessica corps' jarls, Homens and Torimoc, were smart to choose a path of survival.
"The Buckler Legion and the Bruce Legion are currently stationed in Skovia County, which is adjacent to Dartmouth County. They are two days behind the Solym Legion.
The two Shiksan corps probably rushed back after receiving the royal capital's distress message. But when they arrived in Skovia, they received news that Solym's corps had been wiped out and the royal capital had fallen. Majid III had died in battle, so they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Barklar's corps jarl is Majid III's third son, His Highness Mondocarlo da Hicks, a lieutenant-general of the kingdom.
Among the 19 children of Majid III, he was said to be the prince with the most military talent. He once participated in the suppression of the aristocratic rebellion in the territory. He was tyrannical and cruel, and his favorite thing was to pour oil on the captives and burn them alive.
Because of that, he had a bad reputation in the Shiksan army. Many officers believed that he didn't have the bearing of a king.
Bruce's corps jarl was Marquis Wiesenbad, a major-general of the kingdom.
He was a relative of the Shiksan royal family. His aunt was married to Majid III's younger brother, Prince Theriheim, and became the princess consort.
Using that connection, Wiesenbad quickly rose through the ranks and was quickly promoted to major-general, becoming the jarl of Bruce's corps.
His performance in the army was mediocre. The only good thing about him was that he was obedient and always followed orders from his superiors.
Currently, Barklar and Bruce were stationed in Skovia to defend themselves and gather reserve corps from the surrounding prefectures. At the same time, they were collecting rations and other resources.
Now, three reserve corps have arrived at their camp, so they should have around 350,000 men there.
According to the messenger we captured, His Highness Mondocarlo has also requested for the Clyde and Jessica corps, as well as the two standing corps stationed at the Manori Plains, to assemble … "
Borkal pointed at the route Clyde and Jessica would take to the west. "It's obvious that those two corps refused to obey His Highness Mondocarlo's orders. Instead, they sought a path of survival to avoid a battle with us.
As for the two standing armies stationed at the Manori Plains, the D 'Ahly Army and the Fakelin Army, they did not listen to His Highness's summons. Instead, they set up defensive positions at the mountain entrance outside Port Patkara, as if they are going to hold fast …
Avitelli I interjected, "The standing corps of Dhahli is the local corps of the three prefectures of the Manori Plains. Most of the officers and soldiers are recruited locally. Strictly speaking, they should be people of our Bleyot Kingdom.
However, the three prefectures have been forcefully occupied by Shiks for more than three decades now. I wonder if the people there still think they're our people. "
Claude looked at the disappointed Avitelli I and consoled him, "I believe the older ones will remember Shiks' forceful occupation of the three prefectures.
You said that the resistance in Manori Plains was fierce back then and the Shiksan army killed many people there. That grudge won't be easily forgotten.
"Just look at how Dahli didn't listen to the prince's summons and set up defensive positions at the mountain pass. It's clear that they don't want to fight for Shiks. Instead, they want to defend their homeland.
Perhaps you can send an emissary to contact them. Perhaps they'll be happy to return to their homeland. "
Avitelli I gave it some thought and nodded. "Alright, I'll send someone to talk to them. If they're willing to accept peace, that would be for the best."
"Then, all we need to do now is deal with the Shiksan prince's army in Skovia. There are 350,000 men, two standing corps and three reserve corps."
Claude stood up and looked at the map. "Colonel Borkal, tell me about this prefecture."
"Yes, Lord Marshal."
Borkal gestured for his subordinates to hang a detailed map of Skkovia on the wall. "Skkovia has a hilly and flat terrain. There are two main rivers, three cities, eight towns and 68 villages. It's directly governed by the Shiksan royal family and has a population of about 740,000.
The capital, Skanamo, is located on the Lustre River. It's also the base camp of the current prince, His Highness Mondocarlo.
"His Highness' Barke Corps is currently stationed in the capital, Skanamo, setting up a defensive line along the Lustre River.
"On the other hand, Marquis Wiesenbad's Bruce Corps is stationed in the mountain city of Sidpass in the Tena Changlin Mountains.
"Between those two points is the town of Cheber, where the reserve corps from Kedames is stationed.
"There are four other towns in front of the defensive line. The reserve corps of Ridleeds has been split up to guard those four towns. Prince Mondocarlo is probably using the reserve corps of Ridleeds as a frontline and base of operations.
"However, the other four corps didn't respond to his orders, so he can only switch from offense to defense and doesn't dare to advance towards Dartmouth where we're stationed.
"Behind the defensive line set up by Prince Mondocarlo is Ranglis. It's now the main logistics base for the 300,000 men.
"The reserve corps from Sadeke is in charge of defending the city and gathering supplies.
"According to Thundercrash's captives, there will be two more corps coming to reinforce us in the next half a month. One from Renvoorsk and the other from Drinskink."
After giving a brief introduction, Colonel Borkal had his subordinates label the towns on the map with the numbers of the captives.
Claude looked at the map and shook his head with a smile. He turned to the high-ranking officers in the tent and said, "Based on the deployment of the defensive forces in Skovia Prefecture, we can conclude that the prince isn't an experienced and outstanding general …"
Claude pointed at the capital of Sckovia on the map. "General Berklin, if you were the defender, how would you arrange the defensive line from Sckovia to Cheber and then to Sidpass?"
Berklin, Thundercrash's chief of staff, led Thundercrash's 2nd Folk in disguise of Bleyotte's 1st Mountain Corps.
He successfully fooled the Shiksan officials who came to escort them and brought a folk of 1st Mountain Corps and Thundercrash's 1st and 2nd Folk to Dartmouth. Then, he confiscated supplies on the spot and hanged the Shiksan officials who were escorting them, throwing the entire prefecture into chaos.
Thanks to his outstanding performance, the Shiksan higher-ups didn't notice anything amiss. They only thought that Bleyotte had rebelled due to the lack of supplies. So, they urged Solym to quickly quell the rebellion and wipe out the mountain monkeys that dared to plunder the Shiksan capital's surrounding prefectures.
Therefore, the Solym army that had rushed over did not have the time to carry out any pre-battle reconnaissance. They directly crashed into the defensive iron plate that had been waiting for them. They only realized that something was wrong after their heads were broken and they suffered heavy casualties.
However, they didn't have the chance to regret it. The next morning, Berklin ordered Thundercrash's 1st and 2nd Folk to outflank them from the left and right, wiping out the Shiksan corps that didn't even have the time to set up their defences.
Berklin knew that Claude's question was a test of his foresight and military knowledge. He walked up to the map and looked at the layout of the defensive line. "If I were the commander of the garrison, I'd place the main focus of the defensive line at Cheper. That's the center of the defensive line.
I really don't understand why His Royal Highness would deploy his standing army in the capital, Skanamog City. If Cheber Town is captured, unless they retreat from the Glow River, his Barlek Army will be digging their own grave … "
"The Luster River has an average width of fifty to sixty meters, and its widest width is more than two hundred meters. Its basic depth is seven to twelve meters, and it is the largest river in Skovia County.
The River of Glow surrounding the capital, Skanamo City, was the widest river. It was more than a hundred to two hundred meters wide, so it was also called the Glow Lake.
The surface of the river is calm like a mirror. Every time the sun rises and sets, the river will reflect the sunset glow and is known as the Luster Lake. "
Borkal flipped the document in his hand to the page about Luster River. "Basically, Luster River is traversed by ferry without any bridges.
There were only two ferry terminals in the capital, Skanamo City. Each ferry had two flatboats. It took about an hour and a half to cross the river, and each flatboat could carry more than fifty people at a time.
There are also 32 smaller fishing boats, each of which can carry five to eight people at most. "
Berklin nodded at Borkal and said, "The Barks are stationed in the capital, Skanamog. They didn't build any pontoon bridges on the river either.
In that case, we just need to take Cheber and seal off the route to Skanamo. Then, we'll deploy a line of troops on the other side of Luster River. That way, that stupid prince won't be able to escape.
"If I'm in charge of setting up this line of defense, we'll focus on Cheber. We'll only need to deploy a reserve corps to defend Skanamo and Sidpass.
Both corps will be stationed in Cheber, one at the front and one at the back. This way, it'll be able to hold off our attack for at least a month. "
"Then, what will you do with the first four towns?" Claude asked.
"There's no need for that," Berklin replied.
General Berklin replied, "Withdraw all the townspeople and defensive forces, fortify the walls and clear the fields.
Move the villagers to the back as well. It'll be best if we burn all the towns and villages in front of us so that the enemy won't be able to take advantage of them. They'll have no choice but to set up camp in the wilderness to rest. "
Claude smiled. "Good answer. However, the reason why the enemy didn't fortify the walls and clear the fields is because they still have the illusion of taking back Saint Cyprian. That's why they've stationed troops in the towns in front of the line of defense. They'll wait for the right opportunity to counterattack and use it as a supply base.
"Since you know the weakness of the enemy's line of defense, I'll leave the attack to Thundercrash.
You and Dyavid will lead four divisions of Thundercrash and wipe out the reserve corps of Ridley, the reserve corps of Kedames in Cheber, and the reserve corps of Sadeq in Rangiris in the back. "You and Dyavid will lead four divisions of Thundercrash and wipe out the reserve corps of Ridley.
As for the Bruce Legion in Hidpass Mountain City and the Barlek Legion in the capital, Scannamore City, you only need to trap them in the two cities. Do not attack the cities without permission to avoid unnecessary casualties, understand? "
Berklin and Dyavid stood up and saluted. "Yes, Lord Marshal. We understand what to do."
Seeing Berklin and Dyavid leading the high-ranking officers of Thundercrash out of the camp excitedly to carry out Claude's orders, Avitelli I grew anxious. "Marshal Claude, you have to give our three mountain corps some sort of mission! You can't just let them watch as Thundercrash goes on a meritorious mission, right?"
Claude smiled and waved his hand. "My friend, there's no need for you to be anxious. There will be a chance for your Bleyottean warriors to display their prowess.
The Thundercrash Legion was a light cavalry division. Their specialty was speed and ambushes.
Look, the Sidpath Mountain City guarded by the Bruce Army is in a hilly area. It's the perfect terrain for your Mountain Army to attack. I'll leave this mountain city for you to attack. I'm sure you'll be able to take it down quickly … "