Despite being dead tired, Lorist forced himself to wait in the main tent. There were still matters to deal with, and especially since Elle had fallen somewhere on the hilltop and still hadn't been found, he was consumed with worry.
His clothes had been soaked through with blood, then half-dried by the mountain wind until they were stiff and sticky against his skin. The moment he returned to the newly erected tent in the camp below the hill, Lorist tore off all his garments, draped a battle robe over his bare torso, and waited anxiously for news.
"My lord, the enemy's five-thousand-strong reinforcement army has been completely wiped out. Two or three thousand were taken prisoner alive. The Golden Knight leading them was killed by Lord Bodenfanger." Yuri reported the latest battle situation.
"Borg, well done," Lorist praised.
Bodenfanger shook his head with a smile. "It was no honorable victory. If that Golden Knight hadn't already taken three arrows, he would have been a tough match for me."
Lorist nodded. "How heavy were the casualties?"
Termon stepped forward. "We lost seven Silver Knights. The remaining casualties number in the hundreds..."
The great tent fell into silence.
After a long while, Lorist let out a long sigh. "Gather their remains and cremate them. We'll bring the ashes back. Their final resting place is the Hero's Cemetery in the family's territory — that is where the warriors who sacrificed themselves for the family shall find eternal peace..."
"Yes, my lord." Termon responded solemnly.
Yuri asked hesitantly, "My lord, I heard that Erle..."
"He fell off the ridge. We're already searching. Dawn is almost here, so we should have news soon. Bread Ridge isn't exactly a mountain range — it's not that tall. Don't worry, Erle will be fine..." Lorist comforted Yuri. He was also comforting himself.
"Oh right, Yuri — your task is a heavy one. The roads leading to Vannades must be completely sealed off and cut. Under no circumstances can news from here reach them. Remember what I said last time: to turn the enemy blind and deaf depends entirely on you light cavalry scouts." Lorist patted Yuri's shoulder. "Don't worry, once I have news about Erle, I'll tell you. Trust me. He'll be fine..."
"My lord, I understand. Rest assured — we light cavalry scouts will complete our mission." Yuri stood at attention and responded gravely.
"Bogue, the next phase of the plan falls to you. First, try to infiltrate Vannades by posing as the Iron Guard Corps. If the operation goes smoothly, once Vannades is sealed off, we push straight for Seis Castle. Only by seizing Seis Castle can we trap Grand Duke Madelas's Seamount Corps in Sigedel Province, so our northbound convoy won't have to worry about interception by the Seamount Corps."
"If the plan doesn't go smoothly..." Lorist furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment. "Vannades must be taken regardless. That's the only way to keep our convoy and the refugees from being bottlenecked in Yungeshandra Province. Yuri's light cavalry scouts need to seal off all of Vannades, and Bogue — you'll command the armored lance cavalry and horse archers to harass and feint against the defenders. Once the heavy armor division and war chariot corps arrive, we can storm Vannades by force."
"If the raid on Seis Castle doesn't go well, then have Ross take two armored lance cavalry battalions and face off against the castle garrison. Even if the Seamount Corps shows up, they won't dare fight us in the field. Otherwise, I'd love to see how a corps that specializes in infantry and naval warfare can stand against our family's iron cavalry..."
Lorist's plan was simple: after capturing Bread Fort, the family forces would immediately take Vannades City and Seis Castle, ensuring the convoy and refugees could travel north without obstruction.
The first units to depart would be Yuri's light cavalry scouts, Piet's horse archer squadron, and Rod Wells' three battalions of armored lance cavalry, all under Bodufunger's overall command. The heavy armor division, converted from spear infantry under Bodufunger, and Dolles' war chariot corps would follow later.
Lorist was left only with
"That's settled then. Stay safe, and have a safe journey," Lorist said.
"Understood. Thank you, my lord." Bodufunger and Yuri bowed and withdrew, ready to set out.
"Let's go take a look at the front. How have they still not found them?" Lorist asked Terman, a touch of anxious impatience in his voice.
They had barely left the command tent when a guard rushed toward them from ahead. "My lord, they've found them! Master Earle is still alive..."
Ruhle was dead, a massive crossbow bolt still embedded in his chest.
Earle had been lucky. He wasn't hit by the bolt but was knocked off the cliff by Ruhle's body. At the time, he hadn't realized the danger. With only two steps left to reach the summit, Ruhle's suddenly colliding with him made him try to catch the man, but both were sent flying by the force of the bolt. Falling from a height of forty to fifty meters, he hurriedly circulated his
He lay there, face pale and mouth twisted in a bitter smile. "Why am I always so unlucky? I just finished recovering from the Battle of the Green Plains after three months, and now I need another three or four months of bed rest... sigh..."
Lorist chuckled with relief. "You manage to get yourself hurt after every big battle, haha. Anyway, just focus on recovering properly. Don't worry about anything else—I'll handle it."
Earle's injuries involved internal organ displacement from the impact, so he needed complete rest. Both horseback riding and carriage travel were out of the question. Lorist had no choice but to have men carry him back to Nedegas City and find a house for him to recuperate in. He also ordered several guards to stay behind and look after Earle, with instructions to return to the Northland together once Earle had fully recovered.
Having settled Earle's arrangements, Lorist returned to the main camp and asked
Then Lorist dozed off, half-reclined in the tub...
He slept deeply and didn't wake until the following morning.
Lorist found himself lying in a bed, realizing that Redi and the others must have carried him there. He stretched and called out. Redi came in from outside. "My lord, you're awake. His Highness the Second Prince waited for you yesterday afternoon all the way until evening. Seeing that you were still asleep, he had no choice but to leave. I suspect he'll come by again later..."
Just as Lorist was struggling to fill his stomach, the Second Prince arrived as expected. Delighted to see that Lorist was awake, he declined Lorist's invitation to share the meal, asking only for a cup of wine while he patiently waited for Lorist to finish breakfast.
The Second Prince actually had no pressing business with Lorist. He had simply heard the incredible tale of how Lorist had charged up Bread Hill single-handedly with nothing but his sword, forcing an entire battalion of the Iron Guard Corps stationed there to surrender. As a gold two-star Combat Force expert, the Second Prince could naturally sense that Lorist's Combat Force was only at the black iron level. What he valued was Lorist's outstanding strategic planning and tactical acumen—he had always dismissed Lorist's combat strength.
Although he envied the number and capability of Lorist's gold-tier and silver-tier knights, the Second Prince attributed it to Lorist's talent for winning people's hearts and inspiring unwavering loyalty. Having once again confirmed that Lorist's Combat Force was only black iron level, the Second Prince believed that while Lorist might well have led the charge at the forefront, there was absolutely no way he had stormed the hill single-handedly with just a sword. He suspected the tale was fabricated to build up the impression of the new head of the
After breakfast, Lorist went with the Second Prince back up to Bread Hill. Looking down from the summit, they saw a scene of bustling activity in every direction. Countless laborers were digging trenches and building earthen ramparts well beyond the three-hundred-meter range of Lichidana Fortress's defensive ballistae. A siege encirclement centered on the fortress was gradually taking shape.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow we can set off up the mountain to cut off the fortress's water supply," the Second Prince said excitedly.
"Things are so lively down here — didn't the Iron Guard Corps inside the fortress sally out to harass us?" Lorist asked.
"They came out once yesterday afternoon. But our crossbowmen and longbowmen shot them back in, and they lost two or three hundred men. Seeing that we were prepared, they decided to hunker down and defend the fortress without coming out again. Once we cut off the water, let's see what they do," the Second Prince laughed.
That evening, Lorist received an urgent report from Bodifinger. Vannadas City had been captured. Bodifinger had sealed off Vannadas City — entry permitted, exit forbidden — and was now leading a force to make a surprise attack on Sis Castle, intending to repeat the same ruse: impersonate a merchant caravan to gain entry and seize the city gates. He was confident that Sis Castle's single garrison squadron would be unable to withstand the fierce assault of two battalions of armored spearmen.
Lorist made some inquiries and learned that the follow-up heavy infantry regiment and the wagon train had already departed that morning for Vannadas City, with an expected arrival by the following evening. This eased his mind. Once the siege encirclement around Lichidana Fortress was completed tomorrow, the wagon train and the hundred thousand refugees could head north and return to the family's territory.
That afternoon, the Second Prince personally led two gold-tier knights and over a dozen Silver Knights, along with a squadron of longbowmen, up the slopes of Mount Lieden. After circling around, they found the waterfall pool that supplied water to the Lichidana Fortress Castle on the mountainside below. Using Combat Force to control their swords, they carved a new opening in the pool to drain the accumulated water. They then located the buried water-intake pipe and sealed its inlet. With that done, the Second Prince descended the mountain with one gold knight. The soldiers left behind sealed off the gap the Iron Guard Corps might use to attempt a breakout over Mount Lieden.
On the third day, Fatty Shi began leading the wagon train and the refugees through the border crossing, heading north. It was only when the Iron Guard Corps inside Lichidana Fortress spotted the wagon train and refugees circling in a wide arc through the open ground below Bread Hill and onto the road leading to Vannadas City that they realized their plan to block the wagon train and refugees south of the border had completely failed — though at that point, they still had not grasped that they were trapped in a dead end.
On the fourth day, the Iron Guard Corps in Lichidana Fortress belatedly discovered that the castle's water supply had been cut. When they sent men up the mountain to investigate, they were met with a devastating volley from the longbowmen stationed on the heights. Only then did they understand that every route of retreat had been severed and that the fortress could not be held for long.
On the fifth day, the Iron Guard Corps in Lichidana Fortress dispatched two battalions — over five thousand men — and launched three probing attacks against the defensive positions encircling them. Each time they were repulsed with heavy casualties by the fully prepared Royal Guard Corps of the Andinac Kingdom, and they were forced to retreat helplessly back into the fortress.
That afternoon, Lorist received another victory report from Bodifinger: the surprise attack on Sis Castle had succeeded. Three battalions of armored lance cavalry and a squadron of horse archers had now taken up garrison in Sis Castle. The gates to Siedigler Province had been locked shut.
Lorist was overjoyed — the northern campaign was no longer a concern…
The Iron Guard Corps in the fortress sortied with their full strength, launching a night assault against the defensive line. They concentrated all their forces on one point on the northern front, desperate to break through.
Defending the northern position were two battalions of the Second Prince's newly formed Royal Guard Corps. They had not expected the Iron Guard Corps to fight with such suicidal ferocity — it was practically throwing lives away to carve out an escape route. Under the relentless, cost-be-damned commitment of the Iron Guard Corps, every squad leader and company commander in those two Royal Guard battalions was killed, and both battalion commanders fell as well — one dead, one wounded. The remaining recruits finally broke, and the Iron Guard Corps tore a gap in the defensive line…
Just as those Iron Guard soldiers were wild with joy, believing escape was within reach, Tellmann arrived with the cavalry corps on Lorist's orders and struck them head-on. Charging dismounted infantry — without formations and without ranged weapons — across open ground with heavy cavalry was nothing short of a massacre. Of the nearly ten thousand Iron Guard troops who had launched the assault, fewer than three thousand staggered back to the fortress, most of them wounded.
On the seventh day of the siege of Lichidana Fortress, the castle fell deathly silent. The Second Prince and Lorist were busy cleaning up the battlefield and tending to the wounded. Night assaults in the age of cold steel were the most brutal and devastating of all engagements. The Iron Guard Corps left nearly five thousand corpses strewn across the field, along with several hundred wounded.
Of the two Royal Guard battalions — over five thousand soldiers — who had defended the position, fewer than a thousand survived. Every officer had died a heroic death, including several knights and academy students who had left the convoy to join the Second Prince. Tellmann wept bitterly. Two of the fallen veterans had once been elite members of
On the eighth day, the remaining three thousand-plus Iron Guard soldiers inside Lichidana Fortress finally opened the castle gates and sent out a envoy carrying a white flag. The man staggered before the Second Prince, his parched lips able to utter only one word: "Water. Water, water…"
The Second Prince's forces seized Lichidana Fortress without further incident, though what followed was somewhat comical — the two thousand men sent to garrison the fortress all carried wooden buckets as they marched in, each filled with fresh water just drawn from White Egret Lake.
…
On the twenty-fourth of October, year 1767 of the Galentea Common Calendar, the remnants of the Iron Guard Corps from the Madras Duchy — once famed as having the strongest defenses in the world — raised a white flag and surrendered to Second Prince Augustelo of the Andinac Kingdom. And so, the siege of Lichidana Fortress, which had lasted fewer than ten days, came to an end. The Iron Guard Corps had been completely annihilated. Lichidana Fortress now lay firmly in the Second Prince's hands.
The battle's remarkably short duration — just twelve days including the standoff — the sheer scale of its results, with the entire defending force annihilated, and the remarkably light casualties on the attacking side — fewer than five thousand — stunned every nation across the continent. Second Prince Augustelo also leapt to prominence as a rising military star in Galentea on the strength of this campaign.
The cause of this battle was simple enough. A convoy of nobles from territories directly under the Andinac royal house had been transporting large numbers of refugees, hoping to return to their family estates in Northland. The Madras Grand Duke, however, dispatched the Iron Guard Corps to seal off the border, refusing to let the convoy and refugees enter the duchy's territory. The Second Prince resolutely raised his army, destroyed the Iron Guard Corps, and cleared the path for the convoy and refugees to make their return.
Here was how it unfolded. The Second Prince first sent thirty thousand men of the Royal Guard Corps to the border to face off against the Iron Guard Corps in a visible standoff. Meanwhile, he secretly had pontoon bridges constructed and ordered the reformed White Lion Corps to slip across White Egret Lake under cover of darkness, launching a devastating surprise attack on the Iron Guard Corps' main camp at Bread Ridge. This left Lichidana Fortress isolated, cut off from any possibility of reinforcement. Seizing the moment, the Second Prince ordered the Royal Guard Corps to encircle the fortress and establish a defensive perimeter, then severed the fortress's water supply. The offensive and defensive positions were thus completely reversed. The Iron Guard Corps — which had long boasted of possessing the strongest defensive capability in the world — was forced to abandon their stronghold and launch an assault on the defensive line of their own accord. They were annihilated to the last man.
Simultaneously, the Second Prince ordered the White Lion Corps to charge forward on a relentless sprint, launching surprise attacks on Vanades City and Sis Castle, trapping the Madras Duchy's main fighting force — the Sea Mountain Corps — in Xidegele Province. This laid an excellent foundation for the Andinac Kingdom's eventual annexation of the Madras Duchy's Yungeshangdele Province.
Under the pens of military experts across the continent, this campaign came to be known as the Miracle of White Egret Lake.
Note: Because Lorist had ordered the family's armed forces to switch into the White Lion Corps' standard equipment, in the eyes of military analysts, the Norton Family's forces had effectively become the Andinac Kingdom's reformed White Lion Corps.