Perhaps this time he could even lead the army straight to the Eastern Frontier Province, right to the doorstep of the Fisablen family's lair at Tigerhold Castle. If he smashed Tigerhold Castle to rubble, he wondered whether that old Fisablen fellow would fight him to the death or bow his proud head in submission. Just as Lorist's imagination was running wild, he received the scout cavalry's report: "Your Highness, the Fisablen family forces haven't retreated to the Eastern Frontier Province. They've set up camp at Mount Bobilichi in the southeastern part of the Southern Province…"
"Hmm?" This caught Lorist completely off guard. Mount Bobilichi — the name seemed vaguely familiar. "The map."
Schward quickly spread the map of the Southern Province across the table. When Lorist looked at it, he understood why the name Mount Bobilichi rang a bell. In the original campaign plan for the Southern Province, after driving the Fisablen family out, they intended to build an ironclad blockade line along the border between the Southern Province and the Eastern Frontier Province. The southeastern border of the Southern Province was to use the terrain of Mount Bobilichi to construct a fortress castle, serving as the defensive center to seal off the entire southeastern frontier.
From the map, the border between the Southern Province and the Eastern Frontier Province was not only vast but also quite flat, which was why for centuries the Grass Barbarian tribes from the northeastern steppes had raided the interior primarily through the Southern Province. Count Phelim's family seat of power had been in the Southern Province, and his ancestors had learned from the wars against the Grass Barbarians, adopting the strengths of their cavalry to form the Pegasus Corps, a renowned light cavalry regiment.
In truth, the border between the Southern Province and the Eastern Frontier Province marked the dividing line between hilly terrain and open grassland. Though the terrain was flat, it was hardly lacking in lakes, ravines, ridges, and small hillocks. Lorist's original plan had been to exploit these natural advantages by building five fortress castles as defensive strongholds, supplementing them with watchtowers, signal stations, and beacon towers, then connecting them with excavated trenches — like a spider spinning its web along the border between the two provinces to create an impenetrable blockade line. This would completely sever the Fisablen family territory's external supply routes and defend against raids and guerrilla attacks from the Border Patrol Cavalry Corps.
But now, what did it mean that the old Fisablen fellow was leading his family forces to retreat to Mount Bobilichi? Why not pull back directly to the Eastern Frontier Province? That was his family's own territory — home ground with wide-open terrain perfectly suited for guerrilla tactics by the Border Patrol Cavalry Corps. For the Fisablen family's light cavalry, it would be like fish in water. Yet the Fisablen Grand Duke seemed to turn a blind eye to all this, leaving the road to Tigerhold Castle wide open while stationing his army at Mount Bobilichi. What was he up to? Wasn't he afraid that Lorist would send trebuchets to smash his new camp to pieces?
Lorist stared at the map, racking his brains for a long while but unable to figure out what the Fisablen Grand Duke meant. But judging from the map, the old Grand Duke's refusal to retreat to his own territory and instead hold Mount Bobilichi seemed almost spiteful — the attitude of someone who couldn't win but still wanted to make you miserable. Nearly eighty thousand troops huddled right beside you: ignore them and you'd worry they'd disrupt your rear and flanks, keeping you perpetually on edge. Deal with them and you'd have to commit massive forces to keep a close watch. Looking at the extent of Mount Bobilichi, Lorist realized that to suppress the Fisablen family forces, he'd need to control at least three key points around the mountain, each requiring a fortress castle and a garrison of at least twenty thousand men…
Damn it, this old fox was plainly trying to tie down his forces. Lorist cursed inwardly with bitter frustration. Now he was beginning to understand the Fisablen Grand Duke's reasoning. By leaving the road open and garrisoning Mount Bobilichi, Lorist couldn't very well ignore the enemy sitting there. If he wanted to march on the Eastern Frontier Province and attack Tigerhold Castle, he'd first have to wonder whether those eighty thousand Fisablen family troops would cause trouble — at minimum cutting off his supply lines, at worst throwing the entire Southern Province into chaos.
There were only two ways to keep them in check. First, send troops to defeat them and drive them out of Mount Bobilichi. Second, split his forces to guard several key passes, constructing fortress castles — time-consuming and labor-intensive. Moreover, stationing twenty thousand men at each location would only suffice for holding positions, not for launching attacks. After all, the Fisablen family forces numbered eighty thousand, acting as a single fist that could strike at any moment. Whereas the defense required three separate locations, twenty thousand troops each — sixty thousand soldiers tied down at the foot of Mount Bobilichi, unable to take the initiative because the enemy outnumbered them four to one…
Although it was just a small area in the southeastern corner of the Southern Province, Mount Bobilichi wasn't a single peak but a collective name for an entire mountain region. The map showed several forked paths through Mount Bobilichi leading to both the Eastern Frontier Province and the Southern Province — a place with roads going in every direction. Whoever held Mount Bobilichi could strike into the Southern Province or retreat to the Eastern Frontier Province at will. It was a place where one could advance to attack and fall back to defend.
He had to take Mount Bobilichi and drive the Fisablen family forces completely out of the Southern Province. Lorist made up his mind, then decided to go see Mount Bobilichi for himself. The Fisablen Grand Duke knew full well how devastating the
At first glance, Lorist understood why the Fisablen Grand Duke had chosen to hold this place.
Mount Bobilichi was different from other mountains. Its outer edges were entirely sheer cliffs rising forty to fifty meters high. The paths leading into the mountain's interior either wound around the base of these cliffs or passed through narrow valleys. The scout cavalry had captured an old bandit, who explained that the slopes ascending these cliffs were all located inside the mountain. Unlike other hills where the gentle slopes faced outward, Mount Bobilichi ascended from within — it was essentially a natural giant stone fortress.
The old bandit said that in the past, five or six groups of bandits had operated in Mount Bobilichi, each building strongholds at the most strategically defensible spots inside the mountain, numbering several thousand in all. But last year, the Fisablen Grand Duke's Third Border Patrol Cavalry Corps had arrived claiming to carry the Grand Duke's orders, inviting the various stronghold leaders to submit to the Fisablen family. During the negotiations, they suddenly attacked, and with coordinated action from within and without, they overran all the strongholds. Then they marched all the able-bodied men off to the Eastern Frontier Province, supposedly to mine gold at some place called Gold River…
The old bandit was too old and had a crippled leg, so the cavalry had let him go. He'd set up a small shack at the foot of the mountain, cultivated two acres of farmland, and lived a quiet life of his own. He'd just gone to check his snares to see if he'd caught any rabbits when the scout cavalry grabbed him.
The old bandit had spent the better part of his life in the Mount Bobilichi region and was intimately familiar with the terrain. He told Lorist that despite the sheer cliff faces around the mountain's outer edges, once you passed through the first few passes, the interior was full of gentle slopes, valleys, woodlands, and streams. The area was spacious with beautiful scenery. Apart from the three main forked paths into the mountain, there were no other side trails that could get you to the interior.
"Your Lordship, don't be fooled by all those little paths at the base of the cliffs. Many of them are dead ends — you walk for ages only to find there's nowhere to go at the end. Generally, the overgrown paths are the dead ends. The rest are all connected and eventually converge at this one forked path that leads into the mountain. There are two more forks — one about five li south of here, and the other further west, three or four li away." The old bandit didn't know who Lorist was and addressed him simply as "Your Lordship."
"Are the mountains around those two other forks the same as this?" Lorist pointed at the cliff face ahead.
"All the same, Your Lordship. Mount Bobilichi has this peculiar feature — the outer edges are all like this. Whether you're on the Southern Province side or the Eastern Frontier Province side, it's all these stone cliffs and sheer ridges. They say that in legend, Mount Bobilichi means 'the giant's fortress,' and it really does look like an enormous stronghold." The old bandit gave a definitive answer and casually explained the origin of the Mount Bobilichi name.
The problem now was that the Fisablen Grand Duke had occupied this giant fortress with eighty thousand troops. To take the mountain, they'd have to advance through those three forked paths into the interior before they could assault the summit. Lorist didn't think the Fisablen Grand Duke would give him the chance. According to the old bandit's account, those three paths required winding back and forth beneath the sheer cliffs for quite some time before reaching the interior. All the Fisablen family forces had to do was drop a few rocks from the cliff tops above, and for the troops marching below in preparation for an assault, it would be an absolute catastrophe…
Lorist raised his spyglass and scanned the peaks of Mount Bobilichi. The cliff above the forked path leading into the interior already had Fisablen family banners planted on it — clearly, an advance through the forked path was no longer an option. Watching the Fisablen family soldiers on the ridgeline erecting stockade walls and piling up stones and timber, Lorist felt the pressure bearing down on him like a mountain.
The old fox had truly picked a magnificent spot. Holding Mount Bobilichi effectively neutralized the two most powerful siege weapons in the Norton family's arsenal. Lorist was certain that their Thunderbolt Trebuchets couldn't possibly hurl stones high enough to reach cliffs forty or fifty meters up, and the steel-crossbow war chariots, firing bolts at an upward angle, couldn't achieve any meaningful results — the enemy could hide above the cliff and simply ignore the threat posed by the trebuchets and crossbows…
If an assault wasn't feasible, then he'd have to consider how to establish a defense. After thinking it over for a long time, Lorist concluded that building fortress castles at the three forked paths was the only reliable option. But he was deeply reluctant. Constructing three fortress castles to block the Fisablen family forces at Mount Bobilichi from launching raids into the Southern Province through the three forks was tantamount to handing over the strategic initiative. Moreover, building the three castles and their supporting defensive infrastructure wouldn't just cost a fortune — stationing twenty thousand troops at each castle would mean sixty thousand soldiers pinned down by the enemy at Mount Bobilichi. Whereas if Mount Bobilichi were in their own hands, sealing off this stretch of the border would require only twenty thousand men.
Lorist raised his spyglass and scanned peak after peak. Huh? What were those soldiers doing? After watching for a while, he realized that the Fisablen family soldiers were building a suspension bridge connecting two separate cliff faces — to allow rapid redeployment of defending forces. And then… then Lorist spotted the Fisablen Grand Duke himself.
It was indeed the Fisablen Grand Duke. Through the circular frame of the spyglass, Lorist could see the old man's face with perfect clarity. The old fellow seemed to have aged some more. Gone was his former vigor and towering, untouchable arrogance. He appeared to be supervising the soldiers building the suspension bridge above. The reason Lorist could see him so clearly was that the Fisablen Grand Duke was facing his direction — he must have spotted Lorist and his party observing from below the mountain and was furrowing his brow, studying them carefully.
The old man said something — Lorist assumed it probably wasn't anything pleasant, most likely curses directed at him.
But soon, a deep horn blast sounded. Lorist was startled: "The old fox is actually sending out troops?"
Then he saw countless Grass Barbarian cavalry charge out from the forked path at the foot of Mount Bobilichi.
"Damn it! This old fox is too shameless, sending Grass Barbarian cavalry to chase me down!" Lorist exploded in fury, feeling profoundly insulted. He was the one who'd chased this old fox — a third-rank Great Swordmaster — into desperate flight. And now the old fox wouldn't show his own face but instead sent these Grass Barbarian cavalry after him? Did the old fellow look down on him that much?
"Your Highness, perhaps we should retreat first." El at his side didn't see it the same way. Of the Fisablen family's eighty thousand troops, fifty thousand were soldiers from the Third and Fifth Border Patrol Cavalry Corps, and the remaining thirty thousand were Grass Barbarian cavalry. Lorist had brought only a thousand bodyguards to scout Mount Bobilichi this time. Even ants could bring down an elephant through sheer numbers, and El didn't dare take any chances.
"Fine, let's pull back first. Bring the old bandit along — the old man's a living map, and we'll have use for him later." Lorist wheeled his horse around, taking the advice without fuss, though he did instruct El further.
Whether it was because the Grass Barbarian cavalry had grown restless cooped up inside Mount Bobilichi, or because the Fisablen Grand Duke had pointed at Lorist and promised some astronomical reward, nearly ten thousand Grass Barbarian cavalry pursued Lorist relentlessly. In the end, Lorist grew furious and ordered Schwade to take a few bodyguards back to camp to deliver the message while he held a small hill with the rest of his guards. Nearly ten thousand Grass Barbarian cavalry swarmed around the hill for over two hours, and apart from leaving behind roughly two thousand corpses, they gained nothing.
Lorist held the pass single-handedly against overwhelming odds, occupying the narrow path up the hill and cutting down Grass Barbarian cavalry until their souls fled and their courage shattered. Covered in blood, he fought a fierce battle that finally vented the frustration building in his chest. Soon the relief force from the Pegasus Corps arrived, scattering the Grass Barbarian cavalry besieging the hill and escorting Lorist back to camp.
After a quick wash and a change of armor, Lorist returned to the command tent with a dark expression. Addressing the assembled officers and soldiers, he said: "Tomorrow, we march on Mount Bobilichi. Everyone, think of a way to take the enemy's camp."
…(To be continued.)