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The entire command hierarchy of the Commercial Alliance's forces reacted as though they'd been kicked where it hurt most. They crowded into the central command tent, bickering like vendors in a marketplace, and finally understood why several Andinak Kingdom cavalry units had been attacking the Alliance's minor outposts on the Mana Hill Plains like rabid dogs with bloodshot eyes these past few days — a bewildering strategy that had left the Alliance scrambling to defend positions that weren't even strategically vital.
Most alarming was the reappearance of two legendary cavalry legions on the battlefield: the Flying Tiger Legion and the Hunter Cavalry Legion of the Norton Family of Northland. These two cavalry legions had always prevailed more often than not against the Commercial Alliance, sweeping through like wildfire and crushing all in their path. There was also the
In terms of both soldier quality and equipment, the Commercial Alliance's commanders had to admit that the Norton Family's forces were far superior to the armies they themselves commanded. However, the Alliance, having endured years of warfare across the central and southern reaches of the continent, was in turn considerably more combat-effective than the Andinak Kingdom's noble coalition under the Second Prince.
Without the Norton Family's forces in the fight, the Alliance had been able to beat the Second Prince into cowering like a shelled turtle. The casualties may have been heavy, but victory was in sight, making it all worthwhile. Now, with the Norton Family's Flying Tiger Legion and Hunter Cavalry Legion back on the Mana Hill Plains battlefield, the Alliance was not merely forced onto the defensive — more critically, these two legions had reinvigorated several of the Andinak coalition's stronger units, such as the Phelim Family's Pegasus Legion, the Fisablen Grand Duke's Border Cavalry Legion, and the Reserve Legion, drawing them back into active combat.
The Flying Tiger Legion and Hunter Cavalry Legion, upon returning to the front, did not charge headlong into the Alliance's heavily fortified positions. Instead, they took an unconventional approach, striking exclusively at remote, non-critical weak points. While this was in effect a detour in terms of offensive efficiency, the sheer speed of the two cavalry legions more than compensated. The Alliance barely had time to react before the right flank of their defensive line was torn wide open. The Hunter Cavalry Legion surged through, completing a sweeping flanking maneuver in just three days that placed them behind the Alliance's main body, compelling the Alliance to divert 100,000 troops to seal the breach.
The Alliance's redeployment did nothing to slow the Flying Tiger and Hunter Cavalry Legions. They feinted once, showing no intention of engaging the Alliance in open battle, and instead used their cavalry mobility to wheel from north to south, ripping open another gaping hole in the Alliance's left flank. In just four days, the Alliance was running ragged, its troops groaning with resentment as they raced back and forth to plug the gaps. Before anyone realized it, the initiative on the battlefield had shifted decisively to the Andinak Kingdom's noble coalition, leaving the Commercial Alliance in a deeply passive position.
Grand Duke Comberlate, president of the Two-Headed Dragon Chamber of Commerce and overall commander of the Commercial Alliance forces, naturally understood the shift in the battlefield situation all too well — but there was little he could do. In terms of mobility, the Alliance's forces were predominantly infantry. Only a handful of elite private guard units were equipped with warhorses. It wasn't that the Alliance lacked the funds to build a large cavalry force, nor that its commanders failed to appreciate the importance of cavalry — the crux of the matter was that they simply couldn't procure enough warhorses in bulk to form one.
The Galentea Continent's warhorse-producing regions were limited to two: the north and the south. The north had formerly belonged to the Krisen Empire, and both Northland and the northeastern steppes were renowned for their warhorses. The Roman Empire and the Havistan Khanate in the south were also major warhorse producers. In truth, all three of the continent's great powers had risen to dominance on the strength of their elite cavalry.
When the Glass War first broke out, the Commercial Alliance had managed to assemble a cavalry force of twenty to thirty thousand. But as the Alliance adopted an expansionist policy, the two southern powers simultaneously shut their doors to warhorse sales. The Andinak Kingdom and the Norton Family of Northland in the north were out of the question as well. It wasn't that Lorist hadn't considered doing warhorse business with the Alliance — maritime transport costs were simply too high, and the Northland horses, being of somewhat inferior quality as warhorses, didn't meet the Alliance's standards.
Back in the day, the Alliance had cultivated its friendship with the Fisablen Grand Duke precisely to purchase large numbers of warhorses from the northeastern steppes through the Four Duchies of the Central Region, but Lorist had ruined that plan by intervening. In the years that followed, the Alliance had been bogged down in protracted warfare with the nations of the central and southern regions, and its cavalry warhorses had gradually been worn down. By now, replacements were impossible to obtain.
Now the Norton Family's forces were exploiting their cavalry's superior mobility to run circles around the Alliance's infantry reinforcements. They had no need to hold any single position — whenever they spotted a gap, they would charge in and hammer it mercilessly. By the time the Alliance's reinforcement troops arrived, they would invariably find that the small outpost they had been sent to relieve had already been reduced to rubble or flattened into open ground.
After smashing the small fortifications to smithereens, they could then push through the breaches and advance deep into the interior of the Mana Hill Plains.
Although the Commercial Alliance had obtained numerous weapons and equipment blueprints from Northland and had produced its own catapults and large wagon-mounted crossbows, these weapons still fell far short of the Norton Family's equipment in range, power, and accuracy. The garrison troops defending these small outposts and fortifications effectively had only two choices: sit and watch themselves get pounded into mincemeat, or raise a white flag and surrender in order to survive.
For the past two days, Grand Duke Comberlate, supreme commander of the Alliance forces, had been racking his brain over how to deal with the Norton Family's Flying Tiger and Hunter Cavalry Legions, the stress giving him blisters on his lips. He had just gathered his staff to discuss how to set a trap to lure the two legions in for a decisive encirclement when word arrived that Morant City had fallen to the Norton Family. Grand Duke Comberlate vomited blood on the spot and collapsed unconscious.
After much effort, the people in the command tent managed to revive Grand Duke Comberlate. Then came the news that Thomas City and Gypsus City had also fallen. By this time, however, Comberlate had regained his composure. He waved his hand to signal that he was fine and urged everyone to discuss how to respond to the dire situation.
Some of the more hot-headed chamber of commerce leaders immediately clamored to turn around and retake Morant City at once. The more seasoned and cautious members argued that an immediate withdrawal was utterly out of the question — the past few days' movements by the Norton Family's two cavalry legions and the Andinak coalition's cavalry units were clearly a feint designed to tie down the Alliance's main force. If the army turned back to retake Morant City, the enemy cavalry would very likely launch large-scale ambushes along the march route. Should they succeed, the Alliance would suffer yet another catastrophic defeat...
The two sides raised a tremendous commotion in the command tent. Grand Duke Comberlate, on the pretext of waiting for everyone to reach a decision before making his own, quietly summoned the other chamber of commerce presidents and slipped out of the tent. He retired to his adjacent sleeping quarters, posted his bodyguards on strict alert, and held a private strategy meeting.
Grand Duke Peterson, formerly President Peterson, asked in puzzlement why Comberlate hadn't simply discussed the matter openly with everyone in the command tent.
Grand Duke Comberlate shook his head. "Too many ears. Intelligence would leak. We've already lost this war — I don't mean Morant City falling into the Norton Family's hands. I mean the Invincible Fleet and the transport fleet are gone."
Grand Duke Chikard's face went pale. "That's impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible..." Comberlate said heavily. "The Norton Family's forces landed at Hidden Gold Bay, which means the Invincible Fleet could no longer block their advance. We all saw the battle report from the Fourth Fleet's engagement with the Norton Family's Northern Sea Fleet — what was called a victory was in fact a devastating defeat. The surviving warships don't dare leave port and are holed up in Hidden Gold Bay."
"As for the First and Second Fleets escorting the transport fleet, they're already over twenty days overdue with no word at all. Add to that the fact that the Norton Family's forces landed at Hidden Gold Bay and seized Morant City — and the conclusion speaks for itself. The transport fleet is gone. The sea routes are cut off, and news travels agonizingly slowly overland. In a few more days, we'll surely receive detailed battle reports on the Invincible Fleet and the transport fleet. We need to prepare for the worst..."
"Should we then split our forces to retake Morant City?" Grand Duke Peterson asked. No matter what, Morant City was the Commercial Alliance's capital, its central city. Having it fall into enemy hands was like a slap across the Alliance's face — they simply couldn't afford that loss of prestige.
"No. We cannot withdraw," Grand Duke Comberlate said, shaking his head.
"What? We're not going to retake Morant City?" Not just Grand Duke Peterson — the other chamber of commerce presidents all cried out in astonishment.
"Of course not. Think about it — what benefit would retaking Morant City give us right now?" Grand Duke Comberlate said, calm and unhurried. "Don't forget, Morant City still has over a million residents and more than ten thousand paupers. Retake the city, and that million-plus population becomes our burden. The Mana Hill Plains have been reduced to ruins, and the fleet that transported grain and supplies is gone. If we retake Morant City now, what will we use to feed those million people? Moreover, we're still fighting the Andinak Kingdom's noble coalition, and our military supplies are already stretched thin..."
"Don't forget that after implementing the baronetcy system, the foundations of us chambers of commerce who hold power in the Alliance are no longer in Morant City, but on our own commercial territories. Morant City is more akin to our offices. Think about it — the Norton Family seizes Morant City, and while we chambers of commerce suffer some losses, these are losses we can absorb. We've even shed the burden of feeding over a million people. When you look at it carefully, we've actually come out ahead."
"The enemy occupying Morant City works in our favor. First, as I just said, we're free of the burden of feeding a million-plus people. Second, the Norton Family won't find it easy to hold Morant City for long. Don't forget why, after implementing the baronetcy system, we excluded the Mana Hill Plains and Morant City from the fiefdoms and established them as a separate special district. It was quite simple — we fought the former Krisen Empire for over a hundred years under the banner of freedom and equality. Making the Mana Hill Plains a fiefdom would have been asking for trouble, and the residents of Morant City would have been the worst possible subjects."
"They'll rise up in rebellion. Even if we lose this war, the Norton Family's forces and the Andinak Kingdom's noble coalition won't have it easy. When fires of resistance blaze across Morant City and the Mana Hill Plains, in just a few years they'll be engulfed by the fury of people fighting for freedom and equality. At that point, we can launch a counterattack with ease — not only reclaiming all our lost territory, but potentially pushing all the way into Northland itself, bringing the northern lands under the Alliance's dominion."
Grand Duke Comberlate's words failed to lift the spirits of the assembled presidents. Instead, Grand Duke Forde of the Forde Chamber of Commerce sighed. "Your Highness Grand Duke Comberlate, have we truly lost this war? Is there no way to turn things around?"
"Agh, I wish it weren't so. We haven't technically been defeated, but we can no longer sustain the fight," Grand Duke Comberlate said with a bitter smile. "The Norton Family has dealt us a killing blow. It's obvious they've set a trap for us. If we turn our army around now to retake Morant City, then these 400,000-plus Commercial Alliance troops will cease to exist. We'll be utterly destroyed."
"Surely it's not that dire? We still have over 400,000 men. The enemy can't swallow us in one bite..." Grand Duke Livord of the Livord Chamber of Commerce spoke up.
"Brother, you don't understand warfare, which is why you'd think that. Wars aren't won by sheer numbers alone. We may have 400,000-plus troops right now, but in half a month, those 400,000 will be gone without the enemy having to fight a single battle. Our grain, provisions, and supply lines are about to be severed. Wars are won on logistics. An army without food collapses immediately — there's no need for the enemy to lift a finger. If we turn back to attack Morant City, the enemy will simply sweep up every last scrap of supplies and flee. Even if we retake Morant City, without food the result is the same: the army collapses, order disintegrates, and we're finished..."
"Then what should we do?" Grand Duke Peterson asked.
Grand Duke Comberlate answered after a long pause. "The core strength of our 400,000 Commercial Alliance troops is the armed legions and battalions of our respective chambers of commerce — nearly 200,000 men. This is the commercial military force we absolutely must preserve. Next are the 100,000 troops conscripted from Morant City — those fools who prattle on about freedom and equality. We can send them to attack Morant City, drawing the enemy's attention and helping us break free. The remaining 100,000-odd troops are raw recruits from the southern provinces. We can use them as a rearguard to ensure our safe withdrawal from the Mana Hill Plains..."
He pulled over a map and pointed to it. "To shake off the enemy's cavalry legions, we'll employ a feint. The 100,000 troops heading for Morant City will march with great fanfare, drawing the enemy cavalry's attention to them. The southern conscripts will be left behind as a rearguard — we needn't concern ourselves with whether they live or die. Our chamber of commerce forces will depart as the second wave, taking a detour here toward Mawei Forest Province, where we have defensive lines established. Once we reach them, we'll have ample logistical support."
...