Facing the forbidding terrain of Popirichi Mountain, not a single person had come up with a plan to take it.
Setting aside that these cliffs rose forty to fifty meters high — where even the slightest noise or carelessness at such a height could spell catastrophe, let alone during a nighttime climb — even if Lorist and his men scaled the cliffs successfully, how many enemies awaited them? Eighty thousand! And according to the old bandit's calculations, even if everything went without a hitch, the family forces would still need half a day to pass quickly through the fork below the cliff into the open ground beyond...
That meant Lorist and his team would have to scale the cliffs, drive off the garrison above the fork, and then hold their position for over eight hours. This was simply not a feasible task. What made it even worse was that they couldn't just hunker down in a defensible position — they'd have to move in tandem with the family forces advancing along the fork below in order to provide cover. This was particularly problematic because if anything went wrong for them up top, the forces below would be trapped too, resulting in either total annihilation or helpless surrender.
Lorist was no superman, and he knew it. Even a Sword Saint, when facing a disciplined army of ten thousand, would have to give ground. Simply put, no matter how powerful a Sword Saint might be, they could at most kill two or three thousand men before being swarmed by the rest. He deeply regretted this. His original plan had been a decapitation strike — lead his men up the cliffs and go straight for Grand Duke Fisablen. If they could subdue or capture the old man, the eighty thousand Fisablen troops might just lay down their arms.
Of course, this was nothing but wishful thinking. Given Grand Duke Fisablen's temperament, even if he fell into Lorist's hands, he would sooner fight to the bitter end — likely issuing death orders for the Fisablen forces to launch an all-out attack, seeking mutual destruction with Lorist. The old man might not even show himself at all; the moment he discovered Lorist had scaled the cliffs, he would directly command a counterattack...
Bodufenge's reasoning was sound. Whether in terms of military advantage or family strength, they now held the upper hand. Whether it came to a prolonged standoff or defending against Fisablen cavalry raids, they were confident of victory. Never mind anything else — if they simply dragged things out for about a year, the Northland Four-Family Alliance could sustain itself with ease, while the Fisablen family would collapse under the weight of supply shortages. After all, supporting eighty thousand troops in a wartime footing demanded an enormous price.
Currently, the southern provinces had basically fallen into the Alliance's hands, severing the trade routes between Fisablen territory and the four central duchies. Even if Grand Duke Fisablen led his eighty thousand troops to occupy Popirichi Mountain, it would accomplish nothing. The grand picture was already decided — no matter how they thrashed about, it was nothing but a death struggle. Since they had no intention of attacking the Eastern Wastes Province, all they needed to do was build a solid defensive line around Popirichi Mountain. The longer things dragged on, the faster the Fisablen family's supplies would run dry and their downfall would come.
Lorist felt somewhat reluctant to swallow this. Though Bodufenge made it sound easy, the fact remained that the Fisablen forces on Popirichi Mountain had pinned down the bulk of the Alliance's military strength. In the original plan for the southern provinces campaign, after driving the Fisablen family out of the south, they were to build fortress castles at the border with the Eastern Wastes Province and establish a blockade line. Lorist had only planned to station the Bedrock Corps there, with the
But the current situation forced him to deploy the vast majority of the Alliance's forces here — effectively doubling the troops needed to contain the Fisablen forces on Popirichi Mountain, leaving him with no reserves. Though the
Lorist found this headache-inducing. But Popirichi Mountain's forbidding terrain simply made it impossible to order an assault — it would be tantamount to ordering men to their deaths. The old man had certainly found himself a fine spot to hole up, leaving Lorist utterly helpless. After much deliberation, Lorist ultimately adopted Bodufenge's suggestion: establish the defensive line first and slowly drag things out. The Fisablen family would be the first to break.
Lorist assigned the defense against the Fisablen forces on Popirichi Mountain to Bodufenge's Bedrock Corps, with the Filim family's Pegasus Corps to assist. Meanwhile, Ross the Tiger's Flying Tiger Corps, along with the Kelmess family's heavy infantry regiment, the Shahin family's light cavalry regiment, and the light infantry regiment, relocated to the border between the southern provinces and the Eastern Wastes Province to establish the blockade line according to the original plan.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three months had passed. It had been a largely peaceful period. Apart from the Fisablen forces on Popirichi Mountain occasionally sending out grassland barbarian cavalry and mobile riders to launch raids and night attacks against the Bedrock Corps' defensive positions still under construction, no major clashes had occurred. Even the raids that were launched were essentially hit-and-run affairs — strike and withdraw, never lingering. If they failed to gain an advantage, they'd flee swiftly. It would be more accurate to call them harassment operations.
Lorist had the mountain's terrain mapped out carefully and called the old bandit over again to question him, confirming there were no large caves on the mountain. He wondered whether the Fisablen forces had simply built their main camp on the mountainside, hidden from view.
Perhaps this meant a winter assault could work after all. When heavy snow sealed the mountain, the Fisablen soldiers would hardly stand around on the cliffs freezing to death — they'd likely grow lax about defending the fork below. They could use skis to burst through the fork and catch them completely off guard. The Norton forces had always maintained rigorous winter training, and mounting steel crossbows on sleds was second nature. If a single regiment broke through, Popirichi Mountain could change hands...
The more Lorist thought about it, the better the idea seemed. He was just about to summon his commanders for a thorough discussion when he saw Shuwad rush into camp with a panicked expression.
"Your Highness, Your Highness..."
"Calm yourself! What's the panic? The sky hasn't fallen. A true warrior maintains composure even as mountains crumble before him. Where has all your training gone?" Lorist snapped, clearly displeased.
"No, Your Highness — look! Two urgent dispatches from the family territory, top priority!" Shuwad spread two sheets of silk, thin as cicada wings and grey-white, across the table. They were covered in dense writing — clearly just delivered by messenger hawk.
Lorist focused on the silk and felt his head go numb with a buzzing sensation. He snatched them up and read closely, his face growing paler with every line. One thought hammered through his mind: damn it — we've been played. That old fox Fisablen had pulled a golden cicada shedding its shell. Lorist had assumed he was on Popirichi Mountain, but at some point, the old man had slipped away to Muyeyuan Province. These two blows struck right at the Norton Family's vitals — and he had no troops to redeploy.
The two silk dispatches Shuwad brought both carried bad news. The first reported that the Hunting Cavalry Corps had suffered devastating losses in Muyeyuan Province. Corps commander
The battle report briefly described the cause of the Hunting Cavalry Corps' defeat. After the corps had defeated the Fisablen family's 4th Border Patrol Cavalry Corps under Jossk's command and occupied most of Muyeyuan Province, the 4th Corps had retreated east of the Sochus River to hold the line. Two-thirds of Muyeyuan Province had become the Hunting Cavalry Corps' hunting ground. Following pre-battle directives, the corps had been executing a strategy of bleeding the Fisablen family dry — all the inhabitants and livestock of Muyeyuan Province had been forcibly relocated to the eastern regions of Northland.
Three days earlier, the newly formed 3rd Regiment along with two war-chariot steel crossbow battalions, under Regimental Commander Pete, had been dispatched on a sweep operation along the eastern grassland border of Muyeyuan Province. Twenty-one thousand troops should have been more than enough for such a task. But they had been ambushed by countless grassland barbarian cavalry and ultimately trapped on an unnamed highland, where they had no choice but to release messenger hawks calling for emergency reinforcement. Upon receiving the distress signal, Yuri had rushed out with the 2nd Regiment to rescue them — only to discover it was Grand Duke Fisablen's trap of besieging one point to strike at the reinforcements. En route, the regiment was ambushed by the 4th Border Patrol Cavalry Corps and barely fought its way through to link up with the remnants of the 3rd Regiment...
Had Jossk not arrived with the 1st Regiment, both the 2nd and 3rd Regiments would have been annihilated entirely. Pete had already fallen in battle, and Yuri was gravely wounded. Jossk led the survivors out of the encirclement, but was himself seriously injured and thrown from his horse while covering the retreat against Grand Duke Fisablen. It had cost the sacrifice of six or seven family Silver Knights to pull him back alive.
The battle report estimated the besieging grassland barbarian cavalry at roughly a hundred thousand. The surviving soldiers of the Hunting Cavalry Corps recalled that barbarian cavalry seemed to be everywhere — the more they killed, the more appeared. Moreover, the enemy had deployed enormous shield carts built from logs, rendering the war-chariot steel crossbows useless. Every soldier in the Hunting Cavalry Corps had been forced into close-quarters melee with the grassland barbarian cavalry. Additionally, the Fisablen family's 4th Border Patrol Cavalry Corps had been restored to full strength, though most of its new recruits were grassland barbarian cavalry...
This was terrible news. Without Muyeyuan Province and with the Hunting Cavalry Corps devastated, the fortress city of Pietro — guarding the critical pass at Pisbyer between Winston Province and Muyeyuan Province — had lost its protective shield. If the victorious Grand Duke Fisablen led his grassland barbarian cavalry straight at Pietro and took the city, Winston Province would be like a helpless girl trembling before a bandit. If Windbury Royal City fell as well, everything the Northland Four-Family Alliance had sacrificed and endured would be for nothing. There would be no choice but to pull back and counterattack in Winston Province — and that would undo everything they'd accomplished in the southern provinces, allowing the Fisablen family to reestablish contact with the four central duchies.
The old man's move was devastating. Lorist was caught between a rock and a hard place. He couldn't draw troops from the southern provinces — the Fisablen family's eighty thousand forces sitting on Popirichi Mountain had tied down the Alliance's strength here. If he pulled back to reinforce, the blockade line painstakingly built over three months would likely collapse. After all, they had only just managed to lock the Fisablen forces outside. And Lorist feared the old man would feint in one direction and strike in another — the moment he led his troops back to reinforce, Grand Duke Fisablen would wheel around with his grassland cavalry and sweep through the southern provinces. The result would be just as catastrophic.
"Um..." Shuwad flipped open a notebook and quickly searched through it. "Your Highness, Lord Falaya inspected the fortress castle currently under construction at Sehaic Hill seven days ago. After departing, he was heading back to Windbury Royal City, inspecting the construction at Sunset Lake Town along the way. He should have returned to Windbury by now."
"Release a messenger hawk immediately. Order Falaya to hold Pietro at all costs. Also send word to Count Shahin — inform him of the current battle situation and request that he dispatch one more family regiment to reinforce Pietro urgently."
"Yes, Your Highness." Shuwad turned and hurried out of the tent.
Lorist let out a long sigh. "Earl. Reidi."
"Your Highness..." The two men appeared before Lorist.
"You heard everything. The old man's dealt us a serious blow. I have a task for you both — find a way to bring me a few live prisoners from the mountain. I need to know how many Fisablen troops are still holding the mountain, how many the old man took with him, and how they plan to survive the winter up there."
"At once, Your Highness."
After Earl and Reidi departed, Lorist sat down and picked up the second silk dispatch. It was a warning letter penned personally by Tagel, and it brought no good news either. The letter stated that the mountain barbarian tribes of the Dark Dragon Mountains were growing restless, and there was a strong possibility they would target the Norton Family's territory for raids.
The mountain barbarian tribes — that was a sore spot Lorist preferred not to touch. His past encounter with them had made him deliberately avoid any involvement in matters concerning those tribes. Although he had only stayed among them for a few months, he had learned enough to know their ways. The tribe nearest to Norton territory — the Habibaba Mountain Barbarian Tribe, as he recalled — had been locked in a contest with another large mountain tribe over the title of "Great Qiangbasen" at the time, which was why they hadn't paid much attention to the happenings in Norton territory.
In the first few years after returning to family lands, Lorist had built a small watchtower fortress at the junction of the two mountain ranges bordering the Dark Dragon Mountains and hired a mercenary outfit called the Five Swords Mercenary Corps to garrison it. After his own harrowing experience in the Dark Dragon Mountains among the mountain barbarian tribes, he had granted that watchtower fortress to the Five Swords, which had gradually developed into a small mercenary town serving as a staging ground for expeditions into the Dark Dragon Mountains. The town, it was said, also had dealings with the mountain barbarian tribes and had become a source for the tribes to exchange goods and supplies.
Tagel's warning letter relayed news from that very town. Apparently, the mountain barbarian tribes were preparing to attack Norton Family territory to plunder resources, and the townsfolk were in a panic — many residents had already fled back to family lands. In addition, the head of the Snow Salt Trading Company's outpost in eastern Northland, which specialized in purchasing and trading goods from the mountain barbarian tribes, had sent a secret letter as well. According to it, a tribe friendly to the trading company had revealed that a group of grassland barbarians had come to the mountains with the express purpose of uniting the various mountain barbarian tribes in an attack on Norton territory...
No question about it — this was undoubtedly the old Fisablen's handiwork. One move after another, just as expected of the man once called the Grassland God of War. Lorist's face darkened as he contemplated whether he should return to the family territory to steady morale. The mountain barbarian tribes themselves were not to be feared — the family territory had enough guard battalions to ensure safety. The only real concern was whether Pietro could hold. That was the key to whether the Fisablen family could turn the tide.
...(To be continued.)