On November 5, 9811 of the Radiant Calendar, in the headquarters of the Kingdom of Seraphitaine's Western Expeditionary Corps in Delin City, Delin Province, the white-haired old man sat at his desk for a long time after receiving news that Dongluoyan City had fallen overnight.
The officer who had come to report remained bowed, waiting for further instructions.
After a long while, the white-haired old man picked up his pen and wrote out a Command Document as quickly as he could.
The loss of Dongluoyan City had put Vitria Province and Thornwood Province on the back foot, adversely affecting the course of the war.
Their only option now was to gather as many troops as possible and pin the heretic army down at Dongluoyan City, preventing it from advancing north or south.
For a time, chaos erupted throughout Delin City, where undercurrents had already been stirring. Large numbers of young nobles and merchants moved their supplies out, leaving Delin Province for the rear.
Inside the Eastern Expeditionary Army's temporary headquarters on the border between Qixing East District and the Kingdom of Seraphitaine, Angus studied the intelligence pouring in from all sides, continually adjusting the positions of the red and blue flags on the sand table.
Five days earlier, an army from the Kingdom of Seraphitaine's Vitria Province had captured a small fortress on the eastern border of Cavendish Province in Qixing East District. More than three thousand defenders had died, while enemy casualties had exceeded ten thousand.
Two days earlier, thirty-seven outposts in Damon Province had been wiped out, with casualties exceeding two thousand. A Kingdom of Seraphitaine army more than twenty thousand strong had entered Qixing East District.
All the intelligence indicated that the enemy commander was attempting to trade blows against each other's territory, forcing Angus to divert