When they learned that enemy reinforcements were on the way, a Barbarian Legion Commander immediately proposed abandoning the camp and moving their forces elsewhere.
After all, Commander of Ten Thousand Huo Rile had ordered them to preserve as much of their fighting strength as possible. Their presence tied down the enemy, and that mattered more to the battle as a whole.
But another Legion Commander objected. "There's something unusual about this force. Look at the distinctive patterns on their armor. I think someone important to this noble domain is here. The lord himself might even be in this camp."
"How could that be?
Isn't the lord of this domain Marquis Golden Sunflower?
He's the most important person in the domain. Why would he be on the front line? And why would he stay in this crude, lightly defended camp instead of a secure fortress?"
"Why wouldn't he? Hasn't Marquis Golden Sunflower always liked leading charges himself?
That's what the stories from the grasslands say about him.
They say that when he faced the Bloodhoof Great Chieftain years ago, he led his troops from the front and broke the chieftain's army."
"You have a point. This force is unusual. They're badly outnumbered, but they've held firm.
They're infantry facing cavalry, and all they have to rely on is this crude camp wall. They shouldn't stand a chance against us. Yet in the short time we've been fighting, we've taken more casualties than they have."
These Legion Commanders were all seasoned veterans. They could judge the losses on both sides: the Barbarian Cavalry had lost a thousand men, while the infantry opposite them had lost perhaps three or four hundred. The difference was stark.
"So what do we do?
Keep fighting them?
I don't think we have much chance of winning, especially