With time running short, the Barbarians put their plan into action as soon as they had settled on it.
A cavalry force immediately split off from the main body, made up primarily of riders from the Iron Bone Tribe.
After all, the Faith Order had only two thousand cavalry. The decoy force would face some danger, and coordination mattered too, so it was not suited to the task.
Once this force had separated from the main body of Barbarian Cavalry, it galloped toward the Expeditionary Army.
To find a way to slow the Expeditionary Army's march, the Barbarian Cavalry had kept roughly ten kilometers away. At full gallop, a cavalry force could cover that distance in just fifteen minutes.
For the decoy to work, the main body of Barbarian Cavalry also had to stay at that distance. Otherwise, the Expeditionary Army's scouts would spot it too easily.
After the decoy riders had ridden off, the rest of the Barbarian Cavalry wheeled around and charged in another direction. They would hide there and wait for the decoy force's signal.
Before long, the decoy force broke straight through the Expeditionary Army scouts' patrol perimeter and made a show of threatening its flank.
Ron, already alerted by the scouts, charged out with the Two Rivers County cavalry. When he saw that the Barbarian force numbered only a little over two thousand, he immediately realized the enemy had to be plotting something.
But even if they were bait, that many enemy riders were worth pursuing. Wiping out this Barbarian Cavalry force would take little effort for the troops under Ron's command.
As Ron led his troops in pursuit, he also sent someone to contact the Expeditionary Army's scouts and confirm the position of the enemy's main force.
When the Barbarian decoy riders saw