The Big Brains

At 9:00 a. m. on September 13, a Cavalry force of a thousand men arrived at Haiden City and could see the thick smoke rising from the city from afar.

At this time, a large number of citizens had gathered outside the city gate. They were all fleeing from the city, and their faces were filled with panic. Many of them were also injured.

It turned out that after the fire broke out, the army that caused the chaos had already left Haiden City, and as the fire spread, the city became extremely chaotic.

Many residents fled the city to escape the fire, but during their escape, they also faced robbery and assault by local thugs. Fortunately, many Workshop workers in the city were organized and banded together to fight against the rioters, successfully escorting the elderly, women and children out of the city. When the rioters realized they could not gain any advantage, they returned to the city to loot.

The officer in charge quickly dispatched troops into Haiden City to suppress the rioters and extinguish the fire.

These rioters were still in groups of three or five, vandalizing Workshop and attacking citizens who had not left the city, caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the army.

They could ruthlessly harm ordinary citizens with their fists and knives, but when faced with this heavily armed regular army, they were like stalks of wheat, easily harvested.

Under the army's suppression, most of the rioters roaming the Haiden City were captured and executed.

As an important military stronghold, Haiden City was designed with fire prevention in mind from the outset, which is why stone was used as the main building material. There were many wells in the city, and firebreaks were built between Workshop. However, the garrison was massacred immediately, and the first batch of citizens who tried to save themselves were attacked by that unfamiliar army. As a result, no one was able to stop the self-rescue, which led to the deterioration of the situation in the city to such an extent.

Fortunately, the arrival of this Cavalry brought the disaster under control in the city. With the cooperation of the surviving Workshop owners and Workshop, the fire in the city was quickly brought under control.

"Sodak, what do you think? What is the objective of this unit?"

The army's commander, the chubby Cavalry Regiment Enlek, posed a question to his deputy Regimental Commander Sodak.

Sodak is a young man in his twenties. It is very rare for someone his age to be able to serve as the deputy Regimental Commander of a direct legion. After all, only high-ranking nobles have the ability to operate such a position. However, the offspring of high-ranking nobles usually serve in their own private armies. It can only be said that this young officer's background is probably more special.

"Lord Enlek, I think their purpose is very clear: to create chaos. Setting fires and massacring soldiers are all to throw Haiden City into chaos."

"Why do you think that, Sodak? Don't they have other motives?"

Sodak analyzed.

"It's like this, Lord Enlek. As you can see, this mysterious force has been in York County for at least two days. Although our patrols discovered their tracks yesterday, several squads had already been attacked before that, and more than a dozen elite scout Cavalry were killed without a single survivor. It was only by finding the bodies of these missing soldiers that we learned that such an enemy force had penetrated deep into our defense zone."

"Legion Commander Carter has ordered you to lead two Cavalry battalions from our regiment to pursue this enemy squad and ascertain their objective and how they entered York County. Initially, we all thought this squad might have some special mission, but judging from their performance last night, they should be the Count of the Northlands's special force sent to attack logistics, and they are larger than we expected."

"You mean their goal is to disrupt our logistics, and the attack on Haiden City was to strike our logistical nodes?"

"That's right. You see, at first we thought they only had a little over a hundred riders, each with two horses. But last night, half an infantry battalion was stationed in Haiden City, at least four hundred soldiers. Even if their soldiers were elite, they couldn't possibly take Haiden City with such a force. Combined with the intelligence we've gathered from the citizens, it's clear that the total number of troops they attacked Haiden City last night was at least three hundred, and they were well-equipped and elite."

Enlek stroked his beard. "What you said makes a lot of sense. A force of over 300 elite Cavalry is indeed very suitable for attacking logistics. Our regiment has just been rebuilt, and we are incomplete in terms of horses and personnel training. To deal with such a force, we would need at least a full-strength Cavalry battalion."

"Yes, Regimental Commander, especially since they attacked Haiden City from within and without, and also raided the transit station, they must have obtained a large amount of supplies, which confirms my guess. They must have only taken horses and weapons when crossing the Carson Mountains to lighten their load, intending to rely on attacking our logistics to sustain their war effort. At the same time, they also planted a large number of spies in York County to provide them with intelligence, otherwise how would they have known that the number of Haiden City defenders had decreased?"

Enlek was also persuaded by Sodak's analysis, which was logical and basically the truth.

"Sodak, you truly live up to your reputation as a member of a military family. If it weren't for you, who could have discovered so many clues? I was almost fooled by them."

"Yes, Regimental Commander, you see, after leaving Haiden City, they split into two groups, one heading towards Derby County and the other towards Strath County. The group heading towards Derby County is larger and is clearly trying to lure us into catching up with them."

"You mean the team heading to Derby County is a decoy, and the main force is in Strath County? We should go after the Strath County team."

Sodak shook his head.

"That's not the case. You see, since their objective has been confirmed as attacking our supply lines, what's the point of them going to Derby County and Strath County?"

"Our logistics mainly rely on supplies from Milan County. You mean they'll be entering Milan County?"

"Exactly. For them, there are two benefits to entering Milan County. First, they can continue to attack our supply lines. Second, they can create chaos in Milan County and influence the Grand Duke's judgment. When the Grand Duke is angry because Milan County was attacked, he may ask our Second Legion to go north to attack the Northern Alliance Army."

"The Second Legion has just been rebuilt, and its combat strength is neither high nor low. It is fine as a defensive force, but once it launches an attack, it will be easy prey for the elite Northern Alliance Army, which is exactly what the enemy wants."

Enlek exclaimed, "As expected, the Baron Colt is indeed a renowned general of the Duchy. He can wreak havoc on the Duchy with just such a small force. Sodak, thank goodness for you, otherwise I wouldn't have discovered all this."

"How could that be? Without your guidance, I wouldn't have been able to discover these things."

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

If Victor were here, he would definitely applaud these two brilliant minds.