Ceasefire

A massive army was slowly but surely joining the battle, and Hawk immediately recognized the unit as the Fifth Legion by its raised banners.

Although the main infantry phalanx of this force was still far from the battlefield, the Cavalry units roaming the outer perimeter of the formation had already begun to engage the Cavalry led by Alex.

A small-scale clash occurred between the two sides' cavalry. At first, Hawk and Ricardo were full of confidence, after all, when it came to Cavalry strength, the Northern Frontier nobles were undoubtedly the best in the duchy.

However, after two rounds of clashes, Alex's Vanguard Army cavalry suffered greater losses, which surprised both of them.

But Ricardo quickly noticed something amiss, "Martin, it's Martin!"

Hawk immediately pressed, "What do you mean?"

Ricardo pointed to the cavalry engaged in battle and said, "Our Cavalry horses are clearly exhausted. They accelerate slowly when charging, their horsepower is insufficient, and their impact is not strong enough. Naturally, they are no match for the enemy."

Upon hearing this, Hawk also began to worry. He understood that the reason why Alex's Vanguard Army was so exhausted must be related to the support he was receiving.

Fortunately, the Duchy's Cavalry was much smaller than the Allied Army. After gaining the upper hand in the skirmishes, they did not dare to go too far. Instead, they seized the opportunity to send a few messengers into the Seventh Legion's formation.

Alex then commanded his Cavalry to split into two groups: one to continue harassing the main phalanx of the Seventh Legion, and the other to break away from the battlefield and attempt to pursue the Duchy Legion's Cavalry.

Considering their own disadvantages, Alex assigned a pursuit force of nearly 5,000 men.

However, these ducal Cavalry took the initiative to retreat, withdrawing to the front of the infantry phalanx and hiding within the range of their own ranged units, preventing Alex's pursuing forces from going too far.

After several rounds of probing, the pursuing troops gave up, and these Cavalry cunningly stuck to them, harassing them with various ranged weapons. As soon as the pursuing troops turned around to chase them, they immediately retreated.

Their interference severely slowed down the pursuing troops, and even further depleted the stamina of the warhorses.

Alex was leading the remaining troops to harass the headquarters of the Seventh Legion, trying to find an opening to destroy the force, but the headquarters of the Seventh Legion had already recovered from the initial chaos.

In the ranks of the Seventh Legion headquarters, Labia, with a bandage wrapped around his head, listened to the messenger's words with a gloomy face.

"Commander Rabia, Commander Kimberly has gathered the troops from the other two directions, including two regiments of the Seventh Legion. All troops are now in formation and heading here."

"Please hold on, my lord. There may still be a chance to completely annihilate the Cavalry of this Northern Frontier Allied Army."

"Very good, this is good news. Those despicable Northern barbarians attacked my main camp while my rear was undefended. If it weren't for my personal guards fighting hard, I would definitely be dead."

Now that I've survived, I will make them pay the price.

Labia touched the bandage on his head and said fiercely.

At that time, his energy was focused on the siege. Fortunately, there were not many troops that could be deployed on the city walls during the siege, and most of his main army was still in the temporary camp.

Otherwise, Alex's charge might have taken him down in one fell swoop.

The makeshift camp had virtually no defensive facilities. After being attacked immediately, Labia was wounded and separated from the legion.

Fortunately, the Duchy Legion was not a pushover. One of the regiments that had not been hit quickly prepared for battle under the command of its Regimental Commander and changed its battle formation.

They rallied their remaining troops and launched a counterattack against Alex's Cavalry. Alex's Cavalry, having traveled for days, were exhausted, both in their horses and in their men. After the first charge, their offensive power was virtually nonexistent.

The Duchy Legion launched a spontaneous counterattack and pushed them out of their Temporary Camp. Subsequently Labia, under his personal guard, successfully rejoined the counterattack force.

Afterwards, most of the remaining troops were quickly gathered together and began to fight Alex's Cavalry, relying on the terrain of the temporary camp.

Alex then changed tactics, attempting to divide the army's formation using long-range interference.

But by then it was too late. The Duchy Legion reacted even faster. Count Kimberly of the Fifth Legion was very cautious and had been deploying a large number of scouts around White Earth City.

He learned of Alex's Vanguard Army's arrival immediately, quickly abandoned the siege, and instead gathered the siege forces from the other two directions.

Kimberley then led his main force northward in an attempt to support Labia's forces.

Alex also took action, but due to the weakness of the Vanguard Army, it was difficult to stop Kimberley's reinforcements.

Even the pursuing troops were slowed down, and under Labia's command, the Seventh Legion headquarters defended very firmly. Seeing this, Alex had no choice but to abandon the attack on Labia's forces.

He led his Cavalry unit away from the battlefield with Labia's forces and joined up with the pursuing troops.

Seeing so many Cavalry units rushing over, the Kimberley Cavalry no longer dared to interfere, and soon the two Vanguard Army Cavalry merged together.

This time, Alex did not lead his troops to attack again. Instead, he slowly withdrew from the battlefield and headed towards White Earth City.

Alex had realized that he couldn't gain any advantage from these Duchy Legion, so it was better to cut his losses while he could. After all, he had successfully helped White Earth City out of its predicament, and his ultimate goal had been achieved.

Seeing Alex's Cavalry retreat towards White Earth City, Labia was furious and wanted to lead his troops in pursuit, but was stopped by his subordinates.

Fortunately, he wasn't crazy. He knew that the Seventh Legion headquarters was in a very bad state. After softening his stance, he obediently stayed where he was and waited to reunite with Kimberley.

Hawk and his men witnessed the entire battle from the city walls and knew that Alex's troops were exhausted. Just as Hawk was about to order the garrison to open the north gate and let the Vanguard Army into the city, he was stopped by a messenger sent by Alex.

"Commander Hawke, Viscount Alex has ordered that the enemy has not gone far, and the city gates should remain closed."

If the enemy retreats, the Viscount will later lead his Vanguard Army into the city from the east wall.

Hawk was surprised by Alex's thorough consideration and accepted the order.

Alex's Cavalry then roamed around the outskirts of White Earth City, adopting an offensive posture.

After the Kimberley and Labia tribes joined forces, they did not continue their offensive and instead left the battlefield from another direction.

Thus ended the first phase of the clash between the Northern Alliance Army and the Principality. Neither side achieved its objectives, and both suffered considerable losses.

On the Northlands front, the Fifth Legion of the Allied Army, commanded by Viscount Hawke, suffered heavy losses. Twelve infantry battalions were rendered incapable of fighting, and the remaining troops were also half-crippled. The corps, which had a large number of men before the battle, suffered many casualties. If it weren't for the four battalions that were still returning to their units, the Fifth Legion could have been declared disbanded.

Alex's Vanguard Army was exhausted from days of forced marches, resulting in heavy non-combat casualties. In addition, most of the Cavalry were left with only one horse, which severely damaged their combat effectiveness.

On the Duchy's side, the continuous siege battles have caused considerable casualties to the Fifth and Seventh Legion, especially the Seventh Legion headquarters, which suffered a particularly heavy loss when it was ambushed by Alex's Vanguard Army.

The Fifth Legion suffered more than 6,000 casualties; the Seventh Legion suffered more than 9,000 casualties, including its Legion Commander, and more than 1,000 were captured or went missing.

Both sides were exhausted by this point. Finally, under the watchful eye of Alex's Cavalry, the Fifth and Seventh Legion left White Earth City and returned to their garrison in Sextus County.