Recaps

Ron harassed the Vanguard Army with his cavalry, then withdrew after killing nearly a hundred enemy cavalrymen. Victor watched the Vanguard Army deploy near Red Ginseng Castle and waited for it to attack.

• Ron found that the enemy cavalry knew Northlands Cavalry tactics and could block his route to the Vanguard Army's main force.
• Ron used his horses' superior endurance to catch the enemy cavalrymen who fell behind and shot nearly a hundred of them dead.
• Ron ended his harassment and kept his cavalry trailing the Vanguard Army from afar as Viscount Isold hurried toward the Red Ginseng Territory dock.
• Victor spotted the Vanguard Army near Red Ginseng Castle and saw Viscount Olive and Viscount White Asparagus establish their command position ahead of the castle.
• Ron returned to Victor, reported the cavalry's losses, and arranged for the Heavy Cavalry to change horses and armor.
• Victor watched the Vanguard Army form up and distribute food and water, while he held his position and waited for its attack.

Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo rejected Baron Freyzer’s advice to delay the battle and prepared to attack Victor’s forces. Their first assault with nearly two thousand Serf Soldiers collapsed under arrows and the Golden Sunflower Heavy Infantry’s spear wall, leaving Isold determined to force another charge.

• Baron Freyzer urged Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo to wait for Count Black’s main force, but they sent Freyzer back to the castle and resolved to attack.
• Isold and Leo planned a frontal assault, using Serf Soldiers to test the Golden Sunflower formation before committing their regular troops.
• Victor ordered his archers to target the advancing Serf Soldiers while keeping his crossbowmen in reserve.
• Heavy bowmen shot down many Serf Soldiers, and the Heavy Infantry’s shield wall and spears killed those who reached the front line.
• The surviving Serf Soldiers fled, and Isold ordered one in ten of them killed before they were reorganized for another charge.

Victor’s Heavy Infantry and the Vanguard Army clashed after both sides rallied their troops, and Golden Sunflower Territory’s crossbowmen and archers stalled enemy attacks on the flanks. The central formations then collided, inflicting heavy casualties on both sides and leaving the battle locked in a stalemate.

• Victor ordered his Longbowmen to clear the corpses and wounded Serf Soldiers from the Heavy Infantry’s spears, while Viscount Isold’s guards executed more than a hundred deserters to restore the Vanguard Army’s discipline.
• Heralds announced punishments for retreat and rewards for killing enemies or capturing Victor, as both armies prepared to advance.
• Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo sent their Pikemen and Sword-and-Shield Soldiers forward, while Victor resolved to destroy the Vanguard Army before its next full-scale offensive.
• At less than one hundred and twenty meters, Victor’s Heavy Crossbowmen halted the Vanguard Army’s left flank, and his Longbowmen blocked its right flank with armor-piercing arrows.
• The Vanguard Army’s Pikemen charged into the Heavy Infantry, whose longer spears devastated the first two enemy ranks before advancing Pikemen began penetrating their armor and the center fell into a bloody stalemate.

Victor’s Golden Sunflower army broke the Vanguard Army after drawing its forces into a close assault and unleashing hidden ship-mounted Catapults and Bed Crossbows. As the Vanguard Army routed, Ron pursued its troops, while Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo found their northern escape blocked by another Golden Sunflower force.

• Viscount Isold ordered the Vanguard Army to push forward as the Golden Sunflower army’s arrow fire slackened, but Heavy Infantry slaughtered the advancing Sword-and-Shield Soldiers with spears and Wolf Tooth Hammers.
• Victor sent Bow and Crossbow Troops into the Heavy Infantry formations, restoring the defensive line as Isold committed his remaining reserves and drove the packed Vanguard Army onward.
• Victor signaled the docks, where hidden Catapults and Bed Crossbows fired into the Vanguard Army’s tightly packed center, causing it to collapse and flee.
• The ship-mounted weapons struck both wings, and Victor ordered the steel crescent forward as Ron led Heavy Cavalry against formed troops and Light Cavalry hunted fleeing officers.
• Viscount Isold lost command of himself, and Viscount Leo ordered the cavalry north, only to find a Golden Sunflower force blocking their route at Red Ginseng Castle’s moat.

Ron’s Cavalry routed the Vanguard Army while Holmes’s infantry blocked the two viscounts’ cavalry. Holmes’s phalanx and halberdiers shattered their charge, leaving Viscount Leo and the wounded Viscount Isold surrounded.

• Ron led two hundred Heavy Cavalry through three Vanguard Army formations and killed two battalion commanders, breaking the army’s ability to threaten the Golden Sunflower forces.
• Viscount Leo’s charge failed to break Holmes’s infantry phalanx, so he returned to Viscount Isold for a plan to escape.
• Viscount Isold split the cavalry, leading the lancers to draw Holmes’s attention while Viscount Leo brought the horse archers toward the phalanx’s weaknesses.
• Holmes charged his spearmen into the lancers’ exposed flank, and his halberdiers joined the fight, pulling riders from their horses and breaking the cavalry formation.
• Viscount Leo led the horse archers to aid Viscount Isold, but panicked horses disrupted their ranks and Holmes’s reserve unit surrounded them.
• Viscount Leo supported the wounded Viscount Isold as the remaining riders were trapped, and Isold admitted that they could not escape.

Victor surveyed the battlefield after his victory, which had cost the Golden Sunflower forces fewer than ten percent of their soldiers. Viscounts Isold Olive and Leo Asparagus surrendered, and Victor sent them to persuade Baron Red Ginseng to end the remaining fighting.

• Victor advanced across the battlefield as soldiers saluted him and prisoners and captured weapons were gathered.
• Ron asked how Victor had broken the allied army with so few casualties, and Victor named his tactic the Crescent Moon Formation.
• Holmes introduced Viscount Isold Olive and Viscount Leo Asparagus, whom Victor asked to help persuade Baron Red Ginseng to surrender.
• Holmes had trapped the two viscounts' remaining forces and urged them to surrender so their soldiers could survive; Viscount Leo persuaded Isold to agree.
• Victor sent Isold and Leo toward Red Ginseng Castle under Holmes's and Ron's guard.

After defeating the allied forces, Victor arranged the prisoners' transport and secured Red Ginseng Castle's surrender. He began ransom negotiations with Viscounts Isold and Leo, who sought to ransom their armies as well as themselves.

• Victor ordered Holmes and the garrison detachments to secure Red Ginseng Territory, pursue routed soldiers, and escort prisoners back to Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Holmes brought Baron Freyzer, Viscount Isold, and Viscount Leo to meet Victor, and Freyzer offered Fick's help in guiding Holmes's forces around the territory.
• Victor told Isold and Leo that they could choose prisoners to carry letters home and negotiate their release and the ransom of their troops.
• Isold asked to pay partly in supplies, and Victor proposed that thirty percent of the ransom be gold and silver, with the rest in supplies and, if possible, serfs.

After defeating the vanguard, Victor brought Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo to the Golden Sunflower Territory, where he began arranging prisoner negotiations and secured Baron Freyzer’s cooperation. The next morning, Count Black and the punitive army learned that the two viscounts’ forces had been crushed.

• Victor invited Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo to the Golden Sunflower Territory and had them send messengers to their territories and the punitive army.
• The two viscounts selected eight trusted men to carry messages, and Victor took them to the docks to calm the captured officers.
• Victor sailed with the viscounts and Baron Freyzer after Ron reported that Holmes had secured Red Ginseng Castle’s hidden passages.
• Victor promised to care for Freyzer’s family and release them after the punitive army withdrew, and Freyzer pledged that Red Ginseng Territory would follow Victor’s lead.
• At a banquet in the Golden Sunflower Territory, Victor’s guests enjoyed the feast and grew less wary of him.
• Two messengers told Count Black and the nobles that the vanguard led by Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo had suffered a crushing defeat.

After messengers reported that Viscount Olive and Viscount White Asparagus had been defeated and captured by Viscount Golden Sunflower, Count Black halted the punitive army’s advance and ordered an investigation. The nobles accepted his plan, while Baron Cassian remained worried about his brother-in-law, Viscount Leo.

• Baron Cassian threatened the messengers until Count Black and Knight Yellen calmed him and let them explain.
• The messengers described the defeat at Red Ginseng Territory and presented letters bearing the two viscounts’ seals, which Count Black examined and shared with the nobles.
• The nobles accepted that the vanguard had been crushed and the viscounts captured, while Baron Cassian urged Count Black to attack Golden Sunflower Territory and rescue them.
• Count Black argued that an attack could endanger the captives and ordered Knight Yellen to scout Red Ginseng Territory with men supplied by each house.
• Count Black kept the messengers in camp, stopped the army from advancing, and arranged rotating guards while the nobles awaited the investigation.

Victor showed Isolde and Leo the Golden Sunflower Territory’s docks, farms, tools, roads, and fortress, easing their hostility after his victory. In the Two Rivers Territory, officials checked winter supplies while Veronica’s team successfully tested a diesel locomotive and prepared to continue trials.

• Victor toured the Golden Sunflower Territory with Isolde and Leo, explained its agricultural tools and construction, and agreed to sell them tools and White Sugar.
• Isolde and Leo were impressed by Victor’s accomplishments and became less hostile, while Victor saw their neutrality as useful for his future campaign.
• Baron Wembley inspected winter supplies in the Two Rivers Territory and learned that delayed timber deliveries from Black Pine Territory were expected before winter.
• Veronica’s engineering team successfully tested Internal Combustion Engine No. 2, moving and stopping its locomotive on the rails.
• Veronica left Pacey in charge of further trials and went to another Riverside Village factory to work on a project Victor had assigned her.

Veronica’s papermaking project had stalled while the team searched for a source of high-purity caustic soda. Octavia revealed that they had found the Salt-leaf Tree, whose roots produced high-purity sodium carbonate when burned.

• Victor had left his reed-papermaking plan with Veronica when he went to Iron Birch Territory, and she later established a paper mill and research team in Riverside Village.
• Veronica focused her team on finding sodium-rich plants after primitive methods proved inadequate for producing caustic soda.
• Octavia reported that her screening experiments had produced a promising result, and Veronica followed her to inspect it.
• Octavia showed Veronica the Salt-leaf Tree and explained that burning its roots, trunk, and bark yielded high-purity sodium carbonate, with the roots producing the purest material.

Veronica led Octavia’s group in refining soda ash, then used it to produce caustic soda at the paper mill. The experiment succeeded, and Veronica added glassmaking to her plans after learning they now had soda ash.

• Veronica guided Octavia’s group through recrystallizing crude sodium carbonate to make high-purity soda ash.
• Lysander reported that his group planned to trial-plant salt-tolerant reeds on the tidal flats next spring, and Veronica discussed his future at the Plantation Research Institute.
• Veronica returned to Wood Fort Town with the soda ash and decided to add glassmaking to her work plan.
• Veronica and the researchers reacted soda ash with lime milk, filtered the mixture, and concentrated the solution to produce caustic soda.
• Veronica tested the white solid’s reactions and confirmed that the caustic soda experiment had succeeded.

Veronica planned the next stages of papermaking and sought a Salt-leaf Tree supply from the south through Alex. In Cornwall County, Count Lloyd rallied his loyal vassals and ordered an attack on four houses before winter, intending to continue his alliance and campaign the following spring.

• Veronica rewarded the workers who prepared soda ash and caustic soda, then assigned Lysander and Octavia's groups further research and papermaking plans.
• Octavia warned Veronica that Salt-leaf Trees could not grow locally and were too scarce to support large-scale production.
• Veronica decided to ask Alex for help sourcing Salt-leaf Trees and wrote him a letter.
• Count Lloyd met with four loyal vassals in Randolph and learned that news of his departure from Silver Maple City had been suppressed.
• Count Lloyd ordered his houses to attack four traitorous houses before winter, then planned to honor his agreement with Count Colt and attack southern loyalists the following spring.

Count Lloyd ordered his allies to prepare for war and sent Baron Nio to find Count Black, while Mora faced Count Lagos over the death of Viscount Lance. Mora then tried to disguise the killing as a victory against rebels, leaving Count Lagos worried about the backlash from the Silver Maple collateral branch.

• Count Lloyd ordered Baron Nio to find Count Black in eastern Boler County after learning he had launched a campaign against a Northern Frontier noble family.
• Count Lloyd declared that Mora would pay for interfering with noble succession.
• Count Lagos confronted Mora for arresting Viscount Lance, and Mora admitted Lance had died in prison.
• Viscount Borey reported that he had arrested Lance's family and seized his estate, and Mora ordered the spoils displayed publicly as evidence that Lance had aided the rebels.
• Count Lagos warned Mora to keep Borey's soldiers quiet, and Mora agreed to notify Borey while insisting he should be able to do as he pleased as Grand Duke.

Count Lagos discovered that Grand Duke Mora had nearly emptied the treasury and arranged a loan to fund the army, while Finance Minister Weiss secretly passed intelligence to an unknown contact. In Golden Sunflower Territory, Victor prepared to take 3,000 serfs north, prioritizing female slaves to address a gender imbalance.

• Finance Minister Weiss told Count Lagos that the treasury had only 5,000 gold remaining after Grand Duke Mora withdrew funds, so Lagos arranged a loan from the Wright Trading Company for the War Department.
• Weiss delivered a message tube of recent intelligence to a man in black, who warned him that Silver Maple's internal guard had exposed many hidden agents.
• Victor asked Steward Boon to select 3,000 serfs from Red Ginseng Territory to take to Two Rivers Territory before winter, especially female slaves.

Victor planned to keep his forces at their current size and secure neutrality from two viscounts so he could stabilize Boler County while supporting Count Black in Suffolk County. When the viscounts’ sons arrived to negotiate, Victor agreed with Count Black to delay the punitive army’s offensive, then began talks with the two families.

• Victor reviewed his military strength and decided to stop expanding his army for the time being.
• Victor concluded that persuading the two viscounts to remain neutral was key to stabilizing Boler County and preparing operations in Suffolk County.
• On October 16, Oberon and Tira arrived with negotiators from Olive Territory and White Asparagus Territory, accompanied by Knight Yellen and the punitive army.
• Victor let Oberon and Tira meet privately with their fathers, Viscounts Isold and Leo, before negotiations began.
• Knight Yellen delivered Count Black’s letter, and Victor agreed that Golden Sunflower Territory would not attack for the time being so Count Black could decide what to do.
• Victor began negotiations by stating that he wanted to defend his territory and family, and Oberon said Olive Territory did not wish to become his enemy.

Victor negotiated the ransom for the two viscounts with Oberon, Tira, and the viscounts, agreeing to count captured Serf Soldiers toward the 3,000-serf payment. The parties settled the terms and left the later army ransom negotiations to their stewards.

• Oberon offered 5,000 gold from each territory, 3,000 serfs, and wheat to ransom the two viscounts.
• Victor accepted the offer but proposed counting the more than 2,100 captured Serf Soldiers toward the serf total and allowing their families to be sent with them.
• Tira apologized to Victor, while Oberon offered to pay the full serf ransom and send the captured soldiers' relatives as well.
• Victor declined the offer to pay the full amount, saying he wanted to show respect and appreciation to the two viscounts.
• Viscount Isold proposed counting children under twelve and elders over forty as half a serf and making up any shortfall with able-bodied adult male slaves.
• The parties approved the revised terms and agreed that their stewards would handle negotiations over the army's ransom.

Victor inspected the camp, discussed troop readiness and future recruitment with Ron, then traveled with the First Detachment to Red Ginseng Territory to meet Count Black and inspect its defenses. He arrived at Red Ginseng Castle, where Holmes assured him that the castle was fortified and ready to house more troops.

• Victor learned that Alderick had captured nearly four hundred prisoners and eliminated roughly six hundred routed soldiers in Red Ginseng Territory, then ordered him to rest.
• Ron reported that depleted units had been replenished with new recruits and that prisoners were working on construction, while Victor warned him to ensure they were not overworked.
• Victor assigned Ron command of the troops and took Ron's First Detachment to Red Ginseng Territory for a meeting with Count Black.
• Victor inspected the camp and military hospital, where he found the wounded soldiers receiving good care.
• Holmes welcomed Victor at Red Ginseng Castle and explained that its defenses had been reinforced and its quarters expanded to accommodate twice as many troops.

Victor inspected the defenses and farms of Red Ginseng Territory after its takeover, then learned how brutally the Red Ginseng Family had exploited and controlled its serfs. He left Holmes overseeing the castle defenses and expected Golden Sunflower Territory's farm reforms to improve the serfs' lives and productivity.

• Holmes showed Victor his expanded defenses at Red Ginseng Castle and the docks, and Victor ordered him to stop further alterations while promising him a role in building new forts.
• Victor left the infantry with Holmes and traveled toward the border with his guards and two cavalry squadrons, inspecting two farms managed by stewards from Golden Sunflower Territory.
• The stewards told Victor that Red Ginseng Territory lacked farm supplies and tools, and that its wheat yields had been far lower than those of Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Victor questioned how Red Ginseng Territory had accumulated so much grain, and the stewards explained that the Red Ginseng Family restricted reproduction, sold many women, and executed serfs who were old, sick, or injured.
• The stewards described recurring serf uprisings that Red Ginseng's soldiers easily crushed, and Victor concluded that improving the serfs' living conditions and rewarding their work would make them easier to manage.

Victor toured Green Water Farm and saw how steward Kallio had begun improving its land, homes, and serfs’ living conditions. He approved Kallio’s plans and promised to support his requests through Boon.

• Kallio showed Victor Green Water Farm and described plans to expand its farmland, widen roads, and build irrigation channels.
• Kallio explained that the farm’s serfs had grown numb under the Red Ginseng Family’s oppression, but repairing homes and providing food had helped them hope for a better life.
• Victor agreed that the serfs needed visible improvements and told Kallio to seek resources from Boon for construction.
• Kallio showed Victor newly built houses and explained his goal of providing housing for three thousand people before winter.
• Victor observed the serfs working and saw that Kallio had earned their respect, then praised Kallio and promised to speak to Boon on his behalf.

Victor’s troops camped near the punitive expedition’s Main Camp, where Michael’s scouts discovered and mapped a large enemy camp. Victor identified the nobles present and concluded that Count Black had arranged the camp’s defenses to show Victor its strength and preserve mutual trust.

• Victor camped his troops at the northern border of Red Ginseng Territory and established night patrols.
• Michael reported finding a camp under construction about sixteen kilometers northwest, with a hill outpost and a river limiting approaches.
• Michael said the camp held more than ten thousand men and displayed ten noble banners, including Earl Great Oak’s and the Perilla Family’s.
• Victor identified the banners and reasoned that Count Black expected his scouts and had deliberately made the camp’s situation visible.
• Victor told Michael to continue guard duties and report any force of more than five hundred men leaving the enemy camp.

Victor named his elite scouting unit the Dark Night Watch and arranged a meeting with Count Black. Knight Yellen reported that the Count would meet Victor the next morning, and they agreed on a location and limits for their forces.

• Victor watched Michael depart on a scouting mission and reflected on how he had risen to command one of the elite unit’s five squads.
• Victor named the unit the Dark Night Watch and ordered stronger internal security at his camp.
• The next morning, Knight Yellen arrived with a message that Count Black would meet Victor in person.
• Victor proposed a meeting place seven kilometers from the punitive army’s camp and said he would bring only fifty cavalrymen.
• Yellen agreed that Count Black would bring no more than fifty guards and promised to prevent other nobles from disturbing the meeting.

Victor and Count Black met in the countryside after Victor defeated Isolde and Leo’s allied forces, while both prepared cautiously for the conversation. The chapter ended with Victor supporting Count Black after the count stumbled while dismounting.

• Victor agreed to meet Count Black with Knight Yellen and wondered why the count had requested the meeting.
• Count Black warned Yellen that Joy Grass was harming his health and told him to seek Cassian’s help if trouble arose at camp.
• Count Black rode out with a small cavalry troop as Yellen watched over the camp.
• Michael’s Barbarian Cavalryman reported Count Black’s approach to Victor, who ordered his Guard Cavalry to receive the visitors.
• Victor greeted Count Black, and the count stumbled while dismounting, so Victor hurried to support him.

Count Black told Victor that his failing health would force him to withdraw, then warned him that Silver Maple City could still threaten his territory. They discussed Count Lloyd’s plans to rebel against Mora and agreed that Victor would supply Lloyd with weapons and equipment.

• Count Black admitted that his health was deteriorating and said he planned to withdraw his troops after Victor released the two viscounts.
• Count Black warned Victor that Silver Maple City was rebuilding its legions, so they discussed distracting Mora by exploiting tensions among the nobles.
• Count Black revealed that Count Lloyd had escaped Silver Maple City and planned to rebel, aided by a marriage alliance with Colt’s heir, Alexander.
• Count Black explained that Count Lloyd lacked steel, weapons, and equipment because Silver Maple City had restricted his territory.
• Victor agreed to send weapons and equipment to Cornwall County as a gift to help Count Lloyd raise his army.
• Count Black called Viscount Ferry over to meet Victor.

Victor met Viscount Ferry Saltwood, who had come to arrange weapons purchases on Count Lloyd’s behalf. After agreeing to sell equipment and offering a detailed map, Victor asked how the supplies would reach Ironvine Territory, and Ferry outlined two possible routes.

• Viscount Ferry Saltwood delivered Count Lloyd’s request for help, and Victor agreed to sell weapons and equipment at a favorable price.
• Victor set up a shaded canopy and explained how materials associated with the Saltwood family had helped make it waterproof and sunproof.
• Victor showed Count Black and Viscount Ferry his detailed map of the duchy’s Eastern Region and explained its contour lines.
• Victor offered to give both men copies of the map and asked Viscount Ferry how he would transport the equipment to Ironvine Territory.
• Viscount Ferry described a sea route through Suffolk County and a land-and-river route from Boler County to Ironvine Territory.