Recaps

As war preparations strained food supplies and emptied the treasury, Grand Duke Mora praised Pelei for exploiting rumors to raise funds. Turas secured horses and wagons from Count Sibeth and marched the Sixth Legion toward Carn City, hoping to gain command of the Second Legion and rise through the civil war.

• Serfs were forced to support passing armies, while rumors of a rebel and barbarian invasion drove Freemen to stockpile grain and push prices higher.
• Mora thanked Pelei for selling grain reserves to replenish the treasury and promised tax cuts after defeating Colt's rebels.
• Count Sibeth offered Turas two hundred draft horses and wagons, and Turas accepted the aid despite privately judging it inadequate.
• Turas departed with the Sixth Legion and told Sailik that war gave him the chance to rise.
• Turas expected to take control of the Second Legion in Carn City because Count Carter was seriously ill, with the Western Noble Alliance Army set to join him.

Count Lloyd returned to Ironwire City and praised Lenster for managing the domain during his absence. After reviewing intelligence from the Iron Birch Family, Count Lloyd concluded that the grand duke intended to deal with Colt and his followers first.

• Lenster met Count Lloyd outside Ironwire City and escorted him to the Lord's Mansion.
• Count Lloyd dismissed his knights and officials, then thanked Lenster for maintaining supplies, rebuilding settlements, and caring for displaced freemen.
• Lenster offered additional troops for the Northern Frontier, but Count Lloyd said the situation was stable and told him to keep them in Ironwire City.
• Lenster gave Count Lloyd a letter from the Iron Birch Family, and Count Lloyd concluded that the grand duke planned to deal with Colt and his followers first.

Lenster and Count Lloyd discussed the Iron Vine Family’s vulnerable position as armies gathered for war, while Victor received Count Colt’s letter and summoned his officers to the General Staff. The chapter ended as the officers assembled for a meeting about the approaching Civil War.

• Lenster asked Count Lloyd whether they should send troops to support Count Colt, and Count Lloyd decided they should not act without a request.
• Count Lloyd praised Lenster’s work and made Lenster’s regiment his personal guard, urging him to prepare for the enemy while the territory recovered.
• Victor received Count Colt’s letter, recognized it as a signal that the Civil War was about to begin, and ordered Lynn to summon the unit commanders.
• Marvin and James discussed why Victor had called the officers, and Marvin guessed that the Civil War was about to start.
• Victor entered the meeting room with Baron Brown and Viscount Marcus, and Saruman began the meeting at Victor’s signal.

Victor announced that the Civil War was about to begin and called on Saruman to present the army’s preparations. The meeting ended with the officers’ confidence in Victor on display, while Marcus was left unsettled by their disregard for higher-ranking nobles.

• Victor told the officers that he had received a letter from Count Colt and that the army would set out for the Civil War at once.
• Victor quieted the meeting with his hammer, then asked Mahan about his recovered leg and checked on several officers’ health and families.
• The officers praised Victor and speculated that he would rise to become a count, marquis, or even grand duke.
• Marcus realized the Golden Sunflower Family’s officers recognized only Victor and showed no respect for higher-ranking nobles, including Grand Duke Mora.
• Victor ended the officers’ commotion and asked Saruman to explain the army’s preparations for the Civil War.

Victor announced that Two Rivers Territory and Golden Sunflower Territory had completed organizing a powerful army, then rallied its officers to resist Grand Duke Mora’s oppression. He ordered the troops to mobilize for Sea Song Town and offered land, pay, and noble titles for wartime service, leaving Marcus to abandon his schemes and consider claiming a count’s title.

• Saruman reported that Two Rivers Territory had four direct regiments, a garrison regiment, an independent mixed regiment, and logistics forces, while Golden Sunflower Territory had two direct regiments.
• Victor warned that mobilizing so many people had disrupted farming and explained that he had built the army to protect the territories from Grand Duke Mora’s oppression.
• The officers shouted their support as Victor drew his sword and called on them to resist the duchy.
• Victor ordered the units to head to Sea Song Town, assigned the garrison and logistics forces their duties, and instructed Sodoma, Knight Jack, and Blox to prepare their fleets and test the icebreakers.
• Victor promised soldiers land and triple wartime allowances, with further rewards for capturing or killing enemy commanders and nobles.
• Marcus, impressed by the army and Victor’s confidence, gradually gave up his schemes and considered seeking a count’s title.

Victor concluded the meeting by outlining the deployment of Military Judges and coordinating the army’s preparations for the southern campaign. Marcus pledged that the Black Pine Family would follow the Golden Sunflower Family, while Marvin received his regiment’s assigned Military Judge.

• Victor explained that Military Judges would verify merits and enforce discipline under the regimental commanders’ approval, and warned James and Ron not to clash with them.
• Victor confirmed with Lodan that only two transport battalions would accompany the army, and learned that Isaac had assigned doctors to the southern force.
• Victor directed Lodan to seek craftsmen from Jimmy for the engineering corps, then asked Marcus why he had seemed distracted during the meeting.
• Marcus told Victor that the Black Pine Family would follow the Golden Sunflower Family if they won the civil war, and Victor accepted his decision.
• Gutierrez introduced himself to Marvin as the Military Judge assigned to his regiment and presented the new reward and punishment regulations.

Gutierrez joined the Third Regiment as its Military Judge and selected a squad from Bask’s personal guard to assist him. He explained the campaign’s merit and reward system, reassuring the soldiers that their achievements would be rewarded.

• Marvin appointed Gutierrez Military Judge and sent Bask to help him select soldiers from the personal guard.
• Bask led Gutierrez to the barracks and described his three companies of elite heavy infantry.
• Gutierrez chose Shuk’s squad and clarified that it would assist his work while remaining under the regiment’s command.
• Gutierrez introduced himself to Shuk’s squad and outlined the three ranks of military merit and their rewards.
• Gutierrez answered the soldiers’ questions about allowances and rewards, earning their recognition.

Gutierrez won over the Personal Guard with a martial demonstration, while Bask explained why the unit was known as the Orphan Brigade. The chapter ended with Gutierrez learning that many of its young veteran soldiers had no surviving family, prompting the territory to gather them together and avoid conscripting orphans and only sons.

• Gutierrez demonstrated his skill with several weapons, impressing the Personal Guard soldiers and earning their admiration.
• Bask ordered the soldiers to eat, pack for the coming march, and maintain their armor for inspection.
• Gutierrez noticed that the Personal Guard soldiers were unusually young, and Bask explained that many had been unmarried contract slaves who had no known relatives.
• Bask recalled that he and Captain Marvin found many fallen soldiers had no family to receive their death benefits, so Captain Marvin gathered similar young fighters into the Personal Guard.
• Bask explained that the Viscount had established an unwritten rule against conscripting orphans and only sons, and that the Personal Guard was nicknamed the Orphan Brigade.

Gutierrez shared a meal with Bask and Regimental Commander Marvin at the Third Regiment’s mess hall, where Marvin asked about publicly enforcing the army’s punishments. Gutierrez defended the Viscount’s rules and said he might lead troops later, then Bask invited him for a drink.

• Bask brought Gutierrez to the regimental mess hall and described its generous food allowance and excellent cooking.
• Marvin joined Bask and Gutierrez for dinner, where Bask devoured his lamb and Gutierrez met Captain Rurik.
• Marvin asked Gutierrez whether punishments such as execution and flogging needed to be carried out publicly.
• Gutierrez explained that the Viscount required punishments to be fair and just, and said he could try leading troops after fulfilling his current duties.
• After dinner, Bask appeared and invited Gutierrez to drink barley beer.

Victor’s Fragrant Ale became popular with the military, and combat units preparing to depart received priority to buy the limited supply. As the Third Regiment and other units headed for Sea Song Town, Victor reviewed the Military Judges’ assignments and discussed the fleet and the unfinished harbor seawall.

• Bask told Gutierrez about Fragrant Ale, and Marvin left without drinking because he never drank alcohol.
• Gutierrez toured the regiments to publicize the expedition’s rewards and raise morale as the Third Regiment and other units broke camp for Sea Song Town.
• Victor praised the Military Judges’ integration into their units and promised Saruman that their positions would be adjusted after a year.
• Saruman reported that Captain Jack and Sodoma had taken their new icebreakers out to sea.
• Victor lamented that Sea Song Town’s seawall remained unfinished, leaving the harbor exposed to drifting sea ice.

Victor left Wood Fort Town for Sea Song Town to organize his army’s embarkation, entrusting Two Rivers Territory’s defenses to Saruman. Meanwhile, Sodoma used the new charcoal-powered icebreaker to find Iron Birch Territory’s fleet, whose ships had to slow when the wind shifted.

• Victor ordered Saruman to defend Two Rivers Territory with the garrison regiment and militia while he went to Sea Song Town to lead the campaign.
• Veronica stayed at the laboratory to work with Octavia and said she would see Victor off later.
• James and Ron traveled south with the cavalry, whose horses and soldiers would be transported together to improve their landing readiness.
• Sodoma took the new icebreaker out through the sea ice and learned that its engine consumed charcoal quickly, so it retained sails as well as its propeller.
• Sodoma sensed a change in the wind, redirected the icebreaker, and found Iron Birch Territory’s fleet of thirty-six ships, including the enormous Iron Tower Ship.
• The wind shifted to the southwest, forcing the sail-powered Iron Birch Territory fleet to lower its sails and slow down.

Sodoma guided Goder’s Iron Birch Territory fleet to Sea Song Town while Ambrose tested a new engine, and the harbor began preparing ships and troops for the southern expedition. Victor inspected the crowded docks, coordinated the first landing camp, and authorized Vincent to bring in more workers as the preparations continued.

• Sodoma and Ambrose examined the Iron Birch Territory fleet, and Sodoma noted that its large, slow ships reflected outdated naval priorities.
• Sodoma boarded the Iron Tower Ship, met Goder, and guided the fleet into a single-file formation for the voyage to Sea Song Town.
• Captain Jack received the fleet outside the harbor, where Goder agreed to wait offshore while ships docked in groups of eight; Ambrose returned the test ship to the shipyard for review.
• Victor arrived at the docks, observed the hectic loading of troops and supplies, and went to Santos to discuss the Second Regiment’s boarding and landing-camp duties.
• Santos told Victor that the Medical Department’s anti-seasickness soup had helped the soldiers adapt, and Vincent requested extra laborers because dockworkers were exhausted.
• Victor authorized Vincent to draw workers from Riverside Town.

Victor prepared his expeditionary force to sail south, overseeing the arrival of workers and the fleet’s horse-transport modifications before departing Sea Song Town. On April 2, he left aboard Sodoma’s flagship, the Wavebreaker, while his family and officials stayed behind to guard Two Rivers Territory.

• Vincent borrowed 1,500 workers from Riverside Town to relieve the dockworkers in Sea Song Town.
• Captain Jack showed Victor leather-net supports and explained how Isaac’s sedative helped the fleet transport warhorses safely by sea.
• Veronica arrived in Sea Song Town and waited for Victor, then stayed there until his departure.
• After the expeditionary force and supplies boarded on April 2, Marvin took the Iron Tower Ship while Victor boarded the Wavebreaker with Sodoma.
• Victor asked his family and officials to guard Two Rivers Territory, bid them farewell, and ordered Sodoma to set sail south.

Viscount Hawke learned that a Seventh Legion Cavalry force had arrived ahead of schedule after it routed his scouting troop. Ricardo advised him to conceal the troop’s disobedience and use the encounter to raise morale as the enemy prepared to act.

• A battered Cavalry troop returned to White Earth City, and its captain told Viscount Hawke that an elite force had ambushed them and left fewer than forty survivors.
• The captain presented a captured banner, which Ricardo identified as belonging to the Seventh Legion, revealing that Duchy reinforcements had arrived.
• Hawke forgave the captain and ordered wine and meat for the survivors after learning they had faced the Seventh Legion’s Cavalry.
• Ricardo explained that the captain had likely disobeyed orders by scouting too close to the enemy camp, but advised Hawke not to punish him.
• Ricardo urged Hawke to reward the Cavalrymen further and spread a false tale of their victory to raise morale.

Hawk and Ricardo prepared to face the Duchy's newly arrived Seventh Legion, with Ricardo leading a midnight cavalry raid while Hawk hosted the allied Fifth Legion's nobles in White Earth City. The raid's outcome remained unknown as the chapter ended.

• Ricardo advised Hawk to request reinforcements from Count Colt and explained that the Pumpkin family should keep a low profile.
• Ricardo proposed a night raid to assess the Seventh Legion, and Hawk decided he should take both cavalry battalions.
• Ricardo arranged the raid while Hawk gathered the allied nobles for a meeting to keep the plan from leaking.
• At midnight, Ricardo led the cavalry out of White Earth City's western gate in silence.
• Hawk told the nobles that he had requested aid from Count Colt and stayed behind to entertain them as Ricardo's force rode into the night.

Ricardo’s scouts found that the Seventh Legion’s camp was heavily guarded, but Ricardo chose to raid it anyway. When the camp caught fire, Kimberley sent Rasul and a cavalry force to help, leaving the raid’s outcome uncertain.

• A scouting officer reported that the Seventh Legion’s camp had palisades, watchtowers, and patrols, making it difficult to attack and escape safely.
• Ricardo rejected an officer’s suggestion to abandon the mission and ordered the cavalry to prepare a raid.
• A sentry in the Fifth Legion’s camp spotted flames spreading through the Seventh Legion’s palisade and raised the alarm.
• Kimberley hesitated to intervene until Rasul volunteered to lead cavalry to the burning camp.
• Rasul gathered his cavalry and rode out through a gate away from the Seventh Legion’s camp to make room for their formation.

Ricardo’s attempt to draw the Duchy Army into a night raid failed, and the Fifth and Seventh Legions soon began a sustained assault on White Earth City. As the battle wore down the defenders, nobles blamed Ricardo for provoking the enemy, while Hawke remained silent.

• Ricardo withdrew to White Earth City after the Fifth Legion’s cautious cavalry prevented his planned surprise attack, while Rasul learned that fires had damaged the Seventh Legion’s camp.
• Rabia secretly arranged to sell grain he had hidden, then asked Kimberly to provide supplies; Rasul persuaded Kimberly to send the Seventh Legion enough grain to last a month.
• Ricardo returned to White Earth City, where Hawke had stayed awake worrying about him, and then wrote a request for reinforcements.
• The Fifth and Seventh Legions attacked White Earth City, using their superior cavalry numbers to tie down the defenders’ cavalry and begin a grinding siege.
• After the first day of fighting, several nobles accused Ricardo of provoking the enemy, while Hawke watched them complain without responding.

Hawk intimidated the barons who had blamed Ricardo for the legion’s losses, reminding them of his authority as Legion Commander and threatening them with his sword. Ricardo intervened as Hawk hinted at another plan, leaving the nobles subdued but the confrontation unresolved.

• The five barons fell silent when they considered Hawk’s forces and the loyalty of the nobles who had not arrived.
• Hawk accepted responsibility for the legion’s losses and pretended he would ask Count Colt to replace him as Legion Commander.
• When the barons insisted Hawk should remain commander, he confronted Baron Lukaku for proposing to punish Ricardo and knocked him to the ground with his sword.
• The other nobles knelt and apologized, while one asked Ricardo to persuade Hawk to spare them.
• Ricardo stopped Hawk from acting against the nobles, and Hawk claimed he might surrender to the Grand Duke as he winked to signal a hidden plan.

Hawk staged a violent outburst to cow the allied nobles, then reorganized the troops to guard against a suspected traitor. Meanwhile, Alex learned that White Earth City had been besieged by two enemy armies for five days and feared Hawk could not hold out much longer.

• Hawk smashed the room’s furnishings until the five nobles agreed to follow his orders and accept new guards.
• Hawk ordered that troops not engage without authorization and that any arrivals from the Duchy be treated properly, while Ricardo identified Baron Rubio and Baron Lukaku as suspicious.
• Hawk refused Ricardo’s suggestion to attack the nobles and instead assigned their forces to the east and west gates, his regiments to the north and south gates, and reserves to guard the armory and granary.
• Alex received word that the Duchy’s Seventh Legion had arrived early and that White Earth City had been under attack by two enemy armies for five days.

Alex received intelligence that Viscount Hawke’s Fifth Legion was besieged at White Earth City and decided to lead his vanguard there on a forced march. He left the messengers with fresh horses and a generous advance on their reward, then ordered the army to abandon its baggage and travel light.

• Alex sent the intelligence report and a letter to his father with messengers, providing them with extra horses and half their reward in gold coins.
• Alex told the officers that Labia’s Seventh Legion and another enemy legion had surrounded Viscount Hawke’s Fifth Legion at White Earth City.
• Alex decided to take the vanguard to relieve the siege, since the main force was too far away to arrive in time.
• Alex ordered the vanguard to abandon its baggage, carry only essential supplies and equipment, and try to reach White Earth City within two days.
• The three Regimental Commanders agreed and left to organize their troops.

Alex prepared his cavalry to rush to the aid of White Earth City, while Viscount Hawke and Ricardo waited for a suspected mole to make contact. The chapter left Hawke reinforcing the city walls as he anticipated an envoy urging surrender.

• A young officer objected to abandoning supplies, but his regimental commander ordered him to follow the plan.
• Alex praised the three regimental commanders for preparing quickly and ordered the army to depart in fifteen minutes to rescue their comrades.
• Hawk raged over the lack of reinforcements, then ate a huge loaf of bread and wondered why he felt hungrier and stronger.
• Ricardo reported that Hawk's forces had suffered over 3,700 casualties, while the nobles' forces had lost about twenty percent of their troops.
• Ricardo predicted that an envoy urging surrender would soon reveal the mole, and Hawk ordered troops to reinforce the north and south while keeping only two squads with him.

As White Earth City’s defenders faced mounting pressure, Viscount Hawke committed the remaining reserves to the northern and southern walls, leaving the other fronts vulnerable. Meanwhile, the Duchy’s Fifth Legion agreed to use an inside man to lure Hawke to the eastern wall and assassinate him, hoping to throw the city into chaos.

• Baron Lukaku complained to Baron Rubio about Hawke’s behavior and opposed the order to send all reserves to the northern and southern walls.
• A messenger announced that Hawke had deployed every reserve troop and ordered the eastern and western walls to organize their own reserves.
• A Northern Alliance soldier reported to Count Kimberley and Viscount Rabia that their inside man could assist them from within White Earth City.
• Rabia proposed opening the eastern gate for an assault, but a deputy commander warned that the narrow approach made the plan too risky.
• Kimberley proposed luring Hawke to the eastern wall under the pretense of making contact, where infiltrated soldiers could attack him.
• Kimberley and the others agreed that each of their two legions would send fifty men and leave the operation’s details to their inside man.

Hawke went to the eastern wall to expose the traitor behind a planned assassination, despite Ricardo's concerns. After Hawke killed a disguised enemy soldier, Kimberley realized the plot was exposed and withdrew while Hawke attacked the other infiltrators.

• Ricardo identified the meeting letter as a trap, but Hawke decided to attend and draw out the traitor, wearing three layers of armor.
• Ricardo insisted on accompanying Hawke, and Hawke agreed after failing to change his mind.
• At the eastern wall, Hawke told Baron Lukaku to gather troops and keep watch on Baron Rubio, then went up with Ricardo.
• Hawke recognized that the soldiers on the wall had been replaced and exposed one infiltrator by ordering him to curse the enemy officers.
• Hawke stabbed the infiltrator when he failed to act, and Kimberley withdrew after seeing the plot had been exposed.
• Hawke beheaded another soldier on the wall, startling the remaining infiltrators.

Hawk and his allies repelled an assassination attempt inside White Earth City, then endured a renewed siege as Kimberley and Labia agreed to attack again the next morning. A hundred kilometers away, Alex ordered his exhausted cavalry to keep marching south with Boiling Blood Grass, despite knowing the horses might die.

• Hawk fought off the Duchy elites on the wall while Lukaku captured Baron Rubio and Ricardo’s reinforcements helped crush the infiltrators.
• The Duchy’s Direct Legions launched an afternoon assault, and Hawk’s forces held White Earth City until evening.
• Hawk imprisoned Rubio, arrested his officers, and reassigned the remaining soldiers to depleted units.
• Labia urged Kimberley to pause the siege, but they agreed to commit their reserves to another all-out attack the next morning.
• Alex ordered his cavalry to feed their exhausted horses Boiling Blood Grass and continue toward White Earth City, even though many horses would likely die.

Hawk and Baron Lukaku led White Earth City's defenders against a fierce Duchy Army assault using newly deployed siege equipment. Hawk's guards helped repel the attackers and burn two wheeled assault ladders, but Labia ordered a barrage against the wall as the assault stalled.

• Hawk and Baron Lukaku surveyed the Duchy Army's siege equipment, and Hawk sent a guard to ask Ricardo for reinforcements.
• The Duchy Army charged White Earth City while the defenders fired arrows and crossbow bolts; Labia moved enforcement troops forward to intercept routed soldiers.
• Siege towers suppressed the wall's archers, and attackers reached the battlements by scaling ladders and wheeled assault ladders.
• Hawk stopped Lukaku from committing his reserves, then led his guards onto the wall and steadied the defenders.
• Hawk's men defeated attackers on the wall and set two wheeled assault ladders ablaze, while defenders toppled scaling ladders.
• Labia ordered three volleys at the wall, and Hawk took cover as the defenders held off the assault.