Recaps

Yellen took command of Great Oak Territory’s newly trained Cavalry Regiment after learning from Ron that it still needed combat experience. At Sunset City’s docks, First Legion commander Beck Five Point Maple confronted the harbor staff over delays, and Great Oak Territory soldiers arrived to challenge him.

• Yellen met Ron at the barracks and learned that Ron had trained the Cavalry Regiment in cavalry tactics.
• Ron advised Yellen to use cavalry to stretch enemy formations and strike weak points, then handed the unit over to him before leaving to join Victor’s main force.
• Beck Five Point Maple’s fleet waited offshore because Great Oak Territory’s docks were occupied by its departing fleet.
• Beck accused Great Oak Territory of delaying the Duchy’s mission and threatened to force his troops ashore.
• Penelopem grabbed the harbor tax officer, prompting the tax guards and Beck’s soldiers to draw weapons against each other.
• Soldiers in sharkskin armor surrounded the First Legion, and their leader challenged Beck over whether he intended to attack Great Oak Territory.

Viscount Sonanda prevented Beck’s First Legion from disembarking while Great Oak Territory’s warships departed to confront the Northern Alliance Army. Sonanda appeased Beck and defended Count Black’s response to the Grand Duke’s orders, leaving Beck to withdraw after demanding compensation.

• Beck recognized his old rival Viscount Sonanda and stopped his soldiers from attacking.
• Beck threatened Sonanda with the First Legion, but Sonanda saw that his sailors and dock soldiers could not match the legion in a fight.
• Sonanda explained that his fleet was leaving the harbor and promised wine and meat once Beck’s troops disembarked.
• Beck challenged Sonanda over the delay and accused Great Oak Territory of failing to attack the Northern Alliance Army.
• Sonanda said coastal forces needed time to coordinate, while Great Oak’s armies had already marched and Count Black had obeyed the Grand Duke’s orders.
• Beck demanded compensation and left with his men.

Sonanda and Elfie devised a scheme to feed Beck’s First Legion Blackfin Whale meat disguised as beef, hoping its unpleasant effects would strike after the troops had left Sunset City. Sonanda entrusted Elfie with preparing and delivering the meat, allowing him to use Sonanda’s name to gain Beck’s trust.

• Sonanda refused Elfie’s suggestion to retaliate against Beck directly because he did not want to endanger Great Oak Territory or delay the First Legion.
• Elfie reminded Sonanda of the frozen Blackfin Whale and proposed using its meat to exploit the First Legion’s ignorance of its effects.
• Sonanda recalled how eating too much whale meat had caused uncontrollable oil leakage and recognized the scheme’s potential.
• Elfie proposed mixing whale meat into beef so the First Legion would not suffer the effects until it neared the landing ground.
• Sonanda ordered Elfie to prepare and deliver the meat and gave him permission to use Sonanda’s name to earn Beck’s trust.

Elfie delivered beef, wine, and a private money gift from Viscount Sonanda to Legion Commander Beck as the First Legion settled into Sunset City's harbor. Beck accepted the bribe and heard that Sonanda wanted his help and hoped to repair their relationship.

• Elfie praised the First Legion while presenting its officers with gifts from the Great Oak Territory.
• Beck questioned whether Sonanda had authority to give away Count Black's valuable beef.
• Elfie privately handed Beck a pouch of money, calling it a belated promotion gift with accumulated interest.
• Beck dismissed his officers to put away the gifts and walked with Elfie to a secluded spot.
• Elfie told Beck that Sonanda apologized for his past arrogance and wanted to become friends again, while asking him for help.

Elfie explained that Sonanda wanted Beck’s help escaping the Great Oak Family’s political turmoil, offering to secure land for Beck’s family in return. Beck agreed to support Sonanda before the Grand Duke, and the two shared a meal at Beck’s camp.

• Beck questioned why Sonanda had sent Elfie with gifts instead of coming himself.
• Elfie described Count Black’s failing health, the Great Oak Territory’s internal disorder, and Sonanda’s wish to leave the family’s influence with Beck’s help.
• Elfie promised Sonanda would recommend Beck for territory taken from the Great Oak Family, tempting Beck with the prospect of making the Five Point Maple family true viscounts.
• Beck agreed to speak well of Sonanda before the Grand Duke if Sonanda helped fulfill his family’s long-held wish.
• Beck invited Elfie to dine at his camp, where Elfie and the First Legion officers eagerly ate the specially supplied beef.

Elfie reported that he had lured Beck into supporting Sonanda, and Sonanda rewarded him before the Coastal Defense Fleet joined with other nobles’ fleets and sailed north to blockade Sunset City. Merchant captains Old Hank and John discussed the approaching war and the army that had landed at Rotten Tree Beach.

• Elfie told Sonanda that Beck had accepted 500 gold coins and believed Sonanda would pay him another 2,000 after the war; Sonanda rewarded Elfie with 200 gold coins and ordered him back by seven the next morning.
• Beck counted the 300 gold coins he had received and planned to profit further from Sonanda after helping him.
• On April 15, the Coastal Defense Fleet joined the fleets of other coastal nobles, forming a force of more than a hundred warships and ten thousand troops before sailing north to blockade Sunset City.
• Old Hank told John that an army of at least tens of thousands had landed at Rotten Tree Beach, and John pointed north as he guessed who was behind it.

John considered moving his merchant guild out of Sunset City, but Old Hank persuaded him that the city would be defended and proposed a cloth-buying venture to profit from the war. At Rotten Tree Beach, Victor assessed the gathered noble forces and ordered James to attack the Blacklin camp.

• John planned to move his merchant guild to Blue Moon Bay, but Old Hank urged him to stay after revealing that the Northern Alliance landing force was camped at Rotten Tree Beach and the Duchy’s First Legion and noble armies were gathering in Sunset City.
• Old Hank persuaded John to invest with him in white and black cloth, which they planned to resell to a merchant caravan following the army.
• James reported to Victor that several noble houses had assembled nearby and that Viscount Blacklin’s cavalry had been driven back by the Ranger Cavalry and a battalion.
• Victor chose the Blacklin family as his first target because it no longer obeyed Count Black, and assigned Ron’s cavalry to James for the attack.

Old Buck and his sons were forced to fetch water as punishment by Scarface and his vice-captain, while Eagle Eye urged Old Buck to join the standing army. When a large cavalry force approached the river, Eagle Eye led everyone into the reeds to hide.

• Scarface and his vice-captain repeatedly tormented Old Buck and his sons after Old Buck defeated them in an arm-wrestling match and reclaimed the serfs' food.
• Old Buck and his sons went to the river at dawn to fetch water for their squad, and Eagle Eye again invited Old Buck to join his unit.
• The river surface trembled, and Eagle Eye spotted a large cavalry force approaching from the north.
• Eagle Eye ordered his soldiers, Old Buck, and the boys to hide in the river reeds instead of running back to camp.
• Eagle Eye warned a soldier that the cavalry would catch anyone who tried to flee on foot.

James's Cavalry captured Old Buck, his sons, and Eagle Eye's group after finding them hiding in the river, while Eagle Eye offered to reveal a weak point in the Blacklin camp wall to save his life. James's forces fully surrounded the camp, and Viscount Blacklin learned that no one could escape to summon reinforcements.

• Old Buck shielded his two sons in the river as James's Cavalry thundered past, but the riders spotted their buckets and searched the reeds.
• The Cavalry killed three soldiers who ambushed them, then Eagle Eye and his men surrendered; Old Buck and his sons followed.
• James questioned Old Buck and heard that the group were Serf Soldiers sent to fetch water, while his riders threatened to execute them.
• Eagle Eye offered to show James a weak section of the Blacklin camp wall in exchange for his life, and James ordered his riders to sheathe their swords.
• James's Cavalry surrounded the Blacklin family camp, and Viscount Blacklin learned that riders trying to leave for reinforcements were being shot down.

Lynn took command of the Blacklin camp’s defenses after Viscount Trik was stunned by the enemy’s encirclement. The defenders prepared for an attack in the west, but black-armored cavalry broke through from the north and struck their flank, leaving Lynn unconscious.

• Viscount Trik ordered the officers to prepare the camp for defense, and Lynn assigned troops to the walls, the viscount’s protection, and a western defensive line.
• Lynn refused Viscount Trik’s request to stay beside him and personally led the pikemen, warning the Captain of the Guard to protect the viscount.
• The archers and crossbowmen fired volleys at dust rising beyond the western wall, but their arrows hit nothing.
• A cry announced that the enemy had broken in from the north, and black-armored cavalry charged out of the dust toward the archers, crossbowmen, and pikemen.
• The cavalry struck Lynn and knocked him unconscious before he could understand how they had breached the walls.

James breached the Blacklin family’s camp through a weak section of palisade and routed its defenders, while Jackson’s cavalry tried to hold back a much larger Coalition of Nobles force. James arrived with four detachments after capturing Viscount Blacklin, leaving the two commanders to face the advancing enemy together.

• Eagle Eye showed James a weak stretch of palisade, and James ordered Pross’s cavalry to pull it down while Shax led the Heavy Cavalry through the breach.
• The Heavy Cavalry smashed into the Blacklin family’s defenders, and the following cavalry units hunted down the scattered troops.
• James left soldiers to handle stragglers and surrenders, then departed with the rest of his forces as Old Buck and his children watched in fear.
• Jackson learned that more than six thousand Coalition of Nobles soldiers were advancing in an orderly formation, and he worried that he could not stop them with his outnumbered light cavalry.
• James arrived, told Jackson that he had routed the Blacklin family’s last organized force and captured Viscount Blacklin, and brought four detachments to help.

James and Jackson identified that four of the Coalition of Nobles' six infantry squares were poorly trained and used cavalry harassment to rout them. They failed to break the two elite front squares, and their commander withdrew toward the Allied Army's camp after learning the Blacklin family's camp had fallen.

• James told Jackson that the Coalition of Nobles' army was vulnerable because only its two front squares were well trained and the others struggled to maintain formation.
• Jackson divided his seven Light Cavalry detachments into three groups to harass the front squares and attack the rear squares.
• Jackson's cavalry disrupted and separated the two rearmost squares, while concealed fresh troops struck the flank of a middle square and helped rout both rear squares.
• Jackson and James drove the fleeing soldiers toward the elite front squares, but their commander ordered them to shoot into the routed men, scattering them to the flanks.
• Jackson and James gave up after repeated attempts to disrupt the elite squares, and the Allied Army commander led his troops back to camp after learning that the Blacklin family's camp had fallen.

After James and Jackson reported their victory, Victor praised them and arranged for the captured Viscount Trik to visit the prisoner camp. There, Trik encountered his wounded soldiers and faced Eagle Eye, who blamed him for their defeat.

• James and Jackson reported the battle to Victor, who praised their performance and promised to seek credit for them.
• Victor told the captured Trik he would be kept in camp, then sent him to the prisoner camp the following afternoon to choose five servants.
• Trik found Knight Lynn and many wounded soldiers receiving care, and the prisoners gathered around him asking whether they could return home.
• Blacklin soldiers struck Lynn and drove the prisoners away, prompting Trik to shield him and challenge them.
• Eagle Eye revealed himself as the soldiers' captain, threw his helmet at Trik, and accused him of causing the troops' deaths and capture.

Knight Lynn reminded the prisoners that the Blacklin army had treated them well, turning them against Eagle Eye as his abuses came to light. Old Buck arrived with his guards to rescue Eagle Eye, revealing that he and his sons had risen from serf soldiers to become brutal overseers in the prisoner camp.

• Crick froze as Eagle Eye accused him, and the prisoners looked at him with resentment.
• Knight Lynn stood up, pulled Crick to his feet, and reminded the soldiers of the good treatment they had received from the Blacklin family.
• The soldiers recalled Lynn’s kindness and turned against Eagle Eye, surrounding him as he tried to escape.
• A squad of guards arrived, beat back the prisoners, and rescued Eagle Eye under the command of Old Buck.
• Old Buck and his sons were described as former serf soldiers who had become powerful, ruthless guards in the prisoner camp.

Old Buck and his guards attacked the prisoner soldiers until Knight Lynn and Viscount Trik intervened, but Michael stepped in to restore order and reorganize the prisoner camp. Trik selected five men to serve him and left with Michael, while the camp was placed under a new plan for guarding and recruiting Serf Soldiers.

• Old Buck's guards beat the prisoner soldiers, and Knight Lynn took a blow meant for Viscount Trik before Buck knocked him down.
• Buck explained the Serf Soldiers' harsh treatment, prompting Knight Lynn to accept blame and Viscount Trik to offer the guards freedom from serfdom and professional soldier status.
• Buck rejected Trik's offer and tried to attack him again, but the prisoner soldiers regrouped and blocked Buck.
• Michael separated the two groups, proposed disbanding Buck's guards and recruiting replacements with promises of freedom and land, and introduced himself as a former serf serving Viscount Victor.
• Michael told Trik to choose five servants, and Trik selected Knight Lynn and four other subordinates before leaving with Michael.
• Michael instructed the prisoner camp's officer to cooperate with the guards to stabilize the camp after Trik's departure.

Michael reported that he had removed influential prisoners from the prison camp and proposed arming some serf soldiers to reduce the troops needed to guard it. Victor approved his plan, then reviewed intelligence about the duchy's forces gathering near Sunset City as he prepared for the approaching battle.

• Michael told Victor that he had moved influential prisoners out of the camp and proposed using serf soldiers to help guard the remaining prisoners.
• Victor praised Michael's growth, approved his proposal, and authorized him to coordinate the prison camp changes with Lodan.
• Victor read intelligence from Viscount Sonanda detailing the fleets and armies approaching Sunset City and their expected arrival times.
• Victor assessed that the enemy force would greatly outnumber his own, but believed Count Black's cooperation and family allies offered opportunities to exploit.

Victor studied the enemy deployments and concluded that limited supplies left him no good land targets, so he chose to strike the Coastal Defense Fleet first. Sodoma proposed trapping the nobles' fleet among submerged reefs, and Victor approved the plan while ordering him to contact Viscount Sonanda and bring Ron back.

• Victor assessed the Coalition of Nobles' forces and rejected plans to attack them because of their fortifications, supply limits, and the risk of exposing Count Black's allegiance.
• Victor decided to fight near his camp and attack the Coastal Defense Fleet to seize the initiative.
• Captain Jack supported the naval strike, and Sodoma proposed using a reef about twenty kilometers offshore to trap enemy ships.
• Sodoma explained that he would lure the nobles' fleet into submerged reefs, where ships would run aground and the Golden Sunflower fleet could attack them.
• Victor approved Sodoma's plan and ordered him to contact Viscount Sonanda and bring Ron back.

Sodoma secretly traveled by sea to meet his father, Viscount Sonanda, and discuss the battle plan. He reached the Coastal Defense Fleet’s anchorage, saw its expanded forces and new flagship, and confirmed that Viscount Victor had agreed to cooperate against the noble fleets.

• Sodoma sailed under blackout conditions to the agreed meeting point and signaled a Coastal Defense Fleet patrol ship.
• A former subordinate of Viscount Sonanda escorted Sodoma to an anchorage where more than a hundred ships had gathered.
• Sodoma saw the newly completed Wavebreaker, the Coastal Defense Fleet’s flagship, and boarded it to meet Viscount Sonanda.
• Viscount Sonanda greeted Sodoma with an enthusiastic hug before asking why he had come.
• Sodoma told his father that Viscount Victor had accepted the plan to cooperate with the Coastal Defense Fleet and eliminate the noble fleets first.

Sodoma explained his reef-based naval battle plan to Sonanda before departing with Ron to return to Rotten Tree Beach. Meanwhile, Count Colt assembled the Northern Alliance commanders at White Earth City and began a war council using Victor’s detailed map of the duchy.

• Sodoma told Sonanda that Victor had approved his plan to lure the nobles’ fleet into the Reef Zone with twenty bait ships, and Sonanda warned him that Felipe would be cautious.
• Sonanda escorted Sodoma and Ron from the fleet by patrol boat, and Sodoma ordered his flagship to sail quickly back to Rotten Tree Beach.
• Count Colt’s officers gathered at White Earth City, where Hawke boasted about defending the city until Alex announced the Count’s arrival.
• Count Colt opened the war council, and Alex displayed Victor’s detailed map of the duchy, which the officers applauded before the Count began assigning plans.

Victor appointed Sodoma commander of the southbound fleet so he could lead the battle plan with full authority. Ron returned from training the cavalry and, after Victor ordered him to take charge of his troops again, received some of Victor’s private wine.

• Sodoma asked Victor for permission to lead the fleet out of port, and Victor appointed him commander of the entire southbound fleet.
• Victor told Sodoma to coordinate the fleet’s duties with Captain Jack, Blox, and the other officers, and Sodoma left ready to carry out the mission.
• Ron teased Victor after Sodoma departed, and Victor ordered Ron to take back his troops from Jackson and reconnect with his men before the coming battle.
• Ron complained that Victor had given him work instead of a welcome banquet, so Victor secretly handed him a wineskin and warned him not to let James see it.
• Ron eagerly opened the wineskin, but Victor stopped him from drinking in the tent.

Ron returned to his regiment and discovered that its two Light Cavalry battalions had been sent south without any horses. Jackson explained that transport limits had forced the army to leave the mounts behind, and Ron learned James's regiment faced the same shortage.

• Ron returned to camp, where Jackson welcomed him and persuaded him to eat before inspecting the troops.
• Jackson and the other officers tried to hide the troops' condition from Ron, but he insisted on inspecting the camp.
• Ron ordered a cavalry battalion to assemble and realized its soldiers had no horses.
• Ron angrily demanded an explanation, and Jackson said transport limits had left both of Ron's Light Cavalry battalions without mounts.
• Jackson confirmed that two of James's battalions had also been sent without horses, which somewhat eased Ron's anger.

Ron confronted Victor over the transfer of warhorses from his Cavalry units, but Victor explained the compensation and replacement plan. Ron left to apologize to Jackson and help reassure the affected soldiers.

• Ron learned that his remaining Cavalry warhorses and Heavy Cavalry squadron would be transferred to Regimental Commander James and set off to confront Victor.
• Victor explained that concentrating the warhorses would let the Heavy Cavalry operate effectively in the coming large battle.
• Ron objected that losing the horses would deprive his veterans of a chance to earn merit, but Victor pointed out that he had not read the military order carefully.
• Victor promised to raise the affected cavalrymen's merit evaluations by one grade and give Ron's troops priority for replacement horses brought from the Northlands.
• Ron agreed to apologize to Jackson and work with him to reassure the soldiers whose horses had been taken.

Ron transferred his Heavy Cavalry and warhorses to James’s regiment, securing promises and wine in exchange for command authority. Meanwhile, Sodoma’s decoy fleet lured the Coalition of Nobles into pursuit, leaving the fleets separated as the trap began.

• Ron delivered his Heavy Cavalry and warhorses to James, then pressured him into making concessions over command authority.
• Sodoma led the old ships in a decoy fleet while Captain Jack and Blox commanded the larger rear fleet.
• Sodoma attacked Coalition of Nobles scouting cutters, sinking all but one ship and deliberately letting the survivor escape to summon Viscount Sonanda’s fleet.
• Thick fog forced both Sodoma’s fleet and the Coastal Defense Fleet to anchor close to each other without realizing it.
• As the fog cleared, Sodoma’s decoy fleet sailed away, and the noble fleets pursued it, separating from the Great Oak Fleet.

Totti Red Hemp pushed to lead the pursuit, but Captain Van Dyke slowed his ships and let the other fleets take the risks. Sodoma used discarded ballast to make the decoy fleet look desperate to flee, drawing the nobles farther ahead while their lords’ ambitions pulled them toward Victor’s landing site.

• Totti Red Hemp ordered his ships to speed up, but Captain Van Dyke overruled him and moved the Red Hemp fleet to the rear.
• Van Dyke told his first mate he would let other fleets take the risks before Red Hemp joined the fighting.
• Sodoma ordered his sailors to dump crates and barrels overboard, increasing the decoy fleet’s speed and making it appear to be shedding cargo to escape.
• The noble fleets ignored Sodoma’s signals to slow down and accelerated their pursuit, leaving Sonanda’s coastal defense fleet behind.
• The noble lords sought military merit and personally led their private armies toward Victor’s landing site.

Victor visited the front line while worrying about the fleet he had entrusted to Sodoma and Captain Jack, and discussed the enemy camp with James. He returned to camp still waiting for news of the naval battle, while James continued the blockade.

• Victor inspected the front and saw James's cavalry harassing the Allied Army while keeping a safe distance from its camp.
• James rode to meet Victor and warned him that bringing only one troop of guards to the front was too bold.
• Victor admitted he had come because he could not sit still while the fleet fought at sea, and James reassured him.
• James reported that at least eleven noble houses were cooperating unusually smoothly, and Victor said they would learn more when the Great Oak Territory's army arrived.
• Victor returned to camp with his guards, while James continued blockading the enemy camp's gates.