Recaps

Turas lost much of the Duchy Army’s gains on the Carson Mountains front after Hulk and Gerard weakened their line, while Edmund, Gilles, and Texera held the Raine Kingdom’s captured territories against Count Sibeth. In southern Cornwall County, Victor advanced toward Ironvine Territory and sent Ron and James to destroy an approaching enemy force and learn who it was.

• Benjamin and Albert exploited the Second Legion’s weakened line, retook part of the defensive position, and forced Turas to regroup as both sides committed reserves.
• Count Sibeth attacked Edmund’s forces, but Gilles and Texera burned most of his supplies before his elite troops drove them back; he then withdrew while leaving detachments to watch the occupied territories.
• Edmund and his companions chose to defend the nine captured territories and sent for reinforcements, with Edmund returning to Sweet Sorghum Territory to see the ships off.
• Victor hurried the Southern Marching Legion downstream toward Ironvine Territory and sent out light cavalry to seek intelligence and contact the Iron Vine Family.
• After a messenger reported an enemy force of at least three regiments, Victor ordered Ron and James to attack it and capture prisoners for information.

Victor’s forces routed and captured a newly formed army of Hampshire nobles’ private troops in Ironvine Territory. Interrogations revealed Ironvine’s northern defenses still held, and Victor set out to bring his troops to Ironwire City.

• Ron and James’s light cavalry surprised the resting enemy force and routed it, then spent longer gathering prisoners than defeating the troops.
• Victor rode to the battlefield with his officers, captured more routed soldiers along the way, and was scolded by Ron for risking injury.
• Ron and James told Victor that the prisoners belonged to Hampshire nobles’ private armies and had entered Ironvine Territory after taking a long route north.
• The prisoners reported that Ironvine Territory’s northern defenses had not been breached and that its forces had withdrawn to Ironwire City.
• Victor concluded that the southern front likely still held and prepared to lead his troops toward Ironwire City.

Victor’s officers discovered that Ironvine Territory’s villagers had evacuated deliberately before invading Duchy forces pillaged their homes. After Michael tracked fresh wagon ruts to a grain-laden enemy battalion, Victor prepared to attack it.

• Victor inspected a village home, and Marvin and Knight Jack showed Foss that invading soldiers had damaged its belongings while residents had carefully taken their food and evacuated.
• Victor urged Foss and the other officers to keep learning, while Viscount Marcus praised Victor’s officer training.
• Michael reported fresh cart tracks, and Victor sent his squad to follow them.
• Michael returned the next morning with news that he had found a Duchy battalion of fewer than a thousand men hauling wagons full of grain.
• Victor learned the enemy force was nearby on the territory’s eastern side, and Michael urged him not to let the opportunity pass.

Victor sent Baron Brown’s cavalry, accompanied by Marvin’s detachment and Michael’s Guard Cavalry, to destroy a Duchy Army and gather intelligence. After Michael captured its battalion commander, his report revealed information that made Victor realize he was running out of time.

• Victor approved Baron Brown’s plan to attack the Duchy Army and sent Marvin’s cavalry and Michael’s Guard Cavalry along to support him.
• Victor continued marching the main army toward Ironwire City while Baron Brown’s force rode east.
• Baron Brown’s cavalry found the Duchy Army protected by a wagon fort and struggled to break through its defenses.
• Michael led the Guard Cavalry in a dismounted assault, defeated the Duchy Army, and captured its battalion commander.
• Michael learned that the Duchy Fourth Legion battalion had been searching for provisions and sent the intelligence to Victor.
• Victor read Michael’s report and realized time was running short.

Victor rushed the Southern Marching Legion toward Ironwire City after learning that the Duchy Army threatened to capture it, but he feared a more alarming report about the war in the south. The chapter left open whether the Grand Duchy would accept the East Sea Alliance’s offer to send troops in exchange for Devon County and Dorset County.

• A giant otter fled into the Green Water River as Ron and James led more than six thousand cavalrymen thundering along its bank, scattering birds and churning up the soil.
• Victor redirected Ron and James’s cavalry toward Ironwire City and loaded most of the infantry onto ships to speed the Southern Marching Legion’s advance.
• Baron Brown urged Victor not to trust the captured battalion commander’s report about Ironwire City’s danger, but Victor feared the Southern Four Counties might be lost even if his forces joined Count Lloyd.
• Baron Brown asked whether the Grand Duchy would accept the East Sea Alliance’s proposal to send three legions in exchange for Devon County and Dorset County.
• Victor and Baron Brown considered the proposal alarming because the East Sea Alliance was a bitter enemy and the two counties were prosperous foundations of the Grand Duchy.

Victor and Baron Brown discussed the East Sea Alliance’s demand for territory and the threat its intervention posed to their campaign. Victor left the bow convinced they could still win, while Baron Brown followed to ask how.

• Baron Brown doubted the Grand Duchy of Vera would agree to the East Sea Alliance’s territorial demands, but Victor argued that military defeat could force the Silver Maple Ducal House to accept them.
• Baron Brown pointed out that their forces could not match the East Sea Alliance’s regular legions and the Grand Duchy’s southern troops.
• Victor recalled that the Iron Birch Family had sold more than 20,000 warhorses to the East Sea Alliance, potentially strengthening the enemy and undermining their own side’s position.
• Victor laughed at Baron Brown’s worried expression, and Baron Brown joked that Victor’s speculations had made him anxious.
• Victor said he was preparing for victory, then left the bow for the cabin as Baron Brown followed to ask how they could win.

Victor presided over a dispute among the Southern Marching Legion's officers about whether to approach Ironwire City cautiously or attack quickly. He decided to take the main force south to support Ironwire City's Southern Front Forces, while Ron and James used their cavalry to distract the besieging Duchy Army.

• Marvin proposed resting near the ferry crossing, establishing a main camp, and attacking the Duchy Army when the Cavalry found an opening.
• Knight Jack argued for a rapid cavalry-led assault to break the Duchy's siege before Ironwire City fell.
• Marvin warned that the Duchy's Fourth Legion and its commander Truso were too capable to defeat through a surprise attack.
• Victor stopped Marvin and Knight Jack's argument and acknowledged the urgency of the siege and the need to preserve Ironvine Territory's forces.
• Victor announced that he would lead the main force south to help Viscount Lenster's Southern Front Forces, while Ron and James tied down the Duchy Army besieging Ironwire City.

Victor persuaded the officers to attack the Coalition of Nobles in the south before attempting to rescue Count Lloyd at Ironwire City. The next morning, Gale arrived at the fleet, and Victor spotted Little Paru and a group of Cavalry waiting on the riverbank.

• Victor proposed prioritizing the southern front, and the officers agreed that the plan would avoid another costly positional battle while targeting the weaker Coalition of Nobles.
• Knight Yellen admired the independent thinking of Two Rivers Territory's officers and hoped to learn from the campaign.
• Victor assigned the units their combat tasks, dismissed the meeting, and rested for the night.
• The next morning, Gale swooped down onto the ship's deck, and Victor greeted the eagle.
• Victor saw Little Paru and a group of Cavalry waving to the fleet from the riverbank.

Victor brought Little Paru and Gale to the southern campaign and assigned them to help James and Ron track the enemy and contact Ironwire City's defenders. As the army's forces began their separate missions, Victor studied the difficult terrain and searched for a route to join the Iron Vine Family's Southern Front Forces.

• Victor summoned Little Paru and Gale, who arrived after a forced journey from Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Little Paru reunited with Michael, and Victor praised Gale for recovering from the wound sustained at Rotten Tree Beach.
• Victor assigned Little Paru to accompany James and Ron, monitor enemy movements, and contact Ironwire City's defenders using Alexander's insignia.
• James and Ron agreed to take over ten thousand Cavalry to distract the Fourth Legion and protect Little Paru and Gale.
• Victor sent the main fleet toward the crossing to join the Southern Front Forces while he studied a map and planned their route.

The battalion commander at the Green Water River crossing faced a massive fleet approaching from upstream while Ironvine Territory was under attack. The fleet claimed to be the Southern Marching Legion arriving to reinforce Count Lloyd, but he remained unsure whether to let them land as they continued toward the crossing.

• The battalion commander used training to steady his anxious soldiers while maintaining guards at the crossing.
• After hearing five warning-bell rings, the battalion commander climbed the watchtower and discovered a huge troop fleet upstream rather than an enemy army approaching from Ironwire City.
• The battalion commander ordered his soldiers to defend the crossing and destroy its facilities with prepared oil if they could not hold it.
• A boat from the fleet identified its troops as the Southern Marching Legion of the Northern Frontier Allied Army and requested permission to land.
• The battalion commander hesitated, and the fleet began advancing toward the crossing.

Victor brought reinforcements to the Ironvine Territory, secured the ferry crossing after clearing up a misunderstanding with its commander, and reached the Southern Front Forces at Yalori Valley. Lenster Ironvine welcomed him with relief, believing Victor’s arrival could save the Iron Vine Family.

• A force sent by Count Lloyd seized the ferry fortress gate while Victor’s fleet landed, and the garrison began surrendering.
• Victor sent Michael to show the garrison commander a token from Viscount Ferry, proving Victor’s forces were allies; the commander apologized and joined them.
• Victor and his guards traveled with Manzo to the Southern Front Forces’ camp in Yalori Valley, where Victor surveyed Viscount Ferry’s defenses.
• Manzo returned with Viscount Ferry and Lenster Ironvine, and Viscount Ferry greeted Victor warmly.
• Lenster clasped Victor’s hand and thanked him for bringing help, relieved that the Iron Vine Family might yet be saved.

Victor met Lenster and Viscount Ferry at Iron Vine Territory’s southern defensive line and proposed a battle plan instead of attending a welcoming banquet. He learned that Count Lloyd had deliberately withdrawn to Ironwire City to stretch the Duchy’s supply lines, and Victor’s arrival gave the Iron Vine forces the reinforcements they needed to counterattack.

• Lenster greeted Victor enthusiastically, then invited him to a banquet with Viscount Ferry.
• Victor declined the banquet and immediately presented his battle plan to Lenster and Viscount Ferry.
• Lenster thanked Victor and promised to report his help to his father, Count Lloyd.
• Viscount Ferry explained that Count Lloyd had retreated to Ironwire City because the northern territory lacked grain and supplies after the Duchy’s Sixth Legion ravaged it.
• Viscount Ferry said Count Lloyd had evacuated residents and supplies, intending to draw out the enemy’s supply lines until reinforcements arrived.
• Victor’s arrival gave the Iron Vine forces the strength to begin their planned counterattack.

Victor learned that Ironvine Territory had prepared a flood attack to destroy the enemy force invading Yalori Valley, using an underground river and carefully positioned camps. Lenster said Victor’s arrival was essential to carrying out the plan.

• Victor asked Lenster to explain Ironvine Territory’s counterattack, while Ferry offered to receive Victor’s reinforcements and arrange their camp.
• Victor inspected the defenses in Front Valley and asked Lenster whether waterways ran near the valley.
• Lenster showed Victor the Iron Vine Family’s detailed map of the Southern Four Counties and explained that Yalori Valley had once been a riverbed.
• Lenster revealed that the family planned to release water from an underground river through the old riverbed, flooding the valleys and sweeping the enemy into the Green Water River.
• Lenster explained that the main camp stood on higher ground than Rear Valley, and said Ferry and he could not execute the operation without Victor.

Victor discussed the enemy forces and the defenses of Yalori Valley with Lenster, then revealed that thirty thousand combat troops had arrived to support their plan. Lenster and Viscount Ferry thanked Victor and Count Colt for the reinforcements.

• Lenster told Victor that Yalori Valley had only eight thousand defenders and that the enemy had at least forty to fifty thousand troops near Tyre City.
• Lenster offered to gather twenty thousand troops for the plan, while Victor prepared to explain the size of his force.
• Viscount Ferry rushed in and told Lenster that Victor had brought more than twenty thousand troops.
• Victor explained that thirty thousand combat troops had reached Yalori Valley, while nearly ten thousand cavalry had been sent to Ironwire City.
• Lenster thanked Victor and Count Colt, and Viscount Ferry celebrated that their long-standing problem could finally be resolved.

Victor and Ironvine Territory’s leaders planned their operation and Viscount Ferry took command before arranging camps for Victor’s arriving troops. After examining Ferry’s deployment, Victor offered to reinforce the lightly defended central camp with his personal guards and two thousand soldiers.

• Victor declined command of the operation and agreed with Lenster that Viscount Ferry should lead it.
• Michael reported that Ferry had left without arranging a camp for Victor’s troops, and Ferry departed to settle them after apologizing.
• Lenster hosted Victor at a feast of Southern Region specialties while Ferry organized the troops.
• Ferry showed Victor a deployment map placing Ironvine Territory’s forces in the central camp and the Southern Marching Legion across Front and Rear Valley.
• Victor proposed bringing his personal guards and two thousand soldiers to reinforce the central camp.

Victor, Viscount Ferry, and Lenster finalized a battle plan that put Victor at the central camp. The next morning, Lenster showed Victor the hidden underground river cavern and revealed the sinkhole at the heart of their strategy.

• Lenster supported Victor’s request to stay at the central camp, and Viscount Ferry agreed.
• Victor, Viscount Ferry, and Lenster worked late into the night to finalize their plan.
• Viscount Ferry assigned Lenster to show Victor the cavern the following morning and took the night’s patrol himself.
• Lenster led Victor into the cavern, explaining how the Iron Vine Family had discovered and concealed it.
• Lenster showed Victor the cavern’s sinkhole and identified it as the core of the plan.

Victor inspected Ironvine Territory’s hidden cave and learned how its underground pool could flood the enemy’s valley, though doing so would sacrifice the cave’s entrance and strand the soldiers who opened the passage. Back at camp, he oversaw his troops changing into Ironvine vine armor to conceal their identities before the battle.

• Lenster showed Victor the cave’s unusual ecosystem and explained that water from its deep pool could flood the valley while draining away within half a day.
• Lenster explained that opening the tunnel from the pool would destroy the cave route and might trap the loyal soldiers assigned to release the water.
• Victor suggested that future technology might allow access through the cave’s opening above, and Lenster described how Mountain-Piercing Beasts had helped dig the tunnels.
• Victor and Lenster left the cave with most of its defenders, leaving one squad behind to open the tunnel when the plan was carried out.
• Victor inspected the black vine armor at camp as Marvin and Foss reported that fifteen hundred sets were enough to disguise the three vanguard detachments.

Victor prepared the Southern Marching Legion for battle against troops wearing vine armor while the Southern Noble Coalition gathered in Tyre City. The chapter ended with Melendo telling Asur that Hampshire nobles believed they had intelligence that would let them break through Yalori Valley soon.

• Victor ordered his commanders to use heavy and armor-piercing arrows against the vine-armored soldiers and told them to share the plan with veteran detachments.
• Victor inspected the Southern Marching Legion's camps and confirmed that its units were ready.
• Viscount Asur Golden Sword Orchid arrived at the coalition's meeting and complained to Viscount Melendo about Cornwall County supplying the food.
• Melendo warned Asur to keep quiet around the Hampshire nobles, who controlled the Southern Front Forces.
• Melendo told Asur that Dawan had heard Hampshire had intelligence about Yalori Valley and expected to break through soon.

At a war council, Viscount Rusa announced that a trusted aide of the late Baron Sebas would hand over Yalori Valley’s outer wall in three days. The nobles agreed to prepare for the attack after Rusa promised them the freedom to plunder Ironvine Territory.

• Asur doubted Melendo’s claim that Dawan’s information was trustworthy, but Melendo insisted his cousin would not lie to him.
• Viscount Rusa announced that Ironvine Territory had received reinforcements, sparking accusations and a near-fight between Cornwall County and Hampshire nobles.
• Viscount Rusa revealed that Baron Sebas’s former aide had offered to open the outer wall and hand over his position on May 27.
• The nobles raised concerns about the Bed Crossbows and the possibility of a trap, but accepted the plan to take control of the wall before entering the valley.
• Viscount Rusa promised the nobles they could plunder Ironvine Territory after the victory, and they cheered before he ordered them to prepare for the attack in three days.

Viscount Asur and Viscount Melendo questioned whether an insider could really open the walls of Yalori Valley, and Viscount Dawan revealed that the plan involved more than Viscount Rusa had disclosed. He left them considering the Silver Maple Secret Guard and the possibility of opponents of Count Lloyd within the Iron Vine Family.

• Viscount Melendo proposed that he and Viscount Asur act together to gain credit, but Asur urged caution and doubted the claim that an insider could open the walls.
• Viscount Dawan arrived, and Melendo persuaded Asur to stay and ask him what he knew.
• Viscount Dawan confirmed that someone inside could help open the walls and said the grand duke had sent the Silver Maple Secret Guard as well as the Fourth Legion.
• Viscount Dawan explained that Viscount Rusa suspected there were still opponents of Count Lloyd among the Iron Vine Family and its vassal families.

Dawan persuaded Asur and Melendo to join him in attacking Ironvine Territory’s camp at Yalori Valley, offering gold and payment for any captured Bed Crossbows. Asur learned that Dawan might intend to sell the weapons to the East Sea Alliance, leaving him uneasy about helping.

• Dawan explained why the Silver Maple Secret Guard had not tried to assassinate Count Lloyd and revealed that Count Lloyd’s opponents had arranged an offer through the guard.
• Dawan asked Asur and Melendo to help attack the enemy camp at Yalori Valley, promising each man a thousand gold and offering three hundred gold for every captured Bed Crossbow.
• Asur and Melendo agreed, and Dawan promised to send weapons as a down payment on their cooperation.
• On the way to Melendo’s camp, Asur questioned Dawan’s generous offer, and Melendo explained that Dawan’s family had made its fortune through trade.
• Asur suspected Dawan planned to sell the Bed Crossbows to the East Sea Alliance, and Melendo said other nobles might sell them if Dawan did not.

Asur accepted the weapons and armor Viscount Dawan sent and prepared for battle. In Yalori Valley, Lenster and Viscount Ferry recruited Victor to help capture a unit of the Silver Maple Secret Guard, whom Lenster’s forces trapped in an ironvine net.

• Asur returned to camp, accepted Viscount Dawan’s equipment, and had Flamengo distribute it to the troops.
• Viscount Dawan read a report and concluded that Asur would not oppose him after receiving the supplies.
• Lenster and Viscount Ferry told Victor their plan was progressing and asked him to help eliminate the Silver Maple Secret Guard.
• Victor agreed, and that night Lenster led him and their guards to surround a valley supply depot.
• The Silver Maple Secret Guard rushed from the warehouse, but Lenster’s soldiers trapped them in an ironvine net.
• Lenster warned Victor to keep his distance because the captured guards used powders that could confuse or sedate their enemies.

Victor watched Ironvine Territory capture a squad of Silver Maple Secret Guards and learned that their rare potion could greatly enhance their combat abilities. When more guards ambushed the battlefield, Victor protected Lenster and fought back, but two potion-enhanced attackers confronted him as another charged at the arriving guards.

• Ironvine Territory soldiers trapped ten Silver Maple Secret Guards in nets and dragged them down before they could take their medicine.
• Lenster told Victor that the guards used a scarce potion to boost their strength and that his family's records placed their total number below a hundred.
• Several more Silver Maple Secret Guards ambushed the soldiers, and Victor pulled Lenster out of the way of throwing knives.
• Victor killed one attacker who rushed him, while two others drank their medicine and turned to face him.
• Lenster's guards ran to help Victor, but one enhanced guard charged them while the other attacked Victor, whose sword met the attack with force approaching half his own strength.

Victor tested the Silver Maple Secret Guard’s abilities while fighting him and discovered that Number Five had become irrational and increasingly aggressive. When the two guards launched a coordinated attack, Victor revealed his full strength, defeated Number Five, and threw the other guard onto him.

• Victor held back while fighting one Silver Maple Secret Guard, who called for Number Five but received no response.
• Number Five fought the Iron Vine guards in an agitated state, ignoring their attempts to restrain him and growing more aggressive.
• The other Silver Maple Secret Guard used a shrill whistle to send Number Five charging at Victor, then attacked Victor from the flank.
• Victor knocked Number Five’s greatsword away and pinned the other guard’s saber with his blade.
• Victor grabbed the other guard by the calf and flung him onto Number Five.

Victor killed the mutated Number Five and tried to stop a captured Silver Maple Secret Guard from taking poison, but the man died before Victor could save him. After Lenster reported that the other Silver Maple Secret Guards had also been killed, Victor went to inspect the battlefield, suspecting the matter was not over.

• The Silver Maple Secret Guard tried to reach a hidden poison capsule, but Number Five rose in a mutated frenzy and killed a guard.
• Victor charged Number Five, crushed his hands, and beheaded him with a precise sword strike.
• The captured Silver Maple Secret Guard recognized Victor as Viscount Golden Sunflower, then swallowed poison and died before Victor could remove it.
• Lenster told Victor that the other Silver Maple Secret Guards had all died fighting and that his men had suffered losses.
• Victor asked whether the dead guards had taken poison and told Lenster to take him to the battlefield.