Recaps

Marvin began treating the residents around Blue Lake Bay and preparing to relocate the vulnerable before winter ended. On the grasslands, Keledu saved Yeyasu, a young shepherd slave beaten nearly to death by Tuoguwo, and Yeyasu woke in Keledu’s tent, grateful and ready to serve him.

• Marvin led garrison troops and medical staff into settlements around Blue Lake Bay to treat residents and prepare to relocate the elderly, weak, women, and children.
• After snow killed many of Tuoguwo’s sheep, Tuoguwo savagely whipped his shepherd slave, leaving him collapsed in the snow.
• Tuoguwo left to visit Bone Baldy, while an attendant refused to help the wounded slave; the slave then saw a figure who promised salvation in exchange for serving the gods.
• Keledu rescued the slave, covered him with clothing, and carried him away from the snow.
• Three days later, Yeyasu woke in Keledu’s tent, thanked him for saving his life, and learned that Keledu had treated his injuries.

After recovering from three days of unconsciousness, Yeyasu found himself cared for and was relieved to see that the blizzard had stopped. Keledu allowed the Iron Bone Tribe to take more grain as the storm’s devastation left both the tribe and the Holy Church facing severe shortages.

• Yeyasu slowly got out of bed, discovered that his wounds had been treated and he had been given clean clothes, and ate the milk oatmeal left for him.
• Yeyasu looked outside and happily realized that the blizzard had stopped.
• Keledu watched believers pray in the camp and let them continue despite knowing the Faith Order had no such ritual.
• A priest warned Keledu that the Iron Bone Tribe was taking grain and the church’s reserves would soon run out, but Keledu told him to let them take it.
• Keledu reflected that the Holy Church had gained support among the Iron Bone Tribe’s lower ranks, but winter had brought deaths, shortages of food and fuel, and heavy casualties.

Keledu and Heshima argued over the Iron Bone Tribe’s food crisis before agreeing to invade the southern nobles together. Their forces began preparing for war, with the Faith Order promised half the spoils in exchange for committing its elite troops and craftsmen.

• Keledu allowed the Iron Bone Tribe to take the Faith Order’s grain reserves to ease the suffering of its people.
• Heshima met Keledu privately and asked him to join an immediate attack on the nobles to the south.
• Heshima explained that his tribe had nearly five hundred thousand people, dwindling food stores, and severe livestock losses from the blizzard.
• Heshima threatened to attack Keledu’s camp if the Faith Order refused to join the invasion, and Keledu agreed to march with him.
• Keledu and Heshima settled on splitting the spoils evenly, with the Faith Order’s elite troops and craftsmen supporting the campaign.
• The tribespeople began preparing for war.

Victor visited the Research Institute to inspect its new Mortar and ammunition designs. The Mortar proved powerful but short-ranged, while the researchers presented Flowering Shells made for the territory’s Catapults as a more practical alternative.

• Victor arrived at the testing grounds, where Yonicha showed him the Institute’s two modified Railway Guns and its new Mortar.
• Victor tested the Mortar’s weight, and Yonicha explained that it weighed 215 kilograms because the territory could not yet make durable steel barrels.
• Yonicha showed Victor a wheeled gun carriage that could carry the Mortar and fifty shells, and reported that the Impact Fuzes had a roughly 98 percent detonation rate.
• Yonicha told Victor that the Mortar could reach only 600 meters, but its explosive shells had a blast radius exceeding ten meters and could kill an ox within that range.
• Yonicha showed Victor iron Flowering Shells designed for Catapults, explaining that they used three-minute Long-Delay Fuzes and could hold explosives, iron pellets, and fragments.

Victor reviewed Yonicha’s Flowering Shell production, weighing its potential against the high cost of ammunition. He ordered two thousand Flowering Shells and ten Mortars with one standard ammunition load each to be made within a month.

• Yonicha explained that Flowering Shells could be produced far faster than Mortars and that over half a month the trial line had made more than 280, leaving 180 after testing.
• Yonicha told Victor that each Flowering Shell cost about six gold, while shells for the two guns cost twenty gold each and Mortar shells cost about six gold.
• Victor calculated the expense of equipping the Catapults and heavy guns, then decided weapon production had to wait until costs fell substantially.
• Victor ordered Yonicha to focus on producing two thousand Flowering Shells and ten Mortars with one standard ammunition load apiece within a month.

Victor continued preparing Two Rivers Territory and the Northern Frontier for war while the Barbarians organized their invasion. On the Arctic Grasslands, Keledu inspected the Faith Order’s preparations and learned its craftsmen had completed about a third of the required sleds.

• Victor promised Yonicha enough gold to upgrade production, ordered the Railway Guns prepared for collection, and watched the Mortar and Flowering Shell tests.
• Victor learned that the first group of returning settlers, mostly soldiers’ families, had reached Woodfort City and ordered the departments to help resettle all returning migrants.
• Victor reviewed war preparations, found Two Rivers County’s two front-line areas provisioned for about half a year, and used Alex’s authority to order the Northern Frontier nobles to send supplies and troops to the Border Fortresses.
• Keledu coordinated the Faith Order’s preparations with Heshima’s Iron Bone Tribe and estimated that the snow would delay a large army’s march by at least half a month.
• Keledu visited the craft workshops, where Pusa reported that the craftsmen had finished more than three hundred of the thousand large sleds but needed another half month to complete the rest.

Keledu inspected the sleds being made for the winter march and ordered the workshop to reinforce them and finish the necessary equipment. He then learned that Yeyasu had awakened and went to see the recovering shepherd slave.

• Keledu chose sleds for winter travel across the snow-covered grasslands and adapted their design for packhorses.
• Keledu found a loose joint on a sled and ordered the craftsman to reinforce it, warning that no flaw could be tolerated.
• Keledu approved the sturdy cowhide saddles and harnesses, and told Priest Pusa and the craftsmen to complete the sleds and maintain the other equipment.
• Keledu considered turning against Heshima after the southern invasion agreement and ensured his own equipment would be ready.
• An Order Warrior told Keledu that Yeyasu had awakened, and Keledu went to see the youth walking in the open space.

Keledu arranged for Yeyasu to study under Yishida and planned how the diocese’s vulnerable believers would travel with the army. At Blue Lake Bay Station, Marvin met Jeris and learned about the destructive power of the newly delivered Thunderfire Cannon No. 1.

• Keledu told the recovering Yeyasu to study reading and writing under Yishida so he could help with future work.
• Keledu told Yishida to escort the elderly, infirm, women, and children toward the Faith Order’s former base and to compile lists of the most and least devout adult men for the march.
• Yishida began compiling the lists, while Keledu intended to use the devout as replacement troops and send the least devout into battle.
• Marvin learned that the migrant evacuation was nearly complete and that Jeris had returned with the Railway Gun, named Thunderfire Cannon No. 1.
• Supa introduced the Thunderfire Cannon, explaining that its eighteen-kilogram shells could travel more than four kilometers and blast a thirty-meter area.

Supa introduced the Thunderfire Cannon and Flowering Shells to Marvin, who approved a test and assigned Jeris to help prepare it. The cannon remained classified and guarded during the demonstration, whose first enormous boom startled the fortress garrison.

• Supa explained the Thunderfire Cannon’s power and asked Marvin for permission to test it alongside a hundred Flowering Shells.
• Marvin approved the test and ordered Jeris to assist Supa with the preparations.
• Jeris and Supa worked until evening to connect Thunderfire Cannon No. 1 to its locomotive and move it onto the other track.
• Jeris barred others from the test area, explaining to Marvin and the detachment commanders that the cannon was classified and the test was dangerous.
• The Thunderfire Cannon fired with a tremendous boom, and messengers told the fortress troops not to panic because Marvin was testing a weapon.

Marvin and the Fourth Regiment witnessed the Thunderfire Cannon’s destructive power and learned about its costs, capabilities, and planned use against the Barbarians. As the fortresses prepared for a coming siege, Victor refused James’s request for more cannon shells but sent the northwestern fortress another hundred Flowering Shells.

• Marvin and the officers inspected the first Thunderfire Cannon crater, then watched a second test shot create an even larger crater.
• Supa explained that Thunderfire Cannon shells cost about as much as equipping a heavily armored cavalryman, while test ammunition would be replenished by the Research Institute.
• Marvin learned the cannon’s capabilities and shortcomings from Supa, while Supa kept the newly developed Mortar secret.
• With Marvin’s support, Supa and Jeris tested the cannon’s range and mapped artillery coverage zones around the fortress.
• James asked Victor for more Thunderfire Cannon shells, but Victor refused because supplies were limited.
• Victor gave James another hundred Flowering Shells to strengthen the northwestern fortress’s defenses.

A Horseshoe Tribe hunting party led by Hu Tuk discovered an Iron Bone Tribe force near a hot spring and realized it might be the vanguard of an invasion. Trapped on a hill and unable to outrun the warriors, Hu Tuk faced the prospect of sacrificing one of his relatives to help the others escape.

• Hu Tuk led eight Horseshoe Tribe hunters to ambush wild sheep near a stream fed by a hot spring.
• After two days without seeing the herd, the hunters spotted more than five hundred Iron Bone Tribe warriors arriving.
• Hu Tuk and the other hunters realized the warriors were likely scouts or an advance force, with the tribe's main army possibly close behind.
• The hunters considered using one person as bait so the others could escape, but Hu Tuk could not bear to choose among his relatives.

Hu Tuk and the Horseshoe Tribe hunters tried to alert their tribe to the Iron Bone Tribe’s approaching army, but Hu Tuk was captured and refused to betray the route. One hunter escaped to warn the tribe, while Heshima executed his failed vanguard commander and ordered his chiefs to ensure the invasion succeeded.

• Hu Tuk persuaded the hunters to split up and draw the Iron Bone Tribe’s cavalry away so someone could escape and warn the Horseshoe Tribe.
• The vanguard commander anticipated the decoy and captured Hu Tuk and three young hunters, then tried to force them to reveal their tribe’s location.
• Hu Tuk refused to betray the Horseshoe Tribe and praised Marquis Victor for helping his people, so the commander cut off his left hand and ordered the prisoners interrogated.
• The interrogators learned that the children did not know the route, and the cavalry returned with only three of the four people they had pursued; one had escaped.
• Heshima arrived with the main army, executed the vanguard commander for jeopardizing the operation, and warned his chiefs that failure would be punished.

After a hunter warned Jell that the Iron Bone Tribe was advancing, Jell ordered the Horseshoe Tribe to evacuate toward Two Rivers County. Victor received the report in Woodfort City and sent an intelligence team to verify the threat.

• A badly injured hunter told Jell that Hu Tuk had sacrificed himself and others to help him escape after they discovered Iron Bone Tribe cavalry.
• Jell believed the warning and ordered the Horseshoe Tribe to pack its valuables, horses, breeding sheep, and lambs and head for Two Rivers County.
• Jell persuaded tribal leaders to prioritize evacuating people and leave most of the flock behind, then the tribe set out that afternoon.
• Jell sent messengers to the other two tribes and to the Two Rivers County border fortress to report the Iron Bone Tribe's advance.
• Orlando and Saruman brought the report to Victor, who ordered Orlando to verify the intelligence as quickly as possible.

Victor ordered support for three vassal tribes relocating ahead of a possible enemy advance, while Two Rivers County’s forces helped move their people and flocks. James reached the distant Horseshoe Tribe and declined Jell’s offer of wine, saying it was still wartime.

• Victor ordered the Border Forces to help the tribes evacuate their people and livestock and told Governor Powell to assess their losses and coordinate resettlement.
• Victor instructed Saruman to warn James and Marvin to increase vigilance and directed Orlando to verify the Iron Bone Tribe army’s movements.
• Two Rivers County’s Light Cavalry arrived with military wagons and sleds, helping the tribes relocate and easing their people’s anxiety.
• James led more than half his Cavalry to the Horseshoe Tribe, where Jell welcomed him and offered fine wine.
• James refused to drink with Jell, saying he could not drink during wartime.

James took two detachments of Light Cavalry to scout the Iron Bone Tribe’s Vanguard Army, claiming the mission would help protect the Horseshoe Tribe’s relocation. After Ranger Cavalry scouts reported that at least twenty thousand Iron Bone troops were camped near a marsh, James planned to use the Rangers as bait to capture enemy officers and gather intelligence.

• Jell gave James several bottles of fine wine, and James promised to attack the Iron Bone Tribe’s Vanguard Army in return for the Horseshoe Tribe’s captured hunters.
• James left with two detachments of Light Cavalry, while Jackson persuaded Jell to focus on relocating the tribe.
• A Ranger Cavalry squad met James’s force and reported that the Iron Bone Tribe had at least twenty thousand troops camped near a marsh.
• James decided to use the Rangers to lure enemy cavalry into an ambush, then capture officers for intelligence.

James followed the Ranger Cavalry as they lured more than a thousand Barbarian Cavalry away from their Main Camp, then launched a surprise attack on the enemy’s exposed forces and horses. The Ranger Cavalry drew the Barbarians into a pine forest while James struck from behind.

• The Ranger Cavalry captain left to gather his troops, while James followed at a distance with his forces and prepared them for a concealed attack.
• James’s scouts reported that more than a thousand Barbarian Cavalry had assembled, and James decided their leader could provide valuable intelligence if captured.
• The Ranger Cavalry withdrew, drawing the Barbarian Cavalry far from their Main Camp as James’s troops followed behind unseen.
• The Ranger Cavalry captain abandoned the horses and led his men into a pine forest, and the Barbarian Cavalry followed on foot.
• At James’s command, his troops charged the Barbarian forces and horse herd left outside the forest.

James’s forces joined the Ranger Cavalry in the forest and ambushed the Iron Bone Tribe’s warriors at a prepared battlefield. The Barbarians’ counterattack failed, and they began surrendering or fleeing.

• James’s Cavalry defeated the Barbarians outside the forest, and he led most of his force into the woods to aid the Ranger Cavalry.
• A Ranger Cavalry soldier from Black Pine Territory’s Night Owl Unit guided James to the battlefield where their captain had drawn the Barbarians.
• James’s troops circled behind the Barbarians surrounding the Ranger Cavalry’s defensible rock wall and attacked from the rear.
• When the Barbarians charged toward a deliberately exposed weak point, James’s dismounted Heavy Cavalry struck them from the flank and crushed their counterattack.
• The Barbarians’ morale collapsed, and many surrendered or fled.

James’s forces destroyed the Barbarian army in an ambush and gathered prisoners and battlefield casualties. The Ranger Cavalry captain declined to return to the fortress, choosing to continue tracking the Iron Bone Tribe’s army.

• The Two Rivers Legion cut down surrendering Barbarian warriors while the Ranger Cavalry counterattacked and trapped the retreating commander.
• James’s troops surrounded and defeated the remaining Barbarians after their desperate last stand.
• The soldiers bound the captured prisoners and carried them away as James surveyed the battlefield.
• The Ranger Cavalry captain thanked James for arriving, but refused his offer to return to the fortress because his unit had to track the Iron Bone Tribe’s army.
• James offered to take the Rangers’ wounded and fallen soldiers and provide supplies, and the captain thanked him.

James withdrew his troops after the battle, while Buffon took command of the battered Ranger Cavalry alongside two Light Cavalry squads and set out on reconnaissance. James found the Horseshoe Tribe’s evacuation progressing smoothly, while Heshima learned that Shengmasu’s force had been ambushed and largely destroyed.

• James sent supplies and wounded men with the Ranger Cavalry, then hurried his troops and prisoners toward the Border Fortress.
• Buffon met Taylers and Mitilda, whose two Light Cavalry squads and five hundred horses had been assigned to support his depleted unit.
• Buffon organized the abundant supplies and led the combined cavalry toward a safe area, concealing their tracks as snow began to fall.
• James returned to the Horseshoe Tribe, found the relocation nearly complete, and planned to leave for the Border Fortress with Jell.
• A messenger told Heshima that Shengmasu’s troops had been ambushed, more than half the force had been wiped out, and Shengmasu’s fate was unknown.

After Shengmasu and his cavalry disappeared, Heshima heard a survivor describe a devastating attack by the White Devils and learned that Shengmasu had been captured. The messengers traced hoofprints south, and Heshima ordered his army to hunt down the southerners.

• Heshima questioned a terrified survivor about Shengmasu’s missing cavalry, but the man could only beg not to be killed.
• After Heshima’s guards beat him, the survivor said the White Devils had ambushed the troops and slaughtered those who surrendered or fled.
• The survivor claimed Shengmasu and several officers had been captured, then panicked and tried to escape before the guards restrained him.
• The messengers reported that the enemy had suffered few casualties, left no tracks after snowfall, and likely came from the south, where they found hoofprints.
• Heshima furiously ordered his army to find and kill the southerners.

Heshima forced his officers to attack three tribes that had submitted to the southerners, then ordered reinforcements and the interrogation of a captured soldier. He weighed the danger posed by the growing share of surrendered troops in his army and concluded that he had secured his immediate safety.

• Heshima confronted Wuqida after the officer resisted his order to attack, and Wuqida proposed targeting the three traitor tribes until the main force and siege engines arrived.
• Heshima ordered Wuqida and the other officers to carry out the attack, and they hurried out of the tent.
• Heshima learned that the main force was four days away and sent messengers to request two additional units of able-bodied soldiers.
• Heshima ordered guards to interrogate the bound Barbarian soldier, even if they had to use harsh methods.
• Heshima considered how Shengmasu's defeat had left former Tribal Alliance troops holding more than half his force, then relied on his guard unit to protect him and vowed to prevail.

As the war began, Victor inspected settlements for the three relocated vassal tribes and prepared to use their able-bodied men as auxiliary troops. He planned to loosen the tribes’ population limits after the coming battle, leaving them positioned to help control the Northlands Wasteland.

• The territorial government settled the relocated tribespeople in warm camps near the border while their able-bodied men prepared to serve with the territorial militia.
• Victor inspected the settlement areas, met two tribal chiefs, and promised compensation for their losses and future rewards for fighting well.
• Victor learned that James had made a reckless plan, then sent his Guard Cavalry beyond the border to receive James and Jell.
• Victor decided to lift the population restrictions on the three vassal tribes if the battle against the Iron Bone Tribe’s Barbarian Allied Forces went well.
• Victor kept his plan to strengthen the tribes as frontier shields private, confident that he controlled their lifelines.

Victor learned that James's troops had defeated a Barbarian cavalry force and captured Shengmasu, an important Iron Bone Tribe commander. Intelligence gathered from the prisoners revealed the enemy's strength and supply limits, and the chapter ended with the interrogation team finally getting Shengmasu to talk.

• A messenger told Victor that James's troops had destroyed a Barbarian cavalry force, taken prisoners, and suffered fewer than ten percent casualties.
• Victor reached the Border Fortress, learned James was still away, and asked Jackson about the prisoners and their interrogation.
• Jackson identified Shengmasu as a trusted Iron Bone Tribe commander and explained that the Intelligence Department had taken charge of questioning the captives.
• Victor reviewed verified intelligence showing that the Iron Bone Tribe had assembled more than eight hundred thousand fighters but had supplies for only a month and a half to two months.
• The Intelligence Department's interrogation team reported that it had finally pried Shengmasu's mouth open.

Victor learned that half the Iron Bone Tribe’s army consisted of former Tribal Alliance forces whose loyalty and organization were weak. After welcoming Jell and James back, he rewarded Jell for his support but rebuked James for abandoning his defensive post, then gave him a new mission to protect the remaining livestock herds and strike the approaching enemy advance troops.

• Victor ordered the Intelligence Department to verify what it had learned about the former Tribal Alliance forces in the Iron Bone Tribe’s army.
• Victor thanked Jell for warning the territory and promised to compensate the Horseshoe Tribe for its relocation losses.
• Victor offered Jell provisional status equivalent to a viscount, with the choice of becoming an independent noble or remaining a tribal chieftain.
• Victor angrily reprimanded James for leaving the Northwestern Border Defense Line to capture prisoners, but said the intelligence and prisoners partly offset his fault.
• Victor ordered James to escort the livestock herds or attack the Iron Bone Tribe’s advance troops before the main force arrived, and James led the officers to prepare.

Victor sent Jell and his tribesmen to the settlement to reunite with their families and prepare for the fighting, while Two Rivers County mobilized a large cavalry force against the Iron Bone Tribe. Jackson led more than five thousand cavalry north, leaving Victor to oversee the border defenses.

• Victor arranged for Jell and his tribesmen to go to the settlement and select people to join the fighting.
• After Victor left, Jell regretted not immediately agreeing to join Two Rivers County and slapped himself for hesitating and speaking ill of the Marquis.
• An official and several militiamen escorted Jell and his tribesmen to the settlement.
• Ranger Cavalry intelligence reported that the Iron Bone Tribe had sent three forces of about five thousand men each to attack the former territories of the Golden Sunflower Family's vassal tribes, while leaving troops at its Main Camp.
• Victor assembled cavalry from the First and Second Regiments and two Blood Scorpion Tribe squads under Horne, placing the force under Jackson's command.
• Jackson led more than five thousand cavalry north from the border fortress as Victor watched from the walls.