Recaps

Levant struggled to find wagons to deliver clothing and bedding to the front, then met with Powell and Bob about railway construction. He agreed to connect Stream Territory’s Line Three to Line One after the crews finished the second track, so Northern Frontier nobles could experience the railway.

• Levant ordered officials and merchants to find wagons and get the clothing and bedding shipment to the Guard Corps at the front that day.
• Levant assured Powell and Bob that the second track from Woodfort City to the Northwestern Border Fortress would be completed ahead of schedule.
• Powell explained that the territory wanted to connect Stream Territory’s Line Three to Line One to transport supplies and personnel for the Northern Frontier Allied Army and showcase the railway to northern nobles.
• Levant agreed to send construction crews to build the connection once they finished their second-track assignments, with the fastest crew expected to finish the day after tomorrow.

At the Northwestern Border Fortress, James noticed that the Barbarians had unexpectedly delayed their usual morning attack. In Heshima's camp, a returning Legion Commander reported that Shikele and Kuba's detached force had been crushed, but their fates remained unknown.

• James inspected the Northwestern Border Fortress and urged its defenders to stay alert when the Barbarians failed to attack on schedule.
• Heshima questioned a Legion Commander who had returned with several hundred routed soldiers from Shikele's detached force.
• The Legion Commander reported that the enemy had overwhelmed the detached force, its troops had collapsed, and only he and his personal guards had escaped.
• Heshima asked whether Shikele and Kuba were dead or had surrendered, but the Legion Commander said he had not seen what happened to them.

Heshima ordered Huo Rile to secretly eliminate the routed soldiers and intercept others returning from the defeated detached force, fearing news of the loss would spread. He remained concerned that the enemy would attack the main force and sought more information about the battle.

• Heshima sent the Legion Commander away to rest under guard and ordered Huo Rile to keep the routed soldiers isolated and prevent the news from spreading.
• Heshima directed Huo Rile to kill the several hundred remnants and intercept any more defeated soldiers returning across the grasslands, including Shikele and Kuba if they were alive.
• Heshima's Commanders of Ten Thousand debated whether the enemy would attack their much larger force, but the Legion Commander's account of the enemy's mysterious weapon unsettled them.
• A Commander of Ten Thousand suggested relying on Keledu's Faith Order Warriors Corps and its lightning-releasing weapon, but Heshima recalled that Keledu had refused to use it.
• Heshima ordered Huo Rile to gather more intelligence from the routed soldiers and intercept those fleeing across the grasslands.

After learning that the detached force had been defeated, Heshima summoned the Barbarian commanders and tribal chiefs to discuss a new plan. He revealed that the army’s food would run out within ten days unless they breached the fortress, and the council debated retreating.

• Heshima ordered the defeat of the detached force kept secret and summoned every commander and tribal chief to his tent.
• Keledu attended the council with a few senior members of the Faith Order, while the rest stayed on guard.
• Heshima announced that the army’s food reserves were nearly gone and that they had ten days to breach the fortress.
• The assembled chiefs and officers debated the crisis, and some proposed retreating into the plains and dispersing among their tribes.

Heshima forced the gathered chiefs to abandon talk of retreat and commit their tribes to a relentless assault on the fortress before their food ran out. The war council ended with the leaders publicly united, while Keledu remained concerned that the Faith Order’s followers would be sent into battle.

• Heshima rejected retreat, warning that the army lacked enough food and could not reach the grasslands in time.
• When chiefs protested and some fought, Heshima’s guards restored order, and he said anyone who left would have to abandon their livestock and food.
• Heshima ordered every person in camp to join day-and-night attacks on the fortress, then cut off his beard to demonstrate his resolve.
• Keledu realized Heshima’s order could send Faith Order followers into battle, but he chose not to challenge him during the council.
• Heshima made each chief and officer pledge support, and the leaders agreed to continue the assault as the council’s mood improved.
• Afterward, Heshima felt relieved that his pressure had worked and planned to thank Keledu privately for not opposing him.

Heshima tried to strengthen the Barbarian army’s resolve and organize another assault on the fortress before enemy reinforcements arrived. He concealed his food reserves and kept a retreat plan for himself, while promising that his troops would fight without retreating.

• Heshima estimated that enemy reinforcements would reach the fortress within six days and feared their victory news would damage Barbarian morale and spark disorder.
• Heshima kept the true size of his food stores secret and planned to flee to the grasslands with the Iron Bone Tribe’s elite troops if the battle turned against him.
• Heshima distracted the chieftains by demanding decisions on the fortress assault, including its timing, force size, and each clan’s contribution.
• The chieftains and officers argued over the order of the attacks and grew more confident after Heshima promised his own troops would take part.
• Heshima vowed his troops would keep advancing and threatened execution for officers who retreated without authorization.

Heshima assigned Huo Rile’s Iron Bone Tribe forces to send elite units across the border while ordering the Barbarian army to intensify its attacks on the fortress. After the council, Heshima launched another assault and summoned Keledu for a private discussion.

• Heshima proposed sending Iron Bone Tribe elite units across the border to gather and threaten Two Rivers County, assigning the mission to Huo Rile.
• The war council approved more frequent and fierce assaults on the fortress, and Heshima secured an agreement against unauthorized withdrawals or disobedience.
• Heshima ordered his prepared troops to attack the fortress before sunset, and the assault reached the wall with some soldiers nearly at the top.
• Keledu noticed that Iron Bone Tribe troops beyond the assault force were also ready to move, but kept his suspicions to himself.
• Heshima left the battle command to his subordinates, greeted Keledu cordially, and led him away to speak privately.

Heshima and Keledu negotiated the Faith Order’s role in the fortress assault, with Keledu agreeing to expand siege-engine production and send troops. Heshima offered a share of his spoils and first choice of captives, but Keluoduo remained dissatisfied with the terms.

• Heshima took Keledu into his tent after they saw Barbarian troops reach the fortress walls.
• Heshima apologized for failing to honor the Faith Order’s earlier agreement and asked Keledu to help supply siege engines.
• Keledu proposed building a road to haul timber and offered to send twenty to thirty thousand Faith Order troops, as circumstances allowed.
• Heshima offered the Faith Order half the spoils he personally captured and first choice of up to a hundred thousand captives.
• Keluoduo considered Heshima’s offer inadequate and wanted better terms for the Faith Order.

Heshima told Keledu that Kuba and Shikele’s forces had been routed by a smaller enemy army wielding an explosive weapon, prompting Keledu to question the report and reassure him. They ended by planning how the Barbarian army could exploit its numerical advantage and breach the fortress before the enemy’s main force arrived.

• Heshima told Keledu that the western force had been defeated, Kuba and Shikele were missing and presumed dead, and the enemy had used a devastating explosive weapon.
• Keledu noticed inconsistencies in the Legion Commander’s account and suspected that the weapon had not alone decided the battle.
• Heshima explained that he had executed the escaped Legion Commander and other survivors to keep news of the defeat from undermining the army.
• Keledu questioned Heshima’s conclusions, argued that the weapon’s power was limited, and helped restore Heshima’s confidence.
• Heshima agreed to let Keledu question survivors Huo Rile would gather, and the two began planning how to breach the fortress before the enemy’s main force arrived.

Heshima and Keledu assessed the Iron Bone Tribe’s failed siege and agreed to withdraw for the day rather than risk another assault with depleted equipment. The wounded returned to camp for treatment as the Barbarian tribes prepared for the battles ahead.

• A messenger reported that the city’s defenders had repelled the attacking forces again.
• Heshima and Keledu watched the Iron Bone Tribe troops retreat in good order and learned they had suffered nearly three thousand casualties.
• Keledu advised Heshima to wait for more siege equipment instead of sending the elite troops into another attack, and Heshima ordered them to withdraw for the day.
• The Iron Bone Tribe brought its wounded to the Faith Order’s quarters, where the priests treated them under the new cooperation agreement.
• The other Barbarian tribes began preparing for war after seeing the Iron Bone Tribe’s assault.

After the Barbarians’ elite assault inflicted heavy losses at the fortress, James kept the defenders on alert and withheld the cannons. Meanwhile, Barbarian cavalry infiltrated Two Rivers County and gathered into a force too large for the Border Patrol Cavalry to handle alone.

• The Iron Bone Tribe’s elite warriors attacked the fortress with coordinated tactics, killing nearly five hundred defenders before James’s fresh troops drove them back.
• James kept the cannons unused to conceal the arrival of Victor’s mobile force, then personally commanded the night watch before resting the next morning.
• An Eagle Tamer guided a Barbarian cavalry squad across the border using his trained hawk and helped them find allied riders in the rocky hills.
• Dozens of Barbarian cavalry squads crossed into Two Rivers County and began assembling instead of raiding nearby targets.
• The Border Patrol Cavalry spotted the growing force, but its numbers doubled beyond what the patrols could defeat, so their captain reported the incursion to his superiors.

The Border Fortress sent 3,000 Light Cavalry to reinforce the Border Patrol Cavalry, unaware that 4,000 Iron Bone Tribe riders had crossed the border and that the Marquis was at a vulnerable camp. The Barbarian commanders used one force as bait while sending their larger force to attack the camp, leaving the story poised for a surprise assault.

• The officer on duty and Dane agreed to send 3,000 Light Cavalry to reinforce the Border Patrol Cavalry, without knowing the Marquis was at the Temporary Camp or how many Barbarians had crossed the border.
• The Border Patrol Cavalry tracked the force it believed numbered just over 1,000 riders, unaware that another Barbarian force had gathered elsewhere.
• An Eagle Tamer spotted the Temporary Camp, and the Barbarian Legion Commanders reconsidered their plan after discovering the enemy force there.
• The Barbarian commanders sent the exposed cavalry west as bait to draw the Border Patrol Cavalry away, while their larger force headed for the camp.
• The Border Patrol Cavalry commander pursued the bait force, expecting reinforcements from the fortress and unaware that the main Barbarian force was moving in the opposite direction.

Victor learned that a large Barbarian Cavalry force had crossed the border and was approaching his Temporary Camp, while the Border Fortress had initially failed to detect them. The Guard Corps prepared to defend the camp as Victor realized a smaller force had been a decoy.

• The Guard Corps spotted the approaching Barbarian Cavalry and identified them as enemies after their scouts came under attack.
• Victor telegraphed the Border Fortress and the Army Department, which reported that the fortress was secure and had not been attacked.
• The officer on duty reported that the Barbarians had likely crossed the Border Defense Line and that the Border Patrol Cavalry had pursued only a smaller force.
• Victor recognized that the smaller force had been a decoy and that the larger force was targeting his Temporary Camp.
• The Guard Corps armed its Heavy Infantry and prepared to fight as the Barbarian Cavalry reached the camp’s edge.

James sent cavalry from the Border Fortress and called for Ron’s troops to relieve Victor’s besieged Temporary Camp, leaving the fortress weakened. Great Chieftain Heshima seized the opportunity to attack the fortress while the Barbarian Cavalry assaulted the camp from several directions.

• Victor reported that nearly three to four thousand Barbarian Cavalry had appeared near the Temporary Camp and stayed with the Guard Corps as the attack approached.
• James ordered the fortress’s cavalry to rush to the Temporary Camp, sent word to Ron, and dispatched mounted scouts to assess the battle.
• After scouts reported that the fortress cavalry had ridden southeast, Great Chieftain Heshima ordered the Barbarian army to attack the weakened fortress.
• When the fortress defenders raised the alarm, James turned from the camp’s battle to lead the remaining troops against the Barbarian attack.
• The Barbarian Cavalry attacked the Temporary Camp, concentrating on its low northwest fence while also massing around the other sides.

The Guard Corps and militia repelled the Barbarian Cavalry’s first assault on the Temporary Camp, despite several breaches in its defenses. The Barbarians withdrew after suffering heavy losses and spotting enemy reinforcements approaching.

• The Guard Corps commander used the militia to cover less critical positions and kept a Reserve Force ready to reinforce threatened areas.
• The Barbarian Cavalry attacked the camp at multiple points, breaking through the northwest wall and charging the Heavy Infantry.
• The commander arrived with the Reserve Force and helped the Heavy Infantry drive the horsemen back out of the camp.
• The defenders plugged breaches and held off further charges, though the Barbarians destroyed several stretches of wall and other defenses.
• The Barbarian Cavalry withdrew after losing more than a thousand men and learned that reinforcements would arrive in less than half an hour.

The Guard Corps fought desperately to hold the Temporary Camp against the Barbarians’ all-out assault while Victor remained with his men. The militia and Heavy Infantry briefly disrupted the attack, and the battle was still raging when approaching hoofbeats signaled an imminent arrival.

• The Barbarian Legion Commanders decided to keep attacking, hoping to capture Marquis Golden Sunflower and win the war.
• The Guard Corps commander asked Victor to escape on horseback if the camp fell, then led his soldiers into the Barbarians’ renewed assault.
• The Guard Corps held its formation against the charging Barbarian Cavalry, though both sides suffered heavy casualties and one Barbarian Legion Commander was killed.
• The militia struck the Barbarian flank, splitting their forces and giving the Heavy Infantry time to reform and counterattack with warhammers and battleaxes.
• The Barbarian rear ranks returned after defeating the militia, and the outnumbered defenders began to lose ground as thunderous hoofbeats approached.

Dane’s cavalry reached the camp in time to rescue the Marquis and turn the battle against the Barbarians. The Barbarian forces split between fighting on and withdrawing, while Dane focused on destroying those who stayed.

• The Heavy Infantry commander ordered the Marquis to evacuate, then realized the approaching cavalry were reinforcements rather than Barbarians.
• Dane led nearly four thousand cavalry from the fortress to the camp, losing hundreds of riders and horses during the exhausting ride.
• Dane sent trusted subordinates into the camp to protect the Marquis and led his cavalry on foot against the Barbarian forces from behind.
• The Barbarian forces split as some Legion Commanders continued fighting while others tried to withdraw.
• Dane let the retreating Barbarians leave and concentrated his attacks on those who kept fighting.

Victor’s forces defeated the Barbarian cavalry sent to draw away the fortress garrison, and he arranged for Ron to reinforce the Border Fortress. Meanwhile, James defended the fortress against a massive Barbarian assault, finally deploying Flowering Shells to drive the attackers back.

• Victor’s troops defeated the Barbarian cavalry, captured officers and eagle trainers, and learned that the attack had been intended to keep the fortress garrison occupied.
• Victor assigned Dane to pursue the routed Barbarians and planned for Ron to return to the fortress with nearly six thousand troops and elite cavalry.
• The Barbarians launched a full assault on the Border Fortress, surrounding most of it and advancing with extensive siege equipment.
• James ordered the fortress’s catapults, Bed Crossbows, and other weapons to destroy the enemy siege equipment as the Barbarians pressed toward the walls.
• As Barbarians climbed the walls and the defenders began to struggle, James ordered the catapults to fire Flowering Shells, forcing the attackers to retreat.

Heshima’s Barbarian forces resumed their assault on the fortress, but Flowering Shells and James’s Reserve Force repeatedly drove them back. The defenders held the walls for now, though their supply of Flowering Shells ran low and the battle remained fierce.

• Heshima adapted the Barbarian assault into successive waves and withdrew the encircling cavalry to keep the defenders’ weapons from disrupting them.
• James’s defenders hurled lit Flowering Shells from the walls, inflicting heavy losses and stopping the Barbarians from climbing up.
• Heshima sent elite troops and enforcement squads into the siege to prevent the Barbarian forces from retreating despite their casualties.
• When the Flowering Shells ran out, more Barbarians climbed onto the walls, and James led his Reserve Force into the fight.
• James’s heavily armored Reserve Force drove the lightly armored Barbarians off the walls, enraging Heshima.

Heshima’s Barbarians abandoned their assault after reinforcements reached the fortress, and James had Ron’s troops take over the walls so his exhausted garrison could rest. At the Temporary Camp, Victor learned the scale of the losses and requested medical aid and additional guards while Dane’s cavalry stayed to secure the area.

• Heshima ordered the Barbarians to withdraw after reinforcements entered the fortress, ending their chance to take it that day.
• James asked Ron to relieve the battered garrison on the walls, then learned from him that Victor and the Temporary Camp were safe.
• Dane kept his cavalry at the Temporary Camp while Victor received the casualty report, which showed that more than half of the Guard Corps and militia had been killed or wounded.
• Victor requested rescue and medical teams from the Army Department and asked it to send the Guard Cavalry to protect the Temporary Camp from scattered Barbarians.
• The Army Department told Victor that the Guard Cavalry were about half a day away.

After the attack on the Temporary Camp ended, Victor sent Dane to hunt down the scattered Barbarian Cavalry before they could threaten Two Rivers County’s supply lines. A wounded Legion Commander split the surviving riders into small groups and sent an Eagle Tamer to report the defeat to Great Chieftain Heshima, while he led a decoy squad away; the remaining riders continued raiding the borderlands until the Two Rivers Legion destroyed them at the end of the year.

• Michael hurried the Guard Cavalry toward the Temporary Camp after learning it had been attacked, while Victor ordered Dane to join four thousand riders and pursue the scattered Barbarians.
• A wounded Legion Commander decided his force could no longer complete its mission and divided the riders into small groups to evade pursuit and harass enemy territory.
• The Legion Commander sent an Eagle Tamer and about ten riders to report the battle’s outcome to Great Chieftain Heshima, then led the largest squad away as bait.
• Dane led his troops out of the Temporary Camp to hunt the remaining Barbarian Cavalry.
• The surviving riders continued raiding Two Rivers County’s borderlands until the Two Rivers Legion wiped them out at the end of the year.

Victor prepared Two Rivers County’s forces for the decisive battle while the Border Fortress endured continued Barbarian assaults and the Northern Alliance Army approached. The chapter left Victor waiting to receive Alex and the arriving nobles, with the Barbarians’ retreat route blocked and the outcome of the war appearing increasingly certain.

• Dane’s forces destroyed the Barbarian Thousand-man squad serving as bait, leaving only scattered groups of horsemen in the border region.
• After five days of fighting strained both armies, Victor sent Dane’s five thousand horsemen to reinforce the Border Fortress, but Barbarian cavalry blocked their approach.
• Huo Rile learned that Shikele had surrendered, and Keledu persuaded Heshima not to punish Shikele’s relatives and reveal the defeat.
• Victor learned that Alex and the Northern Alliance Army were two days away, delayed his march, and assigned Santos to command the assembled mobile forces.
• Levant rushed construction of a temporary railway, and Victor tested his special train so it could carry Alex and the other nobles into Two Rivers County.
• Viscount Brown reported that the Northern Alliance Army had set out toward the Shattered Ice River, blocking the Barbarians’ retreat to the steppe.

Victor rode to Stream Territory to meet the Northern Alliance Army and inspect the highways his forces would use. He reunited with Alex, who was relieved to find him safe and urged him to stop risking himself in battle.

• Victor rode from Two Rivers County to Stream Territory by highway and checked that the roads were fit for an army march.
• Victor reached the border and spotted the Northern Alliance Army approaching a small town.
• The army’s scouts recognized Victor by his banner and escorted him to the headquarters.
• Alex rode out to meet Victor, embraced him, and expressed relief that he had survived an attack by Barbarian Cavalry.
• Alex reproached Victor for leading charges and urged him to be more careful, and Victor accepted his concern.

Victor welcomed Alex and the Northern Alliance Army, then took Alex and the visiting nobles to a temporary railway station so they could travel to Two Rivers County by train. The nobles boarded Victor’s luxurious special train and enjoyed dinner before its planned departure.

• Victor promised Alex he would stay away from the battlefield, then introduced him to Count Hawke Pumpkin and the other nobles.
• Victor guided the nobles to a temporary camp, where Powell had arranged supplies and a welcoming meal for the Northern Alliance Army.
• Victor and Alex agreed that the army would camp overnight while the nobles traveled ahead by train.
• Victor led the nobles to a temporary station in Stream Territory and showed them his special train, built to showcase Two Rivers County products.
• Victor’s chefs served the nobles a lavish dinner aboard the train, which waited to depart until the meal was finished.

Victor brought the nobles to Woodfort City aboard the train, whose operation and speed amazed them. After they settled in for the night, he planned to take them to the Northwestern Frontier the next morning, ahead of the Northern Alliance Army’s decisive battle against the Barbarians.

• The station staff completed the departure checks, and the train set off as the nobles marveled at its steam and movement.
• Victor answered the nobles’ questions about the train while Alex went to observe the locomotive with Victor’s guards accompanying him.
• The train reached Woodfort City Station at eleven that night, and carriages took the nobles to their accommodations.
• Victor invited nobles ranked count or above to stay at the Lord's Mansion, while the other guests went to a nearby hotel.
• Victor planned to take the nobles to the Northwestern Frontier the next morning, where the Two Rivers Legion and Northern Alliance Army would prepare to fight the Barbarians.