Recaps

Luda's caravan reached the Blazing Fire Tribe, where Huo Qing asked them to investigate the Iron Palm Tribe. He warned that the Iron Bone Tribe might use its ties to the Iron Palm Tribe as a pretext to attack the Blazing Fire Tribe, and Luda agreed to report back.

• Luda led the caravan to the Blazing Fire Tribe, where Huo Qing came to receive them.
• Huo Qing asked Luda to check whether the Iron Palm Tribe's population or circumstances had changed.
• Huo Qing explained that the Iron Bone Tribe had begun absorbing tribes and had sent people to the Iron Palm Tribe.
• Huo Qing said the Blazing Fire Tribe feared the Iron Bone Tribe might target them through the Iron Palm Tribe.
• Luda agreed to investigate and promised to report back to Huo Qing.

Luda’s caravan gathered intelligence and mapped the Blazing Fire Tribe’s territory before sending its findings to Two Rivers Territory. Victor reviewed the report and ordered the General Staff to devise a plan that might draw the Blazing Fire Tribe into splitting its forces.

• Luda’s caravan traded with the Blazing Fire Tribe, gathered intelligence about its patrols, and completed a map of its camp, but found no southern river route.
• On June 3, Luda left the Blazing Fire Tribe and sent riders ahead with the intelligence while the caravan continued north to investigate the Iron Bone Tribe.
• The General Staff reviewed the report, judged it important to the campaign, and used the map to improve its operational planning.
• Victor and Number One assessed the Iron Bone Tribe’s likely moves and considered whether the Scorpion Tribe was trying to provoke conflict between rival tribes.
• Victor tasked the General Staff with drafting a plan to make the Blazing Fire Tribe split its forces, reinforcing the staff’s role in military decisions.

Victor prepared supplies and defenses for Two Rivers Territory’s sweep, while Luda learned that the Iron Palm Tribe was preparing for war. The chapter left the tribe’s intentions and the coming conflict unresolved.

• Victor assigned Lodan to establish a supply station at Lime River Wharf and arranged for the garrison regiment to defend it.
• Marvin sent Rodriguez and the First Detachment to guard the station and join the sweep.
• Powell organized the first shipment, and the river fleet transported supplies and personnel to Lime River Wharf.
• Lodan oversaw the deliveries as the logistics troops built the supply station, while Marvin and Rodriguez planned its defenses.
• At the Iron Palm Tribe, Xita ordered Luda to sell him all the caravan’s weapons and urged him to leave because war was about to break out.

Luda investigated Iron Palm Tribe’s sudden mobilization and discovered that its forces and Iron Bone Tribe had joined together to attack a group of black-clad cavalry. After the black-clad men were defeated, the allied tribes searched for someone among the dead, then separated without finding them.

• Luda sold weapons to Iron Palm Tribe, then secretly followed its cavalry east to investigate the mobilization.
• Luda found Iron Palm Tribe’s main force by a river, where it had surrounded several hundred black-clad riders alongside Iron Bone Tribe’s bronze-armored cavalry.
• After negotiations between the tribal leaders, Iron Palm Tribe drove able-bodied men toward the black-clad formation as Xita’s archers fired over them.
• Iron Bone Tribe and Iron Palm Tribe charged the weakened black-clad riders with cavalry and overwhelmed them.
• The two tribes searched the bodies, argued when they found no one, then separated after Xita and Iron Bone Tribe’s commander negotiated.

Luda found three survivors by the river and posed as an agent of the Blazing Fire Tribe to escort Dane, the Blood Scorpion Chieftain’s third son. Dane revealed that his father was facing a renewed challenge for the chieftainship and had sent him to seek military aid.

• After the Iron Palm Tribe's party left, Luda examined the dead black-clad men and found no clues to their identities.
• Luda's men discovered Dane and two guards on the riverbank, and Luda persuaded them that he was a merchant working for the Blazing Fire Tribe.
• Luda led Dane and the guards toward his caravan, surrounding the guards while ingratiating himself with Dane.
• Dane explained that his father had won the Blood Scorpion Tribe's internal election, but the previous chieftain's son had returned with Iron Bone Tribe troops to demand a new election.
• Dane said his father had sent him to ask the Blazing Fire Tribe for help because the Iron Hoof Tribe was still in turmoil.

Luda deceived Dane and raced toward the Two Rivers Territory to deliver him and his intelligence to Victor. Victor reviewed the territory’s tightly controlled administration and continued preparing for a campaign against the Blazing Fire Tribe.

• Dane promised Luda a reward and an important position, while Luda secretly planned to take him to Victor instead of the Blazing Fire Tribe.
• Luda disguised Dane and his men, evaded an Iron Palm Tribe patrol, and hurried south toward the Two Rivers Territory.
• Victor managed the territory’s departments through detailed procedures, audits, and the Calculation Module, while reviewing cases and administrative reports.
• Victor visited the Operations Staff Department and rejected its latest proposals for splitting the Blazing Fire Tribe’s forces.
• Victor reviewed scouts’ chosen sites for two military depots along the Lime River and approved their locations.

Victor received Luda’s urgent report that he had rescued Dane from the Iron Palm Tribe and sent troops north to escort him back. As Luda’s caravan raced south, Iron Bone Tribe pursuers found their trail with hunting falcons.

• Victor read Luda’s red-tube report about rescuing Dane and ordered Ron to bring troops north to meet them.
• Victor and Ron crossed the river with more than 140 cavalrymen and rode north at full speed.
• Luda told Dane that he was circling south to delay the Iron Bone Tribe and planned to join relief troops sent by Huo Qing.
• A scout spotted cavalry pursuing the caravan, and Dane explained that Iron Bone Tribe hunting falcons had found their trail.
• Luda ordered everyone to change horses and hurry away from the pursuers.

Luda reached the rendezvous point with the Iron Bone Tribe pursuing him, where Victor and Ron’s cavalry ambushed the pursuers. After Ron killed their commander, the Iron Bone Tribe cavalry broke and fled.

• Luda split his caravan to divide the Iron Bone Tribe pursuers, then continued toward the rendezvous point with the rest of his men.
• Victor hid his forces among nearby hills and prepared for battle after scouts spotted Luda’s group and its pursuers approaching.
• Luda stopped Dane from fleeing and revealed that he was not from the Blazing Fire Tribe, while Two Rivers Territory’s cavalry charged past the caravan.
• Ron led the charge, fought off the Iron Bone Tribe riders, and killed their commanding officer.
• With their officers dead, the Iron Bone Tribe cavalry collapsed and scattered in flight.

Victor’s forces defeated the Iron Bone Tribe’s cavalry, and he learned that Dane, a Blood Scorpion Tribe prince, had brought terms seeking the Blazing Fire Tribe’s support. Victor held Dane in Two Rivers Territory while preparing to aid the caravan and rewarding Luda and the Horseshoe Tribe.

• Two Rivers Territory’s cavalry encircled and wiped out the Iron Bone Tribe’s force, while Ron and Jackson arrived and captured prisoners.
• Victor learned that another caravan party was still under pursuit and ordered Ron and Jackson to rescue it and capture an officer if possible.
• Dane gave Victor a letter from his father and explained the additional offer of land and military support for the Blazing Fire Tribe.
• Victor promised Luda rewards, lifted restrictions on the Horseshoe Tribe’s population, and let him discuss its future leadership or division with Jell.
• Victor returned to Wood Fort Town with Dane, who agreed to cooperate while staying in the territory.

Ron and Jackson’s First Cavalry Detachment defeated and hunted down the Iron Bone Tribe riders attacking the caravan, then returned to Wood Fort Town with prisoners and intelligence. Victor ordered the prisoners questioned and their accounts checked against one another.

• Ron killed a mounted Iron Bone Tribe rider, and Jackson confirmed that the detachment had accounted for all 186 enemies, capturing eight alive.
• Ron and Jackson burned the enemy dead after the detachment defeated the riders and pursued those who scattered.
• Ron and Jackson discussed their casualties and learned from a captured Centurion that the Iron Palm Tribe was a core branch with a Thousand-man squad modeled on the Iron Bone Golden Cavalry.
• The First Cavalry Detachment returned to Wood Fort Town, where Ron handed the prisoners and intelligence to Victor.
• Victor ordered his staff to question every prisoner, compare their statements, verify the information, and prepare a consolidated report.

Victor established an Intelligence Department, gathered reliable intelligence from the prisoners, and prepared his forces for a sweeping campaign against the Blazing Fire Tribe. On June 28, he sent more than 3,700 soldiers to war, while Luda led a plan to trick the Blazing Fire Tribe into fighting the Iron Palm Tribe.

• Victor discovered that interrogators had relied on beating prisoners, ordered doctors to treat them, and used the Calculation Module to create an interrogation manual.
• Victor appointed Orlando to organize the Intelligence Department and assigned former guards to help; on June 11, they questioned the recovering prisoners and obtained substantial intelligence.
• Victor briefed the commanders, set a June 28 departure date, and placed the Second and Fourth Tribes under Jell and Luda's command with 600 Horseshoe Tribe fighters.
• The General Staff devised a plan in which Luda would deliver a forged Blood Scorpion Tribe letter and Dane's token to provoke the Blazing Fire Tribe into attacking the Iron Palm Tribe.
• Victor inspected campaign preparations and logistics, then assembled more than 3,700 troops on June 28, promised triple pay, and ordered the army to march.

Shang Ye and Jell led the Fourth Infantry Detachment and Horseshoe Tribe cavalry toward Tribe Number Two to seize its camp for a supply station before Victor’s main army advanced. They reached the camp that evening and prepared to attack, while its defenders invoked the Blazing Fire Tribe’s protection.

• Luda set out with trusted subordinates to deliver a forged Blood Scorpion Tribe letter to the Blazing Fire Tribe and lure its army into attacking the Iron Palm Tribe.
• Shang Ye and Jell joined forces and learned that the Horseshoe Tribe’s scouts had blocked Tribe Number Two’s messengers from reaching the Blazing Fire Tribe.
• Shang Ye chose to travel by river fleet through the night so the combined force could reach Tribe Number Two sooner and attack the next day.
• The Horseshoe Tribe’s Light Cavalry rode ahead to complete the blockade as Shang Ye’s infantry and the rest of Jell’s force advanced along the Lime River.
• The combined force reached the camp at seven in the evening, where a warrior warned them that Tribe Number Two was a vassal of the Blazing Fire Tribe.
• Shang Ye and Jell ordered their soldiers to build a camp outside Tribe Number Two while the fleet prepared hot food.

Shang Ye and Jell led the Allied Army in an attack on Tribe Number Two, using Bed Crossbows and disciplined infantry to break the tribe’s defense. The able-bodied men fled or surrendered as the chief struggled to control his people.

• Shang Ye used a Bed Crossbow to kill a Barbarian warrior who had challenged the camp, then arranged watches with Jell.
• The next morning, Shang Ye and Jell advanced on Tribe Number Two with infantry, cavalry, and Bed Crossbows.
• Jell demanded that the tribe surrender and become slaves, prompting its chief to gather warriors behind the wooden fence.
• The Barbarians fired arrows at the Allied Army, but the soldiers’ armor and formation blunted the attack.
• Shang Ye ordered the Bed Crossbows and crossbowmen to fire, inflicting heavy losses and shattering the defenders’ morale.
• The chief failed to stop the able-bodied men from fleeing, and some ran out to beg the Allied Army for mercy.

Shang Ye’s forces captured the tribe’s camp, contained a fire, and used Bed Crossbows to breach the chieftain’s earthen stronghold. Shang Ye killed the chieftain, and Jell joined him as the defenders were defeated.

• Shang Ye led his troops through a breach in the camp fence while Jell’s cavalry rounded up fleeing herders and guarded the prisoners.
• Shang Ye’s men stopped the fire and captured a warrior who revealed the chieftain was hiding behind an earthen wall with about a hundred men.
• Shang Ye waited for the Bed Crossbows to blast breaches in the wall, then led his shield-bearing troops into the enclosure.
• The chieftain charged Shang Ye, who blocked his axe and killed him with a sword strike.
• Jell’s reinforcements entered the stronghold, and he declared victory after seeing the chieftain impaled on Shang Ye’s sword.

Shang Ye and Jell captured Tribe Number Two, guarded its prisoners and livestock, and built Number Four Supply Station with the engineering detachment. On July 4, Victor’s main force arrived, and he sent word thanking Shang Ye and Jell for their work.

• Shang Ye sealed the gold and silver found in the chieftain’s tent, while the allied army took the tribe’s herders as slaves and kept its livestock as supplies.
• Shang Ye and Jell found a suitable site north along the river and drove slaves to help the engineering detachment build a supply station.
• By the third day, the posthouse, warehouses, and walls of Number Four Supply Station were complete.
• On July 4, Shang Ye and Jell led troops out to welcome Victor and Two Rivers Territory’s main force.
• A messenger reported that the advance force had occupied Tribe Number Two and completed Number Four Supply Station, and Victor sent word thanking Shang Ye and Jell.

Victor joined Shang Ye and Jell after their victory over Tribe Number Two, praised their troops, and ordered them to rest before the next battle. Meanwhile, Luda secretly told Huo Qing that the Iron Palm Tribe had mobilized its forces and captured a boy who appeared to be the Blood Scorpion Chieftain’s third son.

• Jell asked Victor to let the Horseshoe Tribe join the rest of the operation, and Shang Ye volunteered his detachment as well.
• Victor heard that Tribe Number Two’s chieftain had resisted because of his ties to the Blazing Fire Tribe, reviewed the casualties, and praised the Bed Crossbow unit’s impact.
• Victor ordered the soldiers to rest near Number Four Supply Station while logistics troops unloaded supplies into its warehouses.
• Luda arrived at the Blazing Fire Tribe ahead of schedule and asked Huo Qing for a private meeting about what he had seen at the Iron Palm Tribe.
• Luda told Huo Qing that the Iron Palm Tribe had mobilized several thousand men and surrounded a cavalry force, and that its fighters had killed the black-clad guards but spared a boy who looked like the Blood Scorpion Chieftain’s third son.

Huo Qing brought a message tube to Volcano, who believed its forged letter and decided to take the Blazing Fire Tribe to war. After mustering all five Thousand-man squads, Volcano led them out to attack the Iron Palm Tribe and search for Dane.

• Luda told Huo Qing that Iron Bone riders had taken Dane and gave him a message tube he claimed to have found on the battlefield.
• Huo Qing took the tube to Volcano and claimed his spies had recovered it.
• Volcano recognized the tube and read the forged letter, which promised support from the Blood Scorpion Tribe and urged him to protect Dane.
• Convinced that the Blazing Fire Tribe needed to rescue Dane, Volcano ordered all five Thousand-man squads to assemble for war.
• After more than a day, Volcano led the assembled forces out to destroy the Iron Palm Tribe and find Dane.

Victor’s army marched north to attack the Blazing Fire Tribe’s Main Camp after learning that the tribe’s main force had headed east for the Iron Palm Tribe. Luda remained embedded with Huo Qing’s army but saw a chance to slip away when Huo Qing showed him abandoned caravan goods.

• Luda had arranged for hidden allies to track the Blazing Fire Tribe’s army and send reports to Two Rivers Territory by carrier pigeon.
• After receiving word that the Blazing Fire Tribe had marched east, Victor ordered the army to attack its Main Camp and assigned Shang Ye to guard Number Four Supply Station and Jell to protect the supply line.
• On July 6, Victor’s well-supplied army began a three-day forced march north, with Victor riding at the front to maintain morale.
• As Huo Qing’s army neared the Iron Palm Tribe, Huo Qing showed Luda wagons and goods found by the vanguard.
• Luda recognized the abandoned caravan goods and realized their discovery could give him a chance to leave the Blazing Fire Tribe’s army.

Luda betrayed the Blazing Fire Tribe by helping a scouting force kill the riders assigned to escort him, then joined the force shadowing the tribe. As the Blazing Fire Tribe reached the Iron Palm Tribe, Xita’s thousand-man squad used Razor Ridge to delay its advance while the Iron Palm Tribe prepared its defenses.

• Luda led more than twenty Blazing Fire Tribe riders away from the main force, then joined a scouting force and helped it ambush and kill them.
• Luda chose to keep shadowing the Blazing Fire Tribe instead of going to its camp, hoping to witness its clash with the Iron Palm Tribe.
• After a forced march, Volcano’s five thousand riders reached the Iron Palm Tribe, but Xita warned Chief Xisa that an unknown force was approaching and urged preparations for battle.
• Xisa ordered Xita to delay the enemy while the Iron Palm Tribe fortified its camp, and Xita led his thousand-man squad to Razor Ridge.
• Xita repeatedly ambushed and harried the Blazing Fire Tribe at Razor Ridge, holding back its advance as the Iron Palm Tribe built defenses and gathered supplies.

The Blazing Fire Tribe attacked the Iron Palm Tribe’s camp after breaking through Razor Ridge, while Xita led his battered squad back into the battle and helped force a retreat. Both sides prepared for another fight, but Volcano planned a decisive assault and Xisa realized the Iron Palm Tribe had already lost more than half its able-bodied men.

• Volcano split his forces to break through Xita’s blockade at Razor Ridge, while Xita withdrew to retrieve supplies and wait for a chance to strike.
• Xisa ordered signal fires as Batu spotted the Blazing Fire Tribe approaching, and Su He led the defenders in repelling the first cavalry charge with arrows, horse pits, and poisoned caltrops.
• The Blazing Fire Tribe drove burning, blindfolded horses into the walls, breached them, and fought the Iron Palm Tribe inside the camp until Xita arrived with his Thousand-man squad and forced Volcano to retreat.
• Volcano learned that his army had suffered more than fourteen hundred casualties and had little food left, then ordered his men to feast before attacking the Iron Palm Tribe the next day.
• Xisa told Sala that more than twenty-four hundred Iron Palm Tribe members had died, leaving the tribe with nearly half its adult men lost after one day.

Blazing Fire Tribe destroyed Iron Palm Tribe after Chieftain Volcano used a hidden ambush to crush Xita’s cavalry. The chapter ended with Blazing Fire’s warriors overrunning the camp and slaughtering its people.

• Luda and his scouting unit recorded Blazing Fire Tribe’s strength and losses after watching the previous day’s battle.
• Volcano launched an all-out assault on Iron Palm Tribe, whose exhausted defenders mobilized everyone to hold the walls.
• As Blazing Fire’s warriors breached the defenses, Xita led seven hundred cavalrymen against their rear forces.
• Volcano’s hidden ambushers, led by Huo Qing, surprised Xita’s cavalry, and Blazing Fire’s main force surrounded them; Xita escaped with just over a hundred men after Huo Qing struck his right eye.
• Iron Palm Tribe’s morale collapsed, and Blazing Fire’s warriors stormed the camp; Xisa, Sala, and Su He died as the invaders began slaughtering the survivors.

Victor’s Two Rivers Territory army prepared to conquer the Blazing Fire Tribe while its main force remained away attacking the Iron Palm Tribe. Victor planned to isolate the tribe’s Main Camp by clearing its scattered settlements, then destroy its returning army; the invasion was about to begin in earnest.

• Luda stayed with the reconnaissance force to monitor the Blazing Fire Tribe, hoping his report reached Lord Victor.
• The Two Rivers Territory cavalry and Jell’s Horseshoe Tribe horsemen defeated the Blazing Fire Tribe’s raiders, captured herders, and seized livestock from scattered settlements.
• Victor learned that the Blazing Fire Tribe’s main force had occupied the Iron Palm Tribe and would need about fifteen days to return.
• James and Lodan reported the army’s gains and supplies, and Victor announced that the Blazing Fire Tribe’s Main Camp would become Number Five Supply Station.
• Victor rejected a rushed assault on the Main Camp and ordered every unit to clear the scattered settlements before attacking the tribe’s returning main force.

Victor planned to keep the Blazing Fire Tribe’s main force from escaping or gathering reinforcements while his cavalry destroyed its settlements. After the tribe’s returning force was reported, Victor’s army breached the main camp’s defenses and began its final assault.

• Victor explained that Volcano might retreat or recruit reinforcements, so he planned to contain the main camp while cavalry raided the tribe’s settlements.
• Two Rivers cavalry made twenty-four raids, killing 701 Blazing Fire riders and capturing more than 8,100 people.
• Victor learned that the Blazing Fire Tribe had destroyed the Iron Palm Tribe and that its main force was returning, then ordered an assault on the main camp.
• Blazing Fire warriors tried to attack the siege engines, but Two Rivers infantry and crossbowmen repelled them while Catapults battered the camp’s towers and walls.
• James and Ron led cavalry against the camp’s western defenses, while Victor’s troops used Bed Crossbows and battering rams to breach the walls.
• Victor ordered a full assault at dusk, and Two Rivers troops poured into the Blazing Fire Tribe’s main camp.

After the Two Rivers Territory army captured the Blazing Fire Tribe's Main Camp, Victor oversaw the restoration of order, inspected his troops, and reviewed the campaign's low casualties. The spoils proved enormous, and Victor announced that one-tenth would go to the army as rewards.

• Victor stayed outside the camp while James and the Two Rivers Territory army suppressed looting and violence and tried to preserve the Blazing Fire Tribe's slaves.
• Orlando discussed the camp's strategic location with Victor, who said he hoped to claim the grasslands in the future but could not reinforce them quickly from Two Rivers Territory.
• After the camp was secured, Victor inspected the troops and wounded, finding fewer than two hundred wounded and 114 soldiers killed across the campaign, including the battle at Tribe Number Two.
• The General Staff and Intelligence Department reported the spoils to Victor, who called a meeting to announce the totals.
• Victor announced that the army had captured more than 7,000 male slaves, many women, 150,000 livestock, and valuable treasures, then promised one-tenth of the spoils as rewards.

Victor pursued the Blazing Fire Tribe’s remaining army after its camp fell, aiming to seize the spoils it had taken from the Iron Palm Tribe. Two Rivers Territory surrounded and defeated the force in a pitched battle, killing Chief Volcano and forcing the survivors to surrender.

• Victor ordered the Blazing Fire Tribe’s camp demolished, named the area Slay Barbarian Lake and Green Lake Plain, and had the troops rest while scouts tracked the enemy’s remaining army.
• The scouts located the Blazing Fire force, which was carrying livestock, slaves, and treasure taken from the Iron Palm Tribe, and Victor ordered his army to pursue it.
• Two Rivers Territory surrounded the Blazing Fire army at night, and prisoners revealed to Chief Volcano and his commanders that their home base had fallen.
• Volcano offered Victor the spoils from the Iron Palm Tribe in exchange for sparing his force, but Victor refused, so Volcano prepared to fight.
• Two Rivers Territory repelled the Blazing Fire cavalry charge, broke its lines with heavy cavalry and crossbow volleys, and killed Volcano and the other senior commanders.
• Huo Qing was trapped beneath an iron net, and the remaining Blazing Fire warriors surrendered.