Chapter Summaries

James helped Baron Brown get the Bed Crossbows moving by using his own warhorse, then caught up with Victor, who ordered the attack despite several units being lost in the night march. The Southern Marching Legion launched its assault on the Fourth Legion’s camp as Ursus realized the enemy had arrived.

• James met Buffons’s unit, learned he had taken a detour, and joined forces with them to catch up with the main army.
• James and Buffons helped Baron Brown harness replacement horses to the wagons carrying Bed Crossbows, and James lent his own warhorse.
• Victor praised James, explained that more than three thousand soldiers were separated, and ordered the attack to begin without waiting for them.
• James led his unit toward the Fourth Legion’s camp, and fireworks signaled the general assault as the Southern Marching Legion surged downhill.
• Ursus and his adjutant Slyde heard the signal and battle cries outside the camp, and Ursus turned deathly pale.

Victor’s army launched a surprise night assault on the Duchy Fourth Legion’s camp, catching its defenders unprepared and driving them into chaos. As Ursus tried to secure the inner camp, Rick clashed with noble commanders who wanted to flee, and the arrival of the Third Regiment interrupted their standoff.

• Ursus explained that Victor’s troops had approached under cover of darkness, then ordered his adjutant to find Phyllis and defend the inner camp’s gate.
• James led the First Regiment into the attack as Victor’s army charged the camp from the hillside.
• Victor watched the assault spread through the camp, where the Duchy Army faltered and began to flee.
• Rick assembled several hundred soldiers and urged the nobles to hold their position while waiting for help.
• The nobles tried to lead their remaining troops west, but Rick blocked them, and the Third Regiment arrived before the two sides drew swords.

Rick took command of the remnants of Ternesov’s Third Regiment and the nobles’ troops, then organized their defenses while they waited for reinforcements. James and Foss joined forces to attack the camp, and Rick died after ordering his troops to surrender.

• Rick found Ternesov broken by the Third Regiment’s losses and the death of his son, the Captain of the Guard.
• Rick gained the surviving Third Regiment’s obedience and forced the nobles to accept his unified command.
• Rick rallied the defenders, prepared the camp’s defenses, and ordered a firebreak cleared.
• James met Foss outside the camp, and they agreed to attack together while dividing the credit.
• James and Foss’s second assault succeeded, and Rick died after ordering his troops to surrender.

James captured hundreds of prisoners and pushed north through the Duchy Army’s camps while Victor coordinated attacks on the inner camp. At the fortified wall, Victor prepared to reveal a secret weapon to help Yellen’s troops break through.

• Foss offered two of his squadrons to James, who accepted and promised Foss all the battle merits from the operation.
• James led the combined troops north to attack the surviving units and approach the inner camp through a lightly defended side gate.
• Michael reported that James had advanced on the eastern side while Lenster and Ron had reached the inner camp walls, and Victor ordered the forces to prepare coordinated attacks.
• Victor met Yellen at the heavily defended firwood wall and assured him that his wagons carried something that could breach it.
• Victor ordered Baron Brown to bring out the secret weapon.

Victor demonstrated Blazefire Gel, a powerful incendiary weapon, to Knight Yellen by firing it from a catapult at the wooden wall. The flames burned for nearly a quarter of an hour, charring and splitting the wall logs.

• Victor promised Yellen he would soon see the operation’s secret weapon, and Baron Brown arrived with a catapult and carriages.
• Baron Brown’s soldiers carefully removed Blazefire Gel from jars of stabilizing liquid while Victor kept the others at a distance.
• Yellen recognized the red phosphorus that the soldiers sprinkled over the gel as an accelerant.
• At Victor’s order, the catapult launched the gel, which burst into flames and exploded against the wooden wall.
• The wall caught fire, and after nearly a quarter of an hour its logs were charred black and beginning to split.

Victor’s forces used Blazefire Gel to burn through the Fourth Legion’s inner camp wall, routing the Duchy Army and pushing deeper into the enemy camps. As Victor advanced, he explained to Knight Yellen that the gel was an improved form of the world’s naturally occurring gunpowder, which came from the Explosive Tree.

• Victor’s catapults fired Blazefire Gel that burned through the palisade, and he ordered the waiting troops to charge.
• Bask and Gutierrez led the Orphan Brigade into the camp, while fleeing Duchy soldiers surrendered after hearing the promise that prisoners would be spared.
• Victor refused to divert troops to other battlefields and ordered the army to keep advancing toward the Ursus Legion Commander.
• Victor ordered his guards to raise his Golden Sunflower battle flag and explained to Knight Yellen that Blazefire Gel was based on the Explosive Tree’s gunpowder.
• Victor told Knight Yellen that the Flame Seed Module had identified the natural gunpowder’s magnesium-and-phosphorus mixture, which made it powerful but too unstable to reproduce easily.

Victor learned that Veronica’s team had developed Blazefire Gel, a stabilized gunpowder whose later formula burned at extreme temperatures. He recognized it as the basis for a Thermite Incendiary Bomb.

• Number One reminded Victor that other plants might solve the gunpowder problem, and Victor decided to investigate potential stabilizers.
• Veronica’s researchers found that gummy secretion from a Rubber Grass-like plant made gunpowder safer to transport, though it reduced its power.
• Veronica directed her team to combine Blazefire Gel with aluminum powder extracted by mountain moss and iron oxide, creating a highly incendiary mixture.
• Victor learned that the mixture could be stored in ceramic jars and ignited with red phosphorus, producing burning material that water could not extinguish.
• Victor recognized Veronica’s weapon as a Thermite Incendiary Bomb.

Victor raised the Golden Sunflower battle flag at a high point in the Fourth Legion's camp, drawing friendly reinforcements and the Duchy Army toward his position. As Ron left the stalemated fight at the inner camp gate to support Victor, forces from both sides converged on the flag.

• Victor explained Blazefire Gel's limits to Yellen, then raised the Golden Sunflower battle flag from a watchtower while Baron Brown established a defensive position below it.
• James spotted Victor's flag after taking the eastern side gate and redirected his troops to protect Victor.
• Ursus ordered the nearby Duchy Army units to attack the position beneath the flag, reasoning that Victor's forces had breached the camp's supposedly secure wall.
• At the inner camp gate, Lenster asked Ron to take his troops and support Victor, promising that he and the Coalition of Nobles would hold the line.
• Ron withdrew his troops as Lenster's men took over the front, then led his force toward Victor while the Duchy Army and Southern Marching Legion troops converged on the flag.

Victor prepared a fortified position with heavy weapons and chose to face five advancing enemy forces rather than retreat, aiming to capture or kill Ursus and end the battle. With James’s First Regiment and the Foss Regiment rushing to join him, Victor deployed the troops available to defend and counterattack from the mound.

• Victor and Baron Brown inspected the fortified position and discussed the loss of two Bed Crossbows, prompting Victor to order a modular redesign for future transport.
• Guard Battalion cavalrymen reported five enemy forces advancing, and Yellen urged Victor to withdraw while escape was still possible.
• Victor refused to retreat, explaining that Ursus was among the enemy forces and that their command structure could recover if given time.
• A messenger reported that James had joined forces with the Foss Regiment and was racing to reinforce Victor.
• Victor declared that he would capture or kill Ursus, then deployed his available forces to defend and counterattack around the mound.

Baron Neville led Harold and Scoin’s combined noble forces toward Victor’s position, hoping to capture him and win glory, but James’s Cavalry and infantry ambushed and shattered their army. Neville was killed, Scoin surrendered, and Harold was captured alive, leaving one of the forces besieging Victor destroyed before it reached him.

• Neville persuaded Harold and Scoin to attack Victor’s forces after they captured and rearmed routed soldiers.
• Neville’s army marched toward the Golden Sunflower battle flag, encouraged by the lack of enemy troops along the way.
• James led a Light Cavalry charge into the army’s vulnerable rear, causing the frightened routed soldiers to flee and the formation to collapse.
• James’s Cavalry and an infantry square struck together, breaking the army apart before it could recover.
• James and his guards killed Neville, Scoin surrendered, and infantrymen captured Harold alive.

James captured nearly two thousand Coalition of Nobles soldiers and assigned Buffons to guard them while his force advanced. Ursus learned that James’s troops had defeated a noble unit and sent Ernst to attack the enemy’s flank, hoping to improve his army’s chances.

• James had Scoin and Baron Harold taken away after learning that Scoin had joined Neville’s attack on Viscount Victor.
• Buffons offered to guard the nearly two thousand prisoners at a nearby walled camp, and James gave him crossbowmen while authorizing him to abandon the POWs if the enemy’s main force appeared.
• Ursus learned that an enemy detachment had defeated a Coalition of Nobles unit and judged that it would likely join Viscount Golden Sunflower.
• Ursus ordered his six-battalion force to march faster, noting that its odds of victory were only thirty percent without a flanking attack.
• Ernst volunteered to attack the enemy’s flank, and Ursus assigned him half the troops; Ernst accepted despite being told that his death before reaching the enemy would raise their odds only to thirty-five percent.

Ursus led the Fourth Legion toward Victor’s position, reflecting on the defeat of his forces and the deaths and capture of his longtime subordinates. Victor prepared his defenses against attacks from multiple directions, but Baron Brown’s troops were battered, and the enemy’s second assault began from both front and flank.

• Ursus recalled how Victor’s nighttime raid had ruined his battle plan and left Rick dead and Ternesov captured.
• Victor told Michael to warn Baron Brown to guard the flank and rear while Knight Yellen held the front with the repeating crossbows.
• Victor ordered the repeating crossbows to fire their bolts and the bed crossbows and catapults to target the enemy approaching the flank and rear.
• The enemy launched a fierce attack on Baron Brown’s position, and his troops barely held before withdrawing to reorganize.
• Baron Brown refused Victor’s offer of reinforcements, and the enemy launched a second attack from the flank and rear as Ursus’s Fourth Legion attacked from the front.

Victor used Repeating Crossbows to destroy the Ursus Legion’s heavily armored spearhead, allowing Great Oak Territory’s Sword-and-Shield Soldiers to rout the following pikemen. On the flank, Baron Brown’s troops fell into crisis as Ernst led a charge toward Victor, forcing Victor to prepare to commit Bask and the others.

• Victor watched the Ursus Legion attack through the narrow approach with a heavily armored unit in Arrowhead Formation.
• Victor ordered the Repeating Crossbows to fire, wiping out the armored spearhead and restoring the Sword-and-Shield Soldiers’ morale.
• Great Oak Territory’s Sword-and-Shield Soldiers surrounded and routed the Ursus pikemen, ending the first frontal assault.
• Victor learned that the enemy had committed its full strength against Baron Brown, and he spotted the enemy commander’s banner in the melee.
• Ernst led his personal guards through Baron Brown’s defensive line and charged toward Victor, who decided Bask and the others could no longer hold back.

Bask’s Orphan Brigade struck Ernst’s force from behind, then regrouped under Gutierrez and counterattacked alongside Baron Brown’s troops. Baron Brown ordered his men to press the attack, while Sura worried that Victor was using himself as bait to draw out Ursus and the Fourth Legion.

• Bask led the Orphan Brigade into Ernst’s rear, but Ernst returned and overwhelmed its scattered front line.
• Gutierrez rallied the Orphan Brigade’s soldiers into a formation and led them in a counterattack.
• Bask joined Gutierrez, and the Orphan Brigade drove back Ernst’s weakened troops as Baron Brown defeated the force left to hold him off.
• Baron Brown told Sura that Victor intended to draw out Ursus and destroy the Fourth Legion’s fresh force.
• Despite Sura’s concerns for Victor’s safety, Baron Brown ordered his troops to follow Victor’s command and attack with everything they had.

Ursus led the Fourth Legion’s assault cavalry in a final charge against Victor, who had drawn him into a decisive confrontation. Victor defeated Ursus, and the remaining Fourth Legion troops surrendered, ending the battle.

• Ursus recognized Victor’s bait but chose to attack, leading the Grand Duchy’s elite cavalry toward him.
• Victor agreed to stay out of the fighting while Michael led the Guard Cavalry against the Fourth Legion’s assault cavalry.
• Despite being outnumbered two to one, the Guard Cavalry inflicted heavy losses and crushed the Fourth Legion’s counterattack.
• Ursus reached Victor, who mounted and disarmed him before offering to secure him a viscount’s rank if he surrendered.
• Ursus refused to respond, and after word of his death spread, the remaining Fourth Legion troops laid down their weapons.

Victor reviewed the Southern Marching Legion’s post-battle casualty and strength reports, ordered the losses documented and the surviving troops reorganized, and reassigned Michael to a combat command. The chapter ended with Michael preparing to join Foss’s Fourth Regiment as its deputy regimental commander.

• Victor finished reviewing the legion’s administrative documents after a long day of work.
• Tors brought Victor the completed casualty and battle-result tallies, and Victor praised him for his work.
• Victor learned that nearly sixty percent of the veterans from Two Rivers Territory had become casualties, with thirty percent killed, and ordered their merits and rewards processed.
• Victor ordered the Golden Sunflower private army reorganized after it lost twenty percent of its strength, with veterans transferred from logistics if necessary.
• Michael brought Victor dinner, and Victor appointed him deputy regimental commander of Foss’s Fourth Regiment.

Victor reviewed the Southern Marching Legion’s spoils and learned that Ursus had requisitioned most of the Fourth Legion’s grain from Ironvine Territory, which Victor planned to return. He then went to welcome the recovering Count Lloyd, who thanked him for saving Ironvine Territory.

• Victor estimated the campaign’s spoils and discovered that the Fourth Legion’s eight thousand tons of grain had mostly been requisitioned in Ironvine Territory.
• Victor decided to visit Ironwire City to discuss returning the grain with Lenster and to check on Count Lloyd, who had been wounded by Silver Maple Secret Guards.
• Victor learned that Count Lloyd had arrived at the camp and rode out to welcome him alongside Lenster and James.
• A young girl helped Count Lloyd from the carriage, and Count Lloyd took Victor’s hand and thanked him for saving Ironvine Territory.

Victor welcomed Count Lloyd and agreed to send troops to suppress bandits in Ironvine Territory, while arranging to sell captured supplies to the Iron Vine Family. As Victor's Southern Marching Legion prepared to return north, he finally arranged the supplies handover with Lenster.

• Count Lloyd visited Victor with Dais and Lenster, thanked him for saving Ironwire City, and asked him to help deal with bands of enemy deserters.
• Count Lloyd offered 5,000 gold coins for the troop deployment, and Victor accepted on the condition that the Iron Vine Family buy seven or eight thousand gold coins' worth of his spoils.
• Count Lloyd praised Dais to Victor, but Victor showed no interest, and the old count eventually left.
• Victor sent rested Cavalry units into Ironvine Territory the next morning to suppress bandits and scout the route north.
• Lenster tried to discuss the supplies transaction, but Victor delayed the talks until the Southern Marching Legion was ready to return north.

Lenster discovered that Victor had left Ironvine Territory a huge supply of grain, captured equipment, and livestock for only eight thousand gold coins. He reported the gift to Count Lloyd, who acknowledged their great debt to Viscount Golden Sunflower.

• Tors led Lenster to granaries holding more than six thousand tons of fresh grain, despite describing it as damp and moldy.
• Lenster realized the grain would cover most of Ironvine Territory’s food shortage and spare him and Count Lloyd from seeking grain on credit.
• Tors showed Lenster captured weapons and equipment, along with more than a thousand large livestock animals, all left for Ironvine Territory.
• Tors valued the supplies at eight thousand gold coins and asked Lenster to pay promptly.
• Lenster rushed to Ironwire City and told Count Lloyd about Victor’s generosity, and Count Lloyd said they owed Viscount Golden Sunflower an enormous favor.

Victor received delayed reports revealing that fighting had spread across the Grand Duchy, from renewed eastern uprisings to bloody battles in Sextus County, Durham County, and the western region. He continued leading his fleet east, intending to return to the Eastern Region and find a way to support the fighting in Sykes County.

• Victor read Secretary Tors's letter and learned that Lenster had paid ten thousand gold for the supplies, promising another half next year.
• Victor ordered Sura to tell Tors to rejoin the main force and focused on returning east to support the fighting in Sykes County.
• Victor learned that eastern noble houses had rebelled against his garrison, though the conflict remained at a stalemate.
• Victor read that both armies in Sextus County had suffered heavy losses and that Viscount Philip Sage had died in battle.
• Victor learned that Turas had seized a salient in Durham County before reinforcements stabilized the front and Viscount Benjamin was wounded.
• Victor discovered that the Raine Kingdom's navy had occupied strategic positions in the west, forcing Count Sibeth to withdraw and slowing Turas's advance.