Karl raised a hand, cutting off the indignant murmurs that might have followed. He stared at the blank area on the map that represented the fog of intelligence, his finger unconsciously tapping Carnford's position.
Harald... what exactly was that old rival trying to do?
Gathering heavy forces, even dragging in the Auxiliary Army, to attack a border fortress, yet after gaining a tactical advantage and screening off reconnaissance, he had not pressed the momentum to storm Eagle's Nest Fortress. He had merely burned the wheat fields and advanced no farther?
This did not fit the Sauron's usual style of autumn raids. In past years, they had always swept through like locusts crossing the land, taking plundered grain, people, and valuables as their chief aim, moving swiftly, coming and going like the wind. But now, they seemed to have put on the posture of fighting a proper siege battle, only to stop at the critical moment.
Unless... their target was never Eisenberg, nor that bit of grain at all.
Karl's gaze slowly swept over the map, moving south from Blackstone Pass and Worton Fort, skimming past the area around Eagle's Nest Fortress where Eisenberg had turtled up, before finally fixing on the city marked at the bottom of the map with a special golden emblem—the Royal Capital, Prye City.
"If they have contracted their forces, they must be going somewhere. Richter, has there been any discovery from our people, or from the Royal Capital?"
The intelligence officer Richter immediately stepped forward. His expression was grave as he pointed to two key passes farther north on the map: Blackstone Pass and Worton Fort.
"My lord, Commander Brendan's judgment was correct. Our eyes planted along the edge of Sauron-controlled territory, as well as the intelligence obtained from the Royal Capital through special channels,