“Prepare for every eventuality, and adapt to those you failed to prepare for, or else defeat would be all that awaited you on the field of battle.” - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.

Alycea would be lying if she said she was not nervous that day.

She was standing above – literally, since she was perched atop a sturdy branch on a tall tree at the moment – thousands of others, both mercenary and volunteer, arrayed into a loose formation near the southernmost reaches of the forest they had been hiding in all this while. They had been sent out to aid the reinforcements coming for Levain from the south.

Hidden behind the forest, towards its east side, were the six hundred riders led by Ze’phane and Soledad, while another group from the detachment that went north likely hid themselves far to the north-west, where another grove provided cover. Alycea would not be able to communicate directly with them, but her father would coordinate their movement, if necessary.

Much like her father had expected, the Podovnian army were not content to just allow enemy reinforcements to stroll in and disturb their plans – they had already made some headway against the outermost wall and managed to gain temporary footholds at the top of the walls a few times – just like that. As such, they had sent in nearly half their army to intercept the reinforcements before they could lend their aid to the besieged city.

Alycea was aware that there were approximately thirty five thousand or so soldiers currently rushing towards Levain city from the south. It was the combined force of soldiers led by Estelle and the Caroman Marshals, who chose to lend their aid to their allies when they learned that there had been no actual invasion happening in Caroma as of yet.

Despite the efforts from the cavalry, Podovnian scouts still discovered the approach of the incoming reinforcements. As such, they arrayed forty thousand of their own troops to the south of the city, just south of the camp they built in that area. The idea was probably to use the camp’s fortifications to buy time should they prove unable to handle the reinforcements in a field battle.

After all, nearly half of the army coming their way were the elites of Caroma, led by its two Marshals in person. Estelle’s troops were less storied by far, but the way they basically ran over the Southern Coalition’s forces alongside the Caromans also made them worth worrying about. The Podovnian commander clearly felt that caution was justified, either way.

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Given how the Podovnians had deployed the majority of their troops to meet the Levainian reinforcements in the fields, however, they only stationed around a tenth of their number to man the camp’s defenses in the eventuality that they might need it. That gave Alycea a bold idea. Her group – and whoever led the group from the northern detachment – were supposed to aid the reinforcements, but Reinhardt had not specified how they were supposed to do that, leaving the choice in her hands.

It was obvious that the Podovnians intended to accost the reinforcements when they had just arrived and were still tired from the march. Alycea’s group was intended to counterbalance that, but the idea she had in mind, while risky, could potentially do much more than just balance out the situation. She quickly called Avila over, who was lent to her group since Hannah was flying high above as her father’s eyes, and scribbled down some words on a small piece of parchment which she passed over to the avian girl.

Avila immediately took flight towards their base camp deeper in the forest where she would pass the message to Reinhardt. Her flight through the canopy of the forest scared off some other birds, which helped divert the attention away from her as she quickly climbed into the air and flew so high that most archers would have no hope of even getting an arrow to her height.

After only a few minutes – since it would indeed only take Avila that long to cross the distance that someone landbound would have needed hours of slogging through the forest to cover – Alycea received a reply from her father, directly into the recipient artifact she clipped on her ear. It was a short message of approval for her suggestion, and a reminder to be cautious.

Reinhardt also informed her that he had briefed the other group of her plan and that they would cooperate with her, with him coordinating their movements as needed.

With the permission and approval from her father, Alycea breathed a sigh of relief and laid her body against the tree, allowing the tension to recede from her nerves for a moment. The dust cloud in the distance told her that the reinforcements were at least another half an hour away or so, given its size against the horizon, which gave her more than enough time to make preparations.

After a brief moment of rest, she leapt down from her perch and called for the other platoon commanders to tell them the revised orders she had for them. Some of the other commanders were rather surprised by the boldness of her plan, while others nodded in approval. Within ten minutes, all the commands were given and everyone returned to their respective platoons to make their preparations, Alycea herself included.

Her guess wasn’t that far off the mark, and around half an hour after she passed down the orders, the reinforcements led by Estelle and the Caroman Marshals came within sight range. They had clearly long noticed the “welcome” that the Podovnians had arrayed for them and slowed down as their troops shifted from marching formation into a battle formation.

All Alycea could do was to watch and wait for the battle to be joined. For her audacious plan to work, she would need the Podovnians occupied and busy fighting the reinforcement troops to the point that they wouldn’t be able to react to her maneuver in time. For that to happen, she would have to let them battle for a while first.