“Information about the enemy is one of the most important things to find out in war, and would often be the decisive factor between victory or defeat.” - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.
“They’re pushing harder, aren’t they? Can you tell if they’re aiming for any particular direction, Captain Edelstein?” asked Nestor from atop his steed as he lowered his enchanted spyglass. The fighting between the two sides continued much like the previous day, with neither side truly committing their best forces, but the Imperial army made changes and were on the offensive that day, unexpectedly.
They pushed against the coalition army’s formation along several points on the frontlines but as far as Reinhardt could tell, made no other peculiar moves other than the unexpected focus on those points. It was to the point that some other parts of their own army had difficulty catching up with the soldiers who pushed into the enemy formation.
“I don’t see anything unusual or movements that might indicate a hidden plot so far, Your Grace,” admitted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. His convenient artifact’s ability to watch from above was very helpful under the situation, one reason Nestor kept asking him about the situation at large. “They seem to be pushing against our lines almost for the sake of pushing.”
At first Reinhardt had thought to just lend the artifact to Nestor as needed, a pragmatic call that would cut the middleman in exchange for a rental fee, but as it turned out, it took some getting used to the constantly moving bird’s eye view function provided by the artifact. Everyone else who tried it out of the coalition’s leadership – other than Erycea – found the sensation of the constantly moving sight dizzying and even nauseating.
Since that was the case, Reinhardt just kept it to himself and instead informed Nestor anytime he noticed anything out of the ordinary or when the latter asked. The reason for the dizziness others experienced might be because when Erycea and Hogarth designed the artifact’s functions, they tailored it to Reinhardt himself. His visual acuity was quite different to a human’s, which might be why neither he nor his daughter faced the same issues as the others did.
“Or they might be probing for information,” suggested Angus Harscape from the side. Due to his shorter height – and mount – he was only around the level of everyone else’s shoulder or so at best, but that did little to diminish his presence amongst the group. “You all remembered how that brat Bostvan met his end, no? Not a coincidence or lucky stroke, if you ask me.”
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“He was felled by an arrow to the head, yes,” noted old Duke Orsla Banitu of Kolitschei as he recalled his late old rival. They only received as much information as Duchess Andrea Utghwes had sent from the southern theater, but even what information they received was quite telling in its nature. “Do you reckon our foes have an archer who can accurately hit someone’s head at over five hundred paces, then?”
The reports they received stated that the late Duke had perished nearly instantly, definitely too far gone for any healer to have intervened had there been one nearby, at least. The arrow that caused his death went through his helmet’s eyeslit, through Emil Bostvan’s right eye, and into a fatal part of his brain in one go, the tip of the arrow even visible poking out from the back of his head.
“Even Rein’s troops have one who can do that, so it’s better to expect the enemy to have someone who could do the same,” replied the old dwarf with a scoff. Salicia had not particularly shown off her skills during the time they fought against Kolitscheian forces, so the old Duke failing to notice her was not surprising. Angus was familiar with her skills, though, given his close relations to the company.
“If you can point out a target within five hundred paces that’s not completely covered from sight, Sal can take them down with one arrow,” added Reinhardt in support of what Angus said. He was not even boasting, as he had seen the one-eyed woman do just that, at greater distances even. He just cut it a bit short to make it sound more believable to most.
“Makes sense if you think of it that way. With such an archer on my side I would also probe to see if I can fish out the enemy’s commanders or someone important to take out,” noted Nestor as he nodded. “I guess they probably did it just in case, given the relatively low effort they put into the pushes so far, some like giving it a try just in case it pays off but without committing too much into it.”
“Still too early to commit too much. They’re wary of us, I can feel it,” stated Angus with a nod as one of his hands absent-mindedly played with his beard. “Usually it’s the side with the number disadvantage that’s wary of the other, so I’m guessing our dwarven troops are what keeps them on the edge.”
“That would correlate with everything we’ve seen about them so far, yes,” said Nestor in agreement. “What do you think about including some of your auxiliaries and our mercenaries into the troops tomorrow? Show them a little bit more teeth, so to speak, but not too much.”
“We would be amenable to such an arrangement, Duke Nunez,” said Grafin Siobhan Harscape in agreement from the side. While Angus had a high and respected position due to his experience and skill, the one with the final say when it came to the dwarven forces remained his daughter, to whom he already passed his nobility title to as well.
“In that case, will you and the Free Lances join in as well, Captain Edelstein? Maybe there are flaws that will show themselves better upon a closer inspection,” asked Nestor.
“Certainly, Your Grace,” replied Reinhardt easily. His company was paid well to fight, after all, not to sit back and watch others do the fighting for them. “We’ll do as you asked.”