YEAR: 1724. AUGUST 10TH. LOCATION: SOMEWHERE IN THE EAST SIDE OF PLAIN OF JADE

“What the hell?” I couldn’t help but say it out loud as I exited my tent.

For some strange reason, the Imperial soldiers seemed to avoid us completely. We have been in guard for the first 24 hours straight, but there was no sign of them reaching us.

I have been hearing the sounds of battles all around me. Some of them were distant echoes but many of them sounded close. It was strange. Too strange for the Imperials to not to make an attack.

Maybe they were aiming for the time when we completely let our guard down? If that was the case, it worked as many of the recruits looked more relaxed compared to yesterday. In fact, some recruits were chatting away like they were on a picnic.

I only watched them as I sat close to Major Lyra to listen to her conversation with Captain Deryk. Major Lyra was one of those officers who preferred to be out in the open with the other soldiers so it was easy to sit near them. They weren’t exactly keeping their voices down too so I could hear them clearly.

“Are you sure there were no orders sent to us?” Lyra asked, concerned. “It is already strange enough that we didn’t see any Imperial soldiers, but we didn’t see our allies either.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Deryk responded with a hint of worry in his voice. “No runners or message birds were sent to us. We are likely stuck here until either Imperials attack us or our allies reach us first.”

“I just want to know what is happening.” Lyra threw a rock in frustration. “It’s already been 24 hours without any signs of an attack. This usually calls for a trap, but I can’t just get what the Imperials are thinking with lack of information.”

“Let us wait here for one more day. Then, we can send a runner to the main command to see what is happening.”

“I hope you are right.”

I listened to their chat, thinking. They also didn’t have any idea what was going on around them. There were two possibilities; either the imperials are avoiding us on purpose, or they were simply lost.

Though it was much likely the former one as it would be really stupid for the Imperials to get lost. They wouldn’t get a precise map, but they would have a faint idea of where they were supposed to go.

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Then, it would be the trap. Though I had no idea what they were planning, it would likely be a large-scale trap since it was taking them so long.

I stood us as I went back to my tent, gripping my spear and checking for my armor. Something inside me was telling me that something will be happening soon. A big one, in fact.

[(0)]

YEAR: 1724. AUGUST 10TH. LOCATION: MAIN COMMAND TENT OF 9TH CORP SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PLAIN OF JADE.

“Tell Colonel Zaiden to retreat back to the camp and regroup!” General Cedric shouted, staring at the board and quickly moving chess pieces around. “Send 101th and 102th Platoon to assist Lieutenant Colonel Elion with his defense against the Imperials!”

“Yes sir!”

In the command tent of the 9th Corp, Cedric was working to the bone as he countless orders his soldiers to fight. Other officers around the room were also giving orders or relying on the orders as runners were sent out to deliver the messages.

Currently, they were not looking good as they had lost 5,000 soldiers in the first day. 5,000 soldiers, in a single day. It was the worst loss Cedric could find.

What happened was that the 2nd Brigade commanded by Brigadier General Osuman had accidentally charged right into the enemy’s commander. Cedric had ordered him to attack an Imperial group that was split from the main army which numbered only 2,000. However, Osuman mistook that soldier for the enemy commander’s main army.

The enemy commander was surrounded by 25,000 soldiers, the entire division. Many of the soldiers in that division were hard to see due to the trees getting in the line of sight and Osuman charged right to them with only 5,000. The result was expected as all of the soldiers in the 2n Brigade were lost in battle, along with Brigadier General Osuman himself. It was unclear what the enemy loss was, but Cedric hadn’t got time to find out.

The trees were getting in the way too much and it was confusing all of the soldiers. Cedric had no idea what exactly was happening out there, but he had been trying his best with the information given by the runners.

“Lord Cedric, Brigadier General Lily of the 1st Brigade requests an assistance dealing with the Imperials numbering 8,000.” Brigadier General Devon said, reading a report given by a wind bird.

“Are there any soldiers left to go on the reinforcements?”

Many of the soldiers were fighting Imperials in all directions that General Cedric couldn’t keep up with who was free and who was fighting. It was utter chaos. In fact, Cedric wondered why he even agreed to this operation in the first place.

“The 1st to 5th Companies stationed in the east led by Major Lyra are free.” Devon responded. “We aren’t sure, but we were informed that no Imperials have yet to reach the East side.”

“Why?”

“Um…” Devon didn’t look Cedric in his eyes as he spoke. “We think that… they were confused with the direction.”

“I’m sorry?” Cedric only blinked at the response. “I think I heard it wrong, can you repeat that line for me?”

“They are lost.”

Cedric could only open his mouth for a few moments before regaining control of himself. Then he ordered the 1st to 5th Company to move toward Brigadier General Lily to help her.