Nirvana, Capital of Castonia

News of the Tulosan invasion quickly spread throughout the city. Upon hearing the news, Bisham went to talk to Lucia

"Your highness, what are your orders?"

"What do you advise me to do?" Lucia was looking at the city from the castle. The city was alive and well. The merchants and the miners still sold their goods. The people were already aware of the invasion, but they were indifferent towards it. Nirvana's walls seems to have given them a sense of security.

"Nothing" The Captain said. He also looked at the City from above "Vanadis and Castonia were not yet officially allied. The official alliance will be announced after the marriage."

"Exactly. But the King might move the date of the wedding forward. Castonia needs the funding of Vanadis as soon as possible. Just tell father of our situation." Said Lucia.

She knew that the Castonian King would want Vanadian gold as soon as possible. She doesn't care, it wouldn't matter anyway. Vanadis will be forced to join the war and help Castonia.

"I'll write a report to your Father later" Captain Bisham nodded.

"Please do." Lucia suddenly remembered Escanor the merchant. "And Captain, please contact Escanor"

The severity of the situation had reached to the point where Lucia was slightly worried about the future. Although Castonia could destroy the invading force by transferring all their soldiers on the Western front, it would still take time. She may need the assistance of Escanor soon.

"The merchant?" The Captain looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Yes. We might need his assistance soon" she explained

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Timothy heard of the news that morning. The Tulosans have invaded with a force of more than 30,000. Worse, half of them were on horseback. He went to the War room where the Generals should be discussing the strategies.

Timothy opened the door of the room. There were three people inside, General Peyton, Braun and the King. At the center of the room there was a huge map of Castonia. There were objects lying at the top of the map probably representing armies.

Timothy went closer and heard General Payton talking

"I just hope Timur and Greenwater holds until we arrive. But why would they choose Greenwater over Solon?"

"May I know of the recent news?" Timothy walked towards the map and looked at General Peyton. But the one who answered his queries was not the General, but the King

"You're butting in again uninvited" there was hostility in his voice

"I was at Knightsend just a few days ago. Maybe I could help" Timothy reasoned. He's also worried about the garrison of Knightsend. The Castle was the first defense of Castonia against the Tulosans. It should be under siege by now. But Timothy wasn't worried that the castle would fall. The men he trained with will not break that easily.

"He's right your Majesty. The boy might be useful" Braun said.

The King signaled that they should go ahead so General Peyton explained the current situation to Timothy.

"Our scouts have not been idle and gave more detailed information about the Tulosans." The General knitted his brows "The earlier report was wrong. It's not 30,000 but 40,000" he said seriously

Timothy was surprised. 40,000!. How could they assemble 40,000? Just three years ago, Tulosa was in a civil war. How could they recover that fast?

General Peyton continued.

"The Tulosans divided their army into three. They left 5000 soldiers to siege Knightsend." Payton pointed to the castle on the westernmost part of Castonia "Well it's less of a siege and more of a blockade. The Tulosans learned their lessons. They are not besieging Knightsend to take it, but to keep it from interfering and striking them from behind. Also they wanted to keep their supply lines open. The remaining 35,000 split into two groups. A smaller group of 10,000 went to the northwest while a group of 25,000 went to the southwest." The General explained as he traced the paths with his finger.

"This doesn't make any sense" Timothy said while looking at the map

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"Exactly" General Peyton agreed

The western region of Castonia was divided into its southern and northern parts. In the south lies Greenwater and was being protected by Castle Timur. In the north, lies Solon. Timothy expected the whole Tulosan army to rush north. Solon was Castonia's main source of iron. Capturing Solon would mean crippling the iron production of Castonia. This was the reason why two of Castonia's Western armies were being stationed near Solon.

But the Tulosans not only divided their armies, they also sent the larger one to attack Greenwater. What would they get from Greenwater? Yes Greenwater was a rich city. It was the trade powerhouse and the richest city in Castonia. Although economic losses caused by trade interruptions were severe, trade will eventually recover. On the other hand, the capture of Solon would be catastrophic. If the Tulosans decided to raze the city to the ground and destroy the mining infrastructure, it would take years or even decades to fully restore Solon. The lack of iron will greatly hinder Castonia's strength for years to come. Why do they want Greenwater so much?

"The 10,000 army will probably raid the undefended villages near Solon. They wouldn't want to let go of their chance to wreak havoc in Castonia. On the other hand, we can't reinforce Greenwater without destroying the smaller army around Solon first" He pointed at the location of Greenwater. "The Tulosans really want to take Greenwater"

"Yes." Braun frowned. He leaned closer to the table and looked at the location of Greenwater on the map. He then looked at Timothy with questioning eyes " But why would they want Greenwater?"

"I don't know." Timothy admitted "But we need to decide what to do. I suggest we combine the garrisons of Thespelae and Munico with some militia to attack the smaller army around Solon"

The Castonian generals had already prepared for the invasion. But the thing is, they never expected that the Tulosans would be able to send 40,000 and would directly attack Greenwater. Also, what the Tulosans did was very unorthodox and risky. Their supply lines were vulnerable and their army divided. If it was Timothy, he would take Knightsend first, and then proceed to other castles. That would be the logical thing to do. But the Tulosans went straight for Greenwater. He could understand if they went to Solon, but they rushed towards Greenwater.

There were four Castonian Armies stationed in four Castles scattered around the Western Region. These four Castles are Knightsend, Timur, Thespelae and Munico. Knightsend Castle was located at the westernmost part of Castonia and protects the entrance to the Western Region. Castle Timur protects Greenwater to the south while Thespelae and Munico both protect Solon to the north. The number of troops stationed inside each Castles varied because of logistics but the combined strength of all the western armies amount to 20,000. Both Thespelae and Munico near Solon have 5,000 soldiers. This meant that there were 10,000 Castonian soldiers stationed near Solon. Combined with militias, this would further increase. It was not enough to defeat all the Tulosans and it was also probably not enough to defeat the smaller Tulosan army currently razing the villages. More reinforcements are coming from the eastern provinces, but they will still take a long time.

"Are you insane?" General Peyton looked at him with disdain "Half of them are cavalry. You want to throw away the lives of the soldiers?" The General seems to ignore that he was talking to a prince. But Timothy doesn't mind. What he suggested was insane though. Cavalry were dangerous in open field, any man with a bit of sense knew that. But losing the villages around Solon would really hurt Castonia.

"We can't ignore the smaller army." Timothy said calmly "They will burn the villages around Solon."

"But we can't fight them." The General insisted "We outnumber them a little with the help of the militia, but half of them are cavalry. Cavalry are dangerous opponents in open combat. We need to wait for further reinforcements. We must be careful about this!"

By now Timothy had some insight on General Peyton's personality. He was not a coward, but he was the sort of person who would only fight battles he could win. That was actually a good trait to have. Unfortunately, the General was short-sighted. He only thinks of victory and defeat as two sides of a coin. Victory and defeat were not as simple as that. Sometimes, you lose to win. Other times, you need take a risk to win a bigger prize. In this situation, they need to take a risk in order not to lose horribly.

"Yes, but we can't ignore them either. If they kill most of the inhabitants of the western region, then it doesn't matter even if we achieve victory in the end. Without the villages, our iron production will stop. The long-term effects of it will be catastrophic." Explained Timothy.

If they wait for the reinforcements, Castonia would lose in the long run even if they win the battle. If they attack now and lose, then at least they bought time for the reinforcements.

"So you want to risk our armies for the sake of iron!?"

"You twisted it a little but, yeah." Said Timothy

"Enough!" The king roared. The room was silenced.

"We will wait for reinforcements. We can't risk it." He then pointed at Timothy "You're not even a general. So stay away from this. What? You think that because I've given you command over Knightsend for a year, you're a general now?"

The King's words were like swords piercing through Timothy's heart. Nevertheless, he kept silent.

"This meeting is adjourned." The King said. With that, the whole room was emptied. Only the King and Braun remained. Timothy couldn't do anything but leave.

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After a while, the King received news that a Wismarine emissary wanted to discuss something with him. Castonia courted Wismar for decades, but the latter only accepted their trade request just recently. Because of this, the King met with the emissary even though he was very tired. A certain rascal pretending to be a general really drained his energy.

"Your Majesty, Wismar extends its greetings to you" the emissary bowed

"What does Wismar want?" The King asked. Wismar had rarely sent emissaries before so he was curious.

"An alliance" the emissary smiled