Enlightened Empire

Chapter 376: Full Control

From within his command tent, Corco watched the so-called ‘league’ of lords slowly trudge across the horizon. In loose groups, the warriors of the league advanced like tired schoolchildren at the end of a field trip. Either out of a lack of motivation, or out of exhaustion, they didn’t seem to eager on this war. Most likely, it would be both. Compared to them, his own men were in far better condition. After all, their preparations were much more thorough.

“Tell the troops to get ready,” Corco ordered Fadelio, who stood by his side as he always did. “The sooner we attack, the better for us.”

“Understood.”

After Fadelio had left, Corco continued to observe the arriving warriors who were about to face his own people in combat, ready or not. In the meantime, he recounted his own preparations to put today’s final showdown in place. In the days after what was now called ‘the lightning miracle’, Saniya’s administration had spent most of its effort to prepare for this attack. Now, everything was falling into place.

The morning after Corco’s talk with Pallatio, he himself had moved out together with Fadelio to meet Mayu’s army. Meanwhile, he had left Saniya in the reliable hands of Sumaci. As the queen, she had the authority to hold the ship steady while he was away, and as his student, of course she had the savvy.

Although the king going out on a military campaign sounded dangerous, he was short on generals, and this was the easiest out of the three military missions that needed to be completed this time. Out of the three generals that Dedrick had cultivated before his departure, the best, Paec, was still on the Green Island, guaranteeing Sumaci’s power there. Only a short time had passed since the planned rebellion from the captains there, so he still couldn’t be recalled. Thus, Corco only had two more generals available.

Of the remaining two, one was tasked with protecting Qarasi Castle in case of a surprise attack from Pacha through the Narrows. After all, even after his talks with Pallatio, Corco still didn’t trust his uncle so much as to leave his back exposed. While their defensive position at Qarasi was strong, almost all troops had been removed from the Narrows to support this central attack on the league of lords.

As a result, if there were to be a siege, it would be a tough fight with heavy losses. Of course, Corco couldn’t be the one to take over the command there. He wasn’t planning to die a heroic death to win time for the main army quite so soon. However, he also couldn’t give up the position and just put a lower-ranked officer there.

After all, Qarasi protected most of his allies right now. Lord Makipura’s lands were north of Qarasi, House Villca’s Cashan was south of it, and another two allied lords were right to Cashan’s west. If he hadn’t left their backs in the hands of a reliable commander, they would have never sent so many troops to support him this time. Thus, the second general couldn’t be moved.

Meanwhile, the third and final general in Corco’s army had been appointed to protect the shores of the Narrow Sea against the incoming invasion from House Ichilia. While the number of troops under his command was also small compared to the main army, and no one expected a tough battle there, the front line would span several hundred kilometers. Coordinating the defense was quite challenging and needed to be handled by professionals. A part-time officer like Corco would only mess up such a complex operation.

In contrast, leading the main army against Mayu would be a cakewalk. All Corco had to do was march the army south and give the order to attack once everyone was in formation. After all, their enemies were still using old-fashioned fighting methods, their numbers were comparable to his, and their morale would be low after the recent events. Corco had beaten a similar army years ago in his war against Rupilo. And this time, the odds were stacked far more in his favor.

In this war, he had far more troops – and far more reliable ones – than he had commanded three years back. Meanwhile, his enemies would be weaker than the central kingdom’s army had been back then. Not to mention that his mere presence would inspire his people. Such a short time after the ‘lightning miracle’, anyone would be eager to follow him into battle under his ‘divine’ command.

At the same time, Corco suspected that the morale on the other side had deteriorated considerably. Before the war had even started, they had already lost one of their lords. Without a leader, many of Lord Rafun’s warriors would be unwilling to fight, surely. They didn’t even have a cause anymore, so why die for their dead master, rather than go home and make arrangements with House Rafun’s successor?

The other lords would also waver once they realized that they might not be untouchable this time. In most Medalan wars, no one would aim at the lords deliberately. Even if they lost completely, they would only be caught as prisoners at worst, to be redeemed for ransom.

This time, the lords would be a lot less bold, since they had to suspect that Corco might kill them like Rafun. Their unusual hesitation would surely trickle down to their army. Not to mention that their warriors would also be affected by the recent miracle, and may be unwilling to fight under their masters, the ‘enemies of the heavens’.

Even the more rational ones among the warriors might stand in support of Corco’s reforms that would allow them to own private property and run businesses. They may refuse to fight him, or at least show far less motivation in battle. Thus, the odds couldn’t have been more stacked in his favor.

Although victory was all but guaranteed in this war, Corco still wouldn’t take it lightly. Thus, after finishing their thorough preparations, he had immediately taken his troops south. It had only taken them two days of solid marching to reach the border between Corco’s Chawir Marshes and northern Puscanacra, which was owned by Mayu’s House Saqartu and housed all the troops of the league at the moment.

They had arrived so quickly that there hadn’t even been a sign of Mayu’s army at the border yet. Not only that, their advanced troops had arrived even sooner, and had already begun to construct a camp on a hill that Corco had chosen as the main battlefield from within his detailed maps of the region.

With the camp ready, the soldiers could rest from their journey as soon as they arrived. On top of that, they had been given more than enough time to build some simple fortifications along the hillside, to impede a warrior charge.

By now, their work was done and they had relaxed for a full day. With high morale and full on energy, they had been calmly waiting on a hill near the highway for their opponents to arrive. Now, those opponents had finally shown up, in a haste and loose like sand.

The current appearance of the arriving rebellion army confirmed Corco’s suspicions about their low morale. Their advance was uncoordinated, with none of the momentum and grandeur one would expect from an army made up of seasoned veterans. Most of them were proper cultivators who had spent their whole lives in training and combat, yet they looked worse off than Corco’s commoners.

One by one, the individual troops from the rebelling southern estates came into his view across the horizon. It looked like the the warriors were all commanded by their lords themselves, with no central control. They were holding all kinds of flags, equipped with all kinds of colors, armors and weapons. From their setup, it seemed like they had picked their positions depending on which lords liked each other, rather than on any coordinated plan.

If they couldn’t beat this mess with their unified army, Corco may as well give up on the whole kingdom building business. Shocked by the incompetence of his enemies, he watched as the troops shuffled their way into something vaguely resembling a formation. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mayu’s troops stood ready at the foot of the hill, some two thousand or so meters away.

Out of cannon range. At least they’re learning, but it’s clearly not fast enough.

Corco sneered at their cautious deployment, which really wouldn’t do them any good. Rather than focus on his useless enemy, he inspected his own troops. By now, they had long lined up in front of his command tent, some ways down the hill, so his view on the enemy wouldn’t be obstructed.

In the center stood the troops of his allies, proper warriors trained in the traditional ways, to break an enemy charge. Behind them were Saniya’s halberds to support them, and in front of them stood Saniya’s muskets, who would fire a shot or two on the advancing enemies and then retreat two rows behind.

There were additional troops to prevent enemy flanking maneuvers on the sides, made up of more allied warriors and some of Corco’s own ghosts, as well as reserves behind his command tent in case the battle lasted longer than he expected. Though their biggest advantage were the dozen cannons interspersed in their formation, ones that far out-ranged anything their enemy had.

Thus, Saniya’s troops stood like a wall, row on row in neat lines, to accept his orders. Just in time, Fadelio returned to the command tent.

“The troops are ready,” he simply said. In response, Corco nodded.

“We should attack as soon as possible, before they can catch their breath,” the king said. Although they had set up a defensive position, they were very capable of attacking down a hill against a tired enemy. However, before Corco could give his orders to advance, he saw a small group of people leave the opposing ranks and march towards the space between the two armies.

“Is that supposed to be a diplomatic detachment?” Fadelio asked with a confused frown on his face.

His confusion was more than justified. The men in the detachment seemed to be numbering around twelve, which, by tradition, was the socially acceptable amount of envoys and warriors any Medalan army could send to talks. However, they were carrying ten different flags, which made them look as much of a mess as their army.

“Looks like it,” Corco confirmed, despite the strange appearance. A bad envoy was still an envoy after all. “We’ll have to send our own.”

“Why not just ignore them?” Fadelio asked back. “They’re clearly stalling for time, to let their guys recover strength before the fight. You said it yourself: We should attack now, when they’re still weak.”

Of course Corco knew that a surprise attack now was the objectively best choice. However, he couldn’t follow his friend’s advice this time, no matter how much he wanted it.

“Not anymore,” Corco shook his head. “We want to break our isolation and reestablish relations with the northern kingdoms, so basic traditions still need to be followed. At least we can’t look like we’re just opposing everyone and killing them as soon as we have the chance, or all our enemies will become desperate and fight us to the death.”

As Corco observed the enemy envoys, an idea formed in his head as a smile formed on his lips.

“Plus, it’s a good chance to rattle them a bit before the war. I’m sure they don’t really want to talk. Apart from giving their army a breather, they just wanna show off how righteous and powerful they are, right? I’m sure Mayu is itching for a chance to confront me and look like a defender of traditions or something, right? So let’s prove him wrong, huh?”

Fadelio looked at him in contemplation.

“You want me to embarrass House Saqartu’s envoy on purpose? From all the flags, it looks like the league of lords isn’t all that united. There will probably be representatives from multiple lords there.”

Straight away, Fadelio seemed to understand Corco’s meaning, so there was no need to waste any more time here.

“Right, so you know what to do,” he said. “Get a dozen reliable men, and go down to negotiate. And don’t bring too many flags.”

A few minutes later, when the enemy envoys were already standing ready halfway between the two armies, Corco watched his servant bring a dozen soldiers to negotiate with his enemies. Although this could be considered a slight speed bump in the war, everything was still going according to plan. The only thing the king regretted was that he wouldn’t be able to listen in on their talks.

A shame, he thought, before he moved to the front of his army, to speak some words of morale and get them fired up for the inevitable battle.