The thunder of warhorses shaking the earth.
Dorgon seized one bridgehead, then slowly issued the order to advance. James de Wintergard took the vanguard and was pressing forward toward the castle.
The second-largest fortress in the Leily domain.
The castle's name was Kadana. It had been designed to hold back nomadic peoples, and was renowned as an impregnable stronghold.
"Taking Kadana Castle by storm is simply impossible."
"If that castle doesn't fall, House Leily and those mercenary dogs from Darapont won't surrender, will they."
"Well, if they dig in for a prolonged siege it'll be troublesome — but they won't be able to."
Dorgon's grand strategy.
At its foundation lay Andrea Wintergard, the figurehead put forward by House Darapont and House Leily.
Ultimately, their victory would come the moment Andrea Wintergard entered the North and secured a legitimate claim to power.
But that was impossible from the outset. Only one person had ever succeeded in pacifying the North — the founding ancestor of House Wintergard, and no one since.
The problem was that they genuinely believed it could be done.
"That is precisely why they will find it difficult to wage a prolonged siege from inside the castle. They need to raise morale somehow — or at least apply enough pressure on the Northern army to show they're a credible threat."
Dorgon ordered the advance to slow gradually.
They were nearly at Kadana's doorstep. The castle walls were just barely visible.
"Let us begin the siege. And pull the main army back — keep them at a distance."
"We're laying siege, but the full army won't be committed?"
"Correct. About... a hundred men?"
"A hundred men? That won't be enough to bring the castle down."
"Let us begin. Sir James — lend me your ear for a moment."
James listened to Dorgon's plan.
A hundred men conducting a siege was impossible. But these men...
They would all serve as bait.
Kadana Castle. Those inside who had spotted the Northern main army were thrown into confusion. The mercenary vanguard had entered the castle, but the full mercenary force had not arrived.
Holding the line with only Leily's soldiers was impossible. Six hundred men — Leily's finest — but the Northern main army numbered over a thousand.
"What do we do?"
"Kadana Castle is a fortress. If we close the gates and hold out, we can win."
"The rear is already nearly wiped out. Whatever anyone says, we need some kind of victory."
Max, the mercenary vanguard commander, spoke. Roger, the Leily army's field commander, felt the same.
They needed some kind of victory. The situation was too dire to simply hunker down for a prolonged siege.
"Supplies are running short, and the rear is already a battlefield. If we just hold out, we'll have no choice but to surrender in the end."
"Hmm... Still, let us wait for the main force."
The moment they settled on a prolonged siege,
a messenger arrived in haste — the Northern army had begun its siege.
"How many soldiers? Has the entire main army come?"
"No! The number of soldiers is barely... a hundred."
"A hundred?"
"Yes..."
Max and Roger were baffled. A hundred men could not possibly bring down Kadana Castle.
It was clearly a feint. The hundred were nothing but bait, and the real objective lay elsewhere.
"A hundred men can't bring down this castle. So the real objective must be somewhere else."
"What in the world are they after?"
Another messenger arrived. The main army's movements had been spotted. The Northern main army was circling around Kadana Castle.
They had realized the castle could not be taken.
"Then we simply stay put and—"
"Why did they go around?"
"...If we're not the target..."
"The main force coming up from the rear?"
"That's it. They're going after the main force!"
The intent was to pin the vanguard and Leily's main army inside Kadana Castle, then annihilate the approaching force.
Because the army was now divided, the combined strength of the mercenaries and Leily's main force was six hundred men.
They would lose.
"Leave the hundred behind and sortie with all five hundred cavalry."
"That's the better call. Kadana Castle doesn't need many men to hold — it won't fall easily."
"Then let us depart at once!"
Excluding the hundred detached from the main army, the Northern main force numbered nine hundred. If they struck the mercenaries and Leily's main force first—
the southern side could maintain the numerical advantage.
"Sortie immediately!"
Five hundred soldiers rode out from Kadana Castle.
If they arrived before the Northern main army could attack, they could combine with the southern forces and crush them decisively.
"Increase speed!"
They broke into a full gallop toward what they believed to be the flanking route.
Riding hard to the pre-arranged bridgehead where the southern main force waited would take about a day.
After that, the Northern main army would be annihilated.
But.
"Report! Report!"
"What is it!"
"The vanguard has run into an ambush!"
"An ambush?"
A jolt of unease.
Roger and Max halted in place for a brief moment.
If they kept up their pace, they could push deeper. But an ambush — now?
"How many in the ambush?"
"Unable to confirm!"
"...Sh-should we turn back?"
Roger deliberated. Was there truly an ambush? But how?
Should they return to Kadana Castle? But what they needed right now was some kind of victory.
A hundred men. Barely a hundred men. The Northern main army of nine hundred was said to be circling around.
They couldn't be encountered now.
"What do we do?"
"Press forward."
"What?"
"Whatever ambush there is, it will be nothing more than soldiers blocking the road."
Would it be?
Roger stood at a fork in the road.
If they pressed forward now, what would happen?
It wasn't too late. If they turned back to Kadana Castle now, they could resume the prolonged siege.
But then what would happen to the soldiers marching up from the south?
"Sir Roger. We must go forward."
"...A-all right. All right! Forward!"
He chose to advance.
The Leily and mercenary vanguard ignored the ambush and pushed ahead.
Forward! Forward!
"Report! It's an ambush!"
"Ignore it! They're just soldiers guarding the road!"
Deeper. Deeper still!
Roger and Max's force finally reached the point where the ambush had first been reported.
There was an ambush. Barely thirty men or so.
Thirty...
"Break through—"
Slowly, a cloud of dust began to rise from the flanks of the army.
To the right. Dust rising from a distance so far it was nearly invisible. And arrows raining down.
"Ambush!"
"H-how many soldiers!"
What arrived before the six-hundred-strong force was
the Northern main army — in its entirety.
James's vanguard, charging with ferocious momentum.
"W-we were..."
"They were targeting us from the very beginning!"
James's vanguard did not slow its charge.
Aaaargh—!
Soldiers swept aside from the flank had their formations shattered, run through by spears.
"Hold formation! Form a square—"
Fwshhh—!
Arrows filled the sky. Men were struck before they could even raise their shields.
The southern army, struck from the side, was cleaved in two by the enemy.
"Form a square, f-form a square!"
No matter how loudly the orders were shouted, the soldiers did not obey. The chaos of the battlefield.
And the formation already split apart. Even as commanders tried to direct their men, the soldiers could not hear them.
Fear. The terror of knowing they might die!
"R-retreat! Retreat!"
The Northern main army was pouring in its assault.
The cavalry force drew their blades and began cutting down the retreating soldiers.
Command had already collapsed.
"Fall back to Kadana Castle! Back to Kadana Castle!"
The southern six hundred.
After running into the ambush, they began to scatter like ants flung across the ground.
Soldiers threw down their spears and fled; some even cast off their armor in a desperate bid to escape.
"Annihilate them!"
James de Wintergard's order. As they swept through the southern army, he made no particular effort to pursue those fleeing in haste.
The objective had been accomplished.
"Shall we give chase?"
"No. The battle is over."
Three hours.
Only three hours had passed since they rode out from Kadana Castle, yet nearly the entire force had been lost.
Max and Roger abandoned their horses and began to flee on foot.
The conviction that if they could make it back to Kadana Castle, they could resume the prolonged siege.
"Hah... hah... is my head still attached to my neck?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself. Let's keep moving."
Just as Kadana Castle came into view,
the one standing before them was Dorgon.
He had used the entire Northern main army as an ambush force, but the hundred soldiers who had been conducting the siege of Kadana Castle now stood waiting.
"Seize those men."
"Yes!"
The cavalry spurred forward and captured Roy and Max.
They had fled with their backs turned, but they could not outrun a horse.
Just as James had anticipated, a single engagement had broken the momentum of the war decisively.
"Are these the commanders?"
"They are."
"Kill them all. Then demand Kadana Castle's surrender. Tell them that if they surrender, the castle will be spared."
"Understood."
Max and Roy were executed.
The hundred soldiers defending Kadana Castle had no choice but to surrender. Even if they held out now, there was no telling how long they could last.
No matter how formidable a fortress it was,
the judgment was that securing their lives was the better course.
"So what remains now is Darapont's mercenary force and a remnant of Leily's army. That would be about the sum of it?"
"Yes. Approximately... six to seven hundred."
"Darmian's force is also advancing from the rear."
"Yes, that is correct."
The war would likely end here.
A pitched battle. A battle with lives on the line.
There had been no need for any of that.
"Let us rest briefly at Kadana Castle, then press the attack immediately."
"Understood."