Chapter 113 Another Battlefield
The city-state of Little Sassinian, the Senate.
"Elder Apo has been leading the citizen soldiers to besiege the city for days without any progress. Dolrcocha has fallen. We must stop this meaningless sacrifice..." Elder Gareth of Little Sassinian spoke eloquently in the Senate.
Below the platform, most of the elders stroked their beards, listening attentively and nodding slightly from time to time.
After Gareth finished speaking, the Senate initiated a vote on whether to order Apo to retreat. Although Matt tried his best to prevent it, the Senate still passed the order for Apo to withdraw troops by an absolute majority.
Matt sighed helplessly. After the news of Dolrcocha's fall arrived, the Senate had proposed ordering Apo's withdrawal three consecutive times. The failure of the first two proposals was already a result of the elders' concern for Apo's distinguished reputation.
Matt knew that the fall of Dolrcocha was merely an excuse. The real reason the Senate wanted to order Apo's withdrawal was that Apo's actions, such as unilaterally conscripting Ambratu prisoners and dispatching troops without authorization, had struck a sensitive nerve with those elders.
Those elders wanted the North Sokea front to expel the Viscount of Lanwan from the Sokea Peninsula, yet they didn't want Little Sassinian to have another powerful figure whose prestige reached its peak and was beyond the Senate's control.
To protect Apo and try to prevent direct conflict between him and the other elders, Matt volunteered for the task of delivering the order to the front line.
Although Gareth's speech in the Senate had a hint of incitement, much of it was true. For example, Apo had indeed launched many attacks on Ambratu, all of which ended in failure.
On this day, the army led by Apo once again charged the walls of Ambratu, but the result was, as expected, no different.
"Are you just going to let these bedbugs run away like that?" a dark-skinned man on the city wall, with a scar at the corner of his mouth that almost reached his ear, asked again.
"I've told you, hold the position and don't attack!" Pacino Mellerfield responded coldly.
The fierce-looking man beside Pacino was named Xiao, the leader of the Fierce Wolf Warriors left behind by Charlotte. Ever since Apo first came to besiege the city, Xiao had been clamoring to go out and teach the Little Sassinians a lesson.
To be honest, Pacino was also impatient with the Little Sassinian citizen soldiers who constantly harassed the city. Their combat strength was pitifully weak, yet they persistently attacked, their greatest achievement each time being to leave a few corpses beneath the walls, much like a swarm of annoying flies and mosquitoes. But Charlotte had left orders to hold firm and not attack, so Pacino repeatedly vetoed Xiao's desire to take the initiative.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out on the gate tower, and the defending soldiers pointed down towards the area below the city. Pacino also looked down from the city in confusion, only to see the Little Sassinian citizen soldiers, who had just been repelled from their attack, urinating in the direction of the gate tower.
Pacino's face instantly darkened.
"You're not going out to teach them a lesson even for this?" Xiao asked again.
"Hold the position and don't attack! Don't you understand?" Pacino rebuked once more.
Xiao's mouth twisted into what could only be described as a frightening grin, and then he swung his arm and descended the gate tower. Out of his aversion to Xiao and his Fierce Wolf Warriors, Pacino didn't even bother to glance at the departing Xiao.
Coming down from the gate tower, Xiao beckoned to a young Fierce Wolf Warrior and said, "Gather the warriors. We're going out of the city to show those insects a thing or two."
That young Fierce Wolf Warrior was named Falcon, Xiao's younger brother. Hearing Xiao's words, Falcon's eyes immediately lit up, "So the knight commander agreed to let us go out and fight?"
"Heh," Xiao laughed disdainfully, "Why should I listen to that kind of coward..."
A moment later, Pacino, who was about to descend the city wall, suddenly heard a creaking sound – the sound of the city gate opening. Then, he saw over a hundred Fierce Wolf Warriors charge out of the gate.
"Damn it!" Pacino slammed his fist on the city wall in anger, his heart filled with worry. Although the citizen soldiers from Little Sassinian this time were weak, there were still two to three thousand of them. If they were to be surrounded by the enemy, these Fierce Wolf Warriors would likely all perish outside the city.
However, Pacino's worries were quickly dispelled. The Little Sassinian citizen soldiers continued their poor performance from the past few days of sieging. The moment the Fierce Wolf Warriors charged out of the gate, those citizen soldiers who had been urinating towards the wall turned and fled. The Fierce Wolf Warriors pursued them relentlessly. The attacking citizen soldiers fled into the main camp of the Little Sassinian army, and the Fierce Wolf Warriors plunged headfirst into it without a second thought.
Then, something happened that left Pacino dumbfounded: the large formation of over three thousand men actually collapsed directly under the charge of the Fierce Wolf Warriors. Over a hundred Fierce Wolf Warriors, howling strangely, pursued the three thousand plus men from behind.
"Sir Pacino, why don't we also go out and fight?" the adjutant whispered to Pacino.
"This..." Pacino hesitated.
"Yeah, if we don't attack now, all the credit will be snatched by those monkeys!" The other knights on the wall chimed in their agreement.
Pacino watched the Little Sassinian citizen soldiers, who were running in increasing disarray and farther away. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said to his adjutant, "You are in charge of defending the city. I will take the Griffin Squad to support those Fierce Wolf Warriors who left the city without authorization."
Screeeech~~ An eagle's cry echoed.
Xiao turned his head and saw a huge dark shadow fly out from within the city walls. It was the griffin Charlotte had left in Ambratu.
"Tsk, these cowardly rats only dare to follow behind us and snatch credit." Xiao spat, then roared at the Fierce Wolf Warriors he led, "Run faster!"
The Griffin Knights and the Fierce Wolf Warriors frantically pursued the Little Sassinian army from behind, and the losses of the Little Sassinian citizen soldiers grew larger and larger. The last bit of caution in Pacino's heart gradually relaxed because the casualties of the Little Sassinian citizen soldiers were too great; it was undoubtedly a rout. Pacino even began to wonder if he should have taken the initiative much earlier. Given the combat capability of the Little Sassinian citizen soldiers, if he had attacked proactively, the battle might have ended days ago.
The defenders of Ambratu pursued them all the way to the narrow road between Ma Shou Mountain and the coast, where the Little Sassinians had built a wooden stockade to guard this vital transportation route connecting Little Sassinian and Ambratu. The wooden stockade might have caused some trouble for the Fierce Wolf Warriors, but for the Griffin Knights, it was no different from paper mache. Pacino commanded the griffin to dive, crushing the stockade wall into pieces with its descent.
However, just as Pacino was feeling complacent, dozens of black spheres suddenly flew out from Ma Shou Mountain, falling like raindrops above the griffins. The Griffin Knights hurriedly defended themselves, but when the spheres burst, the scattered noxious oil still drenched the griffins. Pacino looked up and saw wave after wave of black spheres flying down from Ma Shou Mountain.
"Quick, take off!" Pacino shouted hastily.
But it was too late. After their wings were contaminated by the noxious oil, the griffins found it extremely difficult to take off. They had just lifted off the ground when they were hit by two more waves of oil and crashed down.
Whoosh... Two fireballs descended from the sky, smashing onto the oil-soaked griffins before Pacino's horrified eyes. The flames spread rapidly, engulfing the griffins and the knights on them.
The elite troops of Little Sassinian, who had been conserving their strength for a long time, rushed out of the wooden stockade. Seeing that the situation had turned bad, the Fierce Wolf Warriors immediately abandoned the Griffin Knights and fled towards Ambratu.
Standing on Ma Shou Mountain, watching the griffins struggling in the blazing fire and the instantly reversed battle situation, Apo let out a long breath. For days, he had sent the citizen soldiers to their deaths attacking the city, solely to lure out the griffins. For this, Apo had also borne a heavy psychological burden. If the lure had not succeeded, these citizen soldiers would have died in vain. Fortunately, the tactic of luring the snake out of its hole had succeeded.
Having dealt with the griffins, taking Ambratu was now only a matter of time.
But just as Apo was preparing to order a counterattack, a messenger suddenly arrived to report that Elder Matt had come.
"General Apo, the Senate orders you to withdraw your troops immediately," Matt said.
"Withdraw troops?" Apo said incredulously, "I'm about to capture Ambratu!"
"Can you take Ambratu today?" Matt asked.
After a moment of thought, Apo said, "Not necessarily. There are still some defenders in the city, but I can take Ambratu in two more days at most."
"Then you should still withdraw your troops," Matt said. "Elder Pisi-hos has sent word that Dolrcocha has fallen."
Hearing that Dolrcocha had fallen so easily, Apo frowned, but then he said, "My attack on Ambratu is precisely to help the allied forces retake Dolrcocha, and even to cut off the enemy's main force's retreat route."
"But the Senate does not wish for you to do so," Matt said. "The Senate hopes that you will wait until the allied forces have recaptured Dolrcocha and launched an attack on Ambratu. Then, you can lead our citizen soldiers to cooperate with the allied forces to take Ambratu. This will significantly reduce our army's casualties."
"This..." Apo still wanted to argue.
But Matt interrupted Apo with a wry smile, "Don't you understand yet? The Senate doesn't want you to capture Ambratu alone. Some people only want to see you play a supporting role in this war, and the least important one at that. You should leave the important battles for the main allied forces to fight..." Matt paused for a moment before adding, "This is entirely for your own good."
Apo remained silent for a long time, then finally, resignedly ordered, "All troops... retreat."
Thus, when Charlotte led the main force of the Lanwan Viscountcy back to Ambratu, what she saw was an almost scorched griffin and a dozen severely injured, near-death Griffin Knights.
It had to be said, the griffin's vitality was indeed formidable. It was almost burned to a crisp like a beggar's chicken, yet it hadn't breathed its last. However, it was beyond saving. Even if its life could be spared, this griffin would hardly be able to return to the battlefield.
Watching Herman Green end the life of the severely injured griffin, Charlotte spoke as if to herself, "You two, what were my orders?"
Behind Charlotte stood numerous knights and Fierce Wolf Warriors, but everyone knew whom Charlotte was asking.
"Hold the position and don't attack," Pacino answered, his head bowed.
Charlotte turned to look at the disheveled Pacino and Xiao, who still had a gloating expression on his face. She smiled faintly and said, "Mr. Pacino Mellerfield, you are a knight, and your surname is Mellerfield. So let me ask you, what is the punishment for disobeying military orders on the battlefield?"
Pacino's face instantly lost all color. He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.
Charlotte waved her hand, and several knights immediately stepped forward, seized Pacino and Xiao, and forced them to kneel. Xiao tried to struggle, but the knights ruthlessly kicked him in the back of his knees.
Charlotte paced before the Fierce Wolf Warriors with her hands behind her back, saying as she walked, "The Mellerfield family has fought on battlefields for hundreds of years, and has passed down a simple yet ancient military rule. It is repeated at the beginning of every war. This rule is just one sentence—those who disobey orders, die."
"What does 'those who disobey orders, die' mean? Some of you may not understand, so I will demonstrate." Charlotte stopped, stared into the eyes of a Fierce Wolf Warrior before her—this warrior happened to be Xiao's younger brother, Falcon—and said loudly, "All Fierce Wolf Warriors, listen to my command! Raise your right hands!"
The Fierce Wolf Warriors raised their hands chaotically. These men all came from the Kanpei Mountains. They had received no education, nor any proper military training. They fought purely on ferocity, and most of them couldn't tell left from right. Charlotte scanned the group; about fifty-odd Fierce Wolf Warriors had raised the wrong hand.
"Very good," Charlotte nodded and looked at Rayne Nazares beside her, saying, "Execute those who raised their left hands on the spot."
The Fierce Wolf Warriors immediately erupted in an uproar, but there were only just over a hundred of them, surrounded by a much larger number of Oran Knights, leaving them no way to resist. Soon, all the Fierce Wolf Warriors who had raised their left hands were dragged out and beheaded on the spot with a single sword stroke.
Fresh red blood flowed to Falcon's feet. His bare feet clearly felt its warmth and stickiness. He had also just guessed blindly; it was pure luck that he had guessed right and left correctly. Charlotte's gaze turned to him again. Meeting that gaze, Falcon felt an inexplicable chill rise up his back, making him shiver involuntarily. Falcon had never imagined that a fair-skinned noble young lady could make him feel such fear.
"This is what 'those who disobey orders, die' means! Understand!?" Charlotte shouted sternly.
"Un-understood..." Falcon replied reflexively.
"Understood." The other Fierce Wolf Warriors, led by Falcon, also gradually responded.
"That's good," Charlotte nodded, then turned back to Pacino and Xiao. "You two must understand as well, right?"
"Spare me, spare me, Your Excellency the Viscount! I will definitely obey your orders from now on..." Finally realizing the gravity of the situation, Xiao began to beg for mercy. The tribesmen's talent for yielding was no less than their ferocity.
Pacino's face was ashen. He merely said in a low voice, "Please send my armor and sword back to my family..."
"No problem," Charlotte promised, and then ordered, "Hang them."
Several knights escorted Pacino and Xiao away. Soon, both men were hanged on the gallows.