Chapter 692: Prey in the Cage

After forcibly sending off the two cursing old dukes, Henwell convenes a temporary military meeting."We are still one day away from Cellarwine City. Next, we must fight for an opportunity, a chance to push a little farther forward."

"Dalton, next you will lead the Lord Iron Guards and tear a gap through the Twentieth Legion in front of us."

"After that, you can no longer participate in the battle. The Blood Lion Knights won't give you another chance to fight."

Dalton says in a deep voice, "My lord, the Lord Iron Guards don't fear the Blood Lion Knights."

Henwell shakes his head. "This isn't about fear, nor about whether you can beat them. The Blood Lion Knights are a knight order gathered from the entire kingdom."

"They are the only military force that can openly represent the interest groups of the entire kingdom. Once they suffer heavy losses, many nobles will choose to turn against us."

"And I worked hard to build you Lord Iron Guards, not for a civil war, but to deter the knight orders of the surrounding countries."

"Once you suffer heavy losses, it will inevitably make the surrounding countries restless. That will become another trouble."

Dalton thinks for a moment. "Then, my lord, the Blood Lion Knights certainly don't want to fight us either."

"At that time, I can use only two thousand men to pin them down, and you can take the remaining one thousand Lord Iron Guards with you."

Henwell continues to shake his head. "It isn't that simple. However, you can split off three reinforced companies and have them restrain the surrounding cavalry legions."

A reinforced company is a special formation in Peace Haven, roughly meaning a reinforced company.

Each reinforced company has nearly three hundred men, more than a hundred-man team, with tighter command.

It is also easier to mobilize than a thousand-man battalion, making it an elite assault unit.

As Henwell's personal guards, the strength of the Lord Iron Guards has been proven many times over.

Although one reinforced company has only a little over two hundred men, it is still not something an ordinary cavalry force can easily provoke.

A unit made entirely of knights, combined with extraordinary equipment, will cause heavy losses to the cavalry legions.

More importantly, the cavalry legion commanders aren't fools.

Since they have opponents they can maneuver around, they absolutely don't want to offend Henwell to the death.

Right now, every party is curious about what trump card Jonathan has that can make Henwell come to grief here.

But neither Duke Marcus nor Duke Obiken will stand by and watch Henwell die.

As Henwell's father-in-law, it is only natural for Duke Marcus to intervene when the time comes.

As for Duke Obiken, although he appears to have little contact with Henwell, he must also act for the sake of his own heir, Fabio.

Otherwise, after Henwell dies, the next person to be dealt with will be Fabio, the warlord head of the Western Regions.

Therefore, everyone believes Henwell won't die here, and so they naturally refuse to offend him too deeply.

Once his combat orders are issued, Henwell has the army rest in place.

Everyone thinks the situation has entered a stalemate, but at three in the morning, Henwell's army suddenly begins to move.

Henwell takes the lead on horseback, bringing the Lord Iron Guards straight through the Twentieth Legion, which is still scrambling to respond.

Then, the Peace Haven Seventh Legion advances at a run and crosses the blockade line along the road torn open by the charge.

Every awakened party is stunned.

Including Jonathan, none of them can understand why Henwell suddenly launched an attack.

Or rather, none of them can believe that Henwell would truly risk his life for Arius.

Only now do they remember that Peace Haven's army can fight at night and is excellent at it.

But it is still not dawn, and no one dares carry out large-scale troop movements.

The point remains the same: night fighting is a high-level tactic, and it demands too much from an army.

Just like that, escorted by the Lord Iron Guards, Henwell leads the Seventh Legion on a four-hour forced march.

It is already deep autumn. The weather has turned cold, and dawn comes comparatively late.

By the time morning arrives, the royal army even loses track of Henwell's army for a while.

This frightens everyone, but just as they want to send cavalry battalions in pursuit, they run into trouble again.

Henwell has unexpectedly sent people to dig open the surrounding developed canals, turning the ground behind him into mud.

This greatly limits the royal army's pursuit speed, and the other troops behind them are forced to take detours.

As mentioned just now, it is late autumn. Wading through mud and water is miserable.

Although this wins Henwell a whole morning, Henwell also runs into trouble.

Three legions now block the route by which Henwell can approach Cellarwine City.

The two garrison legions Jonathan left behind are blocking the direction of Henwell's advance.

Henwell doesn't care much about the garrison legions, but Duke Quinns's Mountain Lion Legion is also blocking the road.

As the foundation of Duke Quinns's power, the Mountain Lion Legion isn't a second-rate force.

Its equipment is excellent, its training is strict, and it is a hard bone to gnaw.

After marching in haste for an entire night, Henwell's Seventh Legion has consumed a lot of strength. If it can't tear open the enemy defense line in one decisive push, the entire legion may be encircled and buried here.

Now, the Blood Lion Knights are already not far away, and the Lord's Knight Order can no longer continue charging.

After thinking carefully, Henwell can only order the army to advance another kilometer and test the other side's reaction.

As soon as Peace Haven's army moves, the Mountain Lion Legion and the two garrison legions have already formed ranks and advance with them.

Helpless, Henwell can only have the army move forward a few hundred meters, then adjust direction and find a suitable place to set up camp.

When Jonathan arrives with the main army, he sees that Peace Haven's camp has already been built.

Henwell has not chosen to attack directly and rescue Arius.

This lets Jonathan breathe a sigh of relief. What he fears most is Henwell rushing in single-handedly right now, rescuing Arius, and taking him straight back to Peace Haven.

If that happened, the situation would immediately turn sharply downward, putting Jonathan on the back foot.

Fortunately, everything is still under control and has not yet reached the point of collapse.

In the evening, Jonathan can't help cursing inside his tent.

During the day, he ordered the Blood Lion Knights to enter combat readiness according to the agreement made when they were founded and encircle Henwell's Lord Iron Guards.

But the Blood Lion Knights as a whole refuse on the spot. They state that they didn't see the Lord Iron Guards attack the royal army last night.

They insist it was done by the two cavalry battalions of Henwell's Seventh Legion.

Their barefaced lie makes Jonathan tremble with anger.

However, the Blood Lion Knights do move close to the Lord Iron Guards, and the two knight orders, one large and one small, begin keeping watch on each other.

In the battle that follows, Henwell loses this important charging force.

Jonathan mobilizes many legions and surrounds Henwell's camp tightly.

Then, through someone at his side, he sends out a secret message. Its contents are very simple, only one sentence.

"The prey is in the cage. Begin the hunt!"