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Ever since my coronation, the Raul army had been engaged in conflict at their eastern border with the Gotiroir people, the latter being a minority ethnic group who possessed their own autonomous region within the Empire. They inhabited the highlands at the base of the Heavensreach Mountains, which bisected the Eastern Continent from north to south, and were famed for their hunting ability—both in craggy and forested terrain—for being of relatively short stature, and for being excellent soldiers.
From what I understood, they were renowned on the other side of the Heavensreach as well, and the rumor went that they’d never suffered a defeat. The fact that their autonomy was even recognized by the Empire was a testament to their resilience.
In more recent history, the Gotiroir had been engaged in guerrilla warfare—a specialty of theirs—against the Raul army for some time. It was thanks to their efforts to buy us time that we’d been able to get so many preparations in order.
“The Gotiroir forces are pressing their harassment campaign, but the Raul army is providing little to no response,” Deflotte continued. “It appears they’re willing to abandon their towns and cities in the east and south as they make for Chelán Hill. Naturally, the self-proclaimed Duke Raul is with them.”
Despite their formidable reputation, however, the Gotiroir had a clear weakness: a complete lack of siege weaponry. This was an intentional choice on their part, so as to not draw too much attention from the emperor or imperial nobility, but it meant that taking any settlements of significant size within the Duchy of Raul would be a time-consuming effort. In short, despite their continued unresisted harassment of the Raul army, their job was now essentially finished.
Incidentally, the current, official stance of the emperor was that the current “Duke Raul” was illegitimate, hence the “self-proclaimed” qualifier. This was true of Agincarl as well. In accordance with imperial law, I had exercised the rights afforded to me as emperor and stripped the Chancellor and Minister of Ceremony of their courtly titles. It was just that their would-be successors had refused to recognize my decision.
“That’s rather decisive of them,” Salomon commented. “Too decisive, in fact. It’s uncharacteristic.”
He wasn’t wrong. This move by the Raul army was an anomaly in the playbook they’d shown us so far. Given our fortification of Chelán Hill, my direct advance to said fortification, and the pincer we had them in with the Gotiroir, there was no mistaking that every part of the board state had been prepared for the self-proclaimed Duke Raul’s eventual arrival. However, abandoning their cities in the south and east was far too extreme, especially after they’d spent the last two months fighting a guerrilla war specifically to protect them.
For the record, the self-proclaimed Duke Raul—otherwise known as the Chancellor’s son—was famed as a dauntless and intrepid commander. Since his father had primarily been based in the imperial capital, it was he who’d been the de facto commander of his house’s forces. An unbeaten, invincible general, loved by his soldiers and guaranteed to become an imperial grand marshal one day.
Or at least, that was the sales copy the Chancellor’s faction had loved to regurgitate before it had become a shadow of its former self. The man’s actual competence was still an unknown variable, but according to Duke Warren, he’d never had command experience during a genuine, full-scale war. And if one simply looked at his track record for this domestic conflict, nothing he’d done had given me cause to feel threatened.
All in all, I certainly wouldn’t be letting my guard down, but I wasn’t especially afraid of him either.
“Perhaps we’ve driven him too far into a corner,” Viscount Cédolin suggested.
“Even if we have, it does not change our plan of action,” I asserted.
Our combined forces for this march fell short of seven thousand. However, Fabio’s—that is, Marquess Ramitead’s—army awaited us at Chelán Hill, along with the Atúr led by Péter Pál, and roughly ten thousand common citizens. That wasn’t all either; the armies of Count Ethaiq and Marquess Mardrusa—numbers TBD—were marching to the hill as well. In total, our numbers would theoretically be superior to the Raul army.
Well, a significant chunk would just be laborers, who were basically decorative ornaments as far as any actual conflict went, but they’d do a decent job as scarecrows to frighten the enemy, if nothing else.
“For the next part of my report, I’d like you all to take a look at this map,” Deflotte said, unfurling a large sheet of parchment.