By the fourth day of the siege, large-scale desertions have already started in the kingdomâs camp.
The besieged kingdom forces have basically lost their fighting spirit.
As soon as the Peace Haven army launches an assault, they can take over the entire camp without much trouble.
But this doesnât align with Henwellâs plan. From the start, Henwell never intended to wipe out this army completely.
Strangling the southeastern forces of the Ika Kingdom would have too big an impact.
It goes against Henwellâs strategy of shifting conflicts elsewhere. Besides, Henwell needs this army as bait to lure and strike at the kingdomâs reinforcements.
At the Louis City Governorâs Mansion, news of the southeastern armyâs siege arrives, and they immediately plan to send troops for rescue.
But Roderick storms into the Governorâs Mansion with his guards and seizes military control.
Rifidiâs attendant officer, left behind to guard, confronts Roderick: âHow dare you! Why havenât you sent troops to support the Governor?!â
Roderick replies coldly, âThe situation is unclear. Sending rescue troops blindly is too risky! Right now, we only have two fully organized legions. Every move must be cautious, or else the entire southeast of the kingdom will fall into danger.â
âYou⊠youâre out for revenge against the Governor! Youâve already been dismissed. When the Governor left, he entrusted me to oversee the Governorâs Mansion affairs! Guards, seize Roderick!â
A cold gleam flashes in Roderickâs eyes. He draws his longsword and plunges it straight through the attendant officerâs neck.
Everyone is stunned by Roderickâs sudden and brutal move.
The commander of the 22nd Legion, Powell, reacts fastest, drawing his sword to fend off the rushing Governorâs Mansion guards.
In moments, with the help of 22nd Legion officers, Roderickâs knights slaughter Rifidiâs guards in the mansion to the last man.
The officers of the 24th Legion, who arrived here a few days ago, do not take part in the fight from start to finish.
The 24th Legion commander rests his hand on his sword hilt, watching Roderick warily: âViscount, what exactly are you trying to do?â
Roderick sheaths his longsword. âConrad, weâve known each other for a while. You know meâIâm not here to seize power, nor to purge rivals.â
âThe situationâs critical. If these fools keep dragging us down, weâll have nothing to answer for. This doesnât concern you or your men. Just report the facts honestly afterward; Iâll take full responsibility.â
âThe key now is how to stop the Vorry Duchyâs advance before even thinking about rescue. We have to build a new defensive line to prevent the situation from worsening and the entire southeast from collapsing.â
With that, Roderick gathers everyone around the map for analysis.
After over an hour, the basic deployment is set.
The 22nd and 24th Legions push forward fifty miles, using favorable terrain to establish defensive positions.
Roderick calls all nobles from his faction, forming a mixed force of 20,000 troops centered around his 6,000 personal soldiers.
At the same time, two border defense legions from the south are urgently pulled to the front line.
In just two days, a new defensive line takes shape, solid and ready.
At this point, Henwell starts sending tents and food supplies into the Ika Kingdomâs main camp.
These people canât just freeze or starve to death here.
Dead men serve no purpose!
But Henwell isnât handing out these supplies for freeâthey demand horses in return.
The kingdomâs army still has nearly ten thousand warhorses, plus a ton of mules and other livestock.
If the soldiers slaughtered and ate them, thatâd be a massive waste.
The kingdomâs officers definitely donât want to trade these animals away, but starving and freezing leaves them no choice.
Meanwhile, a large number of wounded prisoners are gathered by Peace Haven and sent to the rearâs field hospital for treatment.
Interestingly, this hospital was originally a marching camp built by the kingdomâs forces!
At first, the exchanged wounded were mostly serfs from noble private armies.
Then came the regular soldiers, and eventually even officers were sent in batches to the prisoner camp.
Now, despite the supply of food and basic medicine, the besieged kingdom army still sends out thousands of wounded every day.
By the tenth day of the siege, the kingdomâs forces have shrunk from over seventy thousand to less than forty thousand.
Peace Haven hasnât taken in over thirty thousand prisoners eitherânearly ten thousand have died this brutal winter.
Itâs this heavy loss that finally forces the kingdom army to accept Henwellâs exchange proposal.
Of course, the exchange has to be handled carefully.
They canât just hand prisoners directly to Peace Havenâthatâd be outright surrender.
Instead, three merchant caravans registered with the Ika Kingdom act as intermediaries, so the kingdomâs officers can save face.
On the tenth day of the kingdomâs siege, reinforcements finally arrive from the Ika Kingdom.
The first wave consists of two legions who, after several days of forced marches, reach the southeastern Governorâs Mansion.
Leading them is a big shotâGrand Duke Kolen of the Ika Kingdom.
Heâs the most powerful noble in the kingdomâs southern border, and his sister is the queen, married to the Ika king.
This is straight-up top-tier kingdom royalty. Now, with two stationed legions and his own private army of ten thousand, he arrives at the front lines.
As soon as they enter Louis City, Rifidiâs men rush over to tattle, accusing Roderick of seizing military control and killing the Governorâs Mansion guards.
Kolen confronts Roderick immediately, demanding an explanation.
Roderick calmly replies, âYour Grace, the situation was critical. They insisted on a reckless rescue attempt. If it failed, the consequences would have been even worseâŠâ
Kolen waves him off sharply, âIâm not asking about that! I want to know how Rifidi got surrounded? Where the hell did Peace Haven get so many troops?â
Roderick leads Kolen to the map. âPeace Haven already has over fifty thousand troopsâwe all know that.â
âBut Henwell played it smart this time. He didnât send his main forces head-on. Instead, he relied on his defensive system, using militias and garrison troops to stall the kingdomâs offensive.â
âMeanwhile, he pulled his two main legions to circle behind and cut off our retreat. He should have been guarding against northern forces, but he threw everything into this battle.â
âPlus, the troops defending Ogiro in the east were also pulled to the siege perimeter. Strictly speaking, Peace Havenâs east and north are completely undefended right now.â
âYour Grace knows the Ogiro Kingdom would love nothing more than to see us weakenedâthey wonât pick fights with Peace Haven for us. Thatâs why Peace Haven can muster all their strength here to form such a powerful offensive cluster.â
Grand Duke Kolen roars in anger, âRoderick, you know Peace Haven well. Your Peace Haven plan caught Golden Capitalâs attention. You know their army is no joke. So why didnât you stop Rifidi from recklessly rushing in? He was only ever meant to be a temporary southeastern commander.â
âIf you hadnât dodged the role so many times, how did he get appointed? You deliberately watched him jump into the pit! You put your own interests above the kingdomâs!â
At this moment, Powell and Conrad step forward to explain what theyâve learned.