Kadia storms off with a dark expression, ready to send messages to Silver Peak City. This matter is no longer his call to make.
Henwell lounges back, waiting for the duchyâs response. He wonât be the one to ask for termsâthatâs not how a loyal subject behaves. The duchy has to make the first move.
Whatever the Vorska line is worth, thatâs what Henwell expects in return.
And the more the duchy offers, the harder Henwell will work.
Theyâre no longer in a simple subordinate relationship. Afterall Henwell has done his part for this war.
Supporting the Vorska line? Thatâs overtime.
Pay him overtime, and Henwell will complete additional work.
As long as the rewards is enough, Henwell can pull all-nighters!
Five days later, an urgent message arrives, carried by swift messenger birds.
Itâs a handwritten letter from Grand Duke Amir himself. As long as Henwell can solve the Vorska line crisis, heâs free to propose whatever rewards he deems fair.
Henwell wastes no time. He immediately assembles a temporary mixed legion and sends it north.
At the same time, he mobilizes a battle groupâs worth of troops to push beyond Peace Havenâs borders, carving out a 3,000-square-kilometer stretch of land from the Vorry duchy.
Just as everyone gasps at Henwellâs audacious demands, the newly dispatched temporary mixed legion meets up with the previously deployed mixed legion.
The first, led by Augusta, is named Mixed Legion One; the second, led by Kivel, is Mixed Legion Two.
The two legions split into four routes by battle group units, each soldier carrying five daysâ worth of supplies in tactical backpacks, maneuvering stealthily near the Ika Kingdomâs two regular legions.
At midnight, they launch a surprise attack.
Each legionâs two battle groups strike from both flanks, ambushing the two kingdom armies.
The fight is swift and decisive.
By morning, all enemy forces are shattered.
They capture a large number of mid- and high-ranking officers, completely breaking the enemyâs chain of command.
Before other Ika Kingdom legions can react, the two legions escort their prisoners and retreat to safety.
Soon after, more bad news reaches the kingdom commanders at the Vorska front.
The two reinforcements the kingdom sent here were ambushed by Count Jansenâs troops.
After lying in wait for a week, over 20,000 elite soldiers from the Phoenix family inflicted massive casualties on the kingdomâs reinforcements.
Those two legions suffered a crushing defeat and retreated back to Wilderness City, the kingdomâs eastern stronghold.
Rallying the broken troops, tallying losses, replenishing personnel, and reorganizing the units all take time.
So, in the short term, these two legions wonât be able to support the front lines again.
With the kingdomâs reinforcements at the Vorska line crippled and two legions wrecked, only four full-strength legions remain in this region for the Ika Kingdom.
On the Vorry duchyâs side, the 7th and 13th legions are elite forces, and the two mixed legions Henwell dispatched have also proven their combat effectiveness.
The main forces on both sides have reached a new balance.
South of Vorska, Count Jansen commands another 20,000 elite troops.
They can launch attacks from behind the Ika Kingdom lines when the Vorska defense is in danger.
They can also intercept any reinforcements the kingdom tries to send.
Even better, if Peace Haven comes under pressure, Jansenâs troops can move south to threaten the southeastern kingdom armyâs flank.
Only now does the kingdom realize just how significant Jansenâs seemingly low-profile force really is.
Since the war began, Count Jansen has kept a low profile.
Henwellâs fierce reputation overshadowed Jansenâs troops so much that everyone overlooked them.
Besides, most people thought it was just a noble private armyânot strong enough to make a real difference.
But after the last battle defending Peace Haven, Jansen realized he needed to strengthen his forces.
He sent a large number of officers to Henwellâs new training camps to learn.
At the same time, he promoted promising recruits from commoner backgrounds whenever possible.
While the officers gained experience, the training intensity for the soldiers also increased.
Though still not on par with Henwellâs elite troops, their training far exceeds that of the duchyâs regular legions.
On paper, itâs a noble private army, but their combat power and equipment rival the duchyâs elite regular legions.
Now itâs the Ika Kingdomâs overall commander for this war whoâs scratching his head.
To keep Count Jansenâs forces in check, a conservative estimate says they need at least three legions.
Thatâs a real headache for the Ika Kingdom.
If they want to turn the tide around Peace Haven, it would cost a fortuneâand clearly, itâs not worth it.
To shift the situation at the Vorska line, theyâd need to add at least three more legions.
Those three legions just to hold back Jansen mean mobilizing six legions in this area alone.
Thatâs a no-go.
Meanwhile, with the Iron Wall front constantly escalating, sixteen Ika legions are already gathered there.
Adding it all up, the Ika Kingdom has thrown nearly fifty legions into this conflict.
Thatâs almost half of their entire military strengthâway too damn much.
This was supposed to be a routine, and Ika was hoping to squeeze some benefits out of it.
And now itâs time to wrap things up.
If they keep fighting, itâll seriously go against the kingdomâs own interests.
Fortunately, the Ika Kingdom notices that neither Henwell nor Jansen shows any signs of expanding the war.
So the stalemate holds.
The duchy is more than satisfied with how stable the Vorska front has become.
At the same time, the duchy canât help but feel utterly speechless about Henwellâs moves.
Henwell doesnât actually shrink the front linesâinstead, he just pulls together one mixed legion, adds it to the original mixed legion stationed at Vorska, and with these two legions, plus Count Jansenâs 20,000 elite troops, he flips the entire Vorska battle.
If you call Henwell a sly bastard, fineâbut when he moves, he gets the job done, even exceeding the duchyâs expectations.
But if you want to talk about being reasonable, Henwellâs a rogueâhe snags nearly 3,000 square kilometers of territory from the duchy using just two mixed legions.
But what can you do? Henwell delivers on his promises.
No matter what tricks he pulls, even if he went alone and smashed the kingdomâs legions, he still fulfills the duchyâs demands.
With spring planting around the corner, both the kingdom and the duchy are gearing up for negotiations.
On the Iron Wall front, both sides basically stick to the original border.
At Vorska, the Ika Kingdom grabs two territories totaling over 3,000 square kilometers.
But Henwellâs moves around Peace Haven are on a whole different levelâhe bites off more than 20,000 square kilometers from the Ika Kingdom.
If they call a ceasefire based on the current control lines, itâs undoubtedly the best outcome for Henwell.
But obviously, thatâs not realistic.
Henwell has no real intention of swallowing it allâthat would piss off the Ika Kingdom big time.
Itâd also leave the Ika Kingdom with no face to save, and they definitely wonât let it slide.
So, the old playbook applies: give back most of it, keep a chunk for myself, and call it a day.