Amber Sword

The vast mountains were already covered in twilight, the sun sinking westward into the Outer Sea of Ambeser, while the sea was shimmering with golden light. However, the sky had gradually darkened, with the eastern sky turning a deep purple, faintly revealing the outline of the moon.

As predicted by the officers, a group of light infantry appeared behind them at dusk.

The news that Brand received was that the scout knights patrolling on the outskirts from the Royal Knight Academy first encountered enemy scouts, also light cavalry; and according to the report from a girl named Beth, they managed, with minimal injuries and no fatalities, to leave eleven enemy corpses and capture two prisoners, deliberately allowing approximately a quarter of them to escape and report back.

Interrogation of the prisoners revealed that the enemy belonged to the independent light infantry battalion under the Finn Column of the Black Blade Legion. The structure of the Black Blade Legion differed from the White Lion Legion, which followed the guard formations from the Eck era; it somewhat resembled the Roman Legion, though on a larger scale. Below the legion were columns, each about 4,500 strong, further divided into battalions and led by centurions—generally, the Black Blade Legion maintained twenty columns, named according to the commander’s name, with the Finn Column naturally being led by someone from the Finn family from Narlie.

Brand had boasted to the princess that he knew the military strength across Erune inside out, and it was no mere brag. Though the Black Blade Legion was part of the Forbidden Army, the Royal Family actually controlled only one or two noble commanders within it. As for the distribution of Black Blade Legion forces across regions, even Princess Griffine was likely in the dark.

But Brand’s understanding was quite different; he knew the Finn Column’s station was now in Narlie, exactly south of Kerkova Province, west of Grey Mountain Territory in West Faha Province, with most soldiers being local, impoverished mountain people, including the renowned First Highland Infantry Battalion of the Finn Column.

Brand strongly suspected that the so-called independent light infantry battalion behind him was indeed the First Highland Infantry Battalion; generally speaking, the most suitable troops for fast pursuit should be light cavalry or Flying Dragon Riders above them. Yet due to terrain restrictions, Viscount Finn might have replaced these functions with highland infantry, as this mountain people-composed army is also famous for its mobility.

In the "Amber Sword," all troop types possess special attributes, such as the Kingdom’s White Lion Infantry, known for their perpetual initiative and high morale. On the actual battlefield, this means a troop with perpetual initiative responds to orders faster, while a troop with high morale is less prone to rout. The special attribute of the highland infantry is: adaptability in mountains and forests.

This attribute simply means that mobility during terrain-responsive battles is not affected, and troop class increases by one level. In contrast, regular infantry’s mobility often drops by one level in mountains and forests, and heavy cavalry by two levels.

These attributes are reflected more realistically in this world, where officer cadets from the Royal Knight Academy, being light cavalry, could cover vast distances on plains all day, yet couldn’t traverse far in forests even across entire daylight hours.

Yet whether the troop behind them is indeed the First Highland Infantry Battalion of the Finn Column, Brand had to continue with the planned execution, not keeping them trailing indefinitely as time was already limited.

The golden brass watch pointed to halfway between seven o’clock, marking the first time the Flying Dragon Cavalry of the Black Blade Legion vanished from above the forest. Although the Eruein Dragons have night vision, their knights require nighttime combat gear—such as swapping to warmer cotton armor, among others.

The foremost among them familiar with Flying Dragon Cavalry, Count Oting, had forewarned this. Thus, they roughly had a window of one hour to capitalize on. Brand had to seize every second, fortunately Narlie and his Flying Dragon Cavalry had already scouted an ideal spot for ambush ahead, promptly ordering the recon cavalry patrolling the outskirts to lure the enemy into the preset ambush circle.

Luring the enemy into an ambush circle is easy to say, but rather complicated to execute. However, this was no issue for the scout officers of the Royal Knight Academy, as the tactics they learned revolved around this, not to mention the batch of young talents heading to Ambeser, later personally taught by Macaro—dubbed the Cunning Fox, who possessed considerable skill in strategy, with many meticulous experiences in laying ambushes and luring enemy advances beyond commonplace standards.