Amber Sword

Hope shall be left for posterity.

Someone must bear the responsibility.

Your Highness, Marshal, it seems this is all that can be done.

...

The officer cadets from the Royal Knight Academy and the White Lion Guard finally cut a bloody path through the encirclement of the Northern Nobles, but this does not mean the crisis is resolved. Everyone understands that ahead lies the heavy accumulation of the Harbor Guard, and today’s fate is still undecided. At this point, Brand ordered everyone to dismount and slowly advance along the street while conserving their strength.

They were passing through Tovs Square, which was coincidentally aligned with the Ande Fulei Grand Temple and the Great Auction, forming the central line to the west of Ampezel Port.

Nemesia was somewhat worried about the army’s pace, anxious whether the White Lion Legion might catch up from behind. However, when she coldly raised this concern to Brand, he simply shook his head.

"No, do you know how many people the White Lion Legion actually mobilized to encircle and kill us?" he asked quietly.

The Female Knight was slightly taken aback, she lowered her head doing a quick estimate; in the initial battle, they had encountered and defeated roughly four columns of the enemy, each with two to three hundred men. But they breached the White Lion Legion’s line during the advance; in the lateral depth, there must be more troops, and these troops catching up from behind was what worried her.

Brand noticed the Female Knight’s hesitation and shook his head explaining, "Within the White Lion Legion, there are three Guard units: Jude, Sharp Claw, and Lion Mane, along with a White Lion Blade Knight Order. Previously, there was also an Imperial Guard, but it was later disbanded," Brand glanced at his own White Lion Guard and continued, "Considering it’s unlikely for the White Lion Legion to actually mobilize an entire legion away from the border, it’s very possible the participating units are elite forces assembled from within a certain legion."

"In previous battles, we encountered Franz’s two columns, likely composed of archers and light infantry of the King’s White Lion Legion Jude Guard’s First Swordsmen Group. The light cavalry squad that was later defeated during support should be a Knight division from the Holy Temple and reconnaissance cavalry from the Kingdom White Lion Legion Third Swordsmen Group, and the unfortunate one you killed was their commander, Conne..."

Upon seeing the Female Knight’s slight pause, somewhat surprised yet not visibly evident from her cold demeanor, Brand couldn’t help but shake his head. In history, Conne was somewhat renowned, and dying just like that was indeed a pity. But in war, death is inevitable, and that was his only thought.

"The final line formed by the White Lion Guards which we broke through evidently belonged to another unit. Considering the Jude Guard is composed of four Swordsmen Groups and two Heavy Infantry Corps, it’s very likely we encountered half of a complete formation of the Jude Guard, meaning two Swordsmen Groups and a Heavy Infantry Corps."

"Am I correct, Sir Overwell?" Brand turned and asked.

The Kingdom’s Lonely Wolf nodded, somewhat surprised looking at Brand. Before Erune’s revival at Griffith, the major flaw in the military system was the lack of a unified structure, often allowing local nobles and lords to set their own rules, with each major legion having its own system; northern and southern armies were different.

Therefore, even soldiers didn’t always understand the structure of other legions, not to mention identifying the enemy forces, their affiliation, and command—something that Brand mentioned, an almost impossible reality.

Indeed, this was a common phenomenon on the Vornede Continent in that era; during war, commanders often had to rely on interpreting battle banners, capturing prisoners, and other limited means to barely determine which army they were facing. Many blunders resulted from this, and a few renowned commanders over history have crafted many classic examples leveraging this factor.

However, history trends onward like a torrent; the military reforms of Kruz and Madara have already begun, soon to usher in a new Chapter. After the Great Demon Tide, the era of warfare is about to arrive; even though Erune managed to catch the last train, it ultimately perished in historical obscurity due to incomplete reforms.

Brand looked at those present, most of whom were military personnel. The officer cadets were initially trained as junior officers, serving as the Torch of Erune’s reform; they, like Sir Overwell, were well aware of how incredible Brand’s previous assessment was.