"Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous!" The boxy face, goatee, bronzed skin, and a height of more than 100 kilograms slapped the table several times with angry eyes.

Light streamed in through a nearby window, and the wooden table, apparently improvised, sat on top of the carpet and was filled with small squares in Avenela that indicated what it meant.

"Click-" The general slapped hard, causing several pieces of wood on the table to fall to the ground, and the servants on the side hurriedly came over to pick them up again. Footsteps rang out, and Edward and his party walked in.

"Don't get so excited, Charles, what's going on. The prince and the general, apparently old acquaintances, said this, and the room bowed deeply to Edward.

"We have a different opinion, Your Highness. Charles said in a deep voice, and Edward glanced back at Henry, nodded, and then spoke to Charles.

"I'm a little late, so I'll ask one of you to explain the situation. He said this, and the officers all looked at Henry and Mira behind them.

Edward, as a prince, knew no less about the whole thing than any of them, and at this moment he said this clearly to explain to the new people he had brought in—he had no intention of introducing the two men, so the officers did not ask each other, but to be honest, a very vulgar-looking mercenary with a slave Roan girl could say anything, and few people took it seriously.

But they do need some respite, Charles nodded, and began to narrate.

"A day ago, during a routine patrol of our scouts, smoke was spotted in the forest northeast of Vavasika. I thought it was a scout who wanted to go over and beg for a hot soup, but I accidentally found that it was a large West Valier military camp. Charles pointed to the small wooden block marked on the improvised sand table, and continued.

"After sending our personnel back to Vavasika to report the news, we organized a number of small covert reconnaissance raids, and it was roughly estimated that the number of Wavasika's army was between 20,000 and 23,000 - and that was only heavy cavalry. He drew a circle on the sand table with his finger: "It is likely that there are some synergistic forces lurking on the side of the Protasia Forest, but with Sivalier's strategic thinking, these infantry will not exceed five thousand, so there is no need to worry." ”

"Their target is clearly the city of Avenil, the economic center of Avenella, and from what we know, it is also in the dark. So we sent several teams disguised as traveling merchants to try to warn Ashneel, who had been approaching every few hours with ravens and had agreed to be contacted every few hours, but had not received a reply all day. "We can only assume that the West Waliers cordoned off the area nearby, slaughtered or arrested anyone who came near here, and that meant we were cut off from the outside world," Charles said. ”

"The news brought by Sir Cleveland today is further proof of this. Charles mentioned Bernie's name, but Henry glanced left and right and didn't notice him there.

So the only one who could intercept the West Valije offensive was Vawasika. The sturdy general suddenly let out a long sigh, as if he had no strength: "And that's exactly what the problem is......"

"Vavasika's hoplites and heavy cavalry work in shifts during non-war times, and this time the rotation is the 1st Royal Guards Infantry Regiment of His Royal Highness the Grand Prince and the Golden Maple Leaf Regiment of Duke Edwin. Charles glanced at a silent knight next to him, his burqa painted with a golden maple leaf emblem very prominent, but now he was silently holding his arm.

"Because of the autumn harvest, many sergeants and knights returned to their hometowns to help with the grain harvest, so the summoning order was not delivered in a very timely manner, and there were not enough heavy cavalry, and now Vavasika's army could barely defend itself. The heavy expression on Charles's face was obvious: "How can only 3,000 hoplites in total be able to compete with the 20,000 iron cavalry of Sivalier......"

Everyone fell silent, and Edward stepped forward and said at the right time: "Everyone knows how difficult the situation is, but it is also this time that we must unite as one. ”

"Ashinir can only count on us now. Edward looked back at Henry, the sage quietly pondering the newfound information, and the others followed the prince's gaze, to be honest, they had reached the point of racking their brains now, so everyone was expecting him to say something useful.

But as soon as Henry opened his mouth, they were greatly disappointed.

"What about the city defenses, Vawasika is a fortress, even if the mobile units such as the hoplites who attack can be rotated, the city defense forces are always full, right?" he said, and several officers finally showed their distrust, regardless of whether this man was brought by the prince or not.

"Oh my God, listen to what this man is saying, why they let this reckless man get here!" said one of the Arvenella knights in a scathing tone, Edward's eyes became a little unkind, but the smile on his face did not fade.

"That's where we have a controversy, Your Highness. Charles looked helplessly at the group of knight officers behind him who began to howl wolf, and then continued.

"The city defense forces are all archers recruited from the civilian population, and the ability to strike from a distance is very effective when the terrain is advantageous. However, the West Valier army was dominated by heavy cavalry, and the vast plains of Acasta had no cover, and considering the resistance of plate armor to arrows, sending archers to volley in such a situation was obviously self-defeating. Charles said this, and the knight of the Golden Maple Legion came over with his arms folded at this time.

"The heavy cavalry can only be dealt with by another heavy cavalry, and the knights of Sivalier are so famous that even a heavy cavalry with the same number of Avenela may not be able to defeat them. The Golden Maple Leaf Knight spoke with words that raised the might of others, causing most of the people, including Charles and Edward, to frown, and he continued, "All we can do is let the heavy infantry and archers who are useless here here. ”

His finger pointed to a marked hill, where Henry's caravan had been attacked, not far from Fort Ellen, but still a certain distance.

"It was up to them to attract the attention of the West Valiers, and then the hoplites, who were the real main force, made their way through the forest to harass Inznir and force them back to their defenses. The Golden Maple Leaf Knight said confidently: "The combat effectiveness of the Sivalier Knight is very high, and it is impossible to win against us head-on. But Inznir is their important logistical support, and the food of tens of thousands of troops is a huge problem, and Sivalier dares to attack the province of Inznir, which is the granary of the kingdom behind it, in addition to the powerful heavy cavalry that is unique in the world, so they only need to attack there, and they will definitely return to defense. ”

As he spoke, the seemingly well-founded analysis made several officers next to him nod, but Charles, as the commander of the city defense, held his forehead.

"That's where we disagree. The tall officer said with some headaches: "I do not think that they will immediately return to the defense as soon as they attack the province of Inznir, and given the delay in the transmission of information on the battlefield and the time of the journey, it is likely that Sivalier's army will have rushed to the feet of Ashinir by the time the heavy cavalry begins to infest Inznir, as Sir Alva suggests." ”

In this case, when the West Waliers learned of the attack, would they choose to defend themselves or attack Ashenir directly according to the original strategy...... I am. Charles said in a helpless but serious tone: "I don't want to gamble the fate of a city-state on the choice of the commander of the enemy country." ”

He said this, and Edward nodded, "Yes, I don't agree with this plan either. ”

His Royal Highness the Prince spoke, and the others naturally no longer had any opinions, except for Alva, the knight of the Golden Maple Leaf, who took a deep look at Edward, and no one else said anything. Charles waved behind him, and a servant came with fine sand and sprinkled it on top of the wooden table.

The skillful servant dipped some water to make the fine sand into a lifelike terrain, restoring the sand table that had been slapped down by Charles before, and the first floor of the City Lord's Mansion fell silent again.

Henry thought quietly, and Mira stood beside him, not making a sound.

If you only talk about the number of people, Avenella actually has the advantage.

That's why Bernie decided to go to Vavasika in the first place, because it was a fortified city with a much larger number of troops than a commercial city like Ashinir - but Bernie didn't expect the main army to arrive at the moment due to a series of errors.

The Sivaliers may have seen this information and chose to attack at this time.

Avenella's friendship with Sivalier, the strongest nation on the West Coast, and her own complexity, had not encountered a foreign enemy for many years, which was both a good thing and a bad thing, because the paralysis brought about by peace caused the knights and sergeants who were the main force to appear lax. And a large part of them were also pro-Sivaliers, believing that the Sivaliers were invincible—Henry glanced at Sir Alva, who was once again standing alone with his hands folded.

In contrast, the strongest name on the west coast of Sivalier was not earned through peace, and in addition to Avenella, it also bordered two other kingdoms, with which there were years of back-and-forth warfare.

The knightly name of Sivalier was charged out, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the combat effectiveness of such a long-fought army could hardly be matched by the same number of cavalry of other countries.

But is there really no way around it right now?

Henry took a step forward.

Not really.

The silence lasted only for a moment, and then the officers and nobles in the room were noisy again, almost every one of them had their own ideas, and many of them were in conflict with the plans of others—but they all agreed on a common understanding.

That is, the army of Sivalier cannot confront it head-on with its current strength.

The feasible plan proposed by the nobles was either to attack Inznir and force them to retreat, or to support Asenir in his efforts to defend the city and wait for Avenella's reinforcements to arrive.

Neither man felt that they could defeat Sivalier's army head-on. And even if it was such a "roundabout" plan, they didn't think it would succeed.

But no one has been able to come up with any new approach.

Henry took another step forward.

Except for this man who bears the name of a sage.

"Here. ”

Henry pointed to the hillock, an empty undulating place with little cover, a plain on the left, and a stretch of the Mobigas Inland Sea on the other side, if the sand table was large enough.

"What are you talking about? You hillbilly who doesn't know anything wants to—" The Arvenella knight who had spoken before said again, the second half of his words forced back by Edward's cold gaze, and then retreated into the corner behind him.

"Sir, please. The prince's respectful words stunned the others, including Charles and Alva, as they watched Henry's expression become more cautious - the eldest prince of Arvenella was recognized as an excellent heir in the noble circles of the kingdom, and Edward showed such an attitude, this man may not be as simple as he seems.

"Avenella's army has two advantages in this war. Henry held up a finger: "The first is the location, the West Valiers are outsiders, and their combat effectiveness here will be reduced to a considerable extent if they are not familiar with the terrain." ”

As he said this, everyone around him nodded in response, except for the knight who was in the back corner muttered quietly, "Nonsense." ”

No one paid attention to him, and Henry then raised a second finger: "And the second advantage is the advantage in military strength." ”

His words made several nobles immediately commotion again, and several people led by the knight of Alva were even about to laugh at Henry on the spot, but the sage's next words made them stop again.

"In total, Avenella had thirty-nine thousand archers, five thousand hoplites, and three thousand hoplites. He said.

"This number doesn't give the Sivaliers an absolute advantage, but when it is combined with the first advantage, we have a chance to win. Henry said, and the knight behind him, who seemed to be addicted to finding fault, spoke through his nostrils again.

"Hmph, what can you use to win the longbow that can't penetrate the plate armor?" his scathing tone made several people look dissatisfied, but what the knight said did make sense.

It's just that this doesn't bother Henry, the black-haired sage smiled slightly, and then said.

"Our goal is not the knights themselves. ”

The implication in the simple and clear words lit up to the eyes of those who understood, and both Edward and Charles looked at Henry, and the sage reached out and pointed at the hillock again.

"And as I said before, we have a geographical advantage. ”

"The West Waliers are protected by the Inznir Strait. ”

"I don't know anything about the wind in Ecasta. ”