Chapter 53 - Drunken Words
Antanas' death shattered the remaining morale of the ambushed Ambratu citizen-soldiers. Although the Little Sassinian forces were eager to wipe out the Ambratu troops, Abo intervened and accepted their surrender in the valley. He reasoned that even if they annihilated this group, Little Sassinian would still be at a disadvantage.
From the captured soldiers, Abo learned that Sarius still commanded three hundred superhuman mercenaries, over four hundred superhuman Ambratu citizen-soldiers, and more than three thousand elite ordinary Ambratu citizen-soldiers. This remaining force was still significant enough to pose a challenge to Little Sassinian.
Abo severed Antanas' head and presented it to an Ambratu captive named Avery, saying, "Take this to your elder, Sarius. Tell him this: I am Abo. If he surrenders to me, no one can accuse him of incompetence."
Avery had been among the first to surrender, having never supported the war. The endless, senseless battles had claimed many of his family members, and he saw no purpose in them. This sentiment of "meaninglessness" wasn't just his own; it was a judgment shared by the Citizen Assembly and the Council of Elders. Avery believed that this defeat would only reinforce their view that the expedition against Little Sassinian had been futile.
Rather than die in a pointless war, Avery chose survival. He had an elderly mother and a newlywed wife waiting for him at home. He was certain that if he died in this "meaningless" conflict, the city-state wouldn't even provide his family with death benefits.
Avery carried Antanas' head to Sarius' camp. Sarius was horrified by the pale, lifeless face.
"What... what happened?" Sarius asked, his voice trembling.
"Elder Antanas led us on a night march, but we were ambushed by the Little Sassinian forces..." Avery recounted their disastrous experience.
Despite his lack of battlefield experience, Sarius immediately understood they had been deceived. The city of Monte Wei was practically defenseless. They had barely held off three waves of attacks and were already stretched to their limit. The camp behind them was merely a facade, a bluff intended to intimidate the enemy. The main force of Little Sassinian's citizen-soldiers had been lying in wait in the mountains, ready to ambush any returning Ambratu reinforcements.
But this realization came too late.
Abo had already led the main Little Sassinian force back. If Sarius launched an attack now, it would mean a full-scale battle against their primary strength.
While a decisive battle might still be within the capabilities of the Ambratu citizen-soldiers, Sarius lacked the courage to initiate it.
He lacked not only the courage to fight but also the courage to surrender.
Avery relayed Abo's message to Sarius.
"Surrender to me, and no one can blame you for incompetence." Abo's words were neither arrogant nor naive. He had earned the right to say them.
To be honest, when Sarius heard that the opposing commander was Abo, his heart skipped a beat. Elders of his age had grown up hearing tales of Abo and his Crimson Armor Mercenaries. To outsiders like them, Abo was a legendary general.
For an inexperienced commander like Sarius to surrender to Abo wouldn't be considered shameful.
But theory and reality often diverge.
The democratic faction and the Citizen Assembly wouldn't care about Sarius' reasons for surrendering. They would only focus on one undeniable fact: Sarius had led half of Ambratu's forces to surrender to Little Sassinian! Even if Little Sassinian spared his life, the democratic faction and the Citizen Assembly would never forgive him upon his return to Ambratu.
Being stripped of his position, having his property confiscated, and losing his citizenship would be the least of his worries. Execution by hanging was a distinct possibility.
Unwilling to fight and unwilling to surrender, Sarius hesitated as precious time slipped away.
During this time, Abo mobilized his troops, assembled his forces, and arrayed them in front of the Ambratu camp, ready for battle.
Meanwhile, news of the annihilation of the returning reinforcements and the death of Elder Antanas spread rapidly through the Ambratu camp. The restless citizen-soldiers surrounded Sarius' tent, demanding answers, but Sarius refused to see anyone.
His avoidance only confirmed the grim rumors.
By noon, Sarius no longer had the luxury of indecision.
Three hundred mercenaries from the Dorukocha city-state made the decision for him. These mercenaries saw no reason to die here for a meager wage. Since Dorukocha had no deep-seated feud with Little Sassinian, they believed Little Sassinian would allow them to buy their freedom with a ransom.
Thus, the three hundred mercenaries were the first to lay down their weapons and surrender to Little Sassinian.
With the loss of three hundred superhumans, Sarius completely lost his will to fight. He announced Antanas' death to the Ambratu citizen-soldiers and then declared their surrender to Little Sassinian.
Of course, not every Ambratu citizen-soldier was willing to surrender, but without leadership, they were quickly subdued by Abo.
"What should we do with these prisoners?" one elder asked Abo.
"Strip them of all their armor and clothing, bleed the superhumans, and then drive them into the mines in the back mountains. Seal the mine entrance with rocks. I'll take the citizen-soldiers to Ambratu, so we can't spare many men to guard these prisoners. We'll move the rocks when we return," Abo said.
"We're still going to Ambratu?" another elder asked, puzzled. "Why?"
"I've said it before. This time, I intend to completely destroy Ambratu," Abo said with a strategic air. "Ambratu is at its weakest in two centuries. The city has almost no proper defenses. If we don't seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we'll regret it later."
Abo then chuckled. "To be honest, I didn't expect Antanas to bring almost the entire Ambratu fighting force with him. If I had known, I would have told Sandro not to return. He could have taken Ambratu, held it for a while, and waited for my reinforcements."
The elders were inspired by Abo's words, their hearts filled with boldness, and they too began to laugh.
Not long after, Sandro, who had led the fleet and a detachment to attack Ambratu, returned with some unwelcome news.
"You encountered a group of heavy cavalry on your way back?" Abo asked, surprised after hearing Sandro's report.
"Yes," Sandro nodded.
"Where did Ambratu get heavy cavalry? Mercenaries?" Abo frowned in confusion.
The primary military force of the Sokya Peninsula city-states was heavy infantry. Even if some city-states had cavalry, they were usually light cavalry. Heavy cavalry, clad in iron like tanks, was a rare sight, given the mountainous and hilly terrain of the Sokya Peninsula.
Even among Sokya mercenaries, cavalry was uncommon, let alone heavy cavalry.
Indeed, Sandro also shook his head. "Those men were well-equipped and disciplined, unlike ordinary mercenaries. If there were such an elite mercenary group in Sokya, we would have heard of them."
"Then who are they?" Abo grew even more puzzled.
Sandro tried to recall the strange cavalry and provided a useful clue: "Their armor bore a shield emblem with a purple leopard."
"A purple leopard?"
While other city-states might not recognize the significance of a purple leopard emblem, Little Sassinian was across from the Green Plains Duchy. Before Abo could recall its meaning, an elder provided the answer.
"That's the emblem of the Green Plains Duke, the Mellerfield family!"
"The Mellerfield family? Have the Ambratu people allied with the Oran Empire?" Abo's expression turned grave.
To Little Sassinian, the Oran Empire was a behemoth. Against a weaker opponent like Ambratu, Abo could still use his strategies to win. But facing the overwhelming might of the Oran Empire's gryphon knights, even a genius like Abo could only sigh in helplessness.
Even if it wasn't the Oran Empire, just the Green Plains Duchy alone was enough to make Little Sassinian wary.
"The Mellerfield knights didn't engage Sandro, which means they don't want conflict with us," one elder said. "In that case, we shouldn't provoke the Mellerfield family either, or they might see us as disrespectful."
In Abo's view, even with those few hundred knights, Little Sassinian's citizen-soldiers had a good chance of taking Ambratu. But seeing the other elders nodding in agreement, Abo knew the Council of Elders didn't want to offend the powerful Green Plains Duchy and the Mellerfield family.
Abo sighed and said, "Alright, we'll postpone the attack on Ambratu for now. However, we can send an envoy to Ambratu to demand an explanation from their Council of Elders for sending troops to invade us."
"Yes, yes, we must demand an explanation and compensation..."
Hearing that Abo didn't plan to attack, the elders breathed a sigh of relief. Abo had led Little Sassinian's citizen-soldiers to an unprecedented victory. If he rallied the troops now, he truly had the power to lead the fervent citizen-soldiers to attack Ambratu. The Council of Elders would have a hard time stopping him.
Ambratu
Although Olivier Capino also wanted to mentally complain about how Charlotte and her knights had managed to repel the numerically superior Little Sassinian citizen-soldiers without even getting dusty, he was, after all, a seasoned politician. Keeping his emotions in check was a fundamental skill.
After listening to Charlotte's embellished account, Olivier Capino sincerely expressed his gratitude to her and her knights and invited Charlotte to a banquet at his estate.
Charlotte readily accepted the invitation.
Before the banquet, Charlotte specifically inquired, "What about Sir Harvey Sherwin?"
The Ambratu elders, believing they understood her intentions, immediately sent someone to invite Harvey Sherwin to join the banquet.
As soon as Harvey Sherwin saw Charlotte, he began to grumble, "Miss Charlotte, you have no idea how perilous last night was. If you hadn't arrived in time, I might have perished here..."
Charlotte's gaze, however, passed over Harvey Sherwin and settled on Robin Mancini, who was standing behind him.
Robin Mancini also noticed Charlotte's gaze and gave a subtle nod, signaling that the plan was proceeding as expected.
Only then did Charlotte smile and respond to Harvey Sherwin, "You must have been terribly frightened, Sir Sherwin. I always thought Ambratu was a peaceful city-state. I never anticipated war breaking out so suddenly."
While the ordinary citizens of Ambratu were still sifting through the ruins left by the fire to recover the bodies of their loved ones, the servants of the Capino estate served course after course of delicious food and wine in the banquet hall. In the corner, several musicians played soothing melodies to accompany the meal.
Martin Kramer, who considered himself somewhat acquainted with Charlotte, raised his glass and toasted her, saying, "The Viscountess is right. Ambratu should have been a peaceful city-state. Even the alliance wars shouldn't have affected us. It was all Antanas' fault for stubbornly starting this war, completely disregarding the lives of our citizens!"
Charlotte naturally raised her glass and inquired about the details of the war. Martin Kramer gave a somewhat biased account, disparaging the oligarchs and boasting about how he had gifted Harvey Sherwin a house.
Martin Kramer's words provided Charlotte with another perspective on the war and answered a question that had been on her mind why the scouting eagles hadn't spotted the Ambratu army's movements. It turned out they had taken the mountain paths.
After listening to Martin Kramer's account, Charlotte sighed softly and said, "The war has inflicted too much damage on Ambratu. To demonstrate our concern for the people of Ambratu, we will cancel next year's tariff compensation."
The elders of the democratic faction were overjoyed. Although waiving a year's tariff compensation wasn't a substantial amount, compared to the oligarchs' recent defeat, it was enough to highlight the democratic elders' diligence and competence.
The atmosphere at the banquet grew even more lively.
The elders took turns toasting Charlotte, who claimed she couldn't handle much alcohol and had her "relative," Harvey Sherwin, drink on her behalf.
Harvey Sherwin didn't refuse and soon became quite intoxicated.
Just as the banquet was in full swing, Robin Mancini, who had been sitting beside Harvey Sherwin and was also quite drunk, suddenly slammed the table, drawing everyone's attention. He then loudly declared, "Sir Sherwin, you're absolutely right! If it weren't for you, the people of Ambratu wouldn't be able to carry on like this!"
The banquet hall fell silent.
By now, Harvey Sherwin was too drunk to notice the oddity of the statement. Hearing his friend's words, he laughed heartily as if he had indeed said such a thing.
The elders, all experienced in the nuances of banquets, understood that Harvey Sherwin was drunk and chuckled, dismissing the awkward comment.
Only Charlotte, sitting in the corner, sipped her tea slowly, her eyes holding an inscrutable depth.
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