Kayal fell silent as he watched Grand Duke Andrei lead all three thousand knights from his territory.
This rebellion was led by Gawain's father, Marquis Birmingham.
Marquis Birmingham, Grand Duke Andrei's cousin, had actually rebelled!
Not only had Grand Duke Andrei not expected it, but even Kayal hadn't!
The consequence of this unexpected betrayal was an uncontrollable rage. Feeling betrayed, Grand Duke Andrei unhesitatingly blew the 'Horn of War.' With three thousand demon-horse heavy cavalry from his entire territory assembled, Grand Duke Andrei was one hundred percent confident, but he had forgotten one thing: this was no longer the era when King Uther reigned.
When King Uther was alive, he didn't need to worry about his rear, because with King Uther, his backing was the entire country. But when the entire country was torn apart by civil war, who could he trust?
Kayal, of course, knew that there couldn't be just one marquis with rebellious intentions, but Kayal said nothing. He merely watched his father head to the battlefield with a smile and a blessing.
Knights on the battlefield are invincible, Kayal knew that, but whether Red Leaf Ridge without knights was invincible... that remained to be seen!
How could you know if you don't try!
Kayal had already issued the war order after Grand Duke Andrei left.
He walked into Versailles Palace with Artoria; this was the name he had chosen, and also where his parents rested.
Time ages people; his mother, once like a peony, had now become a frail old woman, but her aura still commanded attention.
"Mother," Kayal knelt before his mother, his eyes filled with heartache as he looked at the traces left by time on her face.
"Kay," she smiled, caressing Kayal's silver hair. Although more than ten years had passed, the old woman still felt as if Kayal hadn't grown up. As she touched his soft silver hair, the old woman seemed to know what Kayal was thinking and gently patted his shoulder, smiling—if Kayal hadn't maintained that posture, the old woman probably wouldn't have been able to perform even that simple action.
This child had been independent since childhood, never causing her much worry. In other words, as a child, he had never truly lived with her due to his independence, and this was what saddened her most. However, a child growing up is what brings a mother the greatest comfort.
"Go on, do what you want to do. Your father will be proud of you." Gently caressing Kayal's face, as if to engrave this handsome face in her heart forever, the old woman's smile possessed a power to soothe the heart even more potent than Kayal's magic.
"Yes, Mother." Kayal kissed his mother's aged face, pressed his lips to her wrinkled forehead, and offered a perfect, reassuring smile: "Then, Mother, we're leaving."
"Artoria! Prepare for war!" At this moment, though Kayal's expression remained calm, the murderous undertone in his voice revealed his true mental state: he was exhilarated.
Artoria's performance after his disappearance had truly impressed him. He suddenly realized that people constantly grow; because of him, she had become a mature woman, a rigorous knight, and a woman of extraordinary martial skill. Artoria was no longer the girl who, more than a decade ago, would follow behind him, watching him do this and that with a rigid expression, never asking a single question.
She could now stand on her own!
"Understood." Artoria said nothing, leaning on her knight's sword as she walked out.
In fact, Red Leaf Ridge only had five thousand infantry. Before seeing the infantry's strength, she naturally assumed that infantry could never stop cavalry.
But now it was wartime, and during wartime, everything followed orders!
One must never question orders!
Those idiotic lines in TV dramas like, "Marshal, you're sending him to his death, no..." are met with only one outcome from the moment they contradict their commander: the military police captain next to the supreme commander draws a pistol and shoots them in the head!
Obey orders! A soldier's duty is to obey orders!
Any disobedience, for any reason, will be sent to a military tribunal. Military law is unforgiving, and that's no joke! Only artistically embellished TV dramas would have such foolish scenes.
"So... who will bite the hook first? The carp, the shark, or the goldfish?" Standing on his balcony, propping his chin with his hand, he watched the citizens slowly pour like ants from the outer city into the empty inner city, smiling faintly. His soft silver hair swayed gently in the breeze, like a fishhook laden with bait.
The inner fortress was originally reserved for the children of meritorious military families, but with no war on the western front, Red Leaf Ridge's inner city, which hadn't seen war in a long time, only housed a dozen or so children of meritorious nobles. Most nobles didn't even care for the 'steel forest' inside, preferring to buy houses in the bustling outer districts. As nobles and children of meritorious families, they didn't need merit points to buy houses, but it was limited to three per person.
It was only at this moment that they understood why the houses in the inner fortress could only be occupied by children of meritorious families and could only be allocated, not bought or sold: it was simply a life-saving artifact for wartime!
Many people, benefiting from their fathers' legacy and already holding noble titles, shed tears of gratitude to their ancestors after moving into their original homes.
Kayal wasn't afraid that no 'fish' would take the bait; Red Leaf Ridge was simply too rich! And the nearby lords were simply too poor. This was the definition of taking a desperate risk, especially since the news of Red Leaf Ridge's knights being fully deployed must have already been observed by various intelligence agents. To be honest, it just depended on who Red Leaf Ridge's infantry would practice against this time.
That's right, practice.
Kayal characterized this war as practice, and moving the citizens into the inner fortress was merely to protect their lives from harm. After all, it was their first battle, and Kayal's ideal casualty count was to annihilate the enemy within two thousand casualties.
That's right, total annihilation—infantry annihilating cavalry!
This is different from routing. Routing only requires depleting the enemy's forces to about twenty to thirty percent. Cold weapon warfare has shown that an army will be compelled to retreat once its casualties reach thirty percent, and at fifty percent, the army has already collapsed.
However, if annihilation reaches eighty percent, it will provoke the army to fight to the death. Therefore, Kayal made full psychological preparations and accounted for casualties to handle this training exercise. Ten years of sharpening a sword—its sharpness will be seen today!
However, the brutality of this war would far exceed Kayal's expectations...