Chapter 409: A Ballad of Loyalty
It wasn't about seeking total annihilation; those fleeing nobles were, quite simply, cash. Since they had willingly invaded the Marquisate of Targo, they might be spared death, but they would certainly have to pay a ransom to atone for their crimes. With many future expenses, every captured noble meant a bigger ransom. Why pass up such an opportunity?
Thus, it was not until a full day later that the witchers, laden with prisoners, returned to the Restoration Army camp. The battlefield where the fighting had occurred had been cleared, though a faint scent of blood still lingered in the air.
When Lynn and his group returned to the camp, they were immediately brought before Istrad.
In front of all the assembled nobles, Istrad bestowed the rank of Knight upon every witcher, and he personally conferred the title of Count upon Lynn. With all the nobles present, Istrad further promised Lynn that once he returned to Kovir and Poviss and was crowned king, Lynn would have the priority right to select his feudal domain.
Istrad smiled, observing Lynn's slightly surprised expression and the looks of astonishment on the faces of the witchers.
The oath of fealty, he knew, only had binding power if the rewards were sufficient. This held true for both honorable men and scoundrels.
The assembled nobles did not view Istrad's rewarding of commoners with jealousy or hostility. Instead, nearly all of them looked upon the witchers with a blend of goodwill and admiration. It had to be said that the atmosphere among the nobles under Istrad was genuinely good—almost too good to belong to the natives of this world.
After the ceremony, the army pressed forward, pushing all the way to the border and reclaiming the previously lost territory. Istrad paused the army at the border. After careful thought, he chose not to cross into Hengfors territory, but instead led his forces back to Targo City.
In Targo City, Lady Bénédicte hosted a special victory feast. During the celebration, Lady Bénédicte made a surprising gesture: she personally awarded Lynn the Order of the Thistle.
The Order of the Thistle was the highest honor in the Marquisate of Targo's system of awards, only granted to a select few nobles. This action was clearly done at Istrad's request. On the surface, it did not grant any tangible, concrete benefits. However, the advantage was obvious: it served to enhance Lynn's prestige and legitimize the authenticity and legality of his newly acquired comital title.
While pinning the medal on Lynn, Lady Bénédicte quietly suggested that Lynn should now consider a family name and a coat of arms design.
After resting and refitting for two months in the Marquisate of Targo, Lynn seized the opportunity to ransom the captured Hengfors nobles, securing a hefty sum.
Two months later, the refreshed Kovir Restoration Army marched once more, advancing toward Kovir and Poviss. This time, having defeated the Hengfors League, the morale of the entire Restoration Army was sky-high.
In stark contrast, King Rhaed and King Ead were in a state of utter gloom. They were stunned that Redania had not made a single move. Worse still, after the Hengfors League's defeat, Istrad's Kovir Restoration Army had suffered very few casualties. This was completely contrary to King Rhaed's expectations.
But since the Restoration Army was already advancing toward Kovir and Poviss, Rhaed had no other recourse. He summoned his vassals and prepared to meet the invasion.
The two armies finally met at the border. The Kovir Restoration Army had used the two-month rest period to recruit more soldiers and hire several mercenary companies, bringing their strength up to fifteen thousand men. The combined forces of Kovir and Poviss, however, were much larger, totaling forty thousand troops.
This overwhelming numerical superiority—more than double the enemy's strength—gave Kings Rhaed and Ead considerable confidence. After all, forty thousand against fifteen thousand—the advantage was clearly theirs.
Since the Hengfors League and Redania couldn't be relied upon, I will act myself, King Rhaed thought.
On the day of the decisive battle, a heavy fog enveloped the area, obscuring the vision of both armies. It was not until eleven in the morning that the fog finally cleared completely. The moment the enemy came into view, King Rhaed impatiently ordered his entire army to press forward and launch a full-scale assault.
When one's strength far surpassed the enemy's, skill was no longer necessary; a direct A-move would suffice. Just like now, the forty thousand troops spread out in a single line, their flanks stretching far past the enemy's formation. If the various nobles simply led their forces forward, a natural encirclement would be complete. In warfare, whether in the cold steel age or the Napoleonic era, achieving an encirclement virtually guaranteed victory. This was a truth as simple as one plus one equals two.
However, to the utter shock of Kings Rhaed and Ead, the noble armies on their left flank, which were moving to envelop the Restoration Army, changed direction after moving some distance from the center, and charged inward toward their own center forces. The noble armies on their right flank simply abandoned the battlefield entirely.
This immediately plunged the armies of King Ead and King Rhaed into a fierce struggle, caught between two attacking forces.
"What in the hells are they doing? Are they mad?" King Ead raged, utterly helpless.
No one could answer his question. King Rhaed's face was so dark it looked like it might weep.
When the House of Thyssen had fallen and fled Kovir and Poviss, a number of nobles who had originally been loyal to them immediately defected, rushing to pledge allegiance to Kings Rhaed and Ead. King Rhaed was no fool. These nobles who abandoned the House of Thyssen now might abandon him when the House of Thyssen returned. Therefore, King Rhaed had not completely exterminated the loyalist nobles of the House of Thyssen; he had merely reduced their domains and transferred the lands of both the defectors and the loyalists around. This created a situation of mutual checks and balances.
For this campaign, Rhaed had deliberately not brought any of the loyalist nobles, only the defectors. But to prevent the loyalists from revolting, he had imprisoned their wives and children in Lan Exeter, Kovir's winter capital.
To his horror, the defector nobles had collectively switched sides during the battle.
A terrifying thought crossed King Rhaed's mind: Those bastards—both the defectors and the loyalists—could they have been conspiring together to put on a performance for us this entire time?
Regardless of whether it was a performance or not, with King Rhaed's and King Ead's armies caught in a pincer, a clear rout was beginning, and defeat was inevitable. Left with no choice, Kings Rhaed and Ead abandoned their vast army and fled toward Lan Exeter.
The two kings, accompanied by only a few dozen attendants, traveled day and night like beaten dogs, finally reaching Lan Exeter several days later.
However, what truly chilled the two kings was the realization of what the right-flank noble coalition, which had abandoned the field, had been doing. They had advanced to occupy Lan Exeter ahead of time, securing the wives and children of the loyalist nobles.
It was true: those defectors and loyalists had conspired together and had been putting on a long, elaborate performance for them.
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