The drunken Captain Sear seemed to have heard that someone wanted to bring him to fight in a war. The young chap who thought so highly of himself raised the wine bottle. "Triangular array advance, left wing, provide cover, right wing, outflank…Guards…advance!"
"Take him to rest!" as soon as Marshal Robin stretched out a hand towards the doorway, an officer in the room immediately carried away the young lad who was shooting his mouth off.
The officer placed Count Hanning onto a sofa. The old man's limbs were made heavy and flaccid by the alcohol, but his eyes were still focused.
"Alright Moranzo, stop putting on an act and let's talk!" Marshal Robin said as he turned toward the perplexed officers. "Let me formally introduce to everyone, Lieutenant General Moranzo Hanning - Chairperson of the western war zone Military Intelligence Battlefield Survey and Control Committee."
The Chief of Staff of the Guards turned toward the old count who was already sitting upright and still. "Have you noticed? Among the entourage of the Imperial Commissioners, there are quite a few secret agents with creepy looks!"
Moranzo's mouth twitched. "News from the capital's side reveals four. There is still a team of secret operation agents in the vicinity."
The room fell silent. In the end, it was Marshal Robin who spoke first.
"Is it possible to get in contact with His Highness Prince O'Neil Andrew Morisette? I mean secretly, where no one is able to learn of the contact."
Lieutenant General Hanning nodded with unusual certainty, "A one-way communication will be smooth without any hindrance!"
The Chief of Staff of the Guards nodded with a smile. "Send a letter for me?"
On the 12th day of the 1st month in Church's year 802, the messenger representing Titan arrived at the Anti-Titan Alliance central camp located within the borders of Riel. For security measures, the messengers responsible to pass on the documents were divided into two groups. One of the groups traveled by boat and directly cut through the lake while the other group, under the protection of the secret operations agents, entered Riel by land. These senseless actions were said to be because the Western Army Groups were hostile toward the special commissioner who came from the capital. These young officers of the Western Army Group who had attempted to surrender to the enemies had been in such a clamor as they were afraid that the soldiers would strike them treacherously on the road.
In any case, Lieutenant General Logan Smith and the Imperial Commissioner arrived at the Anti-Titan Alliance's central camp with the documents safely. There were no surprises or danger throughout the journey, exceeding the expectations of the capital aristocrats. The arrogant and overbearing King of Hoilland, to one's surprise, did not adopt a look of a person giving charity. Both sides were low profile. The Westland Kingdom Alliance did not let the Titan envoy raise a white flag when entering the army camp nor did they allow the accompanying Titan soldiers to feel a shred of embarrassment. It was as if everything made sense.
When the two sides held a formal discussion and since Marshal Robin, Chief of Staff of the Guards, refused to attend the meeting, the Anti-Titan Alliance completely removed the Titan military from the meeting. They made Lieutenant General Smith and a few other generals wait outside the door, leaving only the Commissioner of the Imperial Household of Morisette.
As a result, no one knew what kind of proposal was agreed upon between the Westland Kingdom Alliance and the Titan envoy. However, judging from the face of the Imperial Commissioner when he left the meeting place, the future prospects did not look too optimistic.
On the return journey, Lieutenant General Smith kept inquiring about matters of the negotiations, but the Imperial Commissioner refused to disclose any information. Only when General Logan once again met up with Marshal Robin did he only completely give up on such a plan. However, he already feared. If the Imperial Commissioner refused to discuss such matters with the military, then it indicated that Her Majesty the Empress had the intention to completely abandon the Titan military! Or perhaps, the conditions set by the Anti-Titan Alliance were absolutely unacceptable to the Imperial Guards so there was simply no need to discuss with it the military at all.
Regardless of whichever the two situations above, as long as the clause of the peace treaty was made public, needless to say, the entire world would be turned upside down!
Even now, the clause of the peace treaty was in a phase of strict secrecy. Although the unit of Guards stationed at the frontlines to fight against the enemies could still strictly adhere to the order of "pausing all hostile acts" issued by Her Majesty the Empress. However, the agitated local nobles and the armed militia of various names were already losing their patience. They replaced all the Imperial Guards who had holed themselves up in the barracks and fortresses at the frontlines of the western borders and even the entire defensive area, voluntarily shouldering the responsibilities of the military patrol.
From how the great nobles that were close to the border or in the many provinces of the war zone saw it, regardless of the intentions of Her Majesty the Empress, at the end of it, those who suffered and got dragged into it would be them! It was understandable that the Imperial Household of Morisette and the capital aristocrats sought reconciliation for self-protection but when faced with a peace talk that was impossible to be fair and equal, the central government would usually sacrifice local interests to consolidate the precarious system. If this happened, then the nobles would ask if the westerners want Titan to cede territories, whose territories will be ceded? The westerners want Titan to pay war reparations, so who will rake in the money?
The nobles would not do it!
The elder's parliamentary system from the ancient age of the Roman Empire had made the Titans aristocrats cherish their right to speak and participate in politics. Despite centuries ago, the increasingly arrogant monarchy autocratic system already recorded the nature and role of the Elder Parliament in refute, there was still such a spirit of collectivism in the bones of the Titan nobles. When they wanted to achieve something, most of them would huddle up into a group.
Therefore, the nobles who dared to fight, dared to strive hard for something, dared to dream and dared to act, were not as reticent as the military. Although the number of such people was not the majority, there was always someone who was as cynical as the Lieutenant General of the Guards, Count Moranzo Hanning.
Moranzo had adopted the spirit of the military and integrated some of the aristocrats' way of thinking. In the coastal area of Souzgar Lake, Count Moranzo Hanning had gathered all the independent noble armed forces. Due to the rules in the Titan Codex, the former Lieutenant General of the Guards (now as well) did not establish the authorized strength of the assembled local division. However, in reality, they had already achieved the size of a Front.
Not only that, Count Hanning of remarkable abilities, through his old connections in the military, managed to get hold of standard weapons of the regular army for the noble armed forces in his great manor and had all the horses in the public and private stables along the coastal areas of the lake act as warhorses. Until the Captain of the Guards of a ripe age felt that it was almost time, the Souzgar First Independent Cavalry Corps was born in the small town called "Rose Tree".
Since returning from the Anti-Titan Alliance camp, Lieutenant General Logan Smith had already realized that his son was a completely new person. The previous Captain Sear Smith would obey his father's every word. Even if he had any contradictions to them, it would not surface. However, just look at this what this outrageous scoundrel who thought so highly of himself had done?
The Captain of the Guards personally applied to join the Souzgar Independent Division established by Count Moranzo Hanning and also personally planned all matters concerning the establishment of the entire cavalry corps. Even though Sear Smith did not know that he would become the only captain to command a cavalry corps in all the military history of Titan, from how everyone saw it, this young man's courage was greater than his age by thirty or forty years!
Lieutenant General Logan Smith terrifyingly, strictly, with a fierce demeanor put on, and through every possible means, persuaded his son to stay away from the battlefield and follow him to return to Dulin. The father even made a promise to his son of a freedom to love, but Sear remained indifferent. When he was facing his father, it was as if he was eyeing a cloud of air or a pile of dung.
Putting it this way may be a little overkill, but after all, it was the first time that the young Captain of the Guard fought with his family and elders, and his spirit and determination also destined that he would attain victory when the family conflict started.
General Logan Smith's attitude in treating his son and many matters had already made the western soldiers who stayed in the manor fed up. When he threatened Sear by severing their father-son relationship, the Chief of Staff of the Guards, Marshal Robin had to personally step in. He said a sentence to the father, who sighed over his son not living up to expectations, "… you better stay far away from that good child!"
Sear had won. His father rolled up the beddings in a panic and boarded the ferry. The young Captain of the Guards rode on the warhorse, clad in full armor. He continued to escort his father to the lakeside. When they were parting ways, General Smith expressed a slight smile and said to his son, "Silly boy, I just don't want you to die on the battlefield like those brainless warriors."
Sear pointed to Souzgar Lake, where a layer of thin ice was floating. "Father, I just wanted to tell you, even if this is a dead pool of water, even if the ice and snow have frozen its surface, but inside, there are still waves."
"I really can't see it…" the middle-aged man assessed the surface of the lake.
"Of course!" the son nodded. "You only see its calm and soothing side, but the ice and snow are bound to melt. The great ocean and river will pour life into it - this is its fate and it is the belief of the warriors who stepped up to take the place of their fallen comrades."
"In that case...goodbye son!"
"Yes...goodbye father!"
The young captain gave a farewell salute to the Lieutenant General of the Guards who was about to leave the battlefield and return to the flourishing world of the capital. At the same time, this was the last meeting between the father and son.
Later, Sear Smith devoted his passion wholeheartedly into his work. He had to arrange real combat training courses for ten thousand fishermen, hunters and farmers. He was responsible for the armed patrol within a hundred miles or more of the defensive line of the lake's southern bank. He wanted to urge the residents in the lake area who were naturally slow to observe the discipline of martial law. He wanted to give God mystery. He wanted to consolidate the communications network and maintain a secure transportation line for the secretive Count Moranzo Hanning.
When Count Moranzo Hanning was free, he would look for the young officer who kept a beard. He always said that Sear was like an old friend of his, but never told him who the friend was.
Actually, Sear did not wish to know. He had some understanding of the secretive identity of the old count, but military tradition warned Sear that if he was to come across something that should not be asked about, then keep his mouth shut or else it would stir trouble.
Once, Count Hanning suddenly talked about his daughter, a graduate of Dulin University's Department of History with upstanding attitude, a gentle nature, also considerate, a home-lover and the darling at balls. The old man described his daughter as an angel. Even though there were always never-ending things to see to each day, even if the relationship with the enemies were really tense, but Sear, who had never been in a relationship was a little stirred. He unobtrusively enquired the name and age of the countess from the old man.
"You mean my Rolanda?" Moranzo Hanning shot the young man a penetrating gaze and then gave an odd laugh. "If you had met me three or five years ago, maybe I would marry my daughter off to you, but you are late! My Rolanda is married to the Historian of the Imperial Household and even little Oscar had cast her away and disregarded her!"
"Little Oscar?" upon hearing this name, Captain Sear became lost in thought. "You mean… that Oscar?"
"Which other Oscar is there?" Moranzo seemed to have drunk too much wine. When he mentioned that name, even his eyebrows would raise. "It's the little Oscar who is Prince of the Empire, the little Oscar that is the Marshal of the Guards, the little Oscar who is the Head of the Andrew Family! He is a Saint, a national hero of the Titans! You know, he keeps bossing this old geezer around. Even if I'm retired, I won't be able to live my days in peace!"
Sear Smith merely listened. Just as Count Hanning said, little Oscar was the Prince of the Empire, the Marshal of the Guards, the Family Head of the God-chosen warriors. As a Captain of the Guards, he was not qualified to comment on the hero of his heart, his model and idol.
"That said…if those two children, Oscar and Rolanda could really be together, that isn't bad as well!" Count Hanning muttered in regret, but he quickly cheered up. "Oh well…they just aren't fated to be! Now on the other hand, it seems like it's a good thing!"
"You know what?" the Chairperson of the Western war zone Military Intelligence Battlefield Survey and Control Committee suddenly lowered his voice. "Little Oscar has left from the south! When he arrives in the capital, a great upheaval will be inevitable!"
"You mean..."
"Hush..." Moranzo stretched out a finger and covered his lips. "You are a soldier, I am also a soldier! Soldiers only do what they should do."
Captain Sear Smith became inexplicably excited! There would be a great upheaval in Dulin? This meant that the leading military power headed by His Imperial Highness Prince O'Neil Andrew Morisette had to distinguish between the winners and losers for the capital's surrender! Sear was a soldier. He naturally believed that the ultimate victor would be the soldiers. So, he excitedly and happily got ready his luggage and busied himself with things that soldiers should do.
On the 28th day of the 1st month in Church's Year 802, the Titan Empire's western borders were as quiet as usual. The Anti-Titan Alliance army was still waiting in strict formation outside the borders. This was sufficient to tell that the Westland Kingdom Alliance was not very optimistic about the prospect of peace talks. Moreover, the long-term deployment of five hundred thousand officers and soldiers in foreign countries was a heavy burden on each of the alliance countries. It was either they obtained victory or retrieved this amount at the negotiating table. Apart from this, the Westland Kingdom Alliance was incapable of achieving their purpose of invading Titan.
Without any large-scale warfare and the invasions of their imaginations, the westerners had to find some pleasure and excitement for the boring military life. The small towns and affluent villages at Titan's borders quickly became a banquet spread out before the invaders. Since the western soldiers were generally dissatisfied with the decision-making stratum's policy of avoiding war, in order to divert themselves from depression, the leaders of the Anti-Titan Alliance released many low-ranking officers and men to harass the inner side of Titan's borders. In fact, we all knew that the more thoroughly the Titan Imperial Guards implemented the war avoiding the policy, the more it made the actions of the invaders at the borders to be no different than robbing.
The Souzgar Lake area was at the south-central region of the western frontier, less than two days' journey from the southeastern strategical focus, Valencia Fortress. Although the lake area was not a land that was necessarily fought for, the nearby towns and villages of the area rather provoked the envy of others.
On the 28th day of the 1st month, as usual, Captain Sear Smith led an entire division of the Souzgar First Independent Cavalry Corps to go on the fixed route of the armed patrol. At the very beginning, everything was normal. He and the volunteers went westward along the shore of the lake to take in the landscape that was only too familiar. However, when they visited the border, the hoofprints left by the invaders shattered the peace of the past few days.
Hoofprints started from the border and extended southwest. Sear studied the map angrily. Without having to think, one already knew that these invading soldiers who had barged into their country wanted to carry out harmful acts.
There were a large town and four villages towards the southwest, which were not within the defensive lines of the Guards. The large town would not be in danger as the invader's troops were only a group. They would not dare harass a division formed by local nobles. The problem was the four villages - which one would it be?
Sear did not let the volunteer soldiers who were eager to get into action wait too long, not to mention some of the soldiers were the villagers from those four villages. The young commander of the cavalry made the most proper judgment. He ordered the division to be divided into three groups, starting the chase from the closest road section. Once the enemy was discovered, sounding arrows would be used as the signal.
Sear led a group of soldiers and ran like mad for a while. His luck was not very good. Situated by the lake, the little village that had the largest propensity of encountering enemies was intact and well.
The Captain of the Guards immediately set out and led the troops to the next destination. Within half an hour, they caught up with the Independent Division's First Group that was headed in that other direction.
The First Group encountered some trouble. They had caught up to the tail of their enemies and saw a village that had been looted by the invaders. Seeing the local elders, the wives and daughters dying tragically in pools of blood, the soldiers of the lake area went mad like crocodiles that had their tails stepped on.
To everyone's surprise, the devil soldiers did not panic and flee. They fought while retreating until they broke into a forest at the coastal area of the lake, only then did they stop.
Sear Smith caught up with the First Group. Only through immense effort did he manage to stop the soldiers who wanted to charge into the forest. After watching for a moment on the battlefield, the cavalry commander spent a lot of time to explain to the people of the great lake that everything before them was the trap carefully laid out by the enemy.
Sear sent a communications official. He wanted to summon all Souzgar knights then only be able to completely gobble up the invading enemies. This was because in his opinion, the hoofprints left by the enemy were the first trap of this deception. There was not necessarily that many people hiding in that jungle! Moreover, the real intention of these people might well be to consume Sear's patrol and defense division.
Not long after, the sly enemies apparently realized that the Titan soldiers outside the forest were not a group of brainless daredevils and ambushing this cavalry naturally became a wild wish. The invaders who penetrated deep into Titan's border started to become frightened. They knew that the Titan soldier's reinforcements would charge in from all directions in a while more. So, just as the Captain of the Guards predicted, the Hoilland Cavalry Division that had broken into the borders charged out of the forest boldly, seeing as they were advantageous in numbers.
The Souzgar soldiers formed a skirmish line outside the forest. They waited for the enemy silhouettes to appear close to the forest line and then accurately released their arrows. The front lines of the enemies fell in a split second.
A portion of the burning arrows set fire onto the lawn outside the forest. The northwestern wind of winter helped fan the intensity of the flames. The Hoilland Cavalry's formation was already in a mess by the time they charged through the sea of fire that stretched on for about fifty meters. The young Captain of the Guards finally issued the order to kill on sight. The Souzgar area's fiercest wetland crocodiles immediately opened their ferocious mouths and charged toward the enemy that could not live under the same sky as them.
A disparity in intrinsic quality existed in the confrontation between the local independent armed forces and the regular cavalry troops. The volunteer soldiers kept falling off their horses and kept getting hacked down onto the freezing plains of the lake by the enemies that trained constantly. The wounded Titan soldiers let out a shout of being on the verge of death, but they kept holding onto their weapons and searched for enemies under the excruciating pain. The soldiers became more and more fearless as they fought. They kept on charging and killing, but the Titans seemed to be never-ending. Wherever they charged, they seemed to still be going around in circles at the shore of the lake.
If there was anything even more astounding, it was that after the battle, no one ever saw the commander of the soldiers, Captain Sear Smith ever again. The volunteer soldiers had also never heard the voice of this young man. He usually liked to shout while clutching his throat during the usual exercises.
The Titan soldiers had no time to wonder about why the brave Captain of the Guards suddenly became so shy. They only gave their all and faithfully executed the commander's orders. Sear ordered them to break their organizational structure and with five in a group to continue to attack the head and rear of the enemy group at the skirmish line. Sear ordered them to not worry about sacrifices, to kill however they wanted to and to do whatever they wanted to. Sear ordered them to not give the enemies an opportunity to catch their breath, to get up if they fell, to charge forward and return. Even the wounded who had fallen were to take with them the horse leg of an enemy.
All of these, the soldiers had done so! They used to just be a group of simple-minded common people of the lake area. They were hunters, fishermen, and diligent farmers. Previously, if they were to come upon such cold day, they would hide in a brick house with a blazing fireplace, scold their children, beat their wife, and if their pockets had enough, they would hook up a few playmates to gamble. The lowlifes from the west had murdered their sons and nephews, shamed their wives and daughters, and seized their properties. They took up weapons and dealt with these mutts, just like how Captain Sear taught them to!
"Sear has sacrificed himself…Sear has sacrificed himself…" a Souzgar soldier suddenly cried loudly.
The Hoilland Cavalry that had gotten caught up in the chaotic warfare was naturally overjoyed. They began to charge everywhere in a frenzy. In any case, the Titans' commander was dead. However, this time they made the wrong judgment. The Titan soldiers not only did not retreat but instead became more and more courageous as they fought!
The Souzgar soldiers, whose minds were as clear as the lake, did not think that Captain Sear's sacrifice represented anything. They all felt that since they had set foot on the battlefield, sacrifice was only a matter of time. Sear had just been one step ahead and the ferocious anger triggered by this should naturally be vented out on their enemies.
This was the case with war. Even though Sear was such an adorable soldier, an excellent commander, no one could tell for certain how he fell silently onto the icy layer by the lakeside. He lay in his own blood, his eyes narrowed serenely, looking up at the clouds floating in the sky.
As the ice layer gradually cracked, Sear fell into the calm Souzgar Lake. The lake was mixed with the blood of the soldiers. The north wind rose on the battleground and waves surged upon the surface of the lake.