Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

On the other side,

East of the Bern territory, beneath the Plymouth Iron Wall.

At the Temple of Artemis.

The tall figure leaning on the throne, with slender eyes closed, rested one hand on her cheek, quietly listening as Parmenion, kneeling before her, reported news from various fronts—

"General Craterus, following your command, launched a surprise attack on Bestock and has already taken that fortress city."

"General Nearchus is sailing as planned, passing through the Strait of Dover."

"Three days ago, General Hephaestion, commanding your 2 million troops, annihilated the Kingdom of Eire in Ireland. The remnants of the Fianna Knights, led by Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, crossed the sea to Wales and are fleeing eastward. The whereabouts of their leader, Fionn, are temporarily unknown, but there are rumors that he was dragged away by a strange golden-haired man with chains."

"Now, General Hephaestion is about to reach Liverpool Docks."

"Furthermore, regarding Cornwall,"

"General Ptolemy captured Solsbury last night."

"The main army of forty thousand troops, and the ten thousand troops under General Seleucus, have also withdrawn from the plains before the Golden Curtain, driving the routed forces towards Solsbury and the Bern territory for a final encirclement."

"But,"

At this point, Parmenion paused slightly, looking up at the figure on the throne, and asked hesitantly,

"Leaving only three thousand cavalry for you, is that too few?"

"After all, although King Uther is dead and we've annihilated the routed soldiers, there are still too many remnants. If we complete the grand encirclement prematurely, and they manage to break out..."

"Heh~"

"What grand encirclement is this, Parmenion? Your courage is truly dwindling."

The tall figure on the throne let out a soft laugh, calmly glancing at Parmenion, and said indifferently,

"The King's feast doesn't need so many commoners."

"And if he doesn't have the ability to come before me, then that's enough to prove—"

"He is not the King!"

At this, the Conqueror King asked the aged general below with interest,

"How about it, Parmenion, do you think—"

"He can come to my side?"

"I have, after all, given him a chance..."

Parmenion bowed his head deeply, daring not to meet the King's gaze directly. He merely raised his gauntleted hand, tapped his heart, and spoke in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, I swear by my life's loyalty to you, to the former king, and to Macedon—"

"Even if I expend all my strength and burn out my blood,"

"I will absolutely not let him come to your side!"

The Conqueror King, unconcerned, waved her hand.

"Go."

Parmenion lowered his head and slowly stood up.

The old heroic general took a final look around the Temple of Artemis, which had been reborn along with the new king eighteen years ago. He looked up slightly, through the unroofed opening above the central shrine of the temple, towards the sky.

The scorching midday sun fell upon him, as if the goddess Artemis herself was delivering a fiery punishment upon him.

He turned,

And walked out of the temple,

His ancient gaze now utterly resolute.

Pendragon Castle,

Before the round table in the council chamber,

Su Ya stared at the map, gradually understanding how to read maps of this era with Dagonet's explanation.

The maps of Britain at this time were still in the medieval style, with various castles, large and small, drawn all over a parchment. Unlike the maps of his previous life, which meticulously marked contour lines, compass roses, coordinate grids, and other detailed symbols.

Each castle on it actually represented a supply route. So, what this map emphasized was actually the strategic significance of each castle.

This brings up another question:

Why didn't medieval armies bypass castles during wartime?

Simply put, it was due to logistics. People needed to eat, and warhorses needed fodder. A large army of ten thousand could bypass a castle by climbing mountains and crossing rivers, but how to supply the at least twenty thousand people in logistics serving that army was another matter.

And in this world, even professional fighters, and even stronger masters, heroes, and legends, were still living beings; they also needed to eat, and they ate more than ordinary people.

Who would fight for you without food?

At this moment, Su Ya looked at the branching lines on the map, memorizing all the locations of estates, supply points, and potential supply points.

Then, under the guidance of Dagonet, who was very familiar with the Cornwall region, he matched the approximate terrain around each castle and the positions of enemy and friendly forces to the memorized points one by one.

Next,

Surveying the entire map, his gaze finally settled on three points:

Plymouth, Solsbury, and Bestock.

Their current predicament, being unable to advance or retreat, was precisely because the Conqueror King's main army controlled these three key nodes and the vital passes around them.

The Golden Curtain, encircled by these three nodes, and the capital behind it, might be able to draw provisions from the rear. However, the routed forces trapped before these nodes would receive no supplies and couldn't defeat the Conqueror King's army blocking their way. They could only turn into disorganized rabble, scattering into various estates and villages under their jurisdiction to scavenge for resources.

Looking at the map,

Su Ya generally understood the situation of the routed forces like themselves, grasping their scattered positions and predicaments.

"As you can see, the enemy now controls three vital passes, completely cutting off our routes of advance."

"Nearly one hundred thousand routed troops are trapped here, and the Conqueror King's fifty thousand strong army is pressing closer, constantly annihilating us."

Hearing this, and listening to Lucan's additional numbers, Su Ya felt somewhat bewildered again.

"Wait, how many did you say?"

"Her fifty thousand, chasing our hundred thousand?"

Then, Su Ya turned his head again, looking at Merlin, and asked with surprise,

"Also, you told me before, don't we still have three defensive lines?"

"One hundred thousand people defending the lines, crushed by fifty thousand?"

"You have to count the logistics too." Merlin spread her hands very candidly,

"To be precise, three hundred thousand people were defeated by the fifty thousand troops personally led by the Conqueror King."

Su Ya was stunned.

He had always thought that the Conqueror King, relying on Macedon's large population and territory, was simply overwhelming King Uther of Britain with sheer numbers.

So, it turned out they were the ones fighting with numerical superiority?

Thinking this, Su Ya immediately looked at Lucan, who seemed to have personally witnessed King Uther's death, and asked,

"But... with a hundred thousand people protecting him, how exactly did King Uther die?"

Lucan was silent for a moment, deciding not to answer the question.

Su Ya frowned and asked again, "Didn't anyone organize the routed soldiers to launch a counterattack?"

"Yes."

At this, Dagonet immediately responded,

"All the legendary powerhouses sacrificed themselves in Patala, Persia. The remaining heroes who escaped from Exeter all sacrificed themselves at Plymouth, Cornwall's second iron wall."

At this, Dagonet said somewhat sheepishly:

"Your Majesty,"

"Now, we few are the strongest among those remaining."

Su Ya: "Huh?"

He thought for a moment, then asked again, unwilling to give up, "Then what advantages do we have?"

Dagonet thought for a moment, then tentatively replied:

"Our legendary powerhouses and heroes have all sacrificed themselves. In contrast—"

"We eat a little less than them?"

Su Ya thought to himself, You're quite good at dark humor.

Receiving no useful answers from his inquiries, he quickly turned his gaze back to the map.

He kept recalling the deeds of Alexander that he had read about in his mind.

As he pondered, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him. He abruptly looked up at Lucan and Dagonet, and asked gravely:

"So, how many people do we still have?"

"I mean, how many people can we still organize?"