Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

Suya's army was dirt poor.

To what extent? The entire army brought their own dry rations, their own weapons. All supplies were scavenged from the various manors and villages around the Bern territory. What they got was only tung oil, pine oil, and wine that hadn't been carried away. As for anything else—

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Forget about battering rams, ballistas, or fire arrows for attacking camps, or even tents for soldiers to live in. They didn't even have caltrops to obstruct enemy charges, or the wood and rope to make them. Each soldier had only one weapon. Besides the five thousand elite cavalry, most soldiers' armor consisted only of a half-breastplate and greaves. Their military provisions were only enough for twenty-seven thousand people and approximately six thousand warhorses for a day and a half.

Even with Suya disguised as the 'King,' giving these on-the-verge-of-collapse soldiers a glimmer of hope, preventing an immediate mutiny, having them fight—and win against the world's most powerful Macedonian army—was impossible.

At noon, according to Suya's arrangements, Lucan only gave the five thousand cavalry responsible for tonight's operation one meal; everyone else went hungry. And these five thousand cavalry, in Suya's plan, were not meant for fighting, but for—

Running!

On the second day after the breakthrough plan was implemented, at 11 PM.

Northwest of the Bern territory, 10 kilometers south of the Togus Legion's camp, commanded by Ptolemy.

On a hilly plateau, a group of five hundred cavalry, lurking there, received the King's messenger knight in the dead of night.

"Operation has begun!"

The messenger knight held the royal banner and presented it to the captain leading the cavalry squad. "As planned—light the ghost fires!"

The cavalry captain nodded, just as he had been briefly trained by Dagonet earlier in the day, waving the royal banner to give the signal. The knight beside him immediately took out a flint from his bosom, striking it to light the torch in his hand. Then, the mounted knight held the torch level, extending it to touch a bonfire frame that had been pre-staked into the ground.

Flames licked at the tung oil in the fire basin.

In the darkness, the first light ignited!

Immediately after, the second, third, fourth, up to the tenth. With 25 meters as a boundary, a row of bonfire stakes lit up, illuminating the surroundings, revealing—

This hilly terrain was covered with such wooden stakes, bonfire frames, and wooden poles soaked in tung oil, stuck into the ground. Each bonfire point was 50 paces apart, and countless such bonfire points stretched from south to north, all the way towards the Togus Legion's encampment.

The flickering flames illuminated the faces of the five hundred knights lurking there, awaiting the King's command.

The five hundred knights immediately sprang into action, lighting a row of bonfires every 50 paces, creating the illusion of a camp shifting and a large army advancing.

Soon, the illuminated hilly terrain stood out, contrasting with the flat ground immersed in darkness! It immediately attracted the attention of enemy sentries and was quickly reported up the chain of command.

Such an action was undoubtedly a provocation to the enemy!

And soon,

"—RUMBLE!"

From the direction of the Togus Legion, a thundering sound of hooves shaking the ground erupted! A furious Lion-Man Cavalry unit galloped swiftly towards them!

Hearing the commotion, the cavalry captain's face immediately broke into a smile. He instantly waved the royal banner again, leading the five hundred cavalry to drop their torches and gallop into the darkness behind them.

Twenty minutes later, the same scene replayed in the northeast corner of the Bern territory, at the Conqueror King's encampment.

On the third day after the breakthrough plan was implemented, at midnight, 0:00.

Suya mounted his warhorse, standing in the central area of the Bern territory, which was surrounded on three sides. He sat on his horse, gazing at the movements in the two illuminated directions in the distance. Behind him, three thousand elite cavalry stood ready, awaiting his command.

At this moment, Lucan, who had ridden up beside Suya, couldn't help but frown and ask, "My King, in what direction do you ultimately intend to break through?"

Near evening, they had set up numerous bonfires in two directions to simulate the movement of a large army camp. Now, this commotion had indeed attracted the enemy's attention. However, Suya was not leading the cavalry to attack in any particular direction, nor had he given them the next instructions.

At this moment, Suya stopped being enigmatic and directly replied, "We are going to break through the coastal corridor guarded by Seleucus."

"There are less than ten thousand men there."

Hearing this, Lucan frowned even deeper. It wasn't that he thought Suya's choice was wrong; they didn't really have many good options in this situation, as every direction essentially led to a death trap. He could only remind Suya of the opponents they would encounter on that path:

"The Seleucus Legion has a topographical advantage there. In the narrow coastal area, our numerical advantage cannot be fully utilized. Moreover, with the Macedonian Companion Cavalry on their flank, if we force a breakthrough, our main cavalry force will likely be pinned down by the Companion Cavalry. Even if our infantry battalions have a two or three times numerical advantage, they won't be able to break through the Macedonian phalanx in that terrain."

Suya nodded. "The Macedonian phalanx can indeed be called invincible in such narrow, head-on engagement terrain."

"A forest of 5-meter spears means anyone who charges will die."

"However, the Macedonian phalanx also has weaknesses."

"This formation is very cumbersome to turn, and its direction of advance is essentially fixed. A sudden change in formation is equivalent to the phalanx collapsing, and once the phalanx collapses, the soldiers will find it difficult to effectively wound enemies with their 5-meter-long, super-heavy weapons."

"As long as we break through the flanks, the spearmen in the phalanx will have no chance of resisting, let alone escaping."

Lucan looked sideways at Suya, thinking this kid might be a bit too naive, and had to remind him:

"However, My King, you must understand—"

"The Macedonian phalanx is powerful precisely because the enemy is forced to engage them head-on!"

"And the Companion Cavalry accompanying the phalanx legions do exactly that."

"A phalanx legion, plus Companion Cavalry, plus light infantry protecting the flanks, that is the complete Macedonian phalanx!"

Suya's eyes narrowed slightly, falling upon the Togus Legion in the northwest, and he chuckled. "So, we need to loosen them up."

He then asked, "Has Dagonet not reached the hilly terrain yet?"

Lucan was about to reply that he hadn't received a report from the messenger, and he didn't even know where Suya had deployed Dagonet. The actions of the Royal Guard Cavalry were entirely directed by Suya during battle; only Suya himself knew the full scope of the battle plan.

And just then—

Suddenly, to the right of the entire Royal Guard Cavalry, on the southeast side of the entire Bern territory, in the darkness, a third grand light ignited!

"It's time—"

Seeing this, Suya's eyes sharpened. He immediately pulled out the blue-backed, red-dragon royal banner that was stuck by his side. With E-rank Strength, which was at the human limit, he swung it as if holding nothing!

The royal banner was swung, making a rustling, fluttering sound. Suya held the royal banner and pointed it towards the left flank of the cavalry regiment, towards the location of Ptolemy's Lion-Man Cavalry. His gaze turned cold:

"Knights, it's our turn to enter the stage!"

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