I must draw my sword immediately!

Chapter 57 The Great Encirclement

#
the other side,
East of Burneshire, beneath the Iron Wall of Plymouth.

Temple of Artemis.

The tall figure leaned against the throne, his long, slender eyes closed, one hand supporting his cheek, listening quietly as Parmenion, kneeling below, reported news from all sides.

"As for Bestok, General Kratrus, following your orders, launched a surprise attack ahead of schedule and has already captured that fortified city."

"General Niacus is sailing as planned, crossing the Strait of Dover."

"Three days ago, General Hephaestion, who commands your 200 million-strong army, destroyed the Kingdom of Arryn in Ireland. The remnants of the Fiona Knights, led by Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, crossed the sea to Wales and fled eastward. The Grand Master Finn is currently missing, but there are rumors that he was dragged away by a strange man with blond hair in chains."

"General Heffertion is now about to arrive at Liverpool docks."

“Furthermore, in Cornwall,”

"General Ptolemy captured the city of Saul last night."

"The 40,000 troops of the central army and the 10,000 troops under General Seleucus have also withdrawn from the plain in front of the Golden Iron Curtain, driving the defeated troops toward Sol City and Bern Territory to launch the final round of encirclement and suppression."

"but,"

At this point, Parmanuel paused slightly, looked up at the figure on the throne, and asked hesitantly:

"Is leaving only three thousand cavalrymen for you a bit too few?"

"After all, although King Uther is dead and we have annihilated the fleeing troops, there are still too many remnants. If we complete the encirclement prematurely, what if they break through?"

"Ha~"

"What kind of big encirclement is this, Parmanuel? You're getting more and more timid."

The tall figure on the throne chuckled softly, calmly glancing at Pamanuel, and said indifferently:
"The king's banquet has no need for so many mediocre people."

"Moreover, if he is unable to come before me, that alone is enough to prove—"

"He is not a king!"

At this point, the Conqueror King asked the elderly general at the head of the table with great interest:
"So, Parmanuel, what do you think—"

"Can he come to my side?"

"But I've already given him a chance."

Parmanuel lowered his head deeply, no longer daring to look the king in the eye. He simply raised his gauntlet, tapped it against his heart, and spoke in a deep voice:

"My king, I swear my lifelong loyalty to you, to the late king, and to Macedonia—"

"Even if it costs me everything, even if it burns out my blood,"

"And I will never let him come to your side!"

The Conqueror King didn't take it seriously and waved his hand dismissively.

"Go."

Parmanuel lowered his head and slowly stood up.
The veteran hero took one last look around the Temple of Artemis, the very temple that had been reborn alongside the new king eighteen years earlier. He tilted his head slightly back, gazing at the sky through the uncovered roof above the central shrine.

The midday sun blazed down on him, as if the goddess Artemis were subjecting him to the punishment of being burned alive.

He turned around,

Walking out of the temple,

His aged gaze had become incredibly resolute.

#
Pendenburg,
At the round table in the council chamber,
Suya stared at the map, and with Dagonet's explanation, gradually understood how to read a map of this era.

The maps of Britain at this time still retained the medieval style of being filled with castles of all sizes on a piece of parchment, unlike the maps of the previous era which used detailed symbols such as contour lines, orientation marks, and coordinate grids.

The castles on the map are actually supply lines, so this map focuses on the strategic significance of each castle.

This leads to another issue,
Why didn't medieval warfare bypass castles?

Simply put, it's about supplies. People need to eat, and warhorses need to be fed. An army of 10,000 can bypass the castle by climbing mountains and crossing rivers, but how to keep up with the logistics of at least 20,000 people serving those 10,000 is another problem.

In this world, even professionals, or even more powerful masters, heroes, and legends, are living, breathing human beings. They also need to eat, and they eat more than ordinary people.

Who will fight you if you don't have food to eat?

At this moment, Suya looked at the tree-like branches on the map and memorized all the manors, supply points, and possible supply points. Then, with the guidance of Dagonet, who was very familiar with the Cornish region, he matched the approximate terrain around each castle and the locations of enemies and friendly forces with the points he had memorized.

then,

Looking at the entire map, my gaze finally settled on three points.

Plymouth, Sal City, Bestoke.

The reason they are now in a precarious situation is because the Conqueror's army controls these three nodes and the key passes around them.

The Golden Iron Curtain, surrounded by these three nodes, and the capital city behind it, might be able to gather supplies from the rear. However, the routed troops blocked in front of these nodes would receive no supplies and, unable to defeat the conqueror king's army blocking their way, would be reduced to a chaotic mob, fleeing to various manors and villages within their territory to scavenge for resources.

Looking at the map,

Suya roughly understood the current situation of the routed troops like them, and their scattered locations and predicaments.

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

"Nearly 100,000 defeated soldiers are trapped and dying here, while the Conqueror King's 50,000-strong army is pressing forward step by step, constantly strangling us."

Hearing this, and hearing the number Lukan had added, Suya was somewhat bewildered again.
"Wait a minute, you mean the young master?"

"She has 50,000 men, and she's driving our 100,000 men along?"

Then, Sua turned back to look at Meryl and asked with a surprised expression:

"Also, you told me before that we have three lines of defense, right?"

"100,000 men defended the line, and it was breached by 50,000?"

"You also have to factor in logistics," Mary said casually, shrugging her shoulders.
"To be precise, 300,000 men were defeated by the 50,000-strong army personally led by the King of Conquerors."

Suya was stunned.
He had always believed that the conqueror king, relying on the vast population and territory of Macedonia, had used sheer numbers to bully King Uther of Britain.

So, we're the ones with more people fighting against fewer?

Thinking of this, Suya immediately looked at Lukan, the man who seemed to have witnessed King Uther's death, and asked:
"But with 100,000 men protecting him, how exactly did King Uther die?"

Lucan remained silent for a moment, then decided not to answer the question.

Suya frowned and asked again, "Isn't anyone going to organize the routed soldiers to launch a counterattack?"

"Have."

At this point, Dagonet immediately responded:
"The legendary warriors all perished at Partara in Persia, and the remaining heroes who escaped from Exeter all perished at Plymouth, the second iron wall of Cornwall."

At this point, Dagonet said somewhat embarrassedly:

"Your Majesty,"

"Right now, we are the strongest among the remaining group."

Suya: "Huh?"

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

Dagonet thought for a moment, then tentatively replied:

"Our legendary warriors and heroes have all perished; in comparison—"

"Do we eat less than them?"

Suya thought to herself, "You're quite good at telling hellish jokes."
After asking around without success, he quickly turned his attention back to the map.

He kept recalling the stories about Alexander that he had read in his mind.
As he pondered, a sudden inspiration struck him. He abruptly raised his head, looked at Lukan and Dagonet, and asked solemnly:
"So, how many of us do we have left?"

"I mean, how many more people could we possibly organize?"

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(End of this chapter)