Whether for the royal army or the rebel forces, one word haunted them both: grain.
The saying "An army marches on its stomach" was no mere proverb.
Without sufficient supplies, soldiers grow anxious, morale crumbles, and hunger can drive even the most disciplined troops to mutiny.
Since the civil war began, the price of grain within the Drum Kingdom had continued to skyrocket.
Both domestic and foreign grain merchants had long since set their sights on the kingdom now a fat prize for profiteers. Acting in silent collusion, many major trading houses had halted large-scale exports of grain to the Drum Kingdom, waiting for prices to peak.
Two months into the war, famine had already begun spreading through the poorer, remote regions. Prices rose daily, yet even then, merchants refused to release the stockpiled food they hoarded.
To these black-hearted profiteers, the lives of the Drum Kingdom's citizens were nothing but meaningless numbers. What they cared about was profit, how much wealth they could squeeze from a nation once made rich by its medicine trade.
Among those capitalizing on this crisis was Williams' Golden Flash Trading Company. Under Aaron's foresight, the company had begun stockpiling grain two months before the civil war even erupted.
To avoid drawing attention, Williams quietly established numerous small front companies across neighboring grain-producing nations, using local agents to purchase massive quantities of food at low prices.
The resulting stockpile was staggering, enough to feed the population of Vilia Harbor for an entire year.
During this period, the Golden Flash Company made a fortune selling grain in Vilia Harbor. It was also one of the main reasons Aaron's territory remained so attractive: his grain stores stayed open and never priced above the market rate.
Meanwhile, both armies were locked in an endless arms race, rapidly expanding their forces and draining resources like water through a sieve.
Daily consumption of food reached tens of thousands of portions.
To maintain morale, both King Gresham and General Gilbert, the rebel leader, drew upon secret reserves and spent huge sums importing what grain they could from abroad.
But with the merchants' naval blockade on grain shipments, even gold couldn't buy much anymore.
Unless they imported food from faraway nations, an extremely costly and time-consuming process; their only option was to burn through their remaining reserves.
After two months of attrition, both sides were near exhaustion.
King Gresham's forces were hit especially hard. The aging monarch, compassionate to his people, continued to distribute food to famine-stricken towns even during wartime. As a result, his once-superior stores of grain rapidly depleted.
By contrast, Gilbert, the rebel commander, a man whose temperament was not unlike the tyrant Wapol had no such burden. He allowed his troops to seize grain from civilians at will, ensuring his own forces remained well-fed.
Of course, this brutality had consequences. The rebels' reputation among the people of the Drum Kingdom had plummeted to that of pirates a ruthless, evil army.
Gilbert didn't care. His men were already labeled traitors; there was no further dishonor to fear. All he desired was victory then the throne and with the World Government's backing, he could easily crush any resistance among the "lowborn rabble."
Snow Town
"Thank you for your trust, Commander. Rest assured, even if it costs every last man under my command, I, Maysfield, will defend Snow Town until reinforcements arrive. I will never abandon it."
Inside a small house in Snow Town, Arik spoke sternly into a Transponder Snail, the one with a mustache on its face.
"Well said, Major Maysfield," came Norland's deep, authoritative voice from the other end. "But remember, protect that grain at all costs. If you truly cannot hold the line, destroy it. Do not, under any circumstance, let it fall into rebel hands. Do you understand?"
Arik fell silent for a moment, then replied with conviction,
"Yes. I swear, I won't allow a single kernel of grain to fall to the rebels."
Satisfied with that assurance, Norland hung up.
"So, you got through to them," said Shuma, smiling behind his paper mask. "That means we can expect reinforcements soon. Holding Snow Town should be nearly guaranteed, right?"
"Not that simple," Arik replied, shaking his head with a faint grin. "We'll still have to fight a fierce battle."
Their plan, to use the grain as bait to force the royal army into action had worked perfectly.
Because the rebels had destroyed or occupied every nearby port town and railway hub, the royal army had no choice but to rely on overland routes for supply. But heavy snow made land transport slow and perilous; many routes were impassable.
The royal forces camped outside Frost City were themselves facing shortages. That was one of the main reasons they kept launching raids on rebel supply lines.
Originally, Commander Norland had intended to let Arik's "traitorous" unit and the rebel army exhaust each other in Snow Town watching like a fisherman waiting to scoop up the spoils.
But with Shuma's arrival, bringing three cargo ships' worth of grain, enough to feed three thousand troops for three months, Norland could no longer stay idle.
That amount of food was invaluable.
The royal army outside Frost City numbered twenty thousand. With Snow Town's supplies, they could sustain themselves for at least another half month with careful rationing.
Meanwhile, intelligence reports from spies inside Frost City revealed that the rebels, having over-expanded and suffered repeated attacks on their supply lines, were already running out of food.
If they captured the grain in Snow Town, their morale would surge, undoing two months of royal army attrition efforts.
Norland couldn't allow that. If he wanted his hard-earned advantage to mean anything, he had to send reinforcements and ensure the grain remained out of rebel hands.
The Rebel Headquarters
At the same time, in the rebels' main camp, their supreme commander Glynn received similar reports: massive quantities of grain had arrived in Snow Town, and the royal army previously passive was now mobilizing large reinforcements to protect it.
"Where in the world did that traitor get so much food?" Glynn muttered darkly. "Don't tell me those damn grain merchants suddenly grew a conscience?"
Everyone knew that both domestic and foreign merchants had colluded to hoard supplies and cut off trade with the Drum Kingdom.
But since the war hadn't yet reached its decisive phase and neither army was completely out of food prices hadn't peaked.
There was no reason for those greedy traders to suddenly sell now.
For Snow Town to suddenly see such a massive shipment could only mean one thing: something unusual was happening.
No matter the cause, Snow Town had now become a prize too tempting to ignore.
Even if they couldn't capture the town, they had to ensure that grain didn't reach the royal army.
After two months of bloody skirmishes and resource drain, both sides were like starving beasts and whoever managed to eat first would gain the upper hand.
"Send my orders," Glynn barked to his aides. "Dispatch two thousand men to intercept the royal reinforcements headed for Snow Town! Put the entire army on full battle alert. If the royal dogs so much as twitch, we strike immediately. We cannot, will not, let them reinforce that treacherous bastard!"
The order went out.
The decisive Battle of Snow Town was about to begin.
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