With the help of the tall and sturdy walls of Eagles Beak Pass, the kingdom's army's first attack was repelled.
However, their attack also inflicted heavy losses on the defenders of Eagles Beak Pass, which is now receiving no reinforcements due to the recent catastrophic events in the rear.
"Does anyone have any ideas?"
"Speak up! Have you all become mute?"
Seeing his subordinates remain silent, Grand Duke Giles grew even more furious.
"Listen up, all of you!"
He paced back and forth, waving his cloak, his leather boots stomping heavily on the ground, making a loud thud that made everyone feel as if a giant hammer was striking their hearts.
"We have already suffered a humiliating defeat at Phantom Wing Fortress! We absolutely cannot suffer the same disgrace again at Eagles Beak Pass!"
Giles declared loudly, "In the name of the Supreme Ruler of the Southern Aldor, I swear that I will defeat Rodney's army here."
With a clang, he drew the sword from his waist. "I want..."
Just as the subordinates were preparing to listen to their lord's inspiring speech, a rumbling sound like muffled thunder rang out again outside.
The Kingdom Army is shelling again.
Giles was interrupted by the sudden cannon fire, which dampened his spirits considerably. He wanted to continue addressing the crowd, but found that he had forgotten what he was going to say.
He angrily sheathed his sword.
"Your Highness!" An officer rushed into the room in a panic, but was stopped by the guards at the door and could only shout from outside.
"Let him in!"
Having received Giles's instructions, the officer came in, panting.
"What's the panic? Has the enemy attacked the city again?" Giles shouted at him.
"There was no attack on the city! But… after the cannon fire, they shot many arrows with paper tied to them, with words written on them." The officer stepped forward and presented a crumpled piece of paper.
Giles unfolded it and nearly fainted with rage. It stated that Waming Town behind Eagles Beak Pass had been captured by the Kingdom Army, and the soldiers on the pass were surrounded from both sides.
That's absolutely despicable! That's absolutely vicious!
He tore the paper to shreds in a few swift movements, glared at him with murderous intent, and shouted, " What's the reaction of the soldiers on the wall?"
There must be something very bad written on it. Could they be telling the truth? The officer muttered to himself. He couldn't read, but some people on the city wall could and had read the contents of the paper aloud before— Waming Town had fallen, and Eagles Beak Pass was besieged.
Naturally, the news spread like wildfire, and the soldiers who were waiting on the wall for the Kingdom Army to attack immediately erupted in uproar.
"Waming Town, which is right behind us, has already fallen!" the officer replied, forcing a smile.
"Father!" Giles cried out, "Use your brains! We're still here! Do you think Schroeder's dogs can fly? Do you think they can fly over this pass and land behind us? Have you seen anything flying in the sky these past few days?"
"Huh? That seems to be the case!" The officer scratched the back of his head. Firstly, he wasn't a local and didn't know there were passable roads in the nearby mountains. Secondly, even if he knew there were roads in the mountains, he wouldn't believe that a large army could bypass Eagles Beak Pass via the rugged mountain roads. This place was the devil's belly.
Grand Duke Giles said seriously, "This is all a Yankees conspiracy, trying to shake our morale with rumors, but I think anyone with a modicum of intelligence would not believe such a lowly and ridiculous statement on paper."
"Pass down the order to collect and destroy all these notes. Anyone spreading rumors will be severely punished!"
"Yes, sir!" The officer calmed down a bit, saluted, and left.
The senior officers inside remained silent. Unlike the soldiers outside who were merely skeptical, they knew the contents were true. The Royal Army hadn't been shooting notes; they were nooses strangling them, making it hard to breathe.
" Samar!" Giles roared.
"Yes, Your Highness!" Samar stiffened.
Giles frowned and said, "We must retake Waming Town before the soldiers know the truth! This task is yours, I'll give you..."
He pondered for a moment, then realized that he still didn't know how many Royal Army troops had appeared in the rear.
Giles has now concluded that the Royal Army has circled around to their rear from the nearby mountains, but how many could they possibly outflank? Two hundred, five hundred, or a thousand?
There are only fifty of our own soldiers stationed in Waming Town, so the Royal Army likely has more than that, but probably not many.
As a military commander, Giles himself had ventured deep into the nearby mountains to survey the terrain. Based on his own experience, organizing a large-scale march in the folds of the devil's belly would be extremely difficult.
At most, it should be around a thousand people, right?
"I'll give you 2,500 soldiers. Take back Waming Town as soon as possible!"
Although Waming Town, as a town, has no walls, Giles, just to be on the safe side, still managed to spare some troops from Eagles Beak Pass, which was already stretched thin, and gave them to Samar.
But Giles never expected that the Kingdom Army would send an infantry regiment to outflank him from the rear, while a new Kingdom Army infantry regiment consisted of as many as three thousand men.
Samar accepted the order and quickly set off with his army.
Giles felt he should boost the morale of his troops.
Under his orders, most soldiers were brought together, except for those in critical positions.
The cliffs of Eagles Beak Pass were tinged with a reddish hue by the twilight, like bloodstained fangs. Grand Duke Giles stood atop the high tower, the family banners fluttering behind him in the mountain wind.
He seemed to feel the stone slabs beneath his feet tremble slightly with the soldiers ' panting—many of these followers were already injured, wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, their armor dented, yet their gazes toward him remained burning.
Giles was very generous to those who served him, whether officers or soldiers; it was with their support that he conquered the entire southern border of the kingdom.
Look at the land beneath your feet!
He drew his sword abruptly, and the setting sun cast his shadow on the rock face, making him appear as if a giant had spread his black cloak.
"Those bandits from the north will trample our wheat fields, burn our barns, steal our sisters, and take every penny from the people of the South!"
His deliberately raised volume and loud voice echoed through the valley.
"My loyal and brave warriors, answer me now: can we allow our homeland to be ravaged by those bandits?"
A low growl erupted from the ranks of soldiers.
"no way!"
"no way!"
"no way!"
The multitude of voices converged, surging through the valley like a giant wave.
Giles nodded and swung his greatsword. "We will fight to the very end!"
"For the Southern Territory!"
"For the Giles family!"
An even bigger wave is rising.