The heavy snowfall over several consecutive days kept Anke, located in Border City, constantly monitoring the status of the Piranha River along the Boundary River.
Consequently, news that the Piranha River had frozen over was quickly relayed to Border City.
As the Lord, Anke immediately summoned Vera and the others to the meeting hall to discuss how to deal with the situation.
Vera had accompanied Anke in reviewing the previous entries in the Lord’s Journal.
She was well aware that once the Piranha River froze, it meant there was no longer a natural barrier between Border City and the Barbarians of the West Bank.
The Barbarians could easily cross the ice to pillage the city.
Even though she and her Imperial Guard Knights had mastered the Needle-fire Musket, she was not certain they could protect the weak Border City under a simultaneous assault from thousands of bloodthirsty, ferocious Barbarians.
According to the records in the Lord’s Journal, the best solution in such a situation was to abandon Border City, taking the retainers, Imperial Guard Knights, and family property to retreat toward safer cities further inland.
While this would sacrifice the civilians of Border City and the surrounding villages, it would maximize the preservation of the Lord’s strength.
However, Anke had already invested a massive amount of wealth, resources, and manpower into the city.
It was a critical moment for Border City’s rise.
It was impossible for Anke to abandon the city and flee; he would absolutely hold his ground and refuse to retreat.
“Fight! We must fight! We cannot retreat a single step! Border City is our only home! Even if we fight to the last person, we must never hand Border City over to the Barbarians!”
As Vera expected, Anke displayed a high level of fighting spirit, vowing to protect Border City with his life.
“I agree with Your Highness. Even if we die, Border City must not be lost,” Vera echoed.
Normally, she would have advised Anke to prioritize his own safety for the sake of security.
But things were different now. Under Anke’s construction, the rise of Border City was an inevitable outcome.
If they gave up halfway, all their investments would go down the drain, and Anke would essentially lose his chance at the throne.
That was not a result Vera wanted to see.
Therefore, Vera decided to support Anke with all her might. If the situation required it, she was even willing to risk exposing her identity as a Mimic Beast.
“This is impulsive, but Your Highness, I support your decision this time.”
Mustafa, who usually raised objections to Anke’s ideas, nodded in agreement at this moment.
“Your Highness, I am willing to lobby the Three Earls on your behalf to bring as many reinforcements as possible,” Kano volunteered.
“Your Highness, everyone in Nul Village is ready to sacrifice their blood and lives for your battle at any time!”
Sandrag, who had remained in Border City as a Liaison Officer from Nul Village—the village established by Brunner and the others—vowed to Anke with a knightly salute.
“I do not want your lives. Your lives belong to you; protect them well! What I want is victory, but more than that, I want a victory where everyone survives as much as possible! If everyone dies, then what is the point of this war?”
Anke shook his head and then spoke to Vera. “Vera, bring out those journals I asked you to carry.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Vera replied, opening the journals and presenting them to the group.
“These journals were left by previous Lords. They contain records of Barbarian invasions caused by the freezing of the Piranha River. We can refer to these records to get a general expectation of the enemy’s strength,” Anke explained.
“Your Highness, according to these records, looking at the previous Barbarian invasions after the river froze, the first wave of their attack on Border City will consist of at least 1,000 to 2,000 men. The total strength, including the subsequent units that arrive to pillage other cities, will be at least 5,000. However, why has their military strength barely changed across these different invasions?”
Vera was the first to finish skimming the journals, and she arrived at a puzzling question.
If attacking Border City or even the entire Hanover Province was so simple every time the river froze, why didn’t the Barbarians commit more troops?
“It’s simple. Because the Skeleton Forest can only sustain that many Barbarians. If their numbers increase, they would naturally eliminate their own through internal competition. Therefore, we can boldly assume that the initial invading force this time will only be around 1,000 to 2,000, and the total force will not exceed 5,000,” Anke answered.
“Predicting the enemy’s numbers in advance is indeed good news. But Your Highness, our current forces in Border City consist only of the twenty-three knights of the Imperial Guard Knights and 120 regular guards. Although we can temporarily conscript around 2,000 militia, their combat effectiveness cannot compare to the Barbarians. Furthermore, Border City’s walls are too low and dilapidated. Those 2,000 militia could, at most, resist an attack from 300 or 400 Barbarian soldiers.”
“However, if Your Highness is determined to defend the city and uses the full strength of Border City, there should be no problem holding out for a few days. Then, as Kano said, if we can call in reinforcements from the Three Earls, we won’t just be able to hold Border City—we could deal the Barbarians a heavy blow. Still, this is the best-case scenario. We must think more carefully about our strategy once the actual fighting starts,” Mustafa said seriously.
“Mustafa, your analysis is completely correct. However, in my thinking, I do not plan to fight the Barbarians at Border City,” Anke said, shaking his head.
“But Your Highness, the area between the Piranha River and Border City is a plain! Abandoning the city’s defenses to fight the Barbarians head-on in the plains is disadvantageous to us. Or… do you plan to use those Alchemical Weapons?”
Vera was startled. ‘It’s a good thing he doesn’t want to run, but he shouldn’t just deploy troops recklessly!’
Militia lacking sufficient training and fighting will would be unable to withstand the charge of a Barbarian army on an open battlefield.
Although Border City’s walls were low and old, they still provided some height advantage.
Abandoning that tactical ground to face the enemy on the plains was no different from suicide.
The only chance of winning Vera could think of was those Alchemical Weapons known as Needle-fire Muskets.
“No, there is no need to use those muskets so soon. But rest assured, Vera, I know we cannot fight the Barbarians on the open plains. However, Border City has only just begun to see some progress. If it becomes a battlefield, it will greatly slow down my development speed. Therefore, the battlefield absolutely cannot be at Border City.”
“If we aren’t using Alchemical Weapons and the battlefield can’t be at Border City… then where are we supposed to resist the Barbarians? The surroundings are all plains; there is no advantageous terrain for us.” Vera quickly recalled the topography around the city in her mind.
“If there is no advantageous battlefield, then we will build one. The enemy’s target is Border City, so we will simply build another ‘Border City’!”
Anke used his finger to draw a circle on the map over the plains between the Piranha River and Border City.
“Build another Border City? Is that possible? The Barbarians might cross the border in just a few days.”
Vera looked at Anke in disbelief. To build a new Border City to serve as a battlefield against the Barbarians—was such a thing even possible?