Volume 2: Chapter 124 - Warfire Scorching the Plains

  Undeniable achievements, unbeatable battle reports.

  From then on, no one would ever doubt Mide's strength again, and no one dared to question the vision and decision of the proxy head, Feena.

  For the generals and commanders of the Golden Branch Army, this victory without a fight was too stimulating for them. Several old marshals who had been fighting since the Iron-Blooded Duke era couldn't help but feel "Am I already behind the times?" or "Have I really gotten old?"

  But whether it's admiration or envy, everyone has to lower their proud heads at this moment.

  This is the battlefield, the only standard is military merit.

  What Miti achieved is not only the current sole military achievement, but also a record in the history of the Principality of Bellmard that is difficult to break, a miracle of winning with fewer troops that can be mentioned in the same breath as Fina's "one person, one day, one city".

  He is now in his prime and unstoppable.

  Many far-sighted people, including Golden Branch Captain Clark, saw the true strength of Midy.

  This kind of strength is different from Martin's individual strength as the "First Swordsman", but rather it is a strength that can resonate with an entire army. Middy's strength is like an aura, able to enhance the power of the entire army, whether it be morale, penetration, or even the details of troop deployment and grand strategy, as long as this young genius commander is present, everything can be significantly improved.

  In fact, those elite cavalrymen who were originally filled with reluctance and were borrowed to Middy have now requested to stay under his command.

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, Feena also naturally waved her hand and immediately agreed to the request of these cavalrymen. Seizing the moment when the generals had nothing to say, a special cavalry battalion led solely by Midee was established within the Golden Branch Army.

  What kind of achievements will this special cavalry regiment achieve in the upcoming civil war?

  Unconsciously, Clark couldn't help but start looking forward to it.

  As for the idea of contending for military power, after this battle, he had thoroughly dispelled it.

  Because he found that he had been thoroughly seen through by that young black-haired youth. Or rather, all the thoughts and pursuits of generals, knights, and even soldiers had already been grasped by Mide.

  If adventurers pursue power, nobles pursue profit, knights pursue honor, and mages pursue mystery, then what soldiers pursue is victory.

  Since Mide has proven with his actions that he can bring victory to all, and it's a miraculous victory, as a soldier, there is no other choice but to follow in the wake of Mide's sword to gain those victories.

  But as soon as this idea emerged, Clark suddenly felt a sense of worry.

  As the most loyal warrior of the Hamilton family, even he had the idea of following Meddy. So, when this young "Guardian Knight" gained more and more power in the Hamilton family, would there be a result of "overturning the master"?

  If it's until this civil war ends, the Golden Branch Army will only know of Mide but not Fina, what kind of hidden danger will that bring?

  But he immediately laughed at himself with self-deprecation.

  This is not something a soldier should worry about. Besides, it's the world of young people, and even if he wanted to see through it, he probably couldn't.

  This is the battlefield, so there's only one word, fight

  Of course, Mi Di would not know that Jin Zhan, the serious commander of the Golden Branch Army, would have such a crisis of confidence in him. Even if he did know, it would only be laughed off anyway.

  Although the news of Iron Duke's critical illness had gradually spread, with this miraculous victory, the status of the Hamilton family in the Principality of Bellmard remained unshakeable. And Fina Hamilton, the young "Magic Bullet Queen", also solidified her reputation.

  Seizing the opportunity, on the second day after retaking Flowing Water County, the Hamilton family, as the leader of the Queen's faction, issued a call to arms, claiming that there were traitors in the Noble Congress who attempted to usurp the throne of Queen Scardi, which was tantamount to rebellion, and therefore must be eliminated. Under this call to arms, a long list of names was listed, with the Seth family at the top, and not a single noble family from the Congressional faction was spared.

  As for the members of this faction, it's just the same, only with the words turned around. They claim that the Queen's faction is manipulating the queen to control the country and disregarding parliamentary votes. In those turbulent times, they were essentially a plague on the nation and should be eliminated.

  In the midst of these two completely opposing calls and condemnations, the civil war in Bellmare finally spread rapidly throughout the entire principality with the spark of the Battle of Flowing Water County.

  Whether it's the Queen's faction or the Congress faction, they have all spared no effort and their military strength is over 100,000. After all, just the Hamilton family or the Seth family alone can mobilize more than 80,000 troops, not to mention those Marquis families with deep roots, so it's easy to exceed 100,000.

  However, there were no large-scale battles involving hundreds of thousands of people in this war.

  After all, the biggest feature of the Principality of Bellmard is the feudal system, with numerous noble families and complex overlapping territories.

  The Queen's faction and the Senatorial faction have been fighting each other for hundreds of years. Although the name has not changed, the power transition within the noble families has been constantly changing. As of today, if we look at it from the perspective of territorial distribution, the two major factions can be said to have completely entangled like two long snakes.

  For example, the Hamilton family is located in the south of the Principality, while the Asrecks family is in the north. Similarly, the Seth family is also adjacent to several queen factions around it, but it can only be echoed with allies across enemy territory.

  In this case, although both sides had more than 100,000 troops in theory, it was impossible for them to gather together as a large army.

  Who would let an enemy army pass through their own territory so smoothly and gather?

  Moreover, even if there was a way to secretly gather troops, which noble family would be willing to abandon the territory that their family had operated for hundreds of years and only bring their army to gather under the Ses family's command?

  Thus, in this situation where powers are interlocked and you have me and I have you, the only outcome is that all nobles will continue to defend their territories while opening hostilities on the borders.

  Thus, countless battles of all sizes almost simultaneously broke out within the borders of the duchy.

  Some aristocratic families that are connected and have the same camp naturally occupy a great advantage. They gather their forces within a small range to suppress with numbers, clearing out all opposing camps around them. While occupying territory, they also gain greater depth of space and more room for maneuver.

  Some who encountered enemies on both sides could only desperately defend themselves, and with a slight carelessness, their fortress would be breached, their territory occupied, and in the end, they could only surrender.

  Some with ruthless determination knew that civil war was inevitable and would eventually be unavoidable, so they had already secretly relocated all family members to the safe territory of the aristocratic nobles, leaving only one army, adopting a penetrating warfare strategy, piercing through the enemy's factional territory, in the hope of achieving unity.

  In this way, within the national borders, there are attacks, defenses, large-scale troop movements, and small deployments of troops, it can be said that everything is in chaos.

  Even a famous general cannot grasp the entire situation. Sometimes, an obvious victory that is within reach can be ruined by a single troop coming from outside and making mistakes, turning it into a defeat.

  Every week, every day, the distribution of national power is constantly changing, just like a vast ocean with waves rising and falling, whirlpools and undercurrents constantly emerging.

  However, in this chaotic ocean, there are still a few places that stand like lighthouses on rocky islands, unshaken by the wind and rain.

  For example, the Asura family is good at attacking but poor at defending.

  With the experience of Midei I, the family had long been prepared. The two earl territories were like copper walls and iron walls under the guard of tens of thousands of troops. A large number of adventurers gathered in the Eagle's Nest, divided into small teams to attack all over the place. Among the neighboring senatorial nobles, almost no one could stop them except for the Seth family.

  What's even more intimidating are naturally Hamilton and Senna, two of the greatest drivers.

  Both sides have vast territories, and apart from the border guards, each has assembled more than 50,000 troops. They constantly probe and clash with each other, and there is not a single day without a big or small battle.

  However, as time went by, the decline of the Seth family was increasingly apparent.

  After all, the largest battlefield of the civil war with more than 100,000 people should have been opened within the territory of the Hamilton family, surrounding the Daim River and Liushui County. Seth's master, Ferdinand, immediately formulated a strategy after receiving the news of the Iron Duke's illness, wanting to turn it into a slaughterhouse, forcing his opponents to invest heavily in troops until they lost their momentum.

  But now, with Middie's terrible thunderbolt, the Black Flame Legion had to retreat all the way, while on the other hand, the Golden Branch Legion advanced all the way, crossing the border of the territory in one breath and pursuing the victory.

  Although the Sesshomaru family's territory was heavily guarded, this time they would face not only their old rival, the Golden Branch Army, but also the genius commander Midia and the infamous Bullet Queen Fina.

  "It's not just a matter of saying 'one person, one day, one city'", although this time there was no Alice gathering magical energy, however, among the 30,000-strong army, there were many high-level elemental mages, and by combining their magic arrays, they could form a "human energy" that rivaled the power of magical energy.

  The low-ranking mages transferred their magical power to the high-ranking mages, who in turn transferred it to the great mages. In the end, all the magical power converged on Fina's body, and the magic bullet she fired had a power that was no less than the one they used to capture Joseph's fort a year ago.

  Soon, the territory of the Sess family fell one after another. The fortress that was originally as solid as gold and jade became useless under Fina's magic bullets.

  With Middy's predicted command, the Seth family immediately retreated step by step, with no room for counterattack.

  Most people think this civil war is about to end.

  Many delegates have sent nobles and some have already begun considering retreat. After all, surrendering would mean being at the mercy of others, but at least it wouldn't result in death.

  However, amidst this excellent situation, Mide did not have any feeling of floating.

  Because he was well aware that there were also a pair of hostile eyes lurking in the shadows, watching the situation within the country.