Chapter 881: A Shocking Turn in the Calamity

The news leaves Henwell stunned for a long moment.

He grabs Cumberland by the shoulders. "What about the subterranean waterway front? Has the defensive line collapsed?"

"No! Not yet! Pinas has already returned with the Third Combat Battalion of the Lord Iron Guards and the Southern District's Seventh and Eighth Warbands," Cumberland says.

"They've joined the Western Lumir Federation's Hurricane Legion and established a strategic strongpoint around a fortress cluster."

"The Subterranean River Bandits haven't broken through completely, but the situation is desperate."

Henwell strides to the map. "Has the Western Lumir Federation made a move? Their troops can reach the front faster than anyone else!"

"No! They're pulling back their defensive lines!"

Henwell smashes his command baton in fury. "Shit! Those idiots! They should be closing the breach right now. Do they think hiding will save them?"

A moment later, Henwell takes a deep breath. "Send orders! Put the Southern District on the highest alert! Have Selaser take the Eighth Legion to reinforce the subterranean waterway front at once!"

"Tell the Western District to prepare. The Second Legion must be ready to move at any time."

"Order the expeditionary zone to mobilize the Second Expeditionary Legion and prepare to enter Lumir."

"And have Orlando's First Fleet inspect its ships and prepare to sail for Hornbay City..."

Henwell issues one order after another.

Cumberland waits until he finishes before venturing a word. "My lord, there really is no need to rush quite so much."

"By the time we received the news, the Mobile Strike Group had already mustered and set out."

"All nine of its other mobile warbands have departed. Only the Fourth and Sixth Warbands remain behind."

"They can resupply along the way, and repairs to the roads and bridges are largely complete."

"They could reach the defensive line in three days if they marched flat out."

Henwell pauses, then rubs his forehead. "Fuck. I was so angry I forgot we still had that mobile force."

"Fifty thousand men on that front should be enough to turn this around."

"Nine elite cavalry warbands can quickly cut through the enemy's attacking formations and disrupt their offensive."

"But I know Senar. He's good in a fight. Politics and military command are another matter."

"He doesn't have the command skills to maneuver that much cavalry through the battlefield and split the enemy apart."

"Pabos knows a little, but it's all theory. A campaign like this is beyond him."

"Morris has promise, but his strength is defense. His tactics are too conservative for what we need here."

"Saddle a horse!"

"I'll have to go myself... Forget it! I'll run. I can intercept them on the way."

Cumberland catches his arm. "My lord, you can't go! You're the leader of Peace Haven. Your presence alone would have enormous consequences."

"Militarily and politically, going there yourself would put everyone in an awkward position."

"I've already notified Sera, commander of the Southern District. He's on his way and can reach the front at the same time as the Mobile Strike Group."

"We all know what Sera is capable of. Commanding large formations like these won't be a problem for him."

Henwell gradually calms down, then kicks a nearby chair to pieces. "What the fuck is this mess?"

"This is the Calamity War! A war between peoples that won't end until one side is wiped out! What made them think the enemy was easy prey? How could they rush in chasing glory?"

Another day passes, and more details of the disastrous defeat arrive.

Just as everyone in Peace Haven had suspected, the Imperial Expeditionary Army was to blame.

Once the remnants of the elite subterranean troops that had attacked Ronan were found, the Seventh Imperial Expeditionary Legion insisted on fighting. It wanted to show the locals what it could do.

The legion easily surrounded the remnants, but the enemy dug in, and the attackers could not finish them off quickly.

They even called on the Twelfth Legion of the Western Federation to hold off the forces coming to the enemy's rescue.

The enemy seemed unwilling to abandon those elite troops and sent substantial forces to save them.

What should have been a battle of annihilation became a piecemeal battle of attrition.

Clifford even committed several of Lumir's main-force legions to support the Seventh Imperial Expeditionary Legion.

After three days without victory, Clifford sensed the danger and ordered the Seventh Imperial Expeditionary Legion to withdraw to the defensive line.

Its commander thought retreat would be too humiliating. To end the battle quickly, he unleashed legion-scale magic, intending to finish it in one overwhelming strike.

The magic was devastating. It wiped out the remaining four thousand or more enemy elites in a single strike.

Then everything went wrong.

Before the forward troops could withdraw, vast enemy forces poured out of the subterranean waterways and attacked the fortress defenses along the entire front.

The enemy troops sent to the rescue fought without regard for their own lives to pin the forward forces in place.

In just one day, the situation reversed completely.

The enemy drained a medium-sized lake with magic and turned its water into immense clouds of vapor, covering the entire subterranean waterway front.

A few hours later, more than a hundred thousand elite subterranean troops slipped through the chaotic battlefield and converged around the forward forces.

A brutal battle of encirclement and annihilation followed.

Having already expended its legion-scale spell, the Seventh Imperial Expeditionary Legion had nothing powerful enough left to break the encirclement.

Three days of bloody fighting ended with several elite legions completely destroyed.

The garrisons along the entire defensive line had been tied down by the need to rescue the forward legions.

Once the trapped legions were destroyed, the enemy exploited the shock and confusion to attack across the front, breaking through several important strategic positions in succession.

With the whole defensive line in chaos, the enemy concentrated its strength against the poorly defended core fortress cluster, where headquarters was located.

Fortunately, Lodar abandoned the fortress cluster he had been defending. He led the Hurricane Legion and three other legions of the Western Lumir Federation to relieve the core fortress cluster.

That prevented the headquarters from being overrun and the entire defensive line from collapsing.

When the Peace Haven troops received the news, they turned straight back, broke through the enemy blockade, and entered the core fortress cluster.

Across the fortress clusters along the subterranean waterways, the first defensive line has fallen. Only the core fortress cluster still holds.

The second defensive line is also in danger. Communications have been cut, leaving troop movements in chaos.

Still, the worst has not happened yet.

King Obilian of Lumir also kept his nerve and calmly organized the response.

He sent his eldest son ahead to the front to steady the troops.

Then he called up all the troops around Holy Lake City and sent them toward the front in succession.

He remained in Holy Lake City to coordinate supplies.

By now, after marching day and night, the Mobile Strike Group has reached the outskirts of the defensive line.

Sera, commander of Peace Haven's Southern District, joins it with his personal guard.

Senar knows what is at stake and immediately hands command of the group to Sera.

Instead of entering the defensive line at once, Sera sends out large numbers of scouts to investigate the situation.

While the soldiers rest for a day, Sera pieces together a clear picture of the battlefield.

Working in combat battalions, he sends more than thirty detachments of cavalry out to cut the battlefield apart.

Meanwhile, he concentrates the Ninth and Tenth Warbands on key targets to surround and destroy them.

In just three days, the situation along the second defensive line becomes clear, and the fortress clusters reestablish contact.

Lumir's eldest prince arrives at the battlefield and also hands command of the entire defensive line to Sera.

Sera does not settle into a static defense. He quickly redeploys the troops and prepares another counterattack.

A veteran commander from Peace Haven, he recognizes that the enemy has also taken heavy losses and is short of troops.

If he waits until the enemy is firmly established, the task will become much harder.

He must race against time and strike before that can happen.

The Mobile Strike Group excels at just this kind of operation.

It is what the group was created to do.