It was not yet dawn, the earth was still shrouded in darkness, the huge military camp was silent, only the light of the bonfire swayed in the dark night.
A tall guard walked out of the camp with the crown prince's token unimpeded, holding a horse in his hand.
A thick cloak covered his body, the hood covered most of his face, only a few strands of black hair were exposed.
He left from the side exit of the camp, and not long after walking out of the camp, a person appeared in front of his path.
The starlight that was about to disappear in the early morning fell on the man's blond hair, and the man was obviously waiting for him here, and walked towards him as soon as he saw him appear.
"His Royal Highness."
In front of this 'guard', Kaihos bowed and saluted.
The man dressed as a guard raised his hand and took off the hood over his head.
The faint starlight barely made it possible to make out the handsome face under the jet-black hair.
After saluting, Kaihos raised his head and looked at those golden red eyes.
He said, "Are you leaving now?"
Heimos looked at him, his golden-red eyes narrowed slightly.
"Last night, you promised me to stay in the Garland camp, which surprised me."
He answered nonchalantly.
Even if he was as brave as him, he could not sneak into the tightly guarded crown prince's tent without disturbing anyone.
Because he didn't want to disturb others, and he didn't want to expose his departure from the royal city, he went to Kaihos first.
Although Kaijos was surprised to see him at first, but after he proposed to see Garland, he did not ask much, took him to Garland's camp, and made a special excuse to stay in Garland's tent. Sinyas took away.
To be honest, Kejos's behavior surprised Heimos.
He knew that Kaihos would take him to see Gallan, but he didn't expect Kaihos to stop him from staying in Gallan's tent for the night.
After all, the guardian knight of Garlan knew exactly how he felt about Garlan, and he had been preventing him from approaching Garlan.
"You're not the kind of person who doesn't care."
The blond knight replied calmly.
Those who really value and dote on the prince will only feel distressed when they see the current Prince Gallan, and it is impossible to have other thoughts at all.
And although he wanted to cut off Heimos's feelings for the prince, he also knew in his heart that Heimos valued the prince more than anyone else.
This person would never do anything to hurt the prince, so he would let Heimos stay in the prince's tent for the night with confidence.
"The prince is too tired. Although I tried my best to share the burden for him, I was only a subordinate and couldn't do many things. Even if I could protect him, I couldn't share the burden for him."
"He is the crown prince of Aaron Landis, and that burden is his responsibility. But in my selfishness, he is still just the little prince I want to protect, and I hope he doesn't have to work so hard."
"And that burden, the only person in this world who can share it for him is you, Your Highness Heimos."
Kaihos's words made Heimos' lips slightly raised.
He said, "Continue to perform your duties, Guardian Knight of Garlan."
As he said that, he turned over and mounted his horse neatly.
On the distant horizon, a ray of light has appeared, and the sky has begun to shine.
"His Royal Highness, what are you going to do?"
"Do what I can do."
Heimos replied.
He rode on his horse and turned his head to look at the Gasthard's camp that occupied a large area of ground in the distance.
From the beginning, he had no intention of staying here.
He just came to see Garlan.
Only seeing and touching Garlan with his own eyes can calm his heart.
And he's leaving now to do what he's supposed to do.
He knew that being as tough as Garlan, he didn't need to guard him by his side.
He will protect him in his own way.
He would put what Garlan wanted most into his hands.
…
…
There was a sudden change in the army of the Gasdadians.
The rangers lurking near the Gasdade camp found that some soldiers in the camp were packing their luggage and supplies one after another, the camp gradually became denser, and the formation began to change.
It was clear that the Gasthards were packing up their camp and the army was ready to move.
They did not intend to continue their confrontation with the army of Aaron Landis, but wanted to retreat to the kingdom of Karnar.
The fact that the Gasdadians chose to retreat meant their defeat from Aaron Landis and that the crown prince successfully led the army to drive away the invaders.
However, the crown prince, who succeeded in expelling the invaders, was not happy.
In the camp of the Aaron Landis army, in the camp of the crown prince, several generals are here.
Garlan sat on the main seat, frowning.
"You mean, the Gastadians plan to withdraw Canal?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Kareni, the commander-in-chief of the army, answered.
"There are already signs of withdrawal in Camp Gasdad. According to the changes in their formation, they are preparing to withdraw."
"It was the right decision."
Elson's female general Vinier said, "After all, they don't have much food left, and they can't continue to consume it with us. Of course, they have to retreat while there is enough food, otherwise, there will be not enough food to evacuate. , that's really over."
"Can't we do something? Attack them while they retreat?"
Opada glanced at Garlan, who pursed his lips and said nothing, and asked.
"It would be too much to let these guys go back intact, too—"
"No chance."
Kaihos shook his head.
"The Prince of Gastard, Tyr, has a high degree of control over the army, and his deployment of the army is also very stable. Since he has decided to retreat, he will definitely use the most stable method and will not give us any chance."
The Gasdard army retreated in an orderly manner, not a rout.
Even if they retreated and left in name, after all, the other party still has hundreds of thousands of troops, and their own military strength is almost the same. As long as the Gasdadians still have enough food and grass, and their morale is not low, they will not be able to take it down in one breath. swallow.
"Even if we bite down on the Gastadians and chase them all the way, we can only leave tens of thousands of them at most and cannot shake their foundation."
Opada couldn't deny Kejos's words, he turned his head and looked at Gallan again.
Not only him, but everyone else in the camp also set their sights on Garlan.
The young crown prince sat on the main seat, his eyes drooping, his lips pressed together.
"Are we just going to watch the Gasthards leave?"
He said the hand resting on the armrest of the seat clenched the top of the armrest hard.
During this period of time, the young man who had always been calm and rational even under difficult circumstances seemed to have trouble controlling his emotions at this moment.
There was deep resentment in his voice.
"I can only do this... Watching Tyr return to Canal?"
It was very quiet in the tent, and everyone couldn't say anything, they could only stare at Garlan in silence.
Finally, the commander with white temples broke the silence.
"The dog will jump over the wall. If we must keep them all here, the Gasdadians will find themselves dead, and they will desperately fight against us. At that time, even if we can eliminate them, we will lost heavily."
Veteran Kareni let out a long sigh.
"His Royal Highness, I understand your mood, but please don't forget that there are other countries that are eyeing them. If we lose both with the Gasdadians, it will only be cheaper for others."
There was silence in the tent for a while.
After a long time, there was finally an echo.
"… I see."
Garland said.
He closed his eyes, his pale eyelashes cast shadows on his pale cheeks.
"Just do as you say."
The tone of the boy's speech was very calm, and his face seemed to calm down, but for some reason, it was an unusually calm tone, but it gave people a more and more painful feeling that the heart was being tightened.
Perhaps it was because of the hand that was clenching harder and harder, contrary to the boy's calm expression.
The green eyes reflected the clenched hand, and the blond knight stepped forward.
"prince."
Kaihos leaned over and knelt down in front of Garlan.
He looked up at Garlan, stretched out his left hand, and gently covered Garlan's right hand clutching the armrest.
"Only this time."
"That person, there is only one chance to escape this time."
"When Aaron Landis stabilizes, I will lead the army to Canal."
He says,
"Please believe me, I will definitely bring Tyr's head back to Aaron Landis."
Garlan raised his eyes and looked at his guardian knight.
His eyes softened a little.
"it is good."
He replied, pursed lips loosened.
The hand covered by Kaihos also slowly loosened.
…
…
As Kareni and the others said, Gasdad's army pulled out and began to retreat to Kanal in the west.
Although it was a retreat, the formation of the Gasdad army was neat and stable, so that the Aaron Landis people had no chance at all.
Even if the army of Aaron Landis was chasing after him, they would not be able to break through and disrupt their formation.
In particular, while retreating, the Gasdadians kept leaving behind the army, each time an army of nearly 10,000 people.
The strong man broke his wrist, and the gecko broke his tail.
Apparently the Tyr prince had made such a decision calmly.
After cutting off tens of thousands of troops, he delayed the army of Aaron Landis with the lives of those tens of thousands of soldiers, thus protecting the vast majority of Gasthard's army from safely withdrawing to Canal.
In just three days, the army of Aaron Landis defeated the army left behind by the Gasdadians twice in a row, and captured a lot of Gasdadians.
According to wartime custom, they handcuffed all these prisoners, imprisoned them, took them on the road, and used them as slaves.
Aaron Landis' large army suffered very few losses, and continued like this, they could at most wipe out about a quarter of Gasdad's force before the Gasdadians retreated to Canal.
The results are not small.
It is a pity that, even with the loss of a quarter of their forces, the main force of the Gasdadians was eventually able to successfully withdraw to Canal.
Although the battle was going smoothly, what made Kareni, Kejos and others puzzled was that when they defeated the Gasdard army responsible for the breakup, they originally thought that the Gasdards would use the mixed national soldier. After the army is broken, protect the army to withdraw. But it was later discovered that most of the people who left behind were Gasdads.
This is really baffling.
Moreover, the natural and powerful Gasdadians should be far superior to the soldiers of other countries in combat. After the breakup, the main force of the army is the Gasdadians. It is reasonable to say that the army should be much stronger than the armies of those mixed countries.
However, the combat effectiveness of the army after the breakup seems to be very weak, and the combat effectiveness of those Gasdadians also feels much worse than before.
…
That night, after setting up the camp, Garlan routinely listened to the reports from the generals about today's battle situation. Then, he returned to his camp accompanied by Sinyas.
Not far from the camp, he saw a familiar figure walking around in the distance.
When Garlan walked over quickly, the girl who was the leader of the mercenary group didn't notice his arrival.
She frowned tightly, her eyes filled with distress and a look of hesitation.
As soon as she turned her head, she bumped into Garland head-on. She was startled, and hurriedly knelt down.
"Your Highness, how could you..."
"Are you waiting for me? Kelly."
"Yes, yes, I'm very sorry for bothering you so late. I'm looking for you in a hurry."
Kerry's face was full of anxiety, and she looked up at Garlan, her eyes pleading.
"His Royal Highness, there are a few people in my team who are about to die. The military doctor said that they are hopeless. I know what I'm doing is wrong. It's very presumptuous, but they are all my companions who grew up with me. so…”
"Please send a physician to see them, I am willing to accept any punishment for my faux pas."
Although military doctors also have a word for medicine, most of them only know how to treat people with superficial trauma or common minor diseases. In terms of medical skills, they are completely inferior to doctors.
However, there were only a few physicians in the army, and they were only responsible for treating important generals, so Klee begged Garlan for her companions.
Can't do it
Garlan was startled and asked.
"Are they seriously injured?"
Kerry's mercenary group was incorporated into the logistics army because of its weak combat strength, and the logistics army was mainly responsible for the transportation of materials, feeding the horses and cooking, burying the bodies of soldiers who died in battle, and taking care of prisoners of war slaves and other trivial matters. Usually there are no casualties.
Now Kelly suddenly told him that several of her companions in the logistics army were dying.
… Could it be that the logistical army was attacked by the Gasdadians
But Kaihos and the others didn't say anything just now
"No, it's not that we were injured. We were assigned to work in the logistics army, and we didn't participate in the battle." Kerry explained, "They were sick, all eight of them together... The military doctor said that they couldn't cure this kind of disease, only doctors could have it. I really have no choice but to disturb you."
"I see."
Garlan stretched out his hand and lifted Kerry from the ground.
"I'll have my doctor come with you now."
After speaking, he turned his head and directly instructed a guard beside him to call the doctor.
Seeing the backs of the guards leaving, Kerry breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry too much, Kerry, my doctor is very good at medicine and will definitely cure them."
Garland comforted her, then asked again.
"However, why did your companions fall ill so much at once? Is it because they are too tired? Did someone deliberately give you too much work? Did someone deduct your rations?"
Garlan asked, his eyes sharpened.
He was suspecting that Kerry and the others were ostracized by others because they were mercenaries, forcibly apportioned work to them, overworked them, and even deducted their rations, so Kerry's companions fell ill one after another.
"No, there is no such thing. Your Highness, the assignment of officers is fair, and there is no shortage of food."
Kelly shook her head quickly.
Garland smiled.
"Yes, that's good, what are you in charge of now?"
The conversation with Garlan calmed Kerry's mood a little, so she started talking more.
She said: "We were recently assigned to guard the Gasthard prisoners of war. The Gasthards are not honest, but because many of them are sick, they can't make trouble. We can handle it..."
Originally, he just wanted to talk to divert Kerry's attention and tell her not to worry. Hearing this, Garlan was stunned for a moment.
In the lightning and flint, countless pictures flashed in his mind.
The Gasdadians who retreated suddenly.
The Gasdadians made up the majority of the broken army.
Their combat effectiveness suddenly weakened a lot...
…
The Gasthards who live in the far north...
Spring is here... The temperature is getting warmer... The countless rotting corpses piled up on the battlefield...
…
"Claire."
"Yes?"
"You say that many Gastards are sick?"
"Yes, probably because I was injured in battle so..."
Kerry was interrupted by Garlan before she could finish speaking.
"Those of your companions fell ill after taking charge of guarding prisoners of war?"
"Uh… "
Kelly thought for a moment and nodded.
"Yes, it is true that he has fallen ill one after another since then."
As soon as she raised her head, she saw that the expression of the prince, who had been gentle just now, suddenly became solemn, and she also became nervous.
"Your Highness, is there a problem?"
"… Kerry, you come with me."
After speaking, Garlan turned his head.
"Sinyas, call Kareni and Kaijos to me at once!"
…
…
"What—the plague—"
When the pale-haired veteran Kareni was halfway through speaking, he forcibly shut up and swallowed the last word.
The wrinkles on his forehead were clamped hard, and he kept his voice as low as possible.
"Your Highness, you mean... the plague?"
"Yes."
Garland said, his eyes cold.
"We all believed that the Gasthards retreated because the food and forage were about to run out, but that was probably the information that Tyr deliberately leaked to mislead us. The real reason for their retreat should be the outbreak among the Gasthards. The plague, and Tyr... He deliberately let the soldiers who were infected with the plague cut off, and deliberately let the patients be captured by us, the purpose is to infect our army with the plague!"