Chapter 308: Micheal Arrives and Alexei Prepares

"Sir." Marcus walked forward, trying his best to hide the slight hunch in his body. William squinted and could see through Marcus’s display. Sighing, he shook his head.

"I told you to rest. Are you going against an order?" William said coldly, watching the river in the distance. The darkness was the perfect cover to in. They had tried to repair the bridge during the day but were always met with archer fire. After losing one too many men for a pointless reason, WIlliam called off all work during the day. The repairs had slowed down working in the night, but it was an acceptable loss compared to his men dying.

"I followed your orders. I need to do something, or I will go crazy." MArcus said with a slight chuckle and made William sigh again.

"There is nothing to do. Only wait. The other two have spread across the Island and are removing the last Commonwealth holdings. It’s just this bridge, and we can’t speed up its repairs." William frowned, saying it himself.

While it was the most logical course of action, he allowed his enemy time to regroup and create a stable defence. It was only a matter of time before reinforcements came, and although he trusted the might of his men, he had no clue what could come. Their intelligence was insufficient, and they had no way of getting scouts across without making it obvious.

Marcus took a deep breath and watched. He saw the enemy camp’s fires in the distance across the river and had seen them growing over time. "We need something to stall them. Something they can’t ignore."

"Not until the bridge is finished. What ever you are thinking has to wait." Marcus nodded as his mind spun. War was all he knew. The two most important things he had realised in his ten years of service were logistics and morale, the two core components.

Without logistics, his men would starve before they even fought, and without high morale, they would have no reason to fight. Even the best warrior needed a reason to fight. "How much have we scavenged from the Island so far?"

William raised his eyebrow, thinking about it. "His Majesty ordered us to leave the harvest as best as we could. He wants the people to trust the Empire, not see us as a band of criminals."

Marcus smiled. War was all about logistics, including the people they had subjugated on their conquest. "I’ve been thinking. Why don’t we plunder most of it?" William frowned and looked at his second, but seeing a cunning glint in his eyes, he held his tongue and let him finish. "If we slowly make the people desperate and then leak that the Commonwealth will allow access across the river for refugees, we could force their hand."

"It’s dangerous and unpredictable. What’s stopping them from revolting against us?" Although he was skeptical, he didn’t say no instantly. There was merit in the plan after all. Marcus smiled.

"Who says the Empire has to be the ones who do it? Don’t we have thousands of rebels with us? Make them do it. Have them do it; if any of our men catch them, we punish them. Show that their own people don’t care anymore and that we are the saviours we already proclaimed ourselves to be."

"I thought you didn’t like politics," William said with a shake of the head, making Marcus chuckle.

"Like you told me. I have to learn if I want to take your place." Seeing his smile, Marcus clicked his tongue. "It won’t be easy, and we will have to line up with the completion of the bridge."

"I never said we would go ahead with it." William sternly said as he looked across the river. "Even if things go well, we can’t stop our own supply line being destroyed by such a plan."

"So we horde whatever we can. Faint assults when the bridge is complete and fuel disent behind us. If we don’t let things spiral out of control, we should overload our enemy. In the best case, they kill any refugees that cross, thinking them to be traitors. The people will think their Kingdom has given up on them and that the Empire is the only way."

"Did you stop pillaging when you came?" William asked, getting a single nod from Marcus.

"It wasn’t a lot, but the rebels did it. Not enough to cause mass outcry, but it was felt. Why do you think our men had such an easy time coming here?"

"And now that we are continuing our campaign, the rebels have been left in charge of the conquered lands..." William paused and smiled, "And they reverted back to their old ways without our watchful eyes."

"It could work," Marcus said happily, and William nodded happily.

"It could. But we also need the Empire to open its borders to refugees. Otherwise, any goodwill would be lost, and they would see themselves abandoned by both sides." On paper, William could see how easy it would be, but thinking about every component of the plan made it more complicated. To keep the perfect balance between public opinion, their logistics and funneling commoners across the river.

Only one side could be tipped heavily, and it was the hardest one to control. If it worked and all the refugees crossed the river, it was fine. But if it was the opposite and they ran for the Empire, things could easily collapse. "I need to think on it. Create preparations and a plan in the meantime." Marcus saluted and walked off as William looked across the river.

The plan could easily devastate both sides, but they were more likely to suffer. Seeing his men building the bridge in the water, he wondered if it was even worthwhile to do the plan. Would his forces be enough? He hated not having enough information on his enemy. Not knowing who was reinforcing them and who was not.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grand Templar Micheal landed in a large port in the Commonwealth on the tears of Gaia. Thousands of Templars slowly walked down the ships they had arrived in and, with cold faces, looked out at the people.

Ten priests soon came forward carrying incense. Putting them in a metal container carved to look like the sun, they lead the march barefoot. Micheal saw the display and nodded happily. The Templars where the soldiers of Sol. But they were all sinners. Their path had to be blessed before they could carry truly move.

In organised columns, Micheal led the march with his men. All around, they heard the light muttering of the people, speaking prayers for them. There was no fair or grand entrance, only the prayers echoing for the warriors of Sol.

"Grand Templar." A noble came over lacking their usual arrogance as they lowered their head towards Micheal and walked alongside him. Micheal spared a glance before focusing ahead of him.

"What is it?" Micheal asked with a cold voice, and the noble gulped.

"The Prince has ordered me to greet any men who may come from the Holy Seat with instruction. He hopes you will assist in the defence of the Southern Island. We have lost the front, and it is where the build of the Ammary troops are." The noble said seriously, and Micheal gave a single nod of understanding.

"What is the quickest route south. And don’t force me to meet your Royal family. I have no time for that; I’m here to carry out His Holiness’ orders." The noble felt his lip twitch. Lesezek ordered that whoever arrived from the church be brought to him. But in front of Michael, he was now conflicted.

On the one hand, he was loyal and wished to carry out the Prince’s orders. But on the other hand, the man in front of him was a living legend. ’The Righteous Sword,’ ’Sol’s Fury,’ ’The Holy Seats Executioner.’ The number of titles given to him by friend and enemy alike was enough to dwarf even the most renowned ruler. Micheal wasn’t just a random Templar but the very will of the Templars.

To order him to do something he didn’t wish was stupid. The noble took a deep breath and nodded. "There is a road leading to the southern exit. From it, there is a main road that will take you south. If you follow the signs, you won’t get lost."

Micheal nodded and smiled. "Thank you. Now, if you would excuse us." His cold demeanour quickly came back as he sped up, leaving the noble behind. Micheal thought about the situation. Even though he had arrived, he didn’t know if it would be enough to save the Commonwealth. They needed the Severians and the other faithful nations to assist. The Commonwealth was already losing, and he couldn’t trust them to provide any real help.

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Alexei stood a few kilometers from the river separating Vladmire and Nogrovod. The plan Mikhail proposed was dangerous, but after much contemplation and King Theodoric agreeing to the plan, he no longer had any reason to delay.

His goal had always been to create the perfect conditions to fix his father’s failures, never thinking it would be possible in this life. But the chance had been given to him. Alexei was a cautious man. He wasn’t always smart, and sometimes it meant that he didn’t capitalise on opportunities that presented themselves. It was a flaw but his greatest strength.

He was willing to be patient, to endure the humiliation of his father’s legacy so Ivan could succeed. It was always the plan. He had been ready to die, never seeing his home reunited. But now, he knew it was a time to follow Ivan’s lead. Caution was good. It was how he survived and made Vladmire the strongest principality after the Empire’s fall.

Cowardice wasn’t. If he didn’t strike, he would always just be that. "Your Grace." Mikhail walked over with a letter in his hand and a wide grin on his face. "The Gotics have sent word." Alexei quickly took the letter and smiled.

’I hope this finds you well, Grand Prince,

We have begun our march, and by the time this letter finds you, the Gotic Kingdom will have begun its invasion of Nogrovod. Strike whenever you feel it is right.

Sighned, Athalaric.’

"Mikhail, have men watch across the river at all times. Tell me when my brother finally retreats." The old man bowed and ran off as Alexei looked out. His fingers played with the spear in his hand as he closed his eyes, reminiscing about the Empire that should have been his.

’Soon. Soon, everyone will forget father’s mistakes.’ His eyes went cold thinking of him. Looking to the sky, he smiled. It was so close.