The Alliance continued to harass the Sullivans the entire way through the night. The Sullivans tried everything. In one case, they kept a group of men awake so they could repel any incoming attack while the others slept. That sounded good, but it was pretty hard to sleep when there were screams and horns right outside your tent.

Another case, the Sullivan commander had his cavalry and another group of soldiers set up an ambush in an attempt to catch the Alliance forces off guard and surround them, but that didn't work well. The teen in charge of that attack, Sophia, simply turned the group around and fled. It was impossible to pursue with an exhausted force through the dark night.

At one point, the Sullivan commander was forced to keep the entire army awake.

When the night was finally over, and when the sun beat back the cover of the shadows, the Sullivans were able to attack the mining camp. Unfortunately, their morale didn't allow it.

Over the course of the night, over two hundred men have perished. Most attacks just claimed the lives of the sentries, but the attack that Nicole led did a lot of damage. The girl and her hit squad exterminated twelve tents before being pushed back. All the soldiers in those tents were just slaughtered like pigs. In fact, pigs could still screech and run, but the soldiers were just executed.

When men of the Twentieth Battalion was assembled by the commander, they thought they would be allowed to get some rest. Attack now and they would be crushed.

But the commander’s orders were the direct opposite.

“Attack! Take the camp.”

The men couldn’t believe their ears, but when the commander showed his determination by executing the remaining members of the patrol group that literally slept on the job, the men were forced to comply.

But when the Sullivan soldiers charged into the mining camp, they didn't face any resistance at all. In fact, the camp was completely empty.

“Sir, the rebels have fled.” A soldier reported to the commander.

The commander’s widened. He realized something. He thought the rebels were trying to attack them when they poked around in the Sullivan camp, but apparently, they were just trying to cover the retreat of the majority of the rebel forces. This way, there was no chance of pursuit.

Whoever commanded the rebel forces was slick.

Glancing around, the commander knew there was no way he could force his men to go above and beyond their mission and hunt down the rebels who have already had a head start. Their mission was to take back the mines. They have taken back the mines. The army started with 1,500 men. Now they have 800. Even those men were exhausted. If he tried to push them to keep moving, he could have a riot at his hand. Even if that didn't happen, the efficiency of his men wouldn’t be near ideal.

Normally, an army would fall apart when they reach a 20% casualty rate. The Twentieth Battalion went way beyond that count because they were fighting on the home front against a group of bandits. They would likely win anyway, so no one thought of desert, at least not yet. Asking them to pursue into the mountains was just delusional.

“Set up the camp here. Send a messenger to Commander Hartfield and tell him to send men over. We will hold this ground until then.”

“Yes sir.”

“Also, double the sentries. I don’t want us to be hit again.”

“Yes sir!”

Hours passed as the day turned from morning to noon to evening. The Sullivan forces settled in the mining camp. The commander took over the command tent that used to belong to Vice Commander Liam. Squads of sentries took over the towers at the gate. To reward his men for pushing through despite the casualties, the Commander decided to allow the entire army to have a small feast. He knew if he didn't do so, his men would spread words of complaint, which would somewhat threaten his position. Plus, he planned on going to Commander Hartfield to ask for compensation for all the loss of men and resource. After all, the Twentieth Battalion was only here because of Hartfield’s orders.

Finally, as the night fell again, the Sullivans were full and sleepy. Still, they remembered of the massacre the day before. Scouts who haven’t had a single drop of wine were spread out across the exterior of the camp. Sentries guarded the towers and patrolled the fences. A group of archers, over fifty of them, were on the ready. They could get to the fences and gun down any intruder within a moment’s notice.

The commander was confident what happened last night wouldn’t happen again.

A Sullivan soldier was woken up by the urge to relieve himself. He stood up, dizzy from all those wine, and stumbled his way out of his tent. Slowly, he tried to make his way toward the bathroom.

As he stumbled, he suddenly realized he might’ve gone the wrong way. Instead of going to the bathroom, he found himself approaching the mines.

Whatever. The mines are empty anyways. It’s not like anyone will see him. He took off his pants and was about to proceed when he suddenly found a fellow Sullivan soldier in front of him. He was holding a spear.

“Howdy.” The drunk soldier casually waved his hand before continuing to reach for his pants. Just as he was about to touch it, the other Sullivan soldier started walking toward him.

“What do you…Uh”

The drunk soldier looked down on his chest, where a spear was pushed through. He looked up. This time he was close enough to see that under the Sullivan helmet was a feminine face and long, blonde hair.

The Twentieth Battalion doesn’t have female soldiers…

As the drunk soldier slowly collapsed, Sophia pulled her spear out.

Behind her was nine hundred men.

“Incoming!”

“We’re under attack!”

“Where are the enemies?”

“Help...help...Ahhhh!”

“I’m not the enemy….no no no!”

“Stop!”

The Commander was woken up by screams from outside. His eyes snapped open again, and this time it was filled with fury. Deep down, he believed the rebels were gone already. Since they were no longer a factor, this chaos probably has something to do with the foot soldiers. Maybe they decided to have a bar fight?

When his lieutenant charged in with blood on his face, he knew this was serious.

“Commander, we’re under attack!”

“By who?”

The lieutenant shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“What?” Commander was slightly taken back. “We’re in combat and we don’t know who we’re fighting?”

“It’s...complicated. You have to see for yourself.”

Commander cursed and drew his sword. He thought he was safe and took off his armor before he went to bed. Now he was practically naked. A single arrow could kill him, but he no longer cared. What the hell was going on outside?

As soon as he walked out, he knew where the problem was.

Throughout the camp, Sullivan soldiers were fighting each other. Men in red clashed with men in red. Sullivan styled swords pierced Sullivan styled armors. The Commander could see many men who were as clueless as he was, only to get attacked by their comrades. These men were either taken down by surprise or were forced to defend themselves, in which case they added to the chaos.

“Everyone stop!”

Commander screamed, but his voice died down in the wave of cries and screams. His lieutenant and guards shouted as well.

Some of the men close to them stopped, but others didn't. In fact, some men were so blinded by fear and rage that they continued to slash down on the men that have stopped fighting.

“What the hell...I said everyone stop!” Just as Commander was about to repeat his orders, three Sullivan soldiers ran to him. Both he and his guards thought these soldiers wanted to report something to him and they allowed the men to come close, but as soon as the men came close, they drew their weapons and attacked.

More joined the fighting, and the chaos quickly engulfed the Commander and his men.

A distance away, behind the cover of twenty men, Patel, Raymond, and Jerry stood in pleasant surprise.

Yesterday night, Jerry finally decided to go to Patel and Sophia. The three talked, and they were able to come up with a plan.

The attacks during the night were designed to wear the Sullivans down, but not for the purpose the Commander envisioned. No. It was so that the Sullivans would be too tired to fully examine the camp, especially the mines, where all the Alliance soldiers were hidden.

Yes. The Alliance never fled into the mountains. Instead, they struck a subconscious belief in the Sullivans that their enemies would try to flee. In reality, the Alliance stayed behind and got ready for an ambush.

At first, the plan was to just bypass the fences and take the Sullivans by surprise, but Sophia reminded that the Alliance still had confiscated Sullivan armors and weapons when the Alliance took over the camp. They equipped all the militias with those armors to an attempt to enhance the element of surprise.

This factor worked better than any of them have imagined. Neither Jerry nor Sophia nor Patel imagined the Commander would let his men feast and drink as a reward, not that they were complaining.

When the Alliance militias struck, the Sullivans were completely thrown off guard. Unlike last night, where a small group of men infiltrated and assassinated quietly, this time it was impossible to cover the tracks of nine hundred pair of feet.

But this worked to the advantage of the Alliance. When half-drunk, half-asleep soldiers saw a wave of fellow Sullivan soldiers charging over and striking them down, they couldn’t tell the difference between friends and enemies. If it was in broad daylight and they weren’t drunk, they would realize all the militias wore a white armband on their right arm. Unfortunately, they were too busy staying alive.

Chaos started to spread. The militias just attacked half of the Sullivan tents. If the rest of the men banded together, they might still be able to launch a counterattack. But the men in the back were riddled with confusion. They simply had no idea what happened. As far as they know there might be a mutiny among the men.

Problem started to rise when several men who had grudges against each other decided to use the opportunity to attack each other. There was also news that Sullivan soldiers were attacking each other, and all the men started to look at each other with suspicious eyes. Working together was made impossible.

Without reinforcement, the Sullivans at the front line collapsed. As the freed slaves and most of the militias mopped up the field, several teens led their militias toward the command tent, which was at the center of all the other tents. They knew they needed to take down the commander of this army to truly seal the deal. Despite the initial success, the Sullivans could always mount a counteroffensive and simply push them back.

These groups stuck tightly to the fleeing Sullivans, who ran into the already confused men. This immediately made the already tense situation even more intense.

The situation went even worse when the fake Sullivans suddenly struck down real Sullivans.

All of a sudden everything exploded. Sullivans who didn't know each other attacked anyone they didn't recognize. After all, this was the only way to get an upper hand if those people were indeed enemies. Being in an army of fifteen hundred, chances are you can’t recognize anyone. Some of the men were calmer, but they were immediately targeted by the militias.

Sullivans attacked Sullivans. Militias killed Sullivans. Sullivans killed militias.

Even when the Commander tried to stabilize the field, the fake Sullivans ignored the order to stop and continued fighting. The real Sullivans, forced to defend themselves, were forced to ignore the order as well to defend themselves. Before the Commander could recognize who’s really his men, he was under attack as well.

Sophia pushed forward. Her spear landed on a real Sullivan’s neck and drew a fountain of blood. Another man collapsed when she slammed her weapon into his leg. Unfortunately, her wooden spear shattered as well.

“Oh crap!” Swearing, Sophia tossed the broken pieces of her spear at the fallen Sullivan and drew her sword. She jumped to the soldier and stepped on his chest, keeping him from getting up.

“Please...have mercy…” The man begged. His helmet has fallen off. Sophia saw he was a young man in his early twenties. She couldn’t help but frown. Her sword, already at the man’s throat, froze as well. The man was barely older than her.

At the moment of hesitation, the soldier reached into a pocket next to his leg and pulled out a dagger. The dagger was about to land on Sophia when the girl saw it and pressed her leg down on the man’s chest. The man coughed and his hand paused for a second. Before he could move his dagger again, Sophia pushed her sword into the soldier’s neck.

She shouldn’t have hesitated.