“Sometimes, taking your time to think about all the options available instead of rushing towards an opening is the right thing to do. At other times, dallying like that would end up being the worst thing to do instead.” - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.

“One hundred fifty thousand soldiers!?” yelled councilman Krueger during an emergency council meeting held a week after Reinhardt and Bernd’s discreet meeting. By that point of time Reinhardt’s aerial scouts had ascertained that the mobilization of troops in Andouille and Podovniy were both moving towards Levain, with their march even starting on the same day, which indicated a certain level of cooperation and correspondence between the two forces.

The only silver lining to the cloud was that neither the Regency nor the March could devote their full strength in the offensive, as Podovniy needed to guard against their southern neighbor in Sevras-Galastine, while Anduille not only had to cover most of the former empire’s northern border in fear of goblin raids, but around thirty thousand of their troops were also marching south-west, towards Caroma instead.

A development that naturally forced the remaining Caroman forces to focus on defense instead of coming to the aid of their allies.

“We have discussed countermeasures against such an emergency in the meeting last month, so I already ordered heralds to call the citizens to evacuate either to Levain or to Fort Aldenstadt,” said Bernd in a calm tone, though from the way he smoked deeply into his pipe, Reinhardt knew that it was a manufactured, artificial calm he projected to keep the others from panicking. “I have also sent a mobilization order to all our reserves, as well as a call for volunteers from the rest of the citizenry. All told, we should have at least a hundred thousand with which to defend our city just from those alone, with another ten thousand in Aldenstadt.”

“Should we recall those in Aldenstadt to come to Levain’s defense?” asked one of the younger civilian councilors.

“No,” stated Reinhardt openly. In the absence of many of the senior militia officers and with the way most of the younger ones were obedient to his words, he basically represented the military for that day’s meeting, even if reluctantly. Although the responsibility and politicking wasn’t to his liking, he had to admit that it would be easier to push his plan through from the position. “Aldenstadt’s fortifications would hold against most attackers, unless the Podovniy March chose to focus their forces against them.”

“And why wouldn’t they do that?” asked the same youthful councilman.

“Because that would waste too much time and give us the chance to demolish their allies from Anduille piecemeal if they did so,” explained Reinhardt to the young man. “Mark my words. The March would most likely besiege Aldenstadt, leaving at least ten to twenty thousand of their numbers to keep the fort’s defenders from sallying out to hit their back lines, but otherwise they would most likely march straight for Levain.”

“If I remember right… you mentioned that we should not fall into a passive defense, did you not, captain?” asked another councilor, this one an old, wizened man who had the looks and demeanor of a sage. One of the most respected old scholars in the city, if Reinhardt remembered right.

“That is correct, sir,” he said, defaulting to a general title as he didn’t remember the old man’s name. “If we stayed passively on defense, that would just allow our enemies to overwhelm our army and allies when they return to our aid. That is a scenario we could not allow to happen at all costs.”

Murmurs sounded throughout the council chamber as the councilors debated over what Reinhardt just stated. It was true that the force Estelle led to the south was the elite of Levain’s soldiery, and many of their military leaders had also departed with the force. That was before they considered their Caroman allies as well.

“Even so, captain, are you certain about what you proposed?” asked the old scholar once more with evident worry in his voice. Reinhardt had given a proposal on how to respond to the aggression before he gave the details of the enemy forces earlier, so the council members already had some time to digest his plan. “You would be out there, beyond Levain’s walls, facing an enemy that outnumbered you over ten to one, even in the best case scenario.”

“I am aware of that, councilor, which is why I asked for volunteers from the militia members we have trained to join us in this endeavor,” replied Reinhardt with a firm nod. “Even in the best case scenario, I fully expect at least a third of our numbers if not more would not return alive, and the possibility that none of us would do so always exists.”

Reinhardt had proposed to bring the entirety of the combat force available to the Free Lances – over two thousand men – along with however many volunteers he got out of the militia to fight a guerilla battle against the enemies. They would harass and hinder the enemy’s march and make them feel unsafe and worried anytime they had to leave their camp.

Given the vast discrepancy of numbers, however, such a task was inherently extremely risky. One mistake could easily lead to a horrible end for the operation, especially given the fact that they would have others with them, should there be a good number of volunteers from the militia. Having more people in such an operation was both a boon and a bane at the same time.

On one hand, they would have more manpower to make the enemy bleed, but on the other hand, the chances of making a mistake also rose with the number of people working with them. At the moment, however, Reinhardt would take any help he could get.

He was not silly enough to believe that his two thousand mercenaries could do much against a hundred fifty thousand strong invasion force on their own.

“Very well then, captain. You seem committed and confident, and given your willingness to risk your neck for our sakes, we feel that we owe you at least this much trust,” said the old scholar after some more discussion with the other councilors. We are in approval of the plan proposed by Captain Edelstein of the Free Lances.”

“So are we,” intoned the old dwarf from across the council chamber, whose words of agreement were soon echoed by others near him. Before long Bernd recorded the approval of the vast majority of the council, and gave Reinhardt the permission to enact his plan.

Now he just had to actually do the job and live to collect his pay.