“Sometimes letting the enemy have their way might be the best path to victory.” - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.

“That went pretty well,” commented Estelle when the commanders met once again that night, with bowls of hot stew and hard bread set before each of them. The Caroman commanders had made it a habit to share the joys and pains with their soldiers, and as such ate the same rations that they did. Estelle saw that as a good habit to emulate and had followed along.

“I agree,” nodded Marshal Publius Cornelius as he dipped the stale loaf of bread into his stew. The stew itself was mostly flavored with preserved dried and salted meats, thickened with grains and spiced with whatever wild vegetables the foragers managed to find that day. Not something Estelle expected a Marshal to be eating, but the middle-aged man still ate his share with gusto without a care. “Things could have barely gone better for us today. Minimal casualties on our side while we inflicted a good amount of damage on our enemies.”

“Not enough to really stop them, though,” noted his wife, Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca from her seat beside him. The burly Lady Marshal also ate her share of the humble meal without showing any distaste, though if the stories about her origins were true, Estelle guessed that she was used to even worse food in her past. “Most of the Cezarian and Olfasian core troops aren’t damaged, so they’d still be able to put up a good fight, especially now that the dead weight is no longer something they have to worry about.”

“What do you suggest then, Marshals?” asked Estelle as she sipped upon the stew. The thick broth had a somewhat too salty taste with a hint of meat, likely due to the use of salted meats for making it. Even so, she wasn’t bothered in the least by it. After all, she herself had lived her early life in the streets. Moldy, half-rotten bread was something street urchins like her would have fought over back then.

“Half the rest time for tonight, then we withdraw by dawn,” replied Publius with a conspiratorial smirk on his face. “Ah, but we wouldn’t be withdrawing for real, not yet, at least. We will have our troops prepare an ambush right here,” he said as he pointed to a spot on a map with his spoon. Estelle recalled that the region in question was a hilly one with multiple low hills set on grassy plains. “Part of our troops will pretend to be slow to withdraw and lure the enemy there, where the rest will be waiting for them.”

“That’s around a day’s march to the north from here… I don’t think we’d be able to get there that fast,” noted Estelle as she recalled what she could about the region.

“Of course, we wouldn’t be going there right away. We will march quickly tomorrow, but give our people enough time to rest at night, all while making it look like we’re withdrawing in full,” explained Anni with a smirk much like her husband’s. “Around then we’d also start showing signs that some parts of the army can’t keep up with the rest to further sell the illusion we’re feeding our enemies. I’d like to ask if some of yours would like to volunteer for this? No insult intended, but for our enemies it’d be more believeable that way.”

“None taken, Marshal. We are well aware how other nations view our militia,” assured Estelle with a nod of her head, a nod that was duplicated by Albrecht and the other Levainian commanders present. They were used to being underestimated and looked down upon by others. “So how do you want us to do it? Let us know the details…”

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When dawn arrived the next day, the Southern Coalition forces were surprised to discover that the Levainian and Caroman encampments had been completely abandoned, with not a single one of the soldiers remaining. In the dark of the night, their sentries had been unable to notice their enemies’ withdrawal until they were long gone.

Both the High Lord and High Lady immediately mobilized their armies and sent out their scouts in pursuit. The offer they received from Anduille and Podovniy stipulated a condition in it, namely that the Southern Coalition would delay the return of the troops there for at least a couple of weeks. It had only been half that time, so they nearly panicked when they saw the sudden withdrawal.

While the two armies led their forces in haste as they pursued the withdrawing Levainian and Caroman troops, they still saw neither hide nor hair of their foe until they stopped for the night. It was only the next morning that their scouts reported having found the temporary encampment where their foes rested the previous night.

They also reported that part of the enemy forces seemed to be lagging behind the rest, so the High Lord and High Lady continued their pursuit with renewed vigor. By noon that second day, they sighted a smaller force, maybe only a quarter of their own in total, escaping in the distance, militiamen from Levain by the way they were dressed.

Naturally the Southern Coalition forces increased the pace of their march as they rushed towards the distant enemy, which seemed to increase their own pace in turn upon noticing the pursuit. Even so, the distance shrunk with time, and a few hours into the afternoon, the escaping foes – many of whom were visibly panting in fatigue – were close enough that an arrow would have been able to reach them if not for both armies still being on the move.

The escaping Levainians attempted to lose them in the hilly terrain, but the Southern Coalition’s forces doggedly pursued them, even as their own formation stretched quite a bit as some failed to keep up with the rapid pace. As such, they were unprepared when the sounds of horns suddenly came from all around them, and more enemy troops appeared from around the hills.

It was only then that they realized that they had fallen into a trap.