Chapter 122: Attack on the War Camp
With the departure behind them, Mikael, Amelia, the fifty Adamant Guards, and the logistics team made their way westward toward Blackthorn Fortress.
The fortress lay a considerable distance from the capital, but under normal circumstances, Mikael and Amelia could have covered the ground swiftly. However, they were not alone. Traveling alongside them were numerous ordinary soldiers and civilians, and even on horseback, their speed was significantly reduced. The burden of supply wagons further slowed their pace.
Yet, speed was not their priority. Even if Mikael and Amelia could have outpaced the others, it would have been pointless. Their strategy hinged on the synchronization of two attacks—the assault on the war camp outside Blackthorn Fortress and the strike on Redgate City. There was no advantage in arriving too early, especially considering that Kiara and Lyra's forces, being larger and traveling a greater distance, required more time to reach their destination.
The reason for this careful coordination was simple: they aimed to deliver a decisive blow to the Valden Kingdom. Surprise was their greatest weapon. But achieving it would be no easy feat, especially since Redgate City was deep within enemy territory. Infiltrating the Valden Kingdom undetected would be an immense challenge for Kiara and Lyra's army.
At first glance, such a feat might have seemed impossible. After all, their departure from the capital had been anything but discreet.
But that was precisely the point.
Their grand exit, flanked by the Adamant Guards, had been a spectacle. The two armies had dramatically moved in the opposite direction of their actual targets, ensuring that any spies lurking among the crowd would carry false information back to their superiors.
And the Valden Kingdom wouldn't be foolish enough to believe that a mere thousand men would dare infiltrate enemy lands to seize a city, right?
It would be a reckless, suicidal endeavor. Even if successful, the city would be reclaimed within days, and the invading force massacred.
Likewise, attacking a war camp of 17,000 soldiers with only fifty warriors seemed so ludicrous that no sane strategist would even consider it a possibility.
And that was precisely what they were counting on.