“I have received news that tonight Lucci will lead people to attack our camp; it won’t be small-scale harassment, but an all-out assault with their entire force. Therefore, I demand that everyone deploy defenses in advance and prepare for an ambush.”
Hearing Aegon’s words, everyone present thought they had misheard.
Aegon had never gone out to scout for days and had stayed in the military camp all along, so where on earth did this news come from?
Connington immediately spoke up to ask, “Where on earth did you get this news?”
“Putting ourselves in their shoes, our army has been attacked for days in a row, leaving everyone physically and mentally exhausted, and we will only become increasingly tired from now on. Right now is the prime time for Lucci to launch an all-out assault. He will never sit idly by and watch us proactively attack his lair. Based on my judgment, the time for action will be tonight.”
Having heard Aegon’s deduction, Connington only felt a wave of dizziness.
This could not be considered a judgment with any basis at all; it was purely groundless speculation.
How could fighting a war be handled based solely on intuition?
Not only Connington, but even Roget, who had followed Aegon the longest, felt this matter was thoroughly unreliable.
As for Mago, earlier when Aegon consulted him for his opinion, he bluntly stated that as long as he was still serving in the army, he would unconditionally obey all of Aegon’s commands.
Aegon’s tactical arrangements were completely different from the prudent military tactics taught by Connington, and Young Griff couldn’t help turning his head to look at Connington.
Connington knew he could not directly refute the commander-in-chief in public, so he instead asked Aegon, “Then how does my lord plan to arrange this ambush? And whom will you send to frontally resist Lucci’s charge and entangle the main force of the bandits?”
But Aegon’s subsequent reply once again greatly exceeded Connington’s expectations.
“When it comes to the bait to lure the enemy, no one is more suitable than me. A few days ago, one of our scouts was captured, and Lucci must have figured out our situation, knowing that the person leading this army is the governor’s son with a head of silver hair. There is no bait more suitable than me.”
Connington swore silently in his heart that he would never campaign together with Aegon again.
He bore two heavy responsibilities on this trip: first, to offer counsel to Aegon and prevent him from making the low-level mistakes that novice commanders tend to make; second, to preserve the lives of Aegon and Young Griff.
But right now, Aegon actually intended to personally use himself as bait.
He had long known that Aegon was the only son of Illyrio and his deceased wife, and he must absolutely not let Aegon perish here.
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“My lord, let me fulfill the task of the bait; I can hold off Lucci for you.”
Such a plan of using oneself to lure the enemy was simply too bold and perilous.
Hearing that Aegon was going to personally act as the bait, Young Griff’s impression of this youth, who usually looked like a spoiled playboy, changed completely.
No matter what situation one was in, leading by example and not fearing bloodshed was forever the most direct way to win the respect of others.
“This army was trained and forged by me single-handedly, so naturally I must live and die together with everyone.”
Aegon glanced around at the officers in the tent, his tone taking it for granted.
These words filled everyone present with deep emotion.
Most of them did not understand military commanding and marching, so whatever Aegon said went.
Aegon’s insistence on using himself as bait mainly had two layers of consideration: first, his presence could greatly boost the morale of the entire army; second, to further tightly control this army.
Issuing full military pay and remitting debts were merely means to win people’s hearts; true loyalty ultimately needed to be watered by going through life and death together.
Only after experiencing life-and-death perils together would the soldiers develop a sense of belonging, and this sense of belonging would ultimately belong solely to himself.
What was even more crucial was that Aegon needed to cultivate his own trusted inner circle.
Even if there were temporarily no top-tier talents among this group of people, gathering them in the future to serve as close personal guards and protect his own safety would be most appropriate.
Connington still wanted to persuade him, hoping that Aegon would not act willfully and cling to his own course.
“If you are truly worried about my safety, then lead the troops to support in a timely manner.”
Aegon instructed with a smile, “I will dismantle and reallocate all the warhorses. I will only keep one hundred men—no, fifty men—stationed here to act as bait, and by then I will tightly entangle Lucci and his gang. Lord Griff, you lead half the manpower, Roget and Mago lead the other half, and Belwas, you stay behind to lure the enemy with me.”
“As you command, my lord.”
To Aegon’s surprise, Belwas did not show any hesitation.
His self-perception had always been that of a slave, except that Illyrio’s commands superseded Aegon’s commands.
Now that Aegon directly issued such an order, he had no reason to shrink back, which made Aegon couldn’t help taking a few extra glances at him.
Although he was quite annoying as a person, as a bodyguard and subordinate, he was indeed very good.
“My lord, let me stay instead.”
Mago did not trust Belwas.
“The back of a horse is your battlefield; you ride my horse.”
“My lord?!”
Hearing Aegon say this, Mago’s eyes widened directly.
Aegon’s side also received a prompt:
Character: Mago
Subjugation Points: (89 / 100)
The skyrocketing subjugation points startled even Aegon, but he didn’t show it; instead, he had everyone go make preparations.
…
…
Clouds and mist obscured the moon, leaving pitch darkness between heaven and earth.
Even if two people were less than three paces apart, they could only make out each other’s vague outline.
On a dark night with a high wind, it was the prime time to launch an attack.
Lucci had once conducted an experiment: if a person did not sleep for a day and a night, their spirit and attention would scatter; after three days of sleeplessness, their will would be on the verge of collapse; as for someone who hadn’t slept for five days, he had never seen one yet.
In his view, the soldiers of this army marched and scouted day after day, and also had to constantly guard against harassment from his side, keeping their nerves tightly strung at all times and suffering from severely insufficient sleep.
By now, their energy and physical strength had long plummeted to a dangerous state, and the initiative was already grasped in his own hands; it was time to welcome the next victory.
The decision to launch the attack wasn’t simply based on guessing, but according to his subordinates’ intelligence, the opponent’s guard was becoming increasingly lax, and their men could even cross paths with the enemy face-to-face and successfully escape.
Furthermore, he could also tell that the vast majority of these soldiers were new recruits—the kind who had never seen blood—so a successful attack should naturally be a sure thing.
The reason that most compelled Lucci to make a move was because the marching direction of this army was precisely where their mountain fields were located.
Perhaps they wouldn’t necessarily lose in a frontal confrontation at that time, but there would definitely be heavy casualties, which Lucci could not accept.
“Listen up, all of you! This time we are going to seize all their horses! The one leading the opposite side is a governor’s son, and his silver hair is very conspicuous.” New chapters come out on NovelPing first.
“As long as we capture him alive, we can trade him for food, and the food we exchange will be enough for everyone to eat for a whole year! Do you all understand?”
“Understood! Understood!”
A few days ago, they captured a scout who had been sent out and figured out Aegon’s identity.
However, Lucci guessed that there should be an ‘expert’ by Aegon’s side; this ‘expert’ was extremely professional regarding the camp’s layout and cautious enough regarding the arrangement of the marching route.
If it weren’t for the surviving remnants of the Rhoynar living in Ghoyan Drohe warning him, he definitely wouldn’t have gained the upper hand.
Following the conveyance of Lucci’s command, voices that were deliberately lowered yet failed to conceal their excitement rippled and echoed all around; once this battle was won, the harvest would be immeasurable.
Mountain fields were not so easy to cultivate; even a tiny harvest required a great deal of effort.
Not to mention that in the mountains they had no way to build mills, eating only hard-to-digest coarse grains, and it was difficult to have any rich greasy food in their bellies.
Therefore, the soldiers were all very excited, wanting to trade Aegon for some good things.
The soldiers could be excited and let their hot blood go to their heads, but Lucci, as the leader, had always maintained his composure.
According to prior reconnaissance, Lucci had long led men to ambush at the predetermined location, selecting the direction where the enemy’s defense was relatively weak, and quietly awaited the moment to attack.
He raised his head to look at the sky.
Unknowingly, a cloud had drifted above everyone’s heads, and the already hazy moonlight was slowly blocked.
Lucci observed the size and moving speed of the cloud, silently calculating in his heart the duration it could provide cover for everyone.
The very moment the moon was completely obscured by the clouds, Lucci sternly issued the command to attack.
More than forty subordinates wearing cloth armor and leather armor and riding warhorses launched a charge toward Aegon’s military camp, with nearly a hundred people holding long spears following closely behind.
No one expected that after successively repelling the army of the Thoxor Family that encircled and suppressed them, this band of bandits had actually equipped themselves with standard gear.
Precisely because of this, they grew stronger the more they fought, gradually becoming a presence that the Governor of Pentos could not ignore.
Riding a cyan warhorse and taking the lead, Lucci yanked hard on the reins, and his warhorse made a bound, leaping across the wooden fence of the military camp.
The charging crowd no longer deliberately concealed their tracks, and their mouths burst into excited roars and shouts, resembling rolling boulders falling during a landslide.
“Kill! Kill!”
“Scatter them!”
“Capture their leader alive!”
Shouts of killing instantly rose everywhere.
Someone lit a torch mid-charge and threw it straight toward the tents, wanting to create chaos by this means.
The originally silent camp was suddenly ablaze with fire.
At this moment, a subordinate suddenly reminded loudly, “Boss Lucci! Look over there!”
Unknowingly, a troop had already finished forming up, except that their numbers were small, visually estimated to be only around fifty people.
The completely deserted tents initially made Lucci harbor thoughts of retreating, but right at this moment, the dark clouds overhead drifted away slowly, and the bright moonlight once again flooded the earth.
At a single glance, he saw that young face in the crowd, along with that iconic head of silver hair—it was precisely that governor’s son.