The moon hung dimly overhead.
Deep within the mountains and forests, there was little to hear beyond the whisper of the wind.
Darkness severely hampered both sight and hearing, and the soldiers standing watch widened their eyes, straining to catch even the slightest movement.
This was their first real battle.
The tension accumulated over several days of marching had left them unable to eat or sleep properly.
Their eyes were red and bloodshot, yet none of them dared relax for even a moment.
Suddenly, an arrow came flying through the darkness and struck the ground at the sentry’s feet.
The white fletching of the arrow was still trembling.
The sentry immediately raised the alarm.
“Enemy attack——————!”
Inside Aegon’s tent.
“My lord!
Enemy attack!
We’re under attack!”
“Why are you panicking?
It’s another harassment attack!”
“But what if this time it’s real?”
“Relax.
If I say it’s fake, then it’s fake.”
Aegon rolled over inside the tent, showing absolutely no intention of getting up.
Seeing how calm Aegon remained, much of Rogett’s own tension gradually faded.
Rationally speaking, this was Aegon’s first time commanding an army in battle.
Rogett should never have placed such unconditional trust in him.
Yet whenever he saw Aegon’s composed expression, the fear and unease inside him simply refused to take hold.
After a while, Rogett returned to report that the enemy had indeed withdrawn and showed no intention of launching a proper attack.
His admiration for Aegon only deepened.
Aegon wasn’t particularly sleepy, so he lay there quietly considering the bandit chief, Luchys.
“When the enemy advances, we retreat.
When the enemy camps, we harass them.”
Luchys had mastered this style of guerrilla warfare to perfection.
His strategy was actually quite simple: continuous waves of harassment would steadily drain the soldiers’ energy while simultaneously dulling their vigilance.
Then, during one particular harassment attack, the bandits would suddenly transform it into an all-out assault.
The tactic was simple, yet extraordinarily effective.
Luchys knew the terrain like the back of his hand, while the local Pentoshi garrison had always been notoriously weak.
His strategy of exhausting the enemy had worked time and time again.
What he could never have anticipated, however, was that Aegon possessed a cheat ability that allowed him to receive advance warnings.
Luchys was waiting for the moment when Aegon’s men were exhausted and their defenses had grown lax.
Aegon, meanwhile, was waiting for the moment when Luchys believed his army was exhausted and launched his main attack.
He only needed to seize one opportunity and set up a counter-ambush.
Once that happened, he could crush Luchys and his bandits in a single decisive blow.
Aegon intended to divide his soldiers into rotating groups so they could rest while dealing with Luchys’s harassment day and night.
At the same time, he would deliberately make Luchys believe that every attack forced the entire army into a state of heightened alert and consumed enormous amounts of energy.
“Luchys really is talented.
If only I could bring him under my command.”
Aegon had come to understand that the real value of the Recruitment Card wasn’t simply gaining one of a target’s abilities.
That was merely an added benefit.
The true prize was obtaining someone whose loyalty to him was absolute.
For an ordinary person, acquiring a completely loyal subordinate required years of emotional investment, trust-building, and material rewards.
The Recruitment Card dramatically accelerated Aegon’s rise.
Just then, Rogett’s voice came from outside the tent. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“My lord is resting.”
“No.
I must see him now.”
The moment Aegon heard the voice, he knew who it was.
“Let him in.”
Connington lifted the tent flap and stepped inside.
When he saw Aegon lying there in complete comfort, without even the slightest sense of urgency before battle, his vision almost went dark.
But Connington knew he had no right to openly criticize the commander.
He could only suppress his impatience and advise him calmly.
“My lord, Luchys is clearly trying to exhaust our strength through continuous harassment.
The moment we relax even slightly, they could launch their main assault at any time.”
“Oh?
Then what would you suggest we do?”
Aegon noticed Belwas standing behind Connington and deliberately spoke in a sarcastic tone.
Seeing that Aegon was actually willing to listen to his ideas, Connington felt both surprised and pleased.
Perhaps this young commander wasn’t as stubborn and beyond saving as he had feared.
What Connington proposed next allowed Aegon to truly witness what a seasoned commander was capable of.
No wonder the man had once served as Hand of the King and had defeated Robert Baratheon on the battlefield.
Connington proposed a complete bait-and-ambush strategy involving coordination between the outer perimeter and the main camp.
Only a small number of exhausted soldiers would be stationed around the outer perimeter.
Alternatively, straw figures dressed in armor could be placed there as decoys.
Meanwhile, the main force inside the camp would remain fully armed and armored.
No fires would be lit.
No unnecessary noise would be permitted.
The entire camp would remain completely silent.
At the same time, the defenses around the camp were deliberately left with gaps, while traps were laid along every route the enemy might use for a surprise attack.
More scouts were deployed, rotating shifts so that the surrounding terrain could be constantly monitored.
Whenever the bandits came to harass them, the outer guards were to deliberately act panicked and frightened.
They would shout loudly, fire arrows wildly, and pretend to pursue the attackers for a few steps before hurriedly retreating back into camp.
At the same time, small groups of elite soldiers would follow behind them to probe the enemy’s movements.
Most importantly, they would meticulously record the timing of every harassment attack, using the pattern to determine when the bandits were most likely to launch their main assault.
It was obvious that Connington truly knew what he was doing when it came to military command.
Once he began explaining how to deal with the situation, the words simply poured out of him.
If military command had a maximum level of five, then Aegon was currently at Level Three.
Connington, on the other hand, was at least Level Four.
In truth, Aegon was just as eager to recruit a man like Connington.
The problem was that his loyalty was already maxed out by default.
And no one had ever needed to win Connington over.
He had done that himself back when he chose to follow Rhaegar.
It was easy to imagine what would happen once Aegon dealt with Illyrio and convinced Connington that he was the true Aegon.
He would instantly gain an extraordinary talent skilled in both military affairs and governance.
Aegon listened to his arrangements with great interest.
“Anything else?”
“That’s all for now.
If the enemy launches a full-scale assault, however, we have other methods of dealing with them.”
As he spoke, Connington carefully observed Aegon’s expression, weighing every word.
Suddenly, an indescribable sense of contradiction arose within him.
The boy wasn’t even fifteen, yet he had managed to organize an army with remarkable efficiency, building it step by step into its current form.
That alone demonstrated an exceptional ability to win people’s loyalty and command his subordinates.
Putting those two sides of him together felt deeply incongruous.
Still, Connington didn’t dwell on it.
As long as Aegon was willing to accept his advice, that was the best possible outcome.
…
…
It didn’t take long for Luchys to notice the changes in the Pentoshi army.
If their commander truly understood the art of war, why had he behaved like an inexperienced novice at the beginning?
Could someone else have taken over command halfway through?
The contradiction between their earlier and current behavior left him utterly baffled.
But Luchys quickly adjusted his strategy.
He launched another nighttime harassment attack, this time personally observing the camp.
Which tents lit their lamps first?
Which sections reacted most slowly?
In the end, the answer was obvious.
The areas that reacted slowly were where the soldiers on rotation were sleeping.
Luchys also paid close attention to Aegon’s sentries when they rushed out of their tents.
Were they scrambling to arm themselves in a panic, or were they responding lazily and casually?
And the harassment wouldn’t be limited to nighttime.
During the day, they would launch attacks in alternating waves as well.
They didn’t need to kill anyone.
Their only objective was to disrupt the soldiers’ rotation and rest.
The strategy worked exactly as intended.
Within two days, the soldiers on Aegon’s side, who had only just begun recovering some of their energy, were exhausted once again.
They even had two patrolmen captured.
During the day, they had to march through the wilderness searching for the bandits’ hideout.
At night, they had to remain on guard against surprise attacks.
Even a seasoned veteran like Connington found the situation extremely troublesome.
But what gave him the biggest headache was Aegon’s attitude toward the constant harassment.
The young commander simply didn’t seem to care.
“Lord Griffin, you should take command.
If this continues, we’re all going to die here!” Belwas once again urged Connington to seize command from Aegon.
Even if it meant using some force, as long as Aegon wasn’t harmed, it would be fine.
Over the past several days, the once-portly Belwas had visibly lost weight.
His eyes were sunken, and because he had been castrated, the smell clinging to him was a mixture of sweat and something considerably fouler.
“No.
It doesn’t necessarily have to come to that.
I believe we’ve more or less located the bandits’ camp.
Once we launch our attack, everything should improve.”
Connington himself looked haggard and worn out by now.
But relying on his experience and his understanding of the terrain, he had more or less deduced the location of Luchys’s hideout.
There was only one problem.
His proposed attack still contained an element of gambling.
Meanwhile, Aegon suddenly saw a countdown appear before his eyes.
[Countdown to Bandit Assault on Camp]
Aegon’s heart tightened.
It seemed that Luchys, the bandit chief, was finally preparing to launch a real attack against him.
And this time, it would be no mere harassment.