“I’ve received word that Luchys will attack our camp tonight.
This won’t be another small-scale harassment raid.
He’ll be bringing everyone he has for an all-out assault.
So I want everyone to prepare the defenses in advance and get ready for an ambush.”
The moment Aegon said this, everyone present thought they had misheard him.
Aegon had spent the past several days inside the camp without ever personally venturing out to scout.
So where exactly had this information come from?
Connington immediately asked, “May I ask where you obtained this information, my lord?”
“Put yourself in his position.
Our army has been harassed for days.
Everyone is exhausted, both physically and mentally, and we’ll only become more exhausted as time goes on.
Right now is the perfect moment for Luchys to launch his main assault.
He certainly won’t sit back and watch us march straight into his hideout.
In my judgment, he’ll make his move tonight.”
After hearing Aegon’s reasoning, Connington felt almost dizzy.
This could hardly be called a sound military assessment.
It was pure speculation.
How could one wage war based solely on instinct?
Connington wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Even Rogett, the man who had followed Aegon the longest, found the plan extremely unreliable.
As for Mengo, when Aegon had previously asked for his opinion, the Dothraki had made his position perfectly clear: as long as he remained in Aegon’s army, he would obey every order without question.
Aegon’s tactical arrangement was completely different from the cautious methods Connington had taught them.
Young Griff couldn’t help turning toward Connington.
Connington knew he couldn’t openly contradict the commander in front of everyone, so he changed his approach.
“Then how do you intend to arrange this ambush, my lord?
And who will stand against Luchys’s initial charge and hold down the main body of his forces?”
Aegon’s answer once again caught Connington completely off guard.
“When it comes to baiting the enemy, no one is more suitable than me.
We had scouts captured a few days ago, so Luchys already has a good idea of our situation.
He knows that the commander of this army is the silver-haired son of a governor.
There is no better bait than me.”
Connington silently swore that he would never accompany Aegon on another campaign.
He had come along with two responsibilities: first, to advise Aegon and prevent him from making the kind of basic mistakes only an inexperienced commander would make; second, to keep both Aegon and Young Griff alive.
And now Aegon intended to use himself as bait.
Connington already knew that Aegon was the only son of Illyrio and his late wife.
There was absolutely no way he could allow Aegon to die here.
“My lord, let me take on the baiting duty.
I can draw Luchys’s attention and keep him occupied in your place.”
A plan that involved deliberately luring the enemy with one’s own life was simply too reckless and dangerous.
When Young Griff heard that Aegon intended to personally serve as the bait, his opinion of the young man—who had once appeared to be nothing more than a spoiled noble brat—changed completely.
No matter the circumstances, leading from the front and showing no fear of bloodshed was always the most direct way to earn the respect of others.
“This army was trained and built by my own hands.
Naturally, I’ll stand alongside them through life and death.”
Aegon swept his gaze across the officers in the tent, his tone making the statement sound like the most obvious thing in the world.
His words moved everyone present.
Most of these men knew little about military strategy.
To them, whatever Aegon said was simply what they should do.
Aegon’s insistence on becoming the bait was based on two considerations.
First, his presence on the battlefield would dramatically raise the army’s morale.
Second, it would allow him to tighten his grip over the army even further.
Paying their wages in full and helping relieve their debts were merely methods of winning their loyalty.
True loyalty, however, had to be forged through shared experiences of life and death.
Only after passing through deadly situations together would the soldiers develop a genuine sense of belonging.
And when that happened, that sense of belonging would ultimately be tied to him.
More importantly, Aegon needed to cultivate a group of personal confidants.
Even if none of these men were exceptional talents yet, once they became his personal guards in the future, they would be perfectly suited to protecting his life. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“But this is simply too dangerous,” Connington continued, still trying to convince Aegon not to act recklessly.
“If you’re truly worried about my safety, then make sure you bring reinforcements quickly enough.”
Aegon smiled as he began issuing orders.
“I’ll divide up all the warhorses.
I’ll leave a hundred men here—no, fifty.
They’ll serve as the bait.
I’ll keep Luchys and his men occupied.
Lord Griffin, you take half the force.
Rogett and Mengo will take the other half.
Belwas, you stay here with me and help lure them in.”
“Understood, my lord.”
To Aegon’s surprise, Belwas didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
Deep down, Belwas still viewed himself as a slave.
The only difference was that Illyrio’s commands took precedence over Aegon’s.
Now that Aegon had issued such a direct order, Belwas had no reason to retreat.
Aegon couldn’t help looking at him a few times.
As a person, he found Belwas rather unpleasant.
But as a subordinate and bodyguard, the man was undeniably reliable.
“My lord, let me stay behind instead.”
Mengo clearly didn’t trust Belwas.
“The battlefield is where you belong.
You ride my horse.”
“My lord?!”
Mengo’s eyes widened in disbelief.
At that very moment, a system notification appeared before Aegon’s eyes.
Character: Mengo
Recruitment Points: (89/100)
The sudden surge in Recruitment Points startled Aegon.
But he didn’t let it show on his face.
Instead, he calmly ordered everyone to make their preparations.
…
…
Clouds veiled the moon, plunging the land into almost complete darkness.
Even if two men stood less than three paces apart, they could barely make out each other’s blurred silhouettes.
It was the perfect night for an attack.
Luchys had conducted experiments before.
If a person went without sleep for a full day and night, their mind and concentration would begin to deteriorate.
After three days without sleep, their willpower would be close to collapse.
As for someone who had gone five days without sleep, Luchys had never actually encountered such a person.
In his eyes, the soldiers of this army had been marching and scouting day after day while remaining constantly on guard against his harassment attacks.
Their minds had been kept under relentless pressure, while their sleep had been severely disrupted.
By now, their physical and mental strength had already fallen into dangerous territory.
The initiative was firmly in his hands.
It was time to claim another victory.
His decision to attack wasn’t based on guesswork alone.
According to the reports from his men, the enemy’s vigilance had been steadily weakening.
His own men could even approach them, come face-to-face with their soldiers, and still escape successfully.
He had also noticed that the vast majority of the enemy soldiers were inexperienced recruits who had never seen blood.
Under such circumstances, victory should have been virtually guaranteed.
But the most important reason Luchys felt compelled to attack was that the Pentoshi army was moving directly toward the location of their mountain fields.
Perhaps they wouldn’t necessarily lose in a direct confrontation.
But even if they won, the casualties would undoubtedly be enormous.
That was something Luchys could not accept.
“Listen carefully!
This time, we’re taking all their horses!
The man leading them is the son of a governor, and his silver hair makes him impossible to miss. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“If we capture him alive, we can exchange him for food.
What we get will be enough to feed everyone for an entire year!
Do you understand?”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
A few days earlier, they had captured one of the scouts sent out by the Pentoshi army and learned Aegon’s identity.
However, Luchys suspected that Aegon had someone highly capable advising him.
This mysterious “expert” had arranged the camp with considerable skill, while the army’s marching route had also been planned cautiously.
If not for the warnings provided by the surviving Rhoynar living throughout Ghoyan Drohe, Luchys would never have been able to gain such an advantage.
As his orders spread through the ranks, deliberately lowered voices echoed through the darkness like ripples across water.
The potential spoils from this battle were enormous.
The mountain fields were difficult to cultivate.
Even producing a small harvest required enormous effort.
And deep in the mountains, they had no way to construct mills.
Their diet consisted mostly of coarse grains that were difficult to digest, and there was precious little fat or oil in their food.
The soldiers were therefore extremely excited.
They wanted to capture Aegon and exchange him for something valuable.
The soldiers could afford to become excited.
They could afford to let their blood run hot.
But as their leader, Luchys remained perfectly calm.
Based on their earlier reconnaissance, he had already led his men to the predetermined ambush point.
They had chosen a section where the enemy’s defenses were relatively weak and were now waiting patiently for the right moment to strike.
Luchys raised his head toward the sky.
At some point, a cloud had drifted above them, gradually swallowing the already faint moonlight.
He carefully observed the cloud’s size and speed, silently calculating how long it would provide them with cover.
The instant the moon disappeared completely behind the clouds, Luchys issued the order.
“Attack!”
More than forty of his men, wearing padded cloth and leather armor and riding warhorses, charged toward Aegon’s camp.
Nearly a hundred more followed behind them, carrying spears.
No one would have expected that after repeatedly defeating the armies sent by House Toksor to suppress them, these bandits had actually managed to equip themselves with standardized military gear.
And that was precisely why they had grown stronger with every battle, gradually becoming a force the governors of Pentos could no longer afford to ignore.
Riding a gray warhorse, Luchys charged at the very front.
He suddenly yanked on the reins.
The horse surged upward, clearing the wooden palisade surrounding the camp in a single leap.
The attackers no longer bothered hiding their movements.
Excited roars and battle cries erupted from their throats, rolling across the darkness like rocks tumbling down a mountainside.
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
“Break them apart!”
“Take their leader alive!”
The cries of battle erupted from every direction.
Some of the attackers lit torches while charging and hurled them directly into the tents, hoping to plunge the camp into chaos.
The silent camp was suddenly transformed into a sea of flames.
Then one of Luchys’s men suddenly shouted,
“Chief Luchys!
Look over there!”
At some point, a formation had already been assembled.
There weren’t many soldiers.
Fifty at most.
The sight of the seemingly empty tents had already made Luchys consider withdrawing.
But at that very moment, the clouds above slowly drifted away.
Moonlight once again spilled across the earth.
And Luchys saw him.
Amid the soldiers stood a young man with a familiar face and unmistakable silver hair.
The governor’s son.
The perfect target.