Within the rotting old keep, after the leaders gathered together and Lawrence revealed the cunning scheme did Count Boulevard give the first hint of a genuine smile all night. The military situation of the nation was dire.

First of all, if the enemy broke through here, there would be almost nothing to stop the onslaught towards the Imperial Capital. Second, with the prolonging of the war and the fact that the Gerheist troops have seized some of the most productive lands, food was slowly but surely becoming a problem.

Yet, in this dark, dimly lit room where maps hung everywhere, there was a man seated in the middle, his face in his hands after hearing the reports from Count Boulevard of the Imperial messenger and from General Kaffe on the victory that defeated the minor nobles.

Colonel Haussen sat there, stoic and unmoving.

The only people in the room was Count Boulevard, Lord Black, General Kaffe and Lawrence who represented the minor nobles in general.

He had eyebags under his eyes, almost as if his eyes were bloodshot. Beside him was a massive pile of missives and messages, be it cries for food relief or cries from individual holdouts asking for reinforcements.

Most of them were read but cast aside. There was something everyone in this room knew very well.

Phoenix’s Fall must not be taken. No man can be spared, no grain can be spared.

As Lawrence entered the keep, he could tell that Colonel Haussen has basically decided that this place would be his grave.

In the keep itself, plenty of arrows itself was available, huge logs ready to jam up any corridor and sandbags to delay anyone. Lord Black had claimed that Colonel Haussen was a strategic man, however, it seems as if strategy was at its last leg.

It almost seemed as if he is determined to buy time with lives.

“We need to attack back immediately, pull everyone together and force them to battle on our terms!” General Kaffe said as the strategy meeting started and he was immediately rebuffed by Count Boulevard, “With what men? Colonel Vava will see this land burn if he can still be known as the Colonel by the end of it.”

“What of the reserves? We must activate them at once. They saved us in history before, we need them again!” Lord Black suggested almost too enthusiastically but he received his answer in the form of a deadpan gaze from Colonel Haussen.

If it was up to Colonel Haussen, he would have already made use of the reserves. But no… He had to deal with… The failing leadership of…

Holding back a sigh, Colonel Haussen evaluated the man known as Lawrence Carstein. He was in hulking plate armour, his eyes scanning the ones very fiercely in argument.

“The issue here is that we really need to gather their attention on another force, right?” Lawrence asked, stepping forward to look at the map. Phoenix’s Fall was located at a location that can only be described as the gateway to the Imperial Heartland. However, what if…

“What if we dug massive line upon lines of trenches in front of and behind Phoenix’s Fall? We would commit them to having to fight us every inch of ground and keeping their siege equipment away from us.”

“That is ridiculous, this means we have to fight them in the open!”

Lawrence shook his head.

“If the archers and spearmen work together well, they will barely get near enough and any other trench nearby can help each other out. From the pass itself, we can still hit them with ballistas and other machinery. This also completely negates their advantage with horses.”

The room was silent.

“Technically… If we dig in… The entire Gerheist army is bound to notice…” Count Boulevard said slowly and General Kaffe nodded.

“This means they know they have to break us here or lose the war.”

Colonel Haussen lowered his hands and took a deep breath. Finally, some plans are taking shape. Something that can help to prolong the conflict enough to make His Majesty see reason.

Of course, Lawrence was no brilliant tactician. He had drawn inspiration from the Soviets, where they had constructed perhaps the world’s largest defensive line against the Germans, which gradually eroded and negated their offensive capabilities and dragged the battle into a standstill.

“In the middle, we should construct what seems to be a fort as well and make it look like a point worth taking…” Lawrence mused.

However, little did Lawrence know that the Battle for the Phoenix’s Fall will soon be one of the most famous battles in history.