“Those with greater access to information, make better decisions. Those who make better decisions often win the battle. Information is a much-overlooked aspect of warfare in the minds of far too many a general.” - Saying attributed to Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92-134 VA.

“Reporting, boss!” said Avilla Twin-Feathers as the young hawk-therian tried to catch her breath. As the army marched further into Kolitschei, Reinhardt had loosed Hannah and her platoon of aerial scouts to search out for enemy movements, as it was a capability none of the involved parties in the war had other than them. It bore fruit sooner than he expected. “Big sis saw ‘em marching in neat columns, right out of their city. That was yesterday afternoon!”

“Excellent work!” said Reinhardt in praise. The aerial scouts had spread out as they monitored the many roads that led out from the city of Kolitschei, working in teams of two who took shifts to keep watch non-stop throughout day and night. Avilla happened to be paired with Hannah as the two kept watch over the main road and noticed the troop movements. “Get yourself some refreshments from the wagons, I’ll report this to the young Duke.”

The army from Algenverr was marching when Avilla reached them. It was already early morning the day after she left to deliver the message while Hannah herself kept an eye on the marching enemies. Given their flight and speed, the avian therians made the trip that the army would have needed a week or more to make in a single day.

Reinhardt quickly made his way towards the front of the marching formation where Nestor was. The young noble himself rode a horse along with several other of his commanders - Reinhardt noticed that a few of them kept their distance from him, namely the ones who had a sour look several days ago - and their collective eyes turned towards him when they noticed his approach.

“What is it that brought you here, Captain?” asked Nestor with a curious look in his eyes.

“My scouts had just given a report, Your Grace,” said Reinhardt as he took large steps that easily covered the distance as he caught up to the group. “The Kolitscheian army had marched out from their city yesterday afternoon.”

“Prepostorous!” said one of the older commanders who rode further away from Nestor when he heard what Reinhardt said. “Are you claiming that your scout could deliver a message over ten days’ distance in a single night!? What tomfoolery is this?”

“Halt your tongue, Commander Rensi!” barked Nestor with noticeable irritation in his voice. “Just because your vaunted shadow scouts can’t do the same doesn’t mean others can’t.”

“Well, unless his scouts could fly faster than most birds and even some wyverns, there’s no way they could outpace mine anyway,” said Reinhardt with a shrug. He was mildly annoyed at the man’s mocking tone, but he figured that there was no reason to debate with a man who would soon either be dead or wished he was dead anyway. “Either way, I think we can interpolate how far they’ve marched since and the likely place we’ll meet them.”

“The Nedja plains,” said Nestor after a short moment of thought, accompanied by nods from the commanders gathered around him, including reluctant nods from those further away. “I highly doubt they do not have their own scouts reporting our progress since we’re in their territory, so they’d know where we are. Since they marched out yesterday, they’d reach Nedja plains half a day to a day ahead of us and can prepare to confront us there.”

Reinhardt shared a nod with the Algenverr commanders. The Nedja plains was the second spot Nestor had pointed out amongst the three likely spots he expected the Kolitscheian army to meet them at. It was the middle one, neither too far nor too close to the city of Kolitschei itself. He assumed that the spot would probably be chosen as a compromise between a desire to keep the fighting away from the city while at the same time minimizing the supply lines they would need.

“Pass the order to have the soldiers march an extra hour, and cook up an extra half-rations for everyone,” said Nestor to his commanders, who in turn passed the order down the line to their officers who relayed it to those below them and so on. “We shouldn’t let them prepare the battlefield for too long. The soldiers should be able to rest better on full bellies after a hard march.”

“Understood,” said Reinhardt as he returned to his Company and relayed the orders. The extra hour of marching tired the soldiers more, but that fatigue combined with extra rations resulted in them also sleeping better in the night, which allowed the soldiers to wake up in the morning refreshed. The process then repeated itself as they marched ever closer to the Nedja plains.

The day before they would arrive at the plains, Nestor relayed the order to end the day’s march a couple hours earlier, and to prepare a feast - a relative one at least, since they were done with military rations for the most part - to raise the troops’ morale for the upcoming battle. He clearly wanted the soldiers well-rested and motivated for the battle that awaited them ahead.

Great cauldrons all around the temporary encampment bubbled and roiled as the army’s chefs cooked up a kind of thick gruel made from grains, cheese, and animal fats boiled together. It was a simple and humble meal, just enriched with bits of dried meat that rehydrated itself as it boiled on that evening. Even so, the plentiful - and extra flavorful - food along with how Nestor and Griselda dined amongst their soldiers helped raise morale throughout the camp.

At the section of the camp where the Free Lances stayed at, they had a more extravagant feast with whole animals being roasted on spits. By necessity, Reinhardt had to allocate a larger allotment of meat for his Company’s rations, since they counted quite a few mostly carnivorous therians amongst their number, himself included.

The bounty of storage rings they acquired years ago came in handy since a couple of them had been the expensive sort with stasis enchantment, which was what allowed the Company to bring a store of fresh meats with them as well. Since Nestor gave the order to feast for the night, Reinhardt saw no reason to hold back and brought out nearly half their supply of fresh meat for the feast.

As for the envious eyes from some of the others - particularly a couple of the commanders that were apparently at odds with Nestor -, he could care less.