“The norm in strategy is to attack when the enemy least expects an attack, and to rest when the enemy is well-prepared and fully expected an attack to come. Sometimes, however, it might be worthwhile to do the reverse for any of a multitude of reasons.” - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.

“They’re… leaving the siege engines outside their camp but kept several rings of guards around them,” noted Alycea later that evening, after the besiegers sounded the horn that signaled a retreat and returned to their camps. The siege engines they used remained where they were, albeit protected by four separate rings of sentries that practically ensured that nobody could get close to them unnoticed. “Maybe Aunt Sal can hit them from here, given their size, but I’m not sure how much damage she could do to them with her arrows. You told me that she once destroyed a trebuchet with an arrow back in Posuin.”

“She did, yeah, but that was a ramshackle trebuchet made out of what parts our enemies managed to salvage from the wreckage of the ones we smashed. Sal just needed to hit a crucial, load-bearing part for it to implode on itself back then,” noted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. “These ones are in perfect working order, so she wouldn’t be able to achieve the same effect. At most she could mess up a throw or two.”

“I don’t think we can sneak over, not without some sort of distraction at least,” said Alycea as she revised the feasibility of the suggestions she made the previous day. “We’d also be in a bad position to return to the forest if we were to strike at the siege engines. They’re positioned too deep by the enemy camp. They could cut off our retreat all too easily.”

“Indeed so. Which is why we won’t be engaging them unless some major change happens, at least until we could unite our troops with the reinforcements and work together with them,” stated Reinhardt with an approving nod. “They should arrive within the week. The wall should manage to hold at least that long if old Miriel is serious on defending it, or else these besiegers might find themselves on the receiving end of an unpleasant surprise.”

“You think she might… actually collapse the wall on them?” asked Alycea with some doubt in her mind. She had been present during a final briefing before they set off, in which the old half-elven woman had mentioned several possible tactics she might use when push comes to shove. She had not expected something so drastic to actually be done for real, however.

“In most other places, I’d doubt it too, but she’s defending Levain city. Walls are literally the one thing they have plenty of. Dropping one when it could bury a few thousand enemies or more is a worthwhile trade when she still got six more to use,” stated Reinhardt with a toothy grin. “It also works well as a psychological trap. Even if the besiegers thought about the possibility or heard rumors about it, they’d have doubts like you do. Old prejudices help to ensure that. Which is why they’ll fall for it if Miriel really drops the wall on them.”

“So, we’ll wait in the jungle for the rest of the week while waiting for reinforcements, then?” asked the girl once more.

“Most of it. The day they get here, I want your platoon, Egil’s, Alvaro’s, and Arne’s deployed to help welcome our reinforcements. There’s no way these Podovnians would let them just stroll in without contesting them at all,” said Reinhardt. “You’ll also have Soledad and Branka’s troops with you, as well as all the cavalry and half the volunteers. I’ll keep the rest in case they drop their guard around the siege engines when they’re busy with our reinforcements.”

“I’m putting you in overall command of that mission, Aly, so prepare yourself from now. You will have the lives of many hanging on to your commands. It’s not a burden everyone can handle, so if you feel you’re not up to it, just let me know before the time comes,” he added with a warmer, gentler tone. “There’s no shame in admitting that some things are beyond you, understand?”

The way Reinhardt said the words was to make Alycea aware that the mission would be a test for her, and also that she could decline if she felt that she was not ready for command on that scale yet. It was quite a bit to ask a girl who was just barely fifteen years of age, yet Reinhardt felt confident that his adopted daughter would be up to the task.

He noticed that Alycea seemed to have fallen into her thoughts before she nodded mutely in reply, but that was to be expected. The girl probably hadn’t expected to be tested like that so soon, although she was aware that Reinhardt had given Erycea similar trials when she was Alycea’s age as well. The conditions at the time differed, though, and the company wasn’t embroiled in such a large-scale conflict either.

Reinhardt expected Alycea to be nervous and thoughtful about the trial set before her. It would be a great responsibility placed on her shoulder, after all, one that involved the lives of many. What he left unsaid was that should things devolve in a disastrous way, Reinhardt would be there to jump in and take control himself.

With the artifact eyepiece he wore, he could observe the distant battlefield with Hannah or another aerial scout’s help, and give his commands directly to the commanders of the units involved through its secondary functions too. Of course, Reinhardt wouldn’t do that unless it proved truly necessary to avoid a disastrous debacle.

It was one reason he dared to test Alycea under such conditions, in an all too real battle, as he had not had such a convenient artifact before. He also kept it a secret from the girl that he and Lars had arranged for Erycea to be in charge of the welcoming party from the other group.