War Progress

The legionaries immediately started running behind their Legates, quickly progressing through the open gatehouse and seeing utter chaos. In front of them, Decium had just been cut down, with his head rolling off his body. His unit had been decimated, all lying on the floor with missing limbs, covered in blood, and lifeless eyes.

Upon seeing the horrific scene before her, Legate Fralia had mixed feelings. Happy, she took Justinius' advice to send a scouting party but was upset that 1000 legionaries lay lifeless on the floor.

"Legate Justinius, you're in charge of taking out the archers on top of the buildings. Take 4000 spearmen and some mages with you," Fralia ordered as she charged towards the axemen barbarians that had just turned around to face them. 

"Yes, Ma'am," Replied Justinins, immediately ordering his spearmen into nearby buildings and his mages to start hitting the archers on top of the buildings.

Upon being ordered, Mages immediately used their destruction spells, dealing damage to the archers hidden on top. In return, a volley of arrows hit them, cutting through a few mages.

The spearmen, meanwhile, had progressed to the top of the stairway of the buildings they had entered and broke through the barricade, immediately pouring onto the roof of the buildings they had started to climb. They spotted archers ahead of them across a small jump where an alleyway lay two stories beneath.

Instantly, the spearmen started charging and, in unison, jumped across the gap and smashed into the unready archers. A slaughter persude with the roof becoming a river of blood and the archers getting cut down where they stood. Quickly, the archer threw their weapons aside and surrendered, but the spearmen took no notice, continuing to kill them. 

"Stop! We need to take some alive!" Justinius shouted over the roaring sound of battle. Immediately, the spearmen stopped killing and rounded up the remaining few, keeping them at spearpoint.

Down below, Legate Fralia was mowing down the enemy with no challengers, as the enemy with the highest rank was only early rank 3. Quickly, there were no barbarians left fighting. They were all sprawled out, bloody and lifeless on the floor as Legate Fralia was taking no prisoners in her anger.

"Fan out! scout the entire city. I want no more surprises!" Fralia Ordered as she looked toward the 1000s of lifeless bodies sprawled across the floor.

At this moment, Justinius had just come down with his blood-covered spearmen, and 20 captured enemy archers noticed Fralia in deep contemplation. 

Putting an arm around the gory Fralia, Justinius said, "Legate Fralia, you made the best decision possible under the circumstances; I have captured 20 enemy archers, which should give us some vital information on the enemy's bizarre movements." 

"Thank you for your words, Legate. I hate seeing my legionaries die, but it also alerted us to the enemy position, saving many more legionaries," Fralia replied melancholy.

"Let's question them and then send the information to the king, ready to lead the main offensive towards their capital," Justinius replied.

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Over on the Western Front, Legate Stanop was struggling with very different problems. Because the barbarians had adopted a scorched earth policy on this front, it had left the Legate extremely low on food, forcing him to stop and wait for the new supply lines from the capital and Hesper to arrive before he could continue otherwise, his legion and half the 10th would starve. 

A constant smoldering smell filled the air. Burnt fields surrounded the legion's camp for miles, while a burnt forest devoid of life, looking apocalyptic, was located to the north of the camp. 

"When will the supplies arrive, and how long will they last?" Legate Stanop questioned his logistics centurion.

"Legate, they will arrive anywhere between one and two weeks. While our food supplies will only last a week, we will be forced to ration," answered the logistic Centurion. 

"That's bad. How much did our legionaries collect on their recent hunting trip through the scorched forest?" Legate Stanop asked in worry.

"Only two deers Legate nowhere near what we need to sustain ourselves for the short or long term. I suggest that we retreat back towards Gilli town 10 miles south and take their food; it is the only way to guarantee our food supplies," answered another Centurion.

"It's the only plausible way forward, okay? Call back the scouts, round up your legionaries, and tell them to break camp. We are heading back to Gilli town.

"Yes, Legate," all the Centurions replied while saluting.

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One week later, at a sunny Averom, the Marshal-General shared news with the King in the strategy tent.

"Your Majesty, news had just come from the eastern flank that the city of Rasqa had been captured. but the barbarians have used an unhonourable tactic to ambush the legionaries, drawing them in and killing over 1000 of them.

Also, from the east, the captured archers have given some insight into the enemy's weird movements. They were sent to Rasqa to die and take as many legionaries with them as possible to wear the legions down before the decisive battle. The archers also believed that they were concentrating together near their capital, hoping for a decisive battle or ambush to smash our legions apart." Said Marshal-General Helvius in anticipation of the continuation of the war.

"They might be near the capital now, but where will they be in a week or two? Which flank do you believe they will attack, Marshal-General?" the king asked in worry, trying to predict the enemy's movements. 

"I personally believe that news of you personally coming to the battlefield would have reached them by now, and they will come to the middle to meet us in an attempt to kill us both," replied Marshal-General Helvius as he stroked his chin in contemplation. 

"That makes sense. Let's move toward the city of Prola and capture it quickly. Then, from there, send out scouts to attempt to locate the enemy or any movements of barbarians," the king said.

"Yes, your Majesty, we shall leave 2000 legionaries plus injured here in Averom to keep it secure during our absence," The Marshal-General said.