Your Majesty. The Foulds are on the move.
"Hmm, ......, looks like we're just in time.

　When the Phallus Army established a supply line and joined with 100,000 reinforcements, they became 300,000 and began their invasion of Lemuria once again.
　The Lemurian Empire had succeeded in rebuilding its forces.

　In the city of Orontia, the capital of the province of Suria, all the troops that Hercule had at his disposal were now assembled.

Four legions of infantry
One legion of longbowmen

One legion of heavy cavalry (cribanarius)
1 legion of medium cavalry (cataphracts)
Three near battalions of rangers
Three battalions of Sonia's Red Wolves
Three battalions of Jebe rangers　

Four legions of Tunisians

One corps of Khayastan infantry
Three legions of Chelda infantry
Two corps of Bulgarson's cavalry.


　Infantry: 156,000, cavalry: 588,000.
　Total military strength 2,148,000.

　This was the maximum number of troops that the Lemurian Empire could muster from its national power.


　In contrast, the total strength of the Phallus Army is 300,000.
　The difference in strength is about 9,000.

　This difference is far from small, even to say the least.
　But ......

I've done all I can do.

　Hercule said, looking around at his subjects.
　No need for so many words.

　He had faith in his generals, and they had faith in him.

"Let's go!
"Yes!

　The Lemurian army, about two hundred and ten strong, began to move.





"The Lemurian army appears to be on the move.
"Hmm.

　Hearing the report from the scouting party, Sasan VIII smiled grimly.
　He then summoned the eight loyal generals and three glittering generals under his command.

　The first to arrive were the eight loyal generals.
　All of them were elves and had made contracts with high-ranking spirits.

　"Behnam Behferad, the Wand. An aging elf. Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Foulds. His contracted spirit is Buell, the Spirit of Wisdom.
　"Coward Kaldintina, the Spear. A middle-aged Elf of long ears. One of the generals who were once defeated by Hercule. His contracted spirit is Fulkas, the spear spirit.
　"Shaheen Sharrukan, the Sword. He is a middle-aged elf. One of the generals who were defeated by Hercule. His contracted spirit is Krosel, a spirit of ice.
　"Helena Uarelius Cog, the Shield. A native of the Lemurian Empire, queen of King Fahls. Her contracted spirit is Subnak, the spirit of decay.
　"Darius Dalmares, the Hammer. Middle-aged, long-eared elf. Contracted with Agares, the spirit of earthquakes.
　"Cyrus Curaines, the Bow. Young elven long-eared. The contracted spirit is Barbatos, the spirit of future and foresight.
　"Artaxerxes Artaxerxes, the Axe. A young elf with long ears. The contracted spirit is Halphus, the spirit of war and logistics.
　"Smerdis Skuldis the Flute. Young Elf. The contracted spirit is Amduschias, the spirit of music.

　One by one, they kneel before Sasan VIII.
　At the same time as the eight generals were assembled, the three glittering generals also appeared before Sasan VIII.

　One of them was a man with an oriental face.
　His name was Li Huang.
　He was a former member of the royal family of the Silk Kingdom who had defected to the Kingdom of Fars after the political uprising.
　He is skilled in the art of war and in the use of crossbow.

　The other is a half-breed elf with a vaguely oriental appearance.
　His name is Kublai.
　He is a former member of the royal family of the Kuro Tongue, who also defected to the Kingdom of Farus.
　He controls a force of northern nomads.
　...... is actually Jebe's cousin.

　The last one is a dark-skinned elf woman.
　The last one is a dark-skinned, long-eared Elf woman. ...... A Dark Elf girl, not seen in Lemuria or Farus.
　Her name is Carly Marr.
　She is skilled with certain animals.

"Are we there?
I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.



　Sasan VIII nodded his head in satisfaction before a total of eleven generals under his command.

"Let me assure you. In my reign, no!　I assure you, this is the pinnacle of military prowess in the history of Fars!

　The eleven generals are all extremely capable commanders.
　All eleven generals are extremely capable commanders, and I am a man worthy of holding them together, a general of generals.

　Sasan VIII was convinced of this.

"In addition to an excellent general, ...... there are about 300,000 elites!　You can't win a battle with this many soldiers!

　200,000 infantry.
　200,000 infantry. 100,000 cavalry.
　And ...... four hundred war elephants brought from Sindhira!

　This was the greatest force the Kingdom of Foulds could muster for a foreign campaign.

"We will crush Lemuria in this war!　Let's go!
"Ha!

　The city of Orontia, capital of the Lemurian Empire's province of Suria, is our destination.
　Straight ahead, without avoiding the Lemurian army, I pushed forward.




　The Lemurian army and the Phallus army. 　
　The two armies chose as their decisive battleground a plain about five kilometers from the city of Orontia.
　It was in the suburbs of a village called Ilkhamus.




　The layout of the two armies is as follows.




The symbol for the Phallus army is approximately 250.
The symbol for the Lemurian army is approximately 300 (including errors).



The Lemurian army's symbols are about 300 (including errors). "Crushing tactics by numbers. ...... It's simple, but that's why it's so tricky.

　When Hercule confirmed the formation of the Phallus army, he frowned.
　The position of the Phallus army can be divided into seven sections from the outside: the extreme left and right (both) wings, the left and right (both) wings, the center (both left and right) wings, and the center.

　Of these, 2,000 cavalry on the extreme wings.
　On both wings there are 100 cavalry and 400 infantry. 　
　On the center flank, 100,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantry.
　In the center are 400 infantry and 400 ...... war elephants.
　In addition, about 80000 cavalry and infantry reserve troops could be seen behind .......

　Purely, the center and both wings are thick.
　The reserves were also plentiful.
　It would be difficult to win in this situation, no matter how you devised your tricks.

The ...... war elephants are also troublesome.

　The Lemurian Empire, or rather, Hercule, has never faced a war elephant before.
　I'm not sure what to make of that.
　We have instructed the war elephants to attack at their feet. ......
　I didn't know how effective it would be.

If we could have bought a little more time, we would have been evenly matched. ......

　But there's no point in begging for something that doesn't exist.
　We'll just have to make do for now.

It's a race against time.

　There was no concern in his eyes.




"...... Hmm. I don't know.

　Sasan VIII tilted his head.
　Most of the time you can tell what the enemy is trying to do by looking at the formation, but ...... Sasan VIII couldn't tell what Hercule was trying to do.

　In the Lemurian formation, the center of the main line is protected by two wings shaped like an umbrella.
　This is clearly a tactic for defense.

　So, at first glance, the option to go on the defensive seems reasonable. ......
　But ......

But ...... you can't win without losing, can you?

　At some point you have to go on the offensive to win the war.
　If you are on the defensive, you will inevitably lose control of the war.
　And the only thing that will be wasted is time and men.

　In fact, it is the side that can afford to be on the defensive in a war.
　This is because it is possible to conserve forces, and when the enemy is fatigued, it is possible to deploy reserve forces and move to the offensive.

　It is meaningless for the side with few troops or no margin to go on the defensive if it does not have the strength to go on the offensive.

　If a large number and a small number fight, the small number will get tired first.
　This is self-evident.
　Therefore, it is the minority that must aggressively go on the offensive.

Have you lost your nerve?　No, but ...... do you have some sort of reserve army?

　The Lemurian Empire's national strength is limited to 200,000.
　But this is only an estimate.

　In addition, ......

In addition, ...... they may be relying on the Kuro Thrust for reinforcements.

　Emperor Lemuria's sister is the queen of the Emperor of Kuro Thrust.
　And Kuro Thrust and the Kingdom of False are not on the best of terms.

　We can't deny the possibility of Kuro Thrust's reinforcements coming.

"Well, good.

　Sasan VIII broke off his thoughts.
　We should focus on the battle at hand.

　If reinforcements are coming, ...... just grind them down before they get there.

"Entertain me at your leisure. Hercule I.








"God be with us. God be with us. God is with us. God is with us!


"God bless us all!　Victory to us!　God bless us! God bless us!　Victory to us!

　Lemurian, Farsi, Cerda, Bulgarian, Cyrillic, Sindhi.
　A myriad of languages.
　Generals of various origins commanded armies composed of various ethnicities and languages.

　The total number of soldiers on both sides exceeds 500,000.


　And one of those who unites them is ......
　One of them is Sasan VIII, the "Sun King", the "Conqueror of the World".

　The other is ......
　Hercule I, the "Holy Light Emperor", the "Champion of the Three Continents".





　Thus, ......
　The Battle of Ilkamus has begun.