Chapter 146: The Collapse of the Left Wing Army!

"Commandant!"

"What's the situation? Have the other camps been breached?"

"Commandant, the left and right camps have fallen to the tribal savages, but thanks to your timely order, though there were some casualties, most of the nobles have safely evacuated to our main camp!"

"Good. Order everyone to hold firm. Though the tribal savages are numerous, with the wooden palisades as our defense, if we hold out, we can stop them!"

Brik exhaled softly in relief, and felt a surge of gratitude.

The night's ambush came too suddenly, catching the soldiers off guard after their complacency.

By the time the alarm bells rang across the surrounding camps, the left and right camps were already engulfed in flames.

Of course, their own main camp had also been attacked.

Fortunately, because Gervas's parting words had unsettled him, he had specifically reinforced the guard with three hundred elite soldiers and Lei Dun cavalry.

This prevented the main camp from being overrun, sparing it from destruction.

Otherwise, if the main camp had fallen too, they would have faced a one-sided massacre tonight.

"I hope Baron Gervas is safe too!"

Whispering a silent prayer, Brik turned his focus back to the battle.

With the western savages having taken the other two camps, all the savages now turned their spears toward the main camp.

These ambushers, plus the thousand savages previously encircled, numbered seven thousand.

Such numbers posed a grave threat to the noble army, now reduced to fewer than eight thousand.

The tide had turned—they were now the ones surrounded.

Their only hope was to hold out until dawn, then launch cavalry charges under clear visibility.

"Report!"

Just as Brik focused on the battle, a messenger arrived, face pale with panic.

Brik's heart sank. "What is it?"

"Commandant, it's terrible—Lord Fario… he's fled!"

"What?" Brik was struck as if by lightning.

"Commandant, seeing the savages outside grow in number, Lord Fario took advantage of the incomplete encirclement and fled through the eastern gate, escorted by his knight guard and several baron nobles!"

"Now the nobles on the eastern side are panicking and trying to break out too—the savages have noticed and are moving to surround the eastern gate!"

"Fario, you bastard!" Brik felt a crushing weight in his chest, nearly blacking out.

For ease of sortie, the main camp had an eastern gate on the mountainside.

The gate Brik now guarded was the western gate, facing the wilderness—the primary assault zone for the tribal savages.

He never expected that cowardly fool Fario would flee while the battle was still salvageable.

His flight shattered the remaining fighting spirit of the minor nobles—they panicked, abandoned their posts, and imitated him, all rushing to break out.

"Quick! Take the Lei Dun cavalry and block the eastern gate! Anyone who tries to flee will be treated as a deserter!" Brik tried to salvage the situation.

The messenger shook his head, face ashen. "Commandant… it's too late…"

"Kill!"

At that moment, fierce shouts of battle erupted violently from the eastern side of the camp.

Then, roaring flames erupted within the eastern camp.

Clearly, the savages had slipped inside.

Seeing this, even the minor nobles on the western side panicked, all turning to Brik.

"Commandant, we must retreat too—or we won't escape!"

"Yes, Commander Brik, the camp is breached—we can't hold it anymore!"

The minor nobles pleaded urgently.

Brik's face was dark as storm clouds, yet he did not scream or rage.

At the moment the situation collapsed utterly, Brik was strangely calm.

He took a deep breath. "Gentlemen, as your commander, I have no face left to return to the Marquis!"

"I will cover your retreat. Escape as many as you can—and tell the Marquis about Fario's cowardly flight!"

The nobles exchanged glances, saying nothing.

For royal commanders like Brik, dying in battle might still earn them some dignity.

But if they lived and returned, they would almost certainly be punished—and their families dragged down with them.

For them, survival was now the only priority.

Immediately, Commander Brik led a detachment out through the main gate, exploiting the still-unstable savage encirclement to carve a breakout path.

Once the nobles had escaped the ring, he took up the rear.

Of course, the tribal warriors were no fools—they quickly dispatched cavalry to pursue the fleeing minor nobles.

Seeing this, the minor nobles scattered in all directions, abandoning even their common soldiers, fleeing with their personal knights in every direction.

…

"My lord, there appears to be someone on the wooden fort ahead!"

As Gervas's group advanced through the deep night, they finally reached Aojinmubao.

Aojinmubao sat in a treacherous valley, over a hundred meters wide.

Though the cliffs on either side were only dozens of meters high, they were steeply sheer—Aojin Fort loomed there like a giant hand, tightly gripping the throat of the road to Bokacheng.

"Damn, there seem to be a lot of them!" Mi Gen and the others frowned grimly.

After all, according to their lord's estimate, a large force of tribal savages would soon be chasing them from behind.

"Even if there are people there, they won't stop us. Order everyone: twenty minutes' rest, then full combat readiness!"

"Yes, my lord!"

After giving the order, Gervas summoned Zhuiyue and mounted it, silently flying toward the Qianfang Aojinmubao.

After circling in the air for a moment, Gervas gained a clearer understanding of the fort.

Aojinmubao was a small wooden fortress.

But precisely because it was so small, it had become problematic.

With five hundred tribal savages stationed inside, the fortress was packed with people everywhere.

If Gervas tried to sneak in using Mo Xun Eagle to launch a pincer attack, it was impossible.

But a frontal assault would come at a heavy cost—he needed a swift victory.

"I'll have to try luring them out."

Finally, Gervas devised a plan.

"My lord, what's the situation?"

As Gervas returned, Lei Meng, Mi Gen, and the other knights hurried forward to ask.

"At least four or five hundred savages are stationed inside. The density is too high—we can't sneak in with Mo Xun Eagle!"

"So we have to launch a frontal assault, my lord?" Lei Meng frowned slightly.

"Frontal assault it is, my lord! I'll lead the charge!" Mi Gen, sensing the urgency, gritted his teeth.

"It's not time to go all out yet!" Gervas soothed Mi Gen, then laid out his plan.