The Lord Of Blood Hill

Chapter 556: That Pig Has Sharp Instincts

Three days later, the armies on both sides face each other across the battlefield.The allied army cannot understand it. Why does Henwell dare to meet their army of three hundred thousand with only these tens of thousands of troops?

On Night Charger's back, Henwell carries his war spear and slowly rides out of his formation. He points toward the far side and shouts, "Which one of you dares come forward and fight me?"

The generals on the allied side nearly roll their eyes. He is an Iron Knight, and an extremely powerful Iron Knight at that. Who would go up there just to die?

Kullen, Ika's third prince, rides out of the ranks. All the officers around him speak up to stop him.

Grand Duke Kolen of the South Regions rebukes him outright. "Your Highness, what are you doing? Are you going out there to make trouble?"

Prince Kullen shakes his head. "Of course not. I am going to have a few words with Henwell. I know exactly how strong I am."

"Henwell could kill me with one slap. I am certainly not going to fight him."

"Do not worry. Henwell is a man who follows the rules. As long as I do not accept his challenge before the battle, he will not attack."

"I will go alone. If you follow me, you will only give Henwell a reason to strike. I probably will not die, but you might be in danger."

After saying that, Prince Kullen rides out toward Henwell.

The two meet at the center of the battlefield. Seeing the unfriendly look in Henwell's eyes, Kullen immediately spreads his hands. "I am not here to fight you."

"I am here to persuade you to surrender."

"Henwell, as long as you are willing to join Ika Kingdom, Peace Haven will be granted to you. If you want to expand your territory, the kingdom will support you with all its strength."

"In the future, giving you a chance to establish a grand duchy is not impossible either."

"You understand the current situation very well. Every side will not tolerate your continued growth. You cannot survive this trial."

Henwell rests his war spear on his shoulder. "If I take you away right now, do you think Ika's army will fall into disorder?"

Prince Kullen says helplessly, "Henwell, you are not stupid. Of course you know that will not work."

"If I am captured, at most I will stay with you for a while."

"Our army will still attack however it should attack. I am the overall commander for this war, not the battlefield commander."

"My ability to command troops is far inferior to those generals."

"Henwell, do you think everyone is like you, top tier in every area?"

"Most of us are only good at one thing. War is a complicated field of knowledge, and it requires a great deal of practice."

"For the sake of the succession, princes like us rarely get to spend long periods training in the army. It is even less possible for us to command on the front line the way you do."

"So whether I am here or not makes no real difference to this war."

"Rather than capture me and make yourself violate a taboo, drawing pressure from every side, you would be better off seriously considering my proposal."

Henwell changes the subject. "I suggest we stop fighting here, turn around, attack Lumir together, and wipe out the elite forces here."

"Then I will take one-fifth of the territory. The rest will belong to you. This is good for both of us."

Kullen shrugs. "Not really. Peace Haven is hard to fight, and we will definitely suffer heavy losses."

"But Ika can afford those losses. Once you cripple Lumir, Peace Haven will still be ours."

"And after Lumir suffers heavy losses, they will also need us to enter their territory for defense, resisting Ogiro's ambitions."

"We can obtain both benefits. Why should we cooperate with you?"

"Besides, the main purpose of this alliance is to break your power and force you to give up your independent territory."

Henwell smiles. "Fine. Go back and prepare for battle. We start killing each other tomorrow. I think you will change your mind very soon."

After saying that, Henwell turns his horse and returns to his formation.

Watching Henwell's back, Prince Kullen frowns in thought for a moment, then also chooses to return.

Once the two of them leave, another person becomes extremely awkward.

A dozen minutes earlier, Dilio, Lumir's eldest prince, saw Prince Kullen and Henwell confronting each other before the armies.

He thinks this is a good chance to make his presence known, and he also prepares to join this prewar exchange between the top young figures of their generation.

But he is afraid Henwell might do something to him. It is not that Henwell would kill him, much less capture him.

But with Henwell's personality, if Henwell beats him up, then he will have taken that beating for nothing.

More importantly, if he is beaten in front of hundreds of thousands of people, that joke will quickly spread across the entire continent.

He will also become a topic of idle conversation over tea after meals.

In the end, he feels that as Lumir's prince, he cannot miss this chance to appear.

Otherwise, others might think he is afraid of Henwell.

Is he afraid?

Of course he is!

But for the sake of his political image, after hesitating for a long time, he still decides he has to step onto the stage.

The absurd part is that by the time he makes up his mind to go, Henwell and Kullen have already finished talking.

Both of them have already begun returning to their own camps. It is too late.

Even worse, he has already ridden out of the formation and is standing alone dozens of meters before Lumir's line.

The scene turns painfully awkward.

What should he do next?

Return directly to the formation?

That would be humiliating!

Kullen is a prince, and he is also a prince. What would others think of him?

It is foreseeable that afterward, people in the duchy will definitely use this incident to attack him.

They will say that he is cowardly, that he does not represent Lumir's position, and that he has turned Lumir into a vassal of Ika Kingdom in this war.

No!

He absolutely cannot accept that outcome.

But what can he do?

Should he shout loudly now and call back Henwell, who has already left?

Then go over to face Henwell, who is in a bad mood, and get beaten in public?

Damn!

That outcome would be terrible. It would also hurt.

In the end, as someone raised in political struggle, Jorkson, the eldest prince, immediately thinks of a solution.

He draws his longsword, points forward, and shouts, "Advance!"

The generals behind him are all baffled. After exchanging glances, they have no choice but to accept the order.

Then horn calls rise one after another. Lumir's central army begins to advance.

The generals ride over and ask the eldest prince why they have suddenly begun attacking.

The eldest prince corrects them. "This is not an attack. It is an advance. Have the formation push forward three hundred paces, then stop and hold the ground."

Seeing that the generals still do not understand, Dilio explains, "This is a joint operation. We have already begun advancing. The next side to push farther forward will not be us."

"Let those reckless Ika brutes clash head-on with Henwell, that war madman."

"We need to avoid the most brutal first round of fighting. Only then can we obtain the greatest benefit."

"This war is not a simple war. It was launched around politics. Its purpose is to shatter Henwell's dream of hegemony."

"And in a war led by politics, we cannot lose too much. Even more, we cannot form a death feud with Henwell. We must control the degree of our involvement."

Everyone looks as if they half understand and half do not, yet they are clearly impressed. Dilio lets out a breath of relief. He has finally muddled through.

When he orders the advance, Kullen hears the horns and is startled.

Seeing Lumir's formation begin moving, Kullen speeds up his return to his own ranks and cannot help cursing, "Idiot!"

As for Henwell, he turns back and glances toward Lumir's side. After a brief pause, a bright smile appears on his face.

Can a pig really have instincts this sharp?