As Wells spoke, the imperial officials underground lowered their heads, none daring to look at the Lord of Jite City. Seeing this, the anger in Wells’ heart flared even hotter, but he forcefully suppressed it and addressed a middle-aged general in military uniform.

"General Anri, the safety of Jite City rests on your shoulders. What is your plan regarding this situation?" Anri, knowing he could not evade the summons when the City Lord addressed him directly, reluctantly stepped forward.

"My Lord City Governor, the Aoyue Empire's deployment numbers only tens of thousands, less than half our army's strength. I have clashed with the Aoyue Empire several times, and their regular soldiers are not frightening.

The most terrifying element is that mysterious Heavy Cavalry Regiment. Every time they appear, they instantly change the tide of the battle.

Several times our army held the advantage, only to have our formations shattered by these heavy cavalry." "Moreover, what is most dreadful is the astonishing power of these heavy cavalry. We have dispatched our own heavy cavalry to engage them, but they proved completely inferior.

I have never seen such a terrifying force. Of the twenty thousand troops we lost this time, the majority fell to the Aoyue Empire's heavy cavalry." Hearing Anri’s words, Wells spoke coldly, "I am aware of all this.

I only ask you: Is there truly no way to counter this cavalry force? I, Jite City, am the largest city in the eastern part of the Empire, boasting a garrison of over one hundred thousand, yet we are pinned down by a mere thousand of their heavy cavalry, afraid to meet them in the field.

If this news spreads, I fear the Fire Cloud Empire's reputation will be utterly disgraced. How do you intend to face His Majesty the Emperor's trust in us?" Hearing Wells, the generals shamefully bowed their heads.

Indeed, a force of over a hundred thousand was held captive within the city by a mere thousand enemy heavy cavalry. This reality caused immense frustration among the Fire Cloud Empire's generals, yet they possessed no effective countermeasure, a situation entirely understandable.

At this moment, a young general who had been standing at the very rear suddenly spoke up. "Your Grace, perhaps I have a method to deal with the Aoyue Empire's heavy cavalry." At the sound of this voice, all the generals turned their surprised gazes toward the young officer.

Wells, upon hearing the voice, had a sharp glint flash in his eyes. He spoke with measured calm, "I recall your name is Hualake, yes?

What is your solution for these heavy cavalry?" Hearing Wells, Hualake hesitated slightly before speaking, "I beg the City Lord to grant me immunity before I dare speak. I cannot guarantee this method will be entirely effective, and..." "Speak plainly.

I will judge its efficacy myself. If successful, rewards will surely follow.

Even if it fails, you will still be rewarded." Wells interrupted Hualake impatiently before he could finish. Indeed.

Wells desperately needed a victory to salvage his reputation. The fact that tens of thousands of troops were being dominated by a thousand men had already spread throughout Fire Cloud City, and the nobles who had long opposed him were using this to suppress him.

Although he had the Emperor's backing for the moment and had escaped punishment, if this situation persisted, even Winfred VII might not be able to protect him, effectively ending his life. Thus, Wells urgently required a triumph to cast off the shadow of this defeat.

Hearing Wells, Hualake’s courage grew, and he spoke with steady resolve. "We all know that these heavy cavalry rely most heavily on their defense and charge capabilities.

If we can neutralize both these characteristics, then these heavy cavalry become nothing to fear." Wells pondered Hualake’s words and replied, "But blocking heavy cavalry in full charge is fundamentally impossible, and the enemy is not so foolish as to discard their advantage by halting for us to slaughter them." Hualake, as if making a final decision, stated, "The method I propose directly addresses this, but it demands immense sacrifice. The number of men we sacrifice might be several times that of the enemy.

Therefore, we require a suicide squad." Hearing this, Wells stared intensely at Hualake. Although Hualake felt extremely nervous, he held Wells’ gaze firmly, showing no intention of backing down.

"Speak, then. What is the method?" After a long silence, Wells sighed.

He now understood that if eliminating the enemy's strongest force truly required sacrificing several times the number of his own soldiers, he would not hesitate. Soldiers could be trained anew, but another failure now would erase any chance of recovery.

Wells could already picture the desolate fate awaiting him upon returning to the Imperial Capital. In the early morning, a thick mist still blanketed the skies above Jite City, obscuring the sunlight and leaving the entire expanse above the city a dreary gray.

Just a few miles from Jite City, the Aoyue Empire’s army had pitched their sprawling camps, completely encircling Jite City. The Commander-in-Chief of the Aoyue Empire's forces, Gamaki, stood before his main tent, gazing at Jite City in the distance and letting out a soft sigh.

Gamaki was a famous general in the Aoyue Empire, renowned alongside Jerrison as the Empire's 'Twin Pillars,' indicative of his capability. Frankly, Gamaki had strongly opposed this deployment against the Fire Cloud Empire.

The northern border was already locked in fierce conflict with the Tianlong Empire. Nearly all of the Aoyue Empire's military strength was committed to that war.

Although a temporary ceasefire was in place, any sensible person knew the Aoyue Empire's current priority should be rest and recuperation to restore its strength. However, their warlike Emperor, Nula'and VI, ignored the objections of his ministers and insisted on attacking the Fire Cloud Empire, even imprisoning several high-ranking officials who spoke against his decision.

Since then, no one dared to oppose His Majesty's will. He, Gamaki, was appointed the frontline commander for this offensive, tasked with spearheading the advance.

This assignment brought Gamaki both joy and worry. The joy stemmed from knowing the soldiers would at least not be commanded by the inexperienced officers from the Imperial Capital.

This way, he could strive to minimize troop losses, as most current Aoyue generals were sycophants promoted by the Emperor, possessing little true skill but enjoying His Majesty's favor. Meanwhile, capable officials like himself were constantly squeezed and persecuted by the nobility, leaving them with little authority.

Securing this command had only been possible due to the strenuous advocacy of the Fourth Prince of the Aoyue Empire; otherwise, the authority might not have fallen to him. Truthfully, in Gamaki’s heart, only this Fourth Prince represented the sole hope for the Aoyue Empire.

As for the other princes, Gamaki held them in disdain; only the Fourth Prince possessed true imperial bearing. Only he could salvage the ailing Aoyue Empire.

Gamaki lamented internally; years of continuous warfare had dragged the entire Aoyue Empire into a quagmire. The nation's last reserves of energy were being expended on this meaningless conflict.

The Aoyue Empire was like a giant mired in mud; unless a way out was found, even the mightiest giant would eventually be swallowed. The Fourth Prince was their only hope.

What worried Gamaki was that the force assigned to him for this vanguard consisted of only eighty thousand men. This number made defeating the Fire Cloud Empire questionable, let alone capturing Jite City before them.

Fortunately, he still commanded the astonishing Black Guard Heavy Cavalry. Though few in number, it was no exaggeration to call them the elite of the Aoyue Empire’s elite.

On several crucial occasions, these Black Guard Heavy Cavalry played the decisive role, scattering the Fire Cloud Empire's soldiers into disarray, allowing him to turn defeat into victory. Sadly, these special heavy cavalry were too few.

If he only had ten thousand Black Guard Heavy Cavalry of this caliber, Gamaki was absolutely confident he could win this entire war. As far as Gamaki knew, he hadn't even been aware of the existence of this Black Guard Heavy Cavalry force until recently.

In fact, fewer than five people in the entire Imperial Capital knew of them. These Black Guard Heavy Cavalry seemed to have materialized from thin air, and likely only Emperor Nula'and VI and a few of his princes were fully aware of them.

Rumor held that their total strength was only three thousand. Upon his departure, Nula'and had specifically allocated one thousand Black Guard Heavy Cavalry to assist him.

Initially, Gamaki hadn't placed much hope in these one thousand heavy cavalry, believing that no matter how fierce they were, they couldn't play a significant role. However, after several engagements, Gamaki was forced to revise his opinion.

The power of these Black Guard Heavy Cavalry was far beyond his expectations. Without them, his army would likely have been more than half-destroyed in the initial clashes.

In Gamaki’s own words, the strength of this Black Guard Heavy Cavalry could be described in two words: "abnormal." It was no wonder the Fourth Prince had been so confident when mentioning them, claiming that with just these thousand, victory would be assured, and if Gamaki could hold out for a month, the Prince would find a way to send reinforcements. Calculating the time, less than ten days remained until the date agreed upon with the Fourth Prince.

Judging by the current situation, holding the Fire Cloud Empire's troops within the city for ten days seemed entirely feasible. After ten days, supported by reinforcements, he could launch a full assault on Jite City.

Gamaki felt relief that, thus far, no unfavorable news had reached him, which was satisfactory. While Gamaki was deep in thought, as time passed, the clouds in the sky had completely dispersed at some point, and the sun finally shone with dazzling brilliance, invigorating the spirit.

Illuminated by the sunlight, Gamaki slowly collected his thoughts. Just then, the voice of his personal guard captain, Danka, came from behind him.

"General, General Mengli requests an audience." Hearing Danka, Gamaki’s previously relaxed brow furrowed. General Mengli was the only individual in this entire affair who caused Gamaki profound dissatisfaction.

He was the appointed Deputy Commander sent directly by the Emperor—in essence, the Emperor's spy monitoring him. Gamaki could tolerate all of this.

What he absolutely could not abide was that Mengli was an utter fool. Beyond lobbying for power and flattering the Emperor, Mengli possessed no military aptitude whatsoever, being completely ignorant of campaign strategy.

Although the Fourth Prince was aware of this fact, Mengli enjoyed such high favor with Nula'and VI that both Gamaki and the Prince were displeased with the Emperor’s decision but utterly powerless to change it. More crucially, the command of the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry, which Gamaki relied upon so heavily, rested in Mengli’s hands.

This was Gamaki’s greatest concern. Although Mengli hadn't committed any major errors so far, he represented a ticking time bomb to Gamaki; one wrong move could lead to fatal defeat.

What business could Mengli possibly have seeking him out at this early hour? Thinking this, Gamaki asked, "Oh, did General Mengli state the nature of his business?" Danka simply shook his head.

"I do not know, General. General Mengli insisted on speaking with you personally." Hearing this, Gamaki waved a hand in acknowledgement, which Danka, having served him for years, understood immediately.

"Understood, my Lord. I shall have General Mengli wait in the central command tent." When Gamaki arrived at the central tent, the corpulent, oil-faced Mengli was already seated there waiting leisurely.

Seeing Mengli, Gamaki felt a strange sensation; Mengli seemed less like a general and more like a merchant. Though dressed in military attire, he exuded none of the aura of a soldier, resembling instead a merchant constantly wheeling and dealing in the marketplace.

Suppressing his displeasure, Gamaki forced a smile. "General Mengli, I didn't expect you so early.

Do you have urgent matters that required you to seek me out this morning?" Hearing Gamaki, Mengli hastily scrambled up from his chair, but perhaps due to his girth, he lost his balance on the first attempt and nearly fell. Gamaki frowned slightly and said, "General, please, there is no need to rise.

You may speak from your seat." Showing no modesty, Mengli sat back down and spoke with a smile. "General, we have been besieging Jite City for so many days.

When exactly will the assault begin? Those Fire Cloud troops have already been terrified by our Black Guard Heavy Cavalry; this is the perfect moment to press our advantage!

Why has Your Excellency remained static, wasting this rare opportunity?" Gamaki replied calmly, "I trust General Mengli understands clearly that since the Fire Cloud forces are hiding within Jite City, our greatest asset, the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry, cannot exert its full advantage. Furthermore, Jite City, as the largest eastern city of the Fire Cloud Empire, possesses high, sturdy fortifications, making it difficult to attack and impossible to take easily." "Moreover, there are at least one hundred thousand Fire Cloud Imperial soldiers garrisoned inside Jite City.

With our current troop strength, taking the city is impossible. Therefore, we must wait for the Empire's reinforcements to arrive before launching a decisive attack to have any chance of capturing Jite City; otherwise, it will only result in needless sacrifice." Mengli paid little heed to Gamaki’s explanation.

In Mengli’s view, the reinforcements sent later by the Empire were only coming to share the glory. Many officers currently favored by Emperor Nula'and VI were eager to secure their positions, and Mengli felt he needed to achieve some success quickly to consolidate his standing near His Majesty.

This was why he had pushed so hard to secure the Deputy Commander position—to earn merit. With this in mind, Mengli pressed on.

"At the very least, we should attempt one or two probing attacks now, shouldn't we? The Imperial reinforcements won't arrive for at least ten days.

Are we to do nothing during this time? Are you not concerned that His Majesty will learn of our inaction and hold us accountable?

Do not forget, Your Excellency, His Majesty sent me here not merely to sit and wait." Hearing Mengli, Gamaki frowned slightly and asked calmly, "Then what does General Mengli suggest we do?" "Sir, I believe we must at least appear to be acting. We must launch an attack, even if just a show.

This way, when we return to the Imperial Capital, we will have something to report to His Majesty. Otherwise, I believe Your Excellency knows the Emperor's temper.

If we truly sit idle for half a month without action, and word reaches the Imperial Capital, I fear neither of us will fare well." Mengli pressed on relentlessly, sensing Gamaki’s resolve wavering. "General Gamaki, you know His Majesty’s temper, and how many rivals are watching us in the Capital, eager to find any flaw to condemn us.

However, since His Majesty sent me with the army, it indicates some measure of trust in me. As long as we have initiated an attack during this period, those critics will have no grounds to accuse us later." Gamaki was about to respond when the sound of three long blasts followed by one short blast echoed across the camp.

Hearing this signal, Gamaki's expression changed instantly, as this horn call was reserved for the appearance of the enemy. Just then, his personal guard captain, Danka, rushed in and saluted.

"Reporting to General, the enemy from Jite City has begun to move." Hearing Danka, a sharp light flashed in Gamaki’s eyes. If Gamaki had been the commander of Jite City, he would never have chosen this moment to advance; remaining safely within the fortifications would have been the wisest choice.

The Black Guard Heavy Cavalry could not breach towering walls to attack. Why would the commander of Jite City risk coming out for a direct confrontation?

Considering this, Gamaki quickly ordered Danka, "Notify the entire army to heighten vigilance. No movement without my command.

General Mengli, let us go out together to observe the situation." Gamaki’s words prompted Mengli to urgently wrench his corpulent body and follow him out of the central tent. Arriving at the command post overlooking the camp, Gamaki frowned, studying the opposing Fire Cloud Empire troops.

Deep confusion clouded his eyes; he could not fathom what the Fire Cloud Empire was attempting by sending infantry into the fray. Did they not comprehend that his army possessed the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry?

Up to this point, no force within the Fire Cloud Empire had effectively countered the charge of the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry; in a straight charge, no unit could match them. Yet, knowing this, the enemy still deployed an infantry contingent.

This fact only deepened Gamaki’s suspicion.

Because this only presents two possibilities: the first is that the Fire Cloud Empire's commander is a military imbecile, which is why he made this move. However, Gmajky inwardly believed this was almost impossible; he had crossed swords with the Fire Cloud Empire's commander several times and knew the man was clearly no fool, but rather an excellent commander who would never make such a basic mistake.

That left only the second possibility: that the Fire Cloud Empire had already devised a way to counter the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry and had thus sallied out from the city to initiate the attack. In Gmajky's mind, this was the most likely scenario, yet he could not fathom precisely how the Fire Cloud Empire intended to deal with his Black Guard Heavy Cavalry.

For if Gmajky himself were tasked with countering that heavy cavalry unit, he couldn't imagine any tactic that could succeed on such flat terrain, especially using infantry—that would be tantamount to suicide. Yet, the enemy commander was clearly not an idiot, which is why Gmajky was deeply perplexed.

But over on the side, Mengli saw the situation and couldn't help but beam, chuckling as he spoke, "Haha, heaven aids me! The commander of this Jite City is actually sending out such an army to its death. Isn't this just handing merit right to my doorstep? It seems my Black Guard Heavy Cavalry will earn another great victory."

Hearing Mengli’s words, Gmajky quickly interjected, "General Mengli, don't you find something amiss? Infantry facing heavy cavalry is almost always a one-sided slaughter; they are not even on the same level of combat. The Lord of Jite City is certainly no fool—how could he make such a foolish arrangement?" "What's amiss?" Mengli replied dismissively. "General Gmajky, you are being too cautious. Right now, facing us, there are only these few thousand infantry formations, and we haven't seen any other troops. Do you truly fear that these few thousand foot soldiers can somehow consume my Black Guard Heavy Cavalry? That’s nothing but a pipe dream."