It seems that the villain is targeting me.

She and the bird had agreed on a secret signal. On the day of the decisive battle, if the Gardener family decided to lead the troops to support her from the rear, they would light special grass in the early morning to signal her - this grass would produce a special white smoke when burned, which could be seen within a radius of ten miles.

If not, it means that a special situation has occurred and the Gardener family will not respond to the challenge. At that time, Gwyneth will need to deal with the enemy on her own.

"...Levi is staying with the Gardener family now, it's even safer," Gwyneth murmured to herself, as if trying to convince herself, "Don't worry, focus on the war now."

She would be fine. That ominous premonition must have been just an illusion caused by her being too nervous.

Waiting always seems so painful.

Gwyneth spent a long and anxious night. When dawn came the next day, she would gather her troops and launch a general attack on the royal army.

She would place the direct line of the Tudor family in the front ranks to ensure that all soldiers could see the banner of the thorn rose.

This is the last resort after all strategies and military wisdom have failed to work. It can boost the morale of the soldiers.

Maximize the combat effectiveness of soldiers.

In the morning, when Gwyneth woke up, her first reaction was not to give combat orders to the troops, but to walk out of the tent and look at the sky.

No white smoke rose.

Gwyneth stared blankly in the direction of the Gardener family castle for a few seconds, and finally withdrew her gaze silently.

Chapter 107 Emperor: Please invite my beloved minister in

There will not be any additional support.

This news was soon known to Gwyneth's generals. They strictly controlled the intelligence and only let the most critical commanders know about the situation.

The generals had certainly formulated strategies based on this situation, but when they really learned that there were no support troops, the atmosphere in the tent was still silent.

This time, the enemies they faced were no longer the useless guys sent by the royal family as a mere delivery boy, but brave generals who had actually experienced large-scale battles.

Gwen, on the other hand, lacked generals with experience in large-scale command battles and was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, so he was suddenly pushed to the forefront.

"...What on earth is Butcher up to? Didn't he say earlier that he had convinced the Earl to form an alliance with the Gardener family?"

Someone couldn't help but murmur, "He suddenly stopped participating in the battle at the critical moment. I don't know what he did."

An older cavalry commander shook his head, his expression solemn. "The Gardener family's avoidance of the battle was to be expected. The Riverlands are very wealthy, but the Earl's standing army is limited. At most, there are only three hundred cavalrymen. Adding the soldiers he has temporarily conscripted, there are only about three thousand men in total."

The Gardener family was a new family that emerged during the Lawrence era. They had no connections or relatives in the entire aristocratic circle and were a new family with very weak power.

The members of this family were known for their diligence. They never made any contributions during the wars between kings, but had always been quietly engaged in construction in the rear to support the front lines.

As a reward for his hard work, Lawrence handed over the fertile river lands to William Gardner to manage, but also strictly limited the size of his army through various means.

It can be said that the reason why the emperor allowed the weak Gardener family to take charge of such a fertile territory was also out of consideration for controlling the other party:

The emperor would like to see a lord who has money, food and pays taxes, but the emperor would not like to see a lord who has money and a strong army.

"Three thousand soldiers... must be combined with a surprise attack to be effective, but the surrounding area is flat land. The Imperial Army chose this battlefield to prevent us from ambushing additional troops."

The cavalry commander looked solemn. "It's only natural to decide not to participate in the battle. If we can't unite our forces in time, the Gardener family will be surrounded by the enemy. Perhaps Butcher has other considerations."

In short, they can only rely on themselves now.

At this moment, Gwyneth lifted the curtain and walked in. There was silence in the main tent for a few seconds, and then strangely enough, the faces of all the generals became a little more relaxed.

Over such a long time, the young new head of the Tudor family has led them to defeat countless enemies, and he was as if assisted by God when he personally went into battle to kill the enemy.

——That was really good luck. The arrow was about to hit her but it turned on the spot. It was as if God was blessing her.

Everyone is impressed by her talent and strategy. Her mere presence here can help stabilize people's hearts.

Gwyneth is indeed a gifted general when it comes to commanding cavalry. Although she is still young, her strategic thinking is very clear, and her command style is bold yet cautious. She will not suffer any loss even if she faces the two veterans of the Imperial Army.

But Gwen did have some shortcomings in the command of the infantry phalanx.

The only general she could boast of was a former subordinate of her father.

This general was the only one who was left in Highgarden by General Banur and not taken to the battlefield, because he was best at defense and was not suitable for situations that required active offense. However, he survived by accident.

The generals all turned their eyes to Gwyneth.

This is a common practice: whenever a major military decision is made, there will always be countless people chattering in your ears, one saying to attack by force, another saying to make a detour, one wants to go around from the left wing, and the other wants to sneak from the right.

Anyway, if what I said was right was my credit, and if what I said was wrong was not my decision. The biggest blame cannot be placed on the heads of a few military officers and staff.

Gwyneth knew that it was a critical moment and these generals could only offer suggestions, but she had to make the final decision.

Fortunately, after being tempered by many battles, she has also developed a tenacious character. In critical wars, she always judges opportunities with determination and decisiveness. The more dangerous the situation, the more likely she is to defeat the enemy.

She doesn't have many cards in her hand, but each one is crucial. Gwen already has her own ideas about how to win this battle.

Gwyneth calmly placed her hand on the marching table and said to the officers waiting for her, "Don't panic. Although the Imperial Army has more men, many of them are newly recruited. You will just need to follow orders and remain calm."

No one raised any objections. They saw confidence on Gwen's face: She must

There is a way. If she didn't have a way, she would have fallen on the battlefield of conquering King Jialan long ago. So even though the enemy was strong, she did not show any cowardice at all.

This confidence infected them, and the generals could not help but believe that the young Tudor would lead them to the final victory, and could not help but believe that Gwyneth was destined to usher in a new era.

The atmosphere gradually reached its peak, and the belief in victory returned to the officers' hearts. They no longer hesitated and were determined to fight the enemy to the death in the next battle.

At this moment, a guard suddenly ran in hurriedly. After saluting everyone, he looked directly at Gwyneth.

The guard spoke vaguely, "Sir! We have new intelligence... You instructed me to notify you immediately as soon as there is any information."

Gwyneth, who was sitting on the main seat, suddenly twitched her eyelids. She suppressed her palpitations and said, "Speak."

"William Gardner and all the soldiers stationed in his castle are missing," the guard reported, kneeling on one knee. "They are no longer in the castle."

"They turned against us?!" a general screamed.

The guard officer shook his head. "Our scouts haven't seen any flags of the Gardener family at the front... We can't tell at this point whether Earl William has already sided with the royal family."

Gwyneth subconsciously asked: "Where is Levi?"

The guard lowered his head subconsciously. He didn't dare to look at his master and say these words.

"No news...from Lord Butcher."

"No news."

Life and death do not know.

------

-

The moment of decisive battle has finally arrived.

The weather was quite clear that day, without a single cloud in the sky, and only a slight breeze occasionally blew.

If someone could look down at the land from the sky at this time, he would find that the open spaces that were originally covered with sparse weeds were now filled with countless soldiers.

On a flat and desolate plain, an army of tens of thousands of people spread out on both sides of the plain, occupying every inch of land within sight.

The enemy was so close that one could even see the reflection of each other's armor. The only sound in one's ears was the rustling of the general's flag. Tens of thousands of soldiers held their weapons tightly in their hands. A terrible battle was about to begin, but no one said a word.

A silence more terrifying than death fell on the battlefield.

Then, almost at the same time, all the bugles were blown, all the war drums were beaten fiercely, and the soldiers' roars merged with the deafening drumbeats.

After the usual two rounds of arrow rain, the Tudor army took the lead in pressing forward. Gwen chose to use infantry to lead the charge, and after a brief observation, the commander of the imperial army also gave the order to let the infantry phalanx go into battle.

The arrays of both sides were gradually approaching. The soldiers first ran quickly, then ran faster and faster, and finally collided with each other like a storm!

The general commanding the right wing of the imperial army led the army himself - he was one of the two generals sent by the emperor and was particularly good at attacking.

Seeing the heavy infantry on the opposite side charging towards him, the right general was not afraid at all. He drew his sword and mounted his horse, leading his personal guards to rush to the front line, killing people left and right, and hot blood splattered all over his face.

As luck would have it, the main force of the imperial army was pressing on the right side. The right general, who was good at attacking, licked the blood from his lips, ordered the flag bearer to wave the general flag to issue the attack order, and rushed to the front line with his personal guards.

This right general is really tough! He's not the type of leader who says "brothers, come on!" but the type who says "comrades, follow me!"

The general's bravery undoubtedly boosted the morale of the soldiers! They were the main force of the imperial army, and at this moment they burst out with astonishing force.

The right side of the Imperial Army was advancing step by step, while the Tudor Army seemed to be inexperienced and panicked under the enemy's fierce attack and began to retreat.

The increasingly favorable situation made the imperial soldiers' eyes red. Holding swords and axes, they rushed towards the enemy fearlessly, inspired by the boiling blood.

Under the fierce attack of the imperial army, a gap soon appeared in the Tudor army's line, but Gwyneth had a general who was good at defense sitting in the rear. He always kept a keen eye on the battle situation and ordered the rear guard to move forward to fill the gap in time.

Thanks to their early preparations, the Tudor army was able to stabilize its front.

They were still retreating, while the Imperial Army continued to advance.

The number of enemies on the opposite side was decreasing, but the right general suddenly realized that something was wrong.

He looked at the ground and made a judgment based on the experience gained from years of fighting: That's not right. If they were defeated in a hurry, how could the track left by the chariot be so straight?

The right general was shocked: Are they retreating on purpose?!

This is indeed the case, but it is too late now.

Amidst the deafening sound of fighting, countless crossbow arrows attacked from behind. The imperial army, who were only focused on charging forward, had no time to react and were hit one after another.

Even the general himself was nearly hit, but a personal guard rushed forward in time and blocked those fatal arrows for him.

They were trapped, and after firing two rounds of crossbow arrows, the shield wall composed of shield soldiers and spearmen quickly surrounded the imperial army that had penetrated deep into the enemy camp.

The right general used both hands to pull the body of the guard away. He subconsciously turned his head to look behind him, his pupils suddenly widened.

Suddenly his eyes widened.

He realized that he had made an irreparable mistake.

At the beginning of the battle, Gwyneth roughly guessed the location of the enemy's main force through the way the enemy deployed and controlled the army.

Her troops were outnumbered by the enemy, so her main force was 100% no match for the enemy.

Gwen then used a very simple Tian Ji horse racing tactic: using a small part of the army to tie down the main force of the empire, fighting and retreating, luring the enemy into deep.

At the same time, the powerful main force, assisted by a small group of cavalry, launched a full-scale attack on the left wing of the Imperial Army, pinning the enemy to the spot and making them unable to move.

The Imperial Army was not as well prepared as Gwyneth, and because the left and right flanks could not advance at the same time, their battle line was seriously disconnected.

Gwyneth's main cavalry saw the opportunity and rushed into the gap.

The right general tried several times to break out and return for support, but the shield wall surrounding him was made up of elite soldiers. They stubbornly withstood the attack, clinging to the imperial army like leeches and stabbing them to death.

The imperial army gradually became exhausted. The gaps created by several efforts were filled in time. The high morale was like a punctured balloon. The soldiers followed the right general's steps in vain, shrinking towards the center of the encirclement, retreating more and more crowded, and even being trampled to death by their own people.

Inside the encirclement, the number of living people gradually decreased, while the corpses piled up like mountains.

In the end, the right general was surrounded and killed, and his head was strung on a spear and held high so that people in the distance could see it.

At around 4 p.m., the imperial army was completely defeated.

The Hejian area was captured, and some of the defeated imperial army was captured, while others fled in all directions.

Gwyneth executed all the lords who were hostile to her and adopted her usual policy of leniency and kindness towards the captives.

This would be a decisive victory, but Gwen also paid a heavy price for it. Of his 26,000-strong army, 8,000 were killed and 10,000 were injured, with 2,000 of them seriously injured and dying.

--------

-

The news of the defeat was quickly brought back to the capital by carrier pigeons.

The emperor was almost in despair. He had staked all his capital on that battle and summoned all the vassals who were willing to serve him, but he still lost to the young girl.

The Hamilton family was in chaos. His good brothers and nephews were no longer busy fighting for the throne, but instead began to pack up their belongings and run away with their wives and children.

This action almost pissed off the emperor to death. He angrily ordered the city gates to be closed, and no one was allowed to leave the city. If we have to die, we will die together, and no one will have a good life!

But the emperor's action was not entirely to vent his anger.

Now he has no army at all. The emperor knows very well that even if he leaves the capital, he will have nowhere to go. It is better for him to stay in the capital and rely on the strong city walls to hold out for a while.

The walls of the capital were built extremely solidly, and even the city gates were made of metal. Even artillery with extremely high yields would find it difficult to blast them open - otherwise, when Xiao Niao was trapped in the capital, he would have simply piled up gunpowder bags to blow up the city walls and ran away.

In short, the emperor blocked the city gates tightly and waited anxiously for the arrival of the Tudor army.

You can imagine how surprised the emperor was when three days later he saw that the flag that appeared under the city wall was not the flag of the thorn rose, but the green hand flag of the Gardener family.

William Gardner led his army to the walls of the capital and claimed that he had come to pay allegiance to the royal family.

The emperor didn't expect that even though he was in such a desperate state, there would still be staunch royalists. He was so excited that he almost fell off the throne.

He shouted to his attendants:

"Quick! Please come in, my dear!"

Chapter 108: That Tangled Mood